Expanded Leicester Square store opens today
Posted by Huw,
Last night CapxRex101 and I attended a pre-opening event at London's Leicester Square store, rubbing shoulders with other AFOLs, celebrities, and AFOL celebrities.
The first floor of the shop has doubled in size, making it the largest brand store in the world once again. In addition to more shelves for more LEGO there is also a small history display, an extensive new pick-a-brick wall, multiple build-a-minifigure stations, and a minifigure factory at which you can design and print your own torsos.
And, being right in the heart of the city's tourist area, it's also cashing in on two of the country's best known cultural exports.
(Main image credit: David Tabner)
History display
A section of the top floor has been set aside for a series of display boards that chart the history of the company since its founding in the 1930s along with some display cases housing historical models and other items of interest.
(Image credit: David Tabner)
Pick-a-brick
The pick-a-brick wall probably takes up as much wall space as it did before but these smaller and more tightly-packed boxes have enabled a much wider range of pieces to be made available. There are two units like that shown in the first photo below which stretch from floor to ceiling, although the compartments out of reach are not filled.
Build-a-Minifigure
I believe these circular BAM stations can be found in other stores: they make it much easier to access the parts.
Minifigure factory
For a mere £10.99 you can design your own torso in the minifigure factory and have it printed while you wait.
Large display models
Most of the large scale models are new, although some have been retained, such Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) and Shakespeare, below.
This tree dominates the entrance.
(Image credit: David Tabner)
Well over half the models in the shop are Harry-Potter related, with large scale minifigures of all the major characters dotted around the shop, offering plenty of photo opportunities for young visitors.
The small cubby hole to the right of the entrance is now Gringott's Bank.
The other cultural icon that's being exploited is James Bond and the London Underground train on the ground floor has been replaced with a model of an Aston Martin DB7 and the spy.
Exclusive items
In addition to everything you'd expect to find on the shelves of a brand store, you can also still buy 40308 Lester and, of particular interest to the discerning collector, 40501 The Wooden Duck which until now has been exclusive to the LEGO House in Billund. It's priced at £69.99 and is definitely worth making a special trip into London for, although I'd give it a few weeks otherwise you'll be queueing round the block to get in.
Find out more about the store at LEGO.com.
Coming soon...
Ireland's first brand store opens in Dublin next week, and we hope to be able to bring you a report when it does.
Are you planning to visit Leicester Square this week?
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40 comments on this article
The new store looks amazing! Wish I could visit it
It's looking Marvellous!! It's pretty nifty how the (world's biggest) store has become a bit of a homage to the LEGO House with the new history display & even a large freaking tree! It feels like being in a museum and I really like the modern touches to the top floor especially.
Also, pretty much every aspect featuring a brick-built display has its own charm thanks to them- the Harry Potter & James Bond ones lend themselves to this specific landmark store. Plus they look fantastic. Also, is that desk model for the Gringotts Goblin a tease to a build in a future Bank set maybe?
So yep, overall the new revamp of Leicester Square's LEGO store makes it 10 times cooler! You & CapxRex were lucky to have gone for an special early visit; I hope you guys enjoyed it =)
I'll probably visit sometime in the month next time when going into London. Expecting it to be PRETTY BUSY, but I'll miss the limited promotions for going in early =(
Wow, so glad they have expanded as spent too much time queuing outside this store, mainly as it was too small (even though the largest in UK) for all the tourists who wanted to have a selfie with the Queen on the tube. It was also a bit chaotic inside if you wanted to pick a brick etc. in-between the staff helping others, so seems a bit more organized now. The history wall and models should help to make up for the queuing.
I'm just happy to see Bionicle get a mention in their Wall of History. Always pleases me to see it get officially acknowledged :D
You did a great job getting all these pics without people in! I'm sorry I didn't come talk to you as you always seemed to be rather busy, and I'm afraid I don't know what CapxRex101 looks like - it was nice to say hi to some of team Fairybricks there (and also to get a load of selfies with a load of celebs, many of whom seemed to be trying to stop small children from taking fistfuls of the Lego from the overly low down bins!)
@jhs8swd said:
"You did a great job getting all these pics without people in! I'm sorry I didn't come talk to you as you always seemed to be rather busy, and I'm afraid I don't know what CapxRex101 looks like - it was nice to say hi to some of team Fairybricks there (and also to get a load of selfies with a load of celebs, many of whom seemed to be trying to stop small children from taking fistfuls of the Lego from the overly low down bins!)"
Luckily we were some of the first in.
I'm afraid I was not a very good celeb-spotter. Beyond Ade Adepitan, Simon from Bue, and Kimberly from Girls Aloud I didn't recogise many others! Who did you see?
Even though I can get to the Leicester Square store faster than any other, I have tended to avoid it. You generally have to queue to get in and, once inside, it’s a zoo! Not at all a pleasant shopping experience.
I hope the new format is more relaxing but suspect that the footfall will expand with capacity and it’ll be just as hectic as before.
Likely, I’ll continue to go to Westfield. Much more civilised.
I enjoyed my visit to Leicester Square, it wasn't that crowded when I went. I think spent close to £500 there, it was a interesting journey back on the train. I was impressed by the Big Ben and the tube carriage. Can't wait to see the Bond display.
When the strikes are over I definitely plan to go again, it looks really good.
@Huw said:
"I'm afraid I was not a very good celeb-spotter. Beyond Ade Adepitan, Simon from Blue, and Kimberly from Girls Aloud I didn't recogise many others! Who did you see?"
My favourite was Rhian from Wet Leg (new, Mercury-nominated band) who I was very excited to get a selfie with, though in a quick survey none of the other people we were there with knew her. We had a nice chat with Greg Rutherford whilst he was trying to extract children from the Build a Minifig bar too. We had a very brief conversation with the people at the entrance who had a big list of the celeb invitees and gave us a quick flash of it - didn't know quite a lot of them but this Daily Mail article might help someone! (Am sorry I missed Lauren Laverne, we left about 7.30 as children had had enough!)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11096341/Sam-Faiers-Jacqueline-Jossa-lead-stars-LEGO-flagship-store-opening.html
I think I'm getting old - I don't recognise anyone in those pictures!
@Taco_Bill said:
"I think I'm getting old - I don't recognise anyone in those pictures!"
You and me both, I could just tell there were a lot of good-looking people around. It's fair to say though that those two people named in the article title did not 'lead' the opening though :)
Given Lego’s current direction toward squeezing customers for maximum profit, it’s nice for once to see so many new features where the focus is upon more than just selling something.
I would love it if my store’s build a minifig station was like that
I'll pop along at some point soon - probably first thing in the morning on a weekday once the kids have gone back to school.
Amusing how the Daily Mail report names all the celebs and specific details of what shoes each of the women were wearing, then goes on to describe an Aston Martin DB5 as 'a grey car'.
Interesting to see the amount of space given to 'non-retail' stuff for the history exhibits, but I guess it encourages even more footfall and souvenir buying while also making space for those trying to actually buy stuff around the 'browsers'.
That tree is kind of weird, and I assume the Bond build will perhaps be swapped out once the current sets are gone, I liked the tube so hope they've still got it in storage somewhere.
Just because I haven't seen any other geeks mention it in these comments, but the mask next to the bionicle section of the history wall is upside down
Wow it was busy today, I got there 40 minutes before opening and got a wrist band for entry from 11:30, managed to get in at 11. They’ve done such a fantastic job with the new store. So much less cramped than before. Didn’t know about the duck until I got in, which was a nice surprise. Limited to 1 per customer, which is very much understandable. Really glad I went down, managed to get the tile too.
@jhs8swd said:
" @Huw said:
"I'm afraid I was not a very good celeb-spotter. Beyond Ade Adepitan, Simon from Blue, and Kimberly from Girls Aloud I didn't recogise many others! Who did you see?"
My favourite was Rhian from Wet Leg (new, Mercury-nominated band) who I was very excited to get a selfie with, though in a quick survey none of the other people we were there with knew her. We had a nice chat with Greg Rutherford whilst he was trying to extract children from the Build a Minifig bar too. We had a very brief conversation with the people at the entrance who had a big list of the celeb invitees and gave us a quick flash of it - didn't know quite a lot of them but this Daily Mail article might help someone! (Am sorry I missed Lauren Laverne, we left about 7.30 as children had had enough!)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11096341/Sam-Faiers-Jacqueline-Jossa-lead-stars-LEGO-flagship-store-opening.html
"
Can't wait to see Wet Leg. Love their tunes! Was Rhian cool? They're playing a festival here in Denver next month.
Dang, that PaB has some excellent plant pieces. I'm going to my store to see if perhaps they have some.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"I'm just happy to see Bionicle get a mention in their Wall of History. Always pleases me to see it get officially acknowledged :D"
I think there's a slight nod to it in the lift too from a video I saw!
The store looks amazing. Definitely going to have to make it a stopping point the next time I make it over to the UK.
Not sure how Groot ended up in the 70’s section of the history display though?
And someone needs to fix the tail on the Galaxy Explorer! :-D
I hate those new PaB bins. They have that style at the Lego Discovery Center in Grapevine, TX, and they are hard to deal with. Add to that the fact that the location does a poor job of keeping them clean and organized. I much prefer the old style.
Looks great will have to visit. Did they have the Titanic on the shelf received email from lego yesterday to say back in stock went to buy out of stock again.
I will probably pop in for a visit, take some photos etc.
But when it comes to actual shopping I will probably stick to Westfield Shepherds Bush. Leicester Square was a bit of an overwhelming sensory nightmare before so it's probably worse now.
It's not really a shop - more a tourist attraction !!
That tree is cool though.
Store is nice but I have to say my experience was hugely underwhelming. Started queueing at about 6:30 am (not the first and others infront had queued longer) but it seemed the first, say 25 people, were largely ignored. We weren't made to feel valued for being there for so long. Was carnage once in. Enjoyed chatting to those around me in the queue though, not sure if any are members here. I probably sound ungrateful but a number of other moments altogether added to a bad experience. First and last time for me.
@Huw Just a warning regarding the Wooden Duck set, the article says:
"40501 The Wooden Duck which until now has been exclusive to the LEGO House in Billund. It's priced at £69.99 and is definitely worth making a special trip into London for, although I'd give it a few weeks otherwise you'll be queueing round the block to get in."
However when I asked if they will be permanently stocking them I was told they had one allocation and once they were done they would become a Billund exclusive again, and to quote the assistant I spoke to "everyone seems to have one under their arm" (she was right). There did seem to be plenty available this afternoon (shelves still well stocked) but I don't think they expect them to last much beyond this opening few days.
A lot of the features follow the same ideas as the 2021 revamp of the Rockefeller Center store in New York City: the Tree of Creativity (although London doesn't have sub-models among the boughs), models that are locally themed (superheroes and sit-in yellow taxi in NYC, Harry Potter and sit-in James Bond DB5 in London), Minifigure Factory printer. The history display is a distinct offering.
I'm planning to be in London at the end of September, provided there's no train strikes (fingers crossed) so will definitely try to fit in a visit again.
The new format pick a brick and build a minifig are a lot better than the old style.
90 years ago to date, Ole Kirk Christiansen started making wooden toys. So happy anniversary to everyone!
So do the custom printed torsos actually count as new individual LEGO bricks?
I was less than impressed this morning. I took the day off work so arrived about 10:20, expecting to nip in for the two items I wanted and then go home. I arrived to find queues everywhere, not moving, and eventually told I needed a wristband (this is a toy shop, not a pop concert!) with a time of 2pm. Fortunately, I work in London so I went to the office until returning to the Lego store just after 1.30pm. I was allowed to join the queue which was at least slowly moving.
When I did enter the store it was rather busy but at least the items I wanted were still available. I had spotted the Duck while in the queue outside which no-one seemed interested in (mainly children with parents rather than AFOLs) so that at least made me feel the wait was worthwhile. They had various sets in stock which have been unavailable on the website for months, such as the DeLorean and Defence of Hoth.
I only bought two items this trip as I need to return next Monday for the VIP Delivery Truck, but I did receive the Brand Store, Forest Hideout (again sold out on the website) and the Pirates polybag as GWPs. And as you left the store you were given the limited tile in a little envelope.
So it turned out better than I had feared from the morning's experience, but still not a destination I relish visiting as it's as much about tourists taking photos as it is about a store selling Lego.
Sorry not being able to get 6424688: LEGO Delivery Truck.
I was in London a couple of weeks ago (mainly for the Harry Potter Cursed Child show) and was disappointed to find the shop shut when we walked through Leicester Square, so it's good to know it will be open again when I'm next up in the Big Smoke.
Lovely expansion. Wish there still was a store in Riga. For some reason it closed around 2018.
So, the 40501 is only available for one particular shop in London, right? Eih, that's sad that we don't have it in BCN. Probably I will check in a couple of days the availability of it.
@Arpie said:
" @Huw Just a warning regarding the Wooden Duck set, the article says:
"40501 The Wooden Duck which until now has been exclusive to the LEGO House in Billund. It's priced at £69.99 and is definitely worth making a special trip into London for, although I'd give it a few weeks otherwise you'll be queueing round the block to get in."
However when I asked if they will be permanently stocking them I was told they had one allocation and once they were done they would become a Billund exclusive again, and to quote the assistant I spoke to "everyone seems to have one under their arm" (she was right). There did seem to be plenty available this afternoon (shelves still well stocked) but I don't think they expect them to last much beyond this opening few days."
Indeed, they only have 800 sets of the Duck so I’d be surprised if it didn’t sell out on the first day. Within the first four hours of opening almost 2000 people had entered the store. Perhaps fortunately most were families so probably not interested in that set or aware of its scarcity, but I very much doubt it will be available next week, let alone in a few weeks.
Would a kind soul who ends up with the delivery truck please scan the instructions for those of those of us outside the UK?
@Doctor_Hugh said:
" @Arpie said:
" @Huw Just a warning regarding the Wooden Duck set, the article says:
"40501 The Wooden Duck which until now has been exclusive to the LEGO House in Billund. It's priced at £69.99 and is definitely worth making a special trip into London for, although I'd give it a few weeks otherwise you'll be queueing round the block to get in."
However when I asked if they will be permanently stocking them I was told they had one allocation and once they were done they would become a Billund exclusive again, and to quote the assistant I spoke to "everyone seems to have one under their arm" (she was right). There did seem to be plenty available this afternoon (shelves still well stocked) but I don't think they expect them to last much beyond this opening few days."
Indeed, they only have 800 sets of the Duck so I’d be surprised if it didn’t sell out on the first day. Within the first four hours of opening almost 2000 people had entered the store. Perhaps fortunately most were families so probably not interested in that set or aware of its scarcity, but I very much doubt it will be available next week, let alone in a few weeks.
"
No ducks left as of Thursday afternoon
Thursday afternoon - not much if a queue - about 10 minutes to get in - no tiles left but have forest hideout , Lego shop and vip pirate pack as GWP so worth the trip
Can confirm they are sold out of the wooden duck and aren’t getting any more in. Store looking amazing tho