Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[lifeinplastic]

12 hours ago, cdmv said:

Gorillas? Do you mean the Jungle Explorer Helicopter?

As far as 'real' modulars go: Brick Cross Station also will be shipped in a couple of weeks to those who pre-ordered. The last modular compatible building from the BDP...

Yes - the set with the gorillas. I wasn't implying it was a modular, just that I still haven't bought it (among several other sets I'd like), so I'm in no rush for the next modular to be released in December. 

Edited October 15, 2024 by lifeinplastic

[cdmv]

8 hours ago, lifeinplastic said:

Yes - the set with the gorillas. I wasn't implying it was a modular, just that I still haven't bought it (among several other sets I'd like), so I'm in no rush for the next modular to be released in December. 

Just checking. I didn't get the impression you implied it was a modular. I just couldn't figure out straight away which set you were referring to. ;-)

The second line was supposed to be a new post (not a reply to your message), but the messages got automatically merged.

Edited October 15, 2024 by cdmv

[Westbrick]

Do we think the Botanical Garden is the set Lego is revealing ‘live’ on October 22nd?  They’re doing a Q&A with the designers. 

[BrickFit26]

Seems like too long to wait since an actual image of the set leaked early. 

[lifeinplastic]

56 minutes ago, cdmv said:

Just checking. I didn't get the impression you implied it was a modular. I just couldn't figure out straight away which set you were referring to. ;-)

The second line was supposed to be a new post (not a reply to your message), but the messages got automatically merged.

No worries!

[Lion King]

15 hours ago, BrickFit26 said:

Seems like too long to wait since an actual image of the set leaked early. 

Nah,… we will be fine with waiting for offical pictures. 

[lifeinplastic]

I know this is the modular thread and the Botanical Garden is technically not one, but I cannot see it has its own thread and this thread seems appropriate...

It looks like there are 11 minigfigs...

1) Left of tree

2&3) In front of left 'wing' of set - 1 adult 1 child

4-7) In centre/entrance area

8&9) To the right of the entrance

10&11) Next to a dog (puppy)

Am I missing any?

No. 8 looks as though it doesn't have a yellow face?

I hope the interior includes some giant water lilies (my favourite at Kew)! 

Edited October 16, 2024 by lifeinplastic

[RenLUG - Central Florida]

2&3) I THINK there might be three many figures there. (light brown hair blue shirt, kid with dark brown hair and white shirt across from them and another figure in the back with maybe grey hair)

8 - Pretty sure that is a brown beard on a yellow face.

[BrickFit26]

For those interested that X Mansion leak fits with the modulars. Same size as the NHM but floors aren't as tall. 

[RichardGoring]

I think the X mansion will look comically small next to the modulars, to be honest. It's like someone took the Natural History Museum, scaled it to 80% and put a colour filter on it. It's also disappointingly plain.

It's definitely not for me.

[BrickFit26]

@RichardGoringexactly, but I guess it could be mcoed.

[lifeinplastic]

3 hours ago, RenLUG - Central Florida said:

2&3) I THINK there might be three many figures there. (light brown hair blue shirt, kid with dark brown hair and white shirt across from them and another figure in the back with maybe grey hair)

8 - Pretty sure that is a brown beard on a yellow face.

I think you might be right about 2&3 actually being three figs - not sure about the beard idea though but you could be right. Can't wait to get a more detailed look. I wonder if any of the figs will be a 'tribute' character like Prof Kilroy in the museum or Pippin Reed in the Orient Express. The figure on the left of the entrance looks a little Johnny Thunder-like to me.

Edited October 16, 2024 by lifeinplastic

[RichardGoring]

2 hours ago, BrickFit26 said:

@RichardGoringexactly, but I guess it could be mcoed.

I considered that when the Sanctum Santorum came out, which is very nice, but also undersized. Just as they released it, Target did the 'original' price of $200, rather than the standard price of $250, so I bought two in the hopes of MOCing it together to create a fully modular scale four floor building. They're still in boxes, but it will happen one day.

For the X Mansion, it's just too similar to the Natural History Museum, for me, so unless it goes on heavy discount somehow (can't see it happening), it doesn't seem to make sense to pay a lot more for something that will end up close to the NHM. But equally if we didn't have the NHM, I'd probably be a lot more excited about the X Mansion! LEGO designers can't win... 

[cdmv]

4 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I think the X mansion will look comically small next to the modulars, to be honest. It's like someone took the Natural History Museum, scaled it to 80% and put a colour filter on it. It's also disappointingly plain.

It's definitely not for me.

That's the exact reason why I didn't get the Sanctum: the floors are way too short, the scale is completely off. Same thing seems to be the case here with the new Marvel 'modular'. I too find the exterior on the X Mansion way too plain. At least the Sanctum had a more detailed exterior. 

[Lion King]

10 hours ago, cdmv said:

That's the exact reason why I didn't get the Sanctum: the floors are way too short, the scale is completely off. Same thing seems to be the case here with the new Marvel 'modular'. I too find the exterior on the X Mansion way too plain. At least the Sanctum had a more detailed exterior. 

What about Daily Bugle?

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Lion King said:

What about Daily Bugle?

I think all of the Marvel buildings are a different scale to the modulars. That's fine. They have to replicate 'real' buildings, so they can't play the same scaling games that the standard modulars do. And if they were to the same scale, they'd be even more crazily expensive. They all have the impression of lots of floors on the outside, but a smaller number on the inside. Daily Bugle is only four floors on the inside, but the outside suggests probably 20? The Daily Bugle's floors also have a really small footprint, which seems disproportionate to the nature of the building on the outside. Plus, skyscrapers are very repetitive structures - by design - but that doesn't make for a great building experience, I suspect. I've not built any of them, but they don't appeal to me. The Marvel buildings, especially the skyscrapers, seem to use minifigures as the big draw (which I personally don't care about), while the standard modulars tend to use the build as the main draw (which is far more important to me), so that may also skew my view of them.

[PhoenixBuilder]

2 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I think all of the Marvel buildings are a different scale to the modulars. That's fine. They have to replicate 'real' buildings, so they can't play the same scaling games that the standard modulars do. And if they were to the same scale, they'd be even more crazily expensive. They all have the impression of lots of floors on the outside, but a smaller number on the inside. Daily Bugle is only four floors on the inside, but the outside suggests probably 20? …

I agree with this - although I think the issue has got worse over time. The Bugle has those clear grey strips between each “play” floor which helps it to feel more closely integrated to and scaled with the rest of the modulars, while the window elements give the sense of more floors: it balanced both well. 
 

The Sanctum tried to do the same with the colours of the walls indicating play floors and the windows indicating visual floors, but I think less effectively - the windows and rails just feel too prominent as separate elements and do make it look like a smaller scale. And of course, the Avengers Tower gave up on the idea of trying to have any sense of separation between the play floors entirely (and in fairness, probably had to for the sense of skyscraper scale). 
 

I would put the Bugle with the other modulars and I think it scales ok but the others… less so alright. I’d love to at some point adapt the sanctum to be more modular scale (and lose a visual floor) or to get the pieces to add a full sized extra floor to it (but it would tower above other modulars then!). 

[BrickFit26]

18 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

I considered that when the Sanctum Santorum came out, which is very nice, but also undersized. Just as they released it, Target did the 'original' price of $200, rather than the standard price of $250, so I bought two in the hopes of MOCing it together to create a fully modular scale four floor building. They're still in boxes, but it will happen one day.

For the X Mansion, it's just too similar to the Natural History Museum, for me, so unless it goes on heavy discount somehow (can't see it happening), it doesn't seem to make sense to pay a lot more for something that will end up close to the NHM. But equally if we didn't have the NHM, I'd probably be a lot more excited about the X Mansion! LEGO designers can't win... 

You got a good deal. I still have a modular that I haven't built yet that lego discounted before they retired it. As for the X Mansion, from the official pictures it separates into 3 16x32 plates. They could be changed into just 2 and use the leftover pieces to lever out the floors and have one 32x32 mansion for the modular street.

[cdmv]

10 hours ago, Lion King said:

What about Daily Bugle?

I think the Daily Bugle out of all the Marvel Modulars scales the best with the core modulars, because of the height of the floors. It's the only one out of those sets that I own and (as a bonus) it pairs very nicely with the Modular Construction Site from the BDP for an intersting downtown skyline. Even though it only has four floors, it has a real presence, without overwhelming the other buidings. 

I also have the original Sanctum Sanctorum Showdown and that building scales a lot better to the likes of a Pet Shop and Book Shop. Although I had to alter the details to make make it more polished and 'prettier' next to the other modulars.

Edited October 17, 2024 by cdmv

[hikouki]

Some cartoon images of the X-Mansion show three floors. It would have been great if Lego could release expansion modules as future sets.

[ReplicaOfLife]

On 10/16/2024 at 9:56 PM, RichardGoring said:

It's like someone took the Natural History Museum, scaled it to 80% and put a colour filter on it. It's also disappointingly plain.

This about sums it up for me, too.

Floor height and level of detail of a Creator 3 in 1 building, but footprint of an XL modular were my initial thoughts. Weird.

At least teh Sanctum Sanctorum looked cool on the outside. The "two" middle floors that are actually just one was a slap in the face, though.

 

[RichardGoring]

As expected. The X Mansion is comically small, as shown by Moliosis on Reddit!

Is it strange to anybody else that a middle class townhouse is taller than a mansion? : r/lego (reddit.com)

[Shiva]

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

As expected. The X Mansion is comically small, as shown by Moliosis on Reddit!

Well, how well would a X Mansion, that costs, atleast x2 or possibly even +4x of 76294 sell?

[RichardGoring]

46 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Well, how well would a X Mansion, that costs, atleast x2 or possibly even +4x of 76294 sell?

Oh yes, I completely agree, it would perform poorly at $800. But in a thread about modulars, it doesn't fit with them. For a Marvel set it's great. It has the characters, the play features, the action, and it scales reasonably with with the other Marvel buildings. It is a little plain, but you can't do as much at that scale.

Mostly, I just don't rate it as a modular, which a lot of people were initially excited about.

[Chris10]

Clearer pictures of the Botanical Gardens are now available. Looks great in my opinion, even if its technically not modular after all.