World's largest LEGO store opens in Shanghai

So, they also buy authentic Lego? :D

Well hopefully they sell bionicle there...

Very nice UP model!

@ Alonzo Brickovsky, My guess is that the Asian market is the fastest growing for TLG albeit from a small base compared to Europe and North America.

I would also speculate that the LEGO brand is highly valued in China but the products are still very expensive compared to people's earnings, hence the bootleggers. As China's middle class grows, people will increasingly get the real thing. That's not to say that the clone brands will disappear completely, only that the demographic trend is in TLG's favour. I reckon we'll see more LEGO stores in China in the not too distant future.

China's middle class will buy official Lego products if they are actually made in China otherwise they will continue to support the Chinese made knock offs. They really like to support their own industry and avoid importing if they have an alternative.

Happy for them! Cool UPmodel. Fingers crossed for a LBS in in Norway too someday..

i give it 1 month before a knock off store opens up down the street.

@gelgoog2: you beat me to it! But I was going to say that there would be three of them, they look almost identical apart from poor spelling, the slight confusion of SuperSpiderBatman in the 'Up' display, and the doors and walls don't quite fit right.

Re: KO Lego, I agree that it's an economic thing. In the Philippines, the Official Lego Store here is run by a 3rd party which means that there are several profit centers involved before it hits the store shelves. Hence a USD99.99 Fortrex ends up selling for USD215.00 on the shelves.

With prices like that, what's gonna prevent kids and parents from buying a USD40.00 KO Fortrex?

Re: Shanghai. I've never been to Shanghai. Nearest I've been to is HK, which is a totally different world. How tourist friendly is it? Is it worth the risk to bring 9yr old kids there to see Shanghai Disney and the "Largest Lego Store"?

Re: Largest Lego Store. Was at Legoland Malaysia last week of April. Lego there is distributed by another party but prices are much lower than Philippines and even lower than neighboring Singapore. Inventory was quite shallow, IMHO. What's in the 1st half 2016 Lego catalog is what you'll see on the shelves. Would the World's Largest Lego store have a "deeper" inventory or just show what's on recent catalogs?

The Chinese are incredibly brand-conscious if they can afford it, and prefer to buy foreign products over home-grown because they are perceived to be better quality. It's pretty ironic that Wal-Mart is synonymous with cheap products in the US, but is a symbol of quality in China. The "if they can afford it" part is the key. When I lived in China 13 years ago, LEGO cost me around 40% markup over US prices due to import duties. It may be different now that they have a factory there, as that helps avoid the import tariffs; I'll keep an eye out for LEGO when I am there this summer, and maybe publish some price comparisons vs. US prices. If the Chinese are supporting products made in their own country, it's because of affordability due to lack of taxes/tariffs rather than national pride.

Sometimes it's a case of not knowing it's a knock-off; they intend to buy something legit, the seller claims it's real, but it turns out to be fake. That's why it's better to buy from a reputable brick-and-mortar store like this one; you can't go wrong with a LEGO store inside Disneyworld.

Hope it is a successful store. Some will be there taking pics, and by the following week knockoffs will be available at a lower price :(

As an AFOL who has been living in China for 5 years I can attest to the proliferation of the knock off LEGO sets that are available. There is a real issue here in that real LEGO sets sell at usually 2x the US$ price in stores because of taxes that are levied on goods that are manufactured in China for export but not exported. This applies to more than just LEGO (Transformers etc.).

Online you can get them on sale for about the same as the US price.

The knock offs are 95% there as well. I have a few and they are so much better than they used to be. They cost about 1/6 the price of real sets. I would be interested to know how the store in Shanghai is priced.

Poke around on China's "Amazon" www.taobao.com and search LEGO and a set to see. The side bar will undoubtedly show the knock offs.

I'm a Chinese from Malaysia, and have been buying all sort of items (including authentic Lego) from the China's taobao.com (i.e. ebay equivalent)

Indeed, there are many KO versions and some even used the word "Lego compatible" as subject (to get the hits when users search for "Lego")

However there are also increasing numbers of authentic Lego merchants and parts sellers that provide good service and authentic products. I completed the last few hard-to-find Chima sets from taobao.com

I totally agree with welshysensei that the toys (including Lego and other brands) in China are very expensive in stores and I would only buy online

We are going for the official opening on june 16th... excited!

@Zander Agree with you. I just live within 30min metro distance with Shanghai Disney Resort and have a visit to this store. The price list of LEGO in China is very expensive camparing with other country. As me a 5 yr LOGO fan from various LEGO fans which is still growing fast in China, we get LEGO almost from 3 areas: USA/Europe/HK. No one will buy it from China. So I think LEGO should adjust the pricelist markup ratio in China market.

On the other hands, the clone band in China is also very very popular because the similarity of LEGO and China clone band becomes smaller and smaller. I bought one set of STAR Wars Jedi fighter in China band that cost me 3£, it almost 90% likes original one in LEGO which cost 29.99£. It's unbelievable but really exist in China.

Here in Ukraine, you can buy Chinese Lego Knock offs at all the mom and pop toy stores. I work with orphans and have bought dozens of sets for Christmas for about 24 cents US equivalent. They're awful at that price but they are original models. I couldn't afford to buy actual Lego for as many kids as I do (and they don't really last long in the orphanage anyway, they're pretty destructive kids). That said, in recent years, I came across a knock off that's pretty close to the real thing. The colors match and the sets are fairly equivalent. But the clutch power still fades pretty rapidly.

Man..... now I just gotta go aaalll the way to shanghai.

Quick edit, it says I am in the UK, but am working in Shanghai...

Maybe a bit late to reply to this but...

Yes there are a lot of knock off LEGO products over here in China, some even packaged and sold as LEGO, not even their own brand... I have passed some to Huw to look at and review, which got quite a few scathing comments, and also remarks of disbelief, but they do exist...

The price of LEGO here is between 10 and 30% on UK prices, so many people look to and buy cheaper (inferior) products. Some parts of China only have access to knock offs, due to the lack of reputable retailers selling original products...

Yes, Taobao does sell some official LEGO products, but has been removed from a list of approved internet traders due to the amount of knock-offs sold on there (and in the report I read, the first of the examples was LEGO)...

I'm looking forward to visiting the new store sometime (it will be good to have a wall of goodness around again), but it is the wrong end of metro line 11, so could take a while to get there...

Looking forward to more official LEGO stores opening over here...