Custom models on sale in LEGO stores

[questforcastle]

I recently visited a LEGO Click Brick (an official franchise partner) store in Japan and found out that they sold various customized 40004 Heart models there, I even brought one home as a souvenir. I have not seen this anywhere else. I was wondering how common this practice is, selling customized models at LEGO retailers, and what other kinds of custom models have been on sale? They also sold pre-made and build-it-yourself custom minifigures at the store. Any insights?

Anyone wanting see my photos and read my experiences, I've blog posted about them here: http://questforbrick...ick-brick-mocs/ & http://questforbrick...k-brick-stores/ & http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/lego-in-japan/

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

Bumping this up once, just in case somebody knowledgeable missed it. Nobody else has come across customized LEGO sets (basically MOCs) being sold in LEGO stores? I am interested to know if this is a rare thing or something more widespread? I guess make-your-own minifigure stands are at least common? But other sets, being sold pre-packed with store-specific MOC instructions?

Thank you for any insights.

[just2good]

Well, I haven't seen any custom models sold in any of the LEGO brand stores near me. Is it even legal?

[AFOL SF]

...a few years ago, maybe around 5-6, there was this miniland-scale figs of a wedding couple used as cake toppers displayed at the Hillsdale mall Lego store... I asked if these were for sale (as it was displayed on the counter in front of the cashiers) and was told that it was not... but a few weeks later, I accidentally saw it at S@H with a $35 price tag. I immediately ordered one and gave it as a wedding anniversary gift to my wife... since then I haven't seen any custom-built models for sale... BTW, these were glued models...

[questforcastle]

Thank you for the feedback, guys. Indeed it seems I stumbled onto a pretty rare incident. :)

If anyone else has similar experiences, feel free to add!

[LEGO Historian]

Although I have not seen "store specific" LEGO sets... there have been a few very limited LEGO sets over the years. Some items are just borderline officially released items. One good thing about the heart set (and will help increase its' value) is that it has a set number and LEGO logo. There are some items, such as the "DONG" Danish oil platform set that while released by LEGO to Danish DONG customers, did not have a real LEGO box, and no number on it.

A similar set was produced in the 1970s for the Philips electronic corporation. It was a LEGO model for a scanner type piece of equipment, and would be of little play value to a child, but would interest convention folks.

Although very limited released sets like this Japanese ones seem to be the exception rather than the rule... we've all seen some sets that are "exclusives" of LEGO retailers... such as the orange pumpkin bucket of a dozen years ago by Target, and other similar sets (some sets in the 1960s and 1970s were USA/Canada department store mail-order exclusives... and I even saw a 1960-63 German KARSTADT (dept. store) version of a small LEGO house set (#210).

The truly rare LEGO items (worth $$ thousands) were LEGO 1:87 scale trucks of the 1950s and 1960s that came with some very rare decals or stickers... and can fetch up to $4000 each (they're discussed in my Unofficial LEGO Collectors Guide, available as DVD or 688MB download file).

Here's an example of one worth many thousands...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78913630@N02/7358531774/in/contacts/