LEGO Retro Bowling Alley Review

Today we take a detailed look the LEGO Retro Bowling Alley. This Modular building was offered through the BrickLink designer program and it is pretty cool! With that said I think that the set has some issues.
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#LEGO

[@mikehughes4969]

This really takes me back. When I was a kid, about ten years old, one of the places I was allowed to ride my bike to was the bowling alley. I'm not really a bowler, but they had an arcade. It was mostly pinball in those days, but they had foosball, air hockey and some pool tables, but they were in the bar, and kids weren't really allowed in there. The diner was more of a lunch counter, and they had one of the best greasy cheeseburgers in existence. It was right next door to the movie theater to boot. I even bowled a few times. I hung out the until until I was fifteen, when it was closed down. This really made me rather nostalgic. Not much I wouldn't give to have one of those burgers again.

[@countrabricksbuildcraze8916]

Yes in mid 80 s I did have So much fun times 😊👍at bolling ally. and still to this day. In my town and three towns away boling alley has arcade ..ohh Jordan thinking of adding arcade I would add it on first floor .he s going to add 2 nd floor. I never Sean a two story bowling alley arcade up stair s. Could work add .

[@blandwagon374]

@@countrabricksbuildcraze8916 I don’t know if you’re from the 80s because that grammar

[@countrabricksbuildcraze8916]

@@blandwagon374 sory man I was typing fast an dident read my coment before posting I fixed it now. Add my English spelling is not best ever I tend to add er. Than Ar or leve out a letter I'm even trying to you's spell check so it's ever. Thos two thing s but I notice I go back an check my coment and some words are Rong not Shaw..why. It's like utube or my phone chandged the words sory on that. ...

[@countrabricksbuildcraze8916]

@@blandwagon374 yer I'm from 78.i was born..... ..so I from 70 s ..and 80 s

[@blandwagon374]

@@countrabricksbuildcraze8916 it was just it felt little bit strange that someone that should be about 50 years old is not good at spelling

[@ChilleBruh]

What a great building design! All the flaws are fixable, and the tile work is astounding. Can not wait to see the 2 story version eventually… until then it will make a wonderful addition as is!

[@little.wookiee]

If I had a Lego city, this would be in my city ASAP

[@trevorjordan6507]

If I actually had money then it would be in mine as well

[@badlegochannel6365]

Just start one if you want to I doesn't have to be huge to be great

[@BlondeBoyBricks]

same

[@imtheboss8414]

I haved Small Lego City in 2018

[@brikfanz]

Then make one

[@ClicketyBrick]

Really love the roof units, I wish all modular buildings had more of those!

[@stevecampbell599]

Those AC units are what sold me on this set.

[@CiBi1968]

That "Dave's Cafe Bowl" Sign is crying out to be motorised !!! 😉

[@andrewwarner6820]

I would love to see a second floor with an arcade. And for a suggestion, how about adding a laser tag area upstairs alongside the arcade. There’s plenty of room to do half arcade and half laser tag.

[@Grantm06]

I like this set a lot. One thing i would say is, where the pins go, it seems like its 3 1x3 tiles, so maybe you could do one 1x1 plates and 2 1x1 tiles for front row, a 1x3 Jumper, and just do a 1x3 plate for the back and you could have them stationary (i know it was done that way for active use more than anything.)

[@jeannine.]

The bowlng alley looks so awesome. I love the inside with the various areas. It's a nice big size too. Glad you bought it. You'll be able to adapt it and make the changes you want. Great review!

[@chrispowers7207]

I have the bowling alley, I made from spate parts, followed instructions though. Also had 2nd floor arcade, with stairs in exact area you described and after I built it, it lost its authentic vintage bowling alley appeal. Carrying the detail work to the 2nd floor didn't look good, so I broke it at 2md floor and designed all profile masonry bricks with black window frames and it looked decent. But after a few designs I have now torn it down again and building a 4 plate. I turned the arcade area into additional seating for diner area and it looks good. Back wall is being opened with TURQUOISE arches by desk to lead to arcade area.

[@jkbuilders2000]

Couldn't agree more, in fact we made almost the exact same points in our video we made a few days ago!

[@MomentsOftheMagic]

it looks like a cool set and takes me back to my days when i use to bowl all the time. i can smell the bowling alley just looking at that set.

[@JoshTheDragon_27]

Oh wow. Knowing Bricksie, I thought this was a moc. Wow Bricklink made it

[@andrewdubber8617]

Great review. Good how you have given constructive ideas for people to fix the faults. Adding another level of plates to the roof would be a good idea to strengthen it. Keep up the good work Jordan

[@Malachi-Budke]

I am so glad you could get this set Jordan. If anyone should have it, it's you. I hope you and your family are well. If not I hope you have a quick recovery.

[@mantizcuber4587]

The arcade idea is awesome! I personally use studio all the time. It is hard to use at first but once you get the hang of it you should be flying. Also congrats on the twins!

[@enlathxaind178]

Love the idea of a second floor with arcades!!! Cant wait to see that... Overall a beautiful addition to your city Mr Bricksie!

[@ABrickDreamer]

Really good looking set! I think the pins are not connected for playability, you should be able to flick the ball towards there. But I understand that is annoying when moving it around. Can swap a few tiles with studs and a 1x3 jumper

[@mattgaskill7720]

I really think you should do it add the arcade, make it two stories sounds like a great idea

[@oliverwilson6904]

Can’t wait for some of these bdp sets to go in the city, it’s really coming together. Great job

[@martindack60]

Wow such imagination went into the design. Love the couch

[@dangorne9527]

Thanks! Thanks for everything, Jordan. Seriously make every day that much more spectacular, because it’s LEGO! Who doesn’t love LEGO?!

[@Bricksie]

WOIW! Thank you so much Dan!

[@YouGoneMad]

I personally disagree with you about the loose pins and parts, but I see your perspective. However, I absolutely agree with you about those gutters, and I love your idea about raising up the TRan Tiles for the main lane. IN FACT, most boawling lanes I've been too have a step up onto the lanes that I do not see here, and your idea about reaising those tiles up so the gutters are lower only makes the lanes on the interior more accurate to a real bowling alley, so Kudos to my boyo Bricksie here for suggesting something to make it even more accurate to real life! You Rock Bricksie, and as always, I love your mind boyo!

[@benjaminschaar5423]

I saw this model in a Lego magazine around 2019, and I really wish I had it. It’s such a cool model!

[@livier3970]

This really feel like a set desingned by a fan, incredible details and originality, lego really need to sell more of thoses kind of sets.

[@javiersp15]

Looking to get my soon! The overall look is just fantastic! Issues pointed out are totally valid.

[@Ro_884_]

This building looks amazing, significantly detailed, definitely nice to have a bowling alley in the city!!!!

[@StacksOnBricks]

Love the shadow those fence elements cast on the exterior wall below. Not sure if that was deliberate, but a cool effect nonetheless!

[@geologyjoerocks]

Thanks! Despite the minor flaws, looks like a fantastic set! I had a chance to buy this, but I was cheap and just bought the aquarium from that series. I should have bought both!

[@cozy.9803]

Looks beautiful

[@donnalajoie5309]

Nice looking set. Like all he idea of a second floor for the arcade games. Great video.

[@AtomicVisionary]

I love the retro design of it.

[@mrshark_]

Amazing!

[@Maximum-edits]

Sounds amazing that idea for the second level is so smart 😂

[@thevinylcollector3472]

awesome video jordan the bowling alley is amazing great job

[@leopardgeckotalk]

I’ve recently been building the Downtown Diner and the loose pieces drove me crazy too 😅

[@heathkeefer4938]

I would give the second floor a balcony to look over the lanes.

[@LegoLloyd83]

A second floor is a great idea for sure, look forward to seeing it if you do it

[@adamb2619]

This set could have really used some large skylights to help see inside since its pretty short and no windows otherwise.

[@EMR-DESIGN]

Looks like a great set. And yes the flaws with the loose pins and the gutter and the roof not connected very tight could/should have been noticed by Lego. Good idea to add another floor on top of it to make an arcade room or something. But it is a bowling Alley set of course.

[@pirate1980]

Wow amazing lego set

[@little.wookiee]

That’s sick

[@asbricks8821]

Keep up the good work

[@little.wookiee]

Cool video dude

[@lafenn5332]

I like the critique. You know what you want and what to expect. Not negative at all. Don't apologize.

[@annasworldofbricks]

That's pretty cool

[@robbiedobbles]

I believe I already saw a moc with a 2nd floor on Reddit. Can't remember if it had a rebrickable design or if it was just a show off post. Had a pool table, foosball table, etc

[@tjanderson6162]

Impressive!

[@TheJumiFilm]

Really regret not getting it

[@isaacallender]

Looking good man, been waiting for this video to be reviewed by you. Definitely would love to see it two stories high with an arcade on top as I do agree it's scale is a little small (height wise) when next to other modulars. Also is there a reason you used different colored base plates when making it on a MILS? Saving the dark bluish gray ones it came with for a future endeavor?

[@Bricksie]

Pretty much. And I was able to prep the plate ahead of time.

[@rosshill2207]

Looks great, but I agree, the second floor and being able to secure things is a must

[@bryanninneman4613]

When you add the second floor arcade you should add a pool table and a foosball table!

[@belindaslomp1253]

Wow I so want that in my city. I was going to design my own out of diner pieces to match the diner

[@legolocken]

Dang, I really wanted this.

[@Metalizer]

2nd floor sounds great

[@littlechickenpot1989]

very nice

[@jackkislowski8785]

Bricksie when you make the second floor arcade, you should try putting a laser tag arena section in the arcade!

[@thewinenut9800]

Now that you’ve put it on mils you could creat gutters by lowering the gutter rather than raising everything else. Great review, thanks.

[@dipppincanuck]

Would love this set any insight on where to look for it?

[@matchboxmickmoyboyz6988]

Just built this and definately needs some more jumper plates. I downloaded the build instructions and was going to print them but glad I didn't as I would have used about 3 loads of ink ! One page per brick was just silly and the most bricks placed on a page was around 3 - the directions could have been cut down by two thirds

[@brandonharrischannel7516]

Wow

[@onewiththestud]

Bricksie is going to make a shopping area where there will be a cinema this and a couple shops like a clothes store and a Lego store😂

[@Hugh248]

Before you even said it near the end of the video, i thought it could do with a second floor to make it modular building height.

[@themonsterjamtalkshow8025]

I lovr it

[@Elizabeth-foolishmortal]

I think I would have a manager’s office on part of the second floor. I almost want a clear glass wall in the lobby to see inside because once the roof goes on all that interior detail goes away.

[@t.i.m.bricks8302]

I already ordered jumpers to fix my interior

[@winstonlee1814]

Great review! And, yes, MOCs...look good but some are meant only for display. Single stud connections are always prevalent and, unfortunately, have been making their way into actual LEGO sets.

[@billybob-zg4bx]

Lego needs to come out with “The Big Lebowski” figures to go with this set.

[@Mikes1gaming]

Bro has a multi million dollar collection if not mor

[@maxfisher3530]

The only thing I would change is the lanes themselves and raise them up but otherwise leave it the way it is.

[@1972rush0629]

Interior looks great, but appears to be completely studless in the floor, which would make it harder to pose anything Would need to swap out at least a few tiles for matching color jumper plates or 1×1 I plates. And if you're going to fix the issue with the gutters, I would think using 1x2 cheese sopes might make sense to lead up into the bowling lane area, otherwise it might look uneven otherwise. Just a thought.

[@itsjelte6345]

Nice building, when are you going to upload another Christmas village vid?

[@Oilcountry89]

What about building your own modular with an arcade and laundry mat using some of the ideas in this set.

[@BrickHQ]

I wish this set would be a regular set set that's more widely available. It is a great set, though it does have some flaws. Another flaw is the lack of jumper plates to place minifigures, also the seats only have tiles so minifigures cant sit there.

[@nathanaelfriday7596]

Like you pointed out, a bit too much tile; could use more jumpers for positioning mini figs and accessories. Is there play value in the loose pins ie can you actually bowl? I think a lot of MOCs are too afraid of exposed studs, whereas I love them and honestly probably would only have used tiles for the lanes and the fancier floor mosaic.

[@levi1803]

Do you clip the pins in to the roof where they sit?

[@0803iceman]

So. When is the 2 floor ready 😎👍would love to see it 😁

[@vdan2879]

Blu tack does the trick

[@judy3973]

Certainly room for improvement. Still a fascinating set!

[@zarda1484]

I can't decide if I want to keep this or not.

[@itzcrazydan]

I dont think its too nitpicky to point out some oversights. Its good feedback for a designer to see what is/isnt practical. 100% tile floors look great, but there should be a place for jumpers to place figures and props.

[@elwinwoo7588]

Not sure if this was mentioned but the sign would be nice double sided.

[@joshuadanger904]

is the roof being held on by so few studs a design choice to make taking off the roof easier to access the inside? Seems like that was probably by design?

[@saslovskykoslov]

This is gotta be the first time Jordan has ever been nip picky about a set. Other reviews don't have any of this, great to hear the bad parts of a set so the developer can used it to fix problems. That's good.

[@prateek523]

Because he gets most other sets for free from Lego

[@saslovskykoslov]

@@prateek523 your right about that. But it's good to hear negative parts of a review so they can fix it in future batches of the set.

[@Raymondmccullagh]

Who else thought of this when we saw bricksie's twins Welp time to get the duplo

[@Aerospace_Education]

They sent me a second one on accident. I'm contemplating selling it or using it to make it two stories.

[@Dog-gw6jm]

You could make a small laser tag zone on the zecond floor!

[@Dog-gw6jm]

*Second

[@amylinkoonce1352]

Need to make a new sign if you make a huge arcade then you need to mention the arcade on the sign

[@nikchapman3007]

When will you be creating the double Daily Bugle ?

[@BengalsBrix]

Idc I don't really think it's flawed bc if the pins were held down u can't bowl, but I get it, maybe it should've been a switch out option Glad I got this set To sell or not to sell....

[@almightycinder]

I'm guessing that's not actually a gutter. I think it's supposed to be a bumper bowling alley, where there isn't a gutter on the sides, that they have for little kids.

[@jadenshappyreview6263]

I really love the bowling alley if I have my own Lego city I will put the church. Maybe you should put a church in your city.

[@daltonrothchild6569]

So I have literally just learned about these Bricklink sets and I desperately need this one! How might I go about obtaining it??

[@daltonrothchild6569]

Oh, I see that they are no longer available and if I want one I’ll have to buy it off eBay for at least double price 🥴

[@sidneyleejohnson]

to me the flaw was the number of pins combined with arcade games that didn't match the era for that number of pins.

[@sgabricks9592]

Although my city is pretty small I think it would not do the bowling alley justice it’s it doesn’t have a parking lot around it.

[@caronmills8983]

Nice set. Get Brick Artisan to design it for you

[@countrabricksbuildcraze8916]

Groovy set. Bean ceeing few talk about it in last munth or so .an when it was up for voting to become a set ..😊👍..I would love this set my dad youst to bowl and my uncle was in a bowling team .youst to go and play the arcade game s in their in mid 80 s was the best. Jordan. Guess that's why some will say it should have a game arcade in this build blowing place in my town and few town s away still have arcades in them 😊👍.. add some studs. To hold the pins down hidden. Or creat a oltra build with technic parts so the ball hit the pins and it automatically pic s the pin s up ree sets them like a real bowling alley that would be rad yousing a motor..to 👍😊🤔🤔

[@Packer221]

Can anyone explain why so many builders say “mason-a-ry” bricks? There’s no second “a” in the word, it’s just “masonry.”

[@gretchenmittelstaedt6703]

The man and woman in the matching tan shirts are members of a bowling team, not employees IMO. Clue is the trophy the woman is holding.

[@omgwtflok]

loose pieces in a set drive me crazy to a point that Blu Tack was being considered

[@Robotfan987]

If the pins are on studs how are the minifigs supposed to knock them down? Odd criticism.

[@paulporteous4190]

The mini figs don’t actually move! 😂 he’s right just silly put them on studs!