The Lego Store Adventures
One of the very best things about the Lego Store trip we took a couple of weeks ago was the rumoured pick-a-brick wall of joy and delight. Marilyn had been previously and brought me back one of their large soft-drink style containers of bricks. She did an ace job of packing the stuff in but I was pretty sure it would be possible to cram even more bricks into it. I don’t buy a lot of random bricks – I’m content to acquire most of my Lego through sets, but the mere sight of a wall of Lego left me quite dizzy.
Pick A Brick Joy
I’m assured by this helpful and delightfully insane post that the volume of it is about 1130ml. Some people have made extraordinary efforts to fit bricks in, but I just wanted a decent range of bricks that I don’t have that many of. The technique seems pretty obvious – tiny stuff right at the bottom and fill all the gaps.
I started with tiny red single round studs and worked up through red 2×2 plates, more of the gorgeous lime green 1x2s, slotted gold 1x2s and then other oddments I’m fond of. I never have enough flowers, or the green supports for them so I grabbed a few fistfuls, plus I’ve seen the bigger tropical palm leaves in other sets but I didn’t have any… in they went. I continually shook the bricks into place (I know stacking would maximise the potential but I just couldn’t face it).
Eventually I managed to cram the lid back on (had to ditch a couple of bricks) and had a full tub that didn’t even rattle when shaken. I was very proud. Once shaken out at home it made a satisfying smooshing sound like plastic water and I got to see all the bricks I’d stuffed in but forgotten about!
I love those corrugated white column bricks and the grey hinge pieces will come in handy. For good measure I also got some transparent blue cones, cream corner pieces and a couple of windscreens. It’s a nice assortment of things. Many of them have already come in handy in the Christmas/winter building. I had hoped for a bit more range in-store, but a lot of them were very tradition 3×2 or 2×4 bricks in primary colours which I just don’t use that much.
A Final Gift of Brick Love
We took away one cone of bricks, the Thanksgiving Feast set, twelve custom minifigures and the Palace Cinema set. All in all a pretty good haul. As a bonus, and possibly for the insane grins on our faces, the nice lady in the shop also gave us three free Christmas Pick A Brick boxes which we can take back and fill for free before the end of March. We just need to align our schedules…
It’s amazing how happy this stuff can make me.
Related articles
- Lego Blog: Rummaging In The Body Bank (captainpigheart.com)
- 2013 Build-it-Yourself LEGO Holiday Ornaments by Chris McVeigh (laughingsquid.com)
- Lego Blog: Jabba’s Palace Part 2 (captainpigheart.com)
- Lego Blog: There’s An Ogre At My Castle (captainpigheart.com)
