10232 Palace Cinema

CurvedRoadPlate

What is the building in the close up connecting picture? Is that another modular we have yet to see?

SirBen

@CurvedRoadPlate I believe it is 10224-1Town Hall.

samiam391

@CurvedRoadPlate- The adjacent modular to the Cinema is #10218 Pet Shop, and the other is #10224 Town Hall. Both currently available for purchase at LEGO.com and other retailers :-)

mathew

Hmm.. Not impressed with the interior. I was hoping for something a little more interesting. The lack of an outside ticket booth. Lots of stickers. Frankly the roof looks poor from the side angle. Kind of a bummer overall. I think I like the Town Plan theater better.

jadeirene

It looks like the roof is made up of 1x1 round bricks instead of the 1x1 round tiles that it initially looked like.

Gavin83

I will of course reserve full judgement until I see it in the flesh but based on the pictures alone it's my least favourite modular. The interior isn't great and I'm not even sure I like the exterior that much, seems a little more basic than some of the others. I do like the Palace sign, the doors and the car though. I also hate the thought of stickers in the modular line, I just hope they've taken another angle. A cinema does need posters and a screen image though. I would have much preferred them to use the business card letters on the sign outside although I'll probably add that myself.

Although I'm not particularly a fan (yet) I will still buy it as I have the others.

T_Lars

I saw "Mystery on the Monorail" the other day. The action had a lot of ups and downs, the plot took some abrupt turns, but it didn't really go anywhere.

pteric

Hoth Bricks has some good stuff today http://www.hothbricks.com/

Calv

I found this link to Flickr - looks like the source of the Hothbricks photos but bigger. Via Bricklink flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

Paperballpark

mathew said:

The lack of an outside ticket booth.

There are ticket windows on the right-hand side of the building.

Steve_J_OM

I absolutely adore the posters. One of the movies appears to be about a monstrous brick separator :D

Legogeek

I love it and I think LEGO did a great job representing a theater on such a small footprint. The result is a practical approach for the modular series.

If people want a bigger theater room, they can MOC additional wings to the building.

Crownie

T_Lars said:

I saw "Mystery on the Monorail" the other day. The action had a lot of ups and downs, the plot took some abrupt turns, but it didn't really go anywhere.

Well, it seems to have been quite popular back in the day, despite it's astronomically high ticket prices. There may never be a sequel, but at least we can still remember the original as a classic.

:P

mathew

Legogeek said:

I love it and I think LEGO did a great job representing a theater on such a small footprint. The result is a practical approach for the modular series.

If people want a bigger theater room, they can MOC additional wings to the building.

I was hoping that the entire second floor could of been better utilized. One problem with corner buildings is that Lego fits together better straight across rather than diagonally. There's ways around this, but it would involve plating the floor which is more part heavy. I would of given up the limo (which looks weird anyway) for more parts to finish out the interior. Of course modulars are mostly about the exterior.

I think the best way to build a Lego cinema is simiar to the Town Plan model, but with more depth. That way you can have a front lobby and then the theater in the back.

Legogeek

mathew said:

I was hoping that the entire second floor could of been better utilized. One problem with corner buildings is that Lego fits together better straight across rather than diagonally. There's ways around this, but it would involve plating the floor which is more part heavy. I would of given up the limo (which looks weird anyway) for more parts to finish out the interior. Of course modulars are mostly about the exterior.

I think the best way to build a Lego cinema is simiar to the Town Plan model, but with more depth. That way you can have a front lobby and then the theater in the back.

To really do the theater justice as a corner piece, it should be 4x as large (kind of extreme, but that would give it a grand scale for a 'palace' theater). That would have provided plenty of space for one or two large movie areas and more interior features.

But, all said and done I think they did a good job with the size they are working with. I do think it might have been nice to include curtains or something for the upstairs theater windows (or they could have done some sort of sliding panel feature to close the windows).

And I also don't like the Limo... like you said, it just looks weird.

dougts

I think one could make a pretty decent theater with minimal modification by doubling the footprint to a 32x64 configuration. the main corner footprint could largely be the same, but just knockout one of the side walls and extend it a full baseplate in that direction and add a lot more seats.

i'm sure it wouldn't be hard to utilize the extra ground floor space for something either, and maybe enclose the projector room in the back.

mathew

Legogeek said:

mathew said:

I was hoping that the entire second floor could of been better utilized. One problem with corner buildings is that Lego fits together better straight across rather than diagonally. There's ways around this, but it would involve plating the floor which is more part heavy. I would of given up the limo (which looks weird anyway) for more parts to finish out the interior. Of course modulars are mostly about the exterior.

I think the best way to build a Lego cinema is simiar to the Town Plan model, but with more depth. That way you can have a front lobby and then the theater in the back.

I do think it might have been nice to include curtains or something for the upstairs theater windows (or they could have done some sort of sliding panel feature to close the windows).

Or just to not have windows. I know the windows add visual appeal to the exterior, but it just doesn't seem right. How many movie theaters have windows in the screening room? How do you watch a projected movie during the day?

Legogeek

@dougts - Yes. I bet we see some neat MOC's of this once it goes on sale.

Bosstone100

Looks like they built out the back corner instead of keeping the same footprint as the cafe corner.

cheshirecat

If extending by one baseplate to the side you might be able to combine the ground and first floor to give a proper sloping theatre. Maybe some ornate period chandeliers to fill up some of that higher space. I still think an art deco style would have been better, and perhaps less obviously the same. The Chinese style is just a bit to individual to me.

dougts

^ good idea! or a balcony even

mathew

cheshirecat said:

If extending by one baseplate to the side you might be able to combine the ground and first floor to give a proper sloping theatre. Maybe some ornate period chandeliers to fill up some of that higher space. I still think an art deco style would have been better, and perhaps less obviously the same. The Chinese style is just a bit to individual to me.

That's what this set is missing: Distinct interior details. Grand Emporium's chandelier was ingenious. Fire Brigade's kitchen and ping pong table stand out. I guess the projector is kind of neat, but aside from the movie posters nothing else really stands out.

bigjsd

I love the looks of the building and I bet the windows are printed. If they printed the doors for the Horizon Express, which certainly won't be used in another set, there is no reason to think they wouldn't have the windows for this set printed. Either way this is a must buy IMO regardless of the minor detail complaints. Looks like there may be enough room to add a third row of seats, elevate the second and added third row as well as the projector. If you don't like the windows in the screening room then take them out and tint them :-). I can't help but wonder how many people here who are trashing LEGO for the poor interior are happy with their empty Cafe Corner?

y2josh

^I had to heavily modify the interior of the Café Corner to bring it up to a point that I would consider as being even passable. I agree to a point that the interior on the Cinema rivals GE's in blandness, but this is hands down the best exterior of all the modulars, and modifying the inside won't be much of a chore at all (unlike the Café Corner, which I obviously agree with you on).

I literally haven't been this pumped about a modular since Fire Brigade, so this will certainly be a day one purchase for me.

Yodalicious

^Agreed. Excited about this one.

dougts

Agreed that the exterior is top notch. Design and detailing are superb. The interior is certainly predictable with few surprises, but given the size limit and what had to be included there aren't really any surprises

T_Lars

I like the interior, personaly. Its got that LEGO charm to it.
I think some people forget that these are LEGO modulars, not O-scale model railroad building with life-like detail.

dougts

dougts said:

Agreed that the exterior is top notch. Design and detailing are superb. The interior is certainly predictable with few surprises, but given the size limit and what had to be included there aren't really any surprises

re-reading this, I sound like an idiot. What I meant to say was that the interior isn't nearly as good as the exterior, but given the space the designer had to work with and the items that had to be included, I think there isn't much more we could expect.

burnsider

I can't believe how critical some people are. This set easily has the best exterior. As for the number of seats in the theater, I think it is just fine, kind of gives that limited movie screening feel to it. The interior as a whole is better than all the other modules with maybe the exception of FB and PS.

The only cons I see is the strong chance we will be forced to use stickers and that limo. Still, this is a first day buy for me and will push the GE to the end of my modular block. Great job LEGO! Earlier review from me gives this an 8/10!

pteric

cool, just missing the red carpet

emilewski

Now I will have to get the CMF9 Hollywood Starlet, which I had not planned on getting previously. I am definitely excited about this set.

CapricanEmpire

The new Palace Cinema looks fantastic! Very Los Angeles etc... However, only six seats! Thankfully, the Theatre Royal in Alexandria still holds the record for seating the most minifigs in an upstairs auditorium (81 - 36 in stalls, 27 on the Royal balcony and 18 in The Gods)... Six seats in a 32x32 stud theatre is a little sparse! But I love the set and will be buying to rearrange internally!

To see the Theatre Royal go to http://capricanempire.blogspot.co.uk/

mathew

^ That is what the interior of the Palace Cinema should of looked like. There's a lot of wasted space in the Lego modular. The more I look at it, the more I think it's an overall lazy design.

dougts

I don't think it's lazy, more Like budget - bound

samiam391

^Exactly. If LEGO put in all these extra accessories than the price of the modular would go up which would cut out a lot of buyers.

Not putting in a lot of interior decoration also gives the buyer the chance to customize it to what they want. I like the lack of interior decoration and accessories. It gives you the chance to think for yourself, and not always to follow a strict style of steps and decorations.

It is LEGO after all.. if you want it, build it, and customize it!

mathew

dougts said:

I don't think it's lazy, more Like budget - bound

I understand budget contraints. Lazy is probably too harsh. They designed themselves into a corner so to speak by making the cinema a corner building. A slightly shorter, two floor structure using a wider footprint (ala TP Cinema), but perhaps a full 32 studs deep could of been done for the same amount of bricks (I think). Drop the ill-conceived limo of course.

Basta

Although interior details are cool to have I don't really play with my Modulars so the external look is more important to me, as they sit on display. Saying that I like the interior, I think it looks good.

y2josh

I'm not in love with the interior, but it reminds me more of the bland interior design of the GE than the abominations that were the CC and GG interiors. I modded the GE's interior a bit, and I'll probably do the same here, but it barely even dings the desirability of the complete set for me.

Paperballpark

http://brickfanatics.co.uk/10232-palace-cinema-press-release/#comment-2348

Official details, date available (March), and hi-res photos!

Poochy

$150 USD, excellent for my wallet :).

Bosstone100

Is $150 USD official?

Si_UKNZ

.On Brickset: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=5535

Si_UKNZ

'Forever Sorting!' Love it!

Yodalicious

^And I thought concessions were expensive in the real world. That LEGO man is about to hand over $100 for his movie snacks!

Gavin83

£119.99 for the UK? It'll never stay at that amount. I can see them adding at least 10% onto that figure before release.

Robb

I'm very happy with this modular, and extremely pleased with the 150 USD price. Lots of fun bits in this set, and loads of room and inspiration for MOCing.

Deadareus

Are we sure these movie posters and the screen are stickers?

Could they possibly be printed?

LegobrandonCP

Just realized the cinema is built on a red baseplate. Sweet!

LegoFanTexas

Ok, I'm going against the grain...

The more I look at this, the less impressed I am. When it was just a smal exterior shot and nothing else, I liked it more, but it seems... a step down from Town Hall somehow...

The loss of 700 parts shows, and while I get that they are trying to hit the price point of $150, I honestly prefer the $200 price point because I think they can just do so much more with it. At $200, PC would have had a third floor and a larger theater I think...

LegobrandonCP

Only 360p. :(