A new street of LEGO buildings is about to start, but comparing 10362 French Café to the beloved modular buildings reveals some lessons to learn.
10362 French Café is a different but familiar experience from the LEGO Group launching next month for £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99. It uses 1,101 elements to create a facade-focused building with a specific focus on building techniques, printed pieces and more that the popular LEGO modular buildings might want to take note of.
Beyond the more affordable price tag, smaller size and near-complete lack of interior space as noted in our review, 10362 French Café has some genuinely interesting takeaways for the modular buildings to be aware of moving forward, some of which the collection might not be physically able to replicate.
Techniques that work beyond a baseplate
LEGO Icons 10362 French Café uses all manner of interesting techniques, the most notable of which is accommodated with a thicker brick-built base where a standard thin baseplate would not work. The layered double half-arch pieces that form the floor fit together seamlessly to form a stylised pavement that immediately draws the eye in 10362 French Café. It's just one of many interesting techniques the likes of which are more uncommon in the LEGO Modular Buildings Collection.
The pavement technique specifically is something that simply wouldn't work in the thin-based structures of the modular buildings. That's not to say they are without their own interesting assemblies, but it's an area in which 10362 French Café has revealed the limitations of their traditional, reliable baseplates. Moving beyond baseplates would be a different experience and a big transition for LEGO modular buildings, but would open up many possibilities too.
The lack of a baseplate makes it a standalone experience
It's no secret that 10362 French Café has an unsightly side – the back of the build, but aside from that view, the model is a visually stunning creation to admire from almost all angles. In comparison, the LEGO modular buildings have at most two ideal angles from which to view them.
The modular nature of these beloved buildings means that the sides of each entry can be and need to be kept as minimal as possible, occasionally even exposing features of the interior such as the pizza oven in 10312 Jazz Club. For corner entries, they have two sides of the building rife with detail and techniques but otherwise, the sides and backs of the buildings are sparsely-detailed and occasionally similar to the back of 10362 French Café.
That said, the new Restaurants of the World model definitely should not be viewed from the rear while the modular buildings provided a minimally-satisfying experience.
Focusing on three specific angles of the new 2025 set without the intention for it to be connected to other buildings in a series means that it can focus on a standalone experience instead. By comparison, the modular buildings embrace their modularity but suffer the consequences of less interesting angles. Your opinion on which strategy is better depends on what you're looking for in a LEGO building experience.
As for the lesson to learn, the LEGO modular buildings might want to explore making the backs of their buildings nearly as detailed as the front again, as it is in 10243 Parisian Restaurant.
No stickers, but plenty of prints
Another interesting feature of 10362 French Café compared to many other current LEGO sets is not only the complete lack of stickers but the variety of intricate printed elements in use. It's something that many LEGO set collections could learn a lesson from.
Thankfully, this is a lesson that the modular buildings seem to have learned with the most recent models in the range including only printed elements. Still, 10362 French Café sets a high bar for the collection to continue surpassing moving forward, and it would be good to see printed doors in the range too.
Scale goes beyond minifigures
As we explored earlier this month (and more recently with mini-dolls) 10362 French Café isn't designed with a specific LEGO figure scale in mind. Instead, the focus is entirely on providing a realistic, detailed build, whereas the LEGO modular buildings have always been to scale with minifigures
The lesson here comes from the unique design for the furnishings, including the chairs with realistically long legs, the likes of which are nearly as tall as minifigures and impossible for them to climb into alone. Minifigure proportions are unique and unrealistic compared to reality, giving modular building designers the challenge of creating a feasible street with furnishings that are to scale with the unique proportions of minifigures.
Such a challenge forces the designers to innovate but by comparison, 10362 French Café is still decidedly unique and more realistic with no minifigure-scale limitations – even without the charm that minifigures undoubtedly add. The modular buildings might learn this by stretching the scale of minifigure-compatible furniture slightly to increase detail and realism, instead of sticking to car seats stuck to the ground outside.
10255 Assembly Square already experimented with such furnishings outside the coffee shop, but newer elements mean this can be taken further.
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