Category: LEGO Stores

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick Selected Designs Now Available in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand

The wonderful people behind the LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick Test Lab challenge has released new designs that are now available for purchase in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The LEGO community has once again shown its endless creativity with nine unique designs, two of which will be made available later in the year. The Christmas Sock by BrickStability and Sugar Skull by yop1172 will be released at a later date, but you can check out the other designs right now.

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick Availability

All the builds are now live on Pick a Brick in all European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. If you’re in the United States or Canada, don’t worry; the designs will be available in these regions in July. Until then, you can still take a look at the builds and download the instructions.

Bestseller Selection and Customization

LEGO has made sure that all the bricks are in their Bestseller selection for faster shipping. You can also add your own twist to customize the builds even further by adding other elements from the Pick a Brick assortment to your basket. The possibilities are endless with Pick a Brick Builds.

Pick a Brick Builds are new to LEGO.com, and the team is still gathering feedback and working to improve the experience. If you receive a feedback survey, please respond to it, or leave comments below if you make a purchase. LEGO would appreciate your help and support to improve this experience for fans and shoppers.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the new designs available:

Billboard Fun

199 pieces | $26.70

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick

Cyber Explorers

200 pieces | $15.35

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick

4-Season Greenhouse

200 pieces | $30.44

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick

Market Magic

178 pieces | $27.29

LEGO Ideas Pick a Brick

Modular Racers

198 pieces | $26.91

PAB 202303 Primary Image Quinten

Garden Dreams

196 pieces | $25.79

PAB 202303 Primary Image Maria

Brick-quarium

185 pieces | $14.46

PAB 202303 Primary Image Joshua

Early Look at LEGO Build-a-Minifigure 2023 Characters

The LEGOLAND Japan Twitter Account gives us an early look at 13 new LEGO Build-a-Minifigure 2023 characters scheduled (or BAM for short) to be available sometime in the first quarter of the next year. As most of you are aware, this unique selection of minifigures is quite different from what LEGO usually offers with its LEGO Collectible Minifigures or CMF. LEGO BAM characters are in-store exclusives and are offered 4 times a year in LEGO brand stores as a strategy to attract more customers.

And thanks to an early reveal by LEGOLAND Japan, we can now see what’s in store in this Q1 offering. Take a look.

I have to say that this LEGO Build-a-Minifigure 2023 series is a pretty impressive collection – with LEGO throwing in plenty of rare accessories, exclusive parts, and even recolored ones. I’m happy to see that there are plenty of costumed minifigures, some of which whose accessories are included in prior CMF series. We have a ship costume, for example, a redesigned crayon costume, a recolored brick suit guy, and even a new strawberry shortcake costume as well. The Panda Suit guy and the blue rabbit accessories also hint that these are designed with the Chinese New Year in mind, with 2023 being the Year of the Rabbit.

LEGO Build-a-Minifigure 2023

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LEGO BAM Q1 2022 3

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There’s no word yet on when they will be exactly available, but our best guess is next month as well, along side LEGO’s January 2023 releases. Whatever is the case, be sure to check with your local LEGO Stores for its upcoming release schedule.

Special thanks to Jay’s Brick Blog for the heads up.

LEGO.com US Opens “Minifigure Factory” Beta

Nine decades of LEGO history on, one spinoff element of the brand’s become as integral as the plastic bricks themselves. It’s the minifigures, quite obviously. Evolution of the LEGO building system made the originally-decorative human shapes into figures with real character. Why else would LEGO minifigs become collectible as-is without needing to be tied to a set? Still, for all their variety, some LEGO fans might desire more uniqueness in the minifigs they get. For them, LEGO introduced services for creating fully-custom LEGO minifigs. But only selected LEGOLAND parks and LEGO Stores had them. But now, LEGO’s making the minifig-making possibility an online experience stateside.

Brick Fanatics has it that LEGO.com US has officially launched its Minifigure Factory page. As already stated, this now-online service allows customers to create personalized minifigures by choosing from a pool of option parts. Going even further, the design potential extends to customized text on the minifigure’s body, along with individual color choices. Where before, custom minifigs had to be done on-site at limited venues, the LEGO.com service reaches more people. But at present LEGO Minifigure Factory is on its beta phase, meaning some restrictions and limitations are in place.

First, orders are one custom minifigure per household only ($11.99). Second, the Minifigure Factory page is only active in certain locations. Third, it only ships items stateside. Non-US visitors to LEGO.com there might be able to access, but can only give US shipping address destinations. Fourth, the design choices are limited at this point. Hopefully the beta test will be successful and LEGO Minifigure Factory can launch for real soon.

Build a Red Brick in LEGO Stores, July & August

Quite a few years ago, a possible surprise awaiting customers at a LEGO Store are brick-building events. You get to sit at a worktable and given several LEGO bricks along with instructions to assemble simple builds. You complete the exercise and you get to bring your build home. These activities not only hype up the kids, they can also serve as sources for extra LEGO bricks. Of course, in-store building events went quiet for a couple years due to the pandemic. Now however, they’re returning to a nice regularity, if this new activity is indication.

Brickset brings us word of this cool in-store building event at LEGO Store branches this month and next. In yet another part of “Celebrating 90 Years of Play”, store customers can build a big Red LEGO Brick. The event kicked off in US and UK LEGO Stores this July 20, lasting until the 21st. And it’ll recur this coming August, this time from the 10th to 11th. The Big Red Brick looks fairly impressive and can be built from Ages 6 and up. If nothing else, the red and black pieces could be added later to one’s loose LEGO-brick stock.

Local LEGO Store customers will be able to participate in the Red Brick build, first come first served. Each store will also have limited quantities of LEGO bricks for building in all event days. Furthermore, only one Red Brick can be assembled and brought home per person. Lastly, this simple set can’t be bought conventionally. You miss the building event period this week however, and you’ll have to wait for August 10-11 for another chance.

Star Wars UCS AT-AT (75313) Midnight Opening Sale at Leicester LEGO Store

“We’ve sighted Imperial walkers.” So went the dreaded line in the Rebel Alliance’s Echo Base, planet Hoth, during “The Empire Strikes Back.” LEGO-wise, we’ve been sighting said four-legged AT-AT walker in (its latest) brick-built form all month. That was since November 5 when LEGO revealed their impressive Ultimate Collector’s edition of the Imperial AT-AT (75313). The set counts as one of the highlights for LEGO’s Black Friday 2021 event frenzy. It launches November 26 after all. LEGO Star Wars UCS collectors have marked this as a priority acquisition. In the UK, a LEGO branded store is already making necessary preparations.

According to Brickset, the UK flagship LEGO Store in Leicester Square, London is opening very early Friday night. How early? Try midnight on the dot of the 26th of November. Like a midnight book launch, this is to enable Londoners to get their UCS AT-AT (75313) real early. One would expect stocks of the set to run out quickly when the sun rises. As for the midnight sale, it will only run from 12AM to 2AM on Friday. One extra caveat however: would-be early buyers of the UCS AT-AT must first gain a special-access wristband from the Leicester LEGO Store the day before. And they’ll only have 200 to give.

LEGO Store Leicester Square will begin distributing the midnight UCS sale wristbands to customers at 10:30AM, November 25. These early birds will also receive a “special midnight opening gift” alongside their new LEGO UCS set (75313). Hopefully that wasn’t just a fanciful way of referring to Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber (40483). This is already expected as a LEGO Star Wars GWP.

LEGO Harry Potter Gryffindor Dorms GWP Set Confirmed in Latest Store Calendar

With LEGO, what was once old and simple can become new and intricate several years later. In the early days of LEGO Harry Potter, something like Gryffindor House (4772) was already a big deal. A lot can be done already with a bedroom-study room combo and two minifigs. That set however comes up short at a time when LEGO Harry Potter is already 20 years old. There arose rumors last week of a new LEGO HP set depicting the Gryffindor Dorms as a GWP for October. We can now confirm those rumors thanks to LEGO.

As Brick Fanatics tells us, the October 2021 LEGO Store Calendar features this new LEGO Harry Potter set. Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms (40452) reimagines the rather ancient Gryffindor House (4772) from decades ago with magical detail. Harry and Ron minifigures share a modular-built bedroom setup with a bunk bed, trunk and plenty of miscellaneous accessories. But check out the back wall of the bedroom. It looks like a display space for LEGO tiles depicting the in-universe Wizarding World trading cards. These tile cards are collectible in 20th-Anniversary LEGO HP products. Even the in-store GWP Hermione’s Study Desk polybag (30392) has them.

By the way, we mentioned the modular nature of the Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms (40452) set. It makes perfect sense considering the modularity prevalent in the more recent LEGO Harry Potter releases. You can add the Gryffindor Dorms to mix and match with Polyjuice Potion Mistake (76386) and its fellow sets to customize your Hogwarts Castle interior. Remember, this GWP comes free with every total LEGO Harry Potter product purchase above $100. Catch it from October 25 to November 7, both in-store and on LEGO Shop@Home.

LEGO Store Calendar for October 2021 is Out

It’ll be October this coming Friday and LEGO is ready to show its cards for that month. That means a new schedule of promotions, events and other cool stuff at LEGO Stores in October 2021. True to form, LEGO’s servers now carry the two-page store calendar for next month. We already know of all those new sets coming out right on October 1st, but what of the special offers and happenings in the stores? We’ve grouped them neatly down below:

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Special Offers
(LEGO VIP ONLY)
  • Minifigure Keychain – FREE upon VIP signup this October
  • Rebuild the World Rebuildable Flying Car – FREE with VIP purchases over $120, October 18-24 ONLY
(In-Store ONLY, October 25 to November 7)
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Featured New LEGO Set Releases
Events

October 30-31 – Trick Or Treat! Special treat for visiting LEGO Stores in Halloween costume on these days

Simply visit LEGO Shop@Home for more in-depth details.

LEGO Opens First Shipboard LEGO Store on German Cruise Ship

LEGO Stores fall roughly into several groups. There are the standalone branded stores in various locations around the world. There are LEGO Stores attached to larger LEGO venues like the LEGOLAND theme parks and smaller Discovery Centers. And then there are LEGO Stores at major travel destinations or hubs like airports. Recall the LEGO Store at Billund Airport’s departure lounge, with the limited exclusive LEGO Architecture set. One thing they have in common is that they’re for all intents and purposes built on solid ground. But what if there’s a new LEGO Store that isn’t?

Say hello to the first shipboard LEGO Store, as reported on by Brick Fanatics. New branded LEGO Stores have been slow in opening due to the pandemic. That however hasn’t stopped LEGO in Europe, where they launched a new store on a cruise ship. AIDAprima, flagship of the German-based AIDA Cruises line, opened its own LEGO Store last Saturday, September 25.

aidaprima lego store 07

LEGO Group Sales Director for Travel and Retail – Europe Annette Rosendahl presided over the momentous occasion. In a speech during the opening she described the new store as an intense brand experience for travellers on AIDAprima. At 75 square meters this shipboard LEGO Store is big enough to offer many things LEGO to passengers.

We probably know what you readers are thinking right now. This is not the LEGO ship news you’ve been expecting at all! Unfortunately there’s still no news about that long-rumored LEGO Creator Expert Titanic set. Sorry if we disappointed you, seeing that only travellers aboard the cruise ship AIDAprima could enjoy this LEGO Store. This ship embarks on a 7-day Baltic Sea tour, departing from Kiel all Saturdays until October 23. It will start up the Baltic tour again next year on April 2022, this time setting out from Hamburg.

LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486) Building Instructions Now Up

In case you missed out on the July 2021 LEGO Store Calendar, you may want to know that LEGO is currently offering a gift-with-purchase (GWP) set in the form of the LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486). This GWP is a smaller, chibi version of its counterpart the LEGO Adidas Originals Superstar (10282), and is available as a promotional item for a single-receipt purchase of any LEGO products worth $85 and above.

Aside from the very much welcomed gesture of extending its promo period until July 20 (as long as supplies last), the LEGO Customer service portal has also uploaded the building instructions for the LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486) which you can access right here.

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Having the instructions available online is a great way to try and build this replica while waiting for your LEGO Shop@Home orders to arrive. Here’s the parts list if you want to check them out. You may also want to see if you have these parts in your LEGO inventory as well.

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Coming in at 92 pieces, the majority of these parts are quite common except for the recently introduced 2X2X1 1/3 Brick with Bow element which was first introduced in 2020 together with the LEGO Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (43179) set. This piece is also found in other larger, 18+ sets such as the LEGO Ideas 123 Sesame Street (21324) and LEGO Creator Expert Ghostbusters ECTO-1 (10274) sets.

This curved element is used to create a more organic feel to the LEGO Mini Adidas, particularly at the tip of the shoe. So it’s quite a challenge to look for alternatives in case you don’t have this piece in your LEGO collection.

Overall, having these instructions available online is a nice way to create a brick-built pair to go along with this GWP. Happy building!

LEGO Store July 2021 Promotional Calendar Now Up

The LEGO Store July 2021 Promotional Calendar has now been uploaded, with plenty of exciting promotional items to be offered next month. Front and center of next month’s calendar feature the upcoming LEGO Adidas Originals Superstar (10282), slated to be released on July 1st. Let’s take a close look at these promotional items.

Free LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486)

Promo valid from July 1 to 14, 2021

free adidas 07 July Calendar US Page 1 40486 1 1

It’s great to hear that a smaller, more adorable version of set 10282 will be available in the form of a free LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486). The good thing is, it is not strictly offered as a tie-in freebie together with its larger cousin, but will be added to your cart automatically when your single-receipt purchase of any LEGO products reaches $85 and more, or while supplies last. Just be sure to avail of this promo right away starting July 1st since it is expected that this item will be quite popular among LEGO fans.

 

Free LEGO Charles Dickens Tribute (40410)

Promo valid from July 12 to 18, 2021

free charles 07 July Calendar US Page 1

40410

In a rather puzzling move, LEGO opted to return one of its seasonal offerings from last year. From July 12 to 18, LEGO fans whose qualifying purchase equals $150 or more will get a free LEGO Charles Dickens Tribute (40410) set. So in case you missed out on this promo last November, now is the best time to get this set. And if you will plan your next LEGO purchases accordingly, you may even land a chance of getting this set plus the LEGO Mini Adidas Originals Superstar (40486) July 12 to 15 (while supplies last of course).

 

Free LEGO Friends Emma’s Magical Box  (30414) or LEGO City Skater (30568)

Promo valid from July 16 to 25, 2021

free friends city 07 July Calendar US Page 1

LEGO is offering a choose your gift promo for those who will make their next LEGO purchase from July 16 to 25. Qualifying purchase of any LEGO products worth $40 or more will qualify you to select one promotional item, a choice between the LEGO Friends Emma’s Magical Box (30414) or LEGO City Skater (30568). Any of these polybags is a great way to expand your Friends or City collection. And with a relatively low price point of $40, it’s a freebie that’s not hard to miss.

 

Free LEGO VIP Blue Key Chain (854090)

Promo valid from June 1 to December 31, 2021 

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First-time LEGO VIP members will be treated with their first LEGO VIP gift in the form of the exclusive LEGO VIP Blue Key Chain (854090).  This offer is valid when you sign-up to become a VIP member online at LEGO.com throughout the 2nd half of 2021.

 

It seems that LEGO has invested a lot of these promotional items for July. And this is somewhat expected since there are plenty of new LEGO sets that were currently released. We have the LEGO Ideas Typewriter (21327) to give an example and the latest wave of upcoming LEGO Monkie Kid sets slated to be released in July. What is on your LEGO wishlist for next month? Let us know in the comments below.