The Modular building release is a key date in the AFOL Focused set release calendar. The 10350 Tudor Corner is the 20th Modular building in the series to be released (not including several other compatible releases in other themes such as Marvel, Ninjago and the Chinese Spring Festival). Due for release on January 1 2025, I was delighted to be sent a copy of the set for review by the LEGO Group. All opinions are my own.

Now, what would you expect to find in a set that represents such a milestone? A nod to the Traditions of the past? Innovations? New parts or recolours? Neat techniques? Storytelling? All of the above? Let’s take a look inside and find out.

I may have dived in too deep…

Packaging

The set comes in the standard large box – not as big as the largest sets, but the same form factor we have come to expect from modular buildings.

On the front, we have the hero image of the building – and the identifier of the set being part of the Modular building collection. Under this title is an outline of the Tudor Rose. This rose is used as the floral symbol of England. The House of Tudor united the House of York (represented by the inner white petals) and the House of Lancaster (represented by the outer 5red petals). This sylised outline of the Tudor rose is used throughout the instructions, highlighting specific Easter eggs in the construction.

No LEGO Icons set would be complete without the strip across the bottom of the front, identifying the set, the 18+ age group and the part count. This time, it is Dark/Earth Green.

The rear of the box shows the set in the context of a modular street – consisting of the Natural History Museum, and the Jazz Club – both of these sets are ‘straight’ road sets, and are shown on either side of the corner. There are also rendered snapshots of life inside the Tudor Corner – from the downstairs gastropub to the workshop and apartment and the chimney sweep on the rooftop.

This box has a new design compared to the previous modular buildings. Packaging for these large/premium sets was altered in some factories in mid-2024 – rather than opening the box at either end to remove the bags of parts, we clip the tapes and lift the lid off the box. The remaining tray is lipped, and inside, we find 20 numbered paper bags; one plastic bag (containing some oversize plates), a cardboard sleeve containing a baseplate, and a brightly colored sleeve that opened up to reveal the instruction booklet. No stickers were included in this set. While virtually all of the bags are paper, some of the smaller pillow bags in the later steps were plastic rather than paper. I suspect some parts of the world still use the old boxes, and paper bags are still rolling out.

(Footnote: these boxes – both the lid and tray – are scored, allowing the box to be easily folded, without damage)

On opening the instructions, we meet François Zapf, who discussed the drive to build a modular drawing on English architectural traditions, as well as providing a brief guide to the building.

Minifigures

There are 8 minifigures included in this set, and while some elements and faces have been seen before, there is no doubt that the Modular Minifigures have come a long way since the Cafe Corner.

The figures trickle out as you work through the build. Here we have the land lady, the food critic cook and tenant.

I appreciate the landlady’s grey knitted cardigan which has been seen a few times before, as well as the fact this hair is now available in dark brown. The critic reuses Pippin Reed’s hat and hairpiece from the Orient Express, while carrying a pink/bright light purple umbrella and a tan raincoat that first appeared in LEGO City last year. The cook has a slightly surly expression, but with the smirk, eyebrows and penchant for a red neckerchief, I wonder if she is a relative of Johnny Thunder! Except for the landlady, each of the female characters has a double sided face print. Of all the torsos, only the tenant’s is new in this set, with the dark green panels on the teal jacket.Her hair piece has made the leap over from friends, where is has normally been part of Leo’s minidoll.

There are 4 male coded figures in the set: the haberdasher and his manequin (although that is very much a white figure wearing a suit; the chimney sweep, and the clock maker.

All of the figures in the set feature a printed torso or pants, with the exception of the clock maker, who has both. This is also the only male figure with a double sided face print – that said, all of these elements have been seen before, except for the chimney sweep’s hat (it also appears on the owner of the 40757 corner kiosk). His dark red hood is also reasonably uncommon, only appearing in the 76416 Quidditch Trunk. And just why he is wearing a TIE fighter pilot’s pants is beyond me! The Mannequin’s torso has previously been seen in the orient express, LEGO Batman and Harry Potter sets. Whether going out on the town, or working as high end service staff, this torso is perfect . All in all, we have a diverse mix of characters, both male, female and shop display!

If you wish to avoid spoilers for the build process… zip to the end. Otherwise, keep reading.

The Build

The Knoller-in-chief has kindly laid out the elements of this set – two bags as a time. We shall gradually climb up through the building, taking a casual glance at some of the interesting elements along the way.

Bags 1&2

Modular buildings virtually always start out by filling in the footpath/pavement, and as such, the sheer number of dark grey tiles, used for said footpath, make perfect sense. There are also some pale nougat tiles, dark orange and medium nougat.

There is a single minifigure here – wearing Pippin reed’s rain hat from the Orient Express. She is carrying an umbrella while on her way to the Old Guarded Inn. This is where we encounter our first ‘Tudor Talking Point.’ By fashion style, they mean ‘hat’. Indeed, several figures in this set have been influenced by the fashion stylings witnessed in the 21344 The Orient Express Train.

I won’t repeat every one of these Easter eggs as we go through: there are quite a few and I began to find them quite irritating after a while, more like a catalogue of sets you should own – but if you don’t, expect to pay a pretty penny for those that have retired.

As we move on, we layout the floor plan – initially the footpath in Bag 1, followed by the inlay in the floor of the Haberdashery.

In the second bag, we see some of the more interesting details, including an extension of the decoration on the floor, and a toilet.

I am constantly impressed by the variety of designs used for toilets in LEGO sets. This particular one features a brass handle to flush, and a light transparent blue plate tucked away in here tells us that it has been plumbed in, and appropriately cleaned..

This set also avoids the controversy of unrolling the toilet paper away from or towards the wall. The technic 1×2 panel is the perfect piece here, but having it poke out directly from the wall feels a little weird.

Finally, I want to take a quick look at the tiling details being added for the floor. The floor in the inn is predominantly medium nougat, with a few studs popping up here and there, while around the bar, there is a chequered pattern of sand blue and dark brown. In contrast, the inlay in the haberdashery floor makes excellent use of the 2×2 tiles with quarter circle cutouts in black alternating with pale nougat – as 1×2 and quarter circles.

They coloured my experience (but in a good way)

I am grateful that the building experience team ensured that the quarter circle tiles in tan were included in the first bag of elements, as the two colours can be difficult to distinguish in anything other than white light/daylight. There were some tan elements in bag 2 – but none of them were in the same form as the pale nougat elements. I find my colour vision can be a bit challenged at the blue-green-grey end of the spectrum, and sometimes the differences can be difficult to perceive easily. Likewise, printed colour matching can sometimes be a little off – I have found that picking up the piece with the best colour approximation will generally be my friend… so long as I have not mixed a couple of bags up in a way that makes this extra challenging. Bottom line: the Building Experience team work hard to optimise the building experience, part of which involves not having to go back 10 sets to make a correction when you realise you placed the wrong colour.

TLDR: don’t worry about the subtle differences between some of the shades in use if you are opening only one numbered bag at a time.

Bags 3&4

Now, if you wish to mess with my head, please feel free to mix up nougat, medium nougat, dark orange, dark tan, and olive green, blindfold me, spin me round, sit me down and make me view them under a slightly warm, yellow light. That said, in the cool light of day (and the illuminated light box) we have medium nougat featuring in this next part of the build, as bricks with studs on the side, palisades and sausages.

There are a few cheese slopes featuring a 3×3 grid decoration (fun fact: LEGO designers refer to printing as a decoration, while stickers are in fact, simply stickers). The 1×4 plate with rounded ends is a relative newcomer to the palette

During the next part of the build, we bring up the walls of the haberdashery and kitchen, furnishing these areas as we go.

Let’s take a closer look at the contents of the shop. A haberdashery in the traditional (English) sense typically stocks the small things you might need when tailoring: buttons, zips, threads, while in the united states, it has drifted towards mensware, including smaller items of clothing such as hats. Hats certainly feature here on a number of plain white round bricks, but the rest of the benches seem to be stocked up with bolts of fabric or thread and possibly containers of buttons. Suffice to say that both definitions are going to work here.

Lets look into the haberdashery: there is a bench at the rear of the shop with room fo a figure to stand behind it. A clip and plate allow the cast register and a pair of scissors to rest firmly on the bench. Hat wise, we have a beany, a bowler and a traditional peaked cap. Under the hats, rows of buttons are stored. On reflection, there was a 1×6 plate left on the tray at the end of this section, that were intended to be placed on the bottom row of studs. I am sure they will turn up later.

The kitchen is a tight, functional space containing a sink, an oven, and a cooktop. How often have we looked at the bottom of a 2×2 turntable and thought, “That looks like a stovetop. If only it wasn’t upside down, I could use that!” This problem has been solved for us through the brilliant use of a brick with hollow studs, and some of those nifty plates with a central bar attachment. A crate is used as a bin, to go out the back. That fish looks decidedly past its ‘best before’ date!

The following bag (bag 4) builds up the internal walls and the bar within the Inn.

Reversed reddish brown panels, with ingots and 1×1 arches in between, make for a beautifully paneled bar. A curved window frame, with opaque reddish brown windows, completes the form, while medium stone grey tiles make for a laminate benchtop. I love the bartop furnishings: the brass light fittings and even the olde world cash register.. Behind the bar are some jars, a flower in a vase and a coffee machine. A plate of bacon and eggs, along with a hash brown(or is it toast?) awaits a paying customer. Red tiles serve as cushions topping the bar-stools.

We build up the walls around the kitchen and haberdasher’s, but don’t do too much to the shop itself, other than add a suit display mannequin in the front of the store. We also build up the store’s window frames and columns. As you can see, I have added in the 1×6 plate to the button rack.

Bags 5&6

We have plenty of medium stone grey elements – particularly plates, bricks and wedges, along with some arches and dark grey tiles, some tan bricks as well as a small handful of bricks (both regular and masonry bricks) in nougat. We also have a 2×4 rounded tile, that has been printed with the word ‘Haberdashery.’

We begin by building up the walls around the toilet, and the flight of stairs that can be lifted up and out over the top of them. Meanwhile, a nougat wall takes shape – it is subtle different from medium nougat and dark orange, but I do find it is a colour I cannot readily differentiate without clear comparisons to be made. Inside the wall, we add a small side table and a small clock, as well as a picture attached to the wall, demonstrating a suspension bridge.

We add the wedge plates, creating an interesting angle at the front of the building. I’m sure more will follow before too long. In the meantime, we build up the facade of the haberdashery – with a pale blue arch behind the grey columns. The wall between the kitchen and shop are only held in using a couple of studs on the low dividing wall in between these rooms. It allows you (the builder, and positioner of minifigures) better access into the kitchen than a solid wall would.

Bags 7&8

Should I have included this slightly blurry picture of the contents of bags 7&8? Don’t look too closely. You can see we have a lot of dark green elements and some printed tiles: they will become more obvious shortly. I was intrigued to see the black R2 unit legs, but I am sure the reasoning will become apparent soon. The Reddish brown 6×3 wedge plate appears for the first time… but only in the right handed version. – I wonder if the mirrored partner will appear soon?

We start by building up the front wall of the Old Guarded Inn, incorporating a dark green wall with some windows. I appreciate the plants hanging from each pillar, and the way that these pillars are topped with inverted droid legs.

Wedge plates serve the role of floor and ceiling here, and come cunning geometry is applied using hinges and some carefully placed studs between all of the tiles. I love the use of the goat image on the signage. The original Goat first appeared in 2011’s 7189 Mill Village Raid. When that set required, the Goat was never seen again, until this year in the CMF and medieval village square. Suffice to say, the use of the goat is a nod to AFOLs who have pursued this elusive creature over the decades.

Little bits of careful placement here, along with the hinges attached to the roof of the section allow this part of the build to sit comfortably ‘off-grid’

We continue by adding in some windows and another pillar, which is also placed on a jaunty angle, to be secured by a curved plate which holds a central stud of the pillar firmly in place..

Bags 9&10

Bag 9 covers the finer details of the ground floor’s exterior, while bag 10 brings us the bricks to start off the Clockmaker’s workshop on the second level of the build.

We add awnings, flowers and leaves around the pub and a collection of golden battle droid legs and arms to create a fence along the roof.

From here, we start work on the clockmaker’s workshop: we connect some plates and add the foundations of a pale blue wall. We layout some rugs on the floor, and look forward to what comes next.

Bags 11& 12

It would appear that we are going to extend out pale blue upwards, with all of the elements present in that colour – essentially bricks from one to six studs long. We see a selection of clock faces in bag 12: some small (1×1 round) and owthers larger (2×2)

Some reddish brown brackets will go towards constructing a flight of stairs, once turned up 90º, while a few teal elements and a whip will create a small vacuum cleaner. These stairs are wrapped up by part of the wall.

A curved bay window is added in, with an offset plate securing the pane relative to the wall. We build up a chimney, while on the inside, a clock sits on the mantlepiece ofver the fire place.

From here, we start work on some more of the free standing pieces of furniture that modular buildings are famous for: some free stangin and wall mounted clocks, as well as another on the desk of the clock maker. I love the tiny clocks: essentially a headlamp brick containing a ski stock, in cold, with the clockace on one stud and a peak on the other.

We pin the clocks in position, and add a desk with a couple of small drawers on top, a desk lamp, and a magnifying glass. I am pressed at the form of the lamp, which is put together using only 4 elements. I appreciate the design of the chair, and love that there is an hourglass there, to calibrate the speed of the clocks by!

Bags 13&14

The next couple of bags contain a lot of nougat, and a fair bit of tan. Dark orange, reddish brown and dark tan are present in similar amounts, while we had a fair collection of black window frames.

I was initially a little curious as to why the level above the ground featured a large door, and then I realised that the door would lead to the stairs outside. We build up a couple of nougat wall areas: one for the door, another for a window frame. We add a few little time keepers to a small table while others are freestanding standing on the floor.

We fill in a couple of walls with more windows: I do love the way the window frame used a wheel arch and some candles to achieve the divided arch look. We fill in around these window frames with a bricked up wall . We add a down pipe – cunningly created using a black recolour of the branching vine elements, and add more flowers to the exterior. It is starting to feel that we have made a real dent into the construction.

All but complete, we add some flowers on display, held in place with paint roller handles.

Bags 15&16

One thing that defines the Tudor look in this style of architecture is the exposed wooden beams, with wattle and daub backed in between. Some of these beams will be angled. You get the feeling that this might be coming up in construction, as we start to see many more white elements than we have previously seen in a bag. Of particular interest are the 18 1x2x2/3 slopes which, when SNOTted, will form the appropriate angle to slide in a plate or tile.

Achieving the Tudor Look

This is what we signed up for; Just how were those angled beams achieved?

Part of the feature wall is in fact 3 studs thick. White 1x2x2/3 slopes are attached to SNOT bricks (Studs Not (only) On Top). This leaves a thin gap – 2×2 plates with 2 studs are slid into this gap, and a 1×2 grille tile is placed on to to hald it securely in place. These are then secured in place by a plate placed over the top of this part of the build. As for the vertical ‘beams’, they are simple 1×2 black plates.

A quick word on the side with only vertical beams: one stud/module is 2.5 plates thick. This is achieved by placing a white tile on a black plate, which is in turn attached to a bracket.

The technique is highly effective, albeit parts-intensive.

Having built up the floor space, leaving room for the stairs to enter, we set about furnishing the flat. I love the turquoise couch and the rounded coffee table. In the meantime, a two-level cat post takes form, while a box placed over a couple of newspapers gives the cat somewhere to sleep. A small sink is also tucked away in the corner of the room.

Bags 17&18

The end is in sight: we will build up the remainder of the attic apartment in these two bags, while saving the roof for last. We have lots of black and grey and a door frame. I feel anxious about a door in a second floor apartment…let’s see where it leads.

One tile of special interest will crop up as we complete the walls: this 2×2 printed tile features a few keys, some letters, and a sunflower lanyard. The sunflower lanyard is worn by people with unseen disabilities, helping others to recognise that they might need additional assistance in communication, or moving around a space. I have recently started seeing the sunflower appear in a few airports around Australia and in the LEGO House. This is the first minifigure scale set to feature the sunflower lanyard – there will be representation in DUPLO and Friends next year too, as well as the minifigure factory in selected LEGO Stores around the world. I am a little surprised that this was not highlighted as I put the model together. But I digress. Instead, we learn that the tenant has an extensive insect collection – I love the tiny printed tiles- but they don’t allow their friend, who lives next to the bookshop in set 10270, bring their pet chameleon over.

This tile sits on the wall near the top of the stairs, at the entrance to the apartment. We build up the walls in the traditional triangles associated with tudor rooflines, and add some additional internal details: a pot plant; bookshelf, terraria

We finish the level off with the obligatory tiles, and ensure that one does not step out to their doom by installing a small balcony outside the door. This is held in place through a couple of bars attached to SNOT holes, and can be easily removed if you wish to ensure a visit from Health and Safety Inspectors!

Bags 19&20

Plack plates, Hinges, dark red tiles and wedges: it must be time for the roof line, while the final back included lots of plates, along with some details for our chimney sweep, including his broom

We begin the final push, adding in the form of the roofline. While the angles over the dormer windows are easily achieved, I was delighted by the way that the main roof line was able to fit in around them using a variety of wedges and some careful angulation. There is a relatively new, and rarely used connector with 3 clips and a bar, used to provide some additional details to the dormer windows.

Finally, the roof tops off the building. Given that a chimney sweep has been included, it is only fair that we ensure a couple of chimneys have made the entire distance. I appreciate the detail at the top of these, with the stepped profile, as well as the 3 chimney pots: closely held together on one, and more seperate on the other. I am not sure how the resident of the upstairs flat might feel about potential intruders having such easy rooftop access. I mean, there is even a ladder leading up to the roof access. That said, there does not appear to be a bedroom in the flat, unless it folds out from the couch!

Even now, we have not quite completed the build. The time has come to add a few details around the pathway: the furniture for some outdoor dining; bollards and chains located on the corner, as well as the ubiquitous lamp post. And finally the clock. I love the signage added for the clock maker.

The clock is, however, not quite set to the same clock as every other clock in the building…I suppose it gives the clock maker something to do after lunch.

My thoughts

Our first household experience with modular buildings was with the Cafe Corner, and while we were very diligent for the first 6 or 7 in the series, we have a large collection of unopened boxes and, dare I say it, a couple of gaps in the collection! I have built the Detective Office and Police Station in more recent years.In the meantime, our town display got a little out of control. However, the Tudor Corner is, visually, the most appealing I have seen for some time.

The Tudor period extended from 1485-1603, from the reign of Henry VII-Elizabeth I in England. The architectural style is characterised by the exposed beams, with spaces packed with wattle and daub.

By drawing on the name of the Guarded Inn, the pub in Tudor Corner taps into generations of nostalgia from the glory days of Classic Castle. The use of the brick-built beams in the upper section is a far cry from the use of printed panels in that original set.

This set has one of the highest part counts of any modular building – with the exception of Assembly Square and the Natural History Museum. And it shows – from the degree of detail present in the furniture and fittings of the shops and flat – through to the detail shown in the contruction of the walls and rooflines.

The building maintains a number of contrasting businesses, each with their own distinguishing features. The kitchen is both detailed and tightly packed, while the restaurant part of the business presents the right feel – the panelling works really well to convey the feeling of the establishment. Meanwhile, around the corner, we have the LEGO debut of a specific Haberdashery.

The geometry of the ground floor facade gives builders a lot to think about, as recreating this sort of detail requires a little bit of maths and planning. It is always fun taking a build ‘off the grid’ – it makes for a more interesting appearance, and provides a good talking point. This is, of course, only the start, of the interesting details. I appreciate the removable steps over the downstairs toilet. the decoration on the roof of the restaurant is novel – the golden battle droid legs were a pleasant surprise, as well all of the golden arms.

Moving upwards, the vacuum in the Clock-maker’s under-stairs cupboard is striking. The multiple clock designs are just begging to inspire Clocks in MOCs over the years to some. His work desk and lamp bring us so many more fine details to admire. There are multiple different examples of window frames around the building. These are also likely to provide inspiration to any MOC builders putting it together.

The upstairs flat is suitably understated, but has some fun features – the insect farm for one, the cat’s litter box for another(or is it the cat’s bed?). I do worry about what the cats might get up to while their owner/staff has gone out.

For myself, the most exciting build came with the top level: the exposed boards, as well as the remarkable shape of the roof line.

I appreciated the use of colour in the construction – after the large slabs of olive green and dark tan in last year’s Natural History Museum, people will be sure to appreciate the variety of colours involved in the building here, especially in those hard to find shades of nougat and pale nougat, along with the dark green and pale blue on the ground floor. While some of these colours can be difficult to distinguish under a sub-optimal light, I appreciate the effort that is made to ensure a successful building experience by ensuring that any identical design ID elements in a bag are restricted to contrasting colours, while similar colours will often be limited to only one type of 1×1 element, of whatever form – be it tile, plate, round or square.

I enjoy the minfigure selection in this set: from the mannequin and the haberdasher, the alternate faces of the clock maker, and the unboundless optimism of the chimney sweep. The landlady and chef, the critic and the tenant upstairs: how do they all get along? Is there really only one kitchen in the building? And was there ever another cat (two are included…)

There are so many questions begging to be asked here!

Very few of the minifigure elements are unique, and the excuse was taken to introduce a bright green bicycle frame. We see prints drawn from LEGO Star Wars, Ideas, Chinese New Year and City, while we also have a hair piece migrating over from Friends.

This set brings the kind of premium building experience that you have come to expect from a modular building. This set brings an interesting and educational building experience, a fascinating cast of characters and lots of small details. It reminds me why these sets captured the imaginations of AFOLS when they were first introduced.

This is the 20th modular building to date, and we have seen some changes over the years. Stickers have become now a thing of the past. We were once restricted to simple smiley faces. We see an increase in the parts available in specific colours with just about every iteration.

This set has one of the highest piece counts of the modular buildings and the largest for any modular build on a single 32×32 baseplate. Despite this, it is still pitched at the same price point as similar form factor modular buildings of recent years, and after the price hike of 2022 and the ongoing cost of living issues, this makes a pleasant relief..

But are there any downsides to this experience? Not many.

I did find the frequent cross-referencing to other sets with relatively loose associations made it feel as though the instructions were being used as a sales brochure, rather than as a prompt for Easter eggs tying in other sets from the past. That said, others will probably be delighted by these points. Beware of feeling guilty if you do not possess every set referenced in the instructions. Many are retired and will set you back a pretty penny if you are a completionist by nature.

Although many of these easter eggs were pointed out throughout the instructions, I was disappointed that the significance of the ‘sunflower lanyard’ tile was not pointed out. It might have been a way to get AFOLs to learn through play. At the end of the day, if this is all I can complain about, the set is pretty fine!

This little gripe aside, I am still happy to give this set five out of five Arbitrary Praise Units.

I’d love to know what you think of this set. Is it the one you are waiting for? Does the Gift with Purchase sway your timing when picking up the set? Do you like to have Easter eggs pointed out to you by the instructions? Or do you prefer to discover them as you go and discuss them with your friends? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The modular building 10350 Tudor Corner has 3266 pieces and 8 minifigures. It goes on sale on January 1 2025 for LEGO Insiders, and on the 4th for everyone else. It is priced at  AUD349.99/€229.00 / £199.99 / $USD229.99. If you are picking it up, please consider this affiliate link. The 40757 Corner Kiosk is offered as a gift with purchase over the initial release period. These GWPs are typically limited, so if it is something you want, get in quick.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!