Lego Modular 10211 Grand Emporium Part 2

Wanted to blog this on the day of the grand opening of the 4th LCS in Vivocity and from what I understand, most of the limited stocks have all been scalped. It's kinda sad that normal builders and family purchasers are unable to have the chance to own something like Trick or Treat sets, or Wall-E sets for that matter.

Back to focus on the Grand Emporium today. Many interesting things to see and observe on the interior of the ground floor. There is the cashier in the middle, the dressing room by the corner, table in the middle to display wares and of course, the important escalator to move up to the next level!

To be honest...not a whole lot of space for shoppers!

 A better view of the display case models and rotating doors.

The rear exit of the complex...a little too narrow for emergencies!

So much for the first storey! Let's move on to see what's next in store!

The outer view of the majestic second storey. 

I must say the second storey looks really good on the outside with all the intricate pillars and large windows. The diagonal flags certainly add flavour to the overall appearance!

The rear corner view that looks...blank as usual! 

The large interior can be seen from here.

Interestingly, the emporium has a rather limited shopping area within its walls! If you thought the ground floor was tight, the second floor is sparse! I feel that the empty space next to the escalators are a little too prominent! Perhaps showing less of it will result in more mall space!

A clearer view of just two displays!

Finally, the two levels come together...Nice!

Now you can feel the emptiness even more...but the view is working

The view on the escalators from the side emphasizes its importance

That's all for now once again. Til next time!

Lego Modular 10211 Grand Emporium Part 1

Finally, I get to start posting on the Grand Emporium that I have bought and started building about 2 years ago. I stopped at the second level and left it there for a really long time before finishing it up recently. Partly also due to the fact that I wasn't in a particular rush to finish it up cos I got it by chance. Didn't know it was going to be out of stock that soon.

A new photo of an old box.

2182 pieces! Really enjoyed the build as its full of interesting pieces that really give it a classy look. The ground floor consists of quite a few items to look at. Incidentally, as this was an older purchase, it still belongs to the old modular line and does not have the new Creator Expert tag on the box.

The huge, yellow "SHOP" really catches the attention!

Nice Green Shades!

We have the general bin to the left and an ice-cream seller just outside the store! Nice and shady place to peddle his wares! Check out the flower pots and wall lamps.

Notice the happy shopper coming through the revolving doors, carry the purchases.

I really like the mannequinns modelling the clothing and being so prominently displayed on the other side of the emporium. Just what I would imagine looking at if I were walking along the side walk. Again another flower pot in the middle with a lamp post and a mail bin. The tiles on the ground are really good-looking too.

We will take a look at the inside the next time!

Lego Minifigures Series 14

I don't usually make an effort in collecting minifigures. I don't even let the minifigures rule over which sets I buy...in fact, I hardly even notice them sometimes! However, the series 14 minifgures had some hype surrounding the whole monster theme and I just had to take a look.

Of course, there were "professional molestors" at the shop, feeling and crushing every packet in the box to get the minifigs they want without concern for those who are going to buy them later. Perhaps you may feel otherwise, but I dislike such behaviour in general. Where's the element of surprise and joy at getting something interesting through just blind selection of the packets?

Anyway, I grabbed three packets from the box while this lady was busy pressing and squashing to get  her dream minifig.

 Oops! Sorry for the blur image! So much for QC!

I gave one each to my kids and it was great seeing their faces full of curiousity at what lies within! Well, here's what we got...

Introducing (From Left) : Square Foot, Fly Monster (what I wanted to get!) and Monster Scientist.

The kids went off happily to think of how they were going to play with them. Frankly, the minifigs do look interesting! I shall see if I can get a few more different ones through luck!

Star Wars 75109 Obi Wan Kenobi

I am back! After 3 years of disappearing into the abyss, I finally crawled out after remembering vaguely I still had this blog floating in cyberspace! I guess my blog title "Away From Work" is truly apt, for its only when that happens that I can exist here!

Anyway, so much has happened these past three years in the afw scene. I shall return to one of my favs.....LEGO! With the recent launch of the 2015 Disney Star Wars Series, I had to get my hands on some of the nicer sets.

Nice lineup!

Unfortunately, the Vader Sets were unavailable. Hope to complete the collection soon. Of course Obi-Wan has to come out of the box asap. So here he is after about 10 minutes...

Posing for the camera.

The photo may not exactly do justice to the well-built set. I like the color tones and the cloak truly look magnificent when the fan is blowing at it!

In any case, it's good to be back after sorting out where my photos has to go so I can type out my posts on my new Zagg keyboard attached to my mini. Yipee!

Update:

Here is a slightly better take of Obi-Wan.

A more stylish take.

Another update:

Well, with the haze getting to about 170+ here, it's starting to get a little uncomfortable.