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"This is the fourth large modular my wife and I have assembled. (We missed out on Lego as kids, so we have become fans in retirement.) I have mixed feelings about this one. While it does have some cute touches like the hidden panels, tunnel, and wall safe, it really looks almost out of scale when sitting next to the grand emporium and city hall. It almost fits better with the bike shop/cafe from the City collection. The rooms have nice detail, but they are extremely tight. The box says it is for age 16+, and our hands are not large by any means, but we found it challenging to get our hands into the rooms once the walls were up, especially the barber shop side. This is probably one reason the walls inside do not go all the way to the ceiling. A number of reviewers have commented on the "story", but in the end, this is a toy. It is easy enough to change the story. They did provide a barrel (so if the story bothers you, change to prohibition?). Although I have to agree the story does seem pretty weak given this is rated as 16+. I would guess the story came after the design--probably next time it would be smart to start with the story first. The story tries to justify the odd placement of the rooms. It still seems to me, however, that the rooms are randomly placed. It would have made more sense to have the bathroom and kitchen above the pool hall (to provide food and facilities for the pool hall patrons) and the detective over the barber shop, although the sizes would not have worked out in the small buildings this set contains. I assume that Lego was trying to keep the price down, but I would rather pay a little more (we only get these once a year) and have a bit bigger building that made more sense. I actually just bought a second one of these and my wife and I are going to try to address some of the shortcomings we see in the build. Maybe it was a smart corporate decision to make this kit relatively small as they were able to sell two of them to the same family."
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My architect son-in-law commented that the bathroom was way tight.
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The tiny kitchen on the top floor.
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Buildings are more to the scale of City buildings
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Bricks don't always match in color due to use of special bricks
"I built lots of expert building before to build that one. I like the concept and the little story make it funnier. However, that story should not influence your decision to buy that building. Ok it is mysterious but not quite exiting when you find out what it really is. Also...the building look really great and it worth to have it in your collection but if you need to go inside with your hands... It is reallllllllly tricky. The room are so small and narrow particularly into All's hair dresser shop. I don't get the point to add a story line if it is hard to use the secret doors etc. How can you really enjoy that? It is so difficult to get the access to those "features". Overall it is a nice set. You can find new original pieces. The miror is really big and fit well on the wall. I love the colour and the detective side of the building. They created something different to add a pool table and that room is as well nicely decorated. I really love those expert creator building. I wish lego compagny really care about our comment. Each Time a new expert creator building coming out, I really get exited and I'm happy to continue to build my town. However I expect that lego not decreasing the details and the quality of those building. It is expensive and I expect that lego always offer a great product (looking stunning, detailed and making it " efficient" with a decent size for their mature fan. It should always be improved and never get a regression. Overall, it is still a success. Thank you!"
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Small room+ mini toilet
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Al's hair dresser shop. Secret door not so accessible
Additional information about Legoslen could not be loaded.
From: Collegeville
From: United States
Age: 35-44
Customer Type: LEGO Fan
Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder
Purchased For: Self
Build Time:
01days
Play Experience:
4/5
Value for Money:
4/5
"I have all 9 modular buildings and about 70 other sets. This one is the most unique in appearance. A building more for a side street in place of Main Street in the Lego town. This is a nice change of pace. There are no stickers. All printed parts!! This adds to the quality of the product. I think the safe in the detective's office should have had a printed door. Lucky for me I had one in my spare parts bin to give the office the complete finished look it deserved. The theme of the set is fun with the cookie prohibition. My 7 yr old enjoyed the story line. However, I think it went a little too far with the "playability" in this aspect with trying to make a secret passage from the barber shop to the pool hall. This especially takes away from the barber shop with an obvious design intended to be a handle to open the passage. It takes away from the overall appearance of the interior. The actual reflective mirror in the barber shop helps to make up for this. Overall, there are lots of parts for hours of creative fun. The level of detail (and creative building techniques) is so far beyond what was done in the original Café Corner modular, it is hard to believe they are a part of the same series. The modular series as a whole is a great toy and investment. To improve these sets Lego should get away from the traditional smiley face and go for ones with further details to match what is being done with the buildings. Also, as they had done with the Fire Brigade, they should have vehicles included in the sets that are reflective of the 30's-40's to add to the overall street scene and theme of the buildings being created. If you like large Lego sets for the parts or for display, you won't be disappointed with this one."
"A fab fun build with great playability and interesting build techniques. I like the pool hall and the overall look of this set. Another must have on the street."