Brand Retail Store

As you may know, when LEGO opens a new retail store, they generally create an exclusive kit as a giveaway to people who purchase there on the first day. They've just announced a new kit, the Brand Retail Store, along with a list of where new stores will open (in the US) in the next year. If you can't make it to one of these, you could always build your own from the instructions on lego.com. While this is a cute set - I like the micro pick-a-brick wall in particular - I'm a little sad that it seems that they will have this same set at all new openings (at least this year). In past grand openings, the exclusive set has been something that reflected the location of the new store. Ash-274 has a gallery of many of these - a Liberty Bell for a store in the Philadelphia area, a famous lighthouse for Raleigh, the Frankfurt town hall, etc. It's too bad we won't see more of these little exclusives with local flavor.