Home› Collecting
Shopping at LEGO or Amazon?
Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Ranking the Lego Modular Buildings: 1-11

13»

Comments

  • AquapolisAquapolis Member Posts: 32
    I think I judged most of them by color/design and a wow factor. For example, the chandelier in Grand Emporium is so slick; I really like the table tennis table in Fire Brigade. The less interesting sets like Town Hall didn't have anything fun and the color isn't of my liking, imho. 
  • YodaliciousYodalicious Member Posts: 1,366
    Pitfall69 said:
    Yodalicious said:
    ^ Not sure it matters exactly why a person likes one over the other. Everyone forms their opinions based on very different criteria. Sentimental value is what pushes Fire Brigade to the top for me. I also believe in its other attributes as well, but the fact that it was my first pushed it into the lead. 
    That's fine; like I said, it may just be me, but I think it makes the rankings process a bit flawed. What if the first set that you bought was Market Street instead of Fire Brigade? :)  
    Then it might have some nostalgia to it, but based on other attributes it might not get that top spot. Fire Brigade being my first isn't the only reason I like it; it's just the reason that pushed it to the top. I also like the facade, the way it truly integrates the fire truck with the garage (as opposed to just having the truck with nowhere to park), enjoy the little features like the fridge and ping pong table, etc. 
    gmonkey76
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    edited October 2016
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?
    We should probably be voting for President (or your local political equivalent) based on the merits?

    (And not inertia, soundbites and anointment?)
    TheMaker37
  • Sven_FSven_F Member Posts: 17
    1. Parisian Restaurant
    2. Green Grocer
    3. Grand Emporium
    4. Cafe Corner
    5. Fire Brigade
    6. Pet Shop
    7. Town Hall
    8. Detectives Office
    9. Brick Bank
    10. Palace Cinema

    I never built Market street and i don't think the Amsterdam style house is universal enough to blend in with the rest, particularly in that color.
  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,527
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?

    Next you'll be saying the rankings need to be objectively verifiable. :-) I could rank all these sets based on how much I like the name, having not owned/built/seen any of them. I'd be mad to do so, and you'd be mad to read it or trust it, but it'd be as valid as any other criteria on this thread. Just not very popular! ;->
  • zipsforbananaszipsforbananas Member Posts: 250
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?
    Absolutely! Sentimental value is important, and I'd love to see everybody's notes on which sets would place higher because of it and why. But if we're building an overall ranking of the sets here then sentiment can't come into it as it will be different for everyone and for totally arbitrary reasons too.
    MaffyD
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 Member Posts: 11,454
    It is no big deal, I was just "talking out loud" as they say. Just my thoughts :)
  • IstokgIstokg Member Posts: 2,363
    I agree that the ranking process is a bit flawed.  I think that exteriors and interiors should be judged separately.  PC has one of the nicest exteriors (as mentioned... it very much resembles Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (formerly Grauman's Chinese... now Mann's Chinese).  But a lot of folks don't care for the inside... looking more like an in-home theatre room, rather than a cinema or movie palace auditorium and lobby.   Ditto for some of the other Modulars.
    natro220
  • YodaliciousYodalicious Member Posts: 1,366
    zipsforbananas said:
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?
    Absolutely! Sentimental value is important, and I'd love to see everybody's notes on which sets would place higher because of it and why. But if we're building an overall ranking of the sets here then sentiment can't come into it as it will be different for everyone and for totally arbitrary reasons too.
    Any opinion will be different for everyone though. You may like the build of a certain building and rank it higher, but that doesn't mean it's definitely a better build for everyone. It's merely a better build for you. And there's nothing wrong with that.

    Each person ranks these based on their own criteria and that's perfectly okay to me. That's what makes rankings fun...to see people's lists and why they put them in that order. If we want to say "rank in order of visual preference" or "rank in order of playability" then that's fine and I'd gladly do that, but I was ranking in overall terms and in that case I take every possible criteria into account.
    catwrangler
  • natro220natro220 Member Posts: 545
    Istokg said:
    I agree that the ranking process is a bit flawed.  I think that exteriors and interiors should be judged separately.  PC has one of the nicest exteriors (as mentioned... it very much resembles Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (formerly Grauman's Chinese... now Mann's Chinese).  But a lot of folks don't care for the inside... looking more like an in-home theatre room, rather than a cinema or movie palace auditorium and lobby.   Ditto for some of the other Modulars.
    This is how I feel exactly...
  • LyichirLyichir Member Posts: 1,017
    MaffyD said:
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?

    Next you'll be saying the rankings need to be objectively verifiable. :-) I could rank all these sets based on how much I like the name, having not owned/built/seen any of them. I'd be mad to do so, and you'd be mad to read it or trust it, but it'd be as valid as any other criteria on this thread. Just not very popular! ;->
    Funnily enough, Market Street would probably wind up dead last if ranked by name as well.
    MaffyD
  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    Lyichir said:
    MaffyD said:
    Pitfall69 said:
    It may just be me, but shouldn't the Modular Building's Rankings be based on their merit and not their sentimental value?

    Next you'll be saying the rankings need to be objectively verifiable. :-) I could rank all these sets based on how much I like the name, having not owned/built/seen any of them. I'd be mad to do so, and you'd be mad to read it or trust it, but it'd be as valid as any other criteria on this thread. Just not very popular! ;->
    Funnily enough, Market Street would probably wind up dead last if ranked by name as well.
    Cafe corner, green grocer and brick bank have to rank high, because alliteration is always better 
  • Sethro3Sethro3 Member Posts: 995
    I adore alliteration (see what I did there?), but I was not as impressed with CC or GG when I built them. I don't own BB yet, so can't say much about it. Pictures make it looks nice though.

    My ranking is very difficult. I agree with many others that basically any one could essentially be at the top or bottom on any given day. A tie, essentially, other than MS, of course.

    Looking at the list, I would also put PR towards the top and MS toward the bottom, but I wouldn't include my vote in the overall tally because it would skew the results (although it is consistent with others on first/last choice).
  • BrikingBriking Member Posts: 768
    @davee123 are you still keeping track in the spreadsheet?  Have the rankings changed much?
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 854
    Briking said:
    @davee123 are you still keeping track in the spreadsheet?  Have the rankings changed much?
    Yep, go look at the image again!  I didn't want to post after everyone's new submissions, so I wrote a little program and had it spit out an image with updated stats, which is back on page 2.

    I also added a new analysis to include people's votes who didn't vote for everything.  It's a little difficult to describe, but it looks at individual set-to-set comparisons rather than raw rank.

    Maybe I'll add a little chart so we can see how it's changed as votes have come in, too (not that that should have much significance, but it's still fun).

    DaveE
    MaffyDcatwranglerzipsforbananas
  • FauchFauch Member Posts: 2,679
    still no love for the cinema
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 854
    davee123 said:
    Maybe I'll add a little chart so we can see how it's changed as votes have come in, too (not that that should have much significance, but it's still fun).
    Ok, I'm a sucker for data.  I've updated it with graphs now, so you can see how rankings have changed as data's come in.

    DaveE
  • CaptainPirateManCaptainPirateMan Member Posts: 353
    I like Palace Cinema, always have. Its the first one I bought because I thought it looked unique. 

    I don't understand the hate either. Sure it's not the best, but hardly the worst (besides MS).
    RogerKirkcatwrangler
  • wardmwardm Member Posts: 886
    It's interesting to see in the stats how close some modulars are rated!
    And I think 'hate' might be the wrong word to describe people's feelings about Palace Cinema, but maybe 'being unique' (like in not really fitting with the architectural style of other buildings) is exactly the problem with the PC?
    gmonkey76
  • MaffyDMaffyD Member Posts: 3,527
    Can I just say @Davee123 that I'm always impressed by your data analysis and presentation. You rock! Also, rereading my comment upthread about ranking criteria I think it came off as a bit dismissive. That's not what I intended. All views are valid, except mine, obviously!
  • BrikingBriking Member Posts: 768
    @davee123 Afraid the update image doesn't display for me.  Just shows as a small, blank square.
  • wardmwardm Member Posts: 886
    @Briking @davee123 it worked on my phone, but on my laptop it's showing as a small square with question mark too!
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 854
    Briking said:
    @davee123 Afraid the update image doesn't display for me.  Just shows as a small, blank square.
    Well, that's a first!  My friend's domain just expired last night!  Hopefully resolved shortly...

    DaveE
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 854
    Well, until it's back up and working, here's the image referenced by direct IP:

    http://45.46.28.211/~dave/images/tmp/modular_rank.png

    DaveE
    wardmFollowsCloselytallblocktooPaperballpark
  • catwranglercatwrangler Member Posts: 1,894
    Interesting how little movement there is since the last chunk of data was fed in. Even in the middle, those three particular sets stay in the middle as a group; only their position relative to each other changes...
  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    so I decided to calculate how close my scores were to the consensus, and to see which sets I was closest to consensus on and which sets I was most out of alignment on.

    Overall:  
    My rankings differ from the consensus by an average of 1.6 placements

    Closest:
    Market Street 0.261 (me 11, avg 10.739)
    Palace Cinema 0.304 (me 8, avg 7.696)
    Detective Office 0.435 (me 4, avg 3.565)

    Farthest:
    Fire Brigade -4.435 (me 2, avg 6.435)
    Cafe Corner 3.174 (me 10, avg 6.826)
    Green Grocer -2.913 (me 1, avg 3.913)


  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    catwrangler said:
    Interesting how little movement there is since the last chunk of data was fed in. Even in the middle, those three particular sets stay in the middle as a group; only their position relative to each other changes...
    no doubt the more this goes on, the more comformity bias becomes a factor, even a subconscious one
    catwrangler
  • PeteMPeteM Member Posts: 447
    After much consideration (and I'm only marking the ones I own):

    1. Parisian Restaurant - the perfect balance between detail, size and interesting build.
    2. Brick Bank - loved the intricate interior build, though it was clearly at the expense of exterior scale.
    3. Pet Shop - I'm surprised that this doesn't get more love. A well done domestic building alongside an easily modifiable small business just begs for it to be purchased in multiples. And though it may lack the finesse of the latest crop, it has a charm of its own.
    4. Fire Brigade - my first modular, so a little bias may be coming into play, but it's an interesting build with some lovely details and a great vehicle.
    5. Detectives Office - I enjoyed the build more than the finished result.
    6. Palace Cinema - I like the look of this overall, but it was just a bit dull for me...
    7. Town Hall - same as above, but without the benefit of a particularly striking exterior. Big though!
    8. Grand Emporium - same as above, but without the size benefit and with added repetition in the build.
  • zipsforbananaszipsforbananas Member Posts: 250
    Yodalicious said:

    Any opinion will be different for everyone though.
    Of course, that's opinion!
    But where sentimental reasons are concerned it's impossible to even compare or contrast those different opinions as they are necessarily arbitrary.

    I know it won't solve anything definitively, but the data set is complex and random enough without sentimentality coming into it, it just seems to me that's one controllable thing we can do something about to make the overall results more meaningful. :)
  • FollowsCloselyFollowsClosely Member Posts: 1,329
    FollowsClosely said:
    My ranking if I where to recommend them to someone else:
    1. Parisian Restaurant
    2. Detective Office
    3. Brick Bank
    4. Green Grocer
    5. Pet Shop
    6. Town Hall
    7. Fire Brigade
    8. Grand Emporium
    9. Palace Cinema
    10. Cafe Corner
    11. Market Street
    I'll add 10255 Assembly Square in the #3 spot after the Detective Office.

  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    dougts said:
    my ranking:

    1. Green Grocer
    2. Fire Brigade
    3. Parisian Restaurant
    4. Detectives Office
    5. Pet Shop
    6. Town Hall
    7. Brick Bank
    8. Palace Cinema
    9. Grand Emporium 
    10. Cafe Corner

    Slide #10255 into the #1 spot for me.  
  • josekaleljosekalel Member Posts: 683
    Holy crap! #10255 is gonna look amazing. It might be the the first time I buy a set as soon as it comes out.
  • wardmwardm Member Posts: 886
    wardm said:
    1. PR
    2. BB:
    3. DO
    4. PS:
    5. GG
    6. GE
    7. TH
    8. CC
    9. FB
    10. PC
    11. MS
    Now with the release I can't do anything else than to put Assembly Square first. 
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    Let's not all lose our perspective until the set gets released.
    Yodaliciousgmonkey76
  • dougtsdougts Member Posts: 4,110
    edited October 2016
    SumoLego said:
    Let's not all lose our perspective until the set gets released.
    Not losing perspective at all. The pictures tell me more than enough to rank this.  Of course having the price and piece count budget they had for AS almost makes it unfair. 

    But I think they learned well from TH. A more of the same, only bigger approach really didn't work for that set, and they went a completely different direction thIs time. And I'm happy to have proper third floors back after several years without them 
    FollowsClosely
  • Jezebel_19Jezebel_19 Member Posts: 31
    My rankings from my favourite to least favourite

    1.   Green Grocer
    2.   Brick Bank
    3.   Parisian Restaurant
    4.   Palace Cinema
    5.   Detective's Office
    6.   Cafe Corner
    7.   Town Hall
    8.   Pet Shop
    9.   Fire Brigade
    10. Grand Emporium
    11. Market Street

    When the new set comes out Assembly Square that would be in my top three position
  • YodaliciousYodalicious Member Posts: 1,366
    So no to ranking based on sentimental value, but yes to ranking sets that no one actually owns/has built? Hmm. 
  • CircleKCircleK Member Posts: 1,055
    Assembly Square will be in my top 3 as well - maybe even take the number 1 spot.  I've already saw enough to know that.
  • homersollyhomersolly Member Posts: 25
    Hi,

    As you are all obviously modular experts, can I please ask your opinion on the following.

    My wife is really getting into lego & always wanted the Palace Cinema. Therfore it is her surprise present this Christmas.

    My dilemma is now, should I try & get the other buildings that are avaibable as the cinema on it's own might look a bit out of place.

    If you say yes, which ones should I get if I limit myself to two others or should I tighten the belt & buy all four?

    We have limited space but that doesn't seem to slow her down at all.

    Thanks in advance for any help/guidance offered.


  • YodaliciousYodalicious Member Posts: 1,366
    ^ Realistically, I'd get all 4. That's what I did when I first got into them. FB, GE, PS, TH in one order since I knew I'd want them all eventually. Glad I did too because TH disappeared not long after. 

    But if you're just going with 2 others, I'd go PS and PR. Those are the oldest of the remaining 4. It's not foolproof (as evidenced by TH disappearing), but more often than not it's safest to go with the oldest first. BB, for instance, hasn't been out for a full year yet, so it should have some good life left. Versus PS that has been around for a long time. 
    SumoLegogmonkey76
  • stluxstlux Member Posts: 2,450
    Adding to @Yodalicious's feedback: PS is since this afternoon tagged as Retiring Soon on [email protected] EU. So whilst it might still hang around for a couple of weeks/months, it's now confirmed the next modular to retire.
    MrJ_NYgmonkey76
  • homersollyhomersolly Member Posts: 25
    I was worried you were going to say that :).

    My thinking is now while double VIP points are on in the Uk, purchase the Pet Shop (due to stlux's post) & the Parisian Restuarant.

    Then when the next double points are on offer (usually March in the Uk), I could get the Brick Bank & Detective's Office.

    As for the Anniversary building being released in January, I'll cross that bridge when I came to it.
  • FauchFauch Member Posts: 2,679
    assembly square is possibly top 3, but I doubt it beats parisian restaurant.
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    I'm going to rank the 2018 modular as #3 on my list.
    Yodaliciousgmonkey76LostInTranslationstlux
  • VorpalRyuVorpalRyu Member Posts: 2,318
    Just from watching the designer video, I'd strongly suspect that AS could end up at number 1 for me, but for now it goes (set with an asterisk we don't currently own):

    01. GE
    02. DO
    03. BB
    04. PR
    05. TH
    06. FB*
    07. PC
    08. PS
    09. CC*
    10. GG*
    11. MS*
    SumoLego
  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    N00b here, what's wrong with Market Street?
    I couldn't care less about fine dining so I'm not interested in Parisian Restaurant however well made it is.
    I am a money nerd, however, thus I picked Brick Bank as my entry into modulars
  • Jern92Jern92 Member Posts: 890
    homersolly said:
    Hi,

    As you are all obviously modular experts, can I please ask your opinion on the following.

    My wife is really getting into lego & always wanted the Palace Cinema. Therfore it is her surprise present this Christmas.

    My dilemma is now, should I try & get the other buildings that are avaibable as the cinema on it's own might look a bit out of place.

    If you say yes, which ones should I get if I limit myself to two others or should I tighten the belt & buy all four?

    We have limited space but that doesn't seem to slow her down at all.

    Thanks in advance for any help/guidance offered.


    Get Pet Shop, then you can put half on each side of the Palace Cinema and it'd still look good.
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 Member Posts: 11,454
    I would get the PS and BB to go along with the PC; that way you have a small block with 2 corner buildings.
  • homersollyhomersolly Member Posts: 25
    Thanks everyone for your help.

    Ordered Pet Shop yesterday so the ball is rolling.


  • KingAlanIKingAlanI Member Posts: 2,342
    I have thought that Brick Bank would look out of place compared to regular models by scale. If I like it, maybe I'd do Palace Cinema next. Pet Shop doesn't stand out visually, even though I'm a dog person. Yet Parisian Restaurant looks great though I don't care about the subject matter. I'm neutral on Detective's Office. The retired ones, heck no.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?

Please use our links: LEGO.com • Amazon

Recent discussions • Categories • Privacy Policy • Brickset.com

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Sign In Register

Categories

Brickset.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, which are affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.