Well I went this morning to go see the setup for the Vancouver Oakridge Lego Store Grand Opening, after hearing that they had red rope setup which, I imagine would hold about 300 people who would be receiving the first day promotion of the Vancouver Lego Store t-shirt.

At about 9:10am there were about 50 people in line.  A lot of lucky kids with their parents on Pro-D day.  The first person in line was there at 5:30am.  Further down the walkway was Erik Varszegi getting ready for the 8 foot tall R2D2 build which was slated to begin at 11am and run through to Sunday evening.  By the time I left at around 9:30am the line had grown 50%.  I came back in the late afternoon to still see a very long line up but all very cheery and happy to be there.

Arriving at about the same time on Saturday morning showed me that there were a lot of people out there who love the Lego brick.  The line up was insanely long and winded up and down all the way to the Food Court and beyond.  I think this was the most popular Grand Opening Weekend purchase giveaway.

Coming back in the late afternoon, the mini Lego Store models had all been distributed, yet there was still a long line up to get into the store perhaps for the Star Wars TC-14 :”May the Fourth” Be with You promotion.  I heard that when the giveaways were down to the last 30 an announcement was made and a few of those who knew they wouldn’t be getting one, approached those exiting the store offering $50 cash to buy the mini Lego Store model from them.

The final day of the Grand Opening Weekend had similar lineups to the Friday.  The traffic at the 8 foot R2D2 build had been consistently busy all weekend, but there seemed to be a greater frenzy in helping to build bricks for the Lego Master Builder on Sunday.  At 5pm, right on cue, Erik Verszegi put in the last piece to complete the Lego R2D2 build to a cheering audience.

The community assisted build of the massive R2D2 model will be on display in the Oakridge Centre Mall West Galleria (close by to the Lego store) till tear down on May 13th, 2012.

Although this event was not ours, the Vancouver Lego Club members were happy to assist in volunteering their time and efforts at the Grand Opening of the Vancouver Oakridge Lego Store.

For more photos from this weekend please head to our Photo Gallery.

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Below are various media coverage of the event:

The Province newspaper interviews one of our members

Global TV morning news interviewed Lego Master Builder Erik Varszegi.

Vancouver Sun Video of Vancouver Lego Store Grand Opening

Vancouver Sun video of 8 foot tall R2D2 build.

One of our members was interviewed on behalf of the Vancouver Lego Club to talk about us and the upcoming Grand Opening of the Lego Store at the Oakridge Mall.    The interview was at 3:30pm and by midnight last night it was already on The Province online.

Okay, so technically this is copyrighted material, but if you follow the link you’ll find the article at The Province newspaper website  CLICK HERE

I was flipping through the Vancouver Sun newspaper this morning and happened to look in the Announcements section when I saw the following.  I have no idea who he is and yes, it’s unlikely that he’ll ever see this blog post, but I thought it was really cool that this was the photo his parents chose to use.

Looks like Tyler got a Pirates of the Caribbean Whitecap Bay set from Mama, Laura & Daddy.  Lucky kid.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY TYLER!  May you have many Lego filled years ahead of you.

p.s. Not sure if he’s rocking a hat or there’s a big hole in the wall behind him.

I’m guessing most of you have already been to the recently soft opened, Oakridge Lego Store.   Reading what people have posted on Twitter, almost all have been taken back to their childhood memories.  Sort of like the smell of Crayola crayons, clicking two bricks together holds a similar feeling attached to it.

Next up on the agenda, the Vancouver Lego Club will be helping out on the Grand Opening Weekend May 4th to 6th, 2012 and helping to build the 8 foot tall R2D2 from Star Wars.

Look for our members with our blue and white brick built engraved nametags.   We look forward to seeing you there!

From Lego.com’s website: http://stores.lego.com/en-us/Vancouver/LandingPage.aspx

The LEGO® Store at Oakridge Centre
Vancouver, BC, Canada650 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 2M9

LEGO Store Grand Opening Weekend!
May 4 – 6 • West Galleria

Help a real LEGO Master Builder construct an 8 foot tall model of R2-D2™ completely out of LEGO bricks during our 3-day grand opening celebration weekend! You’ll receive a free Certificate of Achievement for helping!

Friday, May 4: 11 am – 7 pm
Saturday, May 5: 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, May 6: 11 am – 6 pm

Plus, visit the LEGO Store during the event for exclusive in-store offers this weekend only!

Friday: Free LEGO Minifigure T-Shirt with a $35 purchase! (the logo shown now is for the Vancouver store opening)

Saturday: Free Limited-Edition LEGO Store Set with a $35 purchase!

Sunday: Free Exclusive Minfigure Set with a $35 purchase!

Offers available this weekend only, while supplies last.

We’re all excited here at the Vancouver Lego Club because the time has come for the the Lego Brand Retail Store to open up here in Vancouver!  More specifically at Oakridge Mall by the kids play area near the Safeway.

The soft opening is scheduled to be this Friday, April 13th, 2012.    What’s a soft opening?  It’s where the store is open and operational.  The staff work out any issues and get everything up to speed for the official Grand Opening weekend May 4th-6th, 2012.   Although it will most likely be busy for the soft opening, it’s probably nothing compared to the Grand Opening which usually has really long line ups just to get into the store for the first few days.  But don’t let that dissuade you from being a part of it all.

So what happens at the Grand Opening?  Traditionally a Lego Master Builder will come and build a huge Lego sculpture but that that’s still under wraps as to which model.  Kids will get to help build a part of it and get a Certificate of Achievement for helping.

I can tell you about some of the giveaways for the first three days.    This information is not direct, so it may be incorrect.

Friday May 4th: Lego Minifigure T-shirt

Saturday May 5th: Lego Brand Store mini-model

Sunday May 6th: Vancouver Store Exclusive minifigs

Each will be available free with a $35 or more purchase.  Quantities will be limited and for that weekend only

PDF Instructions for building the store

The Vancouver Lego Club was asked to help build the Lego Brand Ribbon Models (the ones you see around the store with the circular windows) as well as the many sets you’ll see in  the display cabinets.  They are not our designs and were built off instructions and bricks provided by Lego.   The models vary in complexity from fairly simple to quite elaborate and will hopefully serve as an inspiration for young builders.

Be sure to look out for our VLC members at the store who will most likely show up for both the soft and the Grand Opening.  We’ll be wearing our brick built nametags or our grey VLC polo shirts.  Feel free to talk to us and ask us what we’re up to!

Well, the Vancouver Lego Club has joined the Twitter-verse and we invite you to Follow Us.

We’ll keep you updated on what the club is up to and where you can see our upcoming creations.

@VanLegoClub

Lego Twitter Bird designed by Fredo Houben

The folks at Science World have put up a cool time lapse video of a large castle wall that is currently on display for their current Lego exhibit running to May 21st, 2012.  Led by Lego Master Builder Robin Sather, VLC members Brian C, Lee W, David G and Michael T assisted in this build as well as the huge Lego Knight on his steed, also seen near the entrance of Science World

Click the photo below to watch the time lapse build on YouTube

As well, I finally got around to posting pictures from our collaboration with Science World for their popular After Dark evenings for adults.   I think you’ll see that we had as much fun as our participants did!

Go to either our “Events” or “Photos” section or simply click here

Hopefully if you’re reading this you are one of the 660+ people who came out to play with us on Friday night at Science World After Dark.  Who knew so many of you out there were big Lego fans?   We had a blast and we hope that you did too.

If you enjoyed the evening, then we would love to hear about it. Or even if you didn’t and you would like to tell us what we could do better.  And Science World would to.   Please send us comments, praise, feedback, concerns, photos and monetary cash donations in small unmarked bills in an e-mail at vancouverlegoclub@gmail.com

If you would like to see our upcoming Mythology display at the Surrey Museum this summer, come on out from June through September.  http://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/2374.aspx We’ll be covering Greece, Rome, Persia, Egypt and Atlantis.  No “After Dark” nights planned though.

If you’ve rediscovered your love of the Lego brick and are interested in finding out what the Vancouver Lego Club is all about, come join us in our forums http://www.vlc.ca/forums/ and perhaps come get to know us at one of our monthly meetings which are held at various locations throughout the Lower Mainland.

And hey, there’s a Lego Store going to be opening up at Oakridge Mall in mid-April.  You know we’ll be there!  http://oakridgecentre.com/store/lego

For those of you who missed out on the Science World After Dark event, we had speed builds of castle towers, Lego brick based wargames,  master builds of brick creationary improv and best of all (I’m hugely biased since I co-ran it) the MINIFIG CATAPULT TOSS!

We’ll be posting some pictures of the event up here soon.   So please watch out for them.  UPDATE: Our photos are up! Click here

Kelly Marion’s SWAD event photos

And finally, congratulations to the winners of our games and contests.  The draws were held and Science World will be contacting you soon to pick up your (newly opened, but slightly enjoyed) Lego castle set!

A new LEGO exhibit has opened at Science World this weekend and will be running for the next few months.  See below post for more info.

Members of the VLC will be taking part in the “After Dark” event this friday Feb. 24th (for adults) as entertainers.  We will be holding speed builds and other contest and giving out LEGO prizes, of course!

For more info about Science World After Dark

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LEGO Castle Adventure @ Science World 

A hands-on exhibition that provides an extraordinary opportunity for both little and big kids to discover the world of castle-building. Explore the LEGO Kingdom’s royal castle, sit in their majesties’ LEGO thrones, admire a LEGO suit of armour, dress up, joust, even test out a catapult!  Click here for further details on the Science World website.

Hear ye, hear ye! Come one, come all to Science World and experience LEGO® Castle Adventure, a hands-on exhibition that provides an extraordinary opportunity for kids (including big ones!) to discover the world of castle-building using one of the greatest building materials of all time: LEGO® bricks.

Explore the LEGO Kingdom’s royal castle, sit in their majesties’ LEGO thrones, and admire a LEGO suit of armour. After that, tour the castle grounds and learn about day-to-day castle life. You’ll be able to dress up as princes, princesses, knights or dragons; climb a lookout tower; and don suspender-style horses to “joust” with foam-rubber lances.

And that’s not all! You can even test out castle defences with . . . a catapult! That’s right. By using a computer simulation program and a model catapult, you’ll be able to virtually build and test castle walls and learn through trial and error the most durable ways to protect a fortress.

At LEGO Castle Adventure, builders of all ages and skill levels will construct castles, learn about real-world fortresses, and discover castle-building secrets. Visitors will have the chance to explore various themes, including:

• The importance of planning in constructing successful castles
• Which part of a castle is built for which purpose
• What it takes to build and run a castle
• Inspiring real-life castles

Produced by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in cooperation with LEGO Systems, Inc. LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2012 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.

Two weeks ago, Ho and Muhammad launched a homemade balloon carrying a Lego passenger and four cameras. It fell back down to Earth 97 minutes later with astonishing footage from an estimated 24 kilometres above sea level, three times the typical cruising altitude of a commercial aircraft.

What a cool story with an amazing video to show the voyage of this Lego minifig 24 kilometer journey into space via a weather balloon.  Check out the whole story for youself at the Toronto Star website by clicking on the photo below.