Family House

The 31012 Family House is another residence in my Lego city.  This set, unlike the Apple Tree House, came with a couple and a car, so I didn't have to add anything to build it up.

31012 Family House fully assembled

Lego calls it a "Family House", but it only came with a married couple.  No kids...  But the house is pretty nice, so the man and woman must make a comfortable living to get a place this nice.

The wife out on the balcony and the husband playing with the RC car

I like how the house came with a car.  I don't have many civilian vehicles in my Lego city.  I should sit down and build more, as I do have the necessary pieces.  Maybe I could open a car dealership...  Heck, these two Family House residents could even own it!!

A nice yellow convertible in the garage

The house really only has one room, but I don't care.  I'm not expecting nor wanting as elaborate as a doll house with bedrooms and kitchens and living rooms.  When I play Lego's my minifigures will be spending more time outside than in.

Internal view of the Family House

Another great feature is the light brick and fixture inside.  It's a nice touch, and it's always fun to turn it on and off.

The lights are on

One issue I got is that the plates the Family House sits on take up a space of 24x32 and splits in half down the middle.  I'd like to put it on a 32x32 baseplate, but then I lose the ability to open the house up.  Not that I'd really need to, as I can take the roof off.  I also run into the gray plate in the back right corner.  I've got a 16x16 gray baseplate, and a 16x16 green one for the right side, along with a 32x16 green one for the left side.  I'll have to play with it some more before I settle on a "final" design.

Opening the Family House up

Sets used: 31012

Lego Haul - 5/14/15

As I mentioned the other day, I was in the Quad Cities for work, so I hit up the Toys "R" Us stores in the area for a couple of sets.  The first collection of sets was from the store in Moline, IL, and I bought the one below in the Davenport, IA location.

I also mentioned that the prices at Toys "R" Us are on par with Lego stores, so I grabbed 21020 Trevi Fountain and a little kitten set as well (I've give that to my nephew this weekend).  

The haul from May 14, 2015

I'll be using the Trevi Fountain as the centerpiece for my city Plaza.  It'll be surrounded by the Toy Store, Grocery Store, Bike Shop, Newstand, City Pizza, and Cafe.  The Plaza will be a great gathering place for everyone to enjoy the nice days and lovely nights in town.

Contents of the 21020 Trevi Fountain

I'll need to pick up several baseplates to layout the Plaza.  I was going to start with 4 48x48 gray baseplates, but with the fountain in the middle, it'd be connecting the baseplates, so I'd need a shelf that's 30" square.to store it on.  But if I only use 32x32 baseplates, I can store the 9 structures on my Expedit IKEA shelf with ease.

Trevi Fountain fully assembled; it'll add a nice slice of Italy to town

Lego Haul - 5/11/15

Last week, I was in Moline, IL for work.  Although the Quad Cities do not have a Lego Store, there are Toys "R" Us stores, which can be just as good.

Toys "R" Us have exclusive sets that are not available anywhere else, even from Lego themselves.  They also don't cycle through inventory as quickly as Lego, so it's a great place to look for sets are officially retired.  But it's not all fun and games at Toys "R" Us.  They tend to charge more than Lego for sets.

The haul from the Moline, IL Toys "R" Us.

This time around, however, the prices looked to be on par with Lego, so I picked up four sets at the South Park store in Moline, IL, all of which appear to be Toys "R" Us exclusives.

Bricktober Fire Station (left) and Town Hall (right) fully assembled

The first two sets are Bricktober Fire Station and Bricktober Town Hall.  There were probably released in October (hence "Bricktober"), so you can see that they're still available eight months later in May.

 One half of Bricktober

There are four sets in the "Bricktober" line, which can all be connected to form a little Lego city diorama.  I'll probably use them as such in my Lego city.  They don't really correspond to any full size Lego sets, so I can't really use them as models for larger buildings.  Maybe I could use them as a backdrop for a theater or school play.  I dunno, we'll see.

As you can see from the picture up top, I also grabbed a couple of polybags, one Ninjago and one Amazing Spider-Man 2.  I may give these to my nephew.  They were more of an impulse buy than the Bricktober items.  I don't have much use for them, I didn't NEED them.  But I'm sure he'll enjoy a gift from uncle Paul.

Apple Tree House

So far, I've mostly been posting about the businesses in my Lego city.  But where does everyone go at the end of the day?

5891 Apple Tree House

They go home, of course.  I've only got two Lego houses in my town right now, but I have plans to build more.  One of those homes is the Apple Tree House.  It's a Creator set that I built out of the box, as opposed to most of my designs, which are original.

The apple tree (side view)

I added a few things to this set.  It didn't come with any minifigures, so I added the guy from 525 Basic 5+ Set in Tote Pack, the woman from 545 5+ Build-N-Store Chest, and a child from who knows where.

The little boy is trying to remember how he got here, because I sure don't

I also added the trees from 40057 Fall Scene when I decked it out for Halloween.  I had a couple of monster minifigures trick-or-treating as well.  It was very nice, and my wife especially loved it.

The husband out in the yard raking leaves

There is one thing this set is missing.  A car to park in the garage.  I haven't decided which one to pick yet.  I'd like to find a mid-size sedan, but I don't know if I have one that will fit in there.

Just need a car to complete this American Dream

I'd like to build a couple more buildings from this set (most Creator sets come with three sets of instructions but only enough pieces for one).  I don't even remember what my options are, but I'll just go with it.  I can't fit a population of 700 into a single building.

Sets used: 525, 545, 626, 40057

Lego Haul - 5/3/15

For the first time in a month, if you can actually believe it, I went to the Lego Store at the MOA to buy some more sets.  If you're expecting Star Wars Lego's, since today is May the Fourth, you're going to be disappointed.  I didn't buy any.  I got something else.  Simpsons Series 2 minifigures and a set for my Construction Site.

The Lego haul from Sunday, May 3rd, 2015.

First, The Simpsons...  I have a full set of the first series, #71005.  The new series came out on Friday, so my wife and I went to pick up 16 minifigures and collect the new ones.  We did pretty good, getting 14 of 16 minifigures.  We're missing Dr. Julius Hibbert and Patty Bouvier (I grabbed duplicates of Homer on Date Night and Comic Book Guy).

14 of 16 of The Simpsons Series 2 minifigures

Simpsons minifigures pose a unique problem to my city.  I could put them all at the costume party at the Grandstand, but none of them have a normal Lego head.  They could all be wearing full-on masks, like some of the other attendees.  I could build a separate Springdfield, U.S.A., but I don't want to spend $400 on the Simpsons' House and Kwik-E-Mart when I already have all the minifigures.  I dunno yet, but I'll figure it out.

As for the Construction Site, I grabbed 60072 Demolition Starter Set.  I've now got a foreman to supervisor the whole project, a toilet for the Plumber's Shop, another small bucket loader, and three additional employees.

60072 Demolition Starter Set contents and assembled product

I plan to grab some more sets for the Construction Site.  I think I got a full set of minifigures, so next up are some baseplates and a design for a half-finished building.  Next purchase will be in June, so stay tuned kids.