For almost 15 years the LEGO® Modular range has gained a passionate fanbase. This is thanks to a series of sets packed with detail and each offering the ability to connect to another set to bring a bustling brick-built world to life. In 2021 the Modular range is getting a little makeover, with the Police Station to be the first Modular building to carry the new Adults Welcome packaging design. Although the Creator Expert branding has been retired, the latest addition to the range still shares the DNA of its previous companions. So the baseplate remains as do the connector holes on each side of the building. But beyond those traditional features if the Police Station is a worthy addition to the newly dubbed Modular Building Collection? I’ve had the opportunity to get my hands on the set a little early and give it a build, so let’s see what it has to offer, in my review of the LEGO Modular Buildings Collection Police Station.
Product Description
Escape into a delicious world of deceit, detection and doughnuts with this LEGO® Police Station (10278) model. Enjoy hours of immersive building as you create the three-floor police station. See the brick-built staircase wind through detailed floors that can be removed to let you explore inside. Next door is a doughnut shop brimming with treats and, to the other side, a newspaper kiosk.
Criminally good details
This impressive set is packed with hidden features and clever design. With an evidence locker, jail cell, interrogation room and case board, complete with red lines connecting the clues, the police have all they need to solve the mystery. There are also a number of novel pieces within the set to appeal to adult LEGO fans.
A building project for you
The LEGO Police Station is part of the imaginative Modular Buildings Collection. Whether you’re building alone or with family, this is a challenge to focus the mind and an eye-catching display piece to enjoy alongside other LEGO Modular Buildings.
- Set Name: Police Station
- Set Number: 10278
- Pieces: 2923
- RRP: £169.99/$179.99/199.99€
- Measurements: measure over 14.5 in. (37 cm) high (including antennae), 10 in. (25 cm) wide and 10 in. (25 cm) deep
- Minifigures: Police Chief, two Police Officers, Donut Shop Worker and Crook/Newsstand Vendor
- Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO.com
The Build
Regular readers will know I built my first LEGO Modular building late last year after being given the chance to review the Bookshop. The reason it was my first Modular set was a combination of lack of space to display them and I knew if I got one I’d want more. Well those pesky folk at LEGO knew what they were doing as I now own five Modular sets with the Police Station takes it up to six. Although before the Bookshop, I hadn’t built any of the sets, I have greatly admired their inventiveness through clever use of parts, cheeky Easter eggs and fun story elements.
If you’ve built any of the other Modular Buildings then you’ll know what to expect – a multiple floor building built upon a baseplate with the ability to connect to other sets with Technic pins and holes along the bottom edges. Those worried about the box change and the new buildable road plate system can rest assured that the next Modular doesn’t stray from the concurrent design standards. The build begins from the ground up and the foundations of the entire building. As you can see the overall building is split into three main sections. The donut store on left, a newsstand on the right and sandwiched in between a police station. Each of these sections is denoted by a different colour scheme. The donut shop has a distinct purple and white mix, with the newsstand a dark green. The main building is a classic brick yellow which fits nicely with the 1940s era inspiration.
Inside the donut shop, you’ll find various tasty treats made up of various 1×1 elements, which are nearly displayed on sloping shelves, clever archives by the Minifigure action pose elements introduced with the last DC Comics series. In fact, the interiors on all floors are furnished with some great features and use of elements. In the foyer of the Police Station, there’s a water cooler and old fashion telephone. Popping upstairs you’ll find the station’s open-plan office, with another piece of classic tech in the form of a typewriter and the wall is adorned with an amazing incident board. Towards the back of the building is an area to capture bad folks mugshots.
The Modular set likes to weave a story within them and from what I can decipher here, the friendly newspaper vendor lives above the donut shop. But this isn’t merely to make his commute to work extremely short, he is in fact a donut thief. Hidden underneath his bed is a hole in the ceiling of the shop below, giving him easy access to the tasty treats. When he isn’t nibbling sweet treats from above, he can listen to some tunes on his record player.
The top floor is a little smaller than the rest of the building but there are still plenty of details built into the compact space. A small loo sits next to the interrogation room, which also sports some classic tech, a reel-to-reel recorder. There’s also a small evidence lock-up. The police don’t seem to use it for weapons instead there are various jars, presumably, these are expensive stolen jams, along with jewels and crowbar. This can also be accessed by removing the small roof canopy section covering it.
As much fun as the inside is, for me this set really shines due to its exterior. At first glance, it doesn’t seem that intriguing but some of the ways parts have been used or connected are incredible. Simple things like the donut shop sign and the clear glass column either side of the Police Station doorway, create great details but then simple looking stuff like the slopes arch over the door and the inverted bricks below the windows use impressively creative connection methods. But there is one section I absolutely loved. I recently built a new Minecraft set and banged on about the unique elements used. Little did I expect to find such an element in this set. An element previously used for a Minecraft creature is featured here to create a very cool covering effect on the lip of the rooftop. I never expect to see such an element ever used beyond the Minecraft sets. Which is the true essence of the Modular Buildings.
I really like the winding vine, which is creeping up the lefthand corner of the building and who knew splat gears would make excellent topiary? One of the biggest details on the outside of the building is the large billboard. Not only does this add a little colour to the set, but it also offers a callback to the Brick Bank, which also featured the Soap Suds laundrette.
The Minifigures
Although the focus of the Modular Building is very much the building itself, there are a couple of Minifigures included. There are five in total with three Police Officers, who are all kitted out in a more traditional uniform. Which is certainly noticeably different to the police in the LEGO City sets. The officers here are a little similar to the police officer featured in the 9th series of LEGO Minifigures. So two of them wear the same officer’s cap, in place of the helmets or baseball caps used in numerous other LEGO City Police sets. The other officer of the law is the Police Chief, she wears a slightly different style uniform and has hair in place of a hat. All three officers style fits nicely with that of the buildings period setting. Nextdoor to the Police Station is a Donut Shop, who has a friendly employee to fry and baked delicious treats. The torso used for this Minifigure has appeared in a couple of previous sets, including on the Ice Cream vendor in the Fun Fair People Pack. It fits nicely with the colour scheme of the shop. Finally, there is the Newspaper vendor/donut thief. Who looks a lot like the sets designer, normal enough to be a friendly shop keeper, yet shifty enough to be a wrong-un.
The sides and back of most Modular Buildings are that exciting to look at and that’s the case here. Admittedly these sets are meant to be connected to others in the range, so you don’t really see much of the sides. Around the rear of the building, there’s a couple of doors, including one of the second floor and the other on the ground floor, where you’ll also a cracked hole built into the foundations of the building. No reason for it to be there in terms of the build but I love the connection to the set’s story elements. Finally, one last detail to discover can be found hidden behind the newsstand. If the donut thief gets caught, it seems he has been working on an escape plan as the wall and bar-covered window can be removed for a quick escape.
Overall
I definitely have the Modular bug now and this set has only fuelled that love of them. They offer an air familiarity, yet every new addition to the collection offers something completely different. The focus is on creating a unique build experience, something to get lost in and helps to expand your own little LEGO world. Simple collections of elements can be really impactful and add so much character to the set. Something I felt the Bookshop lacked. It’s been an impressive year for the sets designer Chris. Not only has his Brick Sketches become a new product line, but he’s also designed this year’s Winter Village set and now this. It’s a great set, which is filled with architectural flourishes, great use of parts and fun story, told through the various details dotted across the floors and exterior of the building.
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This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free, does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
