RuffDraft

Sounds wise. It's such a shame that the Brick Bank has sold out... is it still not available at the larger stores? Definitely get it - it's my favourite of the three modulars that I've built: BB, DO and PC. I did pick up the BB, AS and DO in the sales... I think I got really lucky in the UK in 2017, as there were a lot of sets on sale that year at different department stores. Hope you find an affordable BB at some point. Looking forward to picking up the CG later in the year - looks like a really nice set, but hoping LEGO outdoes itself a year from now with the next modular building and gives us something that knocks our socks off! I've got about £30 in VIP points too... but if it's not on sale at the Lego store, I'll pick it up from Smyths instead, as I think it'll be on sale there on Black Friday later this year. See what happens!

So, I was supposed to be buying this modular on January 1st, and my girlfriend gave me the money towards it for Christmas, but after a long consideration, I decided to put my own money towards the money I was given and picked up the Town Hall instead. I spent far more money on a NIB eBay Town Hall than I ever thought that I'd spend, but I'm glad that I did, as I think it's the most outstanding modular in terms of its looks and size. It's probably not a great investment, and definitely something that I'll probably look back and say, "What were you thinking?" but I watched the Black Friday sales in 2018, and I think I'll pick the Corner Garage up that weekend in 2019 instead, and have it as my Christmas present for 2019, rather than this past Christmas. I'm now missing the first three modulars and the Corner Garage. I'm not so sure whether I should buy the CC and GG second hand next year, as all of my sets so far have been NIB. The price for each of those sets new is too much though. I am a collector of sorts, I guess... I have that bug inside me, but something tells me that I'll probably only get the newer sets from here on out. I've been really lucky, as I only got into Lego in 2017, but I've only bought two sets myself: The Fire Brigade and half of The Town Hall. The rest have been Christmas presents or birthday presents or from Amazon vouchers that I received when I left my job to start my own business. It's been such a hectic year that I've only built three of the sets I own: The Palace Cinema, The Brick Bank and The Detective's Office, but this year looks a lot quieter, so I think it'll be a different story come next Christmas! Hoping to build at least three more!!! I'm going to start with either The Fire Brigade or The Town Hall in March. Because my girlfriend paid half towards The Town Hall, she wants to build it with me. We've built the smaller sets together, but I really enjoy learning from how the modulars are pieced together... but I guess I can share just this once! Is anyone else like this?! Anyways, just thought I'd share considering I'd mentioned that I was going to get it, and haven't. A lot of comments on Fb seem to be favourable. A lot of people seem to be enjoying the build, and I definitely think it's a great modular overall! For those that do buy it, enjoy!

Incredible design! Everything about it is just perfect! Well done! Like others, I would love to buy the instructions! Thanks for sharing!

I would personally be quite annoyed if LEGO replaced a Creator Expert creation with a licensed modular set. We've had Joker's Mansion and other sets that can be modified into modular buildings from the superheroes section of Lego, and that's all well and good, but for me, the modulars are a look into the real world of Lego, where superheroes don't exist and people have every day problems. I love the small town-ness of it all, and how the ordinary can be extraordinary... or something as simple as a proposal could be on the front page of the newspaper etc. My town is a bunch of buildings in the world of LEGO! It's not got anything licensed to it, and I think that's quite rare, when Star Wars / Marvel etc. get quite a lot of sets to themselves, and we get the one modular each year... I've included The Avengers in my town at the moment, so I'm not against superheroes by any means, or keeping everything super ordinary, but it's great to have made up buildings that are a creation from a real world building or just from the designers imagination... Just my thoughts! :O)

Thanks a lot for this insight. Before store opens sounds like a wise move. I'll see how much I drink on NYE, and if I drink too much, then I'll just order it instead. If it's a light NYE, then I'll get up and go for store opening! Cheers! That's great to hear. Thanks for your input too! OK - thanks. Sorry to hear about your lacklustre experiences. Sucks when they don't stock enough products.

Wow... that's surprising given that it's NYD! I wouldn't expect many to show up to buy it... If you order it online, surely you would only receive it on the 2nd, as NYD is a bank holiday? Such a shame... puts me off going to the store, which I think would be a really fun experience to celebrate a new product. Ah well, maybe I'll order it online instead and forgo being a day one buyer. Thanks! Thanks! It's NYD, so I doubt I'll get there for the store opening time. I may be able to though. I may go into the store and ask them how many they're expecting to get and how busy it was last year etc. and see what happens... it's only a small Lego store by me, so I doubt they'd receive that many.

I'm going to go and pick this up on the 1st... does every store have plenty of them on NYD? Do any Day One buyers know?

Yes, I definitely agree. I think we're all a little protective of our hobby, and so often when I express my love of LEGO to other adult friends, they'll say, "LEGO?! Are you serious?!" and you'll have to explain to them that it's actually really relaxing past time, and you can create really wonderful things etc. but then when I take them to my mini-city, they'll be like, "That is really cool," but it's not unusual to have them question certain things, and I would definitely have a hard time explaining the Corner Garage... even though I love it as a set and I'm willing to look past the 'real world interpretation'. I love in the video that he talks about the LEGO Universe... I think that's a powerful interpretation, and one perspective that more AFOLs should try to look at LEGO sets from. Definitely agree about the roller door - it's an epic design! When sets are smaller and lack space, AFOLs tend to say, "I can't get my hands in," etc. and people have those types of complaints. With the CG, there's definitely no complaint to be made. Also, it makes total sense, as you say, for the ground floor not to be tiled. I've never been in a working garage that had a nice floor. A showroom, definitely, but not otherwise. Looking forward to NYD too! Ohhhh I must have missed that! I'll go back and watch it again - very cool!

Hopefully it'll grow on you over time... it's like people say, sometimes, you have to build it to enjoy it. I found the video posted insightful with the designer, and the way the interviewer placed him at #2 of favourite designers after building the CG gives me hope that it's a really great build. I do love a lot of things about it, and I will be picking it up on NYD as my Christmas present. Looking forward to it! Hopefully next year's will be more to your tastes. Same here! It's great to get up close and personal and see the awkward questions answered too. The Octan guy working on it is a massive part of the selling point. People love stories. It's weird that they haven't made more of that fact. He's worked there for 20 years - you'd think he'd be in the designer video etc.

Hmmm I'm not sure this is directed at me, as I completely agreed with this in my initial post. I think the laundromat goes well with the bank. In terms of the gas station / vet, I do think it's strange by all standards because of the difficulties it would present. E.g. my girlfriend's dog is a bullmastiff, and weighs nearly 60kg. I couldn't carry him up the stairs to the vet. No chance. No way. I'd also be unhappy taking him to a vets where he'd smell petrol the whole time, but I agree that it's picking small parts with an otherwise fantastic set. That's good to know - glad to see that it happens in the real world. This. Was. Awesome. They should announce their sets like this, as it instantly extinguishes most complaints that AFOLs have with the set. I think the reason people are so finicky when it comes to Lego "making sense" it's because AFOLs are aware that their hobby is going to be questioned. If I'm showing off an amazing set to someone, I know that they'll ask questions or make fun of it, like, "I wouldn't take my pet there." etc. and we always feel the need to protect LEGO. So, when we're unable to do so, it looks like we've made a silly decision by backing such a model etc. I can't wait to get this model now... it's grown on me loads. I think it was great to hear that the designer worked on the coolest parts of this build, but it's a shame that they never brought up the car lift... instead making the jokes on the Ghostbusters' vehicle... kind of a wasted question, but he was great at asking the difficult questions. I really enjoy his interviews.

Yeah, that's very true. I think you're right. I would just love to have buildings that were less restricted by parts numbers. I wouldn't mind if they were all the same size as say the Corner Garage, but just didn't have empty spaces or overlooked items etc. Super excited for next year's though... I think they'll come back with something that's really enticing next year - not another building that's on the outskirts of the city etc. but one that can really stand tall and be proud! On the other hand, if they continued with the 'outskirts' modulars, then at least you'd have a couple of buildings of the same DNA that are on the outskirts etc.

Nice! I just picked up the Series 11 welder to go with the garage too! Haha! I hadn't noticed that!!! The LEGO tyres would be a great addition... they'd fit in a pile underneath the staircase too, though I doubt that's the best way to present them!

I think they should go big with the next one, and put the price up to Assembly Square level. I would also love to see an apartment building, maybe with some type of business on the bottom floor. I'd also love to see an outdoor staircase, similar to the one that Ross had on Friends, where Joey and himself tried to climb down it. I think that would look really cool on a modular building, and give burglars access to higher levelled floors. In all honesty, I think Jamie should come back as a designer. I don't know if it's possible, or whether he's moved beyond designing sets or he just oversees them, but I think there's a lot of disappointment surrounding this year's announcement, and Jamie could win the AFOLs back over if he takes over for next years. I think it would be a great challenge for him, given the new direction of the modular buildings, and hopefully he could do something that's quite out of the ordinary for him too. I'm still all-in on a Police Station or Hospital... I'd love to have either of those, as well as a museum, but it would have to be grandiose in design, and look more like the Town Hall size with lots of extras on the interior. I know a lot of people have complained about the price bump, but the modulars are only around once per year, so if they went all out with 3,500 piece modulars, and sold them at £200-220, I personally wouldn't mind that at all. It's a once per year kinda thing, and £220 is about £4 per week saving, which I'd personally be happy to save in hope of the next modular... people spend the same every day on their coffee, which is nuts! In terms of a daily saving, the more expensive modular setup would only be 60p saving per day! I get that we want as many people to be able to afford them, but I think really purposefully built modulars that are perfectly designed would satisfy everyone if everyone could see just how much more you'd get... with so many people wanting so much from a £159 set, their expectations are invariably too high... so... I think a further price bump and an extra 1,000 pieces would be awesome! An elevator would be amazing - agreed!

Your list just ruined modular buildings for me, forever! Haha! :) I guess with the dual modulars, like the bank and the laundrette, or the Diner and the music recording studio etc. all of them combinations are totally believable and non-jarring. I think we know that not every modular can have all amenities needed to make it realistic, but the combinations of different businesses included in a single building should make sense... I can't help but feel sorry for the animals with the CG. Flat tyre repairs and oil changes sounds like a good way to look at this garage. It's great to have a mechanic's opinion on their build, as I do feel that it's super basic, and more could be achieved, but if it is just for basic repairs, then they've done a decent enough job... it's just a shame that the car bounces around so much... I would like a softly rising car lift... I think that would have buzzed a lot of people out, as it's very much what an AFOL would love to see vs the unrealistic action of holding the car as your raise it... but never mind... we can't have all things, and what this modular has is done to a reasonable degree of success in line with most of the other modulars... even if it's one of the more disappointing modulars of recent years going by all opinions. He cheated! Haha! The firm hand on the top made a world of a difference! I agree about the bathroom too... for the door to have windows is really confusing too. I believe this was just a channel recording the conference, and I wasn't entirely certain they had permission to do so, either? It would be great if we got that video though - I'd love to hear their thoughts and see the design process...

I don't believe so... the designer video shows that you have to hold onto the vehicle in order to raise it without it moving all over the show! I'm not that experienced with Lego, so I would be very happy if I made this contraption, but with the Lego designers having years of experience, it's surprising that they're happy for cars to bounce around like crazy when you raise the car up... I don't quite think this was accomplished with much gusto at all. In my head, prior to the announcement, I thought the car lift would go much higher and be a lot more steady. Maybe someone else who has more experience can shed some light as to whether the car lift is a good build or not... Thanks for dropping the link. I was checking YT daily to see it. I'm content with the build now. I think it'll make a great addition to the city, and even if it has its own downfalls, it's not like I loved everything about the Cinema. Some buildings are just going to be sub-par I guess on this modular trail. I'm lucky in the sense that I still have so many in boxes and so many left to build. Yes, if that was the brief, then he's succeeded to an extent. I think it'll be a fun build. It's a shame that there's so much disappointment shrouding this one, but hopefully it'll grow to become the accepted, inferior modular in the future, in the sense that all towns have a building that's slightly run down and not as beautiful as the bank or square etc. Looking forward to getting it and adding it to the city (one day, when I have enough space!)! This will be my ninth modular, so I'm hoping that next year's announcement is the perfect one to add my tenth. If not, I may add the Town Hall instead!

Glad someone else has spotted it too... I was really annoyed when I saw how much the car was bouncing around when the lift was being demonstrated. The designer has made a beautiful garage door with a wonderfully concealed mechanism, but then they've made some form of bouncy car lift that wouldn't be used in the real world at all - if you bounced the car around, you'd cause more damage than you'd fix!

I agree with this. I woke up today, and thought I'd take another look, and then the image that @ncx posted actually made me feel like it has something about it. Its footprint appears to be much larger in terms of width and height, and I think that may be a part of its charm. The garage extends out further than I had suspected from yesterday's videos / images. The colour appears to work REALLY WELL in the image below, which I'm insanely surprised at, as the other images seem to show it as bright orange, or at least a brighter shade of orange... and this really doesn't work with the white and green gas station / garage. It looks way nicer if the tones are more towards the browner side. I'm still not a massive fan of the leaf facade, but when you compare it to the other modulars, it actually has more detail than most of the modulars I have on display (PC, DO and BB) with the exception of the Brick Bank. Of course, the Brick Bank facade had pieces so well hidden, such as the 1x2s on the ground floor, that you would not think of flicking them off, whereas this one is very clearly a bunch of 1x1s in a pattern... but I can take it... some buildings would be like this. It may be a significant nod to the designer that we were all so shocked and flabbergasted by its design that we hated it from the ideas we had in our head. Even the grey piece that everyone was complaining about works reasonably well, as it fits in with the other grey parts of the facade, and sometimes, structurally, you'd select pieces that aren't aesthetically pleasing to support the building. To me, it may even add some extra realism in there. I still think the combination is pretty ludicrous (vets), but if you look beyond that, then it's a really cool building, with some really strange choices that you can see pass and fall in love with. Someone else was saying yesterday that this building stands on its own really well, and I think the image below really shows this off. The best vehicle we've ever had from a modular, and some interesting mechanics, such as the car lift, even though it still looks a bit shoddy in how it lifts the vehicles. It's great that someone has show the pink Cadillac does fit in the gas station, and with the angle selected here, I think it looks better that you can see the names of both the gas station and vets, though it is a stupid decision to hide the vet signage. Ultimately, I think it's another modular to love, and I'm glad Lego are continuing the series, and hopefully giving us many more modulars to buy in the future. I'm honestly not that bothered by the price increase. I think this is a decent building with some interesting parts, and I am now looking forward to adding this to my city... Do I think it could have been better? Maybe, but the way that the building is in three sections does make it unique to certain extent, even if it does look like a larger Creator 3-in-1 set. It does have some strength to it, and I think I may grow to love it. A part of its charm is how ugly it appears on first view, but then you keep looking at it, and the little details and bonkers combination actually makes you like it more and more. I'm probably going to place this set next to the Pet Shop. I think that's the only way to get away from the fact that its above a gas station... if it's next to a Pet Shop, it feels like it's somehow separated more from the garage itself, even if it does go above and extend beyond the gas station.... really cool building! I take my hat off to the designer. I think they've been really brave with this one, and it'd be a shame if we only had MOCs. A part of the Modular Line's charm is that we can see how Lego tackle something in comparison to an AFOL.

I've spent today reading people's comments and exploring the modular itself, but I can't bring myself to fall in love with it. I think this will be one of the modulars that will have a shorter run. Maybe just one in total, as I think most people are buying it because they have to, rather than loving it and wanting it... it just doesn't look that great at all. It's really underwhelming, and I'm surprised, as I was ready to run out and get it on January 1st. I probably will still, as my girlfriend has said that she'll get it me for Christmas, but I'm just surprised by how short of expectations it really is... even if the way the lift works by pushing something outside of the building seems rather strange and playful, rather than realistic. Don't get me wrong, I don't want every building to look real... it's just a strange decision, even if it works well. I was ready to combat the naysayers today, as I loved the announcement of the Diner last year, and that was my first year of loving modular buildings. I love all of the modulars prior to this one, including the ones that I don't own (MS, CC, GG and TH). It's weird that this one seems to have divided us all more than usual (in reference to previous years when it looks to be 50-50 from the threads I've been back to look at).

Haha! You can't please everyone! I haven't seen the dark orange in person, so maybe it'll grow on me as a set. I've never seen the Town Hall in the flesh either. As you say, it makes tonnes more sense to have bricks that look like real bricks, so in that sense, maybe it'll win me over! I agree about it looking more like a child's set, but if I were a kid going to a vets and my pet was injured or hurt, having a nice paw on the handle as I reached out to go into what could be a nightmare situation would make me smile and put me at ease somewhat. I think it's a nice detail.

After reading the review over at Brickset: Pros: No sticker sheets is really cool! The way the garage door comes up is absolutely awesome! The door handle going up to the vets is really well thought out - lovely touch! New plant leaf element makes a cool change. The vets' equipment looks really well made and thought out - the lamp in particular is Pixar-esque. No snakes is a really funny print. The windows sound like they're put together in a new and fun way. The apartment looks decent enough with a nice TV set. The spanner branding above the garage is really cool. Cons: I'm still not sold on the way that the car lift works... it seemed to jolt the cars around a lot in the video that was shown in an earlier post, and I think that's possibly unrealistic. The garage still looks too small. Once you're in and have passed the car lift, you're basically in a small space with no extra details with the exception of the music turntable. I thought there'd be tyres on the wall, and a tool section with a mechanic who uses a blow torch etc. a la Series 11 Welder (just bought him for when I get this set). The orange is really not to my tastes... I find it quite vulgar. Hiding the sign of the vets behind the garage station sign is idiocy, though I suppose you only miss it if you look at it straight on. The 1x1 quarter circle tiles and 1x1 double-slopes don't really do it for me on the facade. It's still stupid to have a vets included with this set - makes no sense. You'd place it elsewhere in a town. Overall, I think after 5 hours of considering the design, I'm quite excited to build it. I think as others have mentioned, there are some really incredible MOCs out there now - the Post Office that was shared by a member here in particular, and I can't help but feel those sets are more cosmetically pleasing than this set. This set does look to use some really interesting techniques though, and I bet they'll be fun to put together. It definitely won't be a classic though, and I doubt that it'll sell well overall - I think the Diner is miles ahead of this set in looks and design. It also looks a lot more complete (I have it, but haven't built it yet).

Haha - that was me. I only referenced the Creator 3-in-1 sets, as each face of the facade looks like it could fold back on itself. I'm not sure I love the aesthetic, though I'm growing to enjoy that part as something unique about it in comparison to the other modulars. I think this is by far the most unrealistic set to date in the modular line due to the pairing of a gas station / garage with a vet clinic. Some things make sense, and are passable, but that pairing really doesn't work. I guess the set would have appealed too greatly to people who love cars had the vet clinic not been included, but I think something else should have taken its place... imagine taking a 60kg dog up the stairs for treatment - no chance - not to mention the smell of petrol and the chance of explosions! Everything else makes sense in the modular world. That 1x2 plate looks amazing to be fair, and really well used here. I think that was the piece that I was failing to identify. With Brick Bank, I loved each aspect of the facade, and how real it all looked. I loved the rooftop above the Detective's Office for similar reasons to the BB. With this set, I think I may grow to love that new 1x2 piece! I guess I just don't think the second and third floors go with the ground floor at all. I think it looks strange. The car lift looks unwieldily, and everything feels quite cramped. I wish it was more of an expansive set that focused solely on a garage / gas station combined... I think it'd be even better if it was the size of Assembly Square too... driving in and out would be much easier, and they could have included more pumps, and a larger garage for more tools and storage etc. I also really wanted a welder to be in there with a mask and blow torch, and that's why I think this may be the first set where I go all out to MOC it and make it something completely different with two sets.

The two real cons: From a real world perspective: who places a vets above a gas station? The smell of the gas wandering up the staircase and into the rooms... it wouldn't be the vets of my choice, not to mention the climb up the staircase with your sick pet. The car lift looks like it bounces the car around and does damage to the vehicle... maybe that's just in the example video, but otherwise, it looks very UN-realistic, which is such a shame. The one real pro: The garage doors are super cool!

After a longer inspection, and after seeing both the Lego Facebook Page video and the zusammengebaut.com video, I am unsure of the car lift... it's extremely unrealistic, and the car actually jolts around a lot... I thought it would be a smooth lift... that would have been a lot cooler. I do love how the garage door comes up though - that's a really nice touch!

I agree that the facade is ugly. When you compare this to a Brick Bank, I really don't think it stacks up well at all... that said, it's nicer than the Cinema. I think the ugliness kinda fits with the theme, but I'd have preferred a white facade for this one - the bottom floor looks really nice, and then you look up and almost throw up a little bit... might be a bit harsh, but there you go... initial thoughts...

Some really cool videos and new images leaking over on Facebook, like the 'follow the rabbit' post that Lego have issued on their official page. I'm not quite so sure how elegant the car lift looks to be... when do people anticipate the YouTube video landing? I really want to see a working video of the car lift... I agree with some others... it does look like an incomplete building to an extent.... there are some really cool breakthrough ideas in the way that this corner building looks completely different to every other corner building that we've seen so far... but the gaps are a strange choice... very creator 3-in-one... I do think this will be one of the best MOC'able modulars to date... there's loads of ways to improve upon this set if you extend it by another 16 stoods and boost the size of the garage, which is way too small... normally, I hate the idea of doing the initial design an injustice, but I don't love the look of this one enough to really care if I have a carbon copy or a MOC of it... It would have been better if we received a car garage one year, and then a gas station another year... I don't know why they've included both... seems to be too crowded... though their marketing is on point. Someone who is into cars is going to love it, whilst someone who is into animals is also going to love it, so I think this will sell well...