Alternative builds for existing LEGO sets aren’t a new concept, it’s been a thing since pretty much the dawn of LEGO, it’s what the humble brick was made for!
LEGO in itself is is made to be built, broken down and rebuilt, time and time again, so the idea of another design or two, or ten, coming from a single set is brilliant. It not only makes the set live on and played with over and over again but it can inject new life into a build perhaps you’ve lost interest in or no longer want. The latter is the conclusion I came to when looking at the LEGO Ideas Sesame Street (21345) set, it’s a great set don’t get me wrong but lately my goal has changed and I’m focusing on my LEGO Cityscape.
One of the alternative builds I spotted on Rebrickable, a site dedicated to alt builds and MOCs, really grabbed my fancy, it looked smart, would slot between my existing modular buildings and most importantly uses parts only contained in the set. The alt build by Just Create was perfect!
Having the set already dismantled, due to moving house last year, I dumped all the pieces onto the floor and began building. Thanks to the free instructions there was no additional payout needed to complete this build, even better news.
To make the transition to a modular style build I substituted the two included 16×16 grey plates for a 16×32 green baseplate, this is to make it the same height as the other modulars that would be next to it.
I won’t lie and say it was a struggle to find the pieces but this was totally my fault, as like I mentioned before, I had emptied the entire LEGO Ideas Sesame Street set out onto the floor and only sorted a handful of bricks into tubs. I found the free instructions to be good but there was one issue I had trouble with, the colours, especially medium nougat and a shade of orange, often mixing them up with their close neighbour.
As the front of the build is left blank, I chose to change this and tile it to match other modulars, with dark gray tiles of varying sizes I created a path that joins seamlessly. To keep the depth roughly the same I moved the whole build back a few studs, this did cause the back garden area to become slightly cramped but I could live with that.
If you’ve ever built the LEGO Ideas Sesame Street (21345) then you’ll recognise some of the build techniques. The window surrounds, doors, steps and some side builds are kept the same, this isn’t a bad thing as that is what drew me to the original set in the first place.
The back looks a little messy but it serves a purpose, the toilet and bathtub is located in this extension. It’s a tad cramped inside but the details look great, again using some build that are seen in the original set. Parts of the building can be removed to gain access to inside, with the roof popping off, the lower-back window slides out and the extension building sort of comes off it’s base.
Using bits from just the original set is great and why I chose this design, I hated the thought of extra cost. Bearing this in mind and the parts available, the sides of the building look like a piece of abstract art, to put it politely. Thankfully both sides won’t be scene as the town house will slide between two bigger Modular buildings.
With all that being said this is a great alternative build for those looking for something different. This is made to be slot into a Cityscape, which is what I’m intending to do with it. My LEGO City, Gregsville, will finally have a standalone house for at least two residents to stay, perhaps it’ll be home to my Sigfig, Lil’ G!
If you would like to build this yourself please use the link below to support the creator, Just Create, and download the free instructions.
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-101137/Just%20Create/alter-sesame-street/
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