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.
