It’s an annual event for LEGO. They announce the modular building in the fall and it comes out in the January timeframe. Or at least that has been the recent way it has worked. This year’s set is a Police Station as the main piece with a small donut shop and news stand on either side. The set contains 2,923 pieces and 5 minifigures. The US retail price is $199.99 which works out to $0.068 per piece. This set came out on 2 January 2021 in the US and went out of stock rather quickly. I wasn’t able to get it until April and am just getting to the review now. Before I do that, here’s the link to the Designer Video if you’re interested.
The box is black with the 18+ graphics. While I like the 18+ graphics, I don’t like the black background. It makes the set seem dark and dreary in my opinion. The front shows the full up set with a logo in the upper left corner stating this set is part of the modular building collection. I like how they’ve finally acknowledged the subtheme in writing and hope it continues.
The back shows the set next to #10270-1: Bookshop. The two look pretty good together and you could easily picture seeing them on a real street. It also has a graphic of the building showing the dimensions of the model and then how the completed build is assembled in sections. On the bottom of the back are a few snap shots of inner details.
The box contains another parts box and then the bags numbered 1, 4 through 9, 13 and 14. Opening the separate box reveals the remaining parts bags. In total, there are 24 parts bags numbered 1 through 14, a grey 32x32 base plate, a grey 16x16 plate, two nougat 8x16 plates, and the instruction booklet. The instruction booklet is wrapped for protection which is prevents damage.
The instruction book contains one page of details about the set and designer.
Really LEGO? Only the best is good enough… except for these pages of instructions. Need to get quality control on these. $199 for smeared instructions. I don’t think so.
So if you missed it, LEGO announced it would be doing away with the black background instructions. Thank goodness. The dark brown pieces are very hard to see. At least the black pieces have white outlines, but the brown ones have black outlines. Unless you have the light just so, you can’t see the pieces!
I thought these computer models of the modular buildings all lined up looked pretty cool. Can you pick out all of the different modulars?
When will they do a re-release of the Green Grocer or Market Street?
Onto the build… Bags one and two assemble the base. While the donut shop starts immediately, the police station has a foundation and is raised up slightly. This allows the inclusion of steps and an attempt for a prisoner to tunnel out of the jail cell using the hidden spoon placed below the cell.
The news stand includes some papers with printed stories related to the set. Thankfully, no stickers!
The third bag almost completes the donut shop featuring a decent display of donuts available. I like the use of the collectible minifigure poseable piece (not sure the official name) to angle the donut display shelves) This bag also includes the donut shop worker with a coffee pot to carry around. Additional details include a water cooler for the police station, and furniture for the jail cell (toilet and bench).
The fourth bag adds in stairs to the police station. A new design is used and I am a fan of the SNOT techniques used. I’m glad it’s not just the big stair piece seen in other sets. A piece of furniture is added along with a window in the back and more of the wall sections. Over to the donut shop, there is a fun front façade with a stripped awning and the donut tiles.
Build five completes the front facade for both the police station and donut shop. The donut shop includes some vines that will eventually go up the whole building. The police station has doors, some lights, a sign and some SNOT work to create the architectural designs. It isn’t overly complicated, but it does look pretty sharp. This bag includes a police officer with a radio.
Bag six finishes up the news stand, the jail cell, the top of the walls for the first level, and adds some shrubs out front of the police station. The sidewalk gets a bench and a street lamp.
The bags numbered seven start the second floor. This floor has a base and then starts to build up the second floor of the police station to include a spot to take pictures of criminals. There is also a small apartment above the donut shop with a bed, dresser, and fire escape. To add to the story, the bed flips up to reveal a hole where the donut thief can try and reach down to get free treats.
The eighth bag continues to build up floor 2 with higher walls, and it just about finishes up the small apartment. There is a door out to the fire escape and then a window with decorations around it and some greenery. The police station side has some windows added in.
Build nine includes another level of steps similar to the previous floor. No railing so be careful on the way up! This floor contains two desks, a small plant, and an investigation map on the wall. Another police officer is included in this bag. This one has some handcuffs.
The tenth bag finishes up the front façade of the police station side. It is similar in design to the first floor only it has windows versus doors and dark blue shades over the windows. The plants that started by the donut shop continue their way up the building on the second floor.
Bag 11 tops off the donut shop and studio apartment. Then then starts the third level of the police station. The plants crawling up the side of the building continue onto the top in this build.
The twelfth bag adds more to the police station with the start of an interrogation room with some sort of recording device on the wall. There is also a small bathroom next to the room. I think this is this first official set with two bathrooms.
Through a door in the hallway leads to an evidence room. There are some gems, tools used by a crook, and a hat. The top of this small room comes off fairly easy for access.
This bag includes the female police chief minifigure sporting her warm beverage mug.
Build 13 finishes off the third floor with the finishing of the front façade. The corners of the police station match the lower floors and then there are columns added between the windows. There is a bird eating a donut on the window sill and there is a window air conditioner for the bathroom. You can’t see it in the picture, but there is also a table and 2 chairs in the interrogation room.
Bag 14 completes the roof. Above the apartment/donut shop is a small water tower. The police station roof has some toping off designs on the front. It includes a new piece that I have not seen before. Brickset.com calls it “Animal Head No. 15.” There is also an antenna which I assume is tied to the police radio system.
Pictured later, but added here is an ad on the side of the building. It’s for the laundromat from #10251-1: Brick Bank. This is a fun little reference to an earlier set. Thankfully, it is printed on and not a sticker.
Before wrapping this review up, there are 5 minifigures in this set. Modular sets used to have the old standard minifigure faces with just 2 dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. I think the facial expressions help to add some detail to the set. The police look stern while the donut shop employee looks pleasant. The last one I didn’t mention is the news stand worker. He comes with a news paper, a small over the shoulder bag, and a cap. He also had a device to try and fish for donuts from the apartment above the shop.
The set is built around a story with the police trying to find the donut thief while the donut thief keeps getting away. It’s a fun addition to the set I guess, but not overly exciting to me. My preference would be to have more bricks put into the building of additional detail into the set over adding bricks to keep up with a storyline. But that’s just my opinion…
To finish things up, here are a few shots of the completed set without the minifigures. You can get a good look at the two 6x6 tiles advertising the laundromat. You can also see the plants growing up the side of the building which is a cool build. Overall it’s a good looking building. It has some good build techniques and I think it mixes in well with some of the previous modulars. There are some good pieces for MOC builders too with a lot of sand green and the light purple-ish color of the donut shop. I will admit that this is not my favorite one that has ever been done, but probably not the worst either. To me, it’s somewhere in the middle.
The price of this one is a penny under $200 so not helpful there, but at least the price per piece isn’t too bad. If you’re into the modulars, look for double VIP point opportunities or cool gift with purchase opportunities. It is hard to get sales on these, so good luck there. I suspect this one will be out for at least another year plus so don’t panic if you haven’t found it in stock when you were looking.
Happy building!
