I have so many fond memories of Toys R Us. There were always these giant grasshoppers all over the outside windows, and then you'd walk in and you'd be blasted with cool air right at the door, then you'd enter the candy section just to whet your appetite. After that they'd have the games section, which was actually where I played Sonic 1 for the first time. It was awesome, all the games were on these glowing shelves in these glass cases, and it looked super sleek and futuristic. To this day, I still think they had the best game display that's ever been invented. And all the rows were super high and super long stocked to the brim with stuff. The board games, the action figures, and once you got through everything else, they had the Lego's, which used to be a billion times cooler than they are now. How many times I drooled over that giant, $100 pirate ship I cannot recall. I wanted it more than anything else in the universe.
That's all but a pleasant memory now, though. The store's fallen into complete disarray. The blast of air is gone, the floors are mildued, half the shelves have been outright removed so there's too much space and it just feels kind of like a creepy warehouse. The old cyber games section has been completely changed, now it's just like any other Wal Mart game section or something. Everytime I walk into it now in hopes of some nostalgia, it just reminds me, hard and cold, that my childhood is over and I can never go back.
And lego did used to be cooler than it is now. Example: You know those bionicle things? The ones with the pieces that can ONLY be a left arm or ONLY be a visor? Eight years ago, the model would look the same, only be made of standardised components, which you could add to or swap around so your little robot man had tanks for arms and a girraffe for a head... Ah, the memories. Ah, the twisted imagination... Anyhow, the last great lego set (with the standardised components) was the massive space shuttle. It's gone down since then. I hate that, I really want to add to my collection and I can't because I can't use any of the new pieces in anything else but the original models.
Which space shuttle? There were at least two. One had the wings as one piece and the other you had to make the wings yourself, though other then that most of the components were the same. And the liquid fuel tank was different. I remember using the "technic" type truck wheels in the original, whereas the later model had standardized half shells that were easier.
This a fully technic one. It was about half a metre long, and packed with interesting mechanical devices... You had levers to make the flaps on the wings change pitch, and a fibre optic system lit up the engines, and it had an opening cargo bay with an arm and a sattelite on the end that unfolded it's solar panels, all electric, and you could also make it into the alvin submarine with a little rover and that had a propeller and a multiple movement periscope and doors and...
...and so on.
It was probably the best christmas present ever. It rocked. We may never see it's like again.
There's a Lego store in Milton Keynes, about 45 minutes from my town. MK has one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) shopping and entertainments centres in the UK, and it's awesome :D.
Anyway, the Lego store. They do a bunch of kickass shit in there, like sets you can't even buy online as they are a Lego store exclusive, that kind of thing. They even do re-releases of classic sets, including GG!'s pirate ship, and some old castles and junk. It's pretty cool, if you have a few hundred quid to spend.
Oh yeah, they even sell Lego outfits. Not just t-shirts and stuff, I mean like Lego Pirate suits, Lego Space suits, Lego Castle suits, even fucking Bionicle suits. And all the weapons. It is so cool.
I've been to legoland. They had bumpercars made out of lego (well, they looked like lego) and I suppose you use your arm and a rock as a makeshift cannon for firing at kids who get too close, and who are not equipped with rockheed arm cannons. I also suppose that you could turn yourself into a mental asylum, too, but there you are.
Oh, and I'll look at that lego store next time I'm on holiday in milton keynes. Now theres a sentence you don't hear every day.
LegoLand is super keen. Granted, it's been a few years since I've been there, but from what I gather from leaflets it's still as kickass as before, if not more. There's a Lego dragon rollercoaster, and Lego Driving School (which is awesome) and Lego adventure play parks, and mini Lego cities, a bunch of other cool rides, and all the meals come with Lego toys! The Lego Store there is, like, the largest Lego retailer in the country.
I just said Lego a bunch of times. You know when you say a word a bunch of times and it stops making sense? That just happened. Lego. See?
