Toltoys Kid » LEGO

The First LEGO Store: Birkenhead Point Sydney LEGO Centre

tol11toys — Sun, 29 May 2011 14:24:19 +0000

Since Australia began its love affair with LEGO in 1962 we have been collectively obsessed with the stuff. It should come as no surprise then that the world’s first dedicated LEGO store was opened not in Denmark, but in Sydney. Opening around 1984 and closing in the early 90′s (Please drop me a line if you know the exact dates), the Birkenhead Point LEGO Centre was for its short life the first and only LEGO dedicated store experience in the world.

Featuring iconic Australian models such as the FJ Holden above, and offering keyrings and minifigures such as these, the Birkenhead Point LEGO Centre looked to be a magical place. Many of you obvioulsy agree, there is even a Bring Back the Birkenhead Point Lego Centre page on facebook!

Check out this 1987 TV Spot for the centre that some kind soul loaded on to YouTube:

LEGO Centre Birkenhead Point TV Spot

Special thanks to Paul Naylor for the scans of the brochure and sticker for this post.

The First LEGO Store: Birkenhead Point Sydney LEGO Centre is a post from: Toltoys Kid

1978 Legoland Town Promotional Sticker

tol11toys — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Another Classic LEGO Sticker

A while ago I showcased a very cool vintage Lego Classic Space promotional item, a large sticker with a couple of space mini-figs and a great space scene. It seems there was a sister piece to that item, a large Legoland Town sticker promoting the various Lego Collector Packs available at the time, 1978 judging by the Shell Gas Pump and Rally Repair Crew sets featured.

The stickers are all individually cut and are close to actual size, they would no doubt have graced the bunk beds, desks and school bags of thousands of Aussie kids obsessed with the recently launched ‘movable’ minifigures.

Were these stickers unique to Australia? Hopefully one of our international readers can enlighten me.

While we are on Lego I’d like to give a plug to Brickvention 2010, the national Lego convention and exhibition for adult fans of Lego in Australia, to be held over January 23 and 24 in Melbourne.

I literally stumbled upon Brickvention One back in 2006, it was held in my office building and I just happened to walk into the main display room before I left for the day. I was blown away by the creations I saw, including a diorama of Swanston St that had to be seen to be believed. Nice bunch of people too, serious about their Lego mind you, but possessing the regular number of heads and happy to answer inane questions from less expereinced AFOLs like your author.

Cheers!

Will

1978 Legoland Town Promotional Sticker is a post from: Toltoys Kid

MYER LEGO National Building Competition 1984

tol11toys — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:05:00 +0000

The MYER LEGO National Building Competition 1984

By 1984 LEGO had already cemented it’s place in the psyche of kids all over the world with fantastic products, lead by the now-classic Space series.

The time was right for the company to move in for the kill by staging building competitions in major department stores. I remember well the excitement and hype surrounding the MYER Melbourne competition, without the fun of actually having the opportunity to participate myself.

No such problems for Toltoys.com regular contributor (and former child) Paul Naylor.

Paul’s construction abilities were on display for all to see in the Queensland state competition in 1984.

Paul wowed all and sundry with his very impressive spire work, just checkout the serious tower-envy from the kid on the right!

The envelope please…..

How hyper would you have been as a kid to see that turn up in your letter box?

Ahhhh! Close but no cigar. Still, who need’s Denmark when you can have Space LEGO?! And where are you Nigel Newton of Leongatha? Bring forth this Portable Cassette Player of which we have heard so much.

My email is on the top right of this blog

Thanks so much to Paul for these wonderful photos and scans.

Cheers,

Will

MYER LEGO National Building Competition 1984 is a post from: Toltoys Kid

LEGO Classic Space promotional sticker

tol11toys — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:57:00 +0000

Classic LEGO Space promotional sticker

I stuck my fair share of these stickers on school books in 1979, so finding a mint unused one on ebay recently was a real joy. I have foggy memories of stacks of these sitting on the counter at Griselda’s toy store in Brighton, or at the annual LEGO display at MYER Melbourne’s Bourke St store. They are quite large, around A4 size, and are a wonderful item from LEGO’s golden years.

Check out that cheesy explosion graphic!

Will

LEGO Classic Space promotional sticker is a post from: Toltoys Kid

LEGO Birkenhead Point Keychains Part 2

tol11toys — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:05:00 +0000

LEGO Keychains Part 2

Some of you long time readers who have been following this site since the olden days back in ’06 will remember my excitement at finding an Aussie 80′s LEGO Fabuland mini-figure keychain in a random lot of LEGO.

Well Toltoys.com reader Craig had fond memories of these little guys too, and kindly supplied me with some images of his own keychain.

There is something ethereal in the face of the classic Legoland mini-figure, a manufactured Mona Lisa wrought in plastic. They are smiling, but not too much, full of mischief, but also happy to chill. They would make a great drinking partner or co-driver on a road-trip.

I need to showcase more of these Birkenhead Point keychains, if you have one send me a pic!

Cheers!
Will

Special thanks to Craig for today’s contribution.

LEGO Birkenhead Point Keychains Part 2 is a post from: Toltoys Kid

LEGO Birkenhead Point Keychains

tol11toys — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:22:00 +0000

The Keys to Successful Collecting

Promotional items are amongst the most sought after and valuable pieces in any line of toy collectables. From store displays such as Kenner’s Star Wars to salesman samples and awards such as Mattel’s Hot Wheels we all love having items in our collections that are outside the standard production stuff that was available to everyone.

As you may recall from my last post I’m a bit of a LEGO nut, so imagine my delight to find this promotional keyring in a lot of 80′s LEGO items I bought the other day.

Not only is it a promo item, it’s an Australian exclusive – and you know how I feel about those! I love finding stuff like this, it’s often a challenge to track down info about them. In this case I knew I had the vast resources of the web’s extraordinarily comprehensive LEGO collector’s sites such as Peeron, Lugnet and BrickLink. It was the latter who came to my aid with pics of a few of the little Elephant’s buddies from the long gone Birkenhead Point LEGO Centre in Sydney.

After a bit more digging I discovered that the Sydney LEGO Centre was apparently the only one outside Denmark, and that it closed down in the mid 1990′s. The keyring is probably from 1985, but I don’t know if they were giveaways or could be purchased as souvenirs or the like.
If you grew up in Sydney and remember the centre let me know, I’d love to share some memories of it.

Cheers All!
Will

LEGO Birkenhead Point Keychains is a post from: Toltoys Kid