Canberra’s first LEGO® certified store was a hit last weekend, with customers reportedly waiting in line for up to two hours for that “everything is awesome” shopping experience. Located in Canberra Centre, the store officially opened to the public on Saturday 6 November at 9am.
General manager of the new store, Matthew Robertson, duly predicted thousands of customers for the opening, putting their bollards and Covid protocols to good use.
He expected a good portion of that popularity would be due to the highly anticipated Home Alone set. “It’s already proved popular for that retro Christmas feel; it’s one of those rare sets that people have been waiting for.”
Also popular was the Pick-a-Brick wall, which allows customers to grab a cup and fill to their hearts content with whatever bricks they like.
“There is a huge Lego interest in Canberra,” said Mr Robertson. “We’ve been waiting to open this store for a long time. It was actually finished a couple of months ago and has been sitting behind the boarding all through lockdown.”
The Canberran location is made one-of-a-kind with a ceiling-high, 11,327-brick mosaic of hot air balloons floating over Lake Burley Griffin. The mosaic alone took 126 hours to build.
Unfortunately, Canberrans can’t take it home just yet, as Mr Robertson doesn’t see any capital-themed sets in the future.
“At least not that I’m aware of,” he laughed. “But they’re always on the lookout for new sets. There’s a whole campaign where individuals can design sets and submit them to the Lego business.”
One group that may be able to bring this dream to fruition is the Canberra Lego User Group (CLUG). The community of Lego fans get together monthly in Campbell to build sets, or their own creations.
The 110 adult members and 50 junior members were perhaps the most excited of all for the store opening.
“A lot of our members have been travelling off to Sydney or Melbourne to get exclusive sets,” said CLUG secretary, Jake. “And the pick-a-brick wall, we can’t get that elsewhere.”
According to Jake, CLUG attracts all sorts, with the youngest member being three years old, and the oldest in their 80s.
“People from all walks of life that share a passion for Lego,” said Jake. “Quite a lot of families, mums and dads and the kids, building sets together. And then sometimes, putting your bricks together to build something bigger than you could have on your own.”
Jake has his theories on the mass attraction of Lego, as seen over the weekend.
“It’s just such a fantastic toy. It’s durable. There’s that element of nostalgia, and as kids come along, they can enjoy it as well. I’ve got a six-year-old that loves playing with some of the sets back from when I was six.”
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