This morning, the LEGO group finally revealed the #10270 LEGO Creator Expert Bookshop, the latest in the LEGO Modular Buildings series. Below is the press-release with description, pictures, and other details. Read through the information and let me know what you think!
Bring a novel new building to your LEGO brick town with the #10270 LEGO Creator Expert Bookshop. The latest addition to the LEGO Modular Buildings series, this three-story bookshop, and adjoining townhouse is crammed full of fun features and has all the character of a quaint European town. The house and bookshop itself draw on inspiration from variety sources such as the Painted Ladies in San Francisco and the buildings of Amsterdam.
The 2,504-piece build features a three-story bookshop and adjoining modular town house building, which are full of surprising details including a reading nook – where any one of the five LEGO minifigures included in the set can settle down to read ‘Moby Brick’ (or any other book) in the peace and quiet of the detailed bookshop.
This set is packed full of unexpected features such as the toy plane stuck in the branches of the autumnal birch tree outside the house and a pet chameleon hiding in the bedroom of the house – all of which are sure to delight budding builders as they create their own bookshop.
The modular design allows the two buildings to be configured in a number of ways, giving LEGO brick fans flexibility when they display the model or integrate it into their own town of other LEGO Creator Expert Modular Buildings.
The set is inspired by the houses of Amsterdam and the dollhouses that were built by the mother of the set’s designer, Wes Talbott, when he was growing up. The set features an adjoining townhouse with individual rooms for each of the five LEGO minifigures to relax in, when they’re not exploring the bookstore itself.
Measuring over 11” (29cm) high, 9” (25cm) wide and 9” (25cm) deep, this buildable model makes for an impressive display piece on its own, or as part of a larger LEGO Modular Buildings series street scene. This advanced set offers a challenging and rewarding build experience whether building alone, or sharing the experience with a friend.
The LEGO Creator Expert Modular Buildings series is a premium collection of advanced, interconnecting buildings, featuring authentic designs from around the world. They are meant for adults and teenagers with a passion (recommended for ages 16+). From authentic buildings and classic cars to other objects of desire, LEGO Creator Expert advanced sets offer a world of nostalgia, escapism, self-expression, pure enjoyment, and surprise.
The #10270 LEGO Creator Expert Bookshop is going to be available directly from LEGO starting on January 1st, 2020. Prices are as follows: US $179.99 – CA $199.99 – DE €159.99 – UK £149.99 – FR €159.99 – DK 1299DKK (Euro pricing varies by country). For more details, visit the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.
Notice that this set was designed by Wes Talbott, a designer who was hired from the LEGO fan community after his Legend of Zelda model achieved 10,000 votes on LEGO Ideas. The #10270 LEGO Creator Expert Bookshop is Wes’ first LEGO Creator Expert set, and he added a number of Easter eggs to the model. For example, the house address (107) is the LEGO number for the teal color the house is made out of, and is a color Wes helped bring back to the LEGO color palette. The minifigures that are included within the set are based on his parents. They are both creative makers, and his mother especially loves to design and build dollhouses out of wood and LEGO bricks. Wes is also a huge LEGO Lord of the Rings fan, and he would love to work on the LEGO Harry Potter product line as well. Hopefully, the designer-video for the Bookshop will be released soon, so we can hear more from Wes.
There is a lot to like about this set, and maybe a few things not to like. I know that some LEGO fans weren’t happy with the 1950s style of the last two LEGO Modular Buildings (#10260 LEGO Downtown Diner from 2018, and #10264 LEGO Corner Garage from 2019), so it’s nice to see that we are back to a more traditional and charming design. I also really like that two 16×32-stud baseplates are used, which makes the set a lot more versatile. The only other split building we got in the series is the #10218 LEGO Creator Pet Shop released back in 2011. The teal color of the apartment building also helps to tie in the unusual teal arch of the #10260 LEGO Creator Downtown Diner, which is going to be helpful to those who own that set, but were a bit put off by the teal.
Because of the split design, the interior spaces are quite small and sparsely furnished compared to some of the larger buildings. The outside decorations also appear to be pretty simple, as most of them rely on standard LEGO elements and not as many clever building techniques as some of the earlier sets. In fact, the overall size, the simple interior, and the split design makes this set similar to the #10218 LEGO Creator Pet Shop. The Pet Shop, along with almost all of the earlier LEGO Modular Buildings of about the same size, was in the $150-$160 range. Prices started to creep up in the past few years (the #10251 LEGO Creator Brick Bank, and the #10260 LEGO Creator Downtown Diner were both priced at $170, and the larger #10264 LEGO Creator Corner Garage is $200). The Bookshop is also very close to the Downtown Diner in terms of piece-count. I would say that a price of $160-$170 would be fair, $180 is pushing it. We will see what LEGO fans think about the increase. For the current selection of LEGO Modular Buildings, visit the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.
In summary, I like the return of the charming style of the earlier LEGO Modular Buildings, the split design is great, the colors are nice, but the design may be a bit too simple for advanced builders, and the price is on the high side. What do you think? How do you like this latest addition to the LEGO Modular Buildings? Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
- LEGO Corner Garage Review & Speed-Build
- LEGO Creator Corner Garage Designer-Video
- Brick Breakdown: LEGO Downtown Diner
- Modifying the LEGO Creator Downtown Diner
- LEGO Downtown Diner Designer-Video
- LEGO Downtown Diner & The Return of Teal
- LEGO Creator Assembly Square Review
- LEGO Creator Assembly Square Customization
I’m definitely down with the book store, the town house… That’s a bit of tough one with me. It really comes down to so much blue. I can’t help but wonder if the teal was changed to a lighter blue (keep the blue roof) and make the doors white. Or maybe replace the teal with yellow? I’m looking at images of the town houses in San Francisco for inspiration. Might be fun to rebuild the town house in a different color, but then I’ve never done such a major change on a Lego model before. Well, plenty of time to think about this since I don’t have the garage modular yet. 😀
Hmmm, Lego Yellow is a very bright color, perhaps light yellow could work, though…
Yes! After more thought I think light yellow would work better.
Now that I give this time thought, I think a couple more of these two houses, placed next to each other in a row, built with different colors would also be fun. Lots of custom parts I’d have to order, but I think it would look pretty nice.
I really like that we are getting another split layout. There are some details I don’t like so much, like how the dark blue dome connects over the bay windows, but that can be fixed easily. I like it.
I’m glad they are back to the more traditional style. It’s very pretty. But I think I will change the leaves to green to match the other trees on the street.
I’m also glad they went back to the previous style. It’s very pretty. The teal may be a little too much, but it balances out the diner.
The design seems pretty basic, and I’m disappointed by the lack of interior. A bookstore should be stacked with shelves of books all over. Especially a small independent bookstore like this. On the other hand, I like the split design and the colors. It’s nice, but it will need work on the inside.
I was hoping they were going to use light yellow this year. It’s a color that would look perfect with the modulars. It seems a little boring as far as techniques, but it looks pretty.
It’s basically another pet shop. Simple, but versatile, and fits in anywhere in the layout. It’s not my favorite modular, but it’s a good space filler. Disappointed with the lack of tiling on the interior.
UPDATE: I just added in the designer-video. Enjoy! 🙂
I wasn’t sure at first, but after watching the designer video I like it. I especially like the idea of being able to stack the floors to make it taller! That may be something I will end up doing. I like tall and skinny buildings like that.
Yay, now my mini figures won’t be illiterate. Lol! ( I hope I spelled that right). This is what I’m talking about. It would fit in my city theme perfectly. However, like most people this time of year, I am riding the broke train. I need to save and I’ll probably wait on it till my birthday later this year. 🤔
I really love the quaint aesthetic of the library, and the blue townhouse seems to complement it pretty well; light yellow would probably have been too warm. I agree that the facades seem a little plainer in terms of building technique than usual but they still look great and though there aren’t enough books, there’s still some neat stuff going on inside. Cool to see some new leaf colors on the birch tree too! In any case, as a book lover, I’ll have to rank this modular among my favorites! And I love the box art.
It needs more books and more bookshelves.
Hmmm, too big and expensive for me, I like the black tousled hair and harmonic freckled face of the clerk, however. (Even if I already have picked up that head from a Build-A-Minifigure bin.)
I love it! It’s a must-have for me! It could use more books just laying about. There is a very small town near my home with a bookstore very much like this one. And there are literally stacks of books on every available space, and bookshelves line every wall. It can be overwhelming for some, but heaven for book lovers. I may have to add books and clutter to this little shop.
I visited a book store like that in Paris, La Regard Moderne. Very cramped with an order of books nearly impossible to understand and a lot of books without marked prizes. Crammed shelves all over, so it was impossible to move around if you’d happen to be overweight or wear a backpack…
I love bookstores like that! You can spend hours there and there is always some treasure to find! 🙂
LOVE!!!!!
I am excited to see that LEGO chose a bookshop for the new modular and very happy to see a return to the older styling. I like the two separate baseplates, although I agree that arrangement makes for smaller, less detailed individual buildings. I, personally, had eventually separated and expanded my pet shop, and I may ultimately do so with the bookshop too, but I like the balance of smaller and larger buildings in my town. As others have stated, there aren’t enough books, so I will likely work to add more of those during the build. All in all, I look forward to building this set, although I will likely wait until my birthday as I also ride the broke train this time of year (the three kids get my LEGO budget – LOL)