Here’s a look at LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner, the first modular building of 2018!

November 30, 2017 | 39

Time to welcome 2018’s very first Creator Expert Modular Building – 10260 Downtown Diner!

The latest addition to LEGO’s flagship AFOL theme pays homage to the American Diners of the 1950s, blending delightfully retro architecture features with highly detailed interiors that the modular buildings are known for.

10260 Downtown Diner weighs in at 2,480 pieces and has a release date of 1 January 2018. Unlike previous D2C (Direct to Consumer) releases, there will be no VIP access.

Good news is that this set will probably be a good way to spend your Christmas money (is that still a thing?).

Here’s the pricing information for 10260 Downtown Diner and the respective links to the LEGO.com product page:

• LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner [US] – US$169.99
• LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner [AUS] – AU$249.99
• LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner [UK] – £129.99
• LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner [EU] -149.99€
• LEGO 10260 Downtown Diner [CA] – CA$219.99

I’m a huge fan of the Downtown Diner’s aesthetic. While it doesn’t seem like the largest modular on the street, it more than makes up for it with its amazing facade.

Taking cues from Streamline Moderne design, the teal arch immediately catches your attention, before your eyes wander towards the curved window that’s just oozing with retro-style.

While recent modular buildings had great architecture and facades, I’ve felt that the colour blocking has been a little lacking. I really love the use of teal, pink, white against a teal structure. Outside of the orangey goodness that is the Town Hall, the colour scheme of the Downtown Diner has to be my favourite one yet of all the modular buildings. 

To give you a sense of its size, the Downtown Diner measures over 13” (34cm) high, 9” (25cm) wide and 9” (25cm) deep.

The Downtown Diner is also a remarkable set, as it will be the first post-1oth anniversary modular (Assembly Square celebrated a decade of modulars), ushering a whole new era of… minifigures with faces? 

In every modular before this, every LEGO minifigure had the default classic smiley face which was in some ways, one of the calling cards of modular sets.

I really don’t like this change and I think LEGO is making a big mistake switching over to regular faces. Sure, some of the faces are neat little additions… but I’m going to swap these out for the classic faces as soon as I get this set. It only seems right.

Update: LEGO have released an official statement on the evolution of minifig faces and why the decision was made to shift towards expressive faces.

Over the past 10 years our modular buildings have evolved in many ways.  We’ve added more interior details, more story-telling and more emotional triggers such as unique decorations on windows & Minifigure torsos.  We now feel the time is right to bring the Minifigure expression in line with all the amazing details now offered throughout our models.  We have always loved the classic smiley face for its versatility and nostalgia value, but are now excited to explore the new possibilities expressive faces will offer us.

The Downtown Diner features 3 levels, which you can see above.

The ground floor features the diner, complete with roller waitress (or Carhop) and era-appropriate checkerboard tile flooring. The diner has all the signature elements you’d expect from a 1950s themed restaurant, with bright red booths and barstools, a jukebox, burnished steel counters and of course milkshakes or floats. 

On the middle level, we have a small gym where a bodybuilder and boxer work out on weights, a boxing ring complete with punching bag.

 Finally, on the top floor, we have a recording studio for a budding rock star with a really cool vocal booth complete with soundproof walls.

Last but not least, we have a pink convertible in the style of the Cadillac which is a neat little bonus addition to complete the 1950s look.

In terms of new parts and elements, we can expect new decorated elements include a decorated door, album cover, lots of teal-colored and pink-colored elements, and a dual-face minifigure with singing and smiling expressions.

Special elements include new flower stalks and flower heads, plus 1×3 ‘jumper’ plates, 2×2 plate with 2 studs and a minifigure torso with boxing gloves.

I’m really excited about Downtown Diner. Unlike previous modulars which have been kind of dull (like the Detective’s Office and Brick Bank) from a thematic standpoint, this set knocks it out of the park in terms of flavour and character. 

It’s a really promising start to 2018 and will undoubtedly please many modular fans. The price seems just about right for a set with this many pieces, which is a good thing as I’d hate for the modular to get priced out of most LEGO fans’ budgets.

If there was one thing I’d change, it’d be the minifigure heads, but otherwise, I think LEGO have another hit set on their hands!

So yeah, that’s my thoughts on 10260 Downtown Diner! Would love to know what you think of this set, let me know in the comments!

PS: Yes, I think it’s time for me to get out of my hiatus. A blog post with a proper explanation of my whereabouts and why I’ve fallen off the face of the Earth is coming soon.