Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[tomdobs55]

I'm thinking it will be fairly close to the pet shop in size. That's just a guess though.

[Off the wall]

It's ridiculous that people still talk as if it is possible to predict what will pass review or not. There are no hard set in stone rules so you cannot possibly predict with any degree of certainty. If the Big Bang Theory set proves no one can honestly claim they are doing anything but wild speculation.

Dude, this is the internet. Anonymity, no accountability and usually no basis for our speculation. Anyone taking any of this seriously does so at their own risk. We're basically just having fun and passing time until we get an official announcement.

Enjoy, regards....

[badbob001]

You seem to forget that Market Street was a CUUSOO/Ideas set back in the days, and it's price point was certainly much higher, not to mention its larger size.

Market Street is actually the cheapest Modular Building and had the fewest pieces:

Cafe Corner: 2056 pcs, $140

Market Street: 1248 pcs, $90

Green Grocer: 2352, $150

Design-wise, I think it's far below the quality of the in-house designed Modular. To me, it's like... the Back To The Future set of the Modular line. Lets hope all the bad eggs are behind us now.

[glendo]

Design-wise, I think it's far below the quality of the in-house designed Modular. To me, it's like... the Back To The Future set of the Modular line. Lets hope all the bad eggs are behind us now.

It's nasty.

I have no interest in every acquiring it or BL'ing in it's true design form. I have designed a modern version on LDD i'd rather create.

[parksroad]

Blue and yellow with a bit of orange? Hmm. It'll be interesting to see how they do this but that doesn't exactly scream "film noir" to me, which is what I think a lot of us have had in mind...

[Whitesnake]

The set will be in stores in Jan 2015. So I guess the announcement is coming very soon (within the next 2 weeks).

[Off the wall]

The set will be in stores in Jan 2015. So I guess the announcement is coming very soon (within the next 2 weeks).

Thanks. That makes sense. Same release as PR. Maybe available on a VIP basis on Jan 1, like PR?

[BirdOPrey5]

Does anyone remember if the Fire Brigade had extra cellophane wrapping around the perimeter of the box? My sister bought this for me for my birthday off eBay and it was listed as "New" and "Sealed box." But I have never seen this used on LEGO before, however I wasn't buying LEGO when Fire Brigade was new.

It's hard to see in this picture but you can make some of it out.

Was this normal for this set?

[Gongoro73]

No, mine didn't had any cellophane.

[Withacee]

Nope, no plastic here, either, when we bought this.

I do vaguely remember, though, that the box was unopenable without damaging it. So one would always see that it had been opened.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Withacee

[Ellteltoone]

Neither did mine

[Regimus]

A lot of eBay sellers do this to their boxes to protect them in storage.

[BirdOPrey5]

A lot of eBay sellers do this to their boxes to protect them in storage.

Thanks... Hoping that was it- the tape on both ends looks intact,,, still might bump this to the front of the build line just in case there is a problem.

[VintageLegoEra]

All Lego Sets dont come with a Shrink Wrap plastic. Probably the seller made it to preserve the Condition of the Box!

[Faefrost]

It's ridiculous that people still talk as if it is possible to predict what will pass review or not. There are no hard set in stone rules so you cannot possibly predict with any degree of certainty. If the Big Bang Theory set proves no one can honestly claim they are doing anything but wild speculation.

This is true, although you can make some educated guesses just from using available data and past behaviors.

1. Big Bang Theory does not prove us all wrong. It is an outlier and probably relied heavily on certain factors that were not readily apparent to we here on the outside. We never considered the unplanned and rather organic synergistic relationship between Lego and the current top rated TV show, and how such a set would be an unexpected marketing boon for both. It's a rare set of converging circumstances.

2. Size of Ideas sets. I go round and round trying to explain this one, but I am not sure folks understand. Size matters, but not always in the ways folks think. Size matters for a lot of reasons. A larger size = greater risk with the product. More financial exposure if it fails. Plus size equates to desired price point, so depending on where and who the set is targeted at the desired price will limit the size. But the key thing in all of this is not actually size. It is risk. The actual size of the set is less important than the calculated risk.(within reason, the Helicarrier as big as a car is not gonna fly for many reasons including the law of gravity). When looking at it from a risk perspective the Modular Museum is less of a risk than Wayne Manor or the X Mansion. Substantially less. Lego has a decades worth of data on Modular sales. They know very particularly who the consumer base is, that they are adults and that they spend $150-$200 on an large annual released D2C set. That is the sweet price point for this well established customer base. Whereas the Super Heroe sets, while they have a much broader appeal, and thrive at retail, are largely more in the hands of a younger audience. They fly off the shelves at the sub $99 price point. But there is not as much good data on how they do in the more specialized higher price AFOL target group. A smattering of data from Arkham, the new Tumbler and maybe the Simpsons set. The point being while an X Mansion has the possibility to sell well, the Museum has virtually no risk, because they have such a well established pattern of customer behavior regarding those sets. They know exactly who will buy a Modular. No guesswork involved. That counts for a lot in a business case review. And this is why when they do decide to go for a higher price point Ideas set, it will be something that they have good data from similar or related products. Modulars, Trains, Technic, SW UCS will be the likely candidates.

3. Size Matters part 2. All of the above is true, with certain understandings that common sense must apply. Size is more a factor of matching the price point to the expected market segment. Ideas is never going to take a stab at something unknown or new with a high price point. You will not see the largest set ever from Lego as an Ideas set. If the designed set exceeds the weight capacity of a Mini Cooper it's not gonna happen. Figure 2000-3000 pieces is the effective practical threshold or $150-250 the highest price point they will likely take a shot at. They don't have a ton of good predictive data for stuff above that. And they will not go for anything even that big until or unless they have very very good data indicating that the risk is minimal. So if your idea is unlike anything Lego has ever done before... Keep it small. Your best bet for large is stuff they have sorta kinda done before, but really haven't. And yes it can be confusing.

[TheLegoDr]

^With the above, it does make me wonder if a second modular would sell well. As in, they have the standard yearly Modular release. I know a lot of people on this forum would buy a second modular if they liked it enough, but I wonder if it would hurt sales of the official/non IDEAS Modular?

As it stands, I will buy basically all Modulars from LEGO designers. I have no interest in the IDEAS Modulars so far, unless LEGO really tweaked how they looked. Obviously, the one sale to me isn't going to determine how viable that offering would be, but I'd assume others are similar. We have a limited LEGO budget and may not like the IDEAS version and would then not buy it. Yes, it is true they have sales data that will help them determine viability, but that sales data won't take into consideration people like me who want a lot of variety of sets, but not enough money to cover it all.

[Herky]

Market Street is actually the cheapest Modular Building and had the fewest pieces:

Design-wise, I think it's far below the quality of the in-house designed Modular. To me, it's like... the Back To The Future set of the Modular line. Lets hope all the bad eggs are behind us now.

Well sure you can say this now, but before some guy created it there were not modular buildings and no line for it. So this was the first one and how many times have we seen the first one of anything be the best? It was designed by an AFOL, not Lego designers, in fact, this opened up a whole new ability for there to be a job designing buildings. All the MOC's MOD's, etc came out of the MS. I do not own it, but without it, we wouldn't even have this thread, so you can say bad egg, but it was the foundation of what we have now.

Whitesnake, we are all expecting the announcement next Friday based on the Lego store calendar

BirdofPrey, none of my modular sets ever came wrapped like that

Fae - I get what you are saying, and sure it makes sense, but come on, don't kill our hopes :-) Also you say they have decades worth of data on modular sets...can you elaborate on that? How did they get decades worth when MS was the first one and it was released in the 2000's.

[mapimi]

A few on Brickset are reporting haven seen images of the #10246 DA, anyone here have some insights on it?

[timtosino]

A few on Brickset are reporting haven seen images of the #10246 DA, anyone here have some insights on it?

I've seen it. It includes the DA on the 2nd story, billiards hall below and a barber shop next door with apartments on top. A new piece scissor or "shears" are featured prominently. DA has brick with profile walls, while the pool hall has a brown front with glass windows and green canopy. Barber Shop is in Navy blue with the apartments lighter blue.

[dhc6twinotter]

I've seen it. It includes the DA on the 2nd story, billiards hall below and a barber shop next door with apartments on top. A new piece scissor or "shears" are featured prominently. DA has brick with profile walls, while the pool hall has a brown front with glass windows and green canopy. Barber Shop is in Navy blue with the apartments lighter blue.

Sounds nice. Is there an alley between the two?

[timtosino]

Sounds nice. Is there an alley between the two?

Don't think so, looks more like an alcove to enter the Apartments. The Barber shop has the main door facing into that way as well.

[namioik]

Don't think so, looks more like an alcove to enter the Apartments. The Barber shop has the main door facing into that way as well.

Similar to green grocer I assume

[Jern92]

Anyone kind enough to share the image? Please? In a private message would be good.

EDIT: It has the bulk of older modulars but also the architectural details of the PS. Love it!

Is that meant to be a bar, or just a sort of shop that lets people play pool in it? And are those apartments above the Barber?

Edited November 16, 2014 by Jern92

[thewatchman]

Would anyone be kind enough to pm me also?

[mapimi]

I've seen it. It includes the DA on the 2nd story, billiards hall below and a barber shop next door with apartments on top. A new piece scissor or "shears" are featured prominently. DA has brick with profile walls, while the pool hall has a brown front with glass windows and green canopy. Barber Shop is in Navy blue with the apartments lighter blue.

Thanks for sharing that, sounds like we are being treated to three different businesses in one set, that's pretty sweet :)