I’ve been to this LEGO brand store before back in 2016 and ended up stopping by again 8 years later. I visited on a Friday afternoon and it was pretty busy with lots of families and adults alike. They were pretty well stocked with just about everything, but the majority of the stuff was at full price except for a few discounted Dreamzzz sets.

The front of the store had a few large scale minifigures from the Dreamzzz line shown here. They also had a large shark minifigure, but I couldn’t get a picture because there were either shoppers or workers in front the whole time.

All the large figures had a sign next to them with the total number of pieces used, it’s weight, and the amount of time that it took to build the large figure.

I was excited to see the new Technic McLaren P1. I hope to own it some day, but I’ll wait for a sale or enough Insider points to get it cheaper than the $450 retail price (before sales tax).

The store had a few new sets on display which were built to include #10368-1: Chrysanthemum and #10369-1: Plum Blossom from the Botanical subtheme as well as #10337-1: Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole (another set I hope to own if I can find it at a discount).

One Easter Egg from the store… they had #75371-1: Chewbacca™ holding one of the roses from the botanical theme. If you look closely, you’ll notice the minifigure version is holding a small bunch of red flowers too.

I wanted to try out the Pick and Build wall with the new boxes. The pricing was $9.99 for the smaller box and then $17.99 for the larger box. The taxes were pretty awful as well so it probably wasn’t worth it, but my kids and I had fun filling the boxes. Definitely can’t fit as much in them as you could in one of the cups, which was a disappointment. The store had a pretty good selection of parts though to include a lot of gold colored pieces. The theme they were running was to build a race car. They had wheels, steering wheels, some windscreens, and other parts you could use to build a car.

Here is the “Large” box. It was slightly overfilled as I did my best to stuff in as much as I could (unlike the lady next to me who stole a part by putting it in her pocket and then pulling out a tissue like she was putting her hand in her pocket to get a tissue… yeah I saw you!). The store worker didn’t seem to mind that my box was stuffed. He put a sticker on it to keep it closed and off we went after paying (and not stealing). My kiddos got boxes as well and we failed to label them before leaving he store. We figured it out later on though pretty easily.

Here is the full stash. I went for mostly small pieces, but I threw in a few larger bricks and plates. Lots of flower pieces including some of the larger ones. Also some clear windows and lamp posts. If I lived closer and was working on a particular build, it would have been good to stop with a list of items I was looking for. I don’t live near an official brand store so it was fun to stop by one and pick out some stuff. We’ll see when I visit another one. In the meantime, happy building!

I was in the Washington DC area this past weekend with my family and with some downtime decided to stop at a nearby mall (mainly for the air conditioning on a hot day). As it turns out this mall had one of my favorite stores in it. The LEGO® brand store in the Tysons Corner Center happened to be open while we were there so of course I hadto check it out. In walking around the mall it seemed that the bags you saw people carrying most were either Victoria's Secret or yellow with a red 2x4 brick on it. We followed the bags and ended up at the store. It was busy. Lots of kids all over the place building in the various free build areas and running around excited to see all the sets. A store worker was near the entrance to greet people. I'm not sure they appointed the right person as this worker was rather quiet and didn't give a smile. We got "have you been to a LEGO® store before?" and "your kid's outfit is cute." Great. Whatever. I wasn't there to chat with the employees.

The store seemed to be pretty well stocked with all of the different themes. I didn't inspect each and every one, but I didn't see holes on the shelves either. One of the items on display in the front of the store was the new Creator Expert - Big Ben #10253.

As my NLS (non-LEGO® Spouse) commented, it looked beautiful. I've seen the pictures and designer video, but seeing it up close and personal was pretty cool. They did an amazing job with the design. Here's the box on the shelf.

Another set that I finally got to see in person was the LEGO® Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056). First off, it looks incredible and very sleek! Secondly, it is definitely a lot bigger than I expected. The picture I took is pretty bad because it's behind glass so you get a reflection and some of the paint on the window, but it's still an impressive model. The set was on the shelf, but the box was listed as "for display only." I didn't pick it up to see if it was just the box or the actual set. My guess is that if you wanted it you had to request it from the workers. I didn't ask to see if they had them in stock or if you had to order them.

Other things to note about the store... Collectible Minifigures Series 16 releases on 1 August 2016 (I believe), but they were on sale at the store. I saw at least one AFOL trying to feel through the bags to get the ones he was looking for. Also, it was a good mix of people buying different items. Lots of families with kids walking out with smaller bags including Angry Birds sets and Friends. We also saw someone walk out with a Tower Bridge (#10214).

Did I make a purchase? Yes! My NLS did let me or maybe I pressed ahead without asking before she could say no. Either way, I am a big fan of the Pick-a-Brick wall in the back of every LEGO® brand store that I have been in. They have 2 size cups that you can pick from and fill as you want. I picked the larger cup that cost $16.95 in Virginia after tax. They had a range of parts in different colors and sizes. I tend to stick to the smaller pieces so you can fit more in and I pick the colors that are not as prevalent. I have yet to open my container, but I was impressed that the store worker used packaging tape to make sure my container didn't explode so that was good (I'm sure it's from experience and having to clean up messes in the store). My cup is below:

My favorite by far is the sand green parts that were available. They had 1x1 bricks and 1x2 plates. That's not a common color that I tend to see often so I was glad to grab a few.

Update (August 9 2016):
2 pictures below of the bricks I picked up from the Pick-a-Brick Wall. I didn't merge them together, but hopefully you can see where the pictures match up. You'll notice I went for most of the smaller pieces to try and fit more pieces into the container. In the end I counted 753 pieces from the container. With the Virginia tax the final came out to be about $0.02 per piece. I can't complain about that.

My favorite by far is the sand green parts that were available. They had 1x1 bricks and 1x2 plates. That's not a common color that I tend to see often so I was glad to grab a few.

I called it a review so I should give my opinion. Should you go to this store? Or any LEGO® brand store? The selection is great and the additional benefits are useful such as the Pick-a-Brick wall and minifigure creation station. Plus you get store workers who understand LEGO® and can help you get sets you don't have if they aren't in stock. They also have some of the harder to find sets that aren't typically in your average retail store. Finally you can get and use VIP points for your purchases. The downsides... you don't get the discounts that you can find at places like Target, Walmart, or Amazon.com. Everything is at the full retail price. So should you go, I recommend going if you're looking for a harder to find set or price is not your main driver. The Pick-a-Brick wall is useful if you stack the cup right too. It's a fairly decent way to get pieces. Once I open up the cup I purchased, I'll give an update to this post with the number of pieces I got and the different types.

Do I wish I had a LEGO® brand store closer? Yes! Maybe it's better that I don't when it comes to my credit card bill. What are your thoughts of the LEGO® brand stores?

LEGO Brand Store Visit - Tysons Corner, VA

Store Review - LEGO® Brand Store - Tysons Corner Center - McLean, VA