Firstly, I’d like to give a big thanks to Tan Tile for allowing me to start posting reviews on Oz Brick Nation. Being my first review, I thought I’d choose something nice and easy, but, when 10243 Parisian Restaurant turned up for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to build and review it first.
Set Number: 10243
Theme: Creator Expert
Set Name: Parisian Restaurant
Part Count: 2469
Minifigures: 5
Australian RRP: $249.99
Featuring: Scooter, kitchen, dumpster, pull down bed, artist's studio, fireplace, plenty of food, and much more...
Build Time: Approx. 4-5 hours
Theme: Creator Expert
Set Name: Parisian Restaurant
Part Count: 2469
Minifigures: 5
Australian RRP: $249.99
Featuring: Scooter, kitchen, dumpster, pull down bed, artist's studio, fireplace, plenty of food, and much more...
Build Time: Approx. 4-5 hours
Since 2007, LEGO have released a Modular Building every year, starting with 10182 Café Corner. I first started collecting modular buildings a couple of years ago, starting with 10211 Grand Emporium, and I’ve now got all of them, except for the first two (10182 Café Corner and 10185 Green Grocer), both of which are now extremely rare and require a bank loan to purchase!
The quality and detail of the modular buildings has gotten better with each release, and the Parisian Restaurant is no exception. It is absolutely stunning.
The first thing you will notice looking at the completed set is the use of rare olive green parts as the main building colour, as well as the “earth blue” roof.
Box Contents
Box Contents
Bags numbered 1-4, 3 instruction manuals. Bags 1 & 2 build the base and bottom story (Restaurant and Kitchen), Bag 3 builds the second level (apartment) and upstairs al fresco dining area, Bag 4 builds the top floor (artist studio) and roof.
No sticker sheet! All tiles / bricks are printed, as per other modular buildings (with the exception of the movie posters on the Palace Cinema)
No sticker sheet! All tiles / bricks are printed, as per other modular buildings (with the exception of the movie posters on the Palace Cinema)
New Parts
Scooter, Round Shield (waiter’s tray)
Minifigures
Female, Male, Waiter, Artist, Chef.
Each are new for this set, and follow the modular building format of standard smiley facial expression
Female, Male, Waiter, Artist, Chef.
Each are new for this set, and follow the modular building format of standard smiley facial expression
The Build
Bags 1 & 2 are used for the first instruction booklet, and build the bottom floor of the Parisian Restaurant. The floor of the restaurant, kitchen and lower al fresco dining areas are all tiled, and included studs here and there for minifigures to be secured to, rather than standing loose on tiles. It is a very basic, but thoughtful idea by the designer.
The bottom floor contains a small outdoor al fresco dining area at the front of the restaurant, and inside dining area with two tables, and a kitchen.
The kitchen contains a wash up area, food preparation area, fridge, stove and oven.
The bottom floor contains a small outdoor al fresco dining area at the front of the restaurant, and inside dining area with two tables, and a kitchen.
The kitchen contains a wash up area, food preparation area, fridge, stove and oven.
At the rear of the restaurant we fins a garbage can, rat and rubbish dumpster (turns out Chef Albert's a bit wasteful - he's thrown a couple of sausages and cherries in the dumpster).
Bag 3 is used for the second instruction booklet, and builds the second story. There is an outdoor al fresco dining area on part of the second floor, and an apartment. The apartment contains a fold out bed, arm chair, fire place and kitchenette.
Bag 4 is used for the final instruction booklet, and builds the top story and roof. The top story contains an artist’s studio, complete with an easel, and a fireplace.
I've seen some interesting choices of pieces in the past for architectural details, but the white croissants and clams on the top facade are a whole new level of bizarre, but, they work really well.
Overall, this would have to be the best of the modular buildings yet, with some very clever building techniques, and beautiful colour scheme for the building. It fits in well with the rest of the modular building them, and is an absolute must have for any LEGO fan.
PS: Stay tuned to find out if she says yes!
PPS: LEGO minifigs can't kneel!
Thanks for taking the time to read my review of the Parisian Restaurant!
Until next time, Au Revoir, this is Chris signing out!
Thanks for taking the time to read my review of the Parisian Restaurant!
Until next time, Au Revoir, this is Chris signing out!
Thanks for a great review Chris :-)
ReplyDeleteThis set is definitely on my wishlist, but hoping for another double VIP points deal before splurging, so for now, I just have to satisfy myself with reading reviews for it.
A tip I picked up looking at some of the fantastic creations at this year's Brickvention is to turn the minifigure legs around (i.e. attach them to the torso backwards), that way, they can not only get a good angle to simulate kneeling, but can also attach to the studs on the surface they are kneeling on. :-)
There's no toilet or bathroom in the apartment? Poor mini fig perhaps have to use neighbour's toilet from adjacent modular, say, the apartment above pet shop? That said I've ordered mine and can't wait for it to get here!
ReplyDeleteHi =)
ReplyDeleteit's after browsing on some totally unrelated topic (as usual on the net) that I stumbled on this review. It immediatly revived countless memories ! Fond memories of Lego, and many adventure et creativity. I recently moved with my wife, and we found many old Legos stashed away. We now have on old Castle built up, some Aquanauts on the shelf, and this magnificent Restaurant is due any day, right from Lego.com =P
And all that thanks to you ^^ Our next move will be the Haunted House, and in the meantime, we ordered some Minifigures to go with the restaurant and the future-to-be-ours Haunted House.
Juste wanted to drop by and let you know all this ^^ And to thank you too (yeah, 'cause seriously, it was a blast we had, spending litteraly hours in front of the computer on Lego related stuff !).
Florent
The modular series from Lego is great and this is no exception.
ReplyDeleteool Aussie site, I've just discovered it. Great work and photos! I originally came here for your review of King's Castle, which I found is great bang for buck at approx $120 for almost a thousand pieces. Recently coming out of my dark age of more than 20 yrs, I am interested in buying some castle, which I liked as a kid but didn't have parents willing or able to get them for me. For about $140 on Bricklink you can buy a retro 400 pc Castle, which has more the characteristics of these modular sets such as having more smaller bricks and using the classic smiley on the minifigs, with all printed parts (no stickers).
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to criticise your review of the King's Castle, as it is modern style Lego, which has newer style. It incorporates more plates instead of actual 1x1 and 2x1 bricks, uses cheap-looking bright new brick colour tones with cheaper-looking stickers, with (IMO) minifigs with contrived trendy facial expressions. At more than twice the price per piece as a new set, I would much prefer something like the late 80s set 6074 (The Black Falcon's Fortress) even though I find the prices of these 25 year sets quite high compared to what you can see at Target or Kmart these days.
Which brings me to this set. The colours of the bricks seem more 'classic', and the details are fantastic. Simple smileys on the minifigs suits me just fine :) Looking back, I think that building the old large Castle and Pirates sets back in 1990 were much harder to build than modern sets aimed at kids nowadays. The Parisian Restaurant is something any AFOL would like.
The local Toy World (I'm in Brisbane) has The Pet Store, Cinema and Town Hall for sale there for all between 260-300 dollars. I'm tempted to buy one, although perhaps a Bricklink overseas seller can do a better price. They are truly fantastic sets. My only real criticism of your reviews is to focus less on the building of the sets than talking about downsides and what they are like compares to other similarly-priced sets in the Lego catalogue. For example, how good it is compared to say 10211 Grand Emporium, or the Cinema?
If only they had a modular Castle or Pirates, a 2000pc remake of 6276 Eldorado Fortress would be a treat! Even though I've never been that into City/Town, I'd like one of these sets.
Keep up the good work with the site.
Regards
Michael