Bennemans

Rebrick the modulars or keep them intact?

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Hi all!

I've been riddled with doubt for a while now about the modulars. I have them, as I assume 110% of all of you have them as well. At every convention there are dozens of people displaying them. Lego fan sites are full of them. And I feel they are not very, erm, 'special' anymore, know what I'm saying'? I've bought all the modulars the day they went on sale, but I haven't bought the Parisian restaurant yet… I'm kinda bored with them… because I've seen them eeeeeverywhere I guess.

Now, my question is: what do you guys do with your Modulars? Do you keep them on display as they are or do you remodel them? Do you use the bricks for completely different things or do you just change a bit (like adding a floor, changing the interiors or tiling the floors)?

I think the modulars look great! But they are just a tad smaller in scale than my MOCs and they look weird together, so I wanna take them apart and rebuild them to fit more with my MOCs. I've started with taking apart the Petshop, but I stopped halfway through, wondering if I was doing the right thing, panicking, running around, arms flailing.

What do you guys think? Reuse the bricks for original work like a heathen, or display them in all their conventional glory like a good boy?

Edited by Bennemans

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I haven't bought any of the modular buildings because, while I wouldn't want to mix them in with the rest of my parts, I also wouldn't want to display them forever. I would probably just end up spending ≈$150 on something that will become a bag of parts I keep in the closet.

That said, I definitely have been tempted to buy the Parisian Restaurant. It's very well designed.

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Clearly you haven't watched The Lego Movie.

;)

There is no right answer to your question.

The beauty of LEGO is that whatever you want to do with them is the right thing, as long as it makes you happy.

MOC 'em, MOD 'em, keep them intact or keep 'em all broken up and sorted in tiny drawers. It's all good.

The only wrong answer is to get all stressed out about what other people think.

Edited by rollermonkey

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Up until recently I had kept them intact alongside my MOCs and other Modular Buildings that I'd built from 3rd party plans. But they looked out of place amongst my sprawling economically deprived city so one by one I'm converting them into something more relevant.

The Palace Theater was the first to go http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=96512. For sure it was a modest change - more one of function than form, but after the images in the thread were taken I subsequently replaced the original walls with a motley selection of well abused white bricks (from a 2nd hand bulk lot of bricks). This has liberated a whole stack of bricks into my inventory. The next one I change will be more dramatic as I'm going to hack the City Hall by losing the classical architectural details into more modern looking, run-down vacant office space and I'm currently working out what to do with the Fire Station. I'll post pictures of both when I'm finished.

I say Tear it down! Build it up!

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I have the Parisian Restaurant and Grand Emporium displayed on top of a bookshelf. Room in my house is very limited, therefore the Pet Shop, Palace Cinema, and Fire Brigade occupy a closet shelf bagged up in long term storage (assembled) in order to prevent dust. I would like to be able to display all of them. We will simply have to wait until we move into a bigger house that can have a dedicated Lego room. I am also working on my own modular MOCs which I plan on keeping intact. My hope is to eventually have a blend of the best of the official modulars and anything I have been able to design.

Designing a modular is enjoyable. It teaches you a little bit of architecture as you try to find a good way to keep the structure stable. It also mimics construction, because it always costs more than you think it will, takes longer, and gets modified. It is worth it, of course.

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Thank you for asking, its a interesting dilemma. I have all the modulars from Cafe Corner to the lastest Parisian Restaurant, Market Street included. Most of them in several duplicates. I haven`t build PC og PR yet because lack of space at the moment, but that will change in near future.

Something inside me says that I´m not allowed to MOD a modular other than add more floors in the same original style or add a 2.nd, 3rd or 4th building of the same next to each other. <- Looking very good with 4 Grand Emporiums :wub: . The same rules for other, smaller sets as Police cars, garbage trucks, town houses etc..

I do (believe it or not) build MOCs but only with new parts from PaB, BrickLink or LugBulks. And on top of that I do not allow mixing old bricks (from my own childhood) with new ones. This means that my old Lego is used once in a while and only by my 4 kids. I guess `The Lego Movie` is very representable for me.

But thats me ;) (Where is my psychologist you may ask, I don`t have one and I don`t think (hope) I need one?)

Edit: There`s two exceptions: The Tower Bridge, want to MOD into one, tall tower and the City Garage, MOD`ed into one taller garage. (See my Brickshelf-link below)

Edited by Chilis

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I keep one table with 'by the book' modulars. Another table has my 16,000 (estimate) piece grand emporium, a legitimate three story PR MOC and a couple of other MOCs. Display space isn't an issue.

In my case, I can't see rebricking the modulars. Friends like the display, space isn't an issue and I can do MOCs without rebricking.

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I keep considering the modulars, but to use in a large Super Hero battle display. I'm thinking most of the buildings would be designed to be wrecked and/or broken down to show where damage had taken place. Essentially, what I'm saying is I would probably use them for more flashy display.

The problem for me is cost. It would be cool to have such a display, but how long would I want that on my display area? When would I get bored with it? Is there anything else I could use it for (because by themselves they're kinda boring, IMO). Those weigh heavily on my consideration for such an endeavor...

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The right answer might be: do what you feel like to do. :classic: Building modulars is great fun and they do look great once assembled, be them standing alone or placed side by side, but in the end for me they are just a cheaper way to get larger quantities of parts I use for my MOCs. I built each of my OOB modulars only once and then used the parts for other creations. The space needed for their storage (or lack thereof) is also a major factor contributing to this decision.

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I have all of them appart from the pet shop. And then I display them in my LEGO room but I don't bring them to conventions. It's useless as too much people display them in thoose conventions.

Sometimes I buy two of them. The second one is bought for parts. Modulars are a great value. Price per part is better than in smaller sets. I use all those parts in 2 ways: with all my other bricks or I don't mix thoose part and try a one set MOC!

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Do whatever you want with them, that's what Lego is all about - build to instructions, mod, create your own, provided you enjoy it, it is the right thing.

Luckily here in Australia, most of the general public haven't seen these buildings, especially the kids. They aren't generally available in retail stores, and we don't have any Lego branded stores, so most people don't even know they exist. I am lucky that in my LUG, I have been the only one who does City, so mine have been going solo. We also discourage people just showing the same sets as everyone else, so duplication is not an issue.

Most of my modulars are heavily MODded anyway, only the FB and PR are to instructions, and the PR is only that way because I was limited to one when I first bought it from S@H. Hidden walls get raided from time to time for parts, why waste perfectly good bricks when no one will see them anyway. Last show my modded blue Pet Shop was little more than a facade with framework and a roof, though the walls are back again as I have re-modded it.

I don't own the TH, don't like it. If I had use for all that dark orange though, I'd buy if I could find it on sale.

I did buy the Tower Bridge (yeah, ok, it's not a modular, but same rules apply) purely for parts, never even opened the instructions. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with keeping them prestine either, do as you wish, just don't get annoyed if other people think differently to you.

Hawkman, at a past show I did see the modulars trashed in a mid-apocalyptic, alternate dimension monster invasion display, it was really impressive. They actually look really good half fallen down.

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I do both. I have bought 2 x most of the modulars and I keep one copy as it is NEVER to be broken down, and the other copy has been parted down for projects.

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I'm a purist, so I keep the Lego modulars intact. I disassemble and store them if necessary, until needed again, but I would never use the parts for another project. I buy new parts for those. We have all of the Lego modulars except Corner Cafe, plus around a dozen MOC modulars. We like to keep them together.

But it's all a question of preference. I will not hold it against you if you destroy them :grin:

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I have all the 9 modulars and they are still new in box. For me , I will build them and will make a nice display case to display them ofcourse away from direct sun. Also, it dorsnt matter if one day they will be stored. As loong as I am happy to have them and spent the money on them, all the ways are great!.

Also, I will never use parts from the modular for another sets or MOD the modulars cos I belive they are complete and dont miss anything except thr Café Corner and the Market Street I might install some furnitures as they are soo empty.

I love Legos whether they are: assembled, not assembled, Stored,....etc....:-).

Just go as per ur feelings and desires.

Regards

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Keep them orig and then buy another set to mod or moc :)

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As others have said: do as you like! I'v you want to mod, mod. If you want to create something new, create something new. If you want to display, display. As long as you keep all the bricks you can do this indefinitly amd thus keep doing whatever it is you enjoy!

Edited by Hobbythom

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buy 2, keep one as-is, re-brick the other :) i think that's the way i'm going, every set like that i get i love them as-is, but the MOC'er in me just circles them like a vulture, ready to pick them clean :)

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If I could afford it Id buy multiples and keep one built and rebrick the other..

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The issue is buy 2 of each will be costly,,,Just buy a set, build it as per the instruction, then when you feel you want to MOC, order the parts for MOC-ing. By doing this, you will save the original set + having your own MOC Parts!

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this hobby is costly regardless if you get multiple sets or pab-ing / bricklinking parts for mods/ mocs.

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I also have got all the newer modulars intact, but recently been buying 2nd copies to use in mocs and other modification ideas. I've 2 Town Halls, 2 Grand Emporiums, and now 2 Parisian Restaurants.

I used the 2nd TH as a source for the majority of the parts I needed to build my Victorian townhouse MOC. I still needed to make about 20 BrickLink orders to get the rest of the parts I needed to finish it. It took a long time and a few bucks to do. It was very difficult to find more than a couple parts at a time from any one BL store, it was pretty tedious, and all the shipping starts to add up.

You really need to research colors and parts beforehand to see if a project is worth it.

I am glad I built my MOC, I love how it came out.

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