dunamis

I agree that Market Street is a nice set, but Green Grocer is much better.

LOL, you are absolutely right! Thanks for letting me know, I just fixed it.

Thanks for all the feedback. As you can tell, I really enjoyed building it. Yes, it is. I gave Cafe Corner a 96% and I felt this was a better set and improved on the things that I dinged Cafe Corner on (lack of minifigs was one thing.) That's why I enjoy reading the comments so I can see if my ratings are in line with what everyone else thinks and to see if I missed anything. I can't wait for some of you to build it and share your thoughts as well.

Green Grocer Reviewed by Dunamis Set 10185 2,352 Pieces $149.95 from The LEGO Store (Glendale, CA) Build time 6.5 hours Holy guacamole! Almost exactly one year after Caf� Corner was released we get the third installment in the increasingly popular LEGO exclusive town series. Combined with the famous 10182 Caf� Corner and its trusty companion 10190 Market Street this trio makes the foundation for an amazing city block of LEGO goodness. For those new to this series of sets, check out my reviews of the two previous sets in this line: Cafe Corner Market Street I would not necessarily recommend reading too many of my reviews in one setting as you might experience loss of brain cells and/or drowsiness. You have been warned. So, how does Green Grocer stack up to the two previous sets you ask? Well, follow along kind reader and I shall attempt to unravel this question. The Box: The gigantic box is pretty standard and looks amazingly similar to the Caf� Corner box. The back of the box shows some of the features of the green grocer as well as a lot of the cool interior that was absent from the previous sets. In addition, we are shown an image of the three sets together and a small insert image showing how they connect together (as if we could not master that difficult maneuver�) Opening the box is a matter of breaking two seals. As it seems to be the norm now, we have the reusable cereal box type tab system that we saw so often in 2007 sets. However, upon opening the tabs we are pleasantly surprised to find a cardboard tray! Have not seen one of those in a while. As you can see in the photo, we have two 32x16 green base plates, three instruction manuals and a bunch of bags that are broken into four groups: Group 1 has 12 bags and goes with the first manual and builds the first floor. Group 2 has 9 bags and goes with the second manual to build the second floor. Group 3 has 14 bags and goes with the third manual for the top floor and roof. And one bag that is not numbered and hence you can open it whenever you feel like it. There are no stickers � Yay! Moving right along, we get to the three instruction manuals. The Manuals: The three manuals are 55, 47 and 47 pages in length. They are laid out well and are pretty standard with all the usual trimmings: - Piece call outs for each step - Parts inventory at the end of the second manual - Page numbers Color separation in these manuals was fine for me except dark bley and black. We get a nice photo of all three sets together: Plus, we get a nice tip showing how to split up the bags and what goes where. Those additional pieces you see in the photo just below the numbered bags are the pieces that come from the single un-numbered bag (along with the base plates). Parts list Random manual shot The Pieces: Upon opening the first set of bags, one thing is clear; there are a TON of little tiny pieces! The minifigs are included in this first section as well. Interesting to note that there are a handful of printed pieces and as I mentioned previously, no stickers. We also get a host of new and exciting pieces to add to our collection. Keep in mind my scope of LEGO sets is generally centered around Star Wars, Technic, Creator and the occasional racer set so what is new to me might have been around 15 years. At any rate, here are some of the more interesting pieces: Again, note the printed tiles. This time around, LEGO has decided to include 33% more minifigs than the Caf� Corner and Market Street sets. Yes, we get four minifigs instead of three! Here are the cast of characters: Pictured (left to right) is Sir Top Hat, Miss Jenny Blue Overalls, Patti O� Furniture and little Timmy Cub Scout. I�ll leave it up to the minifig aficionados to decipher which torsos are new and to tell us all about the hairpieces. I can say with reasonable certainty that the four yellow smiley heads are not new (somebody check that�) Don�t forget the lovable little cat named �Tom�. He is the arch-rival of the mouse �Jerry� that lives downstairs: Overall, there are a lot of pieces, large variety and wide range of colors. The Build: If you have either of the two previous sets, you will feel right at home here. Just like in the previous builds, it seems like the first ten build steps are consumed with laying a bunch of 1x1, 1x2 and 2x2 tiles everywhere. Almost feels like 30% of the pieces are used up right away (see below). There are several sections where you build various parts of the interior. Take a look at the cash register/counter below: And the beverage cooler: And the produce stand and everything that goes in it: Looks like someone has mail: Looks like someone just had a baby: This set is incredibly well done and gives inspiration to go back and add similar items to Caf� Corner and Market Street. As before, the average builder is introduced to some new building techniques like using the hinge plates to make the angles on the front of the building as shown below: Also the top of the roof shows some interesting ideas: Overall, it is a really fun build that kept me entertained the whole way. The Design: This is a great set with lots of little details. I especially like the little mouse hole in the wall leading to the Jerry the mouse�s area. They even included a little slice of cheese! It seems the designers can�t get away from the �usual� staircase which I always feel is way too big. Maybe future designs can incorporate a spiral staircase to save room for other things in the model. One welcome addition is the fire escape as seen below: I�m going to show a bunch of examples of various items in the set so you can get the feel of the amazing detail in this design. Take a look at the lamps (torches?) just outside the door: And the streetlight with fire hydrant: Brickwork and archway: Awning: Here is the back side of the building. Note the trashcans and yard tools: Here is a close-up of the railings on the second story balcony and the second photo is the finished product with curtains in the window. Nice use of cups to make the banister on the second floor: Here is the fireplace on the second floor: Second floor staircase with Tom�s hiding spot: Check out the radiator on the third floor: More third floor: Nice grandfather clock and rug (third floor) Check out the deck that is up on the roof. Complete with two chairs, table, umbrella, flower pots and grill: Interesting use of minifig hammers on the roof: Finally, here is what is left over when we�re done: A couple of shots of the front: A shot of the back: And here are all three together: Overall Thoughts: This is an incredible set and the best of the three in my opinion. It is hard to top Caf� Corner but I believe Green Grocer just did. I absolutely love all the details and building techniques that went into making this set. There is a ton of different parts and wide color selection. As usual, we get a bunch of tiles and small plates, but that goes with the series. Also, we get four minifigs and lots of minifig accessories. I�m giving this set a score of 100%! I thought about it and I really don�t know how they could have made it any better. In short, RUN don�t walk to go pick this set up! Final Rating: 100% Build 10/10 (Excellent - Lots of nice interiors, details and accessories to build.) Functionality 10/10 (Outstanding. Raises the bar with interior and detail. Think Caf� Corner on steroids.) Design 10/10 (Excellent � can�t say enough good things about it.) Parts 10/10 (Great selection and diverse colors. Great minifigs.) Price 10/10 (Price ratio is excellent but lots and lots of little parts. Well worth the price.) As alway, feel free to comment, complain and question what you see here. I'd like to hear your feedback on this amazing set.

Wow, very nice indeed. Love the waterfall and bridge.

Great read, thanks for posting.

Picked one up today so review to follow shortly (I'll start tonight on it)!

Thanks for starting a topic on this Gylman. When I first saw that I was very interested. Now, after seeing the photos from it I can't wait to get my hands on it. Of course, brickset, peeron, lugnet are all excellent resources but nothing beats having something in your hand to refer to quickly. I believe it is supposed to be available in the US this Summer. As far as the gold/yellow bricks, I took it as a rating on how popular the set was (but I could be wrong.) Anyway, looking forward to it and hopefully we can get some more photos.

Wow, nice find. Still waiting for it to show up on USA S@H...

That's good to know!

Great find! Thank you.

Just got a chance to read the entire thread. Great job on the design guys! Some of my first LEGO sets were the classic space sets back in the 70's. These bring me back and I'm really looking forward to picking these up and building them. Can't wait to see more photos. Keep up the great work and thanks for participating in the discussion.

Great pics! Some really cool sets. I'm liking the gunship more and more...

To me, an iconic set would have to be something from the OT. We've pretty much done all the iconic ships/vehicles so that leaves a location. We have the rumored minifig scale death star coming up so that leaves a few locals: Jabba Palace - could have a lot of minifigs and would fit in nicely with the sail barge Endor bunker - lots of ewoks, stormies, rebels, etc. Fits in nicely with AT-ST, AT-AT & imperial shuttle Cloud City - already been there done that Hoth - they already blew this one Cantina - I know this was done before, but if they really did it up right with 1,200 pieces and 10-15 minifigs this could be a winner! Owen Farm - everyone remembers where Luke got his start and this actually crosses the bridge between the OT and PT. Could have minifigs from both eras. My choices would be a redesign of the Cantina followed by Jabba's Palace. Can't wait for the leaked photos in about a year... *y*

Wow, it looks amazing and makes me want it even more. Can't wait to build it!

Just ask for one at the LEGO retail store. They usually have some type of coupon on it, i.e. 10% off one item or in this case, the $5 off a $50 racer purchase. Some months are better than others... :-/

I can only speak to the US as I know it applies nationwide. I have no idea about the non-US stores. Presumably, they offer something similar?

A brick-made single stem rose would be interesting! I'm assuming that the Eiffel Tower on Valentines ties in with Paris and romance/love? Maybe our resident Paris expert *yoda* can fill us in? :-)

Some deals from the February Store Calendar: Feb 4 and 5 : show your LEGO club card and all key chains are buy one get one free Feb 14 and 15 : 10181 Eiffel Tower is 20% off Feb 18 through 22 : Buy any 4 tiny turbo racers and save $2 off your total Feb 1 through 29 : save $5 off a LEGO Racer purchase of $50 or more

Looks great and I can't wait to get it. If it is anything like Cafe Corner, it will be in high demand when first released. If I can get it early enough, I'll review it like I did with Cafe Corner and Market Street.

That seems odd as there are stacks of them at the local target and wal-marts here.

I've always wanted to go to one of these. Looks like it is time for me to plan another 'business' trip to Washington again ;-) Sounds great. I'm really going to make an effort to get out there.

That's cool! Can't wait to play it on the 360.

Keep in mind there is not a lot of interior, just mainly what was shown in the last two photos of the review. Still, it does make the models really nice.

Wow, this is cool. I would love to do that but $1,700 + airfare and accomodations from the U.S. would make it pretty expensive. As someone said above, that would buy a lot of LEGO!