3300003 LEGO Brand Retail Store

 

  • 3300003 LEGO Brand Retail Store

    Posted by Huw, 16 May 2012 06:13. Filed under Set review.

    3300003 Brand StoreYou may remember that LEGO announced that this set is going to be available to a 'select number of customers' at the opening events of brand stores in the USA during 2012 (see the list here).

    I've been sent one by the LEGO community team for review purposes, so to make a change from Lord Of The Rings set review this week, here goes...

    It contains 280 pieces and comes in a surprisingly large box (26 x 14 x 6 cm)

     

    3300003 Brand StoreHowever, there is a lot in it, basic bricks and plates and other useful pieces.

     

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand StoreThe 16x16 (2 8x16 dark grey playes)  base is fully tiled inside and out of the shop

     

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand StoreThe interior of the shop, before the shelving has been added. Note the till, displays and of course the pick-a-brick wall at the back.

     

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand StoreThe shelving fitted, and display models at the front of the shop. Note the 'brand ribbon' at the second level of the shelves.

     

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand StoreThe completed model, minus the roof. The LEGO sign is a sticker, and the door features two 1x1 trans-clear headlight bricks, which are rare. The doors don't open.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand Store The roof even has a 'yellow brick light fitting', which is typical of most brand stores I believe.

     

     

     

     

    3300003 Brand Store The finished model. There's a few more photos on flickr.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    LEGO brand stores are often made by AFOLs (even I've made one) and there's several currently on Cuusoo (here and here), so it's interesting to see this official version.

    This is an excellent set and there's nothing not to like about it. If it's going to be free, that makes it even better! If you have the opportunity to get to one of the new brand store opening events in the USA, I strongly recommend that you do.

    (Special thanks to the LEGO community team for making this review possible!)


    34 comments, latest one posted 12 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by LostInTranslation in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 07:36

Thanks for this review Huw! Now I want one of these even more...

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 07:58

It will probably be like rocking horse droppings, particularly in the UK unless they offer it at Manchester, so you may need to console yourself with making it from parts in your collection. The only rare parts are the 1x1 trans clear headlights and 1x1 round tiles.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 16 May 2012 08:00

TBH, this is a pretty legit representation of a LEGO Store, or at least the P-A-B part of it. Too bad I don't live near a store that's opening.

Oh, and you spelled 'customers' as 'custumers'.

Posted by jsutton in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 08:19

Nice set, but not as good as your original and definitive CC-compatible Christmas-shopping version :-)

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 08:55

^ Why thank you, James :-)

Posted by collectormom in United States, 16 May 2012 09:07

By the time we got to the register at the store in Victor, NY there were only 3 sets left. Phew, we just made it! This was about 4pm, I thought for sure they'd be out so my kids were really happy. Made some nice friends waiting on line and made sure they knew about brickset.

Posted by richselby in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 09:11

Someone needs to do a list of all self-referential Lego sets, so this one, the duck for Lego shop staff, the big yellow lorry that delivers Lego boxes, perhaps the micro modulars because they depict the modulars rather than the building themselves, the moulding machine set that was given to those on the factory tour....

Posted by Mequel De Vaughn in United States, 16 May 2012 09:19

I have an extra store opening minifig set I would be willing to trade for one of these. Let me know if anyone wants to trade.

Posted by bluelion3 in United States, 16 May 2012 09:35

I hope TLG considers making this available on S@H for everyone.

Posted by rosney in United States, 16 May 2012 10:26

^ Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a limited edition?

Posted by bluelion3 in United States, 16 May 2012 11:58

^ Well, I wish it was not a limited edition because I can't get one at the retail stores and I don't have $200 for one from Bricklink.

Posted by vynsane in United States, 16 May 2012 13:07

^ After the issues some people had in attempting to garner one of these, I think it would add major insult to injury if it popped up on S@H. I, too, have no good way of getting one, but that is the point of exclusives. I do, however, have the 'Spirit of St. Louis' set from the Garden City, NY opening: www.brickset.com/detail/?set=GardenCity-1

The only problem is it was packaged in a ziplock bag and none of the pieces are all that rare, so the only truly 'exclusive' bit are the instructions :-/

Posted by ThisIsMyCup in United States, 16 May 2012 13:08

knowing i wont get to store opening i PAB the set from lego.com and it came out to about $45 with shipping....had to call customer service to get the trans pieces and the sticker sheet.

Posted by rosney in United States, 16 May 2012 14:21

Frankly, I love the idea of a true limited edition like these stores. Conversely, there are many sets that claim "limited edition" just because they were sold only at Target or whatever, but those are pretenders. My 7 year old and I drove 7 hours one way to get one and it was a cool little adventure trip to do so. We did that because if we didn't, we wouldn't have one of those sets - it's that simple.

Plus, this is one of the more substantial freebies Lego has ever produced, which makes it even more special. I certainly wouldn't have driven all that for a chrome TC-14 :)

If ONLY the Lego sign wasn't a sticker...if only...

Posted by clonetrooper02 in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 15:41

Huw,
Could you ask the person/people who provided this for review if they know if it will be available at Manchester?
many thanks

Posted by Gandalf1 in United States, 16 May 2012 15:45

^On that gold LEGO Games die, there's a 2x2 tile with the LEGO logo printed on. If only those were more widely available...

Posted by scrumper in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 16:40

Am I missing something or is it 12x12 (2 6x12 plates)

Posted by flump in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 17:33

When I first saw this a few weeks ago, I said to myself then it was likely to be my 'Set of the Year'. Now it is confirmed. Damn!

Posted by AddictedToStyrene in Australia, 16 May 2012 18:13

I built this from the pdf instructions. Then I rebuilt it with higher walls and windows (thanks Bricklink!) and a single door, to make it suitable for minifigs. So, it's an excellent set and suitably hard to get hold of, but if you just want to build one, it's not too hard.

Posted by Thunderburt in Netherlands, 16 May 2012 18:17

@Gandalf: Well, I have 4 of those... But they're available on BL too, aren't they?

Posted by bill.berardi in United States, 16 May 2012 18:19

This set is a LOT more impressive then i thought it would be. Thankfully a friend came with me to the Victor NY opening to buy something with me to help me secure 2 of them. I sold one on Ebay to a collector in CA and have my other for sale as well. There popping up on Ebay right now for anyone who is looking. Theres about 15 of them available but only about 4 or 5 are shipping internationnally.

Im personnally bummed i didnt go again on Sunday, didnt think the figs would be numbered and printed with the store location on each one. Congrats to anyone who grabbed and is able to enjoy them! :)

Bill

Posted by flump in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 19:24

Well, being in the UK, went to Ebay.com with the intention of buying and getting one sent back across the pond. Was a little taken back as to how much the sellers are asking and achieving for them - even yours Bill, of which seems to be the only one shipping to the UK.

Posted by kevinhink in United States, 16 May 2012 19:53

It's a nice little set, but I'm more partial to minifig scale personally. I've had the Austin store model on my desk at the office for almost a year now, so it makes me wonder if I inadvertently threw a bit of inspiration into this design. ;) I did use those 1x2 white technic bricks to represent the "brand ribbon" first after all...

Just in case you haven't seen them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhink/3825513820/in/set-72157622051508326 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhink/4544540248/in/set-72157623787901063 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhink/5912909928/in/set-72157626858313059 2011

Posted by (-)-Crushmaster-(-) in United States, 16 May 2012 22:55


Looks neat! Wish I could get one. :-)

Posted by eastlands01 in United Kingdom, 16 May 2012 23:53

I don't really like this set:-

* Too small
* Doors don't open

It should have been made similar to the modular sets i.e The Town Hall, Old Type Fire Station etc

Posted by devilhead in United States, 17 May 2012 01:15

Ummm... you do realize this set is given free at store openings after a $75 purchase?

Posted by ApolloVI in United States, 17 May 2012 03:07

With all those clear pieces, how cool would this set look with some internal lighting? :-)

I'd also like to see this concept upscaled a bit (big enough to contain a reasonable number of minifigs) and sold as a regular set. Nothing wrong with Lego having a self-referential set every once in a while ;-)

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 17 May 2012 05:21

Hmmm...maybe I should start a Lego website so the Lego community team would send me an exclusive set. :P Or maybe there's more involved than that? ;)
Anyway, it looks pretty cool, but it doesn't look like it would be too hard to make it yourself, or even a bigger version. Maybe I should put one of these in my next Lego 'city'....

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 17 May 2012 10:33

I PAB and Bricklinked mine for under $10 total ( had a majority of the pieces in my collection). Lego sent me the sticker sheet from 3221 ( yellow truck). The 2x2 Lego sticker fit perfectly on the white tile. The extra stickers went to my 17 year old. He is making a toy store.

Posted by bill.berardi in United States, 17 May 2012 10:59

"Well, being in the UK, went to Ebay.com with the intention of buying and getting one sent back across the pond. Was a little taken back as to how much the sellers are asking and achieving for them - even yours Bill, of which seems to be the only one shipping to the UK."

To Flump 6523: I fully understand where you are coming from, personnally i would not pay that much for this set even being as cool as it is. When i purchased i fully planned to keep, opening one and storing the other. Then i thought; why not see if someone would buy. Being the first one to post on Ebay i sold the first one fast for $245. Then multiple popped up after but very few with international shipping. Understanding the risk with that i took the gamble anyway. The one i have listed now has 20 people watching and has been viewed 100+ times and this is the auction post, it was posted as a buy it now best offer right before this with 500+ views. There is clearly a demand for the limited set. Which is why i decided to sell now instead of holding onto it. Ive seen auctions for US only customers go for $150+ and there are 2 ending in about 3 hours with bids from the same seller. One is curently selling for $174.50 and the other $152.48.

To devilhead: They came free with a $35 purchase which made them an amazing free gift. Of course waiting in line for the store for an hour and then another hour to cash out has a cost to it too. Had to bribe my buddy to stand with me with a free dinner.

Bill

Posted by meyerc13 in United States, 17 May 2012 12:13

@Mequel De Vaughn - For which store?

I can understand the temptation to sell it. I have the set sitting here and haven't brought myself to open it yet. Right now it's the most valuable set I own. It's a cute set, and I love having it, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it when I open the box. My family is into minifig scale, and it seems a shame to break open the box if it is just going to sit and collect dust. Yet selling it seems wrong as well, after all it has a memory attached to it. This is why I make a much better LEGO fan than LEGO collector. As a fan, the value of the set is in the bricks and their usefulness... not in the resale value. I almost wish I didn't know how much these were selling for on ebay/bricklink.

Posted by wRuB in United Kingdom, 17 May 2012 16:55

Would someone please post the link for the PDF instructions? I don't know where to look... Thanks so much.

Posted by AddictedToStyrene in Australia, 18 May 2012 00:40

@ wRuB - a link to the instructions can be found on the Brickset page for this set. That takes you to the instructions PDF on the Lego website. That page is http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/6013902.pdf
I put a door in place of the clear brick front door, and added a layer bricks for height in the walls. I also changed the windows from 1 x 2 x 3 to 1 x 2 x 2 (doubled up to make them 4 high instead of 3 high). That makes it into a tiny Lego store that still looks good for minifigs. It's not modular building scale, but it looks good.

Posted by wRuB in United Kingdom, 20 May 2012 17:14

@TargetOnMyBack - thanks so much for the link and info on what you've done! Very helpful, and once I get hold of the parts, will try it out. :)

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