4954 Model Town House Review

[Siegfried]

I have been taking photos for this review for a few months and I finally took the rest of the photos last night.

All the parts. If you want tan, this is the set to get!

Main model.

The garage is a great addition...

...but the car only just fits!

The main house is very nice looking.

The windows extend to the sides...

...but not the back.

The chimney and drainage work very well, and I love the "basement".

I think the front works very well. When I was making this I was multitasking doing weight training; do a set, do a step, do a set... and I ended up missing one of the row paths. I discovered this after I finished the basement. :-|

The removable roof reveals BYO floors. Probably why this is called a Model house!

The roof was quite interesting to build. This is my first large house set so it all was very new to me.

I love the garage door.

More nice pipework.

This photo I mis-focused but there isn't much to see anyway!

The door is a nice touch. The grill to the right on both sides is not just decoration as it hides the hinges for the door.

I also made one of the sub-models. I was considering keeping this but I decided against it.

Once again the sides have windows...

but the back doesn't. The truck is there to make the photo more worthwhile!

The roof to this one doesn't come off easily as all the tiles are used for the front.

Just to clarify; these houses aren't attached so you can arrange them however you want.

The fronts are quite elaborate and it seems that Lego were trying to make this almost like a simpler market street.

The truck is too small for a minifig...

...but it probably was my favourite car.

Thoughts

I highly recommend this set. In most countries it is good value for money, including Australia. The design is excellent and three instructions are included. (The third is a school. If anyone has made it and wants to post photos feel free! At least one person at EB has made it.) I love how each house has its own car. Due to the way the primary model is made it is a bit weak at the corner, but that was a design choice. My only real complaint about this set is how Lego is going though a mould transition and thus some roof slopes are rough, others are smooth. I can accept either, and Lego has been moving to smooth slopes for years now, but to have a set with about 50/50 is annoying. (The MTT was the same.) But that is my only gripe with this excellent set. *wub*

[Paradosis]

Thanks for the review, and tons of pics! I've been wanting to pick this one up since I saw it. I thought the 4956 Creator House was nice, but this Model Town House is in a completely different league! I also like the alternate models that you can see in the catalogues.

[Lasse D]

Thank you for the review Sinner. At first I wanted this set for the 4 blue 1x1 slope tiles, but I can see there is much more into it than that. It sure is a great value compared to what you get in the Building Bonanzas (no cars and less detail).

It was funny to see the little side story in your pictures. Would it be hard to modify the cars to fit minifigs better?

[Asuka]

A beautiful and humorous review with very fine pics. *y*

A fantastic set, full of neat details and in a wonderful color scheme.

Great for every City builder for sure. I guess we waited for sets like that.

We dreamed about them. I

[tedbeard]

I found the use of parts well done by the designers. I made a car and then tried to make a house from a different instruction book. I could not as several pieces were already used in the car. Nice to see them using all the parts like that rather than having a lot of "extra" bits.

Moral of the story: one instruction book at a time. *sweet*

[Siegfried]

It sure is a great value compared to what you get in the Building Bonanzas (no cars and less detail).

I was all for the white house until I saw this set. I still wouldn't mind it though. :-D

Would it be hard to modify the cars to fit minifigs better?

The problem with the blue truck is a lack of headroom. However the truck is quite low and I can't see it being too hard to change and still have it looking good.

Great for every City builder for sure. I guess we waited for sets like that.

We dreamed about them. I

[Hinckley]

Awesome review! Luckily you have two cute little friends and one beautiful lady to help you out! :-P I likewise love *wub* this set and your review does it credit! I laughed outloud a lot as I read it. I especially love you trying to look through the windowless back :-D :-D :-D

Great job, now sort that out and start building for our competition! X-D

[Shadows]

Excellent review with great pics and cameo appearances by some of our EB favs *y*

Definitely a set that was on my 'to get' list already, and this only confirms that. Might make me want two, just because I love tan so much and I'd like to see if something could be done to bulk up that car.

Great job as always! :-)

[MatthewUSA]

Thank you very much for the review Sinner. I definitly *wub* this set. This will make a great addition for us "Townies". I thought the size was too small. I plan to make my house fit practically the whole baseplate. Plus I will definitly add floors, that looked :-D . I can't believe TLC skimped on the floors.

[simonwillems]

Thanks for this review Sinner!

I love this house, with the nicely made tiled corners, the colorscheme and the garage.

The only thing I dislike about this set is the way the windows are attached in train windows (so they turn inwards a little) instead of the usual frames with shutter-attachment-ability. But that is something that can be fixed in the blink of an eye.

I will certainly buy this house some day when I find it at reasonable price.

[Holodoc]

Thanks for the review Sinner! *y*

... although we had a not very detailed one already... :-P

I bought this set at TRU with 20% off resulting in 54

[paul_delahaye]

I too have bought this set and the only thing I notice which is a bit odd, with the exception of there being no floors in the house is the lack of a steering wheel in the car!

[PaulC]

Thanks for the review Sinner! I definitely want this set now. The mixed rough and smooth roof bricks would annoy me on a model like the MTT, but here it looks as is if the roof is quite old with some parts being worn and pitted and some parts being replaced with new roof tiles. I quite like the effect.

I agree on which is the best vehicle, and if it doesn't fit minifigs, just mod the heck out of it! X-D

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the thanks guys! *sweet*

Great job, now sort that out and start building for our competition! X-D

I started building today! *sweet*

I can't believe TLC skimped on the floors.

It didn't bother me as I downloaded the instructions prior to buying the set. I think it was a deliberate choice to make the house flashy looking but not very functional. Due to the cool looking corners it isn't very strong either; while breaking it I was reminded of a zip! :-P

The only thing I dislike about this set is the way the windows are attached in train windows (so they turn inwards a little) instead of the usual frames with shutter-attachment-ability.

These were my first windows like that and it surprised me. I wouldn't be surprised if Lego are trying to phase out the old windows.

Thanks for the review Sinner! *y*

... although we had a not very detailed one already... :-P

I notice that, but since didn't show what the original set looked like I saw that more of a MOC. 8-|

You get tons of useful parts to build other buildings as well. [shameless self-promotion /OFF] ;-)

I was actually considering adding a link to your MOC anyway. Thanks! :-P

I too have bought this set and the only thing I notice which is a bit odd, with the exception of there being no floors in the house is the lack of a steering wheel in the car!

Once again, I think this is just a sign of all style, no substance! :-D

The mixed rough and smooth roof bricks would annoy me on a model like the MTT, but here it looks as is if the roof is quite old with some parts being worn and pitted and some parts being replaced with new roof tiles. I quite like the effect.

Fair point. What confuses me though is the (CG) cover has the rough ones shown... :-|

[Lasse D]

Sinner. You have convinced me. I bought this set yesterday when it was on sale at International LEGO weekend in Sk

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

Sweet! Looks like an awesome set. I might get it, I have to see. Looks like it has a lot of good parts.

-ZotS

[Wout]

Thank you for the nice review.

I want this set too with al those tan bricks and black slopes and the cute blue car *wub*

I like the old windows more, I hope they don't stop producing them

[WhiteFang]

Sinner, thanks for this outstanding review! I am glad that I had read this review in advance, before making my purchase on this set earlier with my girlfriend. We built this set for a total of 3 hours, to complete this beauty, in about 2 hours ago. There are stars circling around my head at this very moment, when I post this reply.

I must admit from the bottom of my heart, that this is an wonderful piece of house, that simply shows the beauty of it, with the European kind of houses, where there is a garage. Furthermore, there is a lovely blue car. I am seeing stars right now, in the middle of the night, and I must drop a thanks to you personally as well.

Although it is empty from its interior unlike the 4996 Beach House, but this set has the majestic look which simply place a "Wow" factor in front of it upon completion.

At the moment, we had plans for getting the second set next month, to build the other design as well. Hopefully, I will be able to share with you guys, all of my different Creators sets, with its alternate designs as well in the near future.