Christmas Display at the Austin, TX LEGO Store

I meant to post this earlier last month, but didn’t have a chance to. It’s probably already been taken down or will soon be taken down, but this was one of the Christmas/Santa displays at the Austin, Texas LEGO Store in the Barton Creek Mall. You’ve actually already seen part of this – it’s in the header of MostlyBricks.com. The photos aren’t the best – they were taken with a phone, through glass which was reflective due to the lighting, but you should be able to get the general idea.

Update: I’ve been told it was assembled by TexLUG and you can find out more here.

Austin, Texas LEGO Store - Christmas / Holidays Display 2010

It’s not as themed to the region as the Santa display at the Houston Galleria but it’s much more detailed and much larger.

Austin, Texas LEGO Store - Christmas / Holidays Display 2010

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World’s Oldest Known Computer, LEGO Style

New Scientist has an article up about the world’s oldest known computer being revived with the use of LEGO. The Antikythera mechanism dates back to over 2000 years and had been found sitting on the bottom of the ocean in a shipwreck over a hundred years ago, in 1900. Andrew … Read more

LEGO at Barnes and Noble

I’m always interested in how LEGO is portrayed and sold in other stores outside of the official LEGO retail stores. I’m lucky enough to have had a LEGO retail store open up in my area in the past year, which means no more sporadic trips to the LEGO stores in Houston or Dallas when I’m visiting family and friends there.

Now of course, I’ve got plenty of Targets, Wal-Marts, even Sears, in my area, with plenty of LEGO sets to choose from. I can’t forget Toys R Us as well – have a couple of those.

There is one place that has quite a few LEGO sets available, as well as some nice displays, that often gets overlooked, and they happen to carry LEGO-related items that the other non-LEGO retail stores don’t necessarily carry.

I’m of course referring to Barnes and Noble. I visit the one in south Austin occasionally, and this time around I decided to take some photos of their LEGO sets and displays, because I don’t think most people realize what all they have – they aren’t just selling books, magazines, food and movies/music. They’ve been adding a toy and hobby section, and the one I visit has quite a bit of LEGO-related items. The store I’m referring to, they obviously have put some effort into the LEGO displays – I’m not familiar with other stores, but I am impressed with this one.

Some notes/observations:
* The main LEGO display was fairly prominent – it had it’s own little dedicated section in the middle of the toys and hobby section.
* The LEGO alarm clock/flashlights were in another part of the toys & hobby section.
* The LEGO games and the LEGO Architecture displays were next to one another, however they were off in the game section of Barnes & Noble and weren’t near the main LEGO display. They were still easy to find.
* I did a really poor job of taking photos of the LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Star Wars stuff!

LEGO items and lines I saw:
* LEGO Architecture – Empire State Building, Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, Fallingwater, Guggenheim Museum, White House
* LEGO Games – Pirate Code, Robo Champ, Magikus, Minotaurs, Ramses Pyramid, Creationary, Race 300, Dragon, Harry Potter/Hogwarts
* LEGO Accessories – flashlights, nightlights, alarm clocks, pens, keychains
* LEGO Books – Minifig stickers, Star Wars Visual Dictionary
* LEGO Atlantis (a nice mix!)
* LEGO City
* LEGO Creator
* LEGO Kingdoms
* LEGO Star Wars (both original and Clone Wars)
* LEGO Technic
* LEGO Toy Story
* The beginner LEGO tubs
* Duplo

Anyways, here are some photos of the various LEGO displays in our favorite B&N. I apologize for the poor picture quality – I’m not using a flash in a store, and I’m not the steadiest of hands when it comes to photo taking. You can click on any of them to take you to a larger version at flickr.

LEGO Displays at Barnes & Noble (South Austin)

LEGO Displays at Barnes & Noble (South Austin)

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Holiday Displays at the Austin, Texas Barton Creek Store

At some time in the past month or three, some holiday-related displays went up at the Austin, Texas LEGO store (in Barton Creek Mall), and somebody asked me to take a few photos, so here they are.

Standard disclaimer: Low lighting, not much time, taken with a cell phone.

LEGO Store at Austin, Texas (Barton Creek)

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