(CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE REVIEW.)
The LEGO modular building line was started in 2007 and I am a huge fan! Each set typically has more than 1,000 pieces and many have over 2,000 pieces. As they have continued to be released, the details have become even more impressive. You don't buy these sets for the minifigures (they exist, but have the standard yellow face), you buy them for the build.
This year's set is the Brick Bank. It contains 2,380 pieces and costs $169.99 in the US. This works out to $0.07 per piece (it's actually .07142 and so on, but I figured you all weren't too concerned about that). Not a bad price at all in terms of price per piece. It was released on 2 January 2016 and LEGO keeps them out for a few years (some have been on sale for 4 years, others less). Often times it's best to wait for Double VIP point promotions or other details, but in this case I was given some LEGO gift cards as Christmas gifts so I decided to order it sooner rather than wait for Double VIP points.
I haven't had a chance to open it yet. I'll release details on set contents and the build in a future post. For now, here is the box.
As you can see from the front, it contains 5 minifigures and the build is split into 2 floors and a roof. The front of the building is the bank and then along the back, it's a laundromat. It's a corner building similar to the Cafe Corner, Grand Emporium, and Palace Cinema. If you're not familiar with the modular buildings, along the bottom of the building are Technic pins that can be attached to other modular buildings (or you can build your own).
The back of the box shows some details of the set, the different floors, and what the set looks like next to previous years modular buildings. This box shows the Detective's Office (and here) as well as the Parisian Restaurant. I'll go into some of the fun details of the build once I build it.
Has anyone else purchased or built it yet? Let me know in the comments.