Coming to America

Coming to America is a 1988 film directed by John Landis. The film tells the story of Akeem, prince of the African nation of Zamunda, who at the age of 21 is forced to marry a woman chosen by his parents, as he dictates the tradition of the country, without ever having known her.

Determined to find a woman who is really in love with him, he asks his father for a vacation before the wedding and leaves with his friend Semmi for New York, where he actually goes to look for true love.

To find a woman who can love him for who he is and not for his title or his possessions, Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) introduce themselves as "ordinary African students" and look for a room in Queens. Not just any, but a very poor room!

The idea of the project is to recreate the building where Akeem and Semmi live in Queens. In this location there are really hilarious sketches and I think it would be nice to recreate the settings of the film. I put in as many details as possible to get a really fun and very playable set.

Furthermore, the typical New York structure of the building makes it a truly unique modular set, to be combined with the other modular units produced up to now, to create a special scenario. For this reason, I hope it will also appeal to those who have never seen the film.

On this floor there is the barber shop where Akeem goes for a "nice and neat haircut".

I have included many elements such as the cash register, the black leather chairs, the photographs of the great sports champions and the newspaper clippings hanging on the walls.

The Minifigures I entered are the barber Clarence, owner of the business, Morris, one of his aides and Saul, the Jewish barbershop customer.

Also on this floor is the entrance to the building. Immediately after the door you can find mailboxes on the right and a small closet with a pay phone on the left.

At the end of the corridor, down the steps, there is the door to exit from the back, and the electrical panel positioned under the stairs.

Outside you can see the unmistakable writing "MY-T-SHARP", and the Barber's pole.

Next to the entrance you can see Mortimer and Randolph Duke warming themselves up using a garbage can as a brazier. Their fate could probably change again soon 😉

The landlord's room is located on this floor. Towards the end of the film, the landlord exchanges his apartment for Akeem's. The film only shows the entrance, so I tried to imagine what it might have been like. Perhaps the only room with a private bathroom.

Outside you can see the fire escape, actually working.

I also created the landlord minifig.

In this floor I have entered the shared bathroom and the room that the landlord shows Akeem and Semmi as soon as they arrive. As you can see, there is a few small problems on the floor, but nothing that cannot be solved with a little detergent. We just have to evict the current tenants.

On the top floor I entered Akeem's apartment after Semmi's renovation. Obviously who does not have a bathtub right in front of the TV?

Again I wanted to include many details from the film, such as The Bed, the Empire State Building shaped lamp and Akeem's plate as employee of the month.

But what set would it be without the protagonists? And in fact, here are the Akeem and Semmi minifigs, dressed "as New Yorkers".

The last flight of stairs leads to the roof.

When Akeem's father discovers the real reason for his trip, he immediately travels to New York to bring his son home. He arrives in Queens in his limo accompanied by beautiful rose bearers.

For those who haven't seen the film, you should know that Zamunda's royals walk only on rose petals. To complete the set, I included the car and the minifigures of King Jaffe Joffer, and one of his rose bearers.

Eventually Akeem reaches his goal and finds true love. Who knows that even my dreams cannot come true, thanks to your support!