Heading towards the food court, the mall starts getting noticeably busier -- JCPenney really seems to be a drag on its part of the mall, despite the store itself never being dead when I've walked through (at least, not on the same level of deadness as Sears). The Lego store seems to be a pretty big draw based on the number of people I've seen walking around with bright yellow shopping bags, and I'm sure it's really crazy at this time of year!
The concept of a Lego Store seems a bit strange to me given that Legos can be bought from a number of other stores. Then again, with things like toy stores becoming less common, I suppose this might be the best way to get a large selection of Legos without buying online.
ReplyDeleteWe had Legos when I was young, but that was also around the time that Tyco came out with their Lego-compatible Super Blocks and I remember getting excited about those. Tyco made some other exciting toys at the time like those very popular Garfield telephones (which I suppose were a hybrid between something functional and something that was a bit of a toy) and R/C cars. Thus, them making a cheaper version of Legos didn't seem like a knockoff of sorts, but rather a good toy company making it easier to get more blocks. Link: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IfgJbltZBxs/VlYF2Foat2I/AAAAAAAAOzI/eS25urHe_78/s1600/retro86f.jpg
There was actually a Tyco Super Blocks telephone which could be put together and it was a real telephone. So, in that way, Tyco was doing more exciting things than Lego was, and at a lower price. I suppose since then, I've kind of viewed Lego as being a company making exceedingly expensive toys, but I don't know anything about them now so I can't say if they're still expensive or if they have any competition. I have not heard of Tyco in a long time so I'd be a bit surprised if Super Blocks are still around.
Yeah, I'm sure places like the Lego Store have become quite a bit more popular since the demise of Toys R Us! Plus, Lego is just one of those brands that a lot of people have a weird attachment to, even more so these days than when I was a kid.
DeleteI don't remember what kind they were, but I definitely had some sort of knockoff Legos when I was a kid! Neither Super Blocks nor Tyco exist any longer, but knockoff Legos never went away -- heck, Dollar Tree apparently has their own store brand of knockoff Legos! I've never been a fan of real Legos, especially since these days they mostly just sell kits that you're supposed to put together in a specified way, rather than the big bucket of assorted blocks I remember from my childhood.