Checking out the LEGO Shop at the Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne

April 11, 2017 | 55

After hearing on social media that the Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne’s LEGO Shop had sneakily opened, I didn’t waste any time heading to Chadstone to check out the brand new store! I lucked out by having a meeting nearby, so I popped in at lunchtime today to see what all the fuss is about.

The LEGO Shop is perhaps my most anticipated thing about the Legoland Discovery Centre, so I was pretty excited to check it out and see if it would be everything I’d hope it be. (Spoiler warning: it was)

It completely caught me off guard as I had expected the Shop to open at the same time as the Grand Opening is slated for Tuesday, 18 April. If you’re going to be there on Tuesday, let me know in the comments! Would be great to say hi to you!

It made sense for the LEGO Shop to open slightly earlier given that Chadstone is currently crawling with kids and families because it’s the school holidays, as well as the impending long Easter weekend.

The LEGO Shop at Chadstone is going to be the thing that most LEGO fans will primarily care about, as it’s the closest we’ll ever get to a real LEGO Store. It’s not unlike the LEGO Certified Store at Dreamworld and for all intents and purposes, it’s the real deal and an absolute treat for any LEGO fan.

If you want to see what it’s like in the store, check out this video I took!

And yes, in case it wasn’t clear enough – you do not need a ticket to enter the store. It’s open to the public and yes, you can enter the store even if you don’t have a child. 

A lot of people have been confused and lashing out online over the whole “no child, no entry” policy at the Legoland Discovery Centre, which is pretty stupid as it’s largely a huge play area with rides that are designed for 5 year olds.

You’ll see what I mean next week when I’m able to write about the rides and stuff inside. There will be AFOL Nights organised where adults can enter and play in the Legoland Discovery Centre, so it’s not the end of the world.

Oh and if you are an annual pass holder, you’ll receive a 10% discount on purchases at the LEGO Shop. Yes, that includes Pick a Brick purchases too!

Here’s a few photos of the exterior of the LEGO Shop at Chadstone. It’s bright, vibrant and there are tons of LEGO Batman Movie decals on the glass windows. I really dig the multi-coloured brick design at the entrance. 

As you can see, the entrance to the LEGO Shop is located right beside the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Centre.

The biggest draw of the LEGO Shop, apart from the huge selection of sets is of course the massive Pick a Brick Wall which has 124 slots filled with an assortment of elements that will make any LEGO fan dizzy.

The most surprising thing about the Pick a Brick Wall is that Legoland Discovery Centre has had a change of heart and is selling Pick a Brick by cups instead of by weight.

I’m super delighted by this change as selling by fixed priced cups is a much more economical and cost-effective way of doing Pick a Brick.

The price for the Pick a Brick Store at the Chadstone LEGO Shop is $29.99 for a Large Cup and $14.99 for a Small Cup – the same price as the Dreamworld LEGO Store.

Here’s a look at the selection of parts from the LEGO Pick a Brick wall that you can expect to find during the opening period. I thought it was very clever for them to have this at the counter so you can have a look at the variety of different available elements without looking through each slot.

Do note that the assortment of elements will change throughout the year. Hopefully we get some really great parts and elements.

Just for fun, I bought a Large Cup before the weekend crowds come in and snag all the good parts. I mostly bought some 1 x 4 sand green plates, some grass stems, transparent 1 x 2 bricks and a whole load of light grey and white tiles.

I can tell you right now that the light grey tiles are going to be snapped up like crazy, and I’ll be very surprised if they’ll have any left by the grand opening on Tuesday once the AFOL frenzy hits the shop over the weekend.

There’s also a Build a Minifigure station, which should be very popular with young kids and adults alike.

It costs you $19.99 to build 3 minifigures and you can customise your minifigs to your heart’s desire. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, you select a hat or hairpiece, head, torso, legs and an accessory for your minifig to hold and you’re set!

You’ll also get a clamshell packaging which is quite presentable and makes for a pretty attractive souvenir if you were to visit. I highly recommend giving this a go if you’ve never done one of these before.

The Store itself is fabulous and I can safely say that I will be visiting Chadstone a lot more purely because of the Legoland Discovery Centre Shop.

If you’ve visited a LEGO Brand Retail or LEGO Certified Store, you’ll be very much at home with the aesthetic.

I was very impressed by the range of sets that they managed to squeeze into quite a small space. It’s not as extensive as the Dreamworld LEGO Store (due to space restrictions) but you can expect to find most current LEGO sets on the shelves.

The LEGO Shop also houses large exclusives, hard to find sets and D2C (Direct to Consumer) sets such as the LEGO Disney Castle, Modular Buildings, UCS Tie Fighters, Classic TV Series Batcaves and Creator Expert Vehicles like the Ferrari F40, T1 Campervan and Volkswagen Beetle.

Yup, even the Assembly Square was on shelves! Don’t worry if you’re after one, as it will also be available from Myer.

Was also pretty nice to spot Arkham Asylum on the shelves!

In terms of Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne exclusives, the closest would be 40166 Legoland Train, and these Legoland Magnets. 

I totally did not expect to find the Legoland Train being sold at the Discovery Centre, as they’re typically only sold at Legoland Theme Parks which makes them relatively rare sets.

I expect these to sell out very, very quickly, so if you’re after one, I highly recommend getting to Chadstone as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there are no Limits to how many you can purchase, so you can bet that resellers and scalpers will be all over it, as they did with the London Bus at the Dreamworld LEGO Store.

When I was there briefly today, I saw several people buying multiples of the Legoland Train set, which was pretty disappointing. 

The Legoland Magnet is also a really good purchase! Unlike other Legoland Magnets which I own, you can actually detach the minifigure completely from the magnet – nothing is glued together which is awesome! If I had known this, I would’ve bought a few more!

Here are some of the more interesting sets that you can’t typically find in regular toy stores and would be prudent pickups if you were to visit.

Tons of Brickheadz, including the new Pirates of the Caribbean ones. Brickheadz are exclusive to the Legoland Discovery Centre and Dreamworld LEGO Store for now – they will only show up in other toy stores around June.

Plenty of LEGO Batman Movie accessories such as the Minifigure Frame, Movie Maker, Batman Movie Accessory set, masks and even Joker Plushies. I highly recommend picking up a Foam Batarang as well – they’re totally awesome and a lot of fun.

Rare-ish sets such as the Iconic Chess Set and the What Am I? game.

Decorative home items such as oversized LEGO Mugs. These mugs are brilliant.

Nearly every LEGO Blister Pack imaginable which was pretty awesome.

Oh and of course plenty of LEGO Keychains which make terrific gifts or souvenirs.

Not to mention Ideas sets such as the recent Adventure Time, Caterham Seven and Beatles Yellow Submarine.

Surprisingly, there weren’t a lot of sculptures around the store. There was this mural which was tucked away right at the back at the shop, but I think they’re keeping most of the brick-built sculptures for the actual Legoland Discovery Centre.

There was this peculiar purple Duplo elephant thing in the middle of the shop.

I’m really delighted at the LEGO Shop. I was quite afraid that because of the relatively small shop size that they were going to cut corners, but I was more than impressed with the range of sets, accessories and merchandise sold.

Apart from some notable sets like the Easter Egg Hunt Seasonal Set that I was hoping to find, the shop has pretty much everything that you could want. There’s also no VIP or loyalty system, but I hope that changes very soon.

It’s also important to note that this LEGO Shop is not operated by LEGO, but is run by Merlin Entertainment (who run the Legoland Discovery Centre and Legoland Theme Parks around the world). To the average person, this doesn’t really make much of a difference but it might explain why certain things like VIP points are not supported.

Pricing is mostly RRP unless you have an annual pass, but even then, you’re probably better off buying LEGO from other major retailers which regularly have 20 – 30% discounts throughout the year.

If you’re shopping for LEGO, be sure to buy sets or merchandise that you can only get in this store or isn’t as readily available in other toy stores. 

It’s truly a LEGO-lovers’ dream come true and I can confidently say that it makes me very happy to be a Melburnian. I’m glad that I don’t have to travel to the Gold Coast to enjoy a proper LEGO retail experience now that I have the LEGO Shop in Chadstone.

All of this is of course underscored by the very well-stocked Pick a Brick Wall. Again, major props to Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne for switching to fixed-priced cups instead of weight. It’s a HUGE WIN for LEGO fans and the community.

Given Chadstone’s prominence as one of Victoria’s premier shopping centres, I can see the Legoland Discovery Centre being very, very successful with attracting both casual and serious LEGO fans. 

It’s a big boon to Melbourne as a LEGO Lover’s destination. Discovery Centre aside, I can see this store pulling in fans from across the country, as well as being a huge advantage in the eternal war between Melbourne and Sydney.

Suck on that Sydneysiders, not only are we the most livable city in Australia, but we also now have the upper-hand as the BEST capital city for LEGO fans!

I think I captured nearly everything about the LEGO Shop at Chadstone. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be very happy to help. If I don’t have the answers, I can always reach out to the Legoland Discovery Centre team.

If you’ve visited the LEGO Shop, I’d love to hear about your experience and what you thought of it! Likewise, now that you have a good idea of the LEGO Shop, I’d like to know if you’ll be making plans to visit soon!

Thanks for reading! Look out for the full-blown piece on the actual Legoland Discovery Centre next week!