LEGO® – Politiebureau – 10278

A Delight of Details. I’d been wanting another modular set after getting bitten by the bug after building the bookshop and attached Victorian house. I was caught between choosing this one or the new boutique hotel but the Police Station won me over after seeing it in person at the Southampton store.
It just has such a wealth of detail to it and a very generous amount of bricks including some special and unique printed ones.
What I particularly love about this set is the story told of a doughnut thief illustrated by a clever hidden hole in the floor above the adjoining doughnut shop.
It was a wonderful build which I did in small stages after work over the course of a week. A perfect way to unwind after a busy work day.
And now it looks marvellous in place on my shelf with the bookshop.
Now I just have to choose which set will join them!

Modular Buildings back on form. After a couple of slightly lack-lustre sets in the modular building series recently, I think this is a return to form for Lego. Some previous ones (Bookstore I’m looking at you) weren’t bad, I was just frustrated that they could easily have been much more than they were with little additional effort. That is not the case here, it’s a well conceived and – on the whole – well executed building. It’s not perfect but any means, but it’s a great build and there are plenty of really nice details.
So, the good. It’s an impressive building, with good scale and height in particular. As a result it looks equally good as part of a street line up or as a stand alone item. I love the escape tunnel and spoon, that’s exactly the kind of humour that makes these sets such fun. The water cooler is cleverly done, and I really like the idea of the creeper climbing up the side of the building. The building method for the stairs is very clever indeed, I hope to see that used again in future builds. And the doughnut shop next door is a touch of genius. The use of space in the office area and the second floor fits well with the theme, and I particularly like the evidence room in the loft space.
And now the not so good. A slightly disappointing minifigure count for the cost of the set, a concerned citizen reporting something would have been nice. I also felt the space in the doughnut shop could have had a little more detail, some stools, a magazine rack, a bin, that sort of thing. I’ll see about adding some of those myself. There’s no drainpipe, so I’ve added one from bits in my spares box. I also didn’t like the scooped out internal walls separating the station from the shop and the bed-sit. I don’t know why, but that particularly bothered me. I think it’s because they are right by the stairs, so figures can see into both from the station. It’s not necessary to allow the floor plates above to sit in place, so why do it? It would have taken maybe two dozen extra bricks. It’s the one ugly aspect of the whole build, and feels like a corner was cut unnecessarily. As it is I’ve raised the height of both walls. I also plan to build a proper stair up to the bed-sit at the back, that last arrangement just doesn’t cut it. Something could easily have been accommodated there as part of a fire escape for the station. And lastly, while the climber is a great idea it’s missing it’s roots! So, again my parts box has contributed to fixing that.
But the last, absolutely worst thing is not the build itself, but the instructions. I didn’t like the black pages on the Mos Eisley Canteena set, and I don’t like them on this one either. Please Lego, go back to the lighter coloured pages, they make it much easier to see and distinguish the case of different parts.
All in all though, I’m nit-picking, and this is great set, if a little on the pricey side.