My afternoon...

[Brick Town Talk]

I will be reviewing The Grand Emporium 10211 this afternoon. You can see it happen at www.bricktowntalk.blogspot.com - I will add the review to Eurobricks when I have finished.

Richard

[Dr. Steve]

I will be reviewing The Grand Emporium 10211 this afternoon. You can see it happen at www.bricktowntalk.blogspot.com - I will add the review to Eurobricks when I have finished.

Richard

Thats a cool idea. I hope it goes well. I look forward to reading your review.

[Fugazi]

140GBP for Grand Emporium??! I hope it's a joke, some sort of pre-introductory price or something! Can't imagine they would charge 40% more for less pieces than Green Grocer or Fire Brigade! Were the other Cafe Corner series as expensive at first??

Oh and thanks for the review though, I look forward to it!

Edited February 6, 2010 by space6901

[MdrnMrvls]

By the looks of it, it is well worth the money. A 1x3 tile piece is introduced, for example.

Great review Richard!

[TJJohn12]

By the looks of it, it is well worth the money. A 1x3 tile piece is introduced, for example.

Great review Richard!

That piece has been interspersed throughout the 2010 sets (Ex. Buzz Lighyear's Arms). Kinda exciting!

-John

[MetroiD]

By the looks of it, it is well worth the money.

Allow me to disagree here... I do hope the "regular" price once it's officialy out is the same as thаt of CC, GG and the likes. 140 GBP is definitely way too overpriced for me, considering the fact that it's 40+% more than the other modulars!

That said, thanks for the hands-on review, Richard!

Edited February 6, 2010 by MetroiD

[Fugazi]

The mannequin minifigs have printed heads!

Two extra pairs of trousers!

[wooootles]

Allow me to disagree here... I do hope the "regular" price once it's officialy out is the same as thаt of CC, GG and the likes. 140 GBP is definitely way too overpriced for me, considering the fact that it's 40+% more than the other modulars!

Is that because CC and GG are sold below 140 GBP? Remember US prices =/= UK prices =/= EU prices, US being the cheapest. CC and GG are 140 and 150 USD respectively.

-Nice source of 1x2xX dark green pieces! Didn't know that it was almost a curtain wall window of those pieces. 'Nother reason to buy more than one

-What the heck is up with that hallway after going up the escalator? 2 studs wide.

-say it again, one escalator going up, then run back down on it, or vice versa - a bigger reason to buy at least 2 copies

Very nice, so far. There are some flaws. Much more positives than negatives. But this LEGO, we can fix'em easy! Gotta admit GG still holds its own pretty darn well compared to this.

[MdrnMrvls]

That piece has been interspersed throughout the 2010 sets (Ex. Buzz Lighyear's Arms). Kinda exciting!

-John

That I didn't know! Thanks for telling me that!

Regarding the prices, for the US it has remained the same at $150, just like all of the other sets. So I can't complain.

[MetroiD]

Is that because CC and GG are sold below 140 GBP? Remember US prices =/= UK prices =/= EU prices, US being the cheapest. CC and GG are 140 and 150 USD respectively.

I'm well aware of that fact mate - what's more, the UK prices for the modulars were different. The original price of the CC for example was ~90 GBP, whereas GG and the Fire Brigade are both priced at 100 GBP. An increase of another 5 to 10 GBP I could probably live with (as long as it's well-founded, of course), but 140 GBP is just too much.

My 2 cents ;) I guess we'll just have to wait for another couple of weeks and see for ourselves how much the real thing will actually cost.

[Fugazi]

I'm impressed... It looks like this rare and very wide windshield makes a comeback in Grand Emporium -- used for the skylight I presume. It hasn't been seen in a set since 1999!

[escortmad79]

£140?! Hmm might have to think about that one carefully!

[AllanSmith]

£140?! Hmm might have to think about that one carefully!

You are lucky you are not in New Zealand. We are paying $NZ 299.99 (GBP 132.19) each for Grand Emporium, Imperial Flagship, new Passenger Train and Fire Brigade And I want to buy 3 Grand Emporiums

[Follows Closely]

Did I see a 2 x 1 cheese slope @ 1:27?

[Svelte]

Yes, the UK should quit complaining since they've been paying under the price of almost every other country in the world (bar the US) since the modular series was launched.

Australia has been paying an insane GBP140-166 for the modular series for the last two years, so you won't be getting much sympathy from most countries I suspect. I agree it is a mental shock to jump by 40 percent however

I do look forward to this review. Yays for brick town talk to review it first

[prateek]

Yay! I love this set even more now. Thanks for the pics One thing I'm worried about is those 1x1 clear headlight bricks cracking or even breaking apart.

[ILikePi]

Thanks for the pics Brick Town Talk! It looks even better now!

Lots of new pieces/colors, like the dark green windows, new arch pieces, quarter curved slope pieces, the return of those gigantic windshields (never knew that piece existed until now!), a whole bunch of 1 x 3 light bley tiles on the roof, trans-clear headlight bricks (who'd've thought that we'd get them in a trans color!) and much more!

The top two floors are a bit empty with only 2/3 tables, but the highly detailed ground floor and the size of the building (it takes up the whole baseplate, unlike Fire Brigade and Green Grocer, which have a backyard).

It's really cool how Jamie and the other designers (if there are any) added some great details like the mannequins (great how they come with smiley face heads instead of blank ones!), the chandelier (although I wouldn't place it on the toy section of the building ), and the billboard (the minifig head is simple but effective!).

I also love how one of the minifigs has a pair of blue jeans and "underwear" so he can "change".

Did I see a 2 x 1 cheese slope @ 1:27?

They've been in sets since the summer 2009 wave. Edited February 8, 2010 by ILikePi

[booga-b]

very very awesome review! another dent to my wallet when this gets released in Australia.