Around a Year ago, I got my first Exo-Force set, My city was getting old...I blew it up! It was fun.

Now I have my Eye on the old Spider-Man sets such as the Diamond chase and Bridge Battle.

I was thinking of making a whole new town but I know its gonna take some planning and my Birthday is in July so I gotta get Cracking.

What are the Basics of a Town that I need and what services?

I have around

Edited May 29, 200816 yr by Joey Lock

Try ebay and look for Cafe Corner, Market Street, Town Plan and Green Grocery. That might be the best way to get the most for your money, and that are propably the best city sets available at the moment.

The most important part of any Lego town is really simple -- room. You need lots and lots of room. Set your town up somewhere that you can expand as your collection grows.

But ... even then, no matter how much space you set up for yourself, you'll outgrow it. I built a 10-foot square table in my basement, thinking I would never have expansion problems ever again. Wrong. I've now eyeing other parts of the basement, trying to figure out where I can expand and not irritate my wife too much.

Good luck, and have fun!

Hi,

I would spend it all on eBay. Bricks, roads and vehicles. Some great bargains there and if you spend wisely you could get 5+ times the amount of Lego than buying stuff in a shop or on lego.com.

I think that the new 10184 Town Plan set would be a simply marvelous start....

This thread should be of some help.

You all say get stuff off Ebay but:

1. I dont really use it

2. I dont know how to use it

3. I need names of sets!

You say get the Factory sets, Problem is I have around £130 to spend, 1 of them costs £89 alone... Can you think of small sets and £30 sets that are useful, I was thinking of the Service Station

The town plan looks Great! If someone can find it for £60 or less, Ill buy it.

I think that the new 10184 Town Plan set would be a simply marvelous start....

I totally agree!

I don't want to make surreptitious advertising but Town Plan is absolutely :wub: and an absolutely must-have for all real Lego (City) fans and a perfect set to start with your new City.

With Town Plan you can start building a whole new City - and you've got the "heart" of the City there, too, the town hall. Plus having a nice fountain and a cinema is very nice in the center of your City, isn't it?! And a gas station is necessary, too, and then you need not buy the extra gas station of the last year - which is never as awesome as this one in the Town Plan set .

Then I'd spend some money on buying older City sets from Ebay. And I'd buy some street plates because they make your City looking much better and professional.

And I'd save some money for next year (will be getting very expensive) when we'll get new trains and probably a new hospital and a new post office, too - so I wouldn't buy sets like these now.

I hope I could help.

Klaus-Dieter

Two words here:

Bulk Bricks

Buy a bunch of 2x4 AND 2x2 standard bricks in several colors (Red, White, Blue, Grey/Bley, etc) and combine those with doors and windows to make a great city fast. It's not that hard to just put them together on a baseplate, and though they're not too fancy, they're great for brickwars and they're fun if you only build three walls for them or have a removeable roof.

You all say get stuff off Ebay but:

1. I dont really use it

2. I dont know how to use it

3. I need names of sets!

To 1.:

But you could use it!

To 2.:

What do you mean with question number 2 ?

To 3.:

I would advise to buy:

-6389 Fire Contorl Center because it's an absolutely amazing set - much better than all fire stations which were before and which came after it!

-6398 Central Precinct HQ because it's an absolutely amazing set - much better than all police stations which were before and which came after it!

-6416 Poolside Paradise because it's an awesome villa which adds to your City more civil stuff - and not only always fire & police!

...

Klaus-Dieter

To 1.:

But you could use it!

To 2.:

What do you mean with question number 2 ?

To 3.:

I would advise to buy:

-6389 Fire Contorl Center because it's an absolutely amazing set - much better than all fire stations which were before and which came after it!

-6398 Central Precinct HQ because it's an absolutely amazing set - much better than all police stations which were before and which came after it!

-6416 Poolside Paradise because it's an awesome villa which adds to your City more civil stuff - and not only always fire & police!

...

Klaus-Dieter

I meen with Question 2 is that I dont know how to Bid at the last second.

Hi, Joey.

I've recently started a very small city and have bought a few sets to get going - like you I'm not too experienced in the ways of Ebay. I've bid on a few bulk things but have been 'gazumped' at the last second which is irritating so I've bought new sets.

I'd recommend getting something thats mainly in an 'old' colour like yellow, white etc. and avoid tan and grey so that if you do get some bulk bricks you're more likely to get bricks in colours that match. (although it's really handy to have some new colours for detailing but these can be bought later, if required).

Depending upon what you already have, I reckon it's a good idea to get some windows in a set. The choice of set then depends upon how you want your first few buildings to look - if you want commercial shops etc then the big windows in the 7744 police station (for example) give a nice modern feel. These windows don't work too well for houses so a set with the smaller, shuttered type would be more suitable if you want residential.

I've bought the 7993 service station and feel it is 'mostly air'!. There's not much substance to the thing and I reckon the red window frames look 'cheeper' than the white or black ones (it may just be my particular ones, though).

I'd recommend getting the beech house for the early stages of your city in conjnction with one of the sets mentioned before. It has plenty of sloping bricks for roofs and a handy roof window, It's also only £20 and has a chicken leg too!

I've still got my Lego 'L' plates on so the more experienced people will probably correct me on a few things but I highly recommend looking back a few months in this forum to see other peoples cities to see what they've been up to!

Hi, Joey.

I've recently started a very small city and have bought a few sets to get going - like you I'm not too experienced in the ways of Ebay. I've bid on a few bulk things but have been 'gazumped' at the last second which is irritating so I've bought new sets.

I'd recommend getting something thats mainly in an 'old' colour like yellow, white etc. and avoid tan and grey so that if you do get some bulk bricks you're more likely to get bricks in colours that match. (although it's really handy to have some new colours for detailing but these can be bought later, if required).

Depending upon what you already have, I reckon it's a good idea to get some windows in a set. The choice of set then depends upon how you want your first few buildings to look - if you want commercial shops etc then the big windows in the 7744 police station (for example) give a nice modern feel. These windows don't work too well for houses so a set with the smaller, shuttered type would be more suitable if you want residential.

I've bought the 7993 service station and feel it is 'mostly air'!. There's not much substance to the thing and I reckon the red window frames look 'cheeper' than the white or black ones (it may just be my particular ones, though).

I'd recommend getting the beech house for the early stages of your city in conjnction with one of the sets mentioned before. It has plenty of sloping bricks for roofs and a handy roof window, It's also only £20 and has a chicken leg too!

I've still got my Lego 'L' plates on so the more experienced people will probably correct me on a few things but I highly recommend looking back a few months in this forum to see other peoples cities to see what they've been up to!

Thank you for your Help!

I just thought about what I could buy and its proberbly alot but thinking about it the Biggest table I can fit in my small room would be 4 Curved Plates like a 0 <---

And I dont think I will be able to borrow it from my Mum...Is there a Cheap Table from Ikea?

If I had a Table the size of my Bed I can make a Clean Big city...

Although I do not have a town to show all EB members yet due to lack of space again, but these are the following recommendations that I will share with you for starting up a new city.

Cafe Corner (10182)

Town Plan (10184)

Green Grocer (10185)

Market Street (10190)

These sets, when combined can easily create a very nice street filled with great buildings.

Do get at least one of the above, before they are completely wipe out from any stores. Getting it from EBay and Bricklink will be much costly. However, when you get at least one of them, the tendancy for you to complete it is much higher.

Every City will need basic facilitles such as Petrol station, Police station, Fire station, Airport, Harbour, Houses, Hospital and etc. Do note that, the current city theme is a little hard to match with your much older town theme. Do take alook at the sets, and device your town plan layout of your own.

Although I do not have a town to show all EB members yet due to lack of space again, but these are the following recommendations that I will share with you for starting up a new city.

Cafe Corner (10182)

Town Plan (10184)

Green Grocer (10185)

Market Street (10190)

These sets, when combined can easily create a very nice street filled with great buildings.

Do get at least one of the above, before they are completely wipe out from any stores. Getting it from EBay and Bricklink will be much costly. However, when you get at least one of them, the tendancy for you to complete it is much higher.

Every City will need basic facilitles such as Petrol station, Police station, Fire station, Airport, Harbour, Houses, Hospital and etc. Do note that, the current city theme is a little hard to match with your much older town theme. Do take alook at the sets, and device your town plan layout of your own.

Good Advice!

I will definitely buy those sets!

If I had £1000...I have around £130 for B-day, £200 of my own money (Mum wants to put 100 into savings...) and I dont know how much for Christmas but im getting conserned about Room, Space.

And I dont really want to go spending like £400 on 4 sets...I would rather buy small old sets Klaus suggested.

Im guessing all you who recommended the Factory sets are Adults with lots of money?

Also the thing about Old sets is that last christmas I wanted to get some Western sets so I spent weeks checking Prices, Planning and trying to get Messages back about the Shipping that it came to 1 Week before Christmas...I couldnt get em.

EDIT: I remembered some good sets

And my dream City (Although to much Grey for my Liking):

Edited May 30, 200816 yr by Joey Lock

Buy a bunch of 2x4 AND 2x2 standard bricks...

Interesting. I have been stocking up on 1x2, 1x3, 1x4 and 1x6 bricks because I find I am using almost no 2x bricks in my city creations. I am just finding the aesthetic of what I consider the "minifig-wall" to be too compelling. 2x bricks just feel clunky to me so I tend to use then only for foundations or lintels that jut out from the wall for windows or doors and such.

Of course, that only applies if you are doing interiors. Maybe that is another question to consider in designing a city. Are you going to do "full" buildings (Modular Houses-style) or just facades and 3/4 buildings (Classic Town-style)? Or perhaps a combination of MH and some facades like I have seen people use when a table is against a wall and they use facades only 2-4 studs deep against the wall.

Aaaaagh, too much to think about. Just buy any non-licensed sets with roofs, windows and doors (the creater sets mentioned above are great but Green Grocer or Cafe Corner would make a fantastic start).

Cafe Corner or Green Grocer are such a great example of how your city can start. Just by building that set, you will see the building techniques used and be able to incorporate them into your own creations. The Creator line is also great for pieces.

Most importantly though, you need to decide how much room you actually have to start with, if only four baseplates in a square, then you are looking at 20x20 cm. I have no idea how big of a table you were talking about, but these are the key starting points for any city. YOU NEED TO HAVE LAND! And remember, you can always add on, just do not rush things.

1. Land

2. Baseplates

3. Large centerpiece item (Cafe Corner or Green Grocer)

4. bulk bricks and pieces (Creator sets and auctions)

5. Structures

6. People

7. you get the idea......

That first house creator set isn't as good as it looks. The only thing in it that made it worth getting was the vehicle. The buildings have absolutely no Interior, and its really complicated to build a floor into it. I don't know about the others, though. I say LDD and pick-a-brick. You can simply design them, then save because they never actually delete them. Trust me. It works a lot better than eBay (Although I agree with market street, green grocer, etc)

Cafe Corner or Green Grocer are such a great example of how your city can start. Just by building that set, you will see the building techniques used and be able to incorporate them into your own creations. The Creator line is also great for pieces.

Most importantly though, you need to decide how much room you actually have to start with, if only four baseplates in a square, then you are looking at 20x20 cm. I have no idea how big of a table you were talking about, but these are the key starting points for any city. YOU NEED TO HAVE LAND! And remember, you can always add on, just do not rush things.

1. Land

2. Baseplates

3. Large centerpiece item (Cafe Corner or Green Grocer)

4. bulk bricks and pieces (Creator sets and auctions)

5. Structures

6. People

7. you get the idea......

Hmm, Centerpiece, Thats a good way to put it. The Townplan looks good as a Town but Cafe Corner looks more well build since if im going to be building around it, The Town Hall has no back... Wonder what it would look like to have 4 Cafe corners connecting to each other...I might just get some Creator sets now and for Christmas get a Factory set.

That first house creator set isn't as good as it looks. The only thing in it that made it worth getting was the vehicle. The buildings have absolutely no Interior, and its really complicated to build a floor into it.

Could not disagree more! I would recommend buying multiple copies of the tan creator house as parts to build town MOCs. Wonderful colours and huge numbers of 1x tan bricks along with windows, doors and enough black slopes to actually make a real roof! What more could you want?

Sorry, but a town with nothing but stock sets would be very disappointing.

Ive decieded I will buy a Factory set with my Creators.

Which is better?

Cafe Corner = £89.99

Green Grocer = £99.99

Market Street = £59.99

Town Plan = £89.99

Which one?

Ive decieded I will buy a Factory set with my Creators.

Which is better?

Cafe Corner = £89.99

Green Grocer = £99.99

Market Street = £59.99

Town Plan = £89.99

Which one?

I will vote for the Town plan.

Green Grocer

Green Grocer

If you plan on having an intersection, then go with the Cafe Corner.

If you are starting with only one road, then go Green Grocer.

Either way, you can't lose!!!