Log Cabins, Hillside Houses and Lighthouse Islands...

[David Thomsen]

From 2007 to 2010 the Creator range had a number of minifig-scale houses that progressively included more minifig scale accessories, like basketball hoops and lawnmowers and satellite dishes, until finally in 2011 they released three Creator buildings that actually include minifigs and instead of just being houses, their models include a lighthouse and a log cabin. The change from baseplates to regular plates also seems to signal the unofficial introduction of a new sub-theme.

I've had a good look through this forum and apart from reviews of these new buildings, there hasn't been much discussion about these changes and what potential they have.

Personally, this new sub-theme suits me perfectly. It fixes a lot of the problems I have with other themes.

• Modular buildings are fantastic, but there is only one a year and they are intended to be architectural models without much of the 'Creator' spirit.
  
• City sets are great for building a little world, but with one-piece walls, open backs and specialised pieces for airplanes and boats they are somewhat <insert that tiresome argument>.
  
• Creator houses from 2007 to 2010 are excellent, but without minifigs they seem kind of empty to me. Also there is not much variety other than houses, houses and houses.
  

I hadn't bought any Creator sets until I picked up the Log Cabin and the Hillside House this week, and for the first time in decades it felt like I was building with Lego the way I had as a child, with simple minifigs, alternative models and everything brick-built.

I'm hoping they create more of these minifig-scale brick-build Creator hybrid sets in the future. Something like the Transport Ferry would be fantastic with minifig compatibility. Or a set with various truck and vehicles, or anything else that supplies enough bricks and colours to create a lot of possibilities but at the same time is minifig friendly.

[Blondie-Wan]

From 2007 to 2010 the Creator range had a number of minifig-scale houses that progressively included more minifig scale accessories, like basketball hoops and lawnmowers and satellite dishes, until finally in 2011 they released three Creator buildings that actually include minifigs and instead of just being houses, their models include a lighthouse and a log cabin. The change from baseplates to regular plates also seems to signal the unofficial introduction of a new sub-theme.

If by basketball hoops you mean the one with the Apple Tree House, that's not a "real" LEGO basketball hoop element but a repurposed life preserver (as opposed to the dedicated basketball hoop and net from the NBA sets from several years ago). The life preserver is more in keeping with the Creator aesthetic, I think (so it's probably the more apt choice for the set), but still a definite move toward (sparing) usage of minifigure accessory-type, semi-specialized elements in the otherwise highly generalized Creator sets, just as you say.

I think the apparent move from baseplates to regular plates isn't a Creator-specific thing, but part of a more general move across multiple LEGO themes. Note that some of the latest LEGO Games include the new 16x16 plate as bases, while some of the earlier ones have 16x16 baseplates of the traditional baseplate style.

I've had a good look through this forum and apart from reviews of these new buildings, there hasn't been much discussion about these changes and what potential they have.

Personally, this new sub-theme suits me perfectly. It fixes a lot of the problems I have with other themes.

• Modular buildings are fantastic, but there is only one a year and they are intended to be architectural models without much of the 'Creator' spirit.
  
• City sets are great for building a little world, but with one-piece walls, open backs and specialised pieces for airplanes and boats they are somewhat <insert that tiresome argument>.
  
• Creator houses from 2007 to 2010 are excellent, but without minifigs they seem kind of empty to me. Also there is not much variety other than houses, houses and houses.
  

I hadn't bought any Creator sets until I picked up the Log Cabin and the Hillside House this week, and for the first time in decades it felt like I was building with Lego the way I had as a child, with simple minifigs, alternative models and everything brick-built.

I'm hoping they create more of these minifig-scale brick-build Creator hybrid sets in the future. Something like the Transport Ferry would be fantastic with minifig compatibility. Or a set with various truck and vehicles, or anything else that supplies enough bricks and colours to create a lot of possibilities but at the same time is minifig friendly.

Yeah, I think they've found a fantastic "balancing point" with the Creator buildings now. My girlfriend and I both love them, and I think between the two of us we're probably going to wind up getting at least one of each of them from the Log Cabin on out.

[AussieJimbo]

I'm a big fan of the recent Creator houses having bought multiples of the Apple Tree House and Log Cabin for some large MOC projects. The left over bricks from those builds left me with a great stock of parts. I like the move to real baseplates, they are much more useful than those flimsy things.

The Lighthouse is a fantastic set, a beautiful model in it's own right with heaps of great parts, I'll be grabbing several of those too when budget allows. Nice art deco possibilities with those curved bricks.

I'm just putting the finishing touches on a modified version of the Hillside House, placed on a more challenging site, with the Log Cabin playing a supporting role.

Can't wait to see what Lego comes up with for the next Creator house or building, there are doing a great job with them.

:classic:

Edited July 13, 2011 by AussieJimbo

[Rufus]

This is indeed a great topic for discussion, one that I was planning to start myself

I'm a big CREATOR fan, and generally approve of the direction the LEGO Co. has taken with these. They have largely replaced system town houses (a few notable exceptions like the 8403 House appear from time to time), and crammed with architectural detail and play elements. The addition of the rather generic minifig to the latest houses has, as I have said elsewhere, served to anchor the sets firmly within the 'Town add-on' realm, and point out that they are compatible with the usual CITY line-up.

I wonder what direction they will take next. Will they add furniture to the houses, as yet sadly lacking? This might reduce the amount of detail they put into the house itself. Will they continue to include vehicles, or gimmicks like sound and light bricks?

Personally I think there's room in either CREATOR or CITY for a furniture set, where you can build a variety of different items (sofa, kitchen, bed, piano...). That's something I'd love to see, and it might help TLC in their quest to attract more girls

[KateB]

This is indeed a great topic for discussion, one that I was planning to start myself

I'm a big CREATOR fan, and generally approve of the direction the LEGO Co. has taken with these. They have largely replaced system town houses (a few notable exceptions like the 8403 House appear from time to time), and crammed with architectural detail and play elements. The addition of the rather generic minifig to the latest houses has, as I have said elsewhere, served to anchor the sets firmly within the 'Town add-on' realm, and point out that they are compatible with the usual CITY line-up.

I wonder what direction they will take next. Will they add furniture to the houses, as yet sadly lacking? This might reduce the amount of detail they put into the house itself. Will they continue to include vehicles, or gimmicks like sound and light bricks?

Personally I think there's room in either CREATOR or CITY for a furniture set, where you can build a variety of different items (sofa, kitchen, bed, piano...). That's something I'd love to see, and it might help TLC in their quest to attract more girls

I completely agree

Being a major Creator house fan and owning 6 of them so far, I would love to see furniture sets incorporated within future houses. It's the details that I love so the more the better, light bricks would be fantastic! I even sent an email to Lego suggesting that with the popularity of the Creator houses it would be a good move to bring out a specific Furniture set/box where you could create loads of different furniture pieces. For me this would be fantastic as I currently do not own much Lego which is not part of a set and having to order specific bricks to make furniture can be pricey.

Currently my poor minifigures are having to sit on the floor

[Arigomi]

A furniture set would be wonderful. Brick built furniture tends to need a lot of unusual parts that are troublesome to collect in decent quantities. They would make great parts packs for anyone who isn't interested in furniture.