Set Review - #10255 - Creator Expert - Assembly Square (Modular Building) - Part 1

As an AFOL this is one of my favorite times of year, the arrival of the new modular building set.  Released on 2 January 2017, #10255 is the tenth year anniversary set for the modular building series.  The cost is $279.99 in the US for 4,002 pieces.  That works out to be $0.07 per piece.  This is typical for most of these sets in terms of price per piece, but 4,002 pieces is quite a bit more than usual.  There are 13 sets in all over the past 10 years and I am lucky enough to have 11 of them.  I'm missing The Green Grocer and Market Street.  

This will be a multi-part review as it will take me a while to build this.  For now, I have taken pictures of the box (for some real excitement).  So let the building begin!!!!!!!!

In case you missed it, here is the LEGO designer video.

See part 2 of the review here.

See part 3 of the review here

Set Review - Creator Expert - Brick Bank - #10251 - Part 1

(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.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE REVIEW.

It's a Ferrari! - Set Review - Ferrari F40 - #10248

I finally got some time to build.  WOOHOO!  I had 4 sets waiting for me.  The list includes Wall-E, The Big Bang Theory, Simpsons Kiwk-E-Mart, and the F40 Ferrari.  My first choice of build was the Ferrari and I definitely think it was a great choice, but I'll get into that later.

The F40 Ferrari (#10248) was released in 2015 under the LEGO Creator Expert line.  The age range says 14+ on the container.  It contains 1,158 pieces (I'll trust he box, I didn't count) so quite a few.  The price in the US is $99.99 so that works out to be $0.086 per piece so not too bad when it comes to LEGO.  No minifigures are included, but that was fine for me.  It also includes a piece separator to help you take it apart or help fix mistakes you may make (yes I did make some).  

Here are pictures of what the container looks like.  It is a decent size, but there wasn't a lot of open space on the inside.

Here are the contents of the container.  Four bags labeled "1" and four bags labeled "2" with a large instruction book (over 100 pages) and a small sheet of stickers.

The instructions were in a bag, but not with a cardboard piece to keep them from bending like in some of the larger sets.  The instructions weren't bent in my container so I can't complain.  The stickers were flat too.

Onto the bags labeled number 1.  I'll be the first to admit that I made some mistakes in this build.  I'm not sure if I was rushing or just that it was challenging.  It wasn't anything that I couldn't fix, but I definitely think the age range listed on the container is spot on.  Younger children can build this, but will most likely need an adult to help them out (which isn't a bad thing).  Here are a few pictures of the results from the first set of bags.  Lots of SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques, use of Technic style pieces, and some very creative building techniques.

The bags labeled #2 were next.  I was thankful that there weren't a ton of stickers.  Most of them were of the Ferrari logo, but a few of the pieces were printed on to save the hassle.  I am not a fan of stickers, because I never seem to put them on right.  The stickers I placed on look okay, but you can definitely see they are stickers versus printed on pieces.  More creative building techniques in #2 and some amazing building techniques I haven't used in the past.  The tires and rims were great too.  I'm not sure if they have been used in a previous set, but they definitely help make the model in my opinion.  Here are some pictures of the finished product.  Note that you can open the doors, the hood, and the trunk to see the engine.  I'll admit I've never been close enough to a Ferrari to inspect it to see how realistic the engine looks, but I think it's impressive.

Overall, this was a great build.  It was challenging with some great use of building techniques to create a final item.  The vehicle is very sleek.  I'm impressed at how the designers were able to create such a streamlined model using just LEGO pieces.  I will probably never own a real Ferrari... for one, too expensive for me and two, I have never learned how to drive stick shift and don't want to learn on a Ferrari.  However for $99.99, plus tax, I am okay with owning a model of one.  The build was enjoyable and it comes with a lot of great pieces if I don't want to keep the car together.  It's a great LEGO model for an adult, teen, or for a younger kid to tag team with an adult.  

If you want to buy it, I recommend going straight through LEGO through their website or a physical store.  You can find them online, but they are all marked up much higher over the retail price.  Amazon.com lists the cheapest one at $142 today.  Sign up for the VIP program and if you time it right, you can get a free item with it or whatever they are offering.  Also, the price will get you free shipping so that'll save you some too.

Let me know if you get it or if you have one.  I'm curious to see what you think.