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LEGO City Main Square & LEGO City Adventures

by Thita (admin) on September 4, 2020

in LEGO City

One of the sets that was released at the beginning of the month is the #60271 LEGO City Main Square. There has been a number of questions and some confusion about this set, so I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it in more detail.

Based on the size, price, and content of LEGO City Main Square, it looks similar to the previously released large LEGO City sets, like the #60026 LEGO City Town Square from 2013, the #60097 LEGO City Square from 2015, or the #60200 LEGO City Capital City set from 2018. These are all sets that include a large number of modules to significantly boost a LEGO City layout, including shops, food stands, vehicles, generic city people, and more. Families often save up for them as the big Christmas present for the year.

The #60271 LEGO City Main Square is similar yet different from the previously released large LEGO City sets. This becomes obvious when you look at the pictures in more detail. There is a large selection of city related modules, including buildings, vehicles, and more, but several of them are odd and don’t seem to be that useful for a regular LEGO City layout like the modules in other sets. The city hall and the classic diner are both decent buildings. The concert stage, the small park, and the tram station are so-so, but could still be useful. However, the vehicles are unusual; a tram without tracks, a (I’m sorry to say) very ugly limousine, yet another boring helicopter and police ATV, and a strange handyman wagon. The fourteen minifigs are okay, but you will notice that some of them are named characters, which is unusual for a LEGO City set. The whole thing is an odd mismatch that doesn’t seem to be worth $200.

As it turns out though, this is not a regular LEGO City set. It is a set made for kids who are fans of the popular LEGO City Adventures TV show. LEGO City Adventures premiered last summer on Nickelodeon and it’s still running with new episodes each week. Unlike many LEGO television series and specials that deal in the realms of fantasy, LEGO City Adventures is set in a modern metropolis with ordinary citizens, like police officer Duke DeTain, fire chief Freya McCloud, street sweeper Shirley Keeper, eager but clumsy handyman Harl Hubbs, city mayor Solomon Fleck, vice mayor Carol Yay, rival business people R.E. Fendrich and Mary Sinclair, Freya’s troublesome nephew Billy McCloud, and skateboarding police chief Percival “Wheelie” Wheeler. Below is the press-release with more information about the set as well as the TV show.

Billund, 12th August 2020: Families can now bring the excitement and buzz from city life into the comfort of their own homes – as The LEGO Group launches the brand-new LEGO City Main Square set. Designed for the whole family to build and re-build together, this latest product is the ultimate set in the entertaining world of LEGO City and is perfect for helping young builders to become master builders.

Budding builders can truly immerse themselves in the LEGO City world and enjoy endless hours of imaginative play, with this brand-new 1,517-piece set. Whether it’s a visit to City Hall, a quick journey on the Tram, enjoying a bite to eat at the Classic Diner or singing your heart out on the Concert Stage – LEGO City Main Square’s collection of detailed buildings and realistic toy vehicles provide everything inspiring builders need to experience the energy of day-to-day city life.

With 14 awesome minifigures, LEGO City Main Square is also buzzing with much-loved LEGO City Adventures characters. With Poppy Starr performing on stage, Billy throwing a party at the City Square, and Duke DeTain searching for Snake Rattler and his grappling hook after a City Hall break-in. LEGO City Main Square allows young builders and families to dive straight into the LEGO City Adventures TV series and re-create their favorite scenes. (If you’re curious and don’t have access to Nickelodeon’s channel, you can watch many of the episodes on YouTube.)

As it only requires basic building skills, LEGO City Main Square is the perfect set for families to get creative with and let their imaginations run wild, as they build and re-build together. However, for those who would like a little extra help, The LEGO City Main Square playset also comes complete with ‘Instructions PLUS’ – an interactive building guide that helps budding builders on their journey to becoming master builders! Available as part of the free LEGO Building Instructions app for smart devices, ‘Instructions PLUS’ includes a special zoom and rotate feature to help young builders visualize as they build – helping bring their creations to life.

If ever families feel they need to take a break from city life, the impressive City Hall building, measuring over 12” (32cm) high, 10” (27cm) wide and 5” (15cm) deep, and the intricate Tram build, which measures over 4” (12cm) high, 14” (37cm) long and 1” (5cm) wide, both make impressive display pieces, as well as a fond reminders of the quality time spent together.

The new LEGO City Main Square set is the latest example of how the LEGO Group aims to help children to create a realistic LEGO world and to inspire the process of co-building. The LEGO Group has a range of LEGO City sets to help children explore and stimulate their creativity, including the new LEGO City Ocean Exploration Ship and LEGO City Passenger Airplane sets. LEGO City Main Square is available directly from LEGO at official LEGO stores and the LEGO City section of the Online LEGO Shop.

So now that we cleared up what the #60271 LEGO City Main Square set is about, the question remains; is it worth it? For kids and families who are regularly watching the TV show and are familiar with the story and characters, it could be a fun way to expand the experience. It’s a 1,517-piece set for $199.99, which is not cheap, but not out of line for LEGO City sets.

For those who are only looking at this set as a way to expand their LEGO City, this might not be the best option. There just aren’t enough nice and useful modules to justify the price. Better would be something like the smaller but really well designed and currently available #60233 LEGO City Donut Shop Opening, the #60258 LEGO City Tuning Workshop, or some of the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets. You can find them at the LEGO Creator section and LEGO City section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO City Main Square set? Is this a set you’re interested in? Do you watch the LEGO City Adventures TV show? How do you like it? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO Haunted House Modular Modification

by Thita (admin) on September 3, 2020

in Featured LEGO Creations

Although the #10273 LEGO Haunted House is technically a part of the LEGO Creator Fairground series, it is very different from the previous sets in both color and design. Rather than being an obvious fairground ride, it’s a drop tower hidden inside a haunted manor. The manor itself is a nicely detailed building, similar in size to the LEGO Modular Buildings collection. This inspired many LEGO fans to display the set along with the LEGO Modular Buildings, and even turn it into a regular LEGO Modular Building by removing sections of the tower and the mechanism of the drop ride, adding stackable floors, and transferring the whole building onto a 32×32-stud baseplate.

If you want to place the manor next to the other LEGO Modular Buildings but you also want to keep the drop tower and other play-features, you can just leave everything as is. The building opens like a dollhouse for play, but otherwise it’s fully enclosed, so you don’t have to worry about exposed interiors from any angle. The size of the building is very similar to the Modulars, and it will fit right in. The only quirky feature is the height of the tower, which you may or may not want to lower.

If you want to turn the #10273 LEGO Haunted House into an actual LEGO Modular Building, you have some work cut out for you. While the manor is seemingly similar to the LEGO Modular Buildings, there are also many differences to consider. The building is on a 32×32 base, but it’s made of plates. They will have to be swapped out to a standard 32×32 baseplate. This is easy to do.

Although the manor is 32 studs wide, due to the hinges at the sides, it can’t sit flush next to other buildings. You will want to remove the hinges anyway as you don’t need them for regular floors. You might also consider removing or modifying the chimney and some of the decorative elements on the right to bring the building all the way to the edge of the baseplate.

Another section that will need to be modified is the tower. It’s too tall as it comes in the set, and it has quite a bit of complicated mechanism to make the drop ride work. Fortunately, the architecture is standard and with repeating sections, so once you gut it out and lower it, you will end up with a nice tower.

The real big job is going to be on the inside of the main building. In the original set, there are no real floors, furnishing, or steps to move from floor to floor, so you will have to install all of these features yourself. And you also have to figure out what you would like to put inside the building. Perhaps, you would want to turn it into a regular residence, or a museum, or a church, or an antique shop. There are lots of options. As the building looks old, you could even keep some of the haunted features for a bit of spookiness.

If you already have a good number of extra pieces, you can start working on modifications right away. If you are short on loose bricks, you may want to design the interior digitally with LEGO Digital Designer or Stud.io before purchasing the additional pieces you need.

If you feel intimidated by all of this, but you still want to turn the Haunted House into a Modular, you can also check out some of the alterations others have done. One of my favorites is the Old Mansion by LEGO fan Das_Felixe (see pictures in this article). His model includes all the modifications we just talked about, like a standard Modular Building street section and base, standard stackable and fully furnished floors, staircases, and more. The interior modifications include a sofa corner, furnace, and organ (from the original set) on the ground floor, a kitchen and dining room on the second floor, and a bedroom on the third floor under the roof.

The design of the Old Mansion utilizes as much of the original pieces from the set as possible, but since it follows an entirely different building concept for the interior and some of the exterior, it still needs approximately 1,400 additional pieces. A good number of these are tiles to cover the street as well as two of the floors. You could make some adjustment with the extra pieces depending on what you have already, and how much of the custom design you want to follow. The parts-list for the extra parts needed to build the Old Mention and the instructions are available on Rebrickable. The parts-list is available for anyone to look through, and the downloadable building instructions are available for €8.00. You can find both at Rebrickable: LEGO OLD MANSION – HAUNTED HOUSE MODULAR MODIFICATION

I’m still waiting for my #10273 LEGO Haunted House as it’s been on backorder for quite some time, but once I receive it I plan to work with Das_Felixe’s modifications as well as some of my own ideas. If you don’t have the set but you would like to get it, it’s available on backorder with a mid-September shipping date at the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Do you have the LEGO Haunted House already? Have you modified it in any way? What modifications have you done? Or do you like it as it is? 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:

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LEGO City Main Square & LEGO City Adventures

LEGO Haunted House Modular Modification

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