How fitting to be set of the day. Just three days ago I got the police station, making this set the last modular I need to have all 16! This is the most expensive but I am at the point now where I have to get them all as I have 15 of them! If anyone’s got a used one for a decent price ;)

You know, if I'd bought this sucker back when it was new (and it was in the LEGO catalogs I got during my TFOL years); I would have been a moderately wealthy man.

It's a pretty cool set as it is.

@LegoSonicBoy said:
"I was starstruck when I spotted a sealed copy of this in a monobrand store some years ago."

Yah but it’s overpriced but now it’s 20% off

@ChromedCat said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
"I was starstruck when I spotted a sealed copy of this in a monobrand store some years ago."

Yah but it’s overpriced but now it’s 20% off"
That place has 20% off more than it doesn't tbh

One of the original 3. Salute a true classic here boys!

@PurpleDave said:
"Modulars are one of those themes that I can recognize are really well done, and highly detailed, and have zero interest in buying. I _might_ buy the new police station to convert into a GCPD station, but that'd likely be the limit."
I didn't realize we had that in common. The Police Station, like the rest, doesn't interest me but I'm still smitten with the Bookshop while still struggling with the price tag (I'm always comparing the price of a Modular Building to how many 3-in-1s I can buy and build with that much money).

I was lucky enough to get a very good used version last year for $150.

The build is not complicated or innovative, but it is incredibly satisfying and looks fantastic still with the more modern ones.

@LegoSonicBoy:
Batman is my main focus these days (for the minifigs more than anything else), but I have eclectic tastes. I've never regretted not getting started on the Modulars, but I still check out the reviews. Sometimes I spot interesting elements, and I may have picked up a technique or two, but I'm not one of those people that simply has to own every great set ever produced (this makes the flood of D2C sets a lot easier to endure).

For the police station, though, GCPD is one thing they've never done for the Batman/DC theme. I haven't hit a point where I was ready to just dive in and design my own from scratch, hence why I might look at modifying the modular.

My one and so far only modular; I think I was barely in TFOL territory when I got this. I'm looking to add another to my collection soon enough; probably the bookshop if it ever comes back in stock and I stop hemorrhaging money on other stuff.

Finally built this just 2 weeks ago and despite its age (which does show some), it is a solid set.

Literally thinking about this as I went to this site

I can literally reach out with my left hand and touch it on the shelf behind my desk as I type this. I can't believe it's already 13 years old. I think I got it cheap right after it went out of production.

I love modulars. Don't have one, but love 'em anyway. And Green Grocer is a fine example.

Lots of people want re-release but I don't. I spent on this set (MiSB) about $ 1000 in 2018. Before I even got it, I bid it for similar money on Catawiki. Unfortunaely the seller was a crook who put Chinese Lepin fake bricks in the original Lego box. Know I'm very proud from having this set in my collection. I have put money aside for MiSB 10179 Millennium Falcon since September and I hope that I will be able to buy it in June. Yes, I also have 75192, but I am fulfilling my childhood dreams. If I were to say what re-launch I am most happy about, I would say 10256 Taj Mahal. Before I bought this set, I didn't have enough time to buy 10189 and spend $ 1500 for it, but I had such plans for the future. If anyone bought it (10189), especially a few months before the re-release, I feel sorry for them. (unless you're a collector who must have EVERYTHING anyway).

Now, if I had this, it’s going straight to the poolroom.

Really wonder why I didn't buy this at the time... Maybe because I still had the Cafe Corner in the box, being too busy to actually build it, and then I sold it because it got so extremely expensive.
A rerelease of this and the Cafe Corner would be on top of my wish list.

@LegoBro4Studio said:
"My first Modular Buildings, love that thing. :)"

My first too. ??

Love this set. My 1x1 slopes have splits in them.
Anyone else have this issue?

I bought it just out of the first dark age together with the cafe corner. Then unfortunately the dark age had a comeback and not only did I stop collecting modulars (too expensive to think of facing such an expense every year), I also sold the cafe corner (but why ????). Now the dark age has definitely disappeared and the GG makes a fine show of itself alongside the others. It's amazing how he is still so modern despite being 13 years old. The same cannot be said of other sets that close to the new releases seem so simple (and to us they looked great upon release). Although Assembly Square remains in my opinion the most beautiful and complete, GG is always GG!

I've Bricklinked and bought parts for an olive green version with a masonry finish, and I must admit that the build was incredibly enjoyable (more than some of the other pre-Parisian Restaurant modulars). 853921 also came in useful to help with an alternative finish around the entrance. Greengrocer is truly a *great* set to build and display.

I got lucky buying this set, traded my old laptop for this set. :P

Although the green grocer was fantastic with lots of detailed food and fridge cabinets, fruit & veg counter etc. The remainder of the ground floor was just a stairwell, and each upstairs floor was empty whereas nowadays there would be a detailed kitchen, bathroom, bedroom etc. Meanwhile the fire station 10197 by the same designer for the same price around at the same time had a more interesting internal layout with kitchen and break-out room..

@bananaworld said:
"
@MusiMus said:
"Lots of people want re-release but I don't. I spent on this set (MiSB) about $ 1000 in 2018. (...)"

So, because you spent an exorbitant amount of money on a toy, LEGO shouldn't rerelease a more affordable version for others to enjoy?

Music to scalpers' ears."

I'm just proud to have it. After all, nobody wants to overpay. For example 375-2 Castle. It's on bricklink, just one item, for $ 8500. It isn't on Ebay... Imagine crazy collectioners buing it for this unbeliavable price. Re-release is rather impossible, but that would be painful.

I love reading how much happiness this set has brought to so many people. Well done, LEGO.

My first modular, and first big set after my Dark Age <3 There was no return following that ;P

@chrisaw said:
"Wouldn’t be opposed to a re-release of this bad boy. I’m sure there’s many AFOL’s like me out there who missed these early modulars."

It's the one set I really really want them to re-release!

Probably one of the best looking sets I’ll never own. The green grocer was perhaps the Parisian Restaurant of it’s day.

I was lucky enough to get this one for Christmas 2008. This the set where the `'Hamster Productions' sigfig comes from :D

Out of the original three, this certainly holds up the most; Jamie Berard is the man.

I actually don't love this set in its stock design, but fortunately the nature of LEGO let me modify my own copy, which I now adore!

I moved the stairs to ascend counter-clockwise, which let me build proper walled landings between floors. The first floor is a one-bedroom apartment, with the bedroom behind the bay window; the second floor is a studio apartment. I replaced the balcony with a quaint rooftop greenhouse instead - the balcony always bugged me, largely because the stairs were in an awkward position floating in air. I also rebuilt the grocery store to have a wall of cereal (with the new Xtra stickers pack) and a stack of cans, to make it feel more well-stocked. Surprisingly, a HUGE change was adding a 4x4 panel with 4 studs above the door, again using a sticker from the Xtra pack to dub the grocer as the "City Food Market."

All these changes make the building feel much more lived-in, and thankfully as a result I now share in the community's love of this set! :)

@guachi said:
"The parts usage and techniques are much simpler but this is still a masterpiece.

The simplicity is a definite strength as the build doesn't get bogged down in overly detailed builds.

EDIT: I just realized my copy is still unopened. 13 years and three houses later."

Sell it for $1200 and buy a good used one for $700 :o

I have several 375/6075 available for sale on bricklink (store currently closed). Not new, but good condition and complete even instructions on 2 of them. Under $300 and listed for years and never had any interest.

At this point, probably going to keep two of them for myself and maybe sell off some of the figs and keep 2 listed complete.

I had one in hand that arrived damaged from TLG. I returned it for an exchange and never received a replacement due to the set being discontinued during the process. I'm still kicking myself for returning the damaged box copy.

Aye, the one that got away!

I originally wanted this set when I got back into LEGO in 2010. I recall seeing it in a catalog in 2009 and thought it looked amazing, but way too expensive for me. Little did I know how many more expensive sets I would purchase over the next decade...

I didn't buy this since it was gone by the time I got into LEGO again. I did try bricklinking the pieces and ultimately was successful. But I took it apart recently thinking it was not my favorite.

Although I do think they should re-release the sand green groove brick. They don't need to worry about the set, just put that in some set in the future to help drive the cost down.

And people asking for re-releases...multiple set designers have mentioned they will NEVER do it. So keep hoping, but it will not happen. Sorry.

@guachi said:
"The parts usage and techniques are much simpler but this is still a masterpiece.

The simplicity is a definite strength as the build doesn't get bogged down in overly detailed builds.

EDIT: I just realized my copy is still unopened. 13 years and three houses later."

Build it!

@rab1234 said:
"I have several 375/6075 available for sale on bricklink (store currently closed). Not new, but good condition and complete even instructions on 2 of them. Under $300 and listed for years and never had any interest.

At this point, probably going to keep two of them for myself and maybe sell off some of the figs and keep 2 listed complete."

When I mentioned this set I meant only MiSB condition.

This is a constant reminder that my dark age lasted over 40 years! C'mon LEGO release this set again. Ye did it as regards the Taj Mahal so c'mon pull the finger out! Thank you.

@guachi:
That’s one of the most common complaints about the early modulars. Even unfurnished apartments come with kitchens and bathrooms...

@bananaworld:
There’s a guy in my LUG who likes them, buys them, builds them, and them unloads them when the prices go up after they retire. So there is another option between “collect” and “read reviews”. I’ll stick to the reviews.

@Legorides:
Honestly, there's little to no market for that. They tried it with Legends about 15 years ago, and immediately cancelled that line because they just didn’t sell. Their business model is geared towards selling sets to millions of kids, not thousands of AFOLs. Many of the elements were originally chosen because they were in production at the time, but bringing a set like this back could use a truckload of Q elements or require tons of color substitutions. And most of the people who really wanted this set bought it before it retired, so you can assume they’re going to pass on the repeat, where a new set has a wide open market. The theory is they only brought back the Taj Mahal because they needed a retired set back in production so they could sue Lepin for copyright infringement under Chinese law. They did that, so that incentive is done for the time being.

@Sethro3:
Yeah, seeing rare/costly parts (especially ones that are needed in bulk) is about the best you can hope for. It benefits beyond those who are simply trying to piece together old sets. MOC builders are often stuck choosing between changing their design or taking out a second mortgage. I had a minifig-scale MOC of Holley Shiftwell from Cars 2 designed and found out the dark-purple 2x2 corner plate was selling for $3 each. My design called for 20 of them. The next day, my design called for four of them that I simply couldn’t eliminate without drastically changing the look. And then a few years later Joker’s Notorious Lowrider put that element back in production...

This was the set that brought me out of my "dark ages." I remember seeing it on LEGO.com and feeling like it was something out of my childhood dreams. I savored the building process and loved all the small details, like the mousehole, the grandfather clock, and how the food cooler even had an outside vent on the back of the building.

One of the best modulars and one of the best sets overall imo along with the CC and FB. Glad I was able to grab two of these during its original release. Still better than the new ones imo and don't expect it to be surpassed. Would be great if they ever decided to re release it. Probably would still sells well at $250 consider the after market prices.

One day...

@legocrazy1234:
I think I heard that they changed the material used to make 1x1 cheese slopes because they were prone to splitting at the tip. The material there is very thin, and it was definitely a problem for a few years. Unlike previous slopes, the 1x1 cheese slope has a tip that's show shallow that there's a bit of a pocket formed into the underside to accommodate the top edge of the stud. The double cheese shares the same shape, but somehow it never had the same problem. I don't know if they preemptively used a different material, or if the extra width provides some necessary stress relief that you just can't get with the 1x1. Given that you can see dents inside a 1x1 plate after it's been attached to a stud one time, but you don't see the same marks on a 1x2 or longer plate, that may be all it took to prevent splitting.