Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Brick387]

As for possible easter eggs...

That museum curator looks an awful lot like the famous Lego adventurer, Dr. Kilroy 

[Agent 86]

I like it. It’s lovely to see a return to a single purpose building.

I’m looking forward to seeing more photos, but I’m not loving the curator’s office in the dome on the roof. And the dinosaur fossil does look quite small.

I do wonder how three true stories on a 32 stud wide plate might have turned out. Perhaps just too similar to Town Hall?

[JintaiZ]

1 hour ago, Agent 86 said:

I like it. It’s lovely to see a return to a single purpose building.

I like the concept of a single purpose building, but it does make the build a lot less interesting.

7 hours ago, Modal said:

At least it's better than the Jazz Club, which in my opinion is the ugliest modular ever created by far.

I know not many people agree with this but what about Corner Garage? I thought the color choice was poor and it didn't have tiled floors...

Edited October 30, 2023 by JintaiZ

[hikouki]

1 hour ago, Agent 86 said:

...

I do wonder how three true stories on a 32 stud wide plate might have turned out. Perhaps just too similar to Town Hall?

Or perhaps they could have made the dome more substantial with a glass dome, and the brachiosaur towering through it. That was what I had in mind when descriptions were leaked.

4 minutes ago, JintaiZ said:

...

I know not many people agree with this but what about Corner Garage? I thought the color choice was poor and it didn't have tiled floors...

Corner Garage was plain-looking. But it was functional and it was NOT an eyesore. LOL

Jazz Club is its own abomination. LOL

[JintaiZ]

1 minute ago, hikouki said:

Corner Garage was plain-looking. But it was functional and it was NOT an eyesore. LOL

We might have different opinions but by those standards Jazz Club isn't an eyesore either. In fact I quite like the design of that one.

[Citromon]

Well, I definitely expected more for 300$, but I think it looks great, better than 2 last modulars. I know everyone is a fan of the BH but I really don't like it. It's too out of place.

And yes, it does have some strong Haunted Mansion vibes)  

Edited October 30, 2023 by Citromon

[Arjo]

Re. Dumbed down building experience, I obviously do not know that for a fact. Just my personal feeling building more recent modulars (bar for bookshop, I didn’t like its size and choice colour but enjoyed building the little house). Maybe my lego building skills have improved (courtesy of modulars and all) that I am no longer in awe.

re. Gatekeeping, again to each their own, I wouldn’t see the point. I tend to be underwhelmed at first then certain modulars grow on me (or they don’t e.g. jazz club). Ultimately what makes so down on that one is the choice of colour. It took me the longest time (and FOMO) to buy the parisian restaurant because of that very reason. Olive green walls don’t make much sense in my eye and, in the present case, it seems to be driven by the desire to make “call backs” to older modulars (which is def. A trend of recent years).

Anyway, I an down on it, no big deal. The rest of you will still enoy it very much which is fine. Forum of individual opinions and all. 

[street87]

I like it. I really do. But with another floor, it will look better. For some strange reasons, it gives me a town hall vibes. I quess it can easily be modified to be a town hall as well. 

[paupadros]

7/10 for me. My favourite part is the mansard roof with the skylights and the dome. The row of white ingots just beneath it is alos very classy. The pediment also seems proportionate. There was an opportunity for nicer or cleverer NPU in the tympanum though i think. The streetscape with the little walled gardens look great and the tree breaks the monotony well. The colour is fine for me, I'm not too fond of the tan frames around the windows (perhaps in white they would have worked with the whole model better). I quite dislike the ares inside the pillars. As someone said earlier, a balcony breaking it up would have helped. Perhaps, the walls on this central section should have been a different colour, so that it stands out as the focal point of the building. I also would have added a white line on the edges of the building to frame it better. In the group pic of the back of the box, it "bleeds" into the Jazz Club. For that building it made less sense, but for a classis/neoclassic building such as this one, it does make sense. Overall quite decent, but seems small for the piece count.

[Ondra]

When I see Museum, It reminds me a lot ways Modular Town Hall.

And I see Town Hall as worst modular ever and this Museum feels like it will be second one. Both building are very similar, just stacked bricks with so small amount of details into crazy amount of space.

Thats very sad, because I always wanted museum as modular. 2023 is weird years for lego collecting. Every, except probably Concord, set for adults feels like they are missing some magic touch like they used to have.

[jus1973]

So the pictures I’ve seen on a website, and the accompanying text don’t quite match, but I like what I’m seeing.  I was quite sceptical about the facade, especially in that green.  It has enough going on to break up what could have been quite a slab of bricks.  The description with it says 2 48x48 stud plates, but I’m guessing thats wrong.  From the image, it looks like a regular 32x32 plus a 16x32.  I can see the split on the right hand side, just after the central section.

I wonder how much extra space will be left inside for added displays.  With it being labelled as Natural History, I’m not sure what the planets etc are doing there.  I consider natural history to be more about plants and animals, than the solar system.  Perhaps it should be a science museum.  Maybe I’m wrong in my thoughts.

[kevin8]

Same to me...

I find it quite a disappointment.

Those columns came from some mocs from 10 years ago. It seems impossible to me that nothing soiios could be done with these dimensions.

The facade is very anonymous. From what little I have seen, the interiors remain far too empty.

In short, it doesn't excite me at all. I think it will be the first modular that I don't buy. Then 300 euros, certainly in line with the current inappropriately exaggerated prices that Lego applies, with this new Apple-like policy of wanting to pass off a toy as if it were a design and furnishing object to be placed on display in the home...

[Westcoatje]

Next to other modulars, it looks somewhat out of scale. Almost city-ish, like the town hall in 10184 town plan

[johnnytifosi]

I'm not even a Modular fan but I have to say I liked it a lot. Great colour choice and architecture, it looks exactly like a museum. However, it's a pity it has only two floors compared to way smaller modulars that have three. I get that museums have higher ceilings, but it feels like you are getting less play value out of the set.

[brickcurator]

Looking forward to seeing more images today.

I know the modular designs are rarely trying to recreate exact architectural styles - these are fantasy buildings after all - but for me the best modulars have an internal consistency that gives them a strong sense of being ‘of a place’.

This one looks like an interesting design choice. The core of it is strongly neo-classical, like an archetypal civic museum, but the almost Gothic-y design of some features (parts of the roof, the colour, maybe even the windows on the ground floor) jars a bit. Perhaps this kind of contrast stands out more in a single-building modular.

[ddavid]

1 hour ago, brickcurator said:

Looking forward to seeing more images today.

I know the modular designs are rarely trying to recreate exact architectural styles - these are fantasy buildings after all - but for me the best modulars have an internal consistency that gives them a strong sense of being ‘of a place’.

 This one looks like an interesting design choice. The core of it is strongly neo-classical, like an archetypal civic museum, but the almost Gothic-y design of some features (parts of the roof, the colour, maybe even the windows on the ground floor) jars a bit. Perhaps this kind of contrast stands out more in a single-building modular.

The architecture of the museum is closer to a suburban mansion than a classical building XD

[lifeinplastic]

I wasn't sure about it to begin with but every time I look at it I like it more and more. At the end of the day, it's Lego so if it needs enlarging or you prefer different colours, it should be easy to customise!

[Legochaek]

I do like it. The green is so ugly though (mucus colour, anyone?) : I wonder how much it would be to replace with pale blue or something nicer 

[RichardGoring]

I also feel it lacks the wow factor, but mostly that's from the image on the back of the box with the other modulars. It looks better on it's own to me, but a bit small next to other buildings. I wonder it an 8-16-wide park area on either side would help it stand out more - and be typical of a real-world setup too.

15 hours ago, BrickFit26 said:

I really hope the interior is not too empty like the Book Shop that was missing BOOKS.

The pictures suggest there's a decent amount, but not long to wait until better images become available. I also hope it's packed full of stuff.

15 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

We have had private mailboxes in Green Grocer, and red public ones in sets since Grand Emporium. I don't think it's a hint, and besides, post offices aren't exactly exciting places to be. You go in, wait in line, buy stamps or drop off / pickup a package, and then go home. That's all. Nothing fun there (unless you collect stamps!) for the citizens, and just sorting behind in the employees-only area. It's actually quite a boring place tbh, which might explain why we haven't had one in a set since the the Winter Village one in 2011. (which wasn't exactly beloved at the time!) We might get mail truck someday, but then again, those are pretty regionally localized, unless it's very iconic. (a classic British mail truck or a 1990's-now US mail truck, are all I can think of in that department.)

..so yeah, post office likely isn't gonna happen.

I see your point, but I also think they could do some really fun stuff in the sorting area of a post office. Perhaps with functions similar to Brick Bank where things can go through chutes. Or conveyor belt. Or tipping things out into a mail van. You could potentially have interesting things up front too, with cards, supplies, passport photos.

But I suspect the idea of a grand civic post office may not happen for a while now, as it would clash too much with the natural history museum. So if it were to happen, it would be a smaller thing - just the first floor, and possibly only a 16-wide footprint. Would still be fun though.

[RichardGoring]

Well that's curious. They normally do reveals at 9:00 ET, don't they? Maybe it's not coming today.

[nikhkin]

1 minute ago, RichardGoring said:

Well that's curious. They normally do reveals at 9:00 ET, don't they? Maybe it's not coming today.

Daylight savings time started at the weekend in most European countries.

[street87]

Well. I saw that, Brick Clicker posted a picture in Instagram of the new GWP that looks to be a Hot-Dog van.

Its really nice.

[BrickFit26]

51 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

The pictures suggest there's a decent amount, but not long to wait until better images become available. I also hope it's packed full of stuff.

I hope so. Come on HD pictures.

@street87if that is thr GWP I love it. Though I would have preferred a school bus, or since we have a window cleaner, then a window cleaner van would have fit nicely too.

[RichardGoring]

That lifestyle photo with the van also makes it look good. But still not convinced when it's with other modulars, as it feels a bit too small, and the colour is maybe a bit too dull.

Happy to get another six-wide classic vehicle though.

[street87]

And now, the hi-res official images are out at the lego.com website.
Natural History Museum 10326 | LEGO® Icons | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US
It looks good. But i have a little problem with the tree itself. It has some dark bluish grey parts in between the brown parts of the trunk. Strange choice of color.

Edited October 30, 2023 by street87