Brickville is a Beautiful Lego SimCity

Brickville Lego City Overhead SimCity

Brickville is the closest thing to a Lego SimCity. Imagine if EA Games made a Lego themed version of SimCity. It would look like this. This micro scale city in completely modular. Usually these type of projects can look too artificial, sometimes being too constrained to a set of rules. Brickville seems to have found a way past this problem. This little city is currently 67 or so baseplates in size and is expanding.  Not only is Brickville extremely photogenic from overhead, but its profile looks almost real. The variety of the high-rises and skyscrapers help lend the project a sense of realism.

Brickville Lego City

Brickville recently made an appearance at a KLUG show. Where it was photographed by Luap31 and Jameson42. You can find more details over on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brickville/10946567563/

Brickville Lego City Display

Lego Parisian Restaurant Modular Building (10243) Reviewed by Huw

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review

Lego has been steadily releasing new Modular Buildings for the past few years. The recent, Palace Cinema (10232), and Town Hall (10224) have proven extremely popular. The newest set is the Parisian Restaurant (10243) which should be hitting shelves in the near future. Huw, from Brickset, has recently posted an early photo review of this highly anticipated set. The Parisian Restaurant comes with the now standard 3 step instructions. Which, should take anywhere from 5-9 hours to complete.

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review Scooter

There are a whole lot of new and rare pieces included this time around. The most recognizable is the new Lego Scooter. This little red Vespa influenced scooter is extremely cute, and fits in perfectly with the Parisian Restaurant. Also included are a whole lot bricks in the new Olive Green Lego color. Since the whole building is based on this rare color, the Parisian Restaurant is probably the best source for these parts.

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review Minifigures

Featuring five Minifigures, a chef, waiter, two restaurant patrons, and the female scooter pilot. As usual, these included Minifigs all feature the classic smiling Lego head. I like to think of the blonde man as a Lego Owen Wilson.

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review Top View

Huw notes that the increased detail means that the Restaurant takes longer to build. All three floors are furnished, with the bottom floor featuring an impressive amount of details. From the fully tiled flooring, to the full kitchen, everything here looks great.

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review Front

The Lego Parisian Restaurant is an excellent new entry in the Modular Building theme. The previous two seemed to be missing a certain spark for some fans, but this set has reignited their enthusiasum. The other good news is that there are no stickers this time around. Everything here is given the premium treatment from Lego.

“Modular buildings have come a long way since Cafe Corner, which was just an empty shell, haven’t they…”

Huw's Parisian Restaurant 10243 Review Back

Make sure to go read Huw’s full review, with many more photos and details over on Brickset:

Part 1: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=8134
Part 2: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=8147

More details (including video!) of the Parisian Restaurant can be found on LegoGenre here: http://everydaybricks.com/lego-creator-parisian-restaurant-10243-modular-building-revealed/

Lego Friends: Emma’s Place, A Lovely Modular Building MOC

Kristel’s Lego Friends Emma’s Place 01

It turns out that Lego Friends fits into the Lego System very well. It’s success means that this theme will probably be staying around for years. So far, the Friends theme has been offering many unique Lego pieces and exclusive colors. Focusing on pink, purple, blue, and green has made these sets instantly recognizable (for good or bad). There have been a few amazing MOCs (My Own Creation) combining the Friends theme with other Lego themes. Some of the best creations are those involving the Modular Buildings. These super detailed buildings can be described as a sort of “doll house” for the Lego fan.

This Lego Friends themed modular building is called Emma’s Place. This design would fit into the modular buildings very well. Especially the Lego Pet Shop (10218) and the Lego Cafe Corner (10182). Emma’s Place is a single building that combines the the Beauty Parlour, Fashion Design Studio and Karate Class together. The all glass (plastic!) entrance into Emma’s Place is a great design; opening up into a full Beauty Salon.

Kristel’s Lego Friends Emma’s Place 02

The second floor features a Fashion Design Studio.

Kristel’s Lego Friends Emma’s Place 03

Emma’s Place is topped with a Karate Dojo, where all the friends can attend Karate Class.

Kristel’s Lego Friends Emma’s Place 04

Emma’s Place is a great MOC built by Kristel. Who has built many other Friends themed creations. You can find more details over on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjw010/8993657558/

LegoGenre has featured other Lego Friends themed Modular Buildings, most notably the “Lego Friends: Lovely Hotel, A Wonderful Cafe Corner (10182) Mod” which can be found here.