Hello Tiago and everyone, I am Nicolas the designer of this Bricklink set. Thank you for the review! It's always great to hear feedback from fellow Lego fans. And I would be more than happy to answer some of your questions and provide additional insights. :) As some of you have rightly pointed out, the inclusion of an alley door is a typical feature of Parisian architecture. Regarding the facade repetition, I aimed to stay as close to an actual Haussmann building while avoiding ending up with a boring facade. Typically, Haussmannian facades exhibit a consistent style with very subtle variations in ornamentation. This is the reason why I deliberately decided to add different decoration styles on each section of the facade while keeping a homogeneous look throughout the model, and staying within a similar color tone. This approach maintains a cohesive appearance while trying to be as accurate as Parisian architecture, eschewing unnecessary decorations. Regarding the inside of the model, I made the choice to not include any stairs in the model to maximize the number of rooms. Each level represents a distinct apartment, depicting Parisian life (like small vignettes). I wanted to give every room a different style, some fancier and bigger depending on the floor. During the design phase, I had to work within the constraints of a limited palette of bricks and colors, which explains why the BDP set doesn't introduce any new elements or colors. The same goes for minifigures. Thank you again for reviewing the set and I am very much looking forward to the crowdfunding phase! If you have any more questions feel free to write them here! :)

The door that leads to an "alley" is actually an apartment building's courtyard. These are *everywhere* in Paris & very iconic to the city. The doors themselves are called "cochère" doors, or "portes cochère" in French.

The point about the upper floors all being the same is one of the things that actually makes it Parisian. Large parts of the town centre were designed by a single architect deliberately to have a unified style.

This is a typical Parisian street, so some of your critics sound a bit off… Haussmanian buildings are (almost) all the same, hence the uniformity of the last floors/roof. That inaccessible balcony on the last floor is super accurate, and the alleyway is in fact an indoor courtyard/lobby. So a pretty accurate model in my opinion!

Many older buildings has outer corridors that were turned into inner corridors by adding doors at the end. And the Eiffel Tower is not copyrighted, Night Lighting of the Tower is :P

In case anyone is not aware - the Bricklink Designer Program sets are made by one fan designer but are reviewed by Bricklink and go through Lego testing so that they are close to a standard Lego set in terms of stability & building experience. However, designers can only use a strict palette of parts currently in production, hence no recolors/new prints and a slight limitation to interesting new building techniques.

I'm glad you've eaten a little bit of humble pie in reviewing this. The designer lives in Paris and is a professional architect. This is brilliant work IMO and I'm glad LEGO sent you a copy to review. Thanks for showcasing the program! Voting for Series 4 starts on Monday 5th Feb. See you there! 🖤💙💜💙🖤

for your question about the infringement law on the eiffel tower. It's free to represent the eiffel tower, it's only the eiffel tower by night who is protected (the illumination are under copyright).

Thanks for the review! Just to clarify about the alleyway: usually Parisian buildings are square or u-shaped with a paved courtyard in the middle. So their front door, often “porte-cochere” (large enough to let a carriage go through), will lead to a porch going under the front side of the building, and through the courtyard you access the other sides. That’s what we see in the model, the paved porch.

I love the design of the fences with the handcuffs in the clips

My understanding of the Eiffel Tower is that the light display seen at night is copyright protected, not the tower structure itself. That is why stock photo agencies can sell photos of the tower in daylight but not fully lit up. Edit: I should have read the fifty other comments before posting this!

There's a lot of undeserved vitriol on what is essentially just an endorsed moc. Its rather silly to be mad at the set for not being what YOU want it to be.

Thanks for the advance look. Because of the limited nature of this set's release, having this info beforehand will really help to make the decision before the drop

This set is beautiful, the simplicity of it reminds me of early modular buildings, wish more of these were available

the alleyway with a door is accurate it's usually to access a private court behind the buildings

"Something official modular buildings, for instance, would never do." Not precisely. The bedroom in the police station modular is only accessible via fire escape.

Good to see some Bricklink promotion. I probably would have missed it otherwise. I've been on a foodstand kick lately. It started when I was gifted the slushy truck, and I got the burger stand yesterday. I might get the Snack Shack, since it's within my price range.

It feels like we can custom design this set more easily than the official modular buildings. So people looking into that would not mind the absence of stairs or connections between rooms, since it can easily be fixed at your convenience.

It’s kinda sad this wasn’t a LEGO ideas set, so more people could buy it…

Again, love your review! The set is pretty cool too ❤❤

Okay now this is a review to be excited for!! 🎉

Thank you for your detailed review! I realized that Lego set is so gorgeous!

I am somewhat surprised by the insistence on comparing this with a modulars, since their most important feature is being 4-walled. I think this set rather competes with the likes of Harry Potter street sets. And, in that weight class, it is of comparable quality (bar that corner building, which indeed looks quite subpar)

Tiago complaining that the roofs are all the same like in...Paris 😅

Although some people will complain that this 'modular-type building isn't complete' and that it will be expensive to modify, I think the latter process could be a lot of fun. One of the first things I'd do is remove that green door from the apparent alleyway, or, better yet, turn the alleyway into a corridor that ends up connecting to the above apartments.

Thank you for this “first look” review Tiago! When this set was first revealed as a finalist, I was in love with it. But seeing it in your studio made me like it less - your close-up shots of most of the sections of the building do show it’s not the usual level of LEGO detailing. I don’t mind the lack of interior stairs. And I’m in the minority that doesn’t mind the open back and half-depth. I don’t have a lot of room so this style of set is great for display versus being in a Lego city.

Looks fantastic set great review 👍

Excellent review. It looks like this was designed with a toy doll house style in mind, than an actual modular. On another note, one of your comments got me thinking. Did you go through "Lego training"? If so, have you ever done, or would you ever do, any kind of Lego training vids from what you learned there? Not tips or "here's why this piece is useful" vids, I mean actual training? I think that would be a great series.

What is also interesting to note this is series 1 of the newest program which is different from the first program. The first one was all Lego ideas projects that made it to 10,000 support votes but then ultimately were not chosen at the time and this BDP (bricklink designer program) gave them a second life, so fans were craving some of those designs. This time around anyone could join, and anyone could create what they wanted, they only had to be voted in as the top choices in this new version so a bit less of the esteem of the first BDP projects that had to be selected twice. Not to give this less gravitas to this project, but the new series didn't have the same vetting.

This is a really good review. The set almost feels like a sort of economical take on the Cafe Corner style concept and you could always build a back to the buildings, complete with staircases and so on, to bring it to proper Modular standard.

Great review. I was worried that you wouldn't like it, but it's a fair and generally positive review, albeit one that highlights a few (relatively minor) drawbacks in comparison to official Lego sets.

I like the mix of tiles and ingot pieces for the stone facade detailing.

This set has a vibe of display piece rather than the usual modular play pieces.

Thanks for a good honest review 😁

This was a very insightful review. And after seeing so many of your videos, it is indeed quite clear how the quality and creativity is lacking a bit when compared to official Lego sets. Great set and review, though!

Exterior 9/10 Interior 5/10 - Too many different brick coulour to delimit each room, it feels "not enough polished" but this exterior is really perfect. The creator made a great work

Looks awesome!!

Fantastic review. Wow I'm shocked that Lego sent this out early, but really really glad you got it as these are the types of reviews that are unique and different. With that said I have a lot of the same feelings when I first saw it and not sure I love the dollhouse style of the open back. It does however bring me back to the early 1980s lego days of mine where all of the buildings were open back for play, but as we have now done modular buildings where we have an entire building Lego has definitely moved away from this style. I almost would say buy two and build a complete full depth model, or this could go up against a back wall "in a lego city" where you don't really care and have less room to fit a full modular so there's that. Great work for the designer, but I think I am going to pass on this round. I did get a lot of the earlier Bricklink designer program sets (some of them modular) so I can't buy them all and this was definitely more on the pricier side at $320 US. It's also interesting to note that the previous sales were all on the main page of BL and yet this one is a bit harder to find, having to go to the Programs Tab, but maybe it will show up on the splash page when the sales are announced in 5 days. Really do appreciate the review!

I think the chaotic interior of the set captures how pleasantly intermingled the lives of neighbors are in Paris.

It's kinda sad that these Bricklink sets are so limited in knowledge for the general lego fans, even AFOLs. Letting Tiago review or take a look at them can really shine a well deserved spotlight to them.

I was all set to purchase this, but actually fell out of love with it last night as I was trying to justify an almost AU$500 price tag. If the proportions were more like a modular with depth and detail I would have persisted, but it's closer to the Creator 3-in-1 "budget modular" range unlike the previous BDP release Modular Construction Site.

I kinda don't mind that there are no stairs, since Lego sets like these are more for display. And even if you wanted to play with it, most people probably wouldn't make the minifigures climb up the stairs. Another positive for the lack of stairs is that it allows for more rooms and more details.

Since we’re unlikely to ever get a Lego Ratatouille set, so this is a neat alternative.

They missed the opportunity to call rhe bisteot as le petit bricktrot

The Eiffel Tower painting wont be copyrighted. The only thing that is copyrighted (as far as I know) about the Effel Tower are the lights installed on it

Btw can u explain more bout d old and new techniques that Lego designers use? Or make a comparison between d old n new n fan designers? Or compare different era with different building techniques? Etc

I really love your videos and all your videos really help me especially because my school project is making a Lego MOC, tho it's a little hard making it i'd love if you could maybe give me some advice Really love the videos🎉

Of all next week Design Program Series sets, this one's the one I have my eyes most set on. Yes, it's not a complete modular and yes it will probably take a lot of money and time to MOC up into one, but for the time being I'd be happy simply to set it against a wall in my Lego City and ignore the interiors (until I have the money and time to properly give it a back wall with connecting stairs between floors etc). Anyway, I like the aesthetic. It will make a nice 'French Quarter' for my otherwise generic city. I just hope I'm able to successfully purchase a set because for whatever reason my orders didn't go through during the last Bricklink Designer Program (when I unsuccssfully tried to purchase the Building Site/Skyscraper and the 50s Diner). Just a warning, although I'm sure everyone here knows, these BDP sets tend to sell out fast.

So I was actually going to buy this one, I already have a number of Parisian styled MOCs of my own. But after seeing this video, I am really dissappointed & have decided I'm better off building something myself. It very much looks like a creator 3in1 instead of a modular you would expect for 290€!!! Thank you for your insight and making me save a ton of money :)

Will You review Wild West BDP Set?

02:35 makes sense to me 🤷 Sure it is unusual as an architectural feature but not unheard of. There’s a few in the city near where I live. Typically it comes from the space between building being own by one side or the other and wanting secure access. The only real unusual thing is the facade of both buildings continuing over the door. 🤔🤷

I personally think this is the lowest demand set out of the series 1. If this was a modular build, i think it would be a sell out. But unfortunately, people are not a huge fan of half open sets. Yes, kids love it for play, but that price point to use it on kids is way too high as well. Still, a nice looking set and beautiful to look at!

this design is typical for old parisian buildings. the alleyway with the door usually leads to a courtyard with other building doors there, the stairways would be build in the back (that is further back from where the open back ends)

Unfortunately, Bricklink only ships to countries that have official LEGO stores (not even for certified stores) So, unlike "regular" LEGO sets that I can buy at any toy store, these are impossible for me to get :(

This feels like a Persian assembly square , feel like the could have changed the shop ups a bit to really make it different from the existing Lego modulars. .still a nice build

The „Lego quality“ I can see in the orient express…. I like this one but I will buy the fortress

Can’t wait for the engine house

interior, furniture, facade, on point, dollhouse back not so much, would have been cool to have hinges so it folds on itself to create the closed modular. Versatile set for modifications.

I am interpreting this as an unofficial start of Lego Broken Sword line and nobody can stop me

I used to love in Paris and love the city so I was actually tempted to pick this up - until I saw it’s 260 GPB! I don’t think I have the funds to get into Lego!

Are you gonna review the other BrickLink sets before Preorders go live?

Hmm..seeing this up close does really make a lot of the "features" look more really basic. Was for sure going to get this, but now I'm on the fence. And why is one of the rooms on the top floor one level lower? Is that typical in French buildings?

Can you explain the difference of an official lego set to bricklink designer program sets?

Eiffel Tower is only copyrighted at night.

How did you get this early? This set is cool, but expensive

I NEEEEED!!!!

Thanks so much for the review you just saved me a lot of money. I wish you could review the castle so we can get an honest opinion.

I think the design could have been made more versatile if two halves of the design have an option to close together making one single enclosed building. This way there are two ways to pose the design: 'open' for a street display and 'closed' to put in a modular city. I did not like the extra floor one of the buildings and the odd stairs on the left between the two buildings. Those are not typical of Haussmann buildings, which tend to be more or less uniform in height without alleys between them.

It seems to be a good deal for parts, but just from the video I already got this MOC feeling out of it, like it's clearly not as streamlined or refined as an actual LEGO set. I mean I would get it for the pieces but I don't think i'd actually buid the set as it is.

According to their website the image of the Eiffel Tower during the day falls within the free domain and its use is right free. However the various illuminations of the Eiffel Tower (golden illumination, twinkling, beacon and events lighting) are protected. The use of the image of the Eiffel Tower at night is therefore subject to prior authorisation

Do you have dimensions of the base ? (I guess 48x16 studs)

Which of the bricklink sets are worth buying?

Fun fact: the Eiffel Tower design is actually public domain, it's the lighting that's still protected intellectual property, as it was designed much later.

Olá Tiago, um abraço de Paredes de Coura

Bro... Lego literally built the eiffel tower. They're not gonna get copyrighted for a simple sticker

This is probably my least favourite set out of this series. The details are really nice, but I just can't seem to fit it in my city. Seems to fit more with the lego Creator 3in1 city houses than with the modulars

So it’s a fancy looking Lego city styled set

I have every modular building in existence as well as every Ideas building. For the core modulars, I also have every one as a second copy brand new in box, except for Market Street. I also include things like Diagon Alley in my display. But I am not sure about this one. To me the front facade looks unfinished, not just the corner part you talk about but everywhere. For example, I don't like what passes for gutters. It all seems a tad dialled down.

I really like the appearance of this, but the fact that it’s a dollhouse style open back, completely ruins it for me. I wish Lego would stop avoiding modular style buildings for the ideas sets. this one would’ve been awesome if the Lego designers had taken the concept and turned it into an actual modular building. Thanks for the review I definitely will not be getting this one.

Hmm as a Parisian it doesnt quite capture it for me, its like in some weird uncanny valley that doesnt even let me appreciate it for what it is because it is still quite familiar im sure a lot of other people will enjoy it tho Or maybe you know what, I think even if it was another city I wouldn't have liked it that much, it feels too compact and the white and grey around the windows break it up from having the detailed stonework one color-ed facade thats peaceful and organic The real color of a Parisian facade comes from a lot of plants in-front of the windows, which also help the organic feeling, these are quite sparse and lacking vibrance

Castle mountain forest review?

I like the look of the thing, from the front obviously, but the fact that the shops are literally the same as the assembly square (cafe/bar, flower shop, bakery) is kind of disappointing to me

Will you do a review about all of the bricklink sets early?

Too bad this set is so explicitly compared with modular buildings, I feel that's a bit unfair. I would compare this with City/Creator sets of streets/apartment buildings like 31097: Townhouse Pet Shop & Café.

I actually don’t like it having no stairs or logic access for actual mini people even if it’s a „toy“, personally I always thought having a realistic way to get everywhere was a nice touch, although with this approach you are able to put more into the same space.

nice

Not sure what I think of the price (£260) but the design looks pretty good!

Great looking but I can spot some bad designed parts here and there. (For example upside down tables in front and wheel-chairs.

Are you going to be able to review the other sets before crowdfunding starts?

The copyright for the Eiffel Tower expired in 1993. The external lights still have coptright, but any images during daytime are in the public domain.

Hope That the shack wins

It is expensive and looks half baked.

I hope you review the castle!

The big question is, can anyone design an alternate build that turns this into a full modular?

Lego Castle winter Tiago ?

Boas Tiago, vais trazer o chapéu selecionador do Harry Potter? Parece um set incrivel

Yes croissant land

It's not about the money, It's about building a LEGO set

Only if they made as full building instead of half only

End of the day is a less polished and refined model were amateur design are not tampered by LEGO official designer. In a way it’s a space for LEGO to experiment away from their strick quality rules which can sometimes humper creativity and flatten out the look of things