Set Review: 31065 Park Street Townhouse
Saturday, July 22nd, 2017 at 10:35pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager [Source: Ta-metru_defender]
Hey everyone! We're back today with another BZPower set review, this time brought to you by Blog Assistant Ta-metru_defender. He's going to be looking at 31065 Park Street Townhouse from the Creator series, which contains the parts and instructions for three separate models! If you'd like to find out if this house is your dream home or if it's a little bit of a fixer-upper you should read on to check out our text and video reviews!
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Have you seen a LEGO Creator box over the past couple years? Well guess what, this one looks just like that! Only with the Park Street Townhouse and its two alternate models instead of, y'know, whatever's on the other one in your head.
Duh.
Look! Pictures of a cardboard box that has LEGO bricks in it:
Inside, to the surprise of absolutely no one, are plastic bags full of LEGO pieces and a bag with the three instructions. Let's do this.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
This Creator set, like all Creator sets, is three-in-one. You get instructions for three different models. I did all three and thus shall be tackling each one in order.
The smallest build, what LEGO.com calls the Suburban Home, is relatively straight forward. There's some nifty bibs and bobs in the build that I really liked, like using a mixel balljoint to hang a lamp in the upstairs room or the way the greenhouse is built. All in all, it's a quick build.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SUBURBAN HOME, SKIP AHEAD TO BUFFY, TO FIND OUT ABOUT BUILDING THE NEXT MODEL, KEEP READING!
The second build is a City Cafe. It was this build that really reinforced my impression of it as a junior modular building. Look at the 45º awning. It's held on by a mixel balljoint! The clips return again with the angled window on the roof too. It's a fun build.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CITY CAFE, SKIP AHEAD TO WILLOW, TO FIND OUT ABOUT BUILDING THE NEXT MODEL, KEEP READING!
Lastly is our main attraction, the titular Park Street Townhouse. So how's this build?
It's a lotta fun, to the point where the other two seem like alternate builds (Hey, remember when LEGO did that?). Overall, it's not as clever as the other two, but it's a satisfying process - again, kinda like the modulars but on a smaller scale. The fire escape, in particular, is artfully done.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PARK STREET TOWNHOUSE, SKIP AHEAD TO XANDER, TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE SET DESIGN OF THE OTHERS, KEEP READING!
Set Design
Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
Oh yeah, there are minifigs in this set.
Two, henceforth referred to as Horatio and Felicia. They're nothing to write home about; just your typical citizens of LEGO City. They do come with a scooter and a bike helmet for safety. So there's that too.
Seriously though, don't buy this set if you just want minifigs. There are better ones in smaller sets.
BUFFY
It's a simple house, more or less. There's a driveway, a yard with a cute fountain, a greenhouse, and a sparse interior. The main draw for me here is the greenhouse. It's, like I mentioned before, a really clever little build using clips and windows to get the shaping down without using too many pieces or being overly complicated.
Inside you have a sink - with some nicely made cabinets - and a chair; on the second floor is a table and chairs with the aforementioned light. In the front, you have a simple yard that's got a fountain in it. Like I said before, I really like the greenhouse. It's connected with clips, which lets it use those window pieces to great effect. Yeah, the greenhouse might be my favorite bit of this build.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SUBURBAN HOME, SKIP AHEAD TO HARRY, TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE NEXT MODEL, KEEP READING!
WILLOW
Well, it looks like a cafe. Seems like the coffee-making happens inside and patrons sit outside. It's cute.
There's also a bunch of nice piece usage here. A friction cylinder is used for a column and tow balls, like the ones used for Aaron's crossbow bolts in Nexo Knights, are used as decoration and as coat hooks. I also like the angled skylight created using clips and fences. It's simply done, but goes to show you don't need to be overly fancy to make something cool.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CITY CAFE, SKIP AHEAD TO RON, TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE NEXT MODEL, KEEP READING!
XANDER
After the last couple models I was expecting something really neat in the Townhouse's design; but it's really quite straightforward. Maybe even more so than the others. There isn't quite as much ingenuity in this one as in the others.
But it's still packing details.
There's a brick built bird and poodle in this. They look like what they're supposed to aaaand... Well, whatever. Cool. Moving on.
So look, it's a simple build. But it's cool, replete with copious details. In broad strokes: on the 'front' you have the facade and the sidewalk with a street sign and a park, inside is the first floor, a basement, second floor, and balcony.
It sounds basic, but this model has a bunch of tiny details that I love.
The facade has some very nice color blocking, with the dark red and dark green adding a pop of color that doesn't overwhelm the tan brickwork. The stoop is nicely made - more tow balls as detailing - and there's a little fence next to the building. A little quibble, though: that trashcan should be inside the fence, but y'know what, it's fine.
There's the park on one side.
I like the tree. For some reason I really like brickbuilt LEGO trees. This is one and I like it.
The fire hydrant is cute and the bench is like the ones we've seen in some modulars. Overall, yes, it is a park. On a street.
On to the townhouse.
The first floor has a door (indeed, it is the inside of the outside door; who knew?) and across the chasmic void that all homes have is a sink, counter, and table (with coffee!).
It's pretty standard stuff, I like the telescope for table leg. Now, I am confused by the clear tile on the front of the sink; is it a microwave beneath the sink? An oven? Who puts an oven beneath a sink?
Anyway, bottom floor! Or basement?
On the right is a fireplace, on the left a brick-built couch and television. The TV is built using a mixel joint too, which makes the third time that thing has been used quite creatively, so that may be the Cool Building Technique of the set.
Another thing I like about this floor are the windows. It's a small, maybe even obvious detail, but I like that you can look out onto the street. Lends it verisimilitude.
The windows on the top floor swing open to reveal a nice bed that looks like it got its bedding from a certain city cafe's awning. Opposite that is my second-most favorite thing about the set: The Garden.
Look! It's a rooftop garden! With a little umbrella! I know it's not super complex or even that great designed (needs more flowerpots) but what makes it wonderful has to do with the big thing the townhouse does...
It closes! The whole building is on a hinge so it can snap open and shut. When closed, the rooftop garden becomes a balcony garden outside the bedroom. Truly, Horatio and Felicia are living the dream. Also they must be loaded. Now, it'd have been cool for there to be a door here or some way to get outside. A sliding door would have been dope! All the same, it's a cool, picturesque detail.
I also really like how it looks closed, again, mostly because of that balcony. It's also nice to imagine the building has four walls.
Lastly, we have the fire escape, my favorite part. I am very partial to fire escapes. I've had great conversations sitting on them, eating pizza on them, and escaping fires by them. So a LEGO fire escape warms my heart.
It's an ingenious build made from a combination of ladders, battle droid arms, and similar pieces that, although not perfect, does a dang fine rendition of one.
I like fire escapes. Ten points to this set for it.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PARK STREET TOWNHOUSE, SKIP AHEAD TO HERMIONE, TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE PLAYABILITY OF THE OTHERS, KEEP READING!
Playability
The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
HARRY
I mean, it's a house with a couple rooms. You can play house. If you want you can pretend the greenhouse is a monster that eats people, but playing house is where the real fun is here. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
RON
Again, it's roleplaying. You can have someone drive through and get coffee. Look, there's not a lot of playing going on here.
HERMIONE
You can play house!
Look, these sets don't have much in the way of traditional play features. They have details and you can roleplay. And that's enough!
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- None of the builds feel like padding...
- But the Townhouse is the obvious best and very delightful.
- Bay windows!
- Rooftop garden!
- Fire escape!
- Also it's $50 for 566 pieces!
Cons
What's not to like?
- That brick built poodle is... an interesting use of parts.
- It's all a little mundane, to be honest.
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If you read my reviews here you'll notice it's a lot of action themes, where things blow up, so this is a little outside my usual purview. Now, I opted for the Park Street Townhouse because it has a lot of things I like (bay windows, a rooftop garden, a fire escape) and 'cause it's a city house. Whether or not you like those things will decide whether or not you like the set because the build and all isn't quite interesting enough for me to give it a blanket recommendation.
But I like it. A lot. So that's gotta count for something.
Cheers to LEGO for sending us a copy of this set, by the way! And though they give me free LEGO, that doesn't mean I have to give the set a good review.
I just really like fire escapes.
Thanks again to LEGO for providing us with this set, and thanks to Josh for putting together the review! Let us know what you think of this set in the Talkback, and maybe suggest what sets you'd like to see us review in the future! Until next time, keep checking back on BZPower for more LEGO news!
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