Creator House Face Off #1

[WesternOutlaw]

In this exciting EB Town face-off, two 'still available' Creator fan favorites will do battle:

Set Comparison

4996 Beach House

Pieces: 522

Price: $34.99 (USD)

Main Colors: Yellow and Black

Accesories: Grill, Patio Furniture

Alternate Models: Cafe, Apartment Building

5891 Apple Tree House

Pieces: 539

Price: $44.99

Main Colors: White and Dark Blue

Accessories: Lawn Mower, Basketball Hoop

Alternate Models: Townhouse, Summer Home

Individual EB ratings indicate the following scores:

Beach: 88.8% (out of 25 votes)

Apple Tree: 78.6% (out of 74 votes)

All things considered, which set do you like better?

Discuss your choice below.

[Vincent Kessels]

For me that is an easy question: the Apple Tree House.

It has better colors white and light gray bricks, and it has usable windows.

[Sisco]

Tough choice for me; but in the end I had to go with the Beach House. It's ten dollars cheaper than the Apple Tree House, and only has 17 pieces less. So there's one for the Economical AFOL. I also happen to love the yellow color and the 1x1 tile path. I'm also a sucker for a good flower bed. The padio is nicely done as well.

[ZO6]

Hmm, both sets have their fair share of attractions, but I think I prefer the Beach House.

-First, the Beach House has just about the same amount of pieces as the Apple Tree house, but in Canada it is $20 cheaper.

-In my opinion, the Beach house is a more interesting design. I found the build to be more enjoyable (save for the many 1x1 tiles to create the paths) and I think the end product is more eye catching.

Depending on my mood, sometimes I prefer the exterior accessories and details (ex. BBQ and table etc of the Beach house, Lawn mower, basketball net of the Apple Tree house) of one house to the other, so I guess it's a tie for those.

After building the two houses, I found that the Beach house was slightly larger than I had pictured it to be, while the Apple Tree house seemed very small. I was surprised to find that placed side by side, the Beach house is the larger of the two.

I must admit that the colour scheme of the Apple Tree house is the most pleasing (especially the lovely dark blue roof). However, while I do appreciate having the different shade of baseplate, when you combine it with other sets the colour seems out of place.

In terms of alternate models, I would say that both sets are tied. The cafe from the beach house, and the small A-shaped cottage from the apple tree house are both very lovely. The multi-story buildings on the other hand, don't seem quite as hot in my opinion.

Ultimately, both sets are fantastic and I'm pleased to own them, but I have to give the slight nod to the Beach house.

[Commodore Hornbricker]

I like both sets but the apple tree house is my clear favorite of the two. The blue roof and overall style are what does it for me.

[wooootles]

Price/piece ratio:

-Both have more than 500 pcs, but imagine the Beach House is officially $10 cheaper, and $16 cheaper if you buy it on Target. Advantage: Beach House

Piece variety:

-Apple Tree House gets strong points for its unique blue roof, and a good amount of light greys. But the bright green plates, well, suck. Beach House ain't all that with the yellow color, but it works fine. I'll five a slight advantage to Apple Tree House.

Playability:

-They're both not that playable when you compare it to other modulars or even CITY sets. ATH has a sad excuse for stairs, but the cool garage makes up for it. Outside, they have little things: BH has the grill and patio, ATH has the bball court and the lawnmover. The Apple Tree looks better than the BH's small tree. Again this goes to ATH.

Appearance:

-I like CREATOR houses, so I like them both lol. BH really does look like a Beach House with all its big glass windows, while the ATH is more suburban. So it depends on settings, but I declare a tie.

Alternate models:

-Most of the alternates between the two are fine, except for that sad 3-story apartment from BH, which is more in-line with 80s-90s town set than a CREATOR theme. ATH is clear winner.

Overall I think ATH is the better model when you build it as is. But when I MOC and I need parts, I turn to BH because it's cheaper and has some pretty good parts itself.

[XimenaPaulina]

Both models are great, but I prefer the Beach House over the Apple Tree House. I like the overall design of the Beach House better, especially the unique unsymmetrical roof design with window panels. The Apple Tree House's design is quite common for a two-storey house, nothing special about that.

[lightningtiger]

Beach House for me, especially as a cafe !

Though the lawn mower and basketball ring are nice additions to the apple tree house, I still prefer the BH.

I'm a conformist! !

[AllanSmith]

I voted for the Beach House. I used two in a suburb on my 2008

show layout and one as a club house for my nudist camp on my 2009 show layout.

As for the Apple Tree house, you can't fit a Smart car or red sports car in the garage

[Rick]

Two very good sets, but in the end I'd go with the beach house. It has a design that sets it apart from most other Creator houses and has great re-usable parts: lots of windows, black roof tiles. I like the color scheme of the Apple Tree House much better though, whereas the value-for-money of the Beach House is better again.

[Night City Dream]

Quite hard to choose but I still would go with the Beach House non only because it's that cheaper but also it has a sleeker design and is more compact.

[MetroiD]

As I commented earlier, I think that the Beach House is one of the best Creator House sets. Great price-per-piece ratio, 3 very nice designs in the original set, as well as the novelty factor are what puts it above the Apple Tree House, at least in my books. Once again - the Apple Tree House is a nice set, but it would have been much better if it had offered something different in comparison to other Creator houses.

[peterab]

I voted for the beach house, I like its more exciting design, and I like it for parts since I prefer its windows to the Apple tree house. The only real attractions the Apple Tree House has are its dark blue roof and light grey bricks, not enough to overcome the big price difference (BH ~AU$50 ATH ~AU$75).

[sebby]

I agree that apple tree house looked good and had some nice coloured brick but for a playability side of things the beach house is the winner.

Although I am yet to buy a Apple tree house I am put off by the fact that it looks very small and cramped inside with not much room to add furnishings.

Also the cost of the two is a key factor with the beach house being £14 pound cheaper. Two beach houses are only £6 more expensive than one apple tree house.

For me the Beach house wins hands down.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

I'd have to go with Apple Tree. I do own the Beach House but not the Apple Tree, but in terms of pure aesthetics, I think I just think it looks more realistic, more pleasing to the eye, and more surburban than the Beach House. I will say that while I cannot testify on the building experience of Apple Tree, the Beach House was a fairly substantial build with some very clever designs with the sliding glass door and eaves coming out of the roof.

Great topic this is, Brickster

[WesternOutlaw]

It's great to read the various comments regarding each of these wonderful Creator houses.

Great topic this is, Brickster

Thanks!

I built the Apple Tree House over the weekend, then after creating this poll, had to rebuild the Beach House for a fair comparison.

I arranged the houses in my Train Town (which is becoming pretty busy now - in fact, I had to place the Beach House over the area where i had my desert stream and cactus) like so:

All things considered, while the Apple Tree has better colors and the "quaint look" about it, I had to vote for the Beach House. The overall design, both exterior and esp. the interior seems more spacious. The price is better, and it just seems more thought went into the details of the house itself. I also liked the build better, esp. the sun roof. The patio furniture and grill reminds me of the summer.

Beach House for me!

[dr_spock]

I like the design of the Beach House better. It's also in my favorite color. Besides it comes with a BBQ:

[legotrainfan]

I'd have to go with Apple Tree. I do own the Beach House but not the Apple Tree, but in terms of pure aesthetics, I think I just think it looks more realistic, more pleasing to the eye, [...]

You've stated my opinion and all the rest is true of me as well! I have the Beach House but not the Apple Tree House, but the latter simply looks nicer. That's all I can say to justify my choice.

[SilentMode]

I like the shape of the beach house a lot more, although it would be cool to see it in the apple tree house's colours.