Final Thoughts
The Grand Emporium is a nice build. The facade is somewhat plain but the interiors have very interesting microbuilds and trinkets. The roof and the advertisement board on the other hand really makes this building stand out. Is it worth buying? I would say yes since modulars only come out once a year and this build definitely looks good still.
Like the Fire Brigade review, here are shots of the complete build. One thing I do like as well is the cleaner on his gondola at the side of the building.
The back as mentioned, looks rather plain.
Here is a picture of the Fire Brigade together with the Grand Emporium side by side. Looks great!
Back: Roof Level
The Build - Roof Level
The roof of the emporium features one of the more distinguishing parts of it, the advertisement board. The board has a set of lamps to light it up as well. The Lego head on the left part of the board is a nice touch, a human looking head would just be too scary I think.
The skylight is a SNOT technique is and is interestingly held in place not by studs and is loosely fixed through bricks.
There is no "roof access" for this building. Guess customers should not be so interested in getting to the roof. Final thoughts on this set follows next.
Next: Final Thoughts
Back: 3rd Level
The build - third level
The third level of the emporium features several microbuilds on display.
A chandelier constructed in a very intricate fashion is found on the 3rd level. It has a very jewel like appearance due to the extensive use of translucent bricks.
Overall the build was fast and simple like the 2nd level as most of the build resembled that of the 2nd level. The biggest differences are the microbuild object inside.
Next we look at the roof.
Next: Roof Level
Back: 2nd Level
The Build - Second Level
The second level features some plates and cups on display for sale. The table construction is quite stylish I must say.
The second level has much less floor area thanks to the stairwell that takes up almost 40% of the floor space.
The exterior walls of the emporium are pretty standard fair sadly and do not feature anything unusual. The flags add a nice touch and somehow make the emporium seem...French to me.
Back: Prologue
Prologue
My second modular set! Collected all the way from Yew Tee. Bought this from an eBay seller (newb4lego, thank you!) along with another set for my friend. This set is the first corner modular building for me (the other previous one, Cafe Corner came out before I starting collecting Lego again). It features 3 levels as well and unlike Fire Brigade this has no vehicle in it (of course, this is an emporium after all). Let us dive straight to the build.
The build - first level
As it is a corner building, 2 sides are tiled up for the street and one corner as this nice "emporium" logo on the pavement.
The emporium features an entrance with a revolving door cleverly built from door frames and technic pieces and is flanked by 2 very nicely built pillars consisting of arches and tiles built using SNOT techniques.
The fully completed first level has the words "SHOP" on top of the revolving door. The words are beautifully curved along the entrance and this effect is achieved using flexible rods with the words mounted on it.
Inside the first level features a cashier counter being manned by a cashier lady behind it. Under the counter top are some trinkets on display made up of mainly translucent bricks. Nearby a table has trinkets on it as well. These trinkets certainly adds a nice touch to the shop in addition to a dressing room at the corner made up of 2 capes hung together on a flexible rod.
Usually stairs are placed so that minifigures can go from one level to another. For this case, escalators are present.
The escalator takes up a lot of bricks to build but is very sturdy and is certainly very unique compared to stairs.
The sidewalk outside is quite jam packed as seen below. One side features a rubbish bin and an ice cream stand that is certainly welcome on a hot summer's day. Notice that it joins up very well with the fire brigade as the both first level facades are mostly dark tan in colour.
The back door is rather plain and has nothing to really scream about. This is something that is found in all modular sets that the back side of their building looking rather bland.
Next up we will explore the second level.
Next: 2nd Level
