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Some people probably wonder if I'm averse to going outside the comfortable zone of Star Wars sets. There's a whole universe out there of LEGO themes and sets that have nothing to do with Star Wars or Super Heroes. Well, I wanted to start with the daddy of the modular sets, the one that began one of the most expensive (on average) series of sets out there. LEGO Modulars are an offshoot of the standard Creator line. Introduced in 2007, this sub-theme consists of large, detailed buildings targeted at adult collectors. The retail price tag of the sets and the 16+ age range tends to discourage the younger collectors. The very first set in the line was the Cafe Corner. This set was designed by Lego's Jamie Berard. It retailed for $139.99 and contained 2,056 pieces. Current Brickpicker Price Guide Value shows a value of about $795 used or $1700 new in box. The used price of this set is more than 5.5x its original retail. The original retail price per brick was a fairly reasonable $.07, while now the value of the used bricks averages much closer to $.39 each. So, why not just make one out of the parts that your kid keeps leaving on the floor of the living room? I'm sure you'd love to save almost $800 plus shipping on this beautiful beast. The biggest problem are the parts involved. Not just any part will do. In a lot of cases, you're going to need far more of certain pieces than you are likely to have on hand. In other cases the parts involved are either unique to this set or in so few sets that the odds of you happening to have one are rare. If you were to buy a set used, you probably know what to look for there, but we'll take a look at some of those things so that people can be aware of what might have been substituted if the dealer is shady. So, 2056 parts listed on the box. Of those 2056 parts, the number of different element/color combinations is 259 including the 3 minifigures. The color palette is 17 colors dominated by dark and light bluish gray with tan, white, reddish Brown and Black filling in most of the remainder. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds about like what I would expect from a big building. Parts with Highest Occurrence: I'd like to take a look at what parts are most common in the set. These would be the fundamental building blocks what might say. Each of these pieces occurs 25 or more times. I had to pick a lower limit and 25 was it. This article is in no way a comprehensive parts list for the set, it is an analysis of what makes this set unique. For a complete inventory, I suggest the Bricklink reference catalogue. (Apologies for when the images do not match the color in inventory. We are using the basic element picture to represent the item from the set. Please pay attention to the color listed in your inventory.) The most common element in the set is Element 4070 Brick, Modified 1x1 with Headlight (Sometimes called an Erling Brick) in Reddish Brown. You need a massive 60 of these bricks. Bricklink shows an average of about $.12 each. Fortunately it's a fairly common part appearing in 109 sets. The next highest number of pieces in the set is Element 3069b Dark Bluish Gray Tile 1X2 With Groove. For 51 of these at almost $.08 each, You'll spend almost $4.00 but you could definitely average lower since this piece is even more common, appearing in 268 sets in all It's not deja vu, you need 45 reddish brown element 3069b Tile 1x2 with groove. This part appears in only 148 sets (I know, that's still a lot, but almost half as many as the previous entry.) so has a slightly higher average of just over $.10 If you liked the 1x2 tiles, you'll go nuts over element 3068b Tile 2x2 with groove. This piece appears 45 times in this set in dark bluish gray. It has an average cost of $.14 and is fairly easy to find, appearing in 209 sets. Continuing the theme, you need 44 dark bluish gray 1x1 tiles with groove, element 3070b. This element appears in 141 sets and sells for about $.07 on average. A brick (break) from the pattern is 39 dark blue 1x2 brick element 3004. This part appears in 47 sets and has an average bricklink cost of about $.19 each. Element 4460b Slope 2x1x3 (Does anyone actually measure the degrees of slant?) in Dark Red appears 39 times. This piece appears in only 5 sets total and will cost you about $1 each. None of the other sets that contain this part have anywhere near the quantity that this set does. (This part should appear in the rare/unique section below, but I will be excluding the duplicate listing to avoid confusion. Just note that this part is both rare and the quantity required is high) You will also need 36 each (that's 72 in total) of white and light bluish gray tiles with groove, element 3070b. White appears in 293 sets and light bluish gray in 151 and they average $.06 and $.08 respectively. 34 Dark Red Plate 1x1, element 3024, are next. It appears in 69 sets and has an average cost of $.08. After that, we're looking at 30 dark red element 3004 Brick 1x2. These run about $.07 on average and appear in 75 set I was thinking about how such a large set seems to have a high proportion of small pieces. How could you ever make something of any size with those. Well, here's something substantial, 29 light bluish gray 1x8 brick element 3008. This part appears in 104 sets and averages about $.27 each. You're looking at almost $8 there. White Plate 1x2 element 3023 is next with a count of 28. This piece is super common, appearing in 1126 sets. You could probably find all of these that you need for $.01-$.02. I'm glad that this next part is on the list. The standard bricks get sort of boring. 28 dark bluish gray brick 1x2 modified (log) element 3036 fills the need for variety. It appears in 93 sets and averages about $.05 each, 27 is a magic number for 1x1 plate element 3024 because you need that many each of trans red and light bluish gray. For trans red, it appears in 485 sets and is easily found for $.01, while light bluish gray shows up in 218 sets and sells for about $.06. You will also need 25 reddish brown round brick 1x1, open stud element 3062b. It appears in 211 sets and averages $.04 each. Up next I'm going to again combine two into one. You need 25 each medium blue and dark bluish gray brick 1x2 element 3004. Medium Blue appears in 87 sets while Dark Bluish Gray shows up in 277. Both average about $.06 each In all, we have accounted for 625 pieces. That's about 30% of the set. Rare and expensive parts: Now that we have looked at the most numerous pieces in the set, let's take a look at the pieces that are hardest/most expensive to find. I am going to list these from most expensive to least expensive. (Note: Not every rare or unique part is expensive and not every expensive part is rare or unique. Just usually it is both.) The most expensive piece in the set is element 73435c01 light bluish gray Door 1 x 4 x 5 Right with Trans-Clear Glass. Bricklink says that it appears in 6 sets, but I dispute that since it shows the same set with an altered box. So, 5 sets. It averages close to $25, but if you're patient, you might get it for less. Just, be careful of scratches to the glass. Doors seem pretty pricey. The next most expensive part is a black Door 1 x 4 x 5 Right with 6 Panes, element 73312. It appears in one other set 4886 Building Bonanza. It's going to cost you close to $20 This next piece surprised me. Mostly I think of element 3680 turntable 2x2 plate base as a common, cheap piece. When it comes to light bluish gray though, it appears in 11 sets (10 if we ignore that same duplicate city airport.) You can't find one for less than $9 right now, and you need 4 of them. Averaging more than $6.75 each, you need 4 Dark Blue pillar 1x1x6 solid pillar support, element 43888. This piece appears in 2 other sets 8894 Piraka Stronghold and 4981 The Chum Bucket. There are 5 white 2x4x3 window frames in this set. At an average cost of almost $6.50 element 4132 makes the list of rare parts by appearing in 10 sets. I remember that in the announcement video for 10235 Winter village market that they specifically pointed out element 3308 dark blue arch 1x8x2 as a rare piece that was in demand. You need one for this set and there's not a lot available for less than $5.50. It appears in a total of 5 sets. I never thought that the light bluish gray trash can with 2 cover holders was a hard to find piece. It seems like element 2439 usually appears in dark gray or dark bluish gray. In this color it appears in 5 sets and will probably cost you $5. You need 2 green 16x32 baseplate element 3857. It's not actually rare, appearing in 76 sets, but it is going to cost you about $4 each. (it is the only green piece in the set, maybe that's a definition of unique or rare?) Again, not super rare, because it appears in 25 sets, Element 2362b panel 1x2x3 with hollow studs in white is here more because of the average cost. It averages more than $4 and since you need 20 of them, it looks like you are going to need to make a bunch of orders because the only people carrying that quantity on bricklink are charging significantly over average. The white lamp post elment 2039 (2x2x7 with 6 base flutes) has appeared in every modular set. It was a trend started by 10182's Lego designer. So, I can't really leave it out of my list. It appears once in this set. It's part of 21 sets and averages $3.50. Appearing in only 2 other sets 8893 Lava Chamber Gate and 10187 Volkswagen Beetle, element 2339 is fairly rare. Dark Blue brick arch 1x5x4 continuous bow averages close to $3.25 and you need 2 of them. Be careful with element 2546 dark bluish gray bird. It appears in 8 sets, whereas the older dark gray version appears in 29 sets. You can get the 4 that you need for about $1 each, but it'll be frustrating if someone sends you the older color by mistake. Bricklink shows element 3747a tan slope inverted 3x2 without connections between studs as part of this set which appears in a total of 4 sets. It lists the more common 3747b as an alternate while rebrickable only lists 3747b. The more common piece appears in 16 sets. The rarer piece averages about $1 each and the more common one about $.30. I wonder if only early issued sets had the a variant. either way, you need 2. You need 4 Dark Blue brick 2x2 corner element 2357. It appears in 9 sets. and averages about $.70 each. I always notice that Dark Blue pieces tend to be harder to find. Minifigures and other stuff: There are 3 minifigures included in this set. All of them are fairly plain, ordinary, nondescript figures using fairly common parts for the most part. The older gentleman is the lowest valued of the set. He runs less than $5 on average. Female #1 has a unique jacket patterned torso piece that makes her the queen of this particular set ringing in at more than $16 on average. Female #2, who is the most boring looking of the 3, actually tops the old man by more than $1 on average. I think it's the hairpiece. The average cost for all parts used through Bricklink is about $564. That's not terrible, considering the whole has sold for more than $200 more than that. Building one for yourself out of parts that you acquire may be more satisfying eventually, but may require far more orders and therefor more shipping than you want to deal with. All parts costs that I calculated are based upon bricklink's average and reflect only the average that these parts sell for, you may be able to acquire what you need for less in a lot of cases. If you want to add instructions or a box, your costs jump significantly, and your options are significantly fewer. The instructions are in 2 books, and there are only 2 listings on bricklink currently that include both books. You're never going to cut down on the quantity of certain parts that are needed. It is possible that at some point one of the rare parts will be released in a new set, knocking the price down for a time. Hopefully having this list will help you to keep an eye out for the key pieces if they ever do show up in a new set. The value of this particular set is unlikely to trend significantly downwards, unless there is a remake. Modular collectors who are just getting into the game will be behind the eight ball if they want to catch up. Demand's going to be there. So,if you can restore one of these sets from various sources for cheap enough, you may come out ahead if you tire of it for your own collection. All images are the property of Rebrickable.com, Bricklink.com, and the LEGO Group. If you liked this article, please check out the others in the series: 10123 Cloud City 7181 UCS TIE Interceptor 10212 UCS Imperial Shuttle Here are some Brickpricker forum topics that discuss this set.

For me, one of the LEGO sets that I most want in my collection, but am least likely to get is the 10123 Cloud City. In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, a lot of the action takes place in Bespin's Cloud City. Strangely LEGO has been reticent to release sets that correspond to this location. (Maybe we'll talk about the similar lack of Dagobah sets sometime later.) When LEGO announced the Carbon Freezing Chamber 75137, many thought that it would replace this set. In the minds and hearts of many, 75137 is just a pale comparison to a small part of 10123 Cloud City. LEGO Star Wars fans groaned, and owners of the original rejoiced. Cloud City is 698 pieces and originally retailed for $99.99, which at the time was pretty pricy for that number of pieces. A complete used set sells in the $600-$700 range. If you want an unused, unopened set, you're looking at $1000 or more. Brickpicker price guide Why would a used set be worth 7X the original cost of the set as it was when new? What makes this a set that I can't build on my own? 698 pieces is a lot, but it doesn't sound insurmountable. There are 189 different elements in this set, meaning unique types of part/color combinations. Of those elements 39 are dark gray, consisting of 203 total pieces, and 50 are light gray consisting of 133 pieces. I specify those colors, because these are the pre-2004 Grays, not the newer blue grays that you find in all modern sets. These colors have not been produced for over a decade now. Almost half of the set is made from out of print colors. The first thing that I want to take a look at here is the pieces that you need the most of. Thankfully, in a set with less than 700 pieces (even less when you take out the piece count of the 7 minifigures) none of the required elements is incredibly unwieldy. For this list, I am going to take a look at the parts that you need 10 or more of. (Apologies for the images not matching the color. We are using the basic element picture to represent the item from the set. Please pay attention to the color listed in your inventory) You need 36 Dark Gray 2x2 Plates Element 3022 that averages about $.04 each 22 Trans Neon Green 1x1 round Plate with straight side Element 4073 average out to about $.02 each Element 30136 Tan 1x2 Brick modified (Log) is next with a piece count of 21 for close to $.05 each Dark Gray Brick 1x2x5 Element 2454 occurs 17 times in this set and the average cost is close to $.15 each There are 14 Black 2x8 Bricks Element 3007 12 Tan 1x6 Tile Element 6636 average almost $.20 each You also need 12 Trans Neon Orange 1x1 round Plate with straight side Element 4073 average out to about $.02 each Dark Gray element 3005 Brick 1x1 appears 12 times as well, you can get them for $.03 or $.04 in the quantity that you need, but the average is closer to $.10 11 Light Gray 1x1 round Plate with straight side Element 4073 can be easily found for about $.02 each You also will need 11 Round 1x1 Brick with Open Stud in Tan element 3062b for $.03 each Dark Gray element 3700 Technic brick 1x2 with hole only needs 10 For an Average of $.04 each 10 Dark Gray 2x2 Tiles with Groove (Element 3068b) are next. They run about $.25 each for a total of $2.50 You will also need 10 very common black 1x2 bricks for about $.03 each (Element 3004) Element 2412b Modified Tile with Grill and Bottom Lip in Trans Neon Orange is only available in 12 sets but, will only run you an average of .05 each for 10. Thankfully there are no stickers in this set. So, an old sticker sheet or peeling stickers are not going to impact your overall price. We've already looked at the more common elements that you need the most of for this set, now let's take a look at the unique, rare, and specialty pieces that make up this set. Some of these pieces are not terribly expensive when compared to others, but I would think that anything over a certain average is notable. First and foremost, let's look at the most expensive (non-minifigure) pieces in the set. Element 33230 16X16 round corner brick in Light Gray is unique to this set. Each one averages about $24 and you need 4 of them. Even in other colors, this is not a common part, appearing in 8 sets over 9 years. Element 75c20 is a 16.0 mm (20 long) rigid 3 mm hole in light gray. You need 1 and it's going to average almost $12 each. This hose is unique to the set. Although, right now on Bricklink, there is only one available for $19.99 There is a single Dark Gray plate modified 3x2 with hole that is over $4. It is unique to this set. Element 3176. You may be in luck, 2 Bricklink sellers have this piece for significantly below average prices. For another $4 You'll get a Light Gray Support 2x2x8 with side grooves and peg on top, also unique Element 30646b (Be careful of the light bluish gray one which is more common and cheaper.) Although at this time, there are none available on Bricklink, so if you want one, you wind up forking over more. There are 4 1x4 Trans Neon Orange Element 3066 Brick 1x4 without bottom tubes for more than $2.50 each. None of the cheaper sellers on Bricklink have the 4 required, so you will need to make multiple orders. You're going to need 2 Light Gray Element 75c09 Hose, Rigid 3mm 7.2 mm (9 long) which are more common, appearing in 2 other sets. It averages more than $2 each. If you can find other stuff though, several shops have this element for less than half of the average. 7 Light Gray 4x6 bricks Element 2356 run about $2 each. This part appears in 5 other sets including 10030 UCS Star Destroyer. While not a minifigure, the next part represents a character. Element 2454ps5 is brick 1x2x5 black with Han Solo in Carbonite Pattern. It appears in 3 other sets and is a bit less than $2. Unique to this set is Element 3741 Plant Flower Stem in brown. Usually this piece is found in green or bright green with a couple of other outliers. You need 2 and Bricklink doesn't show any currently for less than $5. The average looks like it's usually a bit closer to $2 Dark Gray Brick 8x16 (element 4204) looks like a staple in older Harry Potter sets (appearing in 8), but none of them use as many as the 5 required for this set. It can be found pretty readily for less than $1 each. Tan Plate 6x12 is only found in 3 other sets including the Landspeeder. It's available pretty handily for less than $1 (element 3028) There are some pieces where I look at the naming conventions and I understand why it's called that, but it's a lot of words,and I wish there was a better shorthand. Element 30516c01 White Turntable 4 x 4 Locking Grooved Base with (Same Color) Top, Complete Assembly is one such. It is available in one other set. Despite the rarity, you can get it for less than $1. I am going to group these together, elements 41767 and 41768 4x2 Wedge (Right and Left) in Dark Gray are each available in only 2 other sets. They average less than $.50 each. Appearing in only one other set, White Technic, Gear Worm Screw (element 4716) can be easily obtained for less than $.50. You need 4. You need 2 2x2 black round tile with gray machinery pattern also known as element 4150px17 for this set. It was also available in set 7190 Millennium Falcon. It's also less than $.50 4 other sets contain element 2577 4x4 Brick round corner, full brick in light gray. It's very easily found for less than $.50 and you need 2. You need a single black brick 1x6x5 element 3754 available in only 2 other sets. It can also be easily obtained for less than $.50 If you have a fleet of crashed TIE FIghters, you may have element 30366pb02 Trans-Black Windscreen 3 x 6 x 5 Bubble with SW 8 Spoke Radial Light Gray Thin Lines Pattern that was available in 4 (5 if you count the reissue) other sets. You only need 1 and I doubt that you will need to spend over $.25 to get it. The final piece on my list, (but by no means the last piece in the inventory) is element 3307 Dark Gray Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2 - Thick Top with Reinforced Underside that was also available in a single other set. Prices on this piece average less than $.25 When I look at the minifigure selection, I cannot understand why the LEGO Group has never updated the major players in this set. To me these look so outdated, almost primitive, and the yellow heads and hands just do not fit with the modern aesthetics. This particular collection of minifigures consists of some of the most expensive minifigures produced. First we have the somewhat common Darth Vader SW004 who has appeared in 5 sets. Be sure that your has the original gray head and not the newer gray. The Stormtrooper with plain yellow has appeared in 4 sets, and is the least expensive mini in this set. SW036 This version of Han Solo was also released in a Minifigure Multipack with a Boba Fett and Jedi Luke. SW045 This version of Luke Skywalker in Bespin gear has never been released in another set. His Torso, head and hair are exceptionally common. Be sure that the hips and legs have the proper decoration. Make sure that someone doesn't swap in these legs or these legs for your $70+ SW103 Bespin Princess Leia is unique to this set and has also never been made again in a modern version. She can be found for around $40 SW104 Lando Calrissian, that sly scoundrel is going to cost you close to $100. Be very careful of his double sided cape. (Why has he never been made again? #Where'sLando?) SW105 Here's the one that I don't fully understand. This Boba Fett is one of the earliest figures with arm printing, and the arms probably get broken or worn more than most, but he'll run you $200 or more. Frankly, you can get the UCS Slave 1 for that and get a much nicer looking Boba Fett that also has arm printing. SW107 The Instruction book for this set can be found online, but if you wanted to have one, or felt like the set was incomplete without it, Bricklink shows sales data from $37.50 to $53.27 while Ebay has an auction that closed for $21.75 (including shipping) and several Best offer accepted Buy it Now listings. Of note is that most of the listings on ebay have sold, and Bricklink only shows 5 available. Many hope (and pray) that the LEGO Group releases a large playset of Cloud City, much like Ewok Village, Death Star, and the rumored Forthcoming Hoth set. Any large Cloud City set would have a detrimental effect upon the overall value of this set. However, this set has a certain cache about it. Anyone who collects LEGO Star Wars has probably wondered why there's not been a Bespin Luke, Leia or Lando in over a decade. The perceived rarity probably matches the actual rarity. Based on Bricklink sales data for the past 6 months, If you wanted to put this set together yourself, you'd be looking at an average price of just over $728 for the bricks and pieces (which is actually $40 more than the average in January when I started this particular article.) A huge chunk of that cost is in the minifigure selection. If you wanted to add the box or the Instruction book, your total continues to climb. This is all before considering the multiple orders needed to accumulate all the pieces. The shipping costs of those orders could push your costs up by an extra $100 or so. Please check out Jaisonline's build and review *NOTE: not every element of the set is listed. This article is meant to highlight the most common elements and the most unique elements from the set. It is not an inventory of the entire set. All images are the property of Rebrickable.com, Bricklink.com, and the LEGO Group.