Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Matti]

In 2014 i've bought all the modulars (yes i know..), built them up, and only kept a few of them on my night stand. Actually, the only one that REALLY blew my mind, was the PR. Rest was great, but as we all know, the interiors and the overall design of the modulars just keep on getting better. There were so much to the detailing and techniques involved in the PR, that the other modulars lack. This line of buildings is only really getting started now, in my honest opinion..

Judging by the Detective Agency, i think we are in for a treat. I myself like the colors, and the small bolt-on technique for the building, and of course the unikitty tailpieces. :)

[XAxles]

Holy megabluck.

My barber's a private eye.

And speaking of eyes, why the use of classic faces?

[Superfunk]

Love it! It might be a bit harder to integrate in the neighboorhood of Pet Shop, Green Grocer or Cafe Corner, but will fit nicely in the "shadier" parts of town, next to the movies, gas station, etc.

It looks like it is more sizeable again compared to the Parisian Restaurant and I really like the combination of 16-wide, alley and 10-wide. Very inspirational!

[XAxles]

Is Lord Business's first name Albert? It seems that not only is he running a Restaurant but he has a barbers shop as well!!! Maybe this is how his evil empire started...

I see backstory. Like, Black-Widow-in-Avengers-2 kind of backstory.

[(1)Stein]

-snip-

And speaking of eyes, why the use of classic faces?

Other then Market Street all Modulars use classic faces! I think its great!

[Big-whoop-Guybrush]

Seen the leaked images and it looks great. I still need PC and PR fIrst but I can't wait to add this to the line up

[Mr Greeble]

MUST HAVE...

[DarthBrickus]

This is awesome. I hope this will be one of the new Sets available at the Nov 22nd VIP-Event, I will buy one for sure if so.

After Town Hall and Palace Cinema, which were nice, but not extraordinary, Parisian Restaurant and Detective's Office have been straight Ten-out-of-tens.

Me and my wife are really excited for this one, i might even buy the one Modular we're missing (PC) now, because the Detective's Office feels like it's the missing link that connects the PC to the others stylewise.

Edited November 16, 2014 by DarthBrickus

[kermit]

Yet again another masterpiece by Lego. Yes it looks american but when you think of a dective agency it is american dectives of the 60`s and early periods that come to mind. I dont mind the various colours used as it helps to break up the dull colour style of the older modulars. It also follows in the trend of the PR in having alot of activity outside the building both in the front and back.

I like the little newspaper stand and the alley way. Having a balcony so that minifigs can step out and look out on the streets is a nice touch. If the dective agency is on the 2nd floor then whats the 1st floor? Just a pool table or really a bar?

The only con I can think of is considerting the style of building and era its based on I would of liked a fire escape in the back.

[Dharkan]

I, for one, believe this is a great addition to the modular line up.

And I can't really understand why people are upset with the way this build is designed. No offense but don't be obsessed with neat and tidiness of Modular line up, it didn't guarantee you that it'll keep going that way. They designed it as accurate as possible like they did with the others and the way to do this concept properly was like this. :)

[BigRedGoat]

I may be mistaken, but it appears the top row on the second floor of the detective agency uses 1x4 masonry bricks. Is that a new part?

[robuko]

I was pretty unimpressed when I first saw this, I thought it just looked like a big version of the creator bike shop. On closer examination, it's full of lovely colours and some lovely npu. So it looks like fun to build and then fun to part out and MOC with, just not much fun to look at.

[peter_m]

I may be mistaken, but it appears the top row on the second floor of the detective agency uses 1x4 masonry bricks. Is that a new part?

It appeared for the first time in Toy Workshop, October's Lego Store freebie

[AFOLguy1970]

Overall, it looks very nice. It is more modern than some of the other modulars, but still has the feeling of a past era, which for me is a must when considering a purchase.

Now, the big question: how much?

[pugmom]

I like the details and interesting style. The only thing that turns me off at first glance is all the blue on the barber shop. But, an easy change if I so desire!

[RoxYourBlox]

A true classic in the making! I love the colors!

[danimarroquin]

Omg it's so beatiful , ouch my wallet

[lifeinplastic]

Not my favourite modular and way off the wonderful Parisian Restaurant from last year. The multiple colours for different floors don't quite work but the minifigs look good and there seems to be some decent parts as you would expect from a set this size.

The "extreme" mix of colors will also not make this set suitable for MOC'ing.

Yes, I think there are too many bright colours used here. The yellow would have been more suitable as an upstairs level, like the olive green in PR but for me, the light blue spoils the look of this.

Oh, and stickers, one of the reasons I haven't bought Palace Cinema >:(

Likewise, I wish we could go back to printed pieces and cut costs elsewhere if necessary.

And as a fan of the masonry bricks, I enjoy the facade of the office!

But, please TLG...make some "corner bricks" with masonry profile also!

Seconded - the side of the building also looks a bit 'messy'

Is Lord Business's first name Albert? It seems that not only is he running a Restaurant but he has a barbers shop as well!!! Maybe this is how his evil empire started...

I'm guessing Al is short for 'Ali' as in Ali Baba (Ali Barber, geddit?)

Holy megabluck.

My barber's a private eye.

And speaking of eyes, why the use of classic faces?

The modular usually all have classic faces. I imagine this is to appeal to older fans, who have nostalgia for older sets. I think it's a nice touch.

[sonicstarlight]

I like this a lot more than the Palace Cinema, but it lacks a certain elegance that the Parisian Restaurant has. I do like that both this and the PR are taking steps to break up the streetwall a bit - having a two-story section is great. It does seem that the modulars are trending towards smaller builds, though, and I would rather the money be spent on the outsides rather than the interiors.

[mapimi]

Is there no access for minifigures to get onto the balconies? Also hope there are stairs (which I can't seem to spot in the low res images of the open up photos on the edge of the box), if not this will take away much of the realism of the modular series, a big no no for me if its the case, I guess we'll learn more when lego releases the official announcement with higher res images

Edited November 16, 2014 by mapimi

[Herky]

to me, this trumps PR in a huge way, it's got great buildings and still many details, will still never understand the love for PR, but in any case, to each their own. 2262 pieces, so one thing no one has talked about is price point. This sits in the middle between PC and PR, I would almost expect a $155 price point on it, but I think we will see $160 again similar to PR. Guess we will find out next Friday for sure. If it came apart like PS that would be the best, I would likely do my first MOD and separate to have a large Detective/Pool sides and a large Barber side, guess I could still do that, will just have to see.

[Off the wall]

This looks interesting and I'm sure there will be plenty of details in and out to explore... but the thing that bothers me the most is the scale. It looks very scaled down and compressed compared to many of the other modulars. It feels less like a set in the another modular series and more like an 'expert' version of the Bike Shop series.

*Maybe* if you get two sets and add another floor to the pool hall building and double the width of the barbershop building.

Mikey likes it?

I just didn't want to start a real %}#{^ storm on the first day of comments. I think it's better than the PR, but it's still taking us more away from an AFOL product to a child's product.

[Thetford]

Is there no access for minifigures to get onto the balconies? Also hope there are stairs (which I can't seem to spot in the low res images of the open up photos on the edge of the box), if not this will take away much of the realism of the modular series, a big no no for me if its the case, I guess we'll learn more when lego releases the official announcement with higher res images

Given that the windows look (not function) like sash windows, I guess they Monica Geller it and go through there? Also, I think I can see a light brown squareish thing at the top of the first floor of the blue building in the right corner, I guess those are the stairs for the apartment/maisonette.

[Phil Slender]

It's really great to finally see this set, and although I wasn't initially blown away by it, it is definitely growing on me! I love that this is like the Pet Shop in the sense that there are so many separate components (ie. a barber shop, detective office, apartment, etc.) and I'm really looking forward to seeing the video reveal and the interiors. I want to better see how the alley is done from other angles.

One interesting thing to think about is now that they're using the "brick" piece so heavily, does that imply the other sections aren't supposed to be brick (as a material) as well?

[merman]

and the back side:

Edited November 16, 2014 by merman