At a new store in Herndon, customers can survey the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum and the Empire State Building in miniature all at the same time.
Bricks & Minifigs, a national retail chain in the niche market of reselling LEGO mini-figures, bricks and sets, opened in Herndon on June 8. The occasion was reminiscent of Black Friday, with people standing in line two hours before the doors opened, franchise manager Soma Chatterji told FFXnow.
Bricks & Minifigs sells items that are no longer available in retail stores, either acquiring them immediately after they’re discontinued or purchasing them from customers who visit the store.
It also hosts Snapology, a separate educational program that uses Legos to teach kids about robotics, mathematics, science and technology. Snapology offers after-school and summer camp programing on site, in libraries and at other venues.
Bricks & Minifigs chooses sites for its new stores carefully and tries to avoid having them too close to each other, according to Chatterji. The company considered adding a location in Falls Church before landing on a 3,250-square-foot space at 1064 Elden Street in the Dulles Park Shopping Center.
A Falls Church store may still be in the works. The area is listed as “coming soon” on the Bricks & Minifigs website.
In addition to plastic brick recreations of global landmarks, the Herndon store has pop culture models galore, from the house in Netflix’s “Stranger Things” TV series to the “Ghostbusters” Ectomobile.
Generally speaking, the longer an item has been off retail shelves, the rarer it becomes, and its value rises, says Adrian Perez, a Bricks & Minifigs assistant manager.
An ultimate collector’s edition of Lego’s Star Wars Imperial AT-ST set has been out of stores for about 16 years and originally sold for $80. Today, it’s worth $600, he said.
Anything from the Star Wars franchise tends to increase in value; the most expensive set in the store is a replica of Cloud City from “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”
“You said $12,000?” a customer asked as Perez pulled the set from its display case.
“Three zeros,” Perez answered.
One figure from the set can cost $2,000 to $3,000, because certain sets have exclusive pieces.
The Cloud City set was sold in stores from 2003 to 2005, making it older than Perez himself.
“I’ve heard myths and fables and legends of it online, so when we got it, I was very excited,” he said.
The set was acquired from a customer at one of the trade days held before the store’s official opening, but patrons can sell items to the store anytime.
Silver Spring resident Shlomo Spielman said he owns Legos and brought in some mini-figures from his vast collection to trade.
The 17-year-old, who had also visited Bricks & Minifigs in Richmond, planned to use the store credit he got from the sale to buy something else.
The most popular items aren’t necessarily the most expensive or the rarest, but the small, random pieces at the bulk tables, where customers can buy a small, medium or large bag and stuff them with as many Legos as they can fit, Chatterji said.
The tables are the most popular with adults, who often look for specific pieces needed to complete very expensive sets. Even rare pieces sometimes make their way onto the bulk table.
“They come in with lists,” Chatterji said. “They know exactly what they’re looking for.”
