Brick Update

A surprising little release came this week, an exclusive cube of 4 minifigs only available at Target. I stopped by my local store, and an employee told me they sold out quickly a day or two ago. Loads of signage for them. Luckily, I ordered some of these online which should arrive soon. Here is what the store looked like:

LEGO opened a new store in New York City recently, and I finally got a chance to stop by. The store is situated directly across from the Flatiron Building in a space that I think had never previously been used for retail. This area has really gotten trendy lately, so it was not a total surprise to hear that LEGO grabbed this location.

The store is nice – a big rectangle – unlike their Rockefeller Center store which is broken up based on the existing floorplan. The Flatiron store does have some weird lounge room in the back that has couches and bookshelves, and wood floors. Very strange.

They were sold out of the Turkey set and Snowman set, which seem to both be hot commodities. The custom LEGO displays above the shelves told the history of this particular building. I liked the columns that had a LEGO brick theme, and the lightning.

It is incredible how much LEGO is displayed at my local Toys R Us. You walk in to the store – it is the first thing you see; there is an enormous double-wide LEGO section, and even the Star Wars action figure aisle (a full aisle, both sides) is now 25% LEGO. I was surprised to see that they had the Ghostbusters set here, and that they had the Bricktober mini-modular sets for sale. They also had a big box of Rocket Raccoon polybags, which seem to just be hitting the market, and are hard to find.

I stopped by the LEGO Store, and was surprised to see they still had the big R2D2 in stock. This had recently disappeared from every retailer online, and is assumed to be retired. I grabbed one. We are heading into the holiday season, which is evident in the store:

I think independent toy stores get so overlooked in the landscape now defined by big box stores. It is impressive to see the setup at this small toy store, including a little holdover from the LEGO Pharaoh’s Quest line:

I stopped by my local Target a couple weeks back, and had a look at their pre-holiday setup:

Thanks to the good folks over at the Brickset.com forums, I was made aware of this nice bonus that LEGO offered when you purchase a VW T1 Camper Van earlier in September. LEGO was running one or two promotions already for the Chima polybag pictured above, plus the Classic Spaceman box, but ended up also offering a free mini Camper Van polybag in the mix! All three polybags were included when you bought the larger Camper Van for regular price of $120.

It turns out, the mini Camper Van polybag is worth quite a bit all by itself. Anyhow, even though I am in the middle of already building a Camper Van I purchased two months back, I couldn’t pass up all these great bonuses. For some reason, LEGO sent out the polybags separately from the larger set – as the photo above illustrates.

Stopped by the LEGO Store today, I am still pretty amazed at how many nice sets they have for sale at once! Tower Bridge is still around, as is Arkham Asylum, and then there is the new Mini Cooper, and The Tumblr comes out in a couple weeks. I have been buying sets again, but just stuff I want to build and display: the Ghostbusters car, VW Bus, and I just ordered the Exo Suit in a the brief moment it was available for sale on Amazon. Anyhow, onto the photos:

For a number of years now, the FAO Shwarz entrance has been eclipsed by Apple’s now iconic glass cube. The FAO entrance is in the far right of the building, just behind the glass cube in the photo:

They have a “guard” stationed outside, a toy soldier. This guy is a real character:

The huge entrance, filled with their stuffed animal display:

The LEGO section is in the far back corner of the 2nd floor. For some reason, it is custom designed with a factory theme:

There were lots of themed displays under acrylic, this one from Legends of Chima::

And a few lifesize LEGO statues. The toy soldier on the left, and Clone Trooper (captain Rex?) on the right:

These are new, from the LEGO Movie:

Really nicely done:

A very cool Star Wars Hoth MOC:

The other side:

Still plenty of Monster Fighters in stock:

I hadn’t seen this Chima 2 in 1 pack before:

The BIG Star Wars sets. The prices at FAO are MUCH higher than you would find elsewhere. The Death Star costs $600 here, whereas you can find it for $400 outside of the city. When I was in the aisle, someone picked it up to consider buying it. That DID NOT happen with the B-Wing, or SSD:

Star Wars section:

Ninjago:

Super Heroes:

LEGO Movie:

Plenty of Galaxy Squad still in stock:

More Super Heroes:

A lifesized Batman:

Some Exclusive sets:

Lone Ranger, Castle, and TMNT:

Friends display:

More TMNT:

A closeup of Batman:

The Hobbit, LOTR, Castle, and Kingdoms:

A neat minifig on display – he was about 1.5 feet tall:

Statue of Liberty:

Modulars, and that Death Star the person had picked up in the other aisle. I guess they didn’t feel like lugging it around the city, OR parting with $600:

Friends:

Back to the Future and Creator:

City:

Technic:

More City, with a real city in the background:

More City:

The City display:

A look at the overall LEGO section:

Hero Factory and Bionicle:

Another angle of the LEGO section:

I hadn’t seen this LEGO set before:

Creator:

Well, the skating rink is still active in Rockefeller Center, despite 60+ degree weather. And of course, LEGO still occupies a prime retail spot in the center of it all:

It’s a pretty impressive space:

Star Wars:

Death Star, still in stock:

LEGO Rockefeller Center

Super Heroes

LOTR, The Hobbit, and Chima

Some small speciality sets:

Simpsons house with Rockefeller Center in the background:

Lots of modulars:

TMNT and Ninjago:

A funny error on their interactive box screen:

Crowds crowds crowds:

Interesting train track box:

I totally forgot that Joust hadn’t retired yet. You can also see the AFOL checking out the new Maersk Container Ship:

City:

Technic:

Master Builder:

Olive cheese slopes:

Pink!