Review: 10246 Detective's Office

[Legogal]

Very informative review and photos! Glad you finally built your first modular. The opening story is a hoot!

Looks like a fun set with lots of options for play. Thanks for all your work putting up the review.

[BigHobbit]

I've been excited about this set since the very first rumor (big fan of mysteries and the old noir feel), but I'm even more excited after your delightful review. I ordered it this morning and can't wait to get it...four gift cards and VIP points were well spent.

[The Jersey Brick Guy]

I am building this now, just finished Bag(s) 2.

My only gripe is the barber shop is to small for my large hands to fit in.

Besides that, I love it thus far.

[Oky]

Thank you very much everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the review.

ace review.

Hehe, I see what you did there.

You've got a duplicated picture in the bit where the candy is being moved from the outside and through the barber shop..

Doh! Thanks for pointing that out. I've fixed it.

...and I was expecting a final B&W picture or two where the detective makes his report to the woman in red, and gets his reward (candy, of course) or she in turn reports back to her real boyfriend, the candy smuggler.

Well, I didn't want the story to detract from the review too much, but perhaps I will do a follow up to this story someday.

How was the pool table legs made?

The pool table legs are just six of this part in brown which also hold the golden cones.

Can you please take some pictures/explain how the water tower is built? I understand that there are some tank treads bot how exactly?

And it is "There can be only one"!

Ah, I guess I should have elaborated on that a bit. I'd prefer not to take it apart, so here's a picture of it from the instructions. The treads are wrapped around a mid-sized gear and the 1x3 tiles fit surprisingly well on the treads.

And thanks for that correction. I had a feeling it sounded a bit off.

Totally agree with you, the height does seem rather small. Also 2x buildings on a 32x32 base-plate with a lots of spare studs behind the buildings are these buildings 12 studs in width?

Well, the building is 14 studs deep (except for The Highlander which is 17), but the interior space is 12 studs.

The mirror is on cardboard? I was hoping for it to be a window piece with a mirror on one side.. I hope it's not the same cardboard we had on some of the early Harry Potter sets or the element won't last long

It's not like the cardboard in the HP sets. It's a fairly thick and sturdy cardboard unlike anything we've seen to date, so unless you're playing around with it too much, it should be fine.

What are the different shades of blue? I know there's dark and medium blue, but what's the other blue?

Hm, not sure what the official name of that color is. I think Anchir is a more qualified person to answer this.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Wonderful review Oky! I can't wait to get this set, I love those little hidden features 3k

Edited January 2, 2015 by LEGO Guy Bri

[Yooha]

Thanks for the water tower info! That connection with the 1x3 tile is superb. Lego can still surprise me with the limitless possebility. :)

[Captain Braunsfeld]

We bought it today.

I looking forward to seeing all of this in "real brick life".

[VintageLegoEra]

What makes the set even Awsome is it hase no sticker...cooooool

[BlackVagrant]

Awesome review!

Our local stores selling it today in Singapore and it's already out of stock.

[Takezo]

Price: 4/5 - 2262 pieces seems a bit low for the price considering the Parisian Restaurant had over 200 pieces more, but I'd still say it's a fair price for a model of this size.

It's only an opinion and perhaps it's not definetely correct, but I think that modulars are each time a little more pricey...

Even if the total count of parts can be considered in the same range, their size is decreasing more and more... Maybe the right parameter to consider will be the weight of ABS instead of the part count... The last two modulars - PR and DO - in facts are very smaller than prior units as GG, GE, PS and so on...

What do you think?

[MusicaRibelle]

Very informative review. All those hiding places make it really special.

To me it means this modular is not to be idly displayed, but it needs to be really accessible to show all those neat features and moving parts.

It's definitely on my shopping list...

Thanks again!

[archieg]

Great review! It's good to finally get some decent info on this set. Can't wait to get my two.

Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but the colors of the five "pool balls" match the stripes on the retro LEGO logo from the '60s. Coincidence?

[Lord Tyrus]

Brilliant review, a great read! Although I do doubt I won't own this set due to its price tag and Star Wars 2015, it does look really good, and makes me want to start collecting the modulars!

[talos]

Fantastic review, thanks for going to the extra effort, appreciated! I picked one up yesterday, at the jam packed Lego store near me. Lots of them flying off the shelf, mine, I actually picked up off the stack on the floor when the clerk got distracted and set them down, he said I could take one..haha.

I am only half way finished building, and its been fun. I did make a mistake, and had to tear most of the barber shop section apart to fix it. I got as far as the 'Al's' sign, and realized, I used the medium blue 1x1 bricks in it for under the center section. There are two 1x2 medium blue plate parts that are under there, and like a fool, I grabbed the wrong color blue 1x1 bricks...arghh! It was getting dark, and the instructions have the same problem of dicerning the different shades for my old eyes. It was a challenge to put it back together again without looking at the instructions!

I am not that happy with all the traditional small instruction booklets being combined into one thick booklet. It is harder to lay flat, without mashing it down. Its obvious it was printed to be separate parts and then combined into a single one. As you go through the sections, you flip the page to an advertisement page, which would of been the back cover if it was printed as separate booklets. Cost cutting I guess. It was even wrapped in the crinkly type bag the parts usually come in.

I am already planning to add on a back section to make it larger, and add a bar and table area to the pool hall. I feel a little gipped too with the sidewalk tiles, I was hoping for more 2x2 dark grey, but they filled in a lot of the sidewalk with tan and brown...oh well. They could of put some sidewalk tiles in the very vacant looking back yard areas...

It is nice to get some parts I would normally never see, since I have a limited interest, mostly modulars and buildings in general.

[bjorkan]

set is definitely above average (or more) and this review outstanding :) m.

PS and by the way, I must agree with takezo saying that "...modulars are each time a little more pricey... "

Edited January 2, 2015 by bjorkan

[Sextant]

I did make a mistake, and had to tear most of the barber shop section apart to fix it. I got as far as the 'Al's' sign, and realized, I used the medium blue 1x1 bricks in it for under the center section. There are two 1x2 medium blue plate parts that are under there, and like a fool, I grabbed the wrong color blue 1x1 bricks...arghh! It was getting dark, and the instructions have the same problem of dicerning the different shades for my old eyes. It was a challenge to put it back together again without looking at the instructions!

I am guilty (guilty, I say!) of this same error. The fact that I had one dark blue 1x1 brick left over at the end led me to suspect the error was mine, and I had not been shorted a brick, but I scoured the exterior of the building and couldn't find a color mismatch anywhere. So thanks for helping me figure out where I went wrong.

Excellent review, Oky. I did in fact LOL at the POOP joke. PLOP would be a good one too.

[jodawill]

I love the "POOP LOL!" My students would love that too. They get such a kick out of potty words.

Great review! Nice photos, etc.

I'm excited to buy those reddish brown baseplates. They will be a great addition to my farm. I will be able to use my reddish brown plates to add texture to the ground instead of just laying them flat.

I've never bought a modular building before. I'm tempted to buy this one. It looks great, has lots of play features, and has some nice parts.

[GCO]

Thanks for the review! I can't wait to build mine which I bough today. The only problem now: My son and I are running out of space for the modular houses...

[Vindicare]

Great review! Loved that intro. Very nice telling/showing just about every inch of this set & it's build. It's interesting to read that you had a ripped bag, I did as well(bags 3, however). But, you fared better than I, the dark grey 8x14 plate used on the floor of Brickmans office was bent pretty severely, so much so that the plastic was white & partially broken at the bend.

[Thomas of Tortuga]

That story was worth the admission by itself!

[Salatamalex]

This review is spot on! Having built the set I'm slightly confused by the 'open to the elements' area at the top of the pool hall's interior and I think better use could have been made of the back yard thus making the barber shop and elements above it bigger. My favourite bits - the creation of the signs and the pool table.

[def]

Great review, you only make it look more desirable!

[talos]

This review is spot on! Having built the set I'm slightly confused by the 'open to the elements' area at the top of the pool hall's interior and I think better use could have been made of the back yard thus making the barber shop and elements above it bigger. My favourite bits - the creation of the signs and the pool table.

Me too, I was wondering if I missed a page to fill in the upper part of the wall between the pool hall and the steps area between the two buildings...maybe its to make it less confining when playing with it?

Now that I am sitting and looking at the finished product, the angle from the rear is a real mishmash of different colors...LOL I still want to add on to it, and make the pool hall larger with a bar and a table or two..

[Godtshep]

Excellent review of an excellent set Oky.

[Redhead1982]

Thanks for the great review and an interesting story, Oky. I'm really looking forward getting my copy of the set, and seeing some parts. I'm really curious about the mirror part, and this new light blue colour.