The Next Modular: Town Hall (10224)

yys4u

I hope these are fair game, the images aren't marked confidential and they're pretty good quality.

http://www.toyark.com/news/lego-toy-news-12/new-2012-lego-modular-building-town-hall-images-5171/

Friend showed me this in the morning, I have mixed thoughts, don't like another date on the building, could make for a confusing street with multiple dates on buildings. And aside from the first floor (which looks great) I think the outside of the rest looks a little plain.

And when you look at the last pic, you see this set is HUGE!

Robb

If this is legit, then this modular is surely going to be more expensive that recent ones.

Eight minifigs! It looks great, and a nice treat for those who came out of our dark ages after the Town Plan set (and thus missed its town hall).

MrBerre

don't like another date on the building, could make for a confusing street with multiple dates on buildings.

Why? It makes perfect sense, one building was built at one time, another at another time.

And when you look at the last pic, you see this set is HUGE!

That it is. I hesitate to think how much this is going to cost.

yys4u

Why? It makes perfect sense, one building was built at one time, another at another time.

Well when you put it THAT way I guess it does make sense haha! I just thought since they already did that they should have done something else..

Si_UKNZ

A big one - great!
Not keen on the colour
Agree that the date is too similar to FB
The 2nd floor looks a bit weird to me (counting ground, 1st, 2nd)
Love the balcony and the ground floor.
I'll definitely buy it.

MinifigsMe

It's very impressive! I don't like the colour much either though. It's somehow not quite right...

starfire2

That is awesome! I can't wait to add it to my collection!!

xmao

Looks great by itself. But the scale doesnt seem quite right next to existing ones, which makes me wonder if it's a really nicely done MOC (or maybe that picture was photoshopped)

vwong19

I like the color. Does it really matter what the model costs.... we're still going to buy it. I'd buy Market St or Cafe Corner at $200. 10% is going to go a long way for this one.

dougts

it's not that much bigger than the others. piece count is up to 2700, so that is a bit more. It's still 32 wide, although it appears to be deeper than the standard 16 - more like 20. And obviously taller. I'd estimate $180 price point.

Looks like the Dark flesh color on the exterior? I'm not sold on that choice either, but you knew there were going to go with a non-standard color they hadn't already done in a modular. Detailing is good. wheel wells above the windows, and snot arches below. clock tower is fantastic, although I'd like to have seen 4 faces (or at least 3) rather than just 1. front columns and roofline detail look nice as well.

GIR3691

It looks legit to me. I'm not crazy about the size if that means the price will go up. Plus, I need to take the billboard off my Grand Emporium to fit it on my shelf. I don't know what I'm going to do with this one!

The color's actually pretty close to the City Hall in my town, so no complaints here.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/NorwalkCTCityHallFront09032007.JPG

Are those brick-built columns? This looks like a large undertaking to assemble.

bor2112

Thanks for sharing!

DaddyWhale

On the whole I love it (if it's legit). The size looks odd though relative to GE. But that's just because a single GE is undersized, which is understandable given pricing constraints. Compared to PS it looks just about right for a small town.

princedraven

There are other pictures on YouTube, including one picture of it next to other Modulars, the pet shop looks minute next to it and it looks like it is considerably bigger than GE from what I can see, unless the vid is a fake.

Si_UKNZ

a single GE is undersized,

Agree, the GE needs to be twice the width, and have an extra floor IMO. I have a box here ready to open for just that purpose :)

skherbeck

This is beautiful!! I have the Town Hall from a previous "Town Plan" and modified it to make it a complete building; I then turned it into a school house. This new Town Hall, however, is amazing and I can't wait to add it to my city!! Great Job, Lego!

DaddyWhale

a single GE is undersized,

Agree, the GE needs to be twice the width, and have an extra floor IMO. I have a box here ready to open for just that purpose :)

Lucky guy! I wish I could get a second GE past my wife!

But don't you need more than one extra GE to both double the width and add an extra floor?

tk79

This looks great. If it was beside the FB it wouldn't look nearly as out of proportion...and I like that it's bigger anyway, town halls usually are somewhat "grand".

vwong19

It does look like I'm going to have to raise one my shelf up a notch to make this one fit... dang.

Si_UKNZ

don't you need more than one extra GE to both double the width and add an extra floor?

Since it goes round a corner, and the extension wont, I dont think so, but only way to find out is to try!

kks

I dislike the color as well, but I like the size. I also wish there was a little more architectural detail, but I will be buying it, so I guess it really does not matter.

KulshanGirl

I LOVE the color. :)

yys4u

@GIR3691
@vwong19

I too have to remove the billboard and the small tip of the water tower on FB to put these into my shelf, thats why when I saw how big it was I was afraid I'd have to find a new place to store them...

KulshanGirl

But that white bell tower part on top of the clock is getting modified right out. Clock and peak only. I don't know if it's the white, or that it's kind of overkill having a bell on top of a clock, but it's outta there on mine.

dougts

^ interesting. I rather like the white tower on top of the clock, and think the set would look odd and kind of monotone/odd without it. the beauty of LEGO - we can each do what we like!

I'm not sure about the columns. the square bases look too big, and the columns themselves oversized (too fat). It appears they wanted to use a cool brick-built snot technique to make them, but I can't help think those profile column bricks would have just looked better.

HuskerDont

At work I was thinking how cool it would be if pictures of the new modular building came out today.

The color is nice. I would have wanted a darker shade of brown, but then it would look too much like FB. All in all, I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Supersympa

thanks for sharing, that is a big one!
FB not on the picture...smells the end of it!

LegoFanTexas

Does anyone else see the clock tower/court house from Back to the Future here? :)

That was my wife's first comment when she saw it. The date on the top is close, it was 1885 that Doc Brown went back to, so only a few years. I guess they could have started construction on the courthouse in 1881 in the BTTF timeline. ;)

Supersympa

according to brickipedia, release date MARCH 2012!

http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/10224_Town_Hall

dougts

yeah, there's a slight reminiscence:

DaddyWhale

It looks very small town USA to me. Are there similar looking European town halls?

Ma1234

U.S. MSRP I am told is $179.99, an understandable increase given that it is larger and contains quite a bit more pieces than past ones.

dougts

yeah, 179.99 was my guess. bigger, more pieces, and the price hasn't changed in 4 years. I'm fine with that. for a once a year release, I'd rather pay an extra $30 then end up with a set either missing interiors or detailing, or that just feels a bit smaller than it should.

Not sure we need 8 minifigs though. I could have stood with 5 or 6 and $10 less price. Not like it's going to prevent me from buying of course.

doriansdad

Very cool and I am glad they chose the color they did and not a drab gray. Love the married couple and photographer out front. This has given me motivation to finish building the other modulars. Now I just need a nice cinema and I won't regret not buying Town Plan a few years ago!

The only thing that concerns me is the scale. I don't see how a town hall would be that much taller than a multi-level department store. Maybe they should have made it narrower and nixed the third story?

Any rumors on a release date?....answered my own question by googling, March 2012!

The_Brick_Builder

IMO The roof is too tall with the clock and tower. I plan to buy 2 copies and mod them together to be one giant town hall! :) I also think with some modding, you could make this a school.

Thezoofox

Could have sworn i just saw this at the Lego store stratford. I'm sure it said it was built by some guys from Brickish??? Not entirely sure though. Said it was built same scale as the modulars!!

beatlefan1966

This is fabulous!! I have all the modulars and will buy this one no matter what it costs!!

MrBerre

Why? It makes perfect sense, one building was built at one time, another at another time.

Well when you put it THAT way I guess it does make sense haha! I just thought since they already did that they should have done something else..

I recall that in my (not that big) hometown there were several buildings with dates on them; and those were the ones left standing after two wars and the greed of project developers.

Although I wouldn't mind if LEGO were to come up with some more modern modulars. A funky tapas bar, a trendy coffeehouse, a record store (yeah, I'm showing my age with that one), a music instruments shop, a modern office,...

airjordan

To everyone that does not know. The plan is to create a city block with 4 corner pieces and 3-4 building in between. There will be a total of 16-20 modulars.

Cheers :)

andhe

The other modulars brought something new to the line, but this one seems a bit... off? Maybe its the dominating colour or its size compared to the others. Just doesn't look like the sort of building that would be on a row of shops/houses.

prof1515

To everyone that does not know. The plan is to create a city block with 4 corner pieces and 3-4 building in between. There will be a total of 16-20 modulars.

What proof do you have of this or are you merely speculating? I would argue that it's not the plan since the scale of the buildings does not lend themselves to a 160x160 stud block because of the huge empty space in the center. Further, at a rate of one per year, I don't think Lego is planning by decades. If the line proves to lose its popularity you can expect an end to it. A decade and a half from now if people are still enamored with them and buying the modulars, there will be a twenty-first and a twenty-second after that and so forth.

airjordan

@prof1515 I jokingly said to the LEGO store employee "dang, LEGO could make a killing releasing 1-2 a year kind of like the state quarters that the US put out over the past decade." and he/she got excited and said "yeah, it's gonna be sweet. There will be four corners.." Then immediately realizing the info she had agreed with she started blushing and said "you heard absolutely NOTHING."

Honestly, take it or leave it. He/she could be speculating as well, but he/she is also the one that I know who has knowledge of what gets discontinued for the year (he/she has not slipped or told me a single item to date). So I have a good feeling that when he/she leaked that info that it was a big no-no.

brickupdate

WOW - I didn't believe it was real at first, but everyone seems to be assuming it is, so I will too. Blown away by how huge it is, I like the color - anything to not have another set filled with gray bricks (eg: star wars) This has to hit the $199 mark, doesn't it?

Odindusk

I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that this retails under $199.

dougts

rumors are $180, which is a 20% raise over the past 4. minifigures are up from 4 to 8, and pieces are up about 500-600 (about 25%) over the past few.

based on this, $180 would be best case, with $200 at the top end. No way they will go over that price point.

Odindusk

A 20% raise is likely warranted solely based on inflation (all the previous years' modulars were $150, if I'm not mistaken). Couple that with a major piece/minifig increase, $200 feels right. But I'll be celebrating along with everyone else if it's only $180.

brickupdate

If they did Imperial Flagship at $179, I don't see how this can be less than $199. Especially with 2 or 3 other options for modulars at $149. As they retire some big sets, they need to replace them with higher priced ones. This is pretty neat!

tk79

This has the looks of $200 to me as well, but just maybe they are judging public reaction right now to gauge the price point.

Personally, I feel none of us should pay a penny over $150...

;-)

krklint

Tower Bridge, in 2010, had nearly 4300 pieces and priced out at $240 American. Town Hall has 2766 pieces and include 7-8 minifigs. With inflation, $180 American seems solid for this sets price. The Imperial Flagship came with 9 minifigs, and 1664 pieces; yet many of the IF's pieces are large and unusual. This increases cost of this ship due to the moulds for those pieces... and also the fabric.

Whatever the price, this set just made me excited for 2012 in a way that was lacking in my modular hungry bones.

DavidRod8

TLG is not dumb... if people in the secondary market are willing to pay $800+ for cafe corner and $400+ for green grocer, then for sure they know we'll pay more for it... as many have said, this series is geared towards AFOLs.... they can charge $250 and we'll buy it... specially since it is part of a series... sorry to say it, but it's the truth... seriously, how many of you wouldn't get if it was $250??? very few I presume...

brickupdate

@DavidRod8 The bottom line is, if LEGO charged $350 for the set I would buy it. Because whatever they set the price at becomes the bar - it pretty much only goes higher from there. Yes, there are "dud" sets like the AT-OT with Dropship at $260 that never seemed to be big sellers, and likely won't rise THAT much too quickly now that it's retired. But they also never sold for much less than $260, so your "investment" is protected.

With these sets, it's never a question of IF I will buy it, but HOW MANY of them will I buy. That often depends on how well I can leverage different sales.