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Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure the clock and shield are new designs, which would be the first time new printed pieces are made for a modular, right?

Oh my gosh, the picture was posted as I was typing my reply. It's gorgeous! And it is Medium Nougat, just like I'd hoped - or is that Dark Orange?

No, the color shouldn't matter at all. As long as the mold itself is still in use, I would imagine they can make it in any color they want. I know that before the Pet Shop came out, people tried contacting TLG directly for the Dark Red roof tiles and were told that that piece was no longer in production, but that's not the same as the mold itself being discontinued. And now that it has made a comeback in the Pet Shop, we know that LEGO is again producing them. With that said, though, there is also the 1x2x3 panel used for the windows in Cafe Corner, which may have been discontinued entirely.

I think they should all just about fit in the bags when completed, though the larger ones would be pushing it. Certainly Market Street and Green Grocer could fit. ...Now I'm starting to wish I had attempted to do this from the beginning. Or that the LEGO Store gave them out free to anyone who could bag-build them, like those food challenges where your meal is free if you finish it in 30 minutes.

This seems like the most likely scenario to me. The actual building footprint of each modular to date has only taken up around half of the baseplate, so the building can be bigger without expanding beyond the existing 32x32 module. I could even see the front pushing a little forward as well, with a grand portico or something. That, or the high piece count is due to Robie House-style walls consisting entirely of 1x2 plates.

Erling was the name of a designer for TLG; The "Erling brick" is what most of us know as a "headlight brick." In a video tutorial for making columns, Jamie Berard says he refers to the 1x1 brick with studs on all four sides as a "Super Erling" brick.

All in good time - I mean, come on, we got HR S7 pics way before S6 even hit stores. Patience.

I recently received a 44-drawer cabinet from The Container Store as a gift, and it's perfect for me - admittedly, my collection is quite a bit smaller than the average AFOL's (in the thousands, but definitely not tens of thousands of pieces, including several permanently-on-display sets), so I'll have to upgrade eventually, but it's a very good start considering I had almost no method of organization previously.

I agree - it's such a beautiful color for realistic building materials. I'd also like to see more parts in the new olive green color from the Dino theme.

Has there been any actual confirmation of a price hike in the US, or is that just speculation based on the price in other countries?

Thanks for reviewing this set! I was wondering when someone would get around to it. If I buy any Friends set, it'll probably be this one - when I first saw preliminary pictures I thought it was an interior design/architecture studio, which would have been perfect for me, but it could easily be modded into one. The lack of a sewing machine does seem to be a glaring oversight though, and I would have loved to see how they would make it - there have been quite a few really interesting brick-built accessories in Friends sets so far. As for that enormous sandwich, I'd say the color suggests an edamame burger - Emma's got good taste!

I love all the new kitchen utensils here - and that brick-built blender - And we finally get forks and knives, but... where is the spoon? ...Oh my god. There is no spoon.

It depends on how patient and/or how much of a perfectionist you are - there aren't many terribly advanced building techniques, but the set has loads of 1x1 plates and tiles, and it can be difficult to get those lined up straight. Other than that, though, I'd highly recommend this set to beginners, as it's a great way to start building a city block without investing too much money or space.

Which pieces were missing for you? I built mine today and nothing turned up missing, though after reading your review, I was paranoid about it through the entire build.

I just got this, haven't built it yet - but I can say that there are a few more new pieces than you might realize. No completely new molds, of course, but both the 1x1 brick with two side studs and 1x2 plate with door rail are here in Reddish Brown for the first time, 1x1 tiles in Earth Blue (previously only available as the printed compass piece in PotC sets), the castle window in white, and the 1x3x2 curved top arch is new in yellow.

I think the only ways to do it in scale would be the feather plume from the old Islanders sets or a white version of the CMF fan (Kimono Girl/Flamenco Dancer). But I'd much prefer a creative assembly over a single-piece solution, even if it is twice as big as it needs to be. Working across the street from a LEGO Store, I don't know how I'm going to resist the temptation to cut out early to run and get this tomorrow.

Does anyone know for sure when this is actually coming out? When I asked at the local LEGO Store a couple weeks ago, I was told January, but now the release date on S@H has been bumped to February.

After searching around a bit more, I found that Brickstructures (Adam Reed Tucker's company, the official distributor for the Architecture sets) still has it. In their online store, it's only available as part of a Landmark Series four-pack, but they also have a Bricklink store with 29 still in stock.

I noticed that too, and the Sears Tower is, in a way, discontinued as well - the current edition is sold under its new name, which I believe happened around the same time the Hancock Center dropped off the face of the earth. I hope I can get my hands on one before they become too expensive on the secondary market, since Architecture is the one theme I stand a chance of eventually collecting all of.

Thanks for the review! I was pretty ambivalent about Friends at first, but I think it's an overall very positive move. About the several mini-builds - that's sort of the point. I think it was in the Bloomberg Businessweek article about Friends that one of the designers said a key element of the sets would be that much of the building is done in separate stages, so that you can still play with it even before it's "fully" built. I think that's a pretty good approach - it lessens building time without necessarily de-emphasizing building or using big "<insert that tiresome argument>" parts. And the laptop - we do see that in another Friends set, the design studio, on the desk next to the enormous sandwich.

I... I have no words. This is incredible. Any estimate on a piece count?

I'll add to those saying an index of income in each country would help as well, but point out that median income, not average, gives us a better gauge of how things stand.

To add a little variety to all the Christmas MOCs currently making the rounds... When I was looking through the extra pieces I had on hand, I noticed exactly nine dark brown telescopes and nine flames, so this pretty much had to happen (not all the flames are in yet, of course; the last candle will be lit tonight). I stuck to a Dark Brown/Reddish Brown/Warm Gold palette for a sort of antique look, though if you'd like to see a more colorful one there's always this! Happy Hanukkah!

Oh, duh, I should have noticed that. That key is going to become a very popular piece for steampunk MOCs.

I'm still trying to figure out if the Clockwork Robot's wind-up key is a single neckpiece or an assembly with this part. Anyone know?