Hero Factory SECTION at the Pick-A-Brick

knuclear200x

I was at the Glendale,CA Lego store today and not only do they already have the Series 4 figures but a NEW Hero Factory section!! However, they only have arm/leg joints, helmet accessories and armor pieces. And it's been there for a week. I asked if it was just there for a limited time, one guy said no and another said maybe, so I bought a cupful of joint pieces. If only they would throw in some ball/socket bricks, then I'd be set for life.

Any other stores have this yet?

Crankin

Columbus Ohio had it a week ago when I was in there. They were Aldo offering a free small PAB cup with a $75 dollar purchase.

georgebjones

Sacramento, CA has the hero factory section, too. I think all the LEGO stores have them, now.

bluemoose

The Chandler Fashion Mall store (AZ) had them last week too; I think it's safe to assume that it's rolled out across the whole of the US.

Tervlon

The LEGO stores in VA also have them. I can't say I'm too thrilled.

brickmatic

NYC has it.

madforLEGO

I have no problem with the Hero factory PAB if it was not taking up precious space for normal PAB..

knuclear200x

Apologies for the necrobump, but I just found out they no longer have that section at my store. Did this happen to anyone else and was it really just a limited time offer, or did my store just run out?

dougts

Tigard, OR took HF off the PAB wall about 4-6 weeks ago. they've also had a much better selection of general PAB of late.

madforLEGO

^-- same in Illinois.. PAB has been better and no hero factory stuff

oldtodd33

The store in Lakewood, Co. had them a while ago and it took up about half of the limited PAB space they had. Fortunately they took all of the HF junk out and put all PAB back in. Awesome!

Commodorelegolas

Hey georgebjones I think we're in the same area because that store is in my neck of the woods, too. (2 and a half hours away.)

madforLEGO

The store in Lakewood, Co. had them a while ago and it took up about half of the limited PAB space they had. Fortunately they took all of the HF junk out and put all PAB back in. Awesome!

I didn't want to cal it 'junk' because I think I caught flack last time I did :-)
But it really is junk compared to the bricks, and elements from PAB..
Although I do need to go back up to my Lego Store by me and pick up scorpions...

knuclear200x

Aww..."junk"? I always thought those extra pieces would be useful, eh good thing i bought a cupful of joints, oh wait i said that already.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca

Well, the Lego Store in the Houston Galleria had no Hero Factory PAB section, either. Phooey. I really did want more of the joint pieces. They are truly amazing.

oldtodd33

@madforlegos I was just a little peeved that the Lakewood store took out half of their PAB to put in HF parts. I know Legos are for children for the most part. That's why they make HF to begin with but that store only has room for two standing racks and they lost half of their selection when they did that. I am now elated to have the PAB selection back, they are so much cheaper than doing PAB online!

georgebjones

Yep, gone from here in Sacramento, too. I have been trying to figure out how the PAB section works, and from what I gather, the stores don't get to choose what they get. It just gets sent to them. Same with the Build a Mini stations. They just get it in and put it out.

@Commodorelegolas - welcome to the forum. I live in Roseville, which is about 20 min away from Arden Fair. But I work downtown, so I HAVE to drive by it every day. I stop by almost every day to see if there is anything new. :) Introduce yourself in the forum. I did do a little profile stalking and saw your excellent photos of your minifigs. :) They really are great photos, you have some good photography skills.

Commodorelegolas

Thanks!!

madforLEGO

Yep, gone from here in Sacramento, too. I have been trying to figure out how the PAB section works, and from what I gather, the stores don't get to choose what they get. It just gets sent to them. Same with the Build a Mini stations. They just get it in and put it out..

I believe that Lego stores do have somewhat of a choice out of a pre-determined PAB selection of parts. I do not believe the figures are like that though....

....I am now elated to have the PAB selection back, they are so much cheaper than doing PAB online!

As for PAB being cheaper than online.. it all depends on the parts you are getting.
Larger parts, depending on how many you want, are actually cheaper buying online

Id rather buy 10 6x10 plates online than try to cram 10 of those into a PAB cup.. That may be a bad example but I did some basic math and found that again for larger pieces that you want a large Quantity on it seems to be better to do it through PAB online.

However the Lego store by me had their PAB stocked with tan 2 x 2 tiles in and I loaded a cup of those, big time...

oldtodd33

@madforlegos I have done the math on that and you're right. But the small parts are a bargain in PAB. I bought 4 cups of 1 x 4 brown tiles and saved a huge amount vs. online. The best part about the Lego stores are that they will sometimes get discontinued set parts that are hard to find in the PAB section.

knuclear200x

Yep, gone from here in Sacramento, too. I have been trying to figure out how the PAB section works, and from what I gather, the stores don't get to choose what they get. It just gets sent to them. Same with the Build a Mini stations. They just get it in and put it out.

Whether or not they get to choose, they just won't receive any of those ball/joint bricks. I believe one clerk implied that having those kinds of bricks would be too mainstream which is kind of a bad thing aparently

DavidBrickley

I talked to a store clerk who told me the manager orders the PAB stock, but that there are limits to what can be ordered (not just any piece in any color). The 2x2 tiles is always a great find. So far, though, I have only ever seen them in red or dark tan.

madforLEGO

^-- I have been fortunate to catch 2x2 tiles as Dark Grey (i.e. new dark grey) once at a PAB, a long time ago....

oldtodd33

I have found Red, Medium Blue, Lite Blue, Yellow, Old Light Grey and Black

bluemoose

The LEGO stores can order elements for the PaB wall from a big list of available bricks ... what they get sent is a different matter ... in practice they get to chose a very small number of bricks that go into the wall; most of what they receive will have been decided for them by someone in head office. Going back a year or so, they had a much greater choice of what went in the PaB wall, but since LEGO got serious about Brand Retail (a little over a year ago) the head office has started taking a lot of discretionary control away from the store managers.

oldtodd33

Went to the Lego store today and they had 1 x 4 brown tiles in stock and I got a cup. With the cup full and the lid barely fitting I got 680 of them and that's 2.4 cents each. Online they are 16 cents each before tax and shipping.

madforLEGO

^-- with out a doubt you will save on tile pieces, other smaller pieces at a pick a brick, but for any plates/pieces larges than about a 4x4 and you probably are wasting money...

I would say the best buy at a PAB are probably the 2 x 2 tiles that are earth colors as those are expensive of BL for those selling large quantities know this and bump up the price per part.

Im kinda kicking myself I did not go up and get more the weekend after I discovered the local store got them in.. Hopefully they go a lot of them

oldtodd33

^ If you got 71 4 x 4 plates in the cup, you would make out on it because you don't have to pay shipping. I will keep looking for earth tone colors. Maybe after Pharoah's Quest is gone they will get in the extra left over parts from that series.

madforLEGO

^ true, you just have to pay for gas, and I am not THAT close to a Lego store, and a gallon of gas costs me about 3.75, and it probably takes 2 gallons of gas to get to and from my Lego store...
So, again it depends on parts and ease of getting to an actually Lego store (and if there is one in your area)

oldtodd33

^ Fortunately my store is only about 20 minutes by highway, so it's not too bad. Gas is expensive but I figure that the kids have fun so it's all part of the entertainment.

dougts

most of what they receive will have been decided for them by someone in head office. Going back a year or so, they had a much greater choice of what went in the PaB wall, but since LEGO got serious about Brand Retail (a little over a year ago) the head office has started taking a lot of discretionary control away from the store managers.

I've talked to the manager and assistant manager at the Tigard, OR store about this kind of thing - and the central management of the stores is amazing. EVERYTHING is dictated by corporate, outside a small amount of the PAB wall:
* all window displays are dictated to specific detail
* all custom built stuff shown in the little windows around the store are dictated (used to not be true for the whole store, but now apparently is)
* Every set built and displayed is dictated
* wall locations withing a store are dictated
* Store managers cannot even control their own inventory - ordering of stock is automatic, and sets/quantities are set by corporate.
* about the only thing the stores can order on their own is the PAB stuff - including whole boxes for sale to customers (a non-advertised fact)

bluemoose

^ The changes in the last year, where head office has taken a lot of control away from the stores, have not been generally well received by the staff. The turnover of the more experienced staff (supervisor/asst manager/manager/district manager) has increased to a previously unprecedented rate.

Yellowcastle

^ I can understand that. At some point, you're really not managing anything anymore. Oh well, at least we don't have self checkout yet.