October 2020 VIP Haul

It has been months since I last shared a LEGO® haul post. In truth, I have not been making “haul” purchases much lately. Most sets I buy are one-offs as I find good deals. Additionally, the LEGO® Group has really spoiled me this year. True North Bricks’ Recognized Fan Media status has brought a lot of review sets my way. So, while I have been getting a lot of new LEGO® sets, I have not been buying them at once in typical “haul” fashion. Additionally, I have been ordering more online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic rather than shopping in store. However, double VIP points is on at the LEGO® Store. Additionally, there are two freebies with purchase. Combined, those factors were enough to draw me from my COVID-induced hole. Consequently, I have an October 2020 VIP haul to share.

I ventured out into the real world this morning. Not only that, I went to a LEGO® Store I do not frequent. I chose to go a little farther than usual because there is a LEVI’s store across the corridor from the LEGO® Store at this location. Since stock is scant at levis.com, I decided to try my luck at an actual store and kill two birds with one stone. I hoped to obtain a new LEGO® hoodie. However, the store did not have any. Instead, I picked up one of the t-shirts I have been eying. The store staff put my name on a waiting list if the hoodies come in stock. It seems the hoodies are a hot commodity.

LEGO x LEVI’s hoodies are hard to come by…

Once finished at the LEVI’s store, I hit the LEGO® Store. There were no stock issues that I could see. All the sets on my current wish list were there, making my decision more difficult. I opted to pick up the new Destiny’s Bounty. There are no large, exclusive sets that rarely go on sale on my current list. A few are hitting stores in the coming weeks, but not in time for double points. However, Bounty is still a large enough set to rack up some points and land me the two freebies.

What are the two freebies? The first is available with all purchases over $100 both online and in store. It is a smaller, non-programmable version of the new Mindstorms Robot Inventor announced last June. The second gift-with-purchase is only available in store with purchases over $40. It consists of a brick assortment for building vehicles in a polybag. Of the two, the Mini Robots kit is the more impressive.

• 

• 

Since COVID started, I have not made a Pick-and-Build purchase. However, that changed today. The LEGO® Store is filling cups for customers. An employee uses a scoop to fill cups to the desired volume with pieces. This location had some bricks my usual haunt did not. Specifically, I found trans-blue 1×2 tiles. I am craving these tiles to help with my Ninjago City expansion. Now, I have a large cup full. With that said, I am not big on the scoop method. I usually pack my cups like nobody’s business. The scoops mean I will get fewer bricks in a cup. However, a few scoops is better than nothing.

A glorious Pick-and-Build cup of trans-blue tiles…

Finally, Build-a-Mini was also available in a fashion. The store employees pre-built a handful of different character variants. This is the first time I have seen new Minifigure parts in my area since January. The store had a menu with the pre-built variants on it. All you had to do was point which three you wanted, and the employee packaged them for you. It was a pleasant surprise.

• 

• 

• 

In the end, I got my double VIP points for a purchase much larger than I initially intended to make. Incidentally, that often seems to be the case when I go to the LEGO® store. Did you make a double VIP points purchase? Share your own haul in the comments below or reach out on social media.

Until next time,

-Tom

Want to support True North Bricks?

If you like the content at True North Bricks, please follow on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter for regular updates. Additionally, you can support True North Bricks by making your LEGO® (and other) purchases using the links in the menu to the right. These affiliate links earn me a little commission at no extra cost to you, thus helping to manage the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support!