Whats the strangest thing you've seen happen in a LEGO store?

cheshirecat

This morning I was in my local store and this bloke comes in, acting a little strange, starts chatting to me and tells me he's a boxer, like I said, he was acting a bit odd so I kind of moved along but hung around as there was only 1 female staff member on the shop floor at the time (not that I'd have been much help against a pro/am boxer!). Anyhow, turns out he's a boxer with a fight coming up and wants LEGO to sponsor him. By the time I heard that, a second staff member had come out so I was happy to leave, but it struck me as an odd idea. Given LEGOs audience etc. Fair enough though, he was up and out trying to get sponsorship at about 9am.

Of course then I thought about it and there have now been two boxers in the CMF range, so perhaps he has a chance! As I left he was being given contact details for the marketing dept, so I doubt much chance. got me thinking what other strange things have you seen in a LEGO store?

Yellowcastle

I once saw employees restocking the Fire Brigade and Death Star. ;o)

caperberry

You mean aside from myself, stacking 1X2 plates for PAB cups? ;O)

My strangest experience was when a very little girl pissed herself after she loudly dropped a chunk of bricks she was building at the PAB. That wasn't the strange thing though; staff just got a dirty mop out and mopped the urine and bricks into a corner and left it. Later I had to stop this OCD little boy who wanted to pick the bricks up and put them back in the drawers.

This event stopped me buying rories from the lowest drawers, but I could never give up PAB for mere health concerns.

CCC

One of my kids once found a megablok in the building table/area. The staff just put it by the till when he pointed it out to them.

Rather than people nicking bricks from there, this is just as bad. Fly tipping your rubbish in there.

In the Lawrenceville, Atlanta store lastyear, they had a really bashed up duplo princess box reduced, from something like $39.99 to $39.98.

TheLoneTensor

caperberry said:

You mean aside from myself, stacking 1X2 plates for PAB cups? ;O)

My strangest experience was when a very little girl pissed herself after she loudly dropped a chunk of bricks she was building at the PAB. That wasn't the strange thing though; staff just got a dirty mop out and mopped the urine and bricks into a corner and left it. Later I had to stop this OCD little boy who wanted to pick the bricks up and put them back in the drawers.

This event stopped me buying rories from the lowest drawers, but I could never give up PAB for mere health concerns.

Laf, this thread took a quick, dark turn.

CapnRex101

A couple of years ago at the Brighton LEGO store I recall seeing somebody who quite brazenly just walked in, picked up #10214 Tower Bridge from the shelf and went walk out with it. A staff member asked him if he had paid for it and he simply put it down and left.

If anybody has seen the Only Fools and Horses episode 'The Longest Night' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longest_Night) the whole scene was very much reminiscent of Lennox Gilbey's shoplifting during the episode :o)

Naturally I have seen a few tantrums, a collapsing Minifigure stand, and hilariously misinformed staff members too.

bea

I suppose for me, it was a dad who was at the store with his maybe 4 year old son. The dad was filling cup after cup, all with the same bricks while the son would come up to him every so often with a small handful of pieces from the wall and say "Dad, can we get this?" The response was always "No, we don't need that". The kid looked rather dejected.

CCC

^ Have we ever met at a PAB? Sounds like me!

bea

I wouldn't be surprised if I've seen a number of people from various forums. I've seen multiple careful stackers and bulk buyers.

rancorbait

What's probably more strange than anything else is that I've never been to a Lego store!

LegoMom1

People walking by without wanting (having) to go in.

GothamConstructionCo

Until I was aware of the existence of AFOLs the thought of myself standing there filling a PAB cup in a toy shop appeared strange to me :)

@Capnrex101 " is e in even or is e in ell, that damned elusive sh- a-dow" :)

TheLoneTensor

A staff member with accurate, inside info.

Oh wait, I thought you asked for what I wanted to see in a Lego store.

Bumblepants

Saw a young kid asking him mom about getting the Death Star and upon her discovering it was $400 she freaked out and loudly made a big deal out of how outrageous that was for a Lego set to everyone within hearing range. So, she promptly purchased a $260 UCS Imperial Shuttle instead.

TheLoneTensor

^the kid's obviously a negotiating prodigy. He probably wanted the Shuttle in the first place and knew that asking for the DS first made the shuttle seem like a "reasonable" compromise to mom.

icey117

Chatting with two young seller in a Billund Legoland minifigure shop about Mr. Gold. The sellers tell me that TLC have sent out directives that they are not allowed to search or buy any of the bags themselves. Still when I requested certain figs they picked them out of a basket for me with yellow post-it on each of them describing which bags was which figure.

Great fun! This is what I always wanted - labeled cmf bags. But they had no Mr. Gold though. :-)

cheshirecat

they have the same at manchester under the till, baskets overfkowing with each cmf, all labeled up!

mr_benn

^^ It was the same directive for the UK shops - if they were to detect a Mr Gold they were to immediately return it to the pile and DENY ALL KNOWLEDGE. But I've often seen the staff being really helpful to customers with regards to finding the ones they want. Funnily enough I've never seen a customer desperate for a mechanic or skydiver?

DadsAFOL

I didn't see this firsthand, but a store employee told me once about a customer that was furious that the employees wouldn't assemble a set for her kid.

LegoMom1

DadsAFOL said:

I didn't see this firsthand, but a store employee told me once about a customer that was furious that the employees wouldn't assemble a set for her kid.

Urban legend.

madforLEGO

bea said:

I suppose for me, it was a dad who was at the store with his maybe 4 year old son. The dad was filling cup after cup, all with the same bricks while the son would come up to him every so often with a small handful of pieces from the wall and say "Dad, can we get this?" The response was always "No, we don't need that". The kid looked rather dejected.

I laugh when I hear parents says that. I mean LEGO is for KIDS too, right?
At least get them a small cup to fill if they wants parts..

It is not strange but I love how people from other countries are always at the LEGO store I go to, it is awesome to hear different accents, and dialects, from those around the world, but sharing the love for the same toy.
Saw a guy buy a whole Box full of 1x1 light gray once, and I'm sure I have seen weirder just cannot think of it right now.

LegobrandonCP

tensor said:

^the kid's obviously a negotiating prodigy. He probably wanted the Shuttle in the first place and knew that asking for the DS first made the shuttle seem like a "reasonable" compromise to mom.

Damn, too bad I didn't think of that when I was younger...

Xefan

Saw an old guy asleep on the small stalls at the tables that have the computer screens once. I'm not sure he even had any kids there, I think he'd genuinely just gone in there for a nap.

asksol

@madforLego I guess that could be me at the store with my son, I have said no to his suggestions before. It makes me feel bad, but it's not like he's without Lego. He's got a whole room filled with Lego and if I just bought my 3 year old a £40 or even a £100 set, I shouldn't feel bad denying him a pick a brick cup.

asksol

If it was a rare visit then perhaps, but we visit Lego stores and other toy shops more often than other families visit the grocery store :)

AdeelZubair

A kid came into the Lego store with his dad. The kid picked up #10188 and his dad bought it just like that without hesitation.

princedraven

Probably the strangest thing I have seem in store is all the AFOL's on a AFOL day, loads of very strange adults getting up at the crack of dawn and getting uber excited about being able to spend a fortune on plastic bricks.... Very strange.

AdeelZubair

I went to the Lego Store and it was completely empty, where is the staff?

Xefan

Must've seen you coming :p

vitreolum

Adzbadboy said:

I went to the Lego Store and it was completely empty, where is the staff?

Haha, first time I see the inside of a Lego store. :)) Suppose that's the infamous pick a brick wall in the back there?

LegoMom1

Adzbadboy said:

A kid came into the Lego store with his dad. The kid picked up #10188 and his dad bought it just like that without hesitation.

What kid wouldn't want that set? Dad just said that so that when they got home and his wife got angry because he just purchased yet another expensive Lego set, he could say, "But dear, it's the one little Timmy picked out."

slimeburger

A middle-aged man buying toys.
Oh, wait, that was me...

LegoMom1

slimeburger said:

A middle-aged man buying toys.
Oh, wait, that was me...

You were in a Lego Store. 'The Force' was strong. What would be strange would be not buying anything.

klatu003

Grandmother type bending over and examining all the displays to count the Orcs during the LoTR promotion last summer, answering all the questions with additional relevant information (the clerk was trying to trip her up with hard questions) then grasping the sticker sheet with a silly grin on her face.

madforLEGO

asksol said:

@madforLego I guess that could be me at the store with my son, I have said no to his suggestions before. It makes me feel bad, but it's not like he's without Lego. He's got a whole room filled with Lego and if I just bought my 3 year old a £40 or even a £100 set, I shouldn't feel bad denying him a pick a brick cup.

Gotcha,
My issue is the more the response that the father gave... 'We don't need that' If you cannot buy a cup for them, then at least grab a couple of parts and shove them in if you can.. To dismiss a kid like that just seems weird to me. I would think it would be better to say something like 'No, we already have those at home' or again add a couple of whatever, but to say to the kid 'We' do not need' that just kinda of seems wrong to me, I mean technically you do not 'need' any LEGO, you want what you are picking from a wall many times.
Disclaimer is I do not have kids, so maybe he was doing that all day, or something, and I can understand how that can wear on a parent, but to me it just seems dismissive.

I find it humorous when people are there figuring out the PaB wall in general literally spelling it out to the person they are with (and not to a child either).

brickboiler

One day as I walked in I was asked to go ahead and clock in early and grab the mop. When I came back out, I had to mop up what seemed to be a gallon of pee right in front of the register. Poor kid just couldn't hold it anymore.

Another day, I watched a small child who was being carried by his father throw up his entire breakfast (eggs, bacon, other unidentified foods) all down the back of the father and all over the floor. Watched the dad walk out of the store like nothing happened, didn't say a word to anyone. Had to stand at the edge of the vomit area to make sure no one walked through it while a couple others swept up the eggs and then mopped the area. Luckily only a couple sets on the lower shelf were hit (they were promptly removed and taken out of stock).

I have seen kids ranging from the ages of 2-7/8 left in the store, unattended, for several hours. Security had to be called on one group as the parents left three small children, the oldest was 7, who did not speak English, at the store for 4 hours while they were shopping at another store across the mall. And it was apparently the third time they had done it that week.

oldtodd33

^ When you have children, you get used to being thrown up on as it happens often enough with newborns. No big deal.

brickboiler

I have two kids, so I deal with vomit well (that is why I was the one standing by the puddle, everyone else was gagging). This was not newborn spit-up, this was a very chunky 6 square feet of vomit.

DanGP

I worked in a kids clothes store for a while when I was younger and kids just randomly peeing in the shop - not that unusual.

PeteM

I worked in a bookshop situated next to a large department store - we frequently found children in the kids section who had been abandoned there, sometimes for an hour or more!

Not a strange thing as such, but last time I was in a store a boy was being encouraged by his dad to choose a set. Unfortunately every set he chose was deemed 'too expensive' and the kid was sent back to get another one. I watched him pick up and return Pet Shop, Horizon Express, Sopworth Camel, Grand Emporium, Fire Brigade, Red Passenger Train and Palace Cinema before they eventually settled for a X-Wing :)

caperberry

Slow and steady wins the race.

CapnRex101

^ That reminds me of another LEGO store tale from quite recently actually. I saw two boys (presumably brothers) appealing to their parents to buy #9516 Jabba's Palace for them. Their parents declined when they saw the price and continued to browse.

Not to be put off though, one of them picked up #75005 Rancor Pit, went over to their parents and shows them that set. Their parents seemed to approve of this one, but noticing the fact that Jabba's Palace is advertised on the back as fitting together with the Rancor Pit, the dad promptly told them to go and get that set too, not realising that this was the model he had just said no to presumably. So the boys did, and when they arrived back with Jabba's Palace, the parents relented and they got both!

That was probably the funniest thing I have seen in the LEGO store to be honest, those kids have some moves! A couple of future conmen, no doubt about it :o)

HarryPotterLover

They were selling foam swords (Chima, Castle? I didnt get a good look) and two kids decided to play with them right them and there. One kid smacks the other really hard with the sword and he screams, lunges back after hes hit (yeah he really did hit him) and knocks over the entire display.

They were then asked to leave.

EKSam

Met an aquaintaince of mine in the Lego store on Aug 1st, I asked her what were the boys getting today...her reply " absolutely nothing, we just came to see the new sets". Her older boy started with the huge box of DS then SSD followed by the X-wing...they finally walked out with Jabba's Sail barge and 4 HF sets for the younger one. :-)

Mine on the other hand wanted the Dolphin cruiser, I said sure how about you pay half and I'll pay the rest and tax, to which she replies "It's arright, I will put it on my Christmas list, both of us can save money".

asksol

@madforLego Yeah, bad choice of words. That can easily happen when you're tired though, and sometimes the parents feel worse for it than the kids do :/

Pitfall69

@madforLEGO

You don't have to have kids to realize that saying no to a child that just wanted acouple bricks seems petty. I can understand a Death Star, athough I heard @LegoFanTexas is giving them away for free, but a few parts? I know, if I'm bringing my child to a toy store, I expect to hear "Can I have this daddy?" 100's of times and for me to not buy something would be strange.

CCC

Why don't lego sell blindfolds?

TheLoneTensor

CCC said:

Why don't lego sell blindfolds?

Because then they wouldn't sell Lego.

LegoMom1

Pitfall69 said:

@madforLEGO

You don't have to have kids to realize that saying no to a child that just wanted acouple bricks seems petty. I can understand a Death Star, athough I heard @LegoFanTexas is giving them away for free, but a few parts? I know, if I'm bringing my child to a toy store, I expect to hear "Can I have this daddy?" 100's of times and for me to not buy something would be strange.

I do agree that denying the child a couple of bricks does seem petty, but sometimes it's not the price or size of an item that is the issue, sometimes it's just the fact of learning that you can't always get what you want that is the message. Although I don't approve of the way this parent seems to have dismissed his child the way he did, since we weren't privy to this event, we don't know what had been told to the child prior. Maybe the parent was using this as a teaching moment- to help the child realize that he won't always get everything in life that he wants. Or, on a smaller scale, every time we go out to a store, you won't always be taking something home with you. Kids will become better and more responsible adults if they aren't given in to every time they want something. I have heard many parents tell their child that they are shopping for a birthday gift for someone else, that it is not their turn this time. The child may not like it, but believe me, they won't be scarred for life by not giving in to their every demand or even polite request.

vitreolum

CCC said:

Why don't lego sell blindfolds?

They do #5000441 nice green ninjago ones.

Got a few if anyone needs them. :))

madforLEGO

LegoMom1 said:

Pitfall69 said:

@madforLEGO

You don't have to have kids to realize that saying no to a child that just wanted acouple bricks seems petty. I can understand a Death Star, athough I heard @LegoFanTexas is giving them away for free, but a few parts? I know, if I'm bringing my child to a toy store, I expect to hear "Can I have this daddy?" 100's of times and for me to not buy something would be strange.

I do agree that denying the child a couple of bricks does seem petty, but sometimes it's not the price or size of an item that is the issue, sometimes it's just the fact of learning that you can't always get what you want that is the message. Although I don't approve of the way this parent seems to have dismissed his child the way he did, since we weren't privy to this event, we don't know what had been told to the child prior. Maybe the parent was using this as a teaching moment- to help the child realize that he won't always get everything in life that he wants. Or, on a smaller scale, every time we go out to a store, you won't always be taking something home with you. Kids will become better and more responsible adults if they aren't given in to every time they want something. I have heard many parents tell their child that they are shopping for a birthday gift for someone else, that it is not their turn this time. The child may not like it, but believe me, they won't be scarred for life by not giving in to their every demand or even polite request.

Yeah but I would feel kinda hypocritical to say 'No, we do not need that' when you are an adult filling up a PaB cup..
Again I understand that a kid has to hear 'No', but it seems like a mixed signal telling a kid 'We' do not need that', all the while filling up a cup for yourself. I understand their are situations too, in which case it may be better to say "No we have that already", or "no, we are getting this for a friend and we will get one at a later time"