Apologies for the long hiatus and radio silence! I’ve been in Manila, capital city of the Philippines for a work trip and have had very limited internet connectivity while here! I’ve managed to squeeze some time at work on the reliable office WiFi!
I’m having a great time here in Manila but am still kinda sad that I’ve managed to miss all the LEGO festivities back home in Australia. All up, I’ve missed the release of the new Series 14 minifigs, Force Friday and also the release of the Wall-E set! Pretty inconvenient time for me to be away!
Anyway, being resourceful here in Manila, I did make an effort to check out the LEGO Certified Store in Bonifacio Global City! We don’t get LEGO stores of any kind in Australia so it’s always a treat to be able to visit LEGO Certified Stores when I’m in Asia.
If you ever find yourself in Manila, here’s how you can get there and any other details you might need.
LEGO Certified Store Manila Address:
Park Triangle, 11th Avenue corner Rizal Drive, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (located near Kidzania)
Here’s the interiors of the LEGO Certified Store (LCS) in Manila which should be very familiar to those who have frequented similar stores. The retail experience is everything like an official LEGO store – plenty of LEGO sets lining the walls, the bright yellow flooring and fittings and of course plenty of LEGO sets on display in acrylic cases.
In case you were wondering, a LEGO Certified Store isn’t technically the same as official LEGO stores (the kind that you’d find in the US or Europe). An LCS is essentially a LEGO franchise store that isn’t operated by LEGO but by an independent third party.
The aesthetics and product ranges are all similar, although you don’t get certain perks like VIP points when you shop there.
Like all good LCS, there were plenty of exclusives and hard to find items such as Death Stars, SHIELD Helicarriers, Modulars and even the LEGO Ideas Birds set.
What really shocked me when I was browsing was the exorbitant prices of LEGO in the Philippines. I mean, holy crap the prices are just shocking. Coming from Australia where there is a strong belief that we constantly get shafted by LEGO prices (which is totally false btw) but man, the price of LEGO here is just ridiculous.
Prices are at least 40% higher than in Australia – which is somewhat of a conservative estimate. Not sure if it’s the weak Aussie dollar, but just to give you an example, LEGO Minifigures cost about 250 Pesos (~AU$8), 60078 Utility Shuttle is 1600 Pesos (~AU$50) and 76041 Hydra Fortress Smash costs 5900 Pesos (~AU$184).
Madness. In Australia, these sets would cost $5, $30 and $90 respectively. No idea what’s behind the crazy markup with the Hydra Fortress Smash.
As I’m on a long work trip, so I initially wanted to buy some LEGO just to tide me over while I’m here. I wouldn’t mind paying full retail but the expensive price of LEGO just threw me off here.
I really feel sorry for my fellow Filipino LEGO fans because you have to pay so much. Sheesh, I will never complain about how expensive LEGO is ever again.
Like most LCS, you can expect to find a Build a Minifigure Station. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, you can build 3 minifigures out of a whole bucket of heads, hairpieces, torsos, legs and accessories for 500 Pesos (~AU$16) which I thought was decently priced.
I was tempted to get one, but I decided against in the end. I was especially surprised to see Seagulls being one of the accessories that you can get. Those are pretty valuable and were very tempting!
There’s also a Pick A Brick Station. Unlike most LEGO Stores where you pay per cup, the bricks here are sold by weight. It’s 680 Pesos (~AU$21) per 100 grams which I felt was kind of pricey.
The Pick A Brick selection was also nothing to shout about – mostly just generic parts.
There was a really large range of LEDLites and keychains, which was cool. These make good souvenirs although they’re a tad expensive.
Here’s an impressive Mia (from LEGO Friends) sculpture.
Being in the Philippines, I really enjoyed the Jeepney mosiac which was really well made.
There was also a small LEGO City MOC which had a Jeepney riding through the streets!
While it was great being in LEGO Certified Store and it was an overall pleasant browsing experience, I can’t say that I’m a fan of the exorbitant LEGO prices here in the Philippines!
If you’re a LEGO fan and you find yourself in this part of the world, it’s always worth a trip to check out the LEGO Certified Store but don’t expect to find any decent deals, especially if you’re from a country with relatively affordable LEGO!
Have you been to the LEGO Certified Store in Manila? Let me know what you thought about it in the comments!
I’m a filipino,Other foreigners that i have seen in youtube is just throwing old lego but for us thats so ridiculous that worth a fortune for us.
Good day it is available warrior kitty
Hello I just wanna ask if lego store have a lego technic
oh really!!! that’s shocking but at the same time not surprising…. here in the Phils. taxes are high. If the LCS (as you say) is in Bonifacio Global City, man..expect the price to be high because the area is quite expensive…maybe the franchiser is renting the place and rent in that area is quite exorbitant …. so distressing. Maybe I’ll just ask my sister who is living in Australia to buy there in Australia and I’ll just reimburse her— maybe it is cheaper that way. I was glad I learned from your blog that there’s an LCS here in Manila but got frustrated when you mention about the exorbitant price…
I’ve been in that LCS a couple of times cuz my house is near the LCS ( walkable) my first time in that LCS I thought Pick a Brick was per cup but I was shocked when I saw “679.75 pesos per 100 grams” and roam around to check prices. Later on when I got home I checked the official lego website and computed the prices and I see the large difference between the lego prices of US and Philippines, the death star (2016 edition) here is php 38,000 ($760US) and in US its $500 (php 25,000) WTF!!! THE LEGO PRICE HERE IS WAY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE US so basically yeah ill just have to wait for an outlet sale or warehouse sale of lego.
Yeah, it’s a little crazy. You’re much better off getting stuff off Bricklink.
All lego fans here in Philippines need to wait for another warehouse sale that gives 60% off for them to have a good deal price. Lego price here is too expensive.
Yeah, it’s pretty rough. In my home country of Malaysia, things have improved and they now get plenty of sales so I wouldn’t write it off for you guys!
Pls. help. Where can I buy Lego 40124 & 40125 sets here in MLA? Need to buy asap. Do you have idea HM? Thank you for your help.
I’m not too sure. Have you tried calling the LEGO Store?
Yes lego in the philippines is most expensive price in asia.it is very sad for all filipino fans of lego.iam ang filipino fan of lego base now in uae dubai here also the price of lego is super expensive.because of the greedy company that controlling the price of lego manupulating the market.but at the end of the day we still buying beacause of the happiness and passion for it.and especially for our children who enjoying playing it.
I’m so sorry to hear that. Hopefully things improve soon. You should get the community to be more vocal about it.
LEGO used to be super pricey in my home country of Malaysia, but now, they’ve taken the feedback of local fans on board and they’ve started running sales and discounts.
It is expensive in Singapore too. And I have to buy discounted items for my children and it may not be the ones they prefer.
Yeah, it’s pretty rough but my friends from SG say that they have pretty regular sales at Metro. Also, at least you guys have LCSes!
Yeah so i buy lepin instead though i have plenty of lego bricks and sets but some of it are 2nd hand most of it are bought in that LCS
Donl you have any branch in sm malls or robinsons?
Hi, I’m not actually the store owner.
How much is one heartlake mall?
Just this year, my lil brother favorited playing Lego. And so, buying Lego is our hobby every other week. Looking for better deals around the metro, I saw this post and I knew it: placing shipped orders is way more affordable than the overpricing of LCS or other retailers. Such an eye opener, this one. Xo
which country can i buy cheap lego set,,by the way im a filipino staying here in saudi arabia,,its difficult for me to get lego sets,here.There is toys r us here but limited lego themes..
Agreed. PH price is just so ridiculously overpriced..
Hey Klark, yeah I was so taken aback. I’m quite familiar with prices in Singapore and Malaysia but I didn’t expect the difference to be THAT high.
This is cool! Jay, did you see my review of the first 3 minifigures from Series 14? It’s on the page with the minifigures, the announcement one.
Yeah I saw it! I believe I replied directly to it! I haven’t gotten series 14 yet! Looking forward to getting it when I get home to Australia!