Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Jern92]

I don't want to say the wrong thing and this will probably be removed anyway..

But I do see that in the recent modular announcement videos that Jamie is introducing to us as a bit girly or maybe childish, he is the lead designer on them but I do see them a bit differently now that there has a story behind the buildings.

I can't help think this has come about because he has a slightly camp and so is Mathew James Ashton (CEO lego) (don't get me wrong I'm not against that in anyway) but I see this as having an influence on the way these buildings are built and how they coming across..

But on the other hand lego could just be trying to bring new people and children to the modular line.

Or if you just didn't want to know about the story, just don't watch the announcement videos and you wouldn't know about at story behind the building

You say 'girly' and 'camp' like it's a bad thing. Did you actually think that all modular building fans were straight masculine cisgender men?

[BirdOPrey5]

All? Absolute not.

Most? Absolutely.

The DO was as play-time childish as I would go with a modular, it really was less than ideal. If the next one is even more play time secret cookie making nonsense I may just stop buying modulars altogether. Although it wasn't my comment I certainly understand the point that was being made- even if the wording isn't what I would have used. I could see this was part of the designer's personality- and that's great for someone in his position. I'd prefer the next modular designer be more like me- more serious about the design and exterior then worrying about secret hiding spots. It is a legit position to have.

[Hinckley]

If this continues, I'm going to separate the discussion into a thread entitled "Gender Equality and Modular Building"

But I will weigh in on this as I have an opinion. From my experience with the LEGO group, they seem to have a lot of turnover and their focus on adult fans as a target market is always shifting and for the most part, losing. While the idea was originally for advanced building, their marketing, research and development areas aren't always going to agree with that. So, just because they say something once doesn't set it in stone, especially for a company trying to respond to an ever–changing markets.

Plus, I'm a gay guy who watches and plays sports so I also don't mind secret cookie–baking in my police station.

Keep it respectful, please. Thank you, everyone.

[Naijel]

Jamie went out for lunch with members of our LUG after introducing the Sydney Opera House model in the actual Sydney Opera House foyer. Conversation was great and at an adult level, delving into a lot of AFOL topics. He's definitely aiming his words at younger people in the videos, just like his Creator tutorial videos.

I have a feeling the designer videos are being made to appeal to children and help them understand the models so they they aspire to own them in the future. I'm sure kids from well off families are still getting these sets when they are well below the recommended 16 years. The videos do not need to appeal to adults in the same way. Adults are likely more aware of the products, understand what they are seeing, and know if they want them or not. In summary I think the videos are designed to get more younger people interested in buying them.

And I don't think it really hurts to have some play features in the modulars.

[Robert8]

I really don't see anything "girly" in the recent modular sets.

cisgender men?

What is that??

secret cookie–baking in my police station.

hhahahahahaa

Edited August 12, 2015 by Robert8

[Herky]

Fae, you said: Current Lego Store Policy is they can shelf stock the new sets as they come in, rather than wait unless their is a license hard street date. So if a store receives their August release shipment on July 29 they can put it right out.

My store manager about flipped when she found out the product was out there, the directive from U.S. HQ was NOT to stock shelves til Aug 1.

I guess I missed it as well, but when did the conversation go from modulars being for adults to now other demographics? I had always thought modulars were for adults/teens 16 and over. The little golden book stories are not necessary. We had a Cinema where a story could have been easily told with the limo and the movies and all that, but I don't recall a story about that one. I think that is what threw a lot of us off, there had been no story until DO. Any of the modular buildings really could have had a story, but when the precedent is a cool exterior and interior (ok some of them are debatable on interior) and then DO shows up, looks like a kiddie house, a lame story to go with it, it seemed to break from tradition.

I am of the opinion that there should be more than 1 designer, it should pass around, but keep to a central theme. So Jamie does one, then person A, then person B, etc...it is good to have diversity is what we have come to learn, so let's get diverse TLG. When you stick to 1 or 2 people, it gets stale, breath new life into it. I am choosing NOT to buy the DO, likely never will unless someone wants to give it to me half price, that is about what it is worth to me. (hey opinion there)

I am hoping for a good building, decent piece count that doesn't delve into putting 1x2's in there when a 1x4 will suffice just to drive up piece count, and something that can add to the block. I think they really missed the boat on the Lego Ideas museum myself.

I am an adult, if I pay for one of the modular buildings, I expect it to be quality. I didn't feel DO was that way, so I exercised my CHOICE to not purchase. So let's get back to speculation...and yes I realize the name of this thread is discussion as well, so it's good to discuss, and sometimes a bit off tangent is good (I don't think I could ever be an admin...wonder if they know they get made fun of on other sites?) but to me I just enjoy everyone's guesses on what is coming next and the merits of what we have. Each opinion counts whether I like it or not.

[Lego Conductor]

I don't know where you are, but I've never seen a School, Library, Bank, Hospital and Police Station together on the same street

In a lot of towns here it's more likely to be lots of charity shops, Bookmakers and Coffee shops...

Keep in mind that things often shift in translations. Deli could be a restaurant. It could be a more classical Butcher or Meat Market. It could be a Supermarket or Bodega. And of course we will see food related buildings. They are a primary component of town centers going back milenia. Food distribution and eating is sort of the ancient driving force of civilization.

Very valid points. In keeping with that line of thought why not give another designer a go at the Modulars? In many cities most buildings are done by a number of different Architects/Firms. We have at the moment 10 Modulars with what 7 by Jamie, 2 by Astrid and one fan?! Variety is the spice of life they say.

At this point just really curios as to what the next Modular is and love all the speculation on this topic!

I am of the opinion that there should be more than 1 designer, it should pass around, but keep to a central theme. So Jamie does one, then person A, then person B, etc...it is good to have diversity is what we have come to learn, so let's get diverse TLG. When you stick to 1 or 2 people, it gets stale, breath new life into it. I am choosing NOT to buy the DO, likely never will unless someone wants to give it to me half price, that is about what it is worth to me. (hey opinion there)

Missed reading this post earlier but right on about using different designers!

Edited August 12, 2015 by Lego Conductor

[Jern92]

What is that??

It refers to anyone whose gender identity corresponds to their biological sex at birth ie. not trans, intersex, or gender-fluid. So if you were born male, you identify purely as a man etc.

[Tonywing_64]

Edit by Hinckley: The tone of this post has been addressed. Please stop reporting it. Thank you.

I heard rumors from my local Lego Store that the new modular will be a fist with the middle finger up! It will be for all you whinny cry babies. What will be cool about this set is you could buy a 2nd one and mirror build it and you can have two side by side and they will look great together!

[Hinckley]

When I said keep it respectful, do you think I meant this?

I heard rumors from my local Lego Store that the new modular will be a fist with the middle finger up! It will be for all you whinny cry babies. What will be cool about this set is you could buy a 2nd one and mirror build it and you can have two side by side and they will look great together!

Please tone it down. For a conversation about how the line is supposed to be for more mature builders...wait for it...many of you are getting a bit immature.

I've asked politely for this thread to calm down twice. Next step is account suspensions.

[Off the wall]

But I will weigh in on this as I have an opinion. From my experience with the LEGO group, they seem to have a lot of turnover and their focus on adult fans as a target market is always shifting and for the most part, losing. While the idea was originally for advanced building, their marketing, research and development areas aren't always going to agree with that. So, just because they say something once doesn't set it in stone, especially for a company trying to respond to an ever–changing markets.

That's probably the best take on the modular series. It ain't what it used to be. Fine. Move on to the architecture series that's more tuned in to the tastes of mature adults. The only thing I suggest is that Lego drop the '16+' age on the modular product descriptions.

Times have changed and the second generation modulars are for the pre-adult or less than mature adult market.

[scottwb2010]

I also don't mind secret cookie–baking in my police station.

Should that not be dohnuts? :-)

Edited August 12, 2015 by scottwb2010

[Chilis]

Omg, can we/YOU stick to the freakin` topic!? If not I hope one of the moderators will close the thread, this development is silly.

[CM4Sci]

So uh, that Arcade sounds pretty cool.

[lightningtiger]

Trying to read through this topic is very difficult especially with some of the childish behavior going on, so what has been decided.....an Arcade or something else ?

Lego will only tell us when they good ready, so I feel patient and wait........hopefully it will be worth that wait.

[Mutant Orc]

Trying to read through this topic is very difficult especially with some of the childish behavior going on, so what has been decided.....an Arcade or something else ?

Lego will only tell us when they good ready, so I feel patient and wait........hopefully it will be worth that wait.

The general idea is an arcade at the moment. For a short while we thought Deli but that's just another of those Creator town building sets like the Cafe and Bike shopones.

I have other themes I like so I can wait a good long while 'till the next modular too,

Edited August 12, 2015 by Mutant Orc

[wooootles]

Thank goodness I only MOC nowadays and therefore not dependent on official set themes to have fun with LEGO. All I care about is whether they would have new, useful bricks. Come on sand red, be mass-produced already!

Edited August 12, 2015 by wooootles

[merman]

As I told you guys some pages ago, the arcade is a no-no. My reliable source debunked it. So no arcade....

You say 'girly' and 'camp' like it's a bad thing. Did you actually think that all modular building fans were straight masculine cisgender men?

This massive modular building collector is gay. (Meaning: me)

[Agent 86]

IF the next Modular is an Arcade, what does everyone expect to see in the upper levels?

Based on my small collection of Modulars, it seems as though apartments are common, but the Detective's Office may indicate that the upper levels will, going forward, potentially include small officers (e.g. dentist, lawyer, accountant, psychiatrist, etc).

As for the campness or target audience of the Modulars, I have no idea. Since Jamie has designed the majority of the Modulars, I don't see how the camp qualities would have varied except under the direction or influence of Lego. And I also didn't detect any major noticeable differences between the Palace Cinema and Town Hall and the other Modulars. Although, again, my collection is only small and doesn't include the earlier releases. As others have noted, the focus on "story" would appear to be more of a Lego directive to broaden the appeal of the Modulars as opposed to a designer choice. However, the focus on interior details would appear to be a designer choice and is obviously something that has been met with mixed reactions.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Agent 86

[CM4Sci]

IF the next Modular is an Arcade, what does everyone expect to see in the upper levels?

Based on my small collection of Modulars, it seems as though apartments are common, but the Detective's Office may indicate that the upper levels will, going forward, potentially include small officers (e.g. dentist, lawyer, accountant, psychiatrist, etc).

As for the campness or target audience of the Modulars, I have no idea. Since Jamie has designed the majority of the Modulars, I don't see how the camp qualities would have varied except under the direction or influence of Lego. And I also didn't detect any major noticeable differences between the Palace Cinema and Town Hall and the other Modulars. Although, again, my collection is only small and doesn't include the earlier releases. As others have noted, the focus on "story" would appear to be more of a Lego directive to broaden the appeal of the Modulars as opposed to a designer choice. However, the focus on interior details would appear to be a designer choice and is obviously something that has been met with mixed reactions.

Maybe they'll have two floors with machines, air hockey, prize counter, different kinds of games, etc. Maybe laser tag? Might be too small for that.

[Hinckley]

I have already addressed the tone of this thread. There's no need for anyone to continue addressing the behavior that I've already addressed. If you would like the conversation to go back to discussing the Modular line, continue discussing it. If someone's behavior after this post is upsetting you, please use the report button and report it to the staff. Anything prior to this post has been addressed by the staff already.

Thank you.

[namioik]

As I told you guys some pages ago, the arcade is a no-no. My reliable source debunked it. So no arcade....

So no arcade? Back to square 1....

[LegoSjaak]

If i were TLG i would also bring out some modular starter-sets... For example a park-set or a playground set... What i mean is a 16x32 baseplate with a relatively small building or park-like scenes with only about 500 pieces or so, that would give the modular block-scene some new arranging possibilities... On the other hand, buying a starter set like this may not be so very attractive, because it is still the larger buildings what it is all about.. Ofcourse anyone could MOC a park or so, but maybe with some creativeness it would add some nice extra playability for kids, especially now TLG seem to aim more at kids with the modular series....

Edited August 13, 2015 by LegoSjaak

[Agent 86]

I would happily buy some "mini" or "starter" Modular sets to help to expand my Modular street.

The newsagent/newsstand alternative build for the Toy and Grocery Store Creator set strikes me as a good starting point for a smaller building. I would also buy the aforementioned park, playground with swings and slide, a street market with assorted stalls, an Asian themed food market, a flower stand, a small coffee stand (i.e. a more detailed build of the coffee stand in the City Square) and even something plain like an alleyway with some dumpsters, etc.

As I'm sure I've previously mentioned in this thread, I would also love to see some half-sized Modulars, basically buildings like the townhouse from "Pet Shop" or the pet shop from "Pet Shop" sold by themselves. It would be great to have a street (or partial street) of terrace houses or to add some smaller shops/businesses. The residential buildings in the Creator line appear to be shrinking, so it could be a way to still release sizeable residential buildings which have a broader appeal. If they included interior details similar to the Friends houses, then they could potentially have an even broader appeal.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Agent 86

[Poisso3]

I agree that they should come out with smaller modulars like the town house from the Pet Shop set. Having these type sets would be great for those wanting to buy a modular but not shell out the money for the larger set and do not have the MOC skills to make their own outside a very basic building.

Speaking of the Pet Shop, TLG should make another splitable set. Maybe even a splitable corner set. :)