The Modular buildings have, over the years, given us a mix of Dining, Retail, Residential, Professional sevices, Community Service and Entertainment venues. this year, its something a little different. After months of speculation, the annual game of ‘what will this year’s modular look like comes to an end with the reveal of the 10326 Natural History Museum. With 2014 pieces, and a foot print of 25×38 cm (32×48 studs), it has a slightly higher part count than the 4002 than 2017s Assembly Square.
As well as its size, this set breaks a 10 year tradition of the January 1st release, with the official release date moved forward to December 1st, providing AFOLs with an extra special item to put on their Christmas list. The set will cost $USD299.99/€299.99/£259.99/$AUD 449.99 /2499 CNY/121990 HUF/389.99 CAD and is available to preorder NOW! (affiliate link)
The museum features two floors of galleries, as well as a roof top observatory and office for the museum’s curator.
The set comes with 7 minifigures (and an additional 2 as statues), one dog, two birds and one Brachiosaurus skeleton. This does appear to have been a big year for the Brachiosaurus, making its first appearance in 20 years over in Jurassic Park, before reappearing hear in a slightly less mobile fashion.
The building is predominantly olive greenm and while there is sufficient detail on the fron facade, the side and rear walls are essentially large slabs of plain colour. The entry hall to the Natural History is flanked by Ionic columns, streching up over the two floors of duisplay gallery. the entry is flanked by statues. One of whom bears a remarkable similarity to the Gailieo minifigure recently seen in an upcoming gift with purchase. Tall windows are framed with less decorative columns and there us a tree with pink and white blossoms in the yard in from of the museum. Banners advertising the current exhibitions hang from the top floor, extolling visitors to Explore the Future and Go back in time.
Entering the ground floor, we see the main counter, with a ‘restoration room behind it. To the right is the prehistoric gallery, featuring a sabretooth skull, a fossil, and yes, even dinosaur eggs. The Brachiosaurus’ neck extends up to the second floor.
On the ground floor to the left, there is an exhibit of ancient pots, with one of them having met its demise on the patterned tiled floor. Up on the landing, the museum’s geology section showcases a colourful array of quartz, geodes, stalagmites and spotlighting a cutaway of the earth and its molten core.
Up on the second level we see a large model of the solar system, as well as an exhibit dedicated to space flight. There also appears to be a display deidicated to historical LEGO Themes too, as there is evidence of Forestmen, Pirates and Knight’s helmets on display.
Finally, we reach the roof, where the curator has his office, tapping away on his memoirs, before heading up onto the roof on a clear night. I love the detail of the skylights hera, curving up above the great halls.
This model explores both the past and the future. I particularly appreciate the tiled floor on the ground level, and especially the use of offset plates allowing you to position your minifigures around the galleries. I am currently imagining the fun that could be had with a class of school children ruynning loose in the museum…
The Elephant in the Photo….Is this a future GWP?
In one of the PR images, we see a blue food van…And we know nothing about it! I presume that it is an upcoming GWP designed to complement your modular town. While I love the look of this van, I do wonder if our window washer should have had a van to move between the increasingly tall building around the modular district. I hope it becomes available early on in the retail cycle, perhaps in the lead up to Christmas. Just bear this in mind before you rush in and preorder the model, unless we have concrete proof of its availablility.
The LEGO Icons Natural History Museum Set is available for pre-order on 30th October 2023 and available for purchase on 1st of December 2023 via LEGO stores and http://www.lego.com/museum priced at $299.99/€299.99/£259.99/449.99 AUD/2499 CNY/121990 HUF/389.99 CAD.
Just a Brief comment about the pricing here: The 10329 Tiny plants is poorly priced in Australia, compared with the Rest Of The World. We actually score a win with the pricing of the Modular – the Aussie retail price converts to around $AUD19 less than the US price, AUD48 less than the euro price and 42 less than the GBP at the time of writing. So, if you pick up the modular and Tiny plants, you are still breaking even, or slightly better off than the rest of the world!
If you are interested in pre-ordering this set, please consider using this affiliate link – the ramblingbrick might receive a small commission, while it costs you nothing extra. Go to LEGO.com
I have to admit, this Modular looks interesting to me – its been a few years since we put one togeether, and this might just solve some Christmas Crises in our household, as the Knoller- in- Chief has already requested it.
What do you think of the model? Do you like the idea of putting the modular building on your christmas list? why not leave your comments below.
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Play Well!
