Sunday 21 August 2011

Little Yellow Brick Collection


1. 10210 Imperial Flagship
2. 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty
3. 10185 Green Grocer
4. 10211 Grand Emporium
5. 10197 Fire Brigade
6. 10214 Tower Bridge
7. 10189 Taj Mahal
8. 10193 Medieval Market Village

We have a few Lego sets for sale/exchange for items on our wishlist. Drop us an email at lego.enthu@gmail.com for more details.

Our fourth Lego project - 10211 Grand Emporium

  • Model: 10211 Grand Emporium
  • 2181 pieces
  • Released in 2010
  • Retail price: $149.99 USD
Completed. :)
Well, we put our money where our mouths are, don't we? Presenting our first two Modular Buildings, the Green Grocer and Grand Emporium, side by side! Looking more like a town, doesn't it?


Back view of the Grand Emporium and Green Grocer!



Side view of the tiles - note how they match seamlessly from one building to the next!


What are buildings without minifigs? Let's line them up for a group shot! (Note: mannequins not included!)

We embarked on our second Modular Building project, the Grand Emporium, not long after we had completed the Green Grocer. Like the Grocer, building the Grand Emporium was very time-consuming but ultimately satisfying. The first floor was a seriously painstaking exercise as we had to meticulously tile most of the ground. Afterwards, the second and third floors were a relative breeze as we got the hang of building the escalators and the walls. We won’t bore you with the details, but like most large Lego structures, especially the “10” series, seeing the set slowly become the finished product, brick by brick, is a truly unforgettable experience.
The Grand Emporium comes with five townsfolk and two mannequins. Like the Green Grocer, it is probably nice to look at, but we felt that we would not be doing it justice if we left it on its own. We did not follow the sequence in building the Grand Emporium ahead of the Fire Brigade as we initially thought that the Emporium looked a lot nicer. Well, enjoy the view for now while we work on our next project – the Fire Brigade!

Our third Lego project - 10185 Green Grocer

  • Model: 10185 Green Grocer
  • 2352 pieces
  • Released in 2008
  • Retail price: $149.99 USD
Our completed Green Grocer! :) Stayed tuned for our next project, the Grand Emporium!

Following our Lego ship projects (Imperial Flagship and Brickbeard's Bounty), we chanced upon the Modular Building series and we decided to embark on a quest to collect and build all the Lego sets in this series; Green Grocer is our first completed building.

The front of the shop is tiled, a feature of all the Modular Buildings we have seen so far. Kudos to Lego's designers, they have spared no details in stocking this green grocer with fruits, vegetables and even a refrigerator. The second and third floor are realistic looking live-in areas, as evidenced by the mailboxes on the first floor along the walk-through pathway and the rooftop garden and bbq. As with most Modular Buildings, the Green Grocer also comes complete with a fire escape staircase.

The Green Grocer comes with four minifigs, a cat and a mouse. For a more complete play experience, we recommend putting it next to other Modular Buildings; at the time of the publication, Cafe Corner, Market Street, Grand Emporium, Fire Brigade and Pet Shop have been produced by Lego. We urge fellow Lego enthusiasts to collect some, if not all, of the above and combine them to create a beautiful Lego town!

Our second Lego project - 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty

  • Model: 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty
  • 592 pieces
  • Released in 2009
  • Retail price: $99.99 USD


Operation Imperial Raid in progress! Stay tuned for Imperial Battleship vs Brickbeard's Bounty!

Brickbeard's Bounty is a visual feast, its bright red and white sails matching the brown hull, maroon captain's quarters and yellow windows. Smaller than the Imperial Battleship at 22" (56cm) by 17" (44cm) and with two masts, one could presume that this ship was built with speed in mind, sacrificing firepower for knots. Going by this theory, we could probably also forgive Lego's designers for not including an anchor in this ship! Building the ship was less of a challenge compared to the Flagship, whose 1,600 pieces is more than 2.5 times of Brickbeard's 592; we completed it within one night, probably took us less than five hours.

In terms of play, the ship's four pirates are probably insufficient for a ship with two movable side cannons, one mounted rear cannon and two mounted rifles at the front of the ship. Brickbeard's Bounty comes with a female prisoner, which allows us to give our two Imperial protagonists one of two missions - to steal the treasure map in the captain's quarters or rescue the damsel in distress, the latter of which probably seems like a suicide mission given the lurking shark and them being outnumbered two to one.
Overall, we would consider Brickbeard's Bounty a beautiful addition to any Lego exhibition display, but we would recommend that it be put next to the Imperial Flagship for a showdown. Otherwise, we could also envision a scenario where Brickbeard's Bounty attacks an Imperial coastal outpost and raid it of its treasure. In conclusion, Brickbeard's Bounty is a sight for the eyes, but would probably need to be put next to another Lego set for maximum play experience!

Our first Lego project - 10210 Imperial Flagship

  • Model: 10210 Imperial Flagship
  • 1664 pieces
  • Released in 2010
  • Retail price: $179.99 USD

The Imperial Flagship is a true juggernaut. Armed with four cannon ports on each side, it dwarfs other Lego ships in terms of fire power. It is also probably the biggest ship Lego has created in terms of size (29"/75cm by 23.6"/60cm) - check out the number of masts and three sections. The intricate details of this ship are amazing - Lego must pay a bomb for its R&D department to hire designers and develop computer models to put together this ship, piece by piece.

Minifigs-wise, the Flagship comes with the captain, his daughter, a lieutenant and four soldiers; in terms of bad guys, there are the pirate captain and his sidekick. One might think that the number of soldiers is quite sufficient, but considering the need for hands on deck and four cannon ports on each side, six is probably the bare minimum. The lack of pirates, especially if the junior pirate is played as the ship's cook, is probably the another setback of this ship. We took about 12 hours over a span of three days to complete this beast. Enjoy!