fred67

I wasn't comparing to a "real" building, I was comparing modulars without interiors (CC and GG) with newer modulars - the more they added interior features, the smaller the overall builds became. Roughly the same number of pieces, but with so many of them dedicated to little detaily things inside the buildings (which I don't care about), the size of the building itself suffered.

Been away for a while.... when I left, I was younger than dirt. Now I'm older than dirt, apparently. 51 on Sunday.

Well... not to derail the thread (not that it's really going anywhere, anyway), but I prefer the larger, more substantial buildings with no interiors (they're just going to sit there in my city, with trains and such going around them - it would be hard to even get to one to open it) than smaller buildings with interiors no one will ever see. I feel like interiors are the kinds of things both kids and AFOLs can add on, if they want. So when they started adding interiors, the building sizes seemed to start shrinking. These are modulars, not Friends or traditional City sets.

That's why I built the top floor as a mirror image of what the instructions said to do. Since this was a factory set (I get it's now retroactively an "official" modular), I feel like the designer wanted something on a big scale, but was mostly just hunting for a lot of parts in certain colors. I want to make it clear I don't "hate" it, it's just not all that great, even with all the modifications I did to try to make it better. I may tear down the "garage" part to make it a corner.

I'm wondering if you guys are just guessing about TLG's intentions, or you know this for a fact? It seems to me that the clone manufacturers are doing a great job at ripping off LEGO sets - I do not recommend getting them, but one only needs to look on Aliexpress to see how closely they are copying them, which I don't think you can get from a couple of pictures. It also seems to me that, while clones existed for some time, it really took off when TLG started manufacturing in China, which is where most of the knockoffs come from. In other words, I don't think it's the conventions that give it away, I think it's insiders working for LEGO.

Very nicely done! Excellent build - captures the essence of the office just as it was from the very first episode. I know there was an Ideas set based on X-Files, but I'm wondering how you came up with the figure parts for the characters.... and, more importantly, the "I want to believe" poster.

Of course everyone has their own opinion, but sometimes more people lean one way than another - I gave some reasons I thought MS was below modular standards; I still think it pales in comparison to other modulars (even the ones released around the same time frame). Perhaps just a lot more people felt the same way about it. But I do think it can be improved (so can other modulars, for the record - you should take a look at this thread, this post even; people bricklinking modular buildings have gotten creative to avoid the high cost of the actual sets); even in my signature is a link to what I ultimately built (although I have made a few changes since then).

He didn't - he used 48x48 gray baseplates and built up with white bricks around. I was able to get two boxes of 8x16 white bricks from LEGO education, but I used one for Hoth scene and you can't get them like that anymore. I really wish TLG would sell boxes of single colors - white, black, gray, etc. I have a complete train layout for my winter village, but it's all flat and not nearly as interesting as this. I may want to spend more time on it. I've never done a proper train layout, I've never fixed the track to baseplates (or regular plates). I'm thinking along the lines of what Alebricks did (I like the name, BTW, I've always preferred Adult LEGO Enthusiast over AFOL), starting with baseplates as a foundation, but building up the "ground" first. I'm thinking more than one level, though, and I'm thinking of doing this as a standard for everything I build in the future. It makes it easy to add a "valley," rivers, shoreline, etc., in the future. It's a beautiful build, Alebricks, congratulations.

Yes - that type of roof line is found in mostly in Europe, but can be found in North America, too. It's called a "Crow Stepped Gable." I thought it was odd until I saw pictures of it on actual buildings, at which point I found it actually one of the better points of the building (as you can see from the post before yours, I'm not a huge fan of it overall).

I am getting the diner later this month. I have all the other modular buildings except the Assembly Square (too expensive... I might find a way to get it at some point). I would like, some day, to build a large train layout with all the modular buildings as the city. The way I envision this diner is as a separate piece, maybe next to a drive in movie theater or something, surrounded by road plates, and not right up next to one of the other modular buildings because I agree that it doesn't really fit that well. Perhaps as you drive down the road in my LEGO city it goes from mainstream to classy (diner on one side, PR on the other).

If you want to consider it a modular, that's fine - I think TLG retroactively decided it should be in the modular line, but it actually predates modulars (same release data as Cafe Corner as a set, but was on LEGO factory before that), so it didn't follow any particular set of rules. I happen to think it inspired TLG to show that such a large set is financially worthwhile. My opinion is it's only really half a building, if that, compared to "official" modular buildings, and I, for one, thought it was ugly when it was released and didn't buy it. I didn't like the color scheme, I didn't like the bony look of what should have been black wrought iron railing, I think the decorative part over the walkway was a really cool, ingenious idea, but looks ugly in the context it was used. If you put it side by side with your other modulars, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Since I did start collecting modular buildings, I ended up bricklinking my own version of Market Street. Among other things, I replaced the plain gray bricks that were supposed to be wear on the building with profile bricks, and I used a lot more of them; I made the wrought iron rails in black; I made the "bricked over" windows actual windows. I still don't think it looks that great, but I didn't want to miss having one of the buildings. All that said, it's all IMO, and everyone is entitled to theirs. I wouldn't knock someone for thinking it was a great design, nor would I knock someone explaining why they didn't like a set I liked.

I have bought from Aliexpress, it's not a rip-off site (in the sense that you pay and don't get what you ordered). It's slow boat from China, though, so delivery can take a while. Do you have links to those products on Ali? I am finding it hard to believe it's real LEGO and not a copy.

I've always said the "Ruby" mod for the Emerald Night looks more like the Hogwarts Express than any official Hogwarts Express set ever did.

I missed something.... what new roller coaster track? Is there a set coming out?

I agree completely and yet, at the same time, on small scales (i.e. not a huge investment), I don't mind trying (paying for) the alternatives out there and giving my feedback. I'm not part of a LUG or LEGO train club - I wish I had the time to be part of one, but I don't - so it's just me, though. I bought the original ME tracks, and don't regret it. I also backed their kickstarter campaign and added extra rail when they offered it, and was one of the ones who got it. I am not thrilled with the product, but it works, and I think the general idea they used was a good one. It could have been implemented better (I'd actually write a review of it if they were still shipping and selling product, but now it would be pointless), but at the very least the electrical conductivity was spectacular (as it should be, built on over 100 years of refinements in traditional model railroading). The problem is I don't really need rail, exactly, but I need the interesting parts - turnouts and such, the motors... I also want to make it clear that I do have PF stuff as well - motors and controllers, the non-rechargeable battery packs, etc., and I don't mind playing with that stuff, but if/when I make a real "permanent" layout, I want it to be 9V. I still think a great solution would be a generic o-gauge "LEGO-ized" train motor would pretty much solve everything. Then we could just buy o-gauge supplies from a variety of vendors.

Thanks for all the replies. It's unfortunate that no third parties seem to be successful at making 9V replacements. I know TLG was losing money on 9v (or so the story goes), but I would pay double, at this point. I'm not really happy with the hybrid solutions because you still have the big drawback of needing the battery pack hidden somewhere in your train. You can do very stylized trains with the 9V motors (like the moon-base train I'm thinking of trying); I feel like you need to build around a battery for PF. I get the advantages of PF, but I just don't really care about them (although if I ever get a really large layout, I might). I know you can still by NIB motors on bricklink, but they seem pretty expensive. I have a handful - maybe 5 or 6, I suppose I will buy a few more. Crossovers and switches are fairly expensive - I'm glad I have a pair. My layouts are not very complicated... even the moon base I want to make would just have a loop. It's too bad. I understand the reasoning behind everything, it just doesn't go with what I would like, and it doesn't go with traditional model railroading.

I realize people really like sticking with LEGO branded products, is there some reason any train speed regulator wouldn't work, in the event of eventual breakage of the LEGO one?

Hi, I've been away for a while, and without writing a huge story about it, I'm wondering what the status of third party 9v track and accessories is. I was a backer for ME Models metal track - I was also one of the people who expanded their order back in the summer of 2016, and received my full shipment last January. I take it they are having a lot of problems now, and a lot of people did not receive their product. That's really unfortunate... we need some successful players in this market, even if it means higher prices to cover costs. I was recently able to finally set up the track for my annual Christmas train set up - the only time I get to keep out a functioning train layout. The ME track was... interesting. Coming from all LEGO, I will say the conductivity seemed flawless compared to years past, where I always seemed to have bad track along the way somewhere that made the train slow, even after cleaning. I was very impressed with it. That said, the larger radius curved seemed to suffer from not being perfect arcs when put together. Putting the track together - and keeping it together while trying to connect other track, was also fairly frustrating - and I ended up just not using the end plastic pieces that join sections together, and instead just let the traditional rail joiners hold them together. But I checked ME recently, and as we all know there is no more track available. I was so optimistic at the time if the campaign - even answering surveys of what I would like to see next (like new motors). So I searched here.... bricktracks seemed like it would have been worth a shot, but the campaign failed, probably because it was competing with the ME campaign, but I don't know. Still, bricktracks seems like a functioning business - but I only see plastic in the store. So is there any news that I'm missing? I really don't want to just give it up - I really dislike battery operated for a number of reasons.

I used to save the larger ones (with the ends open so that I could flatten them), but I have way too many sets, and I had no idea what I would ever use them for. It's true I have a huge surplus of sets I'd like to sell, but I honestly never bought any for the purpose of reselling, so I decided to throw them all. The only ones I keep: special ones, like my signed architecture sets (the first four), and the Ideas sets usually have an "upscale" and interesting box.

Nothing for me yet, either. I finally got an email that asked to correspond either by phone or email; I responded with "email," but haven't heard anything. That was several weeks ago.

Sounds like this is turning into a SW themed thread after only two posts... but I'll bite. One set, in particular, that really bothered me was the recent space shuttle set. 10231 - Shuttle Expedition (2011) vs. 60080 Spaceport (2015). You could argue it's got two separate audiences, but seeing the set shows they are essentially the same idea. The first set was more brick built, giving it a lot more pieces (more than twice as many); was much larger when built. You could argue the 2011 version is UCS - and I wouldn't argue about it except that the smaller set, with less than half the pieces, actually cost MORE (20% more) and only 4 years later. I also understand why Star Wars will be a big topic on this thread, with them re-releasing so many sets and figures. I would suggest the 2011 Millennium Falcon is better than the 2015 version, although I have neither (I have the 2004 one) and it's just based on overall impressions of the images.

Yes... I've seen that before, too. People not carefully following instructions. I was building a modular with my kids usually could find the piece they said was missing in the pile of parts still on the table, or they'd just built it wrong - like doing a whole section of wall with 1x? parts just all willy-nilly, thinking it'd all work out in the end.... it didn't. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd just gone into my own collection and swapped a couple of 1x2 for one 1x4 or something, but then I'd feel "dirty."

Agreed. Sadly, I have already put away my annual Christmas set up - the one time a year I set up trains, unfortunately, but will pull it all out to try everything out when it gets here. I wish we could get all of the parts, including switches and crossovers done in this traditional method. Then we wouldn't have to worry about motors or speed regulators or anything.

When I built MMV, it was the nicest set I'd ever built up to that point, and being able to add more homes to your medieval village doesn't hurt... so yes, it was probably the first set I bought more than one of. Great idea... one that I missed. I bought several Emerald Knights, though... extra cars, did a "red" conversion on one (a better Hogwart's Express than TLG ever released). CMFs, of course, like most people - also multiple Uruk Hai armies and a lot of battle packs, including castle, fantasy era trolls, SW battle packs, and several of the three-in-one creator sets.

Most of the time the missing parts turn up somewhere... hiding in the carpet or elsewhere. I have, however, experienced missing pieces a few times over the years (hundreds of sets), and I had one case of severely defective parts (which I've described elsewhere on this forum).