Bricklinking Modular Buildings

[cei]

So I finally took pictures of my CC build. It has all the original parts, except minifigs as I'm not overly interested in those. I then added an interior. I finally decided to swap the windows on the first floor for those with glass in them.

Edited March 20, 2014 by cei

[stevkir]

My sand blue grocer is almost complete. I have one last order coming from PnB. It was over a month since I placed the order and called them up. For whatever reason they cancelled my order right away (even though they told me payment went through and it was marked as shipped). So I've been waiting and waiting to no avail. They alerted me since the mistake was on their end they would send it right out free of charge! It mostly just had some sand blue bricks and some unrelated minifigure parts, but still free is free. That makes me a happy camper. I've been in the camp that their customer service wasn't good because of all of the problems I've had with them, but after this I am definitely more positive about them. I guess I will wait and see if they actually arrive this time.

I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done. I also have an interior in progress.

At one point I thought about doing mine in lime green as I had a lot of the needed parts in lime from PAB cups over the past few months. Looked into the 1x2 lime green bricks with slot and most didn't have more than 1-4 per store. The prices on them were cheap but no desire to order from 10 stores just for one lot.

On another note, I found 3 packages in my mail box today!!! My Denmark order was in which had the Sand Green 1x2 with slot and then 2 small orders for a total of just under 200 pieces.

Now at 1971/2385 for the Green Grocer.

Cei, great interiors. Sad how the first few Modulars didn't have interiors or if they did they were very limited.

Edited March 20, 2014 by stevkir

[TheLegoDr]

It's great to see interiors. I love the floor plan of the main cafe. Is that dark red or red on the 1x1s? I like the reception area for the hotel. I don't love the floor on the top, but I just didn't care for medium blue, especially to that extent. But the fixture and details work well.

[rollermonkey]

Tonight's trip to the other LEGO store netted me another 6 lots, which brings me to 64 of 311 lots. No clue about the part count since I've added several pieces that weren't full lots.

Definitely happy about the progress in just one week, without even using a spreadsheeet. ;)

I've even been able to get 44 pieces onto the baseplate, which looks as silly as it sounds.

Edited March 21, 2014 by rollermonkey

[Stefano]

what does it cost these days to bricklink a Cafe Corner on average ? including shipping etc etc...? Because if its like 400 dollar and i could get one for 500 dollar it would be very tempting to spent an extra 100 dollar just to avoid the hassle with all those sorting out, yes im lazy and all prices are made up on the spot.

[rollermonkey]

Well, for $500 you certainly wouldn't be getting a box or sealed bags.

:)

[JayCal]

all prices are made up on the spot.

Thankfully! I'm 99,9% done on my CC using some replacements. Finding a boxed CC for 500 bucks would be a sweet find though..

[BCanilho]

What do you mean when you say lots? Are there any predetermined lots, for anyone who wants to start this project? CC or MS? Does it refer to individual types of pieces staked in lots? If so where can i find that discrimination of lots?

Not sure of the question is clear enough...

[Inzane]

As I mentioned before the CC listings on the low end of the price scale appear to have no box, no instructions and in some cases either some missing or substituted parts. It is also by definition a used set.

If you're BL'ing it, most of us are sourcing NEW parts wherever possible (the one obvious exception is that damn door). Its hard to make a direct apples to apples comparison.

If you could actually find a complete CC set WITH original instructions for around ~$500, that would probably be a deal to jump on. But I wouldn't expect that to be the norm.

When I'm finished, I will attempt to calculate the per set costs and post my results. (been doing CC, GG & MS simultaneously). I gave up updating my spreadsheet a couple months back, so I've got a lot of work to do there. LOL

What do you mean when you say lots? Are there any predetermined lots, for anyone who wants to start this project? CC or MS? Does it refer to individual types of pieces staked in lots? If so where can i find that discrimination of lots?

Not sure of the question is clear enough...

I think what people are referring to is how many unique lots (types) of parts exist in the set's inventory. For example, Cafe Corner (according to my quick check) has 256 lots, not including minifigs or alternates, etc.

An example of one of the lots is CC needs x19 of the dark blue 1x4 bricks. That's one "lot".

Some people are simply recording their progress by how many lots they're completing, vs. a straight piece count.

[stevkir]

What do you mean when you say lots? Are there any predetermined lots, for anyone who wants to start this project? CC or MS? Does it refer to individual types of pieces staked in lots? If so where can i find that discrimination of lots?

Not sure of the question is clear enough...

a lot is specific part. So if a set has 311 unique parts, there are 311 lots. lots is just the term bricklink.com uses.

[stevkir]

This week has been like freaking Christmas!! My PAB order came in today as well as 2 other BL orders. I am now only waiting on 1 BL order that as far as I know has not been shipped and I have now sent them a message asking her about it and did that this morning. Just short 11 lots and the 4 minifigs which I will order via BnP. I will build what I can today and upload new pictures of the progress.

2206/2385 for Green Grocer.

Edited March 21, 2014 by stevkir

[rob-cubed]

what does it cost these days to bricklink a Cafe Corner on average ? including shipping etc etc...? Because if its like 400 dollar and i could get one for 500 dollar it would be very tempting to spent an extra 100 dollar just to avoid the hassle with all those sorting out, yes im lazy and all prices are made up on the spot.

I can't speak to CC directly, but I just finished a Green Grocer copy. If you want it to be exactly like the original, you're going to have to spend a premium on a few of the rarer parts like the door and dark red roof slopes. If you want something similar and are willing to substitute, it'll be much cheaper. Green Grocer uses sand green 1x8s which are about $3US, but smaller bricks work just fine.

In the end, I don't think I really saved myself much money vs buying a complete retired set. The shipping and time to source all the pieces really adds up. CC uses a fair amount of pretty common colors and shapes though, so that's a big plus.

[TheLegoDr]

^Exactly.. If you want an exact replica, it may save you some money to bricklink it, but a lot of that will vary per store plus whatever you may have in your collection already. Shipping eats up a lot of the cost, so if you can find local stores that allow pick-up, that could work in your favor. Although odds are slim on that one.

I didn't go for a straight copy, so it doesn't bother me. I tallied up the approximate cost of my sand blue grocer. I spent under $50 total for the pieces that weren't in my collection already. Now this involved subsituting smaller pieces when one longer/larger piece would have sufficed. That can make or break a set. I did buy lots of sets to be able to have all of those extra pieces, so it does add up, but I have no way in tallying up the exact cost of just the pieces in those sets other than just using a bricklink price, which isn't going to be accurate.

And since I'm modifying CC also, the total cost will come into play. I have about the main floor done and the front facade/flooring of the upper floors put together from pieces from my collection other than the windows and dark red roof slopes. So again, if you have the pieces in your own collection, it will cut down on what you have to order. But I'm not interested in buying all of the exact figures or 5 high doors. I prefer everything to stay in system with the current set-up.

I think a lot of the desire is to have the thrill of piecing something together. Most people are saying how cheap they built it or how much they saved, but I'd assume no one is buying the instructions or box, which is a huge part of the asking price anyway. So without those you already are saving a bundle...

[BCanilho]

Probably is already in the topic but can someone make a briefing of rarer/costly pieces in CC and some ideas in how to bypass those issues! Diferent color, two pieces instead of one that is pricier. It must be in the topic by now, but this is getting big and with a briefing we could all participate and put the ideas in one merged post!

[rollermonkey]

The most expensive pieces in this set are going to be:

• Sand green 1 x 8 bricks ($3.50 a piece - need 50)
  
• Sand green 1 x 2 brick w/ groove ($0.75-$1.25 a piece - need 56)
  
• Blue 1 x 3 x 2 bow ($3.50-$4.00 a piece - need 4)
  
• Tan minifig torso, part #4275334 ($3.50 and up - hard to find)
  
• Red Brown "Lady Wig", part #4506002 ($2.50 and up - Really hard to find)
  
• White Kitten w/ printed eyes, part #4285963 ($2.50 and up - hard to find)
  

There are other parts that might be a little pricey but these are the ones I had a tougher time with. You can always substitute for something cheaper or more available depending on your personal preferences.

Like this post?

For the sand green, you either change the color or substitute more 1x4s for the 1x8s. The grooved bricks is what makes most people change colors, but you could also substitute standard 1x2s in sand green. The blue bows are on BnP right now, as is the kitten. For the torso and hair, you either pick something else or deal with BrickLink prices for them.

Edited March 22, 2014 by rollermonkey

[BCanilho]

Like this post?

For the sand green, you either change the color or substitute more 1x4s for the 1x8s. The grooved bricks is what makes most people change colors, but you could also substitute standard 1x2s in sand green. The blue bows are on BnP right now, as is the kitten. For the torso and hair, you either pick something else or deal with BrickLink prices for them.

Aren't this for the Green Grocer? I was asking for the Cafe Corner... But thanks for the fast reply!

[rollermonkey]

I could lie and say I was merely giving an example of what you wanted to see done for CC, but I'll admit it: I didn't notice the "CC" in your post.

[Inzane]

Probably is already in the topic but can someone make a briefing of rarer/costly pieces in CC and some ideas in how to bypass those issues! Diferent color, two pieces instead of one that is pricier. It must be in the topic by now, but this is getting big and with a briefing we could all participate and put the ideas in one merged post!

I can lay out a few of the highlights for you:

black main door - not too expensive, you can substitute if you want but its a distinctive look

light bley right door - very expensive, even used. consider sub'ing with light grey instead of light bley. Or go for a LEFT door instead of RIGHT.

for the dark blue pieces, you'll probably spend the most on the 4 columns. The half-arches are completely hidden under the stairs so you could use an alternate color if you want. for the big arch, they are readily available now thanks to Winter Village Market, and not very expensive.

light bley garbage can - get the 4 tab variety vs. the 2 tab.

light bley turntable bases - forget them, way too expensive now. at least one maybe two are hidden so color won't matter. the ones clearly visible, black is probably the next best choice (or white).

for the second floor windows which are those "panels" the original style is very expensive and not worth it in my opinion. the new panels w/ side supports don't look too bad. go with either that or the window (w/ glass) method a few of us have discussed.

For the third floor windows, the price of those five original window frames are ridiculous now. go with the new substitute and the half-panes. while the old full panes are still available and cheap, they won't fit the newer frames unfortunately so they're basically useless unless you had the old style thick frames. (I found this out the hard way)

forget the reddish brown 2x10 bricks - don't even go there. use combinations of other sizes.

the dark red slopes for the roof - not really a concern, thanks to Pet Shop. they are readily available now, even from lego BnP.

the 11 white skiis - while you could get away with the new style skiis, I didn't like them. The old style ones (discontinued) with the hinge tab on top look better and are much much easier to space out evenly on the hose.

the one reddish brown female hairpiece - a little pricey (thanks to harry potter connection and discontinued). the rest of the minifig parts aren't a problem.

there are other more minor things, like the type 1 vs. type 2 door frames. (who cares). Most of us probably have the newer white lamppost, rather than the original part (its a subtle difference). The white antennas flat style vs. rounded end style for the patio furniture. And so on. But that's nit picking.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Inzane

[rollermonkey]

I decided that I was going to order the remaining parts for GG that are not available via PnB on BrickLink tonight.

Those lots, I think it was 11 or 12, required that I go to 5 different BL stores to get them all. At each one, I added lots until the order was at least $12-15 to justify the shipping costs. The last one I checked, I ended up getting FIFTY lots for under $20!

91 additional lots, 370 pieces in total, about $75 before S&H, including a couple of the most expensive individual parts.

170 of 311 lots ordered, so 140 left to source.

Edited March 22, 2014 by rollermonkey

[BCanilho]

I can lay out a few of the highlights for you:

black main door - not too expensive, you can substitute if you want but its a distinctive look

light bley right door - very expensive, even used. consider sub'ing with light grey instead of light bley. Or go for a LEFT door instead of RIGHT.

for the dark blue pieces, you'll probably spend the most on the 4 columns. The half-arches are completely hidden under the stairs so you could use an alternate color if you want. for the big arch, they are readily available now thanks to Winter Village Market, and not very expensive.

light bley garbage can - get the 4 tab variety vs. the 2 tab.

light bley turntable bases - forget them, way too expensive now. at least one maybe two are hidden so color won't matter. the ones clearly visible, black is probably the next best choice (or white).

for the second floor windows which are those "panels" the original style is very expensive and not worth it in my opinion. the new panels w/ side supports don't look too bad. go with either that or the window (w/ glass) method a few of us have discussed.

For the third floor windows, the price of those five original window frames are ridiculous now. go with the new substitute and the half-panes. while the old full panes are still available and cheap, they won't fit the newer frames unfortunately so they're basically useless unless you had the old style thick frames. (I found this out the hard way)

forget the reddish brown 2x10 bricks - don't even go there. use combinations of other sizes.

the dark red slopes for the roof - not really a concern, thanks to Pet Shop. they are readily available now, even from lego BnP.

the 11 white skiis - while you could get away with the new style skiis, I didn't like them. The old style ones (discontinued) with the hinge tab on top look better and are much much easier to space out evenly on the hose.

the one reddish brown female hairpiece - a little pricey (thanks to harry potter connection and discontinued). the rest of the minifig parts aren't a problem.

there are other more minor things, like the type 1 vs. type 2 door frames. (who cares). Most of us probably have the newer white lamppost, rather than the original part (its a subtle difference). The white antennas flat style vs. rounded end style for the patio furniture. And so on. But that's nit picking.

Wow! That's exactly what i needed/wanted!

Thanks!

I'm thinking in starting this quest also but was not sure of the more complicated pieces and ways to bypass them, because i was not sure off the possible alternatives or if some pieces really mattered if they were hiden or not!

This post will work as my base! If anyone has something to increase to the post, please do so!

I already read about the door, is it to eye-striking the diference in the completed build. About the coluns i saw in brickset that the more complicated ones only appeared in 3 diferent sets, and those sets are a bit old, so rare pieces... Any way to have the same aspect with diferent pieces? Our diferent color?

[cei]

It's great to see interiors. I love the floor plan of the main cafe. Is that dark red or red on the 1x1s? I like the reception area for the hotel. I don't love the floor on the top, but I just didn't care for medium blue, especially to that extent. But the fixture and details work well.

It's red on the 1x1s to provide some contrast. I tried dark red and didn't like it as much. The upper floor is the difficult one - I'm not sold on the medium blue flooring either, but I need a lot more tiles to come up with something else! Ideally I'd love to link two CCs together to create a decent sized hotel, but the cost would be prohibitive.

[JayCal]

If anyone has something to increase to the post, please do so!

I replaced a lot of turntables with part 87580 (sometimes it required a bit of modding). It also comes in a lot of colors that sometimes suit the model better than regular bley or black IMHO.

My doors are all the "new" 6 high doors... I think they work quite well and are available through all well known sources.

The blue pillars are not too expensive through bricklink and they sure make the model shine on streel level.

[BCanilho]

My doors are all the "new" 6 high doors... I think they work quite well and are available through all well known sources.

Thanks JayCal!

Do you have the ID of those doors? It sits perfectly on the place of the older ones our do you have to do some kind of changes to the rest of the build?

I'm sorry if i'm bothering you but it's my first time in this kind off quest... Never done any BL, PaB our BnP order before. Since i came back from my Dark Ages i only bougth sets, was able to still get the GG at a high price from a local seller were in Portugal, and i have been collecting the rest of the modulars (its only missing the PR!) But i was always sorry for not getting the first two ones...

I guess i will try first with CC and them maybe go for the MS.

Unfortunately no Lego Store in Portugal so no access to physical PaB walls... What a shame...

Edited March 22, 2014 by BCanilho

[JayCal]

I utilised element ID 4534267 for the cafe front door using a black 60596 doorframe. The side hotel door was made with element ID 4521504 combined with a light bley 60596 doorframe. I used the exact same pieces for my Market Street doors (plus a 4521943 and white 60596 for the balcony). This means you'll need some mods for these doors are a little higher. For the most part though, the mods are pretty self explanatory.

My quest for these 3 first modulars was my first attempt at using BL, PaB and BnP. It worked quite well! still waiting on one optional lot to come in, and then I'll post my pics.

I'm located in Holland, so no official store for me either. Good luck!

Edited March 22, 2014 by JayCal

[stevkir]

Hate to be so close to having my GG being finished but ran out of money and won't be getting the 1x3 and 1x4 Sand Green bricks to finish the 2 middle sections. Once the last of my parts I have ordered come in I will have about 130 parts to go to be finished with it. Then I am off to building my MS since it will be the easiest to finish with 850-900 parts to BL and BnP orders. I will be modifying the MS to some degree since I don't like the balcony's and thinking of turning the underused section into an extension to the GG for an outdoor market. I have already ordered many of the food items I plan on using for it while I was getting GG parts. Then I will use the top portion as a patio for the MS housing.

Here is where my GG is at right now. I can't do any more till I get more 1x8 light blay and 2x2 light blay corner bricks and those "should" be coming next week. with those I will be able to finish the bottom floor and the roof sections.