A great build - very enjoyable throughout, with some really bizarre and interesting techniques at times. For instance - the water tower is actually a tank tread wrapped around a gear, with tiles capped over each link of the tread! Some of the facade above thee brown brick building is made of a bunch of mech-suit fists! I would have never thought of that. I'd say this build took me about 5 or 6 hours to complete, with a few interludes spent looking for small pieces that had fallen onto the floor or were buried in the pile. The set comes with numbered bags; there are at least 16 bags in total, numbered into 4 stages of about 600 pieces each.
I think this is a great entry point for people to get into the modular buildings because it's A) the smallest that is currently available (about 10x10 inches; for the space I have available it's actually the only one that will do!) and B) is not SO complex as to frustrate. The only challenge is how big or small your hands are! Reaching into the interiors is a bit of a squeeze for an adult. From the outside the set looks great. I love these kinds of buildings! Inside, you have a pool hall/club house and a detectives office, which strike a good balance between detail and playable, posable space. The bottom floor of the other building - a barber shop - is a very tight squeeze but is well detailed.
My love of the product does not insulate it from critique: Upstairs in the blue building, there isn't much going on. Second floor is a bathroom, third floor is a kitchen (what a terrible apartment!). Because the entire building only takes up about 2/3 of the entire depth of the base plate (leaving a dirty alley for lowlifes and thugs to shoot dice behind the pool hall!), the spare interior of the apartment building seems like a missed opportunity. Bump the blue building out to the back of the plate and make room for a real apartment! I also did not think the 6 minifigures were noteworthy. I get that all the figs in these expert modular building sets are simpler in design, with the default, non-gendered smiley face, but they looks so antiquated compared to yellow-skinned minifgures from modern-day City sets, and especially in comparison to collectible-series minifigures. Not my favorite aspect of the set. For me, it's all about the exterior look!
One drawback that isn't really a fair criticism of the product is that, like a lot of Lego instruction manuals, the colors are sometimes off in a way that makes it hard to tell exactly which shade of gray or brown you have to deal with. It shouldn't be that the main thing that makes this set difficult enough to be an Expert-line one is that the manual is simply difficult to see. Also I'm partially colorblind so maybe that's just my issue!
On another note, my package arrived (fulfilled by Amazon, delivered by USPS) in kind of rough shape. So rough that one of the Lego pieces (a 1x10 gray plate) was bent in half! Must have been SOME impact to cause that. Luckily this is a common enough piece that I could salvage it from something else, but imagine if I didn't have it, of it a different piece broke?
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From the manufacturer
Includes 6 minifigures with assorted accessories: Detective Ace Brickman, Al the barber, dart player, pool player, police woman and a mysterious lady in red.
LEGO Creator Expert Detective's Office
Discover a world of mystery and adventure with the LEGO Creator Expert Detective's Office! Step through the open archway and into the barbershop, where seated customers are pampered in the reflection of a large wall mirror, while next door, competitors play pool and darts beneath the comforting whir of a rotating ceiling fan. Venture to the first floor and you'll find the detective's office, his desk strewn with clues, a safe containing valuable evidence and a concealed wall compartment. Then visit the adjacent bathroom, featuring a classic pull-chain toilet, before taking the stairway to the well-equipped kitchen, from where you can access the roof terrace, complete with large water tower. This latest addition to the LEGO Modular Building series is packed with unsurpassed detail and hidden surprises. Easy-to-remove roof and ceilings provide access to the delightful interior, while the exterior of the building features a decorative roofline and a beautifully designed façade. Can you solve the smuggling mystery?
Discover hidden clues and surprises at the Detective's Office!
Discover a world of mystery and adventure with the awesome LEGO Creator Expert Detective's Office, featuring unique elements and surprises.
Includes 6 minifigures with assorted accessories: Detective Ace Brickman, Al the barber, dart player, pool player, police woman and a mysterious lady in red. Features a pool hall, barbershop, detective's office, bathroom, kitchen, water tower and a cat Detective's office features a desk, assorted clues, brick-built lamp, filing cabinet, fan, safe, painting, concealed wall compartment, newspaper, menu, wanted poster and a wall lamp Pool hall features a hinged, rotatable ceiling fan, pool table, printed dartboard, pool cues, pool balls and a drinking glass.
Barbershop features never-before-seen scissors and reflective mirror element, 2 wall lamps, barber's chair, hinged cabinet, 2 mannequin heads and a broom Bathroom features a detailed pull-chain toilet Kitchen features a stove, barrel, table, cabinet, refrigerator, wall clock and a rolling pin Accessories include Ace Brickman's brimmed hat, briefcase, magnifying glass and a police hat Detach the roof and floors for easy access Search for hidden clues Help Ace Brickman solve the mystery!
Special elements include never-before-seen scissors and reflective mirror element, printed dartboard, wanted poster, 1x1 round plate with hole in black, painter's roller in black, designing element 1x2x2 in dark gray, 1x2 bricks in light blue, 1x3 tiles in brown and a 32x32 base plate in brown Detective's Office measures over 10” (27cm) high, 9” (25cm) wide and 9” (25cm) deep Collect and build an entire town with the LEGO Creator Expert Modular Building series: 10232 Palace Cinema and 10243 Parisian Restaurant.
A Great Product And The Opportunity for a Great Learning Experience
I worked with my 8-year on this, deliberately slowing down the pace so that we could take 3 to 4 days to complete it. At this price, you don't just want to "gobble it down" in one sitting.Is it worth the price? Yes. The detail is wonderful. Even after being completely finished, you can remove the different floors and look in each room, rearrange characters, open and close doors (and windows and desk drawers and cupboards and the safes), swivel the desk chair or barber chair, rearrange the pool cues, etc. Additional to that, it helped my child start to understand the value of impulse control -- he paid for the product himself by earning the money over a three month period and avoiding spending it on other cheaper alternatives.The box says 16 years of age or older. What about younger users? I suggest a partnered build -- mistakes are unforgiving in the sense, that so much builds on top of other things. For example of what can happen, my child used the wrong color brick early on and didn't discover the mistake until an hour later. He eventually located that brick and had to decide whether to use an alternative brick or to try to access the brick he needed and replace it with the correct one. We did this last strategy and it took us about 20 to 30 minutes to correct the structural damage that resulted. But it was worth it! He learned the value of patience and really paying attention to detail -- which is yet another lesson in impulse-control.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016Color: MulticolorVerified Purchase
I worked with my 8-year on this, deliberately slowing down the pace so that we could take 3 to 4 days to complete it. At this price, you don't just want to "gobble it down" in one sitting.
A Great Product And The Opportunity for a Great Learning Experience
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016
Is it worth the price? Yes. The detail is wonderful. Even after being completely finished, you can remove the different floors and look in each room, rearrange characters, open and close doors (and windows and desk drawers and cupboards and the safes), swivel the desk chair or barber chair, rearrange the pool cues, etc. Additional to that, it helped my child start to understand the value of impulse control -- he paid for the product himself by earning the money over a three month period and avoiding spending it on other cheaper alternatives.
The box says 16 years of age or older. What about younger users? I suggest a partnered build -- mistakes are unforgiving in the sense, that so much builds on top of other things. For example of what can happen, my child used the wrong color brick early on and didn't discover the mistake until an hour later. He eventually located that brick and had to decide whether to use an alternative brick or to try to access the brick he needed and replace it with the correct one. We did this last strategy and it took us about 20 to 30 minutes to correct the structural damage that resulted. But it was worth it! He learned the value of patience and really paying attention to detail -- which is yet another lesson in impulse-control.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on May 7, 2023
Greatset great price
Color: MulticolorVerified Purchase -
加藤 康希Reviewed in Japan on February 13, 2018
ビビった…。
Color: MulticolorVerified Purchase
39595円で買ったけど、箱届いてみたら22980って値札が貼ってあって、え？ってなった。加藤 康希ビビった…。
Reviewed in Japan on February 13, 2018
開封してから気付いたし、初回だから諦めるけど、次からはレゴショップに一回見に行こうと思った
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