Posted By Adam White on Aug 8, 2022 | 3 comments

I had the pleasure of being at the pre-launch event for the new flagship LEGO® Store in London’s Leicester Square back in 2016. Since then, flagship stores have popped up all over the place and Leicester Square lost its ‘largest LEGO store in the world’ bragging rights, until now. Fast forward to 2022 and the Leicester Square store has had a facelift, it’s now bigger, brighter and packed full of new LEGO builds and experiences. It’s also taken back the largest store title. Just like I did back in 2016, I’ve had the privilege of being one of the first few people to see inside the new store. So here’s what you can expect to see, once it reopens on Wednesday.

Although the store is currently wrapped in special hoarding, you still enter via the original doorway, which is still flanked by a huge LEGO recreation of the Big Ben housing Elizabeth Tower. It’s been cleaned and looks as good as it did when the store first opened. To the left of the door is a brand-new Big Build dubbed the Tree of Discovery. Similar models are featured in other stores but this one has a number of nods to Britain such as Pigeon, Bulldog and a wayward brolly. The tree is also home to a number of interactive features hiding fun little scenes. It took over 1700 hours to create and features over 500,000 elements including DUPLO, System and Technic bricks.

One of the most impactful new additions to the ground floor is a full-sized LEGO recreation of 007’s Aston Martin. This replaces the Tube Carriage and can be sat in for photo opportunities. It has a real steering wheel and some of the famous gadgets including the rotating number plate. A large-scale Bond minifigure from the recently released Speed Champions set stands guard nearby.

Over near the lift, store mascot Lester has been replaced with Gringotts Bank. This is partly created by pre-fab pieces but does include a brick-built goblin, counting his Knuts, Sickles and Galleons. The Potter theme continues upstairs, where the large LEGO mural which bordered the stairs is no longer there. This is where the real change to the store becomes apparent. The upper floor has almost tripled in size. Now it expands over the tea room next door to the store. What was once the back wall of the upper section is now home to a number of all-new Big Builds. On one side is a huge double-decker London Bus. This includes a nod to the old Tube Carriage, with William Shakespeare now waiting for a bus.

As you follow the central wall round, you find a trio of villainous Harry Potter models, which lead nicely into Diagon Alley and even more brick-built models inspired by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Potter also inspired a new mural hanging over the doorway, this is best seen from the upper floor balcony. Where you’ll also get a good view of the top section of Gringott Bank and a large dragon, unfortunately, this isn’t made from LEGO bricks. There’s also a random Spider-Man minifigure hanging from the ceiling. No idea the connection to the UK, although I guess both Spider-Man actors Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield are from the UK.

Despite being a store, there are also plenty of interactive things to do and one of them is exclusive to the Leicester Square store. The 90 Years of Play experience nicely coincides with the 90th anniversary this Wednesday. The walk-through experience features some classic models from the LEGO vault and even some prototype elements used to create LEGO Friends and NINJAGO sets. Here you can learn the history of the LEGO Group and find any LEGO set from across the years on an interactive screen.

The upper floor is also home to a number of other interactive experiences in the Personalisation Studio, these include a Build a Minifigure station, where you can create a minifigure using a number of different parts. You can also try the Minifigure Factory where you can design a minifigures using special print detail. There are a number of options to add to the torso, including special designs, badges and text or you can go freestyle and draw something on both the front and back of the minifigure. It’s fascinating to watch it being printed and I’m told it uses very special ink, so if you happen to pop the minifigure in your mouth, it’s completely safe to do so. The Mosaic Maker is also part of the Personalisation Station and works as it previous has, you’ll also find a massive Pick-a-Brick wall, with some impressive elements in there.

As with every LEGO store, there are plenty of LEGO sets to buy and plenty on display but the store also has some exclusive goodies, with a Lester minifigure polybag and keyring. Plus the store’s second mascot debuts via a rubber bag tag, which features a Bulldog wearing a Police helmet. This will cost £6.99 and I’m lead to believe a buildable version of the new character will be introduced to the store next month. The store is also selling the LEGO House exclusive Wooden Duck set, the set is £69.99 and will only be sold in the Leicester Square store, with only 800 being available.

The store will reopen on Wednesday and as it’s also the 90th Anniversary of the LEGO Group, there’s going to be a massive celebration to mark the opening. Including a real double-decker bus, street performers and a massive cake. So it’s worth popping along to join in the fun.

Thank you to LEGO UK and Mischief for inviting me to this special preview event and a massive thank you to the staff at the store for making the visit so much fun, they are super engaging and genuinely seem to love being there.