Hello everyone, LEGO fans! It's Gabriel here, or, as my username suggests, grsotnas. This is my thrid review in Brickset. I always appreciate critics and suggestions, to improve them even more! As I'm from Brazil, my English may not be perfect, but I'll do my best! I look forward to add pictures to this review, so check back in a few days if you want!

I'm reviewing the LEGO Creator 31012 - Family House from 2013, a set bought by me in late March, and build in the last week of the same month, 2015. I bought this set primarly for MOC building of other houses later on, but firstly built the advanced version of the model, and it certainly captures my attention and interest. Therefore, this review is based solely on the main build.

Please, join me as we dive into this set, in an in depth look; and know my opinion and recommendations. Enjoy!...

Box/Instructions

The box itself is quite big, and at first looks almost square. It measures 37x25x9 cm (14.5x12x3.5 inches). In the front there's a nice picture of the "main" build for this model. Do note that the picture presented on the box is actually bigger than the set itself.

The instructions come in 4 booklets in total.

The main advanced build is covered in 2 booklets, totalizing 96 steps and 110 pages.

The so called medium build, a 2nd house, is covered in only one booklet, on 63 steps divided in 76 pages.

Finally, the 3rd build ("easy/simple" build) is said to be a factory, and uses 1 booklet, with 49 steps in 76 pages as well.

Parts

The set contains 756 pieces, most of them being white bricks, especially 2x2s (41 of those); 2x6 (x39); 2x3 (x37) and 2x4s (x20) There are lots of windows as well, some brown and dark red slopes.

As for the baseplates, it is actually a plate (1/3 of brick high), instead of a regular and ordinary green base. A nice touch, which was needed for the model to open up on the hinge. You get two 16x16, one in green, the other in light bluish gray (used for the interior, a real improvement over the usual green/grass floor that was presented in the older Creator houses, like 6754).

Another highlight of this set is the light brick. Some love it, some hate it. Well, I think that especially on a kid's perspective, it is pretty cool! As for displaying, you have to keep pressing for it to be lit, so, all in all, to me, it was a nice extra adition.

All the pieces from this set are extremely useful for House MOCs, a use that I will certainly give to this set in near future.

Even though the set has no fancy and unique parts, such as the Modular Buildings do, sometimes it's better/more useful just to keep it simple. Overall, I really like the part selection for the 31012.

Minifigures

Well, you don't buy Creator sets specifically for the figs, as you normally do with the Star Wars theme. But this model does include 2 minifigures: a man, and a woman. They're useful for city building, and in my opinion, are really on the style of this set.

The addition of a child would make more sense to me, as it is a "Family House". Assuming that the figs are a young couple, the above is plausible, but I would still prefer to have a 3rd figure.

The build

The built took me 1 hour and 45 minutes, and is really straight forward. I don't see so many advanced SNOT techniques, but there were some clever stuff that you notice during the build. I especially like the fireplace, the mini bedroom upstairs, and roof/light brick implementation.

As a fan of building in Lego, my opinion may be a little biased here, but I found the build process to be really enjoyable. The fact that the set is not symmetrical is also a bonus.

The completed model

After all your effort in building, you are presented with a beautiful house, mostly in white color. The baseplate for the model measures 32x24 studs, and not 32x32 as I thought. Even after watching video reviews, I only discovered that the model is 32x24 during the build. Therefore, it is a smaller that I thought it would be.

Starting on the front, you will se a really small lake, on the left hand side. It could be bigger in my opinion, with more light blue tiles, similar to the already mentioned 6754. I will definitely mod it, adding some tiles and texture. Working your way to the right, there's the garage, with a really nice blue door. I really appreciate that garage door, I think that its color and the addition of the transparent 1x1 bricks makes it beautiful. Next to the garage there's the main section of the house, in a beautiful window covered "wall". The window is really useful for lightning the inside of the building, and is just perfect IMO. There's also a brickbuilt tree. The build is nice, especially for the younger children, but I'd have preferred a larger/thicker model.

Notable exterior features are: The garage entrance door, on the right side, with a very nice light/lamp built using a transparent 1x1 snot brick. I really liked it. On the same wall, there's a 1x1 light gray brick with technic sized pin, used to hinge the garage door. I'd rather have it covered/inside the building, to give that wall a complete white look. On the left side, there's the exterior of the fireplace, and a secondary transparent door. This wall looks just great to me.

Above the garage there is a balcony, with a barbecue grill, and a really nice hand rail in tan color. I think that, although it "eats up" space on the bedroom behind, it looks just fine.

The roof looks excellent, and the two color red/brown combination is excellent. Much better than the bright red from #6754. But for the slopes, you have the fireplace chimney, and a 2nd chimney, that does not have a function as a chimney, but it is used as a switch for the light brick. It really blends with the roof, and deserves my compliment to the designers.

Opening up the house and taking the 2 separate roof pieces, on the interior, you can see:

Downstairs: a small table with a milk bottle; a big rotating chair for the figs to sit. I think that this chair is unnecessary and superfluous. A sofa would be much better, IMHO. But, for kids playability-wise, it is better; The fireplace is seen with a few trans orange pieces. There's also a stair that takes you to the 2nd floor:

Upstairs: only a small bedroom only 4 studs wide. There's mainly just a bed, that basically uses all the space the room has, when only one minifig can rest.

Do note that the model, once opened (on the hinge), can also be displayed from its "new" front, that were before the side walls, and looks really nice as well! A nice and most appreciated addition.

Finally, there's the light brick, that lights the chandelier really nicely, and on a dark room, the effect is not only realistic, but also beautiful.

Overall: In my opinion, the house looks almost perfect on the exterior, but a slightly deeper construction would be a nice addition (make the baseplate 32x32; adding 8 studs to the house itselff). The interior, although not as detailed, is better than the previous Creator house. It seems that the houses, especially on their interiors, are getting more and more detailed, and on minifig-scale. The model is great for displaying, and its hinge + opening roof will provide great fun for the kids to play. The light brick is a very nice addition, and was used exquisitely. To me, a few mods (furniture, more details) would make the set perfect, but, out of the box, it is still impressive.

Overall opinion

The Family House has many interesting features, such as the ability to open it, the garage, and, most notably, the light up brick and the windows. All of those were greatly implemented, and I have very few to say about this set. To me, a little bit more of exterior detail, and a few interior changes would make the set even better. One of the main changes I would make is a wall between the garage and the main room, once it is completely "open". To me it's kind of strange to have a garage directly leading to the living room.

An alternative that I see for this set would be replacing the garage with a detailed kitchen (stove, oven, fridge...), while the main room could be a more realistic living room, with a sofa and TV. The car could be parked on the outside of the house, where you have the "lanes"/lines on the floor, in the front of the backyard.

The set costs, in the US, 70 dollars, at 9.3 cents/piece; a good deal in my opinion (considering that you get a light brick). If you find this set for less than that, say US$55-60, I would strongly recommend buying this set right away.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with the set, and the cons I pointed are really minor cons, and easily done with simple mods. I see that the set is targeted to the younger kids, but as a teenager and brickfilmer, more into the AFOL "kind of playing with LEGO", this is still a fantastic set. If you are a parent and consider purchasing this set to you kid, you will not regret it. A great fun time building, and playability afterwards. If you're looking for House parts, or a nice addition to any LEGO city, this is the set for you as well.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to have helped you!

This is my review.

The minifigures: This set has 2 minifigures, which is unusually strange for many Creator sets.
The first one is male, has black hair(messy), regular grin,dark blue jacket with white shirt(this piece wasn't around lately, the last one I saw was in the 3181 Passenger plane) and tan pants.

The second one is female, has brown pony-tailed hair,regular girl face(as of 2012), a new orange shirt for the women, and dark blue pants.

Building:The building was hard, because I organized piles by bag, but THAT process made my building time LONGER. I was expected to finish in 5 hours, but I took about 7 hours. THAT is what I call time down the drain( I love building Legos, but imagine if you are doing nothing for 7 hours).

Parts: Like many Creator sets, there are not so many cool bricks as in themes like Ninjago and Chima.

Play:This isn't so playable by itself, but with another house from Creator, it gets better.

Money: I agree that that $70 is a good price.

Grades:
Build:83
Parts:80
Playable:86
Money:100

Final grade:87

A delightful surprise!

I have been waiting for this set to hit the shops and at $88 (Things are still stupidly expensive in Oz) I am SO HAPPY I bought it. I expected this one, because of its beautiful simple realistic design, to be an expensive set. A decent couple of hours' build time

11 poly packs!
4 books!

This set is so versatile. Most pics are of the standard front on view, but if you open it up fully, you can turn it into one long double story townhouse with right of way access to the garage through a lane-way. Buy a few, mirror build (with minor variations) and you can have a whole ROW of really cool townhouses. Throw in some LEGO City sanitation trucks .... your lane-way is complete!
Out the front, put it on an esplanade and include the LEGO Marina ....

Pros

Features I really think are different and GREAT in this set:

• The MASSIVE windows *love*
• The mini fig torsos are unique
• The rotating tub chair & milk carton
• The DOUBLE bed & floor lamp
• The chandelier is absolutely gorgeous and simple. The way the light brick casts its light over the chandelier is JUST PERFECT.
• The action of pushing a chimney to activate the light brick
• For once the turkey leg does not slide off the BBQ!
• Love the remote control car
  
• All the external lights MATCH
• It comes with a brick separator!

Cons

Things that LEGO could have done better:

• The palm tree is too small for the grandeur of the huge front windows
• The SINGLE seater yellow car is not as classy or as spacious as the house; it just doesn't match.
• No pets are included. This house really should have a kitty, puppy or at least a frog in the pond.

2nd & 3rd Builds

Factory:

I like this one. Could be a modern studio office/apartment if fitted out with furniture. The roof-top balcony & stairs are a nice surprise as you don't see it on the pics. Security camera is a cute touch.

Mediterranean House:

This didn't capture me as much as I expected it to. Introduction to the AWESOME chandelier. The light brick is used to light the outdoor BBQ. The spa bubbles are a nice touch as is the lawn mower and recliner. Good use of the windows & doors.

Overall

I am so much in love with this set I am resisting purchasing three more just to make my suggested row of town houses!

This is going to be one of those stand-out, signature LEGO sets.

You will not be disappointed.

I have had the pleasure of owning several of the Lego Creator houses over the years. There are some that are fairly mediocre and a few that are absolutely stunning in any Lego neighborhood. This set would go with the latter.

Lego does a great job with this one by creating a stunningly pleasant set for the eyes and a fairly good toy to actually occupy a child's time. This set seems to carry some of the best moments from both the Beach House number 4996 and Lego Family Home 6754. It looks like a house straight out of the late 70s to late 80s modern American design; without the tackiness.

Some of the highlights:
-The Light element. I HATE light elements because they're such a tease and a waste of time. Okay, it looks beautiful to these sets when on. However, you have to hold the button for it to stay on. So in essence, you have to hold the button while also playing or displaying. Considering that's impossible and/or impractical, it's a waste. HOWEVER, this set uses it amazingly well. It actually looks like the entire chandelier is lit and the monumental amount of windows really brings out the magnificence. Simply stunning. Too bad it cannot stay on!! But I have never seen the light element better. You have to push down on the chimney portion to light the chandelier from above. This is ingenious design. The chimney fits snug and yet plays that dual role perfectly.

-The roof. Dark red and brown slopes rule this roof... and it's a nice change of pace from the normal black or red. MUCH better than blue which makes little sense.

-The windows. SO many and so perfect! 19 in all and that doesn't count the couple of transparent doors. It really presents this as it should; an open and stunning set up. Too bad there are not the same number of windows on the back side as the front. The windows have never done a better job at accenting the house design.

-Very good access for figs. Opening from above and opens with hinges to the sides. Only downer is the tiny bedroom master bed is challenging to access. Only can do it from the side; no above access.

Some of the mediocre stuff:
-The yellow car is a complete waste unless a child under 10 is using it. Yet again, another one fig seater from Lego. Boring. Will we ever get an effective 2 seater for the city figs? The car looks like a dime a dozen... however the house more than makes up for it.

-Garage? Why oh why?!?! I am tired of these garages! Put in more Lego fig square footage if you have a set at this price point and place a drive way next to it! Oh well. This house currently is only a room and a half basically. There's a tiny bedroom. And yes, it's tiny.

-Side sets... especially the "factory" are mediocre at best.

Okay, I am sure there are some out there can humble me but I feel I have a decent taste for fine Legos (as most are that) with several hundred sets to the collection. This one is a wonderful addition to the Lego houses. Finally a good one again after a couple of off years. I would highly recommend it. The few cons just don't come close to bringing this one down. Fantastic overall. One of the best yet!