December 2, 2023

Willa’s MOC First Look

COVID-19 has not been ideal for anyone. However, more free time resulted from the quarantine. This helped me to shed a lot of stress through a lot more LEGO® building time. Since isolation began, I already started and finished my lighthouse island MOC. Recently, I began another project. For years, the shopping district of my LEGO® city consisted of one lonely LEGO® Store. I have always planned to add more, but never found the time. This week, I started a second shop. Usually, I only report on MOCs when they are done. However, for fun I will write more about this project as it progresses. Here is my Willa’s MOC first look.

Willa's MOC first look.
Willa’s MOC first look – early progress.

I have already teased this build over on Instagram. However, I did not give much description. Given that I loved LEGO® Castles growing up, I decided to make a sorcerer’s shop. I imagine it being a little seedy. As such, the store is not up on my upper level shopping promenade, but below it. I am working on building my city upwards. The shop’s name is Willa’s. I hope a few AFOLs from the ’90s are smiling at the reference. In addition to the name, I have tried to sneak in as many Easter eggs as I can into this build. I won’t name them all, especially since the store is not finished yet. However, you can probably spot some in the pictures.

Willa’s: Everything for the Modern Sorcerer… Opening soon!

The image above came after my first full day of building. The basic structure of the shop went up. Additionally, I started planning the interior design and layout. Early inspiration came from a used bookshop I once visited in New York City. However, I stocked the shelves with magical relics and potions instead of books. I plan to include a second level to the shop, hence the spiral staircase in the corner.

Willa's MOC First Look.
Day 2 progress.

My second full day of building brought small but time-consuming changes. Firstly, I started tiling the floor. Coming up with a pattern and fitting it to the floor plan took a chunk of the day. Next, walls came down and were rebuilt with slight modifications to allow wall-hangings in places. Finally, I redesigned the shelving units. The change is not very noticeable. However, they need a uniform height in order to accommodate the upper level. This also required moving around some of the relics so that everything fits. Spooky Girl from CMF series 12 is the first employee, but others will come 😉

Day 2 also resulted in a Bricklink order. I realized I did not have the perfect Minifigure for this shop. She was from a series that came and went during my dark age (can you guess who?). I also started running low on some key bricks. All things considered, this MOC still has a ways to go. Things may change along the way too. However, I thought it would be fun to write about my progress on this project.

Until next time,

-Tom

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