Silverhurst

Anyone able use the modular lineup shot to photoshop the Jazz Club with the Police station on the right (so the pizzeria is next to the donut shop) and AS on the left? I'd do it myself, but won't be near my computer until after Christmas. Thanks

It certainly does look better in the official photos than it did in the leak. Hopefully my Lego store will have it on display so I can see where it ends up falling on my priority list. For my January spending I'll probably pick up a pair of pyramids for my wife's birthday in April (she loves the architecture and speed champion series) and maybe another 3 in 1 Castle before it retires (one of the most versatile set I've ever bought imho, I have 3). I don't mind reading the early speculation and all the criticism, both for and against, after leaks. They often have plenty of validity and help me look at the sets from a different perspective, which sometimes influences how I decide to change the sets in the end.

Thanks for the link, I'd seen that before but what I am trying to do is make the sign shape itself a brick built sax with the Jazz wording on that, not just adding the minifig sax. Maybe I'm over thinking it.

Anyone having thoughts about making a brick built sign to replace the printed tiles? I was playing around in Studio last night, but haven't come up with anything I like yet. Just the word "Jazz" without "Club" seems to be the ticket, but it's the sax I am trying to add that is perplexing me so far.

When I first saw this set my first impression was that it was a photo of a review copy, not an official Lego photo. If legit and I decide to purchase it at some point I'll probably swap out the bright blue for dark blue to match the sign, and swap the pizzeria columns with white for a bit more contrast. Not happy with the brown tiles over dark red on the jazz club, but not sure yet what color I'd swap them to. Of course we haven't seen the interior yet, so no ideas there yet. Maybe Andy Sax wasn't included in this set since he probably needs to head over to the club from his loft in AS. Doesn't help those who don't have AS, but if you don't, and you want this set, I think you'd be better off getting AS first anyway. The great thing about Lego is that you can modify to your hearts content if you want. I usually make changes to my modulars to make them how I want, whether it is simple color swaps like above, or more extensive like I did on my hotel by adding an extra floor, raising the top floor 1 brick, extending the hotel one 16x32 baseplate to widen the staircase and lobby, add an elevator under the staircase archway, and change the art gallery into a gift shop that opened into the lobby (I moved the front desk to the back wall). While I thought this set looked blah when I saw it, that was probably more because it didn't match my mental image I'd created of the pizzeria taking up the whole first floor with a stairway up to the second floor to the jazz club with a speakeasy inspired entrance. The more that I've looked at it and become accustomed to it the more I think it'll be a fine set if the interior is designed well.

For a larger MOC (32 square baseplate), maybe an upstairs roller skating rink? There used to be several in my city back when I was a kid. they were the old style wood floored ones with benches, lockers, and office/admissions desk on one side by the door. These rinks all had exterior entrances with stairs on the outside (usually concrete/stone). An accounting firm might be another good one. When I built my Corner Garage, I removed the Vet and made that area an auto parts store on the 2nd floor, and parts warehouse on the 3rd floor. Fit the theme better i thought, especially since there is direct access from the garage.

I generally like what they are doing with this set. Like many here, the main thing that turns me off is the huge gap in the walls of the 2nd and 3rd floors that make the building look like a Creator 3 in 1 building instead of a Creator Expert. As I've read through this thread the thought that came to me was to add a vertical piece covered with dark orange tiles in a pattern to match the walls in a manner that was used on the Saturn V rocket. basically a 1 by x section held on with clips. The clips would probably need to be connected to the angular wall and not the front wall I am thinking. What do you experienced MOC'ers think? Would this work? I think the Jo's Garage sign needs to be turned 90 degrees, which would necessitate purchasing a second printed sign from Bricklink. This would help make the Vet Clinic window more visible, plus make the sign more visible to passing motorists, and look more realistic. Even more realistic would be if it were an Octan sign, and the Jo's Garage sign was above the garage door. If I get this set the baseplate will get replaced with light bley and the interior possibly tiled, and a brick built door in sand blue will replace the door on the front of the building at the stairs. The Vet would get replaced with an auto parts store, and the apartment on the 3rd floor would become racks of auto parts inventory. And add more clutter to the garage, along with a coke machine and gumball machine. Every garage I was in back in the day had those. Maybe change it into a Texaco station since the colors are right, and add a 30's style gas pump. Not sure what I'd do about the car lift since it really doesn't resemble the ones from that era, those were always center post designs that telescoped out of the floor. Plus I suspect the play lever will get blocked when another building covers it (depending upon what it goes next to). That horrendous City style "umbrella" would get replaced with a brick built umbrella, with a 45 degree angle piece in the middle of the pole to make it not so straight, and maybe add a barbecue, table and rooftop AC unit up there. All in all, what I am going on about seem like a bunch of minor things that add up, but can easily be changed to suit the owner's desires. I know many here are purists, and want that out of the box experience, but all in all this is a fairly solid design even if it isn't the most classic or detailed one out there. That garage door is genus, and I will copy it elsewhere! edit - Oh, and replace the tree with a fire hydrant. The tree is ok, but only just.

I really like this set, but I have 2 main issues with the fire engine. First, on every real 1920's fire engine of this size that I can find an image of the ladders are always mounted on the sides of the truck. The telescoping ladder trucks I can find from this era were quite a bit bigger. If the ladders were mounted on the side of the truck like in real life, then it would be possible to add a chair for Santa on top of the utility section along with some decorations like a small tree and presents. The truck my local fire department drives around at Christmas is setup like that. My second issue has to do with the rear of the fire engine. Every fire engine I can find from this era, no matter the type, has a platform and rails on the back for 2 firemen to stand on and ride the truck to an emergency. The back of the Lego truck is severely lacking imho.