Hello all, Lego fan from Australia, unfortunately we don't have no bricks and mortar official Lego shops over here, I've never been to one (will definitely do so one day), so all I can do is to watch videos on youtube or read the forums on how its like in one of those official shops.

 

Have got a few questions for those who are familiar with the shops:

1. The brick wall offerings - are the types of bricks and pieces available at each different shop completely random? As in you never know what you're going to get until you visit a particular shop, and do they change their 'stock' regularly - pink flowers available today, who knows - maybe yellow flowers available next week, maybe no flowers at all the week after?

2. Theft and shoplifting - I assume that it is impossible for Lego to security tag every loose brick and piece in the shop. And some of the videos I've seen show busy shops that are full of kids and adults, and I doubt staff have the ability to police every section of the shop at all times. Is 'casual' shoplifting (eg. people just concealing a few bricks or minifig parts in the closed hands or pockets for cheap thrills or due to momentary greed or for whatever reason, young kids who innocently taking a few without understanding the need to pay, nothing blatantly excessive) quite common?

3. If I have read / understand correctly, you grab whatever bricks you want from the brick wall, fill up a fixed size box or tub, and you pay a flat price for this?

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

 

The offering on the Pick-A-Brick wall are completely random and the staff changes out the pieces every couple of months or so. You get your usual brick pieces but sometimes there are things you never see that much. Earlier this year, they had red and blue jewel pieces and I got my fill of those.

 

I personally haven't seen anyone shoplift from the one at my store so I can't really say anything about that. There's probably like 4 employees on the floor so it might be a little hard to sneak out with something but some may get lucky. I wouldn't be surprised if people sneak out with a brick or two.

 

The PAB wall has a flat price. There are 2 sizes, a small cup and a larger cup. You fill up as much as you can until it can be closed. If you go over by a little, the cashiers are pretty lenient on that and will usually tape it down for you.

 

Hope this helps.

1) Ususally new stores end up with 2x4s but after a while they can get a wide variety of parts. Brickbuildr (http://www.brickbuildr.com/view/pab/) is a site where users upload what pieces are on current PAB walls, this is probably your best bet for seeing what pieces are going around. Basic bricks, plates, tiles, windows and vegetation are all pretty common at PAB walls. Some stores sell PAB by the pound, like the stores in some Legolands. These typically have better selection but it is more expensive to buy via weight.

 

2) Lego stores are usually in a mall of some sort, rarely (if ever) are they set up alone. From my experiences with the staff at my nearest store, they don't seem to worry about it that much - that's Mall Security's job. They strongly suggest that if you buy a big set you take it in a yellow Lego bag so the Mall Security don't think you are shoplifting but other than that I haven't heard anything about shoplifting. The stores are busy and well-staffed enough that a shoplifter would be caught pretty quick. As for young kids, on numerous occasions, I have seen the staff giving single pieces off the PAB wall to kids... eg. there was this one time a parent was asking if she could just buy one horse for her kid and the employee just gave it to her.

 

3) In the US (I'm in Canada, prices are a bit higher here), the Large cup (1000 mL) goes for 15 bucks and the small one (450 mL) is 8 dollars. You can pack whatever pieces from the PAB wall into the cup, as long as the lid is touching the rim of the cup is touching the rim of the lid at at least one point. Again, the employees are nice and will usually even give you tape if your cup is overflowing. As I touched on earlier, there are also some stores that sell by weight, but those aren't a very good deal. Last, some stores offer purchase for the box the pieces come in for 70 US.

 

I wrote an article on PAB: http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/4/entry-242-pick-a-brick-cups-can-you-pack-an-investing-punch/

Thank you all for the info, definitely helps me understand how they work, much appreciated. Will definitely have to check one out (not sure when I'll get the chance though!).

 

Brianl3, great article, very informative, thanks!

Your welcome, glad I could help. I hope you get to visit one some day, they're a lot of fun!

If you ever get a chance, visit the one at Downtown Disney in Anaheim.  It is much larger then the other two here in Orange County (both in Malls) and has a ton of great displays.  There are larger then life builds of Gandalf, The Hulk, Beauty and the Beast, and Buzz and Woody.  On top of that they have a life size dragon on the roof built of Lego spitting fire at a lego minifig (life size) knight on a horse.  It is really pretty impressive.  There are also consols to play video games, build with some random bricks they have out, and a racetrack to race cars you can build. 

 

On top of all this it has more Lego sets in one place then you ever thought possible.  Of course, the place can be a madhouse so there are employees everywhere directing traffic, greeting, and generally offering to help. 

If you ever get a chance, visit the one at Downtown Disney in Anaheim.  It is much larger then the other two here in Orange County (both in Malls) and has a ton of great displays.  There are larger then life builds of Gandalf, The Hulk, Beauty and the Beast, and Buzz and Woody.  On top of that they have a life size dragon on the roof built of Lego spitting fire at a lego minifig (life size) knight on a horse.  It is really pretty impressive.  There are also consols to play video games, build with some random bricks they have out, and a racetrack to race cars you can build. 

 

On top of all this it has more Lego sets in one place then you ever thought possible.  Of course, the place can be a madhouse so there are employees everywhere directing traffic, greeting, and generally offering to help.

I agree, the Mission Viejo / South Coast Plaza Lego stores are a bit lackluster.

Will sure do, I was going to ask which Lego store in the US would people most recommend for a visit, if you only had 1 choice, thanks!

Along with Anaheim, I would say Orlando by Disney World is one of the best for US stores. Every store has nice staff and such, but this one has mega builds (like Anaheim) and lots of stock. It is almost always busy, but unlike most in-mall stores it has enough square feet to handle it. There is even a Lego sea monster sticking out of the lake. Plus, as you seem interested in PAB, they have a huge wall and I've heard they allow purchase of the box. Here are some pictures of the notable stores across the US:

Orlando Store: the sea monster I was talking about. Beautiful creation, beautiful picture.

Chicago Store: display of the notable buildings of the Chicago skyline. I visited this store once when I was younger, it is very nice and well staffed (well, then again all Lego stores have amazing staff it seems - happy employees I guess!)

Anaheim Store, Downtown Disney: as the store is recommended by El Guapo and Maverick, I thought it was definitely worth sharing. That dragon is a beaut!

Mall of America Minneapolis: I believe this was the first Lego brand retail store. Today, it is an amazing retail space located in one of the largest malls in the world. Has a huge PAB wall, and is probably one of the most unique Lego stores out there.

 

Hope that sort of gives you a better visual of the spread of Lego stores around the US. For a full list of Lego stores, click here: http://stores.lego.com/en-us/stores/ 

Will sure do, I was going to ask which Lego store in the US would people most recommend for a visit, if you only had 1 choice, thanks!

ny store 

Will sure do, I was going to ask which Lego store in the US would people most recommend for a visit, if you only had 1 choice, thanks!

If your main purpose of visiting the US Lego retail store is to buy Lego sets at US prices, then I would recommend the Lego store in Delaware ... no sales tax.  The Lego store in Manhattan (Rockefeller Center) has nice displays.  However, the prices are approx. 10% higher than the prices on Lego's US website.  Furthermore, NY sales tax is 8.875%!

Thanks Brianl3, very nice photos! We watched a Youtube video of the Mall of America shop opening, and were blown away by the unveiling of the huge models, especially that giant blue mech, and the sabre-toothed tiger at the beginning. Its great that both Disneys have a "special" Lego store each, the kids must love it.

If your main purpose of visiting the US Lego retail store is to buy Lego sets at US prices, then I would recommend the Lego store in Delaware ... no sales tax.  The Lego store in Manhattan (Rockefeller Center) has nice displays.  However, the prices are approx. 10% higher than the prices on Lego's US website.  Furthermore, NY sales tax is 8.875%!

That's interesting - didn't know about the different sales tax for different states.

ny store 

Would this be the Rockefeller Centre one?

Anaheim Store, Downtown Disney: as the store is recommended by El Guapo and Maverick, I thought it was definitely worth sharing. That dragon is a beaut!

Sleeping Beauty was probably my favorite Disney film as a kid and it still is. Maleficent really is the coolest villian in the realm of Disney. She's just so deliciously evil. On a very wierd off chance, I caught wind there is supposed to be a live action film simply titled "Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie playing as the Mistress of All Evil!

Somehow I have a feeling that if Disney couldn't pull off Prince of Persia or The Lone Ranger that it is going to have trouble making a creepy prequel to a fairy tale  

 

I remember watching Sleeping Beauty as a kid, too. Still have it on VHS... classic Disney was like the only thing I got to watch as a kid, and looking back that is probably a good thing.

 

Anyway, if Lego's plans to expand in Asia go well I can imagine them opening a few stores there... when they do that might be a bit closer to you. That said, I think it is also pretty likely that Australia will get a store in the coming years. They need a store in Sidney to go along with the release of the Opera House!