When I first saw pictures of this set grace the more popular blogs I instantly knew I had to have it. I own An Unexpected Gathering and the Mini Modulars set. This is a great mashup of two of my favorite themes.
The build is quite nice and I only have a few complaints. First, the dark tan panels in front of the house should be reddish brown, not dark tan. And a little longer. Second, there are green tiles under the side windows that should be replaced with double cheese slopes. That would give it a little nicer slope into the ground. Also, the instructions do not seem to include a piece or a step for the dining table. There's just 2 little 1x1 round plates sitting there expecting a wood slab on top. I recommend adding a 1x3 plate on top. I'd like to see the roof constructed in such a way that it could come off for play. This would probably require an extra level of plates and tiles that would throw the vertical scale off though. If you're careful you CAN peel the roof off. I appreciate that the flesh colored chimney was replaced with dark orange bricks. However the dark bley tile on top would be better as dark tan. But as that piece hadn't been released yet, it's forgiveable.
Since I had just parted out a Minecraft set I got to thinking about Hobbit micromobs. I created all the figures from the larger set in micro scale to outfit the dinner party. Now the micro dwarves can eat Bilbo out of his micro house and home! My 6 year old daughter was quite delighted to shove all of them into the back end of the house and then stand Gandalf out front. To make them proper, I need some 1x1 plates (round and square) in dark orange and dark brown. And a sand green or olive green 1x1 plate with clip for hammer dwarf to hold the appropriately scaled minifig tool.
Compared to the large set, how does the micro stack up? Some of the Micro Modulars are better than others when it comes to emulating their larger brothers. I'd like to start by saying that I think the scale of the larger one is funny looking. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favorite sets but it looks like an ivy grown school bus not a cozy home built into a hill. In scale comparison the micro set is half the depth, 1/3 the width, and about 40% the height. To make the scale consistent, the micro would have to be on an 8x18 plate, not 8x12. But then I think there would be other issues that sprung up such as spacing of the front facade features. The tree on the micro is a bit right of center and should be one stud to the left. But I think this minor point would make bigger problems. What IS unfortunate is the lack of shrubbery and floral scenery on the micro. Where would you put them, you ask? I suppose the front panel fences should move forward one stud to make some garden room. Then include a few flower studs and maybe a 1x1 round brick or square brick or round plates or a cone in green for the bush.
Several things converged all at once to make my ownership of this set possible. First, timhook22 kindly photographed every page of the instruction manual. Second, cmrt1014 created a Bricklink XML file for wanted lists and the like. Third, none of these pieces are unique or hard to find. I had most of them in my builder's supply. And so it was that with a few orders I was able to create my own copy. Even if you have to build the thing from scratch, the Bricklink part out value is about $20. Apparently the box and instructions are what add $80 to the value. You could do it for even less if you don't want a mammoth sized Hobbit looming over his little hole.
Once you build your micro, I highly recommend getting an ivy covered school bus to go with it:
