Inside Singapore’s Largest LEGO Certified Store

Thursday, April 8th, 2021 by Brickfinder

Technically, the first LEGO Certified Store in the world opened its doors in November 2014 at Suntec City Mall in Singapore. The lease at its original location ended in early 2020 and the management decided to use the opportunity to find a better, bigger location.

Fast forward about a year from then and we are now poised to enter the largest LEGO Certified Store ever to grace Singapore’s sunny shores.

The store sits on an area of 2,088 square feet which is double the size of their second biggest outlet and it is the closest we will ever get to the fabled “LEGO Brand Experience” in this part of the world.

One of the store’s most striking highlight would be the floor to ceiling mosaic of Singapore’s mascot, the Merlion. It stands at almost 4 meters tall and is constructed with  92,160 individual 1×1 plates.

The usual staples like the Build-A-Minifigure (BAM) station and Pick-A-Brick (PAB) wall is back in operation as well although now you are given gloves to pick your pieces as to abide by the Covid-19 guidelines.

The BAM is stocked with some of last year’s exclusive minifigure elements like the pumpkin heads and the tiger girl accessories.

The store’s Pick-A-Brick wall has a total of 80 different varieties of LEGO elements making it the largest selection in the whole of Singapore.

There are quite a handful of new elements that are introduced for the first time like the 6×5 plant leaf in Bright Yellow colour. Also for the first time are the 2×4 bluish green tiles and the 2×2 tile in turquoise colour.

The price of the Pick-A-Brick wall have actually been lowered, from SGD$34.90 to now, SGD$28.70 for the large cup.

Nearer to the back of the store, there is a huge play area where kids (and adults) can create their own LEGO DOTS mosaic art. However, it is still closed at the moment due to the country’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Located just next to the play area is one of the unique features of the store which is the diorama display. It currently houses an amazing LEGO Monkie Kid diorama built by the members of the Titans Creations RLUG.

The diorama space is meant to be refreshed every season with a new display built by the fans which is a great way to engage the local LEGO community.

No store opening would be complete without promotions and gifts with purchases and the usual LEGO Store Opening (40145) set can be redeemed when you spend a minimum of SGD120.

You can also redeem an exclusive stainless steel mug which you can decorate when you spend a minimum of SGD$180.

There is one cool little feature that I feel should be included in all LEGO stores is a height chart that measures in bricks. It was really heartwarming to see kids excitedly compare their brick height with one another.

The re-opening of the LEGO Certified Store in Singapore actually has a bigger significance that most fans realise. This is the location where the first LEGO Certified Store opened in the world .

It is, in essence, the birth place of the LEGO Certified Store program which brought the LEGO brand experience to the rest of the world.

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Read the full press release here:

SINGAPORE’S LARGEST LEGO CERTIFIED STORE OPENS AT SUNTEC CITY

SINGAPORE, 8 APRIL 2021 – The LEGO Group will open its largest LEGO Certified Store (LCS) in Singapore tomorrow. Located at Suntec City Singapore and managed by Bricks World, the 10th LCS in the country spans over 2,088 square feet and offers easy access to the LEGO System in Play while inspiring builders of tomorrow. Suntec City is also where the first LCS was opened, with Bricks World, in Singapore back in 2014.

“We are excited to return to Suntec City with our largest and most prominently situated LCS to date on the ground floor of the mall to bring the world of creative and imaginative play to more children in Singapore. LEGO play stretches one’s imagination and creativity and to that end, reflects the same experience in our stores with hands-on activities and creative builds to inspire. We can’t wait to share what we have in store for everyone in 2021,” said Cesar Ridruejo, General Manager, Southeast Asia at the LEGO Group.

To commemorate this milestone of the return of LCS to its birthplace in Singapore, the new store will feature a first-of-its-kind bespoke Merlion mosaic wall, specially designed by Singapore LEGO® Certified Professional Nicholas Foo. Spanning 3.9 metres high and 1.6 metres wide at the store entrance, the mosaic is made out of 92,160 pieces of LEGO bricks over 128 hours. If you were to stack all the 1×1 LEGO bricks used in the mosaic on top of each other, they will reach a height of 295 metres, equivalent to that of 34 original Merlion statues.

At the store opening, customers will also be welcomed by a Monkie Kid-themed diorama, modelled after this first-ever Chinese-inspired theme by The LEGO Group to empower children in creating their own hero legend as well as inspire them with the values of bravery, resilience and optimism. Built by a group of passionate Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL), its storyline depicts the attack of the iconic Flower Fruit Mountain by the Spider Queen villain. Customers will be enthralled by how the Monkey King, Monkie Kid and their friends protect their homes. A fun highlight for shoppers is to spot 2 special LEGO friends, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, that are intricately hidden in the display scene. Unlike the occasional dioramas displayed in stores previously, this diorama will be regularly refreshed to introduce fresh, creative experiences in store each time – a first for LCS.

Children are free to express themselves on Singapore’s first LEGO DOTS play wall at the LCS. Designed with the traditional fabric of family in mind, the wall quilt invites kids to be bold in recreating warm and fuzzy memories of their family time and smashed birthday cakes with the colourful DOTS tiles, which promises endless creative possibilities.

As with all LCS, everyone is welcome to create the LEGO set of their dreams at the iconic Pick a Brick Wall where they can find the desired brick to complete their masterpiece, or build their own collectible LEGO characters piece by piece at the Build a Minifigure Station.^[1] For those who want to take a look at the completed set before purchase, they can head to the special interactive kiosk, Digibox, with a LEGO box set. The camera will then visualise the assembled models with its intricate details in augmented reality. Alternatively, customers can also take inspiration from the many fully assembled models displayed throughout the store.

The LCS is where one can find the most complete LEGO collection including LCS exclusive sets. There is a Gift Centre where extended LEGO lines such as LEGO Mugs, LEGO Keychains, LEGO Accessories and LEGO Brickheadz™ can be found to add to one’s collection. Fans can also join as LCS members to get exclusive early access to newly launched sets weeks before the official LEGO Global launch dates.

As part of the opening promotions, shoppers who spend a minimum of $180 will walk away with an exclusive customisable LEGO Stainless Steel Mug that sports the iconic LEGO Minifigure as part of the design. Shoppers can also customise the mug during the store opening period between 9 – 30 April 2021. A pre-opening promotion that invited the first 100 registered shoppers each day between 9 and 11 April 2021 saw all slots taken up on the Bricks World website in the first hour of availability.  These registered shoppers will receive the limited edition 40145 LEGO Store Set with a minimum spend of $120.

To celebrate this special occasion, Bricks World will be running a contest on their Facebook page from 9 to 23 April where users can stand a chance to walk away with up to $200 worth of prizes. To participate, users simply have to share a memory of their first or one of their first LEGO sets by commenting within the Facebook post, followed by liking the post and following the page.