With its sand green patina windows, nifty interior details like a big safe and banker’s desk and lamps, and a neighboring building housing a laundromat, the newest modular set in the Creator Expert line is the Brick Bank, #10251. Planned release is January, 2016; it will be posted as a “Coming Soon” item on shop.It will cost your $169.99 — a new, higher price point for a Modular. 😦 But it really looks like a beautiful set and will probably become a fan favorite. Enjoy these photos, followed by the text of the LEGO press release. (Um, the money launderer, as it were, is probably my favorite sight gag here!) Our members put on a successful AFOL display at the Angelika Film Center in Manhattan for the NYC premiere of “A LEGO Brickumentary”! Parents and kids stopped by to check out New York City-themed MOCs by NYCLUG members Lyn, Donald, Sid and Don, who gave out free “Brickumentary” posters and postcards, and answered questions about the film! Our MOCs included Don’s George Washington Bridge, Lyn’s Citibike stand and Brazilian Trio Electrico, Donald’s joyriding motorcyclist and Sid’s Bricklyn Bridge. A
Saturday morning into afternoon well-spent! Every tourist who has ever been to New York has probably looked through a pair of these: mounted binoculars, often seen at landmarks such as the Empire State Building. Beginning this year, the LUG Showcase Windows at your local LEGO Brand Retail store will switch from a monthly display to a permanent one… It’s been a busy few weeks for NYCLUG, which continues to grow in both members and LEGO displays. It was a quick conference of AFOLs to be sure, but hopefully worth the wait as Charles Dunlap (r.) from the Hawaii LUG stopped by the LEGO Brand Retail store at Rockefeller Center last week. In 2001, Lego first released their legendary Bionicle line of highly articulated, mask-wearing robot creatures, complete with transparent colored eye stalks, piston-packed elements, and lots and lots of ball joints. On Sept. 24, NYCLUG members were treated to a special preview of the new LEGO Brand Retail store in Manhattan’s Flatiron District — and it’s like no other LEGO store around!
Last month, members of NYCLUG installed their latest MOCs for the Community window at the Rockefeller Center LEGO Store — and met with their newest members! In this (long-delayed) edition: a really, really big Tumbler; a bus stop made out of LEGO; and what’s washing up on the shores of the U.K.? Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Celebrate the architectural diversity of New York City with this detailed LEGO® brick model. The LEGO Architecture Skyline Collection offers models suitable for display in the home and office, and has been developed for all with an interest in travel, architectural culture, history and design. Each set is scaled to give an accurate representation of the comparative size of each structure, with true-to-life color depiction. This set features the Flatiron Building, Chrysler Building™, Empire State Building, One World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty, and is finished with a decorative “New York City” nameplate.
LEGO® interpretation of the New York City skyline. Features the Flatiron Building, Chrysler Building™, Empire State Building, One World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. The included booklet contains information about the designer, architecture and history of each building, as well as historical facts about New York City and its architectural heritage (English language only. Includes a 4x32 tiled base with decorative “New York City” nameplate. Recreate the world's most beautiful cities with the LEGO® Architecture Skyline Collection. LEGO® Architecture celebrates the world of architecture through the medium of the LEGO brick, and is developed for all with an interest in design, architecture and history. Measures 10” (26cm) high, 9” (25cm) wide and 1” (4cm) deep Limit 5 per customer WARNING: Choking Hazard - Small Parts. Not suitable for children under 3 years old. Most Helpful Customer Reviews See all customer reviews
Nothing really beats the LEGO store at Rockefeller Center. Here's the location on Google Maps: The LEGO Store, 5th Avenue, New York, NY. I don't really care about LEGOs past nifty things like this:... but I had to go in to see what's in this store:If you look up, you see a gigantic LEGO dragon stretching from area to area.They have a ton of drawers for all your specific LEGO needs:If you want a kit, you certainly can rest assured it will be there:If it's too cold to go out and watch the ice skating in Rockefeller Center's rink, you can always see the LEGO version:Iconic local sculptures are replicated in lego-form, like the Rockefeller Center's Prometheus:... or Atlas:Or a little Statue of Liberty:And here's a cute Central Park horse:Anyway, not my thing, but it's probably the NYC LEGO HQ :)I'd say the LEGO store at Rockefeller Center:620 Fifth Avenue @ 50th StreetNew York NY 10020Phone: (212) 245-5973There are also a couple of Toys R Us (TRU) locations in NYC, although they probably won't have the full compliment of products (they also tend to mark up their prices above MSRP
, unlike the LEGO brand retail stores which sell at MSRP).The LEGO store will also have a Pick-A-Brick wall (not usually seen in other venues, but the Times Square TRU is a notable exception), which will let you select your own custom pieces, as well as "build-your-own-minifigs" and (usually) a few other LEGO activities for kids.2015 will go down in New York’s storied retail history as the year when the city lost two of its flagship toy stores. At 6:00 p.m. on December 30, Toys “R” Us will shut down its Times Square store at West 44th Street and Broadway. The retail giant decided not to renew the lease due to ever-rising rents in the pedestrian-heavy neighborhood. Earlier in July, the company closed the famous FAO Schwarz store on at 767 Fifth Avenue, which had served the city since 1986.On August 1, 2000, Toys “R” Us announced its plans to build a new flagship store at the Crossroads of the World. At that time, Times Square was still in its active renaissance phase, rapidly shedding its notoriously seedy past in favor of a family-friendly, tourist-oriented, sanitized image.
The move to the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 44th Street would put the store in the middle of the Theater District and across the street from ABC’s Good Morning America studios, as well as the MTV music studios. The store would anchor the rapidly growing retail district. Its initially proposed 101,000 square feet would make it one third larger than the Virgin Megastore a block north. TV ads featured the store’s mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, inviting kids and their parents to the world’s largest toy store.In November 2001, the toy retailer opened its 110,000 square foot flagship location. The self-described “World’s Greatest Toy Store®” had a strong claim to the grandiose title. Its four levels are centered on a grand atrium that houses a 60-foot Ferris wheel. Each of the wheel’s fourteen cabs is uniquely themed after toys and children’s entertainment characters ranging from time-rested classics to new popular franchises.On the second floor, a 20-foot-high and 34-foot-long animatronic T. rex roars and shakes its tail at the entrance to the dinosaur section.
The dinosaur shares the high ceiling space with Superman breaking the fall of a truck, suspended above an action hero zone.At 25 feet to its pinnacle, a LEGO model of the Empire State Building rises higher than the dinosaur’s head. Together with a similarly scaled Chrysler, Woolworth, Lipstick, and Hearst Magazine Buildings, as well as the Statue of Liberty, the models form an indoor skyline that towers over the LEGO section, beyond which lies a “life-size”, accessible Barbie Dollhouse.Some of the other attractions on the long list of features include the FAO Schwarz-themed Candy Land section, an Astro Kids zone where children would pick out a selection of “rare” stones and minerals, an electronics section, a Babies R Us division, and more. A UPS branch is located at the lower level, allowing customers to ship their purchases to friends and relatives around the country and beyond without leaving the premises.The four levels surround the central atrium with a 360 degree enclosure of balconies, while two glass elevators and a neon-bound bank of escalators provide vertical access.
At this moment, the Ferris wheel continues to entertain children and their parents, yet the shelves around are already a forlorn shadow of their former glory. Enticed by steep discounts, customers are snatching up the remaining wares while the store is slowly closing off various sections. The top level was shut down over a week ago, and 373 employees are facing layoffs.“It is certainly bittersweet,” the company’s CEO Dave Brandon said in an interview with CNNMoney. In the same segment, Brandon expresses optimism regarding their search for a new, presumably more cheaply priced, location in the Times Square area. Meanwhile, the company announced plans to open a new 55,000 square foot location at the American Dream project, formerly known as Xanadu, across the Hudson River at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Despite its current density, the Theater District continues to add new retail offerings, such as at the new 8,000-square-foot building that is being constructed at 719 Seventh Avenue several blocks to the north.
The toy store is being priced out of the Bow Tie Building at 1530 Broadway, the flagship property of the Bow Tie Partners. Although the company claims its name in part of the neckwear of choice of Charles B. Moss, Sr., the second generation owner of the company, it is also named for the 145,000-square-foot retail space at the center of the “bowtie” of Times Square at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Over 50,000 pedestrians are reported to pass by the building each day. The storefront and the nine rooftop billboards are seen by over 1.5 million motorists, pedestrians, and TV viewers every day.The four-story building is a rarity for the high-rise district of Midtown Manhattan, where large new buildings almost universally rise dozens of stories into the air. In a sense, it follows the model of the district’s most famous building at One Times Square at the southern end of the grand intersection. Although the hundred-plus year-old building was built as an office tower, most of the skyscraper’s 25 stories are empty.
The structure is more profitable as an advertisement anchor, and made $23 million from billboard revenue in 2012. Additional income streams from three stories of retail space at the lower floors. Though the Bowtie Building operates on the same retail-billboard business model, its priorities are reversed as the massive retail space is the primary attraction.While the toy store occupied the majority of the structure for fourteen years and one month, additional, unrelated shops are located at the north end of the building, which will continue their operation. The space of the toy store itself will be separated into two 31,000 square foot sections, one housing the new flagship store for Gap and the other for Old Navy. Though the fate of the Ferris wheel, the dinosaur, and the other large-scale features remains unclear, somehow we doubt that the apparel giant will offer its guests rides in a clothing-themed amusement ride.It is also not known whether the new stores will make use of the current billboard systems on the front façade, where a grid of banners rotates upon a series of pins to present a shifting advertisement tapestry.
Both Toys “R” Us Times Square and FAO Schwarz have been brought down by the double hit combo of rising rents and growing market competition.Since the opening of Toys “R” Us Times Square in 2001, the asking rent at the venue has doubled, reaching $2,500 per square foot at the ground floor, $350 per square foot at the second floor and $150 per square foot rent at the lower level. The store’s surroundings are quite different than what it was fifteen years ago. The city’s tourist industry has experienced an upsurge, large portions of Broadway have been closed to vehicular traffic and repurposed as pedestrian spaces, and the number of visitors has surged to 50 million per year, making it the world’s third busiest tourist attraction, according to Travel+Leisure.FAO Schwarz was located at the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue, which was listed as the city’s most valuable building at around $3.4 billion in 2013. Though FAO Schwarz has been at its Fifth Avenue and 59th Street location since 1986, its place as the building’s trophy retail property was usurped in 2006 by the new flagship Apple Store.
Its now-famous glass cube replaces the former sunken plaza in front of the office tower.The toy store closed its doors in July, amid extensive news coverage and a heavy shopper presence. Visitors queued for one final look at the rows of stuffed animals, the singing clock, and the floor piano made famous by Tom Hanks in the 1998 movie Big.However, the lease at the expensive location was not up for some time after closing, indicating that high rents were not the only factor that led to decreased profitability. As Fortune Magazine notes, the toy retailer buckled under competition from all-purpose stores such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target, which were able to provide toys at lower prices. Once-famous toy store chains such as KB Toys and Zany Brainy succumbed under the same pressure years ago.The magazine goes on to suggest that the key problem with the flagship store was its emphasis on sales without a strong attempt to monetize the unique, “magical” experience that cannot be made available online or at an average mall.