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
Final Thoughts
As this was my first set since emerging from my dark ages, naturally I had a blast building this set. What distinguishes modular sets from regular Lego City sets to me are that they feature unusual brick techniques, full building design (unlike Lego sets which are usually facades with nothing at the back usually), bigger enclosed space compared to other building sets. Also their piece count are quite high due to their details and make the build longer that most sets similar to UCS. Finally they can be connected to each other to create a street of them.
Lego always regularly features City Police and City Fire sets in their yearly line up so I am somewhat not surprised to see a Fire Brigade in their modular series. Now I am waiting for when they will release a police station and look forward to it. For me, as a kid I did want to be come a fireman and this set really encompasses in my mind what a traditional colonial looking fire station ought to look like and combine many elements found in the Singapore Central Fire Station
Shall end of the review with a few more pictures of the set fully assembled.
Added some Collectable Miniatures to liven up the front street
Back: Roof Level
The build - Roof Level
Last but not least we have the rooftop which features unique builds as well like the roof access door, water tank, bell tower and the 1932 signage. The bell is cleverly built from a plate and some flat tiles. It has a bat hidden in it. The 1932 signage is done using bricks as well and is really done in a very clever way. Uses a lot of plates and tiles to achieve the effect. Not easy to do and must have required some brain power on the designer's part. The again Jamie Berard is almost like a legend in terms of using bricks in very unusual ways.
This set includes a dog which I have put a red cheese slope to make it SuperDog! Also the roof access door is built using SNOT techniques featuring a standard door but mounted horizontally.
From this back view the water tank can be seen more clearly and uses 2 tubs, a car cage among other bricks to fix together. It is completed off with round bricks acting as a pipe down into the roof floor.
Next would be my final thoughts on the overall build and the set itself.
Next: Final Thoughts
Back: 2nd Level
The build - Second Level
The second level is the living quarters of the firemen. It features some very nice appliances and furniture that are brick built and look fantastic. The pictures further down will illustrate them.
First up is the fireman's pole. It is nice to see there is a barrier at one side to prevent any fireman from accidentally falling into the gap and a nice warning strip as a safety feature.
Nice couch can be found nearby for any fireman to rest on.
A mini kitchen that surely will come useful to any fireman who is working the red eye shift to fix meals up at a moment's notice (and then sleep on the couch above after a good meal).
A refrigerator is just next to the kitchen and stores drinks and food inside it. It is entirely brick built using standard Lego bricks.
Finally for recreational purposes there is a ping pong table for people to entertain themselves. Next to is a cupboard which is built using 2 square crates as the lower cabinets.
The facade on the 2nd level design is fantastic. It feature dark red and light bluish grey tiles to create the brick wall effect. One nice touch the designer did was to use an inverted engine front (see fire truck) as part of the window design. The attachment technique is quite well done as well.
Overall the 2nd level offers quite a good build experience with the appliances and furniture being brick built which are not normal found in the Lego City sets. Or at least not to this extent.
Next: Roof Level
Back: 1st Level
The build - first level
In
front of the garage door pavement is the number "3" on it which
represents the 3rd build done by the designer Jamie Berard. It is
partially covered by the fire truck. Another unique feature are the windows above the garage. It is not built with 3 narrow windows but instead is built SNOT by the use of a large frame mounted on its long side lying down.
Taking
a look at the back of the first level. There is back door big enough
for the fire truck to reverse out from. There is a back door at the left
side and very nice tall windows at the back of the first level as well.
Here is the view of the fire truck from the back door
There is a fireman's pole is a nice bright yellow and next to it are the fire extinguishers and helmets. The helmets are actually hung onto upturned Lego frogs that function as hangar hooks.
Here we can see the flag (of America perhaps?) is brick built and is quite sturdy in design.
But the highlight of the frontage of the fire brigade must surely be the brick built fire brigade's logo on either side of the building. It consists of a pearl gold fireman's helmet resting on a paddle with a hammer and axe flanking either side of it. Very nicely done.
Next up is the 2nd level of the fire brigade
Next: 2nd Level
Back: Prologue
Prologue
My
first Lego set after emerging from the the dark ages. From the modular
series, this is a fantastic set to get. This is 4th in the series and is
the first of the modulars that has only 2 levels and features a vehicle
in the set. Without procrastinating any further let is dive into the
build and the features that are unique or unusual before doing a
summary on how I find this set.
The build - the fire truck
The
fire truck has the old school design feel to it. On the right side of
the vehicle is a brick built ladder hanging off it. Also the front
bumper is made up of 2 rods and 2 binoculars.
On the left side we have the fire hoses.
Finally we have the rear view of the vehicle where the fire extinguishers are placed.
Overall
other than the mentioned parts of the fire truck build, the rest is
very much normal as one would expect from a Lego City vehicle. Let us
move on to the fire brigade building itself.
Next: First Level
