nesquik

You won't regret it - the EM may well be one of the most beautiful Lego models ever designed. And no, I'm not being biased as a train fan! The only issue I have with it as a product is the fact that just one carriage is included. This has always seemed like a huge oversight to me, and clearly one that was learned from since the H.E. has both a passenger car and a dining car. To make this worse, it's not very affordable to try and purchase the parts for extra carriages.

This question could, quite literally, be applied to any retired Lego product... No matter where you look, the prices will be inflated

You must bear in mind that the 'modular' line has matured a great deal since the very first buildings, and so today the interior has a more important role in merchandising these products. Jamie himself says in the video that part of the structure was sacrificed for detailing inside the restaurant, and in this release it definitely works. Also remember that this 'restaurant' is essentially a bistro, and so is very faithful with being compact. In many respects, its smaller scale does it more justice because these family run businesses are not large franchises, and are settled rather sweetly in early Twentieth century / late Nineteenth century buildings architecture. This product almost has a rural feel to it, which makes it perfect to display on its own rather than connecting to the other modular buildings.

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Horizon Express won't be retiring until 31st Dec 2015, so don't expect any new Exclusives until then. A new City train set is coming next year, however.

Of course, we can't forget the baguettes! It's difficult to imagine how the food/drink elements would actually fit into the scene, but somewhere along the line we can expect them I'd love a new 'pairing' build, but I think this time round it'll remain 32x32. The premise of these buildings is to be faithful to real life architecture, so having a tiny bakery and bistro next to each other would be odd as the product would then include two franchises, rather than one and a home. Oh I quite understand - perhaps you misinterpreted my post The correlation of pricing and minifigures is there to make the products 'appear' grander than what they are when merchandising, so if we're to presume that the Parisian Restaurant does cost between £100 and £120 (again, this seems very realistic from my position), then 5-6 minifigures would be the maximum. Even if there was an opportunity for this product to be in the £130-£150 ballpark, I can't see the restaurant benefiting from the additional bricks without it having three floors; and three floors is difficult to imagine for this product. Again, the product line has matured a great deal since Café Corner, so the interior must play a part in the narrative of the set. If the designers can't fill that extra space with something interesting, then they simply won't force it to be there. The Pet Shop has a decorator painting an empty room for that very reason; it saves repeating a living space.

That's the thing; the product you refer to is in a different product line. The number of minifigures included has to balance well with existing modular buildings, purely for merchandising. It was a Buick, not a limo. American cars during this period were notoriously longer and wider.

8 minifigures is out of the question, but I think we can expect the waiter to retain many of the features that are seen in the 'Collectible Series' version (Lots of printed wine bottles and tray). A chef, waiter/waitress, 2 x customers and a delivery boy are more likely, with the latter making up the introductory build of a very small Citroen-esque delivery van. I would also take a guess that this product will be in the £100 > £120 ball park, since Fire Brigade - which is retiring at the end of this year - has thus far filled the lower end of the pricing spectrum and needs a replacement.

Thanks! I've worked in Lego retail for a number of years now, and even though it's still relatively young project for the company, we have an open understanding of why (and how) products come to fruition. 'Exclusives' tend to be the last products we hear about in advance, so I'm just as excited as anyone else But like I said, I believe the Parisian Restaurant could be an important release as the designers now understand the importance of interior detail and playability; this had be learned through experience, however. The latter should not come as a surprise even for adults, because the smallest details draw attention to things that we associate with in the real world. That is why the Grand Emporium, in my experience, has not been as attractive to parents as the Pet Shop, which is literally drooled over by many happy couples! Another factor that demonstrates this maturity is the Creator Expert branding, for the company is putting a lot of faith in using the 'Expert' analogy as a way of measuring not just the difficulty level of the build, but perhaps more importantly, the interests of the customer. Before we had this, you can appreciate how disjointed the Exclusive branding was (or partially continues to be), because the product in question was visually not part of a paradigm or system. A customer has absolutely no means to appreciate who a product is targeted for, and this creates limitations when merchandising. Now though, the box art can clearly lend more personality to the product in question because it is unobtrusive, and I think this is proven beautifully with the Palace Cinema, Horizon Express and Winter Village Market - all of which stand out as unique models in their own sub-themes. With the Parisian Restaurant,rwe can equally expect a very atmospheric and engaging set of artwork that leaps off the packaging. But that's all from me anyway. Again, I'd love to read of anyone else's expectations!

Personally, I would expect the Parisian Restaurant to be a significant upgrade from the original Café Corner. The product line has matured to such a degree that Jamie and the other designers will want to revisit earlier products, and essentially say to themselves "Okay - we understand the demand for these buildings, and have crossed paths with a nice selection of architectural styles from around the world. So how can we improve on them in todays climate?". Afterall, let's not forget that the Café Corner really was testing the waters when it was released. It was first and foremost a showpiece purely for the architecture of the building, and therefore had an interior that was absent of detail or functionality. In fact, if you look at the back of the instructions, it suggests purchasing multiple products to essentially 'stack' the Cafés into your preferred scale. This proves just how naive the strategy was at the time, because it was geared almost entirely to AFOLs rather than a broader demographic. The building itself also made hints at being European, but the name of the product and the design never really confirms its place in time. So it's easy to appreciate just why these buildings have improved in such a short term - there was the potential to make them appeal to a wider audience and to focus on individual design. Not only this, but because the designers have crossed paths with architecture from Europe and the U.S, and the various franchises to go with them, it's not hard to imagine each of these avenues being revisited in a different form. With all this in mind, I'll predict the following (It's fun to make a game of it!) - Outdoor seating will be retained, but only to a bare minimum. This won't be a corner building, so at the most I think there could be two tables and chairs, but no modern parasols as fabric canopies are more common. - The architecture itself will have little in common with the Café Corner. The reason for this is because the designs have progressively focused more and more on mirroring the spirit of a particular franchise, and I honestly believe that this time around they will do a much better job at capturing the nature of a small French bistro (This is a more accurate term for the building, as 'restaurant' has been used purely for marketing reasons). Even the fact that they have called it Parisian Restaurant says to me that the design is more refined this time round. - The rare Dark Blue components will be used - or more specifically, those that are currently in the Winter Village Market. This makes sense from a logistical point of view as I don't believe they would be produced purely for one Winter Village set. This colour is also common for late 19th/early 20th century buildings in France, and would go nicely with red bricks. - There will be a waiter with the Series 9 wine bottle and tray. - There won't be a wine cellar (again, for a small bistro this isn't faithful) but there could almost certainly be a wine rack behind the cash/order desk. - The upstairs is intriguing... I highly doubt further seating will be added, so if this is to be a compact building, then it may just be a living space. A small area for making fresh food and preparing those delicious pastries can go on one side of the ground floor, while a couple of extra tables could go the other side. So those are my predictions! Anyone else want to have theirs?

Can't wait!

Yes, they were released June 1st. It is indeed a false alarm. No re-release is happening. 'Creator Expert' is the new branding for advanced models, which can include Exclusive and Hard to Find products if necessary. Earlier releases don't fall into this branding for purely logistical reasons.

Can't wait for Jabba's Sail Barge!

It's being discontinued June 1st.

Town Plan looks fantastic :)

It's leaving this 'summer', but that usually means between June and September (I would take a hesitant guess at July myself) As for its replacement... I'll keep you all guessing, but it's actually a building that already exists in the Architecture line-up. The good news in that in terms of scale, it looks more on par with the classic Taj Mahal. So order soon.

Post of the thread. As far as playability is concerned, the new 2013 Castle sets are as good any that have been released in the past, and the title of the theme says it all. Rather than focusing on a broad spectrum of characters, the philosophy behind 'Castle' is precisely that - a particular point in time, style of architecture and story. TLG have narrowed the theme down so that each product is all about the two factions, which for children is precisely what makes products like these so fun. It's about good versus evil, heroes and villains, and most importantly, the clear distinctions between the two. Kingdoms didn't meet these criteria because it was too AFOL orientated; many of the sets were even Exclusives, and designed with the help of fans themselves. Although they were beautiful, the trade-off is playability. And since the LoTR sets have sold poorly (I work in Lego retail), it makes perfect sense to re-invent the Castle theme without the cost/restrictions of licensing and the niche effect of exclusive products. A prime example of this is the King's Castle. Yes, it does look "childish". How old are you again? It's petty to complain about the appearance of a theme that is designed primarily for children. This castle is probably one of the most playable ever designed by TLG because it contains so many play features, not to mention that the blue slope elements - which are present to distinguish the faction - can easily be taken off and replaced by another colour if the builder wished. The central area is open so that soldiers or loot can be protected inside. It has weapons, nice walls and lots of accessories... What more could a young boy want? The Fantasy sets of the 90's pale in comparison as they don't have a narrative. Sentimentality gives us a warm feeling, but the truth is that they are far less focused. I'll be looking to get most of these new Castle sets and see where I can take them from there I'd love to pass them onto my own children in the future.

1st June is the official date.

Fire Brigade will be discontinued by July this year.

Town Plan consists of; a Bike Shop (corner building, open back), 'City Pizza' restaurant (front facing, open back), Bus, Road Sweeper, Monument, Crane and benches+litter bins. I believe there may be some extra micro-builds, but can't remember. Don't judge the product too harshly from these photos as the builders have modified it for the display - here it contains two Bike Shops side-by-side, two restaurants back-to-back and all the other elements are built 'into' the road plates, per se. The buildings in the real product are contained up to where you see the smooth sidewalk plates in the photos. It's essentially a reboot of 7641 City Corner, which proved quite popular.

Please put this on Cuusoo. PLEASE!

Yes, VIP members will be able to purchase this early.

This is being discontinued before August, so if you want it then you had best start thinking seriously... It's even having one last promo push in Lego retail stores soon.

'Modular' is a not a product line - it's simply a term that has been coined to describe this theme of products. Modular buildings were originally part of the Exclusive line, but from the Palace Cinema onwards, they will be part of the new Creator Expert line.

I personally found the BrickShow video a lot more engaging and useful. The more I look at it and see the smaller details (which, I have to say, are in total abundance), the more I can't wait to get my hands on it. I can even forgive the first floor now as it's clear that the designer wanted to include as much attention to the architecture as possible, and this rings true for all the modular buildings. Say what we will about the interiors, they always provide plenty of unique and interesting building techniques, which is what this product line is all about. If you look closely, you'll also notice that the movie poster stickers are applied to transparent wall plates. This makes total sense on reflection (excuse the pun!) as you then have a choice of whether to apply the stickers or not without compromising the appearance of the wall. You could even place the posters inside the lobby area to break up the flat tan colour. In this case however, I would suggest applying the sticker to a single plate and then placing this on the wall with a SNOT brick. I'm guessing some folk out there may even produce their own posters, so that's going to be exciting to see. The only stickers I'm disappointed about are the ones below the signage (with the movie price/times), as these are required for the final look.