As we have discussed previously (see: LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe), one of the most interesting sets in 2014 has been the #31026 LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe. I’m not going to repeat everything we have talked about in the previous post, but the bottom line is the LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe is an excellent smaller alternative to the LEGO Modular Buildings, and it also comes with instructions for three different models, so you could buy multiple copies and build each one differently, creating a whole LEGO street! 🙂
Looks like LEGO is having good success with the LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe, and in 2015 they are going to add another similar set, the #31036 LEGO Creator Toy & Grocery Shop. This is also a 3-in-1 model with several configurations. It is scheduled for release in January, but will likely appear in select stores in December.
To give you some further ideas about the possibilities with these sets, LEGO recently ran a contest on their Facebook Page, encouraging LEGO fans to build various accessories to the #31026 LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe. Below are a couple of ideas they have shown. The bottom line is that these sets are fun, expandable, displayable, and it also looks like LEGO is committed to continue releasing similar sets in the future.
One of the questions that often comes up with these sets is if they are compatible with the LEGO Modular Buildings. The short answer is not really, as they are at a much smaller scale. While the LEGO Modular Buildings are at a pretty realistic scale compared to a human (represented by a minifig), the smaller LEGO Creator sets are as small as possible, and while they do look really good, they are way under normal proportions. However if you are a LEGO Modular Building collector, and you also like these smaller sets, you could expand on them, and add them to your LEGO Modular Building street. Below is an example from flickr member hs0104c. Just look at how naturally a larger version of the #31026 LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe looks next to the #10218 LEGO Modular Pet Shop!
As I have mentioned, the LEGO Creator Toy & Grocery Shop will be available in January, and in the meantime you can get the #31026 LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe at the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? Do you like these smaller LEGO Creator buildings? Have you gotten the LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe? And are you planning to get the LEGO Creator Toy & Grocery Shop? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
- LEGO Creator Bike Shop & Cafe
- LEGO Modulars – Get Them While You Can!
- 2015 LEGO Modular Building Rumors…
- LEGO City Custom Modular Buildings & Vehicles
- LEGO City Mini Shop Series on CUUSOO
- LEGO Parisian Restaurant Walk-Thru Review
- LEGO Modular Palace Cinema Now Available!
- The LEGO Neighborhood Book – Review
First comment! Very cool, but not anywhere in my price range. Lol
Ouch, even the scaled-down modulars too expensive for you… Well, if you’d only need bulk bricks for personal building, there’s always the second hand markets…
Yeah, my one Christmas present has to be UNDER THIRTY DOLLARS
Hm… Wal-Mart is having an excellent pre-Black Friday sale starting tomorrow. Some really nice large sets will all be $39, including Ninjago, City, Friends, Super Heroes, Star Wars… that’s only a tiny bit over your budget. Here is the ad. You might want to give it to your parents: https://blackfriday.com/stores/walmart/flyers/weekly-ad/page-2
I’m not sure what your limits are exactly, but at least Lego does $29.99 :D.
That IS a brilliant point…
I have the Bike Shop & Cafe and I love it. I actually have 3 of them but only the main building design built. But it’s a fun build and I really like the different features of the building. This one, the main build feels sparse to me, but looks a little better than I had originally imagined it. From what I can tell, I think I will like the alternate builds too. It, however, doesn’t look like a $90 set though. It seems smaller than that. What do you think admin?
Kim, I agree. We don’t know the piece-count yet, but I think this set looks about half the size of the previous one. If they price it right, this could be a nice addition to the first set. Maybe they are still working out what people are willing to pay for sets like this. It is tough, because parents usually only shell out $100 if the set is really substantial, popular, and impressive, and while these sets are cute, they are not impressive – there is just too much competition for the attention of kids and parents in that price-range. And adults and collectors usually don’t mind shelling out the high price for the premium sets. So it is possible that these sets will just fall in between and there is just no market for a $90-$100 baby Modulars.
Well, first off, (I feel like I always have somethig negative to say :P) I was excited for the first Creator Modular-type set. But then it cost more then I had anticipated, and I ended up thinking it looked a bit plain and flat, boring really. But I love this new one, the color scheme, the little bridge, the blue roofs and of course all the little details. It’s still not as good looking as a, “real,” modular, but that’s the cost of a lower price. Still, when I read it was a, “grocery store and toy shop” and then saw the pictures, I almost laughed. It looks good, but to give it the name of two seperate, generally big, buildings, seems a little far fetched.
You supposed to fill out the blanks with your imagination. 🙄
True.
So, I’ve been having some issues with my wishlist on Lego.com. I feel like I fill the thing up and then days later most of my stuff has been removed from my list. Do they have a limit you can put on the list? Has anyone else had this problem?
I know they had a big update a few days ago that involved taking the site down completely for a while. Maybe it has something to do with that?
Oh maybe and it was only able to hold on to the stuff I had added within the last couple of days.
Yeah, that could be it then as the outage was just a few days ago. I would suggest you monitor it for a few days. I didn’t have anything on my wish-list recently so I can’t check.
I bought my wife the Bike Shop & Cafe and she loved building it but this set feels really empty compared to the Bike Shop set. Might just end up buying another Bike Shop set and build them up in size like the picture you posted.
That sounds like a good plan! The Bike Shop is such a nice set in any size! 🙂
Well, I didn’t stick to not buying anymore Lego for the rest of the year. I ended up picking up that Helicopter Arrest set and the Flying Flusher. And then after I ordered it, I realized I should have waited for black friday to order so I could get that extra set. oops
He-he… so that means you will have to place another order on Black Friday. 😀
On another note; I just got the press package for the Detective’s Office. OMG! Drooling over the pictures! I can’t share any details but expect that LEGO blogs and forums will be full of them tomorrow after 10 AM EST when we can officially share them. I will wait until next week to post them as I have other things planned for the weekend. 🙂
Ha ha yeah. I’ll have to find something I can buy……….=D I’m excited! I can’t wait. I’m thinking that I’ll probably be able to pick up the Detective’s Office and Parisian Restaurant sometime about mid to late January as will have some funds come available. Totes excited!!!!
How about wishing a cash gift, then?
I would but my family is kind of weird about that. They think money gifts, except from my dad cheapen the holiday. My dad usually gives about $100 a year for Christmas, so there’s the majority of a set right there. But I usually get tied up so much at Christmas that I end up spending the gift from my dad to make up for what I spent on other people. It’s actually super stressful and my Christmas excitement has kind of been dying over the years. That’s why I don’t have problems buying presents for myself at times. Takes off some of the stress.
Ah, that’s tough. We don’t give that many presents any more in our family. I wouldn’t try buying that much things this year, unless I get specific requests on wish lists or I happen to stumble onto something personally appropriate. Thankfully, I don’t think any of my family members are expecting many expensive gifts and such. Also, they know I don’t have a job and don’t make that much money, anyway…
Wow. Thanks for the tip on the pre-Black Friday sale tomorrow. Some great sets there for $39!
I feel the bike shop & cafe were overpriced at $90. Almost 2/3 the cost of a “real” modular, and less than half the pieces.
And this next one looks smaller yet. If it’s $50, I’ll give it a try. It looks like it has a lot of nice tan windows. Anything more, and I’ll only get it on deep clearance.
Eric you are welcome. Yeah, it is a nice sale. And I agree that this looks more like a $50 set.
I was able to snag Olivia’s house for $39. That’s a great price!
That’s awesome! Yes, that was one of the best deals! 🙂
Thanks for the review. i really appreciate it…..