After ten years of modular buildings, Lego decided that it was time for a change. The plus-sized Assembly Square was the end of the old era and now Downtown Diner begins a new one. While it still follows the same basic layout, there are several changes. The most obvious one is the architectural style, which advances from the 20’s-30’s to the 50’s. Another big change is that the minifigures now have facial expressions, instead of using the classic Lego smilie. This adds a lot of character and individuality, but loses the traditional style. However, if you absolutely must have the old faces it’s not like anyone is stopping you. It also has a few studded tiles to place figures securely – previously I’ve always replaced a few to make a solid display. Other changes are more subtle, not least of all because there is a new designer in (the Lego) town.
Mike Psiaki is still new-ish to Lego, but over the last few years he has quickly become one of the stars. An early set was the sleek Blue Power Jet, but more recently he created the sublime VW Beetle as well as the official NASA Saturn V rocket. Psiaki’s trademark is doing nearly impossible things by building in all directions at once and still ending up with a solid piece. On the other hand, unlike Jamie Berard he has little interest in adding in tons of new parts just to please collectors and builders.
As a result, Downtown Diner definitely lacks the novelty of previous sets which always showered us in rare parts. Of course, one major feature is the return of the teal colour, which was previously discontinued when Lego slimmed down their palette. It’s used effectively here and contrasts with the bright pink to really set the tone, but I would much rather have had the useful sand red back. There are already tons of blue and green tones including the medium azure that Psiaki championed in his Beetle. Apart from that, there are only a few dutiful uses of new jumper types and the flowers that will be in everything. Unlike Assembly Square and Ninjago City last year, there is very little excitement finding new parts in the box.
There is a strange thing about Psiaki. He makes things that look fairly simple on the surface. Then you look closer and start to realize that there are some things that shouldn’t be possible, and that you couldn’t figure out to save your life. And finally you build them according to the instructions and find that they are actually simple but extremely clever. The bottom floor doesn’t have much, but the cowls over the ovens in the diner are cleverly built out of dumpers. The bar is also neatly constructed on its side and still attaches right onto the bottom section. Although I have to mention that several small parts like a spare pancake, a camera and mugs are just thrown in there without anywhere to connect them.
The build begins proper on the second floor though, and it’s amazing all the way around. The front windows enclosed by the teal are just simple Lego maths, but really neat. The entire front facade is covered in tiles. They could have just used regular bricks, but the tiles give it a square non-Lego look. The rounded design with the logo is rather securely attached, although it’s not sturdy enough to be lifted from the side. As you move around to the left, you find some windows that look rather ordinary. They are inset half a stud like on Fire Brigade … no, wait. They are inset by a smaller fraction. It turns out that Psiaki used both old parts and a few new ones to create a stupidly simple solution that uses the studs of the floor inside to hold the entire thing. This blew my mind and I will use the technique wherever I can.
And we’re still not done with the second floor. Moving on to the back, we find a staircase outside that leads up. And this is an amazing design that lines up fence pieces to stack as a spiral staircase which eventually connects solidly to the upper edge of the floor. The result looks better than any premade part and is a tribute to the versatility of Lego. After this shock, the inside of floor two is rather mundane, with a small gym complete with a boxing ring, a punching bag, a water cooler and weights.
We move up that exquisite staircase and end up in a small recording studio. It’s funny as I made a recording studio in a previous modular. This one is also quite simple, although the Technic straight gear racks used to soundproof the studio are a nice touch. There is a ladder to the roof which includes an opening sunroof (which can be pinned up) and the rounded top of the facade. Apart from that the third floor is mostly a repeat of the second, except for a balcony which gives room for two rounded windows. These look simple as well, until you realize that two of the arches are mounted upside down. The solution for this is just as clever as the side windows. As a final touch, there is a pink Cadillac (although not an exact licensed one). It’s much better than the previous car used in Palace Cinema and is worth the parts usage, and it seats three figures.
As a complete set, Downtown Diner is a very stylish building. I’m not as fond of the architectural style, but then again I wasn’t much into architecture at all before Lego started making this line. While you could argue that all cities have a blend of old and new buildings, the 50’s style is something that very rarely stays like that, and tends to be renovated over the years. Still, it could very well be the start of a new line of 50’s style buildings. I could certainly imagine a gas station like this, and if nothing else I will build one.
The uninteresting parts, the garish colours and some fragile builds are downsides to this, but it makes up for it with amazing build techniques and a renewed design philosophy make up for it. It’s also disappointing that there are colour variations on individual bricks, especially the teal. With the premium price, you’d also expect Lego to have premium quality. Downtown Diner is a great new addition to the line, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the best modular sets like Parisian Restaurant, Green Grocer and last year’s Assembly Square.