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but if you dont want to just dont reply to this.
you continually distort my opinions to justify your own narrative, because you want to argue
furthermore i am allowed to say it looks more 3in1 rather than expert because thats my opinion and im not stating it as fact,
and you really dont need your brother chirping in for support,
stop misquoting me, stop misinterpreting me. it a plastic toy model garage for fucks sake!!!
seeing as you have made over 2500 posts i assume you cant let it go,
heres some 3in1 sets for you which defo have no resemblance to the new modular
@Pitfall69 - nah, I'm neutral on the great Market Street controversy. It wasn’t available when I started collecting and I had to cobble the CC and PS – my versions are non-standard parts and colors. MS just didn’t appeal to me enough to bother.
@vwong19 - I DO think that Flower Cart 40140 is essential to the whole cookie smuggling operation. The Fountain is on trial, my old setup had the statue from #60026 in the curved road in from of the TH. Not enough depth on shelf for road. sigh.
@shikadi – yes, that would be harmonious in color, but I have a “thing” about TH being alone in splendid isolation. The mayor would use zoning laws to prevent the garage next to his office.
@SumoLego – I don’t have Hot Dog Cart #40078, but if you send it to me I promise to add – where do you recommend? As you said Balloon Cart #40108 is in the Fairground section, which is on the shelf to the left around the corner (not pictured.)
For those that liked the shelving, it is IKEA. Spendy, but very nice. Only the top rail is attached to the wall. Good if screws go into studs, but they also use and stand by their drywall anchors. It is easy to move the shelves around for different needs.
(Wait, that's when I will post pictures of my completed city.)
The only modular building I purchased was the Town Hall, back in 2011-2012. Back then I was still in school so $200 USD was the most I'd ever paid for anything in the history of ever. Then I haven't bought any modulars since. I was really really REALLY tempted by Parisian Restaurant and Brick Bank. This year though I figured that if the new modular was better than those two I would buy it. So this one is a little bit meh.
The Garage is okay, I like the overall design, but it's not something I could afford to spend so much money on. Although it would be interesting to see if someone mods the ground floor gas pump into a cute little corner store with food and everything!
tl;dr: I'll pass on this one this year, and watch a speed build video of it instead when it comes out ;)
Would have perhaps liked a different dog (a recoloured cmf scottie perhaps) but that's a fairly minor gripe.
On a corner modular related note, has anyone, or have you ever seen a modular that's been built 'mirrored' to fit someones layout better? Just wondering if it is possible with any of the modulars though most interested in the Diner.
I'm not completely convinced about this one yet - I will buy it, as I have all the others - it has an interesting shape and premise, but particularly the ground floor feels a little unfinished to me. In many of the other modulars the entire ground floor has been tiled, inside and out (except for out the back sometimes) so the floor of the garage looks a little bare in comparison (the sandy baseplate perhaps wasn't the best choice?). I like the wheel feature for the rolling door though! This slight plainness seems to carry on through the interior all the way to the roof - a little roof garden or something might have been nice to round it off?
Luckily it's Lego, and little things can be rectified. And it's certainly quite attractive, and a bit different, which ideally is what you want from a modular.
Kind of wish it wasn't so orange though!
I've seen this done a few times as well.
Complaints about the façade being too simple bother me. Can they really just keep getting more complex and baroque? Some buildings look simpler than others. A town has both kinds. I like the brown/orange brick color. It reminds me of brick buildings I’ve seen. Remember, brick color is usually a reflection of what materials are available locally, so no one color is “correct”. I also like the combination of the traditional brick building with the moderne garage façade. Again, that’s how many buildings end up looking as (typically) their ground levels get repurposed and redesigned over time.
I do have a couple quibbles. I don’t like the recessed corner at the back (necessary for the lift mechanism?), and the stairway opening straight into the vet and apartment. And the windows in the bathroom door. Weird. Filling in the back corner (perhaps only on the upper floors) would give room to fix the bathroom and maybe add doors by the stairs. Again, quibbles. I’ll almost certainly get it eventually.
Theme: I like the 50s Americana nod as it will help to harmonize with the Downtown Diner and this structure still having enough in common with the designs from earlier modulars to help bridge the generational gap.
Form: Based on some video reviews I've seen, I think the angled form will show a bit better in real life than it does in the photos. For me, the big question will be whether the garage wants to go on the front or the side when it incorporates into my city. The gaps in the front aren't ideal, but I look forward to exploring strategies to tighten this area up. The notch in the back will have to go - doesn't seem to be an obvious reason the upper levels can't square out to the extents of the plate, similar to the upper levels of Grand Emporium. I may also eventually build out the upper levels over the roll up door to reduce the "step out" at the first level.
Interior: My biggest complaint is the lack of separation around the stairs. I'll certainly add walls/doors for some element of privacy between levels. Yes the garage could have a few more accessories, though with a vehicle parked in the repair bay, there's not a ton of room left over. Second floor, to me, is the standout level with all the detail in the vet.
Minifigures: A little disappointing. Personally, I'd like to see these buildings always have at least one new fig, though I suppose the Rock Star from DD is really only a very slighting modified TLBM Robin.
Price: Even with the price increase, the Creator Expert Modular Buildings remain one of the best values in the LEGO world. Looking at this set vs DD or BB, it feels like the price is not inappropriate. I don't pretend to know how LEGO's pricing works, but to me, this feels like its not exorbitantly priced. There's something to be said about mentally associating $169.99 with $150, despite actually being $20 higher, or at least that's how my mind works.
Overall: Its not a homerun and it won't top any "Best of" lists but this may be the modular I'm most excited about making my own. The AFOL community is always going to having higher expectations as we get to enjoy each others amazing MOCs - but the reality is that many of those MOCs can't be BL'd for the ~$200 price point and maybe it's spoiled our expectations for what a modular building should be.
is it fair to call someones opinion "stupid" when they have given several examples of evidence to support their opinion? only donald trump is allowed to do that when disputing the scientific evidence for climate change
I'm underwhelmed. I never got the Diner as the 50s US style never appealed to me the way the European style kicked off with the PR did. That said, I could see myself getting the Diner if it went on sale or whatever as it's a cool enough building in its own right.
I can't say that about the Garage.
Part of it is just that feeling of not quite being able to put your finger on why you don't like something - it's just not for you - but I'll try and do my best to articulate my issues with the design.
It's small. Relative to most other modulars, the CG really lacks interior space. To my mind, one of the main things that makes modulars stand out is their detailed interiors, so the sparseness and crampedness of this one doesn't give it that same feeling of standing out in an endless world of open-backed police stations with a chair and a computer. It doesn't help that the bottom floor isn't tiled, breaking a previously-established modular trend.
Perhaps building the upper floors out over the gas station would have helped.
The concept of complexity has been a hot topic on here, and I don't think I'd dispute that the CG is not lacking elements of complexity - the train window windows are certainly elaborate. However, it lacks a certain finesse (in my view of the very subjective topic of design) that previous modulars have had. The Diner was fairly smooth and simple, but that was by virtue of the subject matter. If we look at the PR, the facade was intricately adorned with croissants, clams, feathers and so on. The subsequent three made similar ingenius parts usages to achieve their intricate detailing - Hero Factory fists, zip line handles, and even a chicken all being used to great effect. And while an argument of subject matter could be made concerning the CG, TLG have clearly gone for the detailed facade option with their use of the new 1x1 Toblerone pieces, but it just falls flat. The building looks blunt and bland.
The issue is not general complexity but complexity in relation to the aesthetic aspects of the build. Creative and original parts usage makes for an interesting and visually appealing building, and the CG is lacking.
I also think there is something to be said about the level of "polish" on the smaller aspects of the build in general. Yes, parts like the bollards and the cans are totally fine, but nowadays Lego have gotten us used to a bit more than "fine". Some silver round 1x1 tiles on top of the cans, for example, would help make the build feel a lot more "finished".
Including a car over a tow truck makes no real sense when a garage can still function without its own truck to tow customers in, but would cease doing business if it has nothing to repair or pump with petrol.
And last (and probably least), the choice of an apartment again is a little bit boring. This now means three of the last six modulars have had apartments (PR, As and GC). I have no objection to minifigures having somewhere to live, but using a floor for an apartment has been done to death. I wouldn't mind a modular devoted entirely to having something like 3 or 6 small flats in it, but at this point I'd rather the floor went to something more original and new.
Just my 2p.
has there ever been a definitive (or as close to definitive) poll amongst fans or builders to decide what was the best or most popular modular?