Jim Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 REVIEW - 10264 - CORNER GARAGE INTRODUCTION A bit late to the party, but my car broke down during the review. I would love to have my car repaired so I can finish my review of the latest addition to the modular family. If only I could find a decent garage Well, whaddayaknow, LEGO City city has just welcomed a new 10264 - Corner Garage. Here's what TLG has to say about it: Drop by the LEGO® Creator Expert 10264 Corner Garage, where you’ll discover a world of fun and surprises! This amazing model comes with removable building sections for easy access to the highly detailed interior and comprises 3 stories. On the ground level there’s a 1950s-style gas station with fuel pump, kiosk and a vehicle workshop complete with a roll-up door, vehicle lift and tire mounter. At the mid-level animal clinic you’ll find an examination table, fish tank, and a waiting area with sofa, while on the upper level you’ll discover a well-equipped apartment with kitchen, TV, sofa, bed and a staircase that leads to a rooftop terrace with sun lounger, parasol and flower garden. The exterior of the building features a classic 1950s facade with signage, detailed windows and a decorative roofline, plus a sidewalk area with a tree and an ornate streetlamp. This charming addition to the Modular Buildings series has been designed to provide a challenging and rewarding building experience, full of nostalgia. Also includes a scooter, tow truck and 6 minifigures, plus parrot, bunny, dog, frog and fish figures. Reading the press release I somehow get a deja-vu. Let's rewind to the press release of the 10260 - Downtown Diner. This impressive model features removable building sections for easy access to the detailed interior, which comprises a ground-level 1950s-style diner with a large curved front window, red bar stools, jukebox, counter and an open-plan kitchen. Apparently, the ground level of new Corner Garage is supposed to match the Downtown Diner, since they are both dating back to the 1950's, at least their style is. They also both contain 6 minifigures and roughly the same part count and price. Later in this review we will find out if the ground levels actually match. For now, let's meet Jo and his newly built garage. Rectification!! Apparently, Jo is the name of the female owner. The mechanic is the dude, not the dudette. I never realized that Jo is a female name. Thanks to @guachi for pointing that out. PICTURES Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. More pictures can be found in my Flickr album. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by the CEE Team of TLG. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. SET INFORMATION Number: 10264 Title: Corner Garage Theme: Creator Expert Released: 2019 Part Count: 2569 Box Weight: 3 kg (approx) Box Dimensions: 57.7 x 47.4 x 8.6 cm Set Price (RRP): £ 159.99 / $ 199.99 / € 179.99 Price per Part: £ 0.062 / $ 0.077 / € 0.070 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box is quite high compared to other modular's boxes. I wonder what TLG's policy for box sizes is, since the dimensions of the Downtown Diner box are totally different, as you can see below. At first glance there are only five minifigures, but the vet is feeding the parrot on the second floor (a.k.a. mid-level). The right of the box shows the floor plan with the garage on ground-level, the animal clinic mid-level and the apartment on the upper-level. There's is even a rooftop terrace with a sun lounger and parasol. The back of the box shows some scenes going on in and around the Garage. The left side shows top views of the different levels. There's even a composition showing the Corner Garage in the same street as the Downtown Diner and the Assembly Square. Unfortunately, I just took the Assembly Square apart, so I can't reproduce this image entirely. CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains: 1x Sealed booklet 1x Tan 32x32 baseplate 2x Light bluish grey 16x6 plate 20x Numbered bag BOOKLET BASEPLATE The 32 x 32 baseplate is Tan colored, which isn't a real surprise. It has been used quite frequently the last couple of years. Admittedly, the Assembly Square had green baseplates, but the most recent modulars and the Old Fishing Store all had tan baseplates. PLATES The set comes with two 16 x 6 plates. BAGS 2 x 6 5 x 5 4 x 4 3 x 3 3 x 2 3 x 1 PART LIST The complete bill of material fills a whopping four pages. You'd expect more than 2569 parts, which indicates that there is a high diversity of different parts. MINIFIGURES The set includes 6 minifigures: Mechanic Gas station owner Vet Man Woman Girl Additionally you get a bunny, parrot, dog, frog and fish figures. GROUND-LEVEL Meet Jo, and his dog. Jo has just started building his new Corner Garage. His trusted four-legged companion is overseeing the build. Why wait with balancing the tires until the ground-level has been completed?! The car lift is operational too, so bring in the new customers. Click on the image to operate the car lift. The mechanism to operate the lift is quite ingenious. That's what I love about modular sets. They can surprise you in more than one way. Details like these make the modular building so attractive. The toolkit is both simple and amazing. I does remind me of one of the best MOCs ever, @Norton74's Service and Repair Shop, which takes these details to the next level. Next door, Jim is building his new Downtown Diner. Like Jo, he has already started his business, before construction has been completed. The diagonally positioned facade is built in a special way. Using the 1x2 Rounded Plates gives you the option to make diagonal connections. The combination with the 1x1 Round Brick is perfect. The rounded plate has been introduced in 2018, but it has been used in 79 sets already, which indicates its versatility. Another cool detail is how the garage door is operated. The garage door elements date back to the eighties, so they are not innovative. The mechanism to operate the door steels the show though. Usually you simply move the garage door, but now you can turn the wheel on the outside and the door goes up or down. You can click the images to operate the door. The ground-level has been completed, now has it?! Scooter girl needs fuel, but the gas station hasn't been built yet. Maybe she can get some food at Jim's, while Jo finishes the gas station. Jim hasn't been sitting on his hands either. Like the Garage, the Diner is taking shape as well. Here's a top view of the interior of the Garage. I would have loved to see the interior floor decorated with tiles. For me, this is more than a minor gripe. Throw in a bunch of extra tiles and design a proper floor. It adds so much more value, especially since the garage door opens up. The phrase cutting corners could not be more appropriate, given the name of this set. MID-LEVEL On the mid-level floor you will find the veterinarian's office. Not the most logical thing to have on a higher floor, since walking stairs isn't particularly convenient, or healthy, for dogs. But sometimes budget is limited, even for a doctor. Doc is working his magic on the little rabit. Only thing missing for real magic is a high hat and a wand The waiting area has a chair and a couch and it even sports a parrot of some sorts. Get comfortable and get yourself a cup of coffee while your cat or dog sets his beef with the parrot. UPPER-LEVEL The upper level floor, or penthouse if you will, shows a tenant a making a meal. It's almost a quarter past six, so he must be hungry. Don't forget to season your steak with some salt and pepper. Apart from the smaller center windows, the facade of the penthouse matches the one of the mid-level floor. His bathroom is rather compact, but at least it has proper ventilation. Still working on that steak?! He must be fan of well-done. ROOFTOP TERRACE After a day of hard work, the tenant can chillax in the sun lounger. And if it gets too hot, there's always the parasol. The sun lounger could have used a red 2x2 tile and possibly a small side-table with a wine glass on it. Not sure if it's comfortable, chilling on four studs. Other than that, I like these rooftop details. COMPLETED MODEL Say cheeeeeeese, for the grand opening of Jo's Garage. With a new garage comes a new tow truck. The hoist can be operated by turning the gear, which is cool. The style of the truck matches the fifties-style of the garage itself. Jo has even been able to come up with a nice payoff: By accident we meet. In the meanwhile, Dr. Jones is getting some fresh air. Ohhh, and to be clear...no snakes allowed! It would be fun if the set had a hidden snake somewhere. Jim has finished his Diner as well, so here's the fifties ensemble. This review is not about the Diner, but I would like to mention that I really love that set. Amazing details. And the ground floor is amazing. Easily one of my favorites. Granted, I have a love for diners, so loving it is easy. Here you can see the backside of both the Garage and the Diner. The slanting doors on the roof of the Garage add a nice touch. SUMMARY So, do both ground levels match the 1950s-style?! While the Diner clearly has a fifties-style ground floor, the Garage could be any style if you ask me. I don't think it's particularly recognizable as fifties-style. Does that mean I don't like the ground-floor of the Garage?! On the contrary. The ground-floor makes this set and I really like how it turned out. I love the garage door on the side and the dark green and white color scheme, using the red line to add some detail. The garage door mechanism adds some playability to the set. I also love how the facade been created with the rounded plates. What I absolutely don't like is the absence of tiles on the interior of the ground-floor. When you open the garage door, you can clearly see the baseplate. The interior of both the mid-level and upper-level floor are okay. Nothing spectacular. I still find it odd to find an animal clinic on the second-floor, but that might be normal where Jo lives. The facade of both levels are a bit too basic. Don't really like the color scheme and there is not much going on. The facade is neither good, nor bad. Mediocre or okay-ish are applicable here. So, do I like this set? Yes, I really like it. Do I love this set? Nope, there is no love going on. Of course, the love for a modular set is based on personal preferences, so your mileage probably varies (how applicable in this context). I can defintiely understand why this set doesn't receive universal praise. Somehow, it's a bit too....I don't know...ordinary, plain, basic or something?! When I look at the list of pros, I can't really come up with a long list of items either, which probably says it all. PROS Garage door mechanism Ground-level facade with gas station Good looking car with working hoist CONS No tiles on the interior ground-floor Mid-level and upper-level facade a bit basic Misses the magic of some previously released modular sets SCORE How do I rate this set? 7 DESIGN Upper levels are a bit basic. Ground-floor is cool though. 7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Modulars are always fun to build. But nothing going on to warrant a higher grade. 7 FEATURES The garage door, car lift and working hoist are fun. 7 PLAYABILITY Kids can probably have fun with this set. 7 PARTS Like other modular, lots of various parts. 7 VALUE FOR MONEY Okay-ish, like everything else in this set. 7,0 NICE ADDITION TO THE MODULAR CITY Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here. Quote
Holodoc Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 What a nice and extensive review, Jim! I always like the crisp photos and the hints to the moving features - and this modular building contains a lot! The build itself is not the top of the crop, but still a nice addition to the modular city. The small gimmicks on the printed bricks (Dr. Jones and the garage motto) add a lot to the overall feel of the set but not to the build itself. I also agree with the final verdict: 7 of 10 is an okay-ish grade for an okay-ish set. Quote
Hive Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) Excellent review! Keep them coming. I too will agree that it lands around 7 overall - but amusingly, our likes and dislikes are reveresed. What I like about the building is the upper floors; the vet (and, especially, the Indiana Jones window and paw door knobs), the colour schemes, the facade. What I'm not so hot for is the entire ground floor with the garage, which does next to nothing for me. I'll happily admit that the mechanisms are impressive, but I don't care for a garage (or the truck) and the lack of tiling doesn't help. The minifigs are overall quite good though. Edited March 31, 2019 by Hive Quote
Jim Posted March 31, 2019 Author Posted March 31, 2019 30 minutes ago, Hive said: Excellent review! Keep them coming. I too will agree that it lands around 7 overall - but amusingly, our likes and dislikes are revereed. ... LoL That's what makes it hard to come up with a new modular that everybody likes. Quote
carebear Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 Hi Jim! Thanks for the great Review! Greetings! Quote
Jim Posted March 31, 2019 Author Posted March 31, 2019 40 minutes ago, Holodoc said: What a nice and extensive review, Jim! ... I also agree with the final verdict: 7 of 10 is an okay-ish grade for an okay-ish set. Thanks Doc! Maybe I need to change the playability to a 7 and make it an even 7. Edit: done Quote
Daventria Bricks Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 Great review, now I want to buy both the Diner and the Garage! Quote
Strakk Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) Great review Jim! Regarding the set, I share your general opinion. It is a good set, but not something marvelous as some of its predecessors. Basically I do not find anything that stands out and makes me want to purchase the set. Granted, another big issue for me is its price. Here in Italy it costs 190 euro while the diner was 160 euro and I liked it much more too. To buy a set with that price tag, I would like to see something better. Edited March 31, 2019 by Strakk a word was missing Quote
Jim Posted March 31, 2019 Author Posted March 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Strakk said: Granted, another big issue for me is its price. Here in Italy it costs 190 euro while the diner was 160 euro and I liked much more too. To buy a set with that price tag, I would like to see something better. Wow, that's a big difference. For that price, they could have thrown in some tiles for the ground-floor Quote
guachi Posted March 31, 2019 Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) Jo is a girl's name. The owner is the female mechanic, not the male mechanic. Jo was a top 100 name for American girls from 1933 to 1958. It was never a top 1000 name for males in the United States ever. If you are not American, the fact that "Jo" is a girl's name isn't something I'd expect one to know. Edited March 31, 2019 by guachi Quote
Jim Posted April 1, 2019 Author Posted April 1, 2019 Hmmm, I was wondering why the set had a female mechanic LoL. I figured TLG jumped the bandwagon of equal gender opportunity etc blabla. I also wondered why it was spelled Jo, instead of Joe. In hindsight it makes sense. Thanks for the heads-up Quote
PBRStreetgang Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Terrific review JIM and I really appreciate the effort. Being new to the forum and with only two modular sets,....I too am rather surprised with the lack of tiling in the garage ground floor and, for me its a bit of a eyesore and disappointment. Also agree,..the Vet on the second floor is a bit meh! In fact having a vet above a garage seems weird. I do like the components of the set. But together it looks odd and the finish is a bit disappointing. Once again, thanks for the review. Quote
Cylo Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Great review Jim! Interesting to have a vet on top of a repair shop, who knows? Quote
Kristel Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Thanks for the great review. The animated shots were a nice touch! Quote
lightningtiger Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Thanks 'Jim' for the review, I like this set though it's not perfect. My sticking point is that the cash register is mounted so high a minifig needs a step ladder to operate it ! LOL I wasn't going to get the Diner since they switch head styles on the figures but the garage with it together would look great so twist my arm I might for both. The question is really where to now for the modulars eh ? Quote
Aanchir Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Good review! I think there's a lot of creativity and innovation on display in this set, from the unconventional interior and exterior wall angles, to the garage door mechanism that still allows "Hand of God" access to the interior from above, to the lift mechanism, to the construction of the bay windows, to the overall shape leaving room for a driveway with overhead canopy, to the creative uses of new-ish elements like 1x1 double slopes, 1x1 quarter circle tiles, and 1x2 plates with rounded ends to decorate the exterior. The truck is also a great design, among the best vehicles in any of the modular building sets so far (though I personally prefer the car from Downtown Diner due to how rare and impressive an achievement it is to make a LEGO car with side-by-side driver and passenger seating AND a back seat on a normal-size 6-stud-wide chassis). Vintage cars and trucks like this one really do a good job justifying their existence in Modular Buildings sets, since you'd hardly ever expect to see a vehicle in this vintage style in a City or Friends set, much less with such an advanced and innovative build. Plus, an auto service garage is the kind of building that would feel decidedly incomplete without a vehicle. I disagree on the idea that the inside of the garage would be better if fully tiled. Even before I heard the designer share this perspective, I really got the sense that a tiled pattern with neatly arranged seams (like we see for the pavement outside the Modular Buildings, or tiled floors in buildings like Downtown Diner and Green Grocer) would look too fancy, smooth, and clean for an auto service garage, particularly in a run-down, blue-collar part of town like this. Compare with Fire Brigade, which had tiles for the "parking space" but not off to the sides which presumably feature rough concrete floors, or the interiors of Palace Cinema and Grand Emporium, where the textured base suggests a carpeted floor. That said, I definitely think that it could have been improved if the baseplate were a different color (like Medium Stone Grey, Sand Yellow, or Dark Stone Grey), or if it was covered over with studded plates in one of those darker, dingier colors. Brick Yellow (tan) looks just a little too bright to be all that believable as a dirty concrete floor. But tiles? Nah. What makes tiled floors so interesting when they do appear is that they represent specific floor layouts, patterns and materials that are different than those a studded floor might resemble, not just some sense that "studless is better". It's interesting to me how a lot of the perspectives of this set when first announced were that it seemed too small for its price. As this review shows, it's far from small. Excluding the "premium" buildings like Town Hall and Assembly Square, it's the tallest building since Fire Brigade, the heaviest since Green Grocer, has the largest floor area since Pet Shop, and has the highest piece count of any of the non-premium buildings (if it even counts as one… to know for certain, we may have to wait and see whether $199.99 remains the default price next year or whether it goes back down). Good review overall! Great photos, and I particularly love the GIF that shows Corner Garage and Downtown Diner being built up floor by floor. Quote
Mylenium Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Aanchir said: I disagree on the idea that the inside of the garage would be better if fully tiled. Even before I heard the designer share this perspective, I really got the sense that a tiled pattern with neatly arranged seams (like we see for the pavement outside the Modular Buildings, or tiled floors in buildings like Downtown Diner and Green Grocer) would look too fancy, smooth, and clean for an auto service garage, particularly in a run-down, blue-collar part of town like this. It might be okay-ish with the historic Americana theme, but these days garage floors have to be impenetrable by oils and other substances, so technically they have to be made from specific types of dense concrete or use pavement/ tiling (here in Germany, anyway). Also in the past they used sideways red brick pavement a lot, so at least from that perspective, having some sort of tiling in the set would have made a lot of sense, regardless. In fact I'm pretty sure even in the US there were such regulations even in the 1950 unless we're really talking about some lonely town in the middle of nowhere built directly on the desert sand. In any case, it should have been an included option rather than people having to chase down extra parts to "fix" it after the fact if they so desire. Mylenium Edited April 1, 2019 by Mylenium Fixed typos Quote
ReplicaOfLife Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 (edited) On 3/31/2019 at 5:03 PM, Strakk said: Great review Jim! Regarding the set, I share your general opinion. It is a good set, but not something marvelous as some of its predecessors. Basically I do not find anything that stands out and makes me want to purchase the set. Granted, another big issue for me is its price. Here in Italy it costs 190 euro while the diner was 160 euro and I liked it much more too. To buy a set with that price tag, I would like to see something better. Same goes for me. It's April now, and I still haven't got a copy of this one. Just feels bleh to me, like an average MOC at best. All of the floors lack detail big time (with the vet being closest to the standards set with the prior sets), and I absolutely can't forgive the untiled ground floor either. Seeing images like this makes me cringe - the way the edges of the tiles from the exterior show up on the inside looks so untify and unfinished! All that and the whopping 20% price increase we got here in Germany (from 150€ to 180!) makes me very reluctant to pick up this set. If it had ~300 pieces more (which coincidently would be right about the number you'd need to tile the ground floor and get the detail level up to the standard of the last few sets), I'd propably be less critical, but with this one, Lego took two unpopular steps at once. Edited April 1, 2019 by RogerSmith Quote
Mylenium Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 28 minutes ago, RogerSmith said: with this one, Lego took two unpopular steps at once. I have to agree, even more so in light of the very apparent shortcomings. Mylenium Quote
TheLegoDr Posted April 1, 2019 Posted April 1, 2019 Thanks for the review. Modulars are usually day one purchases. I think I will continue to pass on this. The reviews did bring the set into a better light for me. Some neat features and I like the colors. It’s a good start, but not where I want the finished product. And the price doesn’t help. Especially since it has only slightly more pieces than the Diner but a lot more expensive. Plus I still am sad they switched the heads. I know it is an easy fix, but it was the ONE area where it was consistent. I havent built the diner yet. I am unsure if I will even open it. Another regrettable purchase. Quote
Man with a hat Posted April 2, 2019 Posted April 2, 2019 Nice review. Very insightful and those animated pictures are really great. (I prefer these so much more than having to watch a short movie, even it is only 10 seconds) I like the set. There are some very interesting features. I like the sign above the garage door. It immediately reminded me of set 6363. No idea whether this is coincidental or intentional, or that I am relating everything back to my good old eighties sets . But opinions are always subjective, but it is good to see what others think of it. You may notice something you hadn't seen before. Quote
Jim Posted April 2, 2019 Author Posted April 2, 2019 18 minutes ago, Man with a hat said: Nice review. Very insightful and those animated pictures are really great. (I prefer these so much more than having to watch a short movie, even it is only 10 seconds) Thanks! I really like 'em too. I can also set them to not auto-animating and only react to mouse-clicks. I like it that you have more control over it than a video. Quote
Ogist Posted April 2, 2019 Posted April 2, 2019 Thanks for the great review of a pretty bad modular. Quote
bootz Posted April 3, 2019 Posted April 3, 2019 Being a car guy and an animal lover, this is one I was interested in from day one, even if I was somewhat underwhelmed by the set itself. Anyway, I got it for my birthday on Friday and finished assembling it last night and its definitely the kind that you have to build to appreciate. I still wouldnt say it's one of my favorites, but I think it's far better than most of you are giving it credit for. The angled facade is lovely in person and interesting to build, it's a treasure trove of uncommon pieces, and there isnt a single sticker to be found. I have yet to integrate it into my layout, but I have the feeling it will look right at home with the rest. Palace Cinema still stands as my least favorite to build and to look at. Quote
gylman Posted April 3, 2019 Posted April 3, 2019 I bought the set, because I happened to be in the store, I generally buy them all and because it was double VIP points day, but I have no particular desire to build or display this one. I'd say it's easily the weakest of all of the modular series. I hope they do better next time. I have wondered about this, but maybe they've run out of ideas. If so, perhaps they should wind down the concept. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.