Review of a Generic Copy of the Lego Downtown Diner Modular 6013 from Aliexpress

 Lego Downtown Diner Modular 6013 from Aliexpress Review

Intro

Hey brick fans, I'm back share pics and my review of the unbranded version of the Lego Downtown Diner 10260 modular building.  I bought mine off Aliexpress and received a generic version only identified as 6013.  The manual indicates that it has 2480 pieces and is rated for ages 16+.

So let's jump in and take a look at this fake Lego set and see if it's worth getting or not.

Unboxing

Aliexpress delivered the Downtown Diner clone in the generic white plastic bag.  The 32x32 stud tan baseplate was sandwiched in the instruction manual, both survived shipping relatively unscathed.

The rest of the 2480 pieces was compressed into several cellophane bags numbered 1 through 10.

Here's all the parts bags to construct the Downtown Diner.   This is the breakdown of the numbered bags 1 through 10:  There are 3 bags of parts for each respective number , except for 9 and 10 which only have 2 bags each.   In my package, several of the numbered bags were torn because the cellophane used was a bit flimsy.  Prior to building the Diner, I had some worries about whether some of the pieces fell out or were missing.

Additionally, this bag was un-numbered and contained various gray plates and a brick separator.  

Regarding the manual, I realize that the instruction booklet is very different from the  Lego Downtown Diner instructions.  The numbering of the steps and the placement of pieces is different too.  For comparison, here is the digital copy of the Lego instructions:  https://www.lego.com/en-ca/service/buildinginstructions/10260

Build Progression

Here's a very quick run through for each of the 10 sections.  I'll try to highlight any issues if any.  

The first floor of the Downtown Diner is an old style 50's restaurant which will be built up in sections 1 thru 4.

Section 1

Section 1 uses parts from 3 bags and the baseplate to build the sidewalk and part of the first floor of the Diner.

I will point out that instead of using the provided tan 32x32 baseplate, I've decided to put the Downtown Diner on a raised baseplate constructed of random bricks and baseplates from my collection.  I find that the raised baseplate provides greater stability and a solid base for the modular buildings.  

In addition to implementing the raised baseplate, I also have been updating all of my modular buildings by adding a fascia on the front side just to give the display a cleaner look.   Please note that the techniques above are not part of the instructions.

In this section we are introduced to the Cook, who is first of six minifigures included in the Diner set.  We will take a closer look at all of the minifigures later.   The Diner features a very retro black and white tiled floor.

If you compare the picture of my Diner vs. the instructions, you will see that I've also reversed the sidewalk colour from dark gray to light gray.  This change is to make my Downtown Diner consistent with the sidewalks of my other modular buildings.   You might notice I have also set the modular foundation back by one extra stud to give extra room on the sidewalk.  

Section 2

We will finish off the interior of the diner and add the back wall in section 2.

So I found this deficiency in the instructions which leaves out the back of one of the seats.  I was hoping that only the instructions were defective, but the part for the seat back was also missing.  If you need to replace it, it is the 1x4 curved slope brick lego part number 6191/ 10314.

Here is a pic of the actual Lego instructions that show the back of the seating.  

The pictures above show the diner banquette, a coffee maker, and an old time candy machine.

Section 2 complete!

Section 3

Added the large range hood, fountain dispensers and the diner counter.  In the instructions you get two glass mugs, and a camera but they don't attach anywhere.  I was missing a 1x1 turquoise piece which is supposed to be placed near the rear entrance.  I used a white piece from my extra parts since I don't have a lot of turquoise bricks.

This generic set numbered 6013 did not do a good job of packaging the large window pieces, because mine are all scratched and scuffed up.   

If your set has the scratched window pieces, here are the replacement parts you want to get.

The newer alt Lego sets don't have this problem anymore, so mine might be old inventory.  Luckily the printed glass door was free of scratches. A waitress minifigure on roller skates is included in section 3.

Section 4

The first floor restaurant is finished!  Everything is nice and sturdy, even the Diner sign.  The wall hangings are printed and reminiscent of the ones found in the palace cinema modular building.

Section 5

With the first floor finished, it's time to shift our attention to the second floor, which houses a training gym complete with a boxing ring and barbell for weight training.

I like the water cooler and the blue weight stand.  No that is not two women fighting in the boxing ring!  It's just a dude with a fancy hairdo scaring the young blonde girl.  They are minifigures #3 and #4.

If she's the trainer, why doesn't she get boxing gloves as well?

The second floor is not complete yet, so we need to finish it off in section 6.

Section 6

This section was fairly straightforward to build.  The two side windows are actually installed upside down on purpose which is a building technique I've not seen before.   Fortunately, all of the glass pieces for the windows were scratch free.   A punching bags was added to the interior, and I must say the rear circular staircase is a unique build as well.

Wrapping up section 6, we can place the second floor on top of the first floor.

Section 7

The next two sections will construct a recording studio for the third floor.   Talk about vintage, are you old enough to remember a time when music was recorded onto reels of tape as a physical media ?  The sound quality of the old tape reels was less than optimal.

So far, so good.

Section 8

The building technique to finish the third floor walls is almost identical to the steps in section6.  The main difference is that there is no circular staircase, just a ladder.  Plus there is the addition of the art deco arch over the glass area at the front.

Minifigure #5 is a mystery woman.  Is she the recording studio sound engineer or is she a vocal artist?  It turns out she is identified as a Manager according to the Brickowl website.

Section 9

Building the Diner roof was pretty straightforward.  The skylight is directly over the seating area of the third floor.

Here's the Downtown Diner with the roof attached.  It's finally done and looks great!   At some point, I will probably place some gray tiles on the back portion of the raised baseplate to cover up the purple colour.

Section 10

The last step is to build the pink car.

Looks cute and it can even seat three minifigures comfortably.  The sixth minifigure you get is a musician with red guitar.

Speaking of minifigures, here's what the alt Lego copies of the six minifigures look like.  I think they look like decent replicas of the original Downtown Diner minifigures.   

Final Thoughts

Although the design of the Downtown Diner is a bit controversial, I think it's a nice looking modular building and I'm happy to have this Lego clone in my collection.   The building instructions were good even though they vary somewhat from the Lego instructions in terms of sequence.  

Just like the original Lego set, this one has all printed pieces and no stickers.   All of the printed pieces were very good.

The minifigures look great except personally I think I will change the hairpiece of the boxer.  I wish that the set design included an extra boxer minifigure or a coach for the boxer to spare with.  At least give the blonde bodybuilder some optional boxing gloves.

As for build quality, this unbranded copy of the Lego Downtown Diner still suffers from scratched window parts like the the old Lepin models.  The single missing 1x1 brick wasn't a huge issue for me, but the missing curved seat back in the diner was disappointing.  And it was actually left out in the instructions as well.   So if you intend to get the alternate copy of the Lego Downtown Diner, don't get the 6013 version, if you can.    Overall, if you don't look too closely, it's a nice modular building to get.

Just a reminder that I've changed the set somewhat by adding a raised baseplate and changing the colour of the sidewalk tiles from dark gray to light gray.  Future changes I will make include changing the boxers hairpiece and modify the diner counter so that the mugs can be attached to it instead of just being displayed loosely.

You can get a copy of the Downtown Diner from Aliexpress, just search for Downtown Diner Streetview.

Thanks for looking, bye for now!