Lego Movie Event June 14 (and 15th?) at Toys R Us

dannyrww

https://www.facebook.com/events/318297454996804/ This is the only place I have seen this. Very interesting. Build your own Master Builder inspired by Metal Beard. Seeing as how Toys R Us events have become more crowded yet more organized I can't imagine this being a free for all build. There are no pictures, or any other information. I will be there of course with my girls but I'm very curious and waiting for more information.

dannyrww

http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=4311963 Here is more info but not much. It is only the 14th so the 15th look like a mistake on facebook. Still no picture...are they building a mini metalbeard or just something inspired by his design...will there be choices in what they build.....I hope it is a good build at any rate as this will be a great part of father's day weekend tradition with my kids

NeilJam

I saw today that my TRU has a sign in the entryway advertising this event, but I don't know what the actual build will be. I thought it might just be assembling minifigs of LEGO Movie characters as the sign features a picture of Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Benny (didn't notice any mention of Metalbeard on it). However, I doubt they would give out free Benny minifigs as LEGO would prefer to keep him exclusive as an incentive to buy the sets that include him.

dannyrww

Online they say a masterbuilder inspired by metalbeard...not sure what that means other than it will be brick built...it would be neat if it had a minifigure head and the kids could pick parts for it so each one would be different (at least colors), but it will probably be the same for each with instructions as I can't see it being too much free building...that being said I'm surprised there are no pictures as toys r us usually shows pictures of what you are building.

dannyrww

I don't think they have ever done minifigures at these. It would be neat if they did that too though (not like Emmet is hard to find or anything).

Gooker1

I'm guessing it will be a mini style seacow

dannyrww

ooo this is over in the toys n bricks forum http://toysnbricks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/LEGO-Movie-ToysRUs-June-2014-Building-Event.jpg

Gooker1

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to think of that. So you're basically building a modern version of Metal Beard. It looks like it comes w/ minifig heads for a boy or girl version, so that's cool. Not sure if I will head to TRU for that though.

prevere

^^That looks like something from LEGO's dark ages in the early 2000s.

emilewski

true...but I think I see some of the new hinges that I could use for parts.

Bumblepants

well then, that dampens my enthusiasm a good bit. But I think my kids will have fun regardless so we will still go. Free Lego is still free Lego

dragwit

Bumblepants said:

well then, that dampens my enthusiasm a good bit. But I think my kids will have fun regardless so we will still go. Free Lego is still free Lego

I'm in the same boat...and I agree... Free Lego is still Free Lego

bobabricks

I don't know if I think it's cute or if I'm scared...

prevere

Why am I thinking about Robocop 2 when I look at this build?

pharmjod

2 words: "mixel joints"

SirBen

And it comes with a female minifig head.

dannyrww

I like the first build pictured. My kids are excited too.

Poisso3

It's free Legos so my wife is ok with it. It's Legos so my daughter will want it. If that image is to be believed, the mech looks like the Joker Mech free build TRU had not to long ago.

norm103

Did anyone get instructions for these my TRU just gave everyone two pieces and side make something up

Bumblepants

Ours said "We didn't get any instructions, just build whatever you think up" and let us pick parts. Luckily no one was being greedy

luckie_reubs

We got there around 1:30, and we were left with a bunch of the 1x2 red bricks, a few of the small joint pieces, and then a handful of the joint pieces but no ball joints. I wish we'd had gotten there earlier because our mech was pretty pathetic, and we didn't even have the pieces to make something that even looked remotely passable to what the sheet had on it. But because we were some of the last people there, I had no problem grabbing handfuls of the pieces left. I guess I just need to get some joints so we can build these on our own some other time.

dannyrww

It seemed okay but a little disorganized. I think it would have worked better had they given everyone the same parts and then let them build whatever they wanted with those. My younger daughter had me build one of the suggested designs....my older daughter went a little out of control (much like her imagination) and we finally had to tell her to bag up what parts she had and work on it at home. People didn't seem to be getting angry at the time but I imagine those who showed up around 1 or so were upset because there were not enough parts left.

NeilJam

I never get to run these events at my store, the other LEGO guy is always in charge of them. However, I usually get leftover parts because he is a regular set collector who doesn't do MOCs. He said some parents were upset that there were no instructions, but that's because it was a 'free build.' Had plenty of leftovers today, so I was able to take home a lot of the Mixel-type joint pieces.

dannyrww

That's good to hear. I like the idea of a free build, I really do. Its just many times I see these things fall apart as everyone scrambles to get as many parts as they can. Again it seemed like there was plenty for everyone who came in the first wave. Maybe the people who came to the end were okay with it too. I love how some people were upset because there were no instructions (wasn't upset but was confused as we have had these for most other builds). It is like none of us learned anything from watching the Lego movie.

scotty12

Our TRU was similar to many of yours. No instructions but some of the employees built a male/female character for the kids to copy. They had also spent most of the prior day bagging up the parts to make each person. We showed up around 1pm and they had approx. 35 people show up to that point.

luckie_reubs

scotty12 said:

Our TRU was similar to many of yours. No instructions but some of the employees built a male/female character for the kids to copy. They had also spent most of the prior day bagging up the parts to make each person. We showed up around 1pm and they had approx. 35 people show up to that point.

That's the way to do it; some people just need a bit of inspiration. This TRU here is so uninspired, though. It makes me hate going there.

BlueTee

Other than the fun of building a free lego that you can keep, do you think these Toys R Us "freebies" have any value? I never see any pricing info or investment data regarding
these items on the site. Some of the builds are pretty cool, but there are also builds I'd rather trade for something I like......

NeilJam

I never checked on this myself, but heard that Emmet's flycar was selling at inflated prices after the first TRU event featuring it even though it was very similar to #3177 which was widely available for 3+ years. This is the only time that I recall my store actually running out of pieces in the past couple years.
None of the builds feature unique parts so someone could get them through bricklink or pick-a-brick. Only the original printed instructions or stickers (for the lemonade stand) that are given out might be difficult to obtain. Of course, that does not apply for yesterday's event.

BTW - I didn't mention in my last post that amid the confusion someone took one of the printed items that showed examples of what could be built.

Poisso3

Our TRU wasn't even set up at noon and just told the kids to take a few of each piece to make whatever they wanted as there were no instructions. Several parents were complaining about the lack of instructions but my daughter didn't mind. We did end up with several large ball joints though...

BlueTee

Thanks for the info, NeilJam. My room-mate works for TRU and her store has orderly events. All sets prepackaged and passed out to customers in line, one per person. 2 tables set up if kids want to build in the store. Usually they have instructions, but not this time. We took a picture with our cellphone so we could reference photo for later "build". Store had 100 sets available, they were gone in 45 minutes!

bmwlego

My TRU was letting people just bag up what they want as well. No instructions which isn't a problem for me. People were taking so much that there was very little left at 130 when I arrived. This store had to get parts from previous builds to fill up the build area. I ended up getting parts from the Joker mech from last year and about 15 of each mixel joint, red grated cheese slopes, green headlight bricks, purple grated tiles, among other parts.

Poisso3

I forgot to mention that while we were in line, the first parents/kids picking parts asked about the instructions. The TRU girl said there were none...to which the mom proceedes to tell the dad "Too bad. The Emmett Car went for a lot more ebay with the instructions." I guess only one of their kids was into Lego's and the other was just for the secondary market...

So going through my daughter's bag, I noticed she didn't grab any of the smaller ball-joint pieces and a lot of the large ones. She was not happy with her build not looking like the picture they showed of those three build ideas, but she did like the free Lego's. Now to figure out how to use those large ball-joints with her Friends set MOD/
MOCs...

Gooker1

My TRU had everything pre-bagged and were passing them out. I didn't get there til the end, but they still had 10 bags or so left. Not sure how the event went b/c I was there too late

sonsofsceva

Ours was also just a free build extravaganza. There were lots of parts left when I we got there close to 1pm, except for the 2x2 spinner tile pieces. Tons of mixel joints left. The workers were very patient and helpful. They gave me, the adult, a bag also to join in and make my own, too!

Natebw

We got there right at noon, and waited a while. Each kid got pre-filled bag and started to build, but it was kind of hectic, so we brought it home. Fun making mechs, though. I liked it.