Modular Series - Which should I keep?

[Spartikis]

I've been collecting the modular series since the beginning.

Unfortunately with 14 official sets and no apparent desire by LEGO to end the series, it has become overwhelming to display all of these sets at once. I also have young children that love to tear them to pieces so I find myself constantly repairing them. I would like to pick maybe 3 or 4 of my favorites and put them on a shelf high up on the wall and will sell what sets remain.

Disregarding the monetary value of these sets which would you pick?

Café Corner
Market Street
Green Grocer
Fire Brigade
Grand Emporium
Pet Shop
Town Hall
Palace Cinema
Parisian Restaurant
Detective's Office
Brick Bank
Assembly Square
Downtown Diner
Corner Garage

Edited April 3, 2019 by Spartikis

[brickvoyeur]

My first option would to get a couple 1'x10' boards, stain/paint them to your liking, and hang a couple long shelves to put them all on.

If I had to pick my 4 favorites they would be Green Grocer, Town Hall, Parisian Restaurant, and Assembly Square

[Spartikis]

20 minutes ago, brickvoyeur said:

My first option would to get a couple 1'x10' boards, stain/paint them to your liking, and hang a couple long shelves to put them all on.

If I had to pick my 4 favorites they would be Green Grocer, Town Hall, Parisian Restaurant, and Assembly Square

I still have 6 modular buildings in their boxes. I've realized that I really don't like building official EGO sets or putting them on display. I mainly just free building random stuff with my kids.

I want to keep a couple for my own personal enjoyment and they do tend to be conversation starters as many of them are quite intricately designed. I think a couple displayed on a small shelf would look nice but having 14+ all on display just seems overwhelming, guess that's the minimalist in me.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Spartikis

[Huskers1236]

I have run into a similar situation that my display area for my modulars only holds about 10 of them so I have started to take one away and store it when a new one goes up.  I have taken down Market Street, Pet Shop, and Palace Cinema as they are my least favorite.  Honestly, Cafe Corner isn't really that good, it just happens to be the official beginning of the series if you don't count Market Street since it was a Factory set so it holds a certain aura to it.  

My personal favs for only 4 would be Parisian, Green Grocer, Assembly Square, and Grand Emporium.  

 

[Spartikis]

1 minute ago, Huskers1236 said:

I have run into a similar situation that my display area for my modulars only holds about 10 of them so I have started to take one away and store it when a new one goes up.  I have taken down Market Street, Pet Shop, and Palace Cinema as they are my least favorite.  Honestly, Cafe Corner isn't really that good, it just happens to be the official beginning of the series if you don't count Market Street since it was a Factory set so it holds a certain aura to it.  

My personal favs for only 4 would be Parisian, Green Grocer, Assembly Square, and Grand Emporium.  

 

I am planning keep Café Corner for the same reason. It's not as eye catching as some of the newer sets but its fairly rare and neat to own since it's the first set.

[TheOrcKing]

3 hours ago, Spartikis said:

I would like to pick maybe 3 or 4 of my favorites and put them on a shelf high up on the wall and will sell what sets remain. 

Disregarding the monetary value of these sets which would you pick?

I imagine my personal preferences vary against yours and others as well but if I must choose a minimum of four from the current lot they would be (in no particular order):

Green Grocer, Parisian Restaurant, Detective's Office, and Downtown Diner.

[eliminator]

I will soon be running into this problem after I add Assembly Square and the Corner Garage. If I had to put any away, it would be CC, MS, and PC...as they are my least favorite in the series thus far.

[kumas]

I would go for diversity so Cafe Corner, Town Hall, Diner and Garage Corner

[Captain_chaos]

Wouldn't it be better just to dismantle and store them? You might regret selling them, and you can always get rid of them later on.

[BricksBrotha]

1 hour ago, eliminator said:

Geeesh, where's the nsfw tag! Jk, Awesome setup, hoping to someday aquire at least a few of those older sets. 

[odysea11]

2 hours ago, eliminator said:

I will soon be running into this problem after I add Assembly Square and the Corner Garage. If I had to put any away, it would be CC, MS, and PC...as they are my least favorite in the series thus far.

I am in the same boat.....If I take out my alternate Tower Bridge build, I have room for one more.....then what? Another cabinet......

[Belac]

I know its not really a modular and you didn't even have it on list, but... Old fishing store is such a great showpiece i'd want pick it for my list of" only room for four".  GG seams a unanimous pick. The bank has a really nice understated but fancy look, not too busy with the details. the Corner garage suppose would be 4.  They may not look the best together but they all are very unique.

 or downtown diner.

maybe DO.

My city is FULL also:)    Kind of a Nice problem to have.   Seams like The number of corner buildings makes it little harder to display on shelving. 

[Val-E]

 I just don´t think you can disregard the monetary value. I´d keep the 4 turdiest sets in terms of residuals (Pet Shop, Palace, Parisian and Diner) and put the money from the other sets towards the kids´ college education (reference to the Beanie Baby Guy).  By coincidence two of them seem to be the most praised designs and Pet Shop is always good for chopping and changing the flats. Palace makes a good corner building too.

You can remind them down the line how those sets they tore up so readily were good for something.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Val-E

[keith1833]

I'm in the same boat.  Over the past 2 months I've been taking them apart in reverse order of the instructions and storing them.  I don't plan on selling them though.  I have the Diner, and I'll buy the garage at some point, but don't plan on building them, at least not in the near term.

The only one I have on display is Assembly Square and the space I've freed up will be used to display some MOCs that I'm working on, if I ever get the time to finish them.

[Huskers1236]

5 hours ago, odysea11 said:

I am in the same boat.....If I take out my alternate Tower Bridge build, I have room for one more.....then what? Another cabinet......

I have the alternate Tower Bridge set in my lineup as well.  It's pretty well done for the parts they had to work with and the museum is pretty cool. 

[justapilgrim]

The OFS and Ninjago City are with mine

[Alpinemaps]

I didn't start collecting/building the modular series until the Fire Brigade.  For awhile, I was determined to build them all, in order, from the FB onward.  

I managed to build Fire Brigade, Town Hall, Grand Emporium, and Pet Shop before I stopped building.

I've got four in the queue.  I didn't pick up Brick Bank, Assembly Square, or Corner Garage.

So, for me, I'd keep the following:

1. Grand Emporium
2. Palace Cinema
3. Downtown Diner

Those are the three that I just really like.  I'll admit that Assembly Square and Corner Garage are just barely not on the list, even though I don't own them.  But if I never pick them up, I'll live.

[marcandre]

I had to downsize too. Would love to have a large city layout but it will take a whole room. I have added newer modulars since this pick and sold the cafe corner and town hall. Opted for the GB firehouse over the FB. Going to skip the diner. If I ever just went to 4 it would be GG, PC, DO, and AS. 

[KShine]

Why would you disregard the monetary value of the sets???

If all things are equal (which your question suggests) - selling the ones with high value/profit would be the sensible way to go.

[kouks]

19 hours ago, odysea11 said:

I am in the same boat.....If I take out my alternate Tower Bridge build, I have room for one more.....then what? Another cabinet......

I like that cabinet.  Is it fully enclosed front?

[Spartikis]

5 hours ago, KShine said:

Why would you disregard the monetary value of the sets???

If all things are equal (which your question suggests) - selling the ones with high value/profit would be the sensible way to go.

I'm in my mid 30s and have a career that provides significant financial compensation, I prefer to focus on which sets bring me joy, not which ones will sell for more. I don't NEED to sell any of the sets, but I do have minimal free time, sometimes only a few hours a week, and I prefer to live in a home home and enjoy hobbies that are decluttered and simple.

I say this not to brag but to address the multiple posts about it.

There is no right or wrong answer on which to keep and sell. I'm pretty set on the Café Corner and Green Grocer but like to hear what others would keep and why. Also nice to see others are having the same issue.

For some reason when a series get to big I don't enjoy collecting them. I used to collect Star Wars but after they started releasing like a hundred sets a year it became frustrating to keep up with so I sold everything. I did the same with LOTR, once they released the Hobbit sets I sold everything. I'm kind of at that point with the modular buildings. I never envisioned there being 14 sets. They used to be rare, now they pump one out a year and there are 4-5 available for sale at any given time.

Maybe that's more of a reflection of the direction LEGO is taking their brand, they are flooding the market and is why investing has become a thing of the past.  Its hard to enjoy collecting something if it is in no way rare or unique.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Spartikis

[justapilgrim]

I'm in my mid 30s and have a career that provides significant financial compensation, I prefer to focus on which sets bring me joy, not which ones will sell for more. I don't NEED to sell any of the sets, but I do have minimal free time, sometimes only a few hours a week, and I prefer to live in a home home and enjoy hobbies that are decluttered and simple.
I say this not to brag but to address the multiple posts about it.
There is no right or wrong answer on which to keep and sell. I'm pretty set on the Café Corner and Green Grocer but like to hear what others would keep and why. Also nice to see others are having the same issue.
For some reason when a series get to big I don't enjoy collecting them. I used to collect Star Wars but after they started releasing like a hundred sets a year it became frustrating to keep up with so I sold everything. I did the same with LOTR, once they released the Hobbit sets I sold everything. I'm kind of at that point with the modular buildings. I never envisioned there being 14 sets. They used to be rare, now they pump one out a year and there are 4-5 available for sale at any given time.
Maybe that's more of a reflection of the direction LEGO is taking their brand, they are flooding the market and is why investing has become a thing of the past.  Its hard to enjoy collecting something if it is in no way rare or unique.

Sounds like you need to switch themes.maybe go with cars or the theme park rides

[exracer327]

I appreciate your last response because I was wondering the same thing as @KShine.

Rather than trying to answer your question, let me pose one back to you.  Which set(s) are the ones you brag about the most?  This would have nothing to do with initial cost or value but figuring out which ones allow you to relive the building process, the intricacies and nuances of the particular set(s).

For instance, when I collected baseball cards, I had over 50,000 cards.  My most expensive cards included a Nolan Ryan 2nd year, Johnny Bench rookie, George Brett rookie, etc.  I had several valued around $300 and many more well over $100 at the time I was collecting.  However, the card I still brag about, years after I stopped collecting, was a $25 card that was only in excellent condition.  It was a 1909 minor league player whose name I no longer remember.  To own a baseball card from 1909 that was in excellent shape was just cool.

So which sets do you find yourself bragging about?  Have you looked into alternate builds for modulars?  Perhaps that might provide an additional personal value to a particular set over and above the others.  Dump the other(s) you no longer brag about.  Then again, you could clear the lot and start a new series. 

Just my $.02.

[Huskers1236]

33 minutes ago, exracer327 said:

I appreciate your last response because I was wondering the same thing as @KShine.

Rather than trying to answer your question, let me pose one back to you.  Which set(s) are the ones you brag about the most?  This would have nothing to do with initial cost or value but figuring out which ones allow you to relive the building process, the intricacies and nuances of the particular set(s).

For instance, when I collected baseball cards, I had over 50,000 cards.  My most expensive cards included a Nolan Ryan 2nd year, Johnny Bench rookie, George Brett rookie, etc.  I had several valued around $300 and many more well over $100 at the time I was collecting.  However, the card I still brag about, years after I stopped collecting, was a $25 card that was only in excellent condition.  It was a 1909 minor league player whose name I no longer remember.  To own a baseball card from 1909 that was in excellent shape was just cool.

So which sets do you find yourself bragging about?  Have you looked into alternate builds for modulars?  Perhaps that might provide an additional personal value to a particular set over and above the others.  Dump the other(s) you no longer brag about.  Then again, you could clear the lot and start a new series. 

Just my $.02.

My favorite card was my Billy Ripken F(&K Face card from '89 Fleer if I remember right.  

[exracer327]

On 4/4/2019 at 4:30 PM, Huskers1236 said:

My favorite card was my Billy Ripken F(&K Face card from '89 Fleer if I remember right.  

Yeah I had one of those as well plus 2-3 each of the other three variants (that I knew about - scribbled out words, white diamond covering words, and back diamond covering words.)  There were a lot of theories that Fleer did it on purpose.  There were so many misprints in the Fleer and Donruss cards in the late 80's it wasn't even funny.

Even Billy Ripken thought Fleer did it on purpose: https://www.cnbc.com/id/28116692