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Hi all,
I just got back from a sweet week in Las Vegas. I had a great time with my
family and Chris. Throughout the trip Chris and I were trying to spot lego,
especially in shell stations... we came across a KB Toyworks on the way to
Hoover Dam... on Christmas day. It was, of course, closed. :-( So most of
the lego on the trip consisted of some gifts we exchanged (I got a
snowspeeder and a shell set for Chris, he got me a battle droid carrier).
We thought that was going to be all the lego we'd see, but on our last full
day there, we went to the Forum Shops (near Caesar's Palace). We came across
the big FAO Schwartz there - we almost didn't go in (we all know FAO is way
too pricey) but decided to check it out, and were glad we did. Here's why...
As we went up the escalator to the third floor, Chris started gawking and
pointing. I thought he was looking at the huge plastic AT-AT that was on
display, and shrugged, only to realize later that he was looking at a huge
lego cathedral on display there. The FAO "Chapel of Love" (whatever), white
with a black low-sloped roof, including a pink trimming below the roof,
painted windows, and a bell tower. The chapel looked pretty cool from the
inside too, what we could see of it at least... and it had a red toy Mustang
sitting in the middle of it. Totally cool ('cept for the mustang, hehe!). It
seemed like something built by the lego Model shop.
We got to the top and the first thing that struck us was an actually
larger-then-life Darth Vader. It's label said something like "1 of 3;
$10,000" (Uh-huh, sure I'll pay that). But it was awesome. Chris told me
he'd heard about it, I hadn't though...
Next thing we saw was a submarine display. A bit taller than me, it was
designed like the subs from the divers' theme. It had bubbles on the
outside, a lego logo and such, and the middle was hollow; kids could walk
inside and look. Here's what we saw:
On one side, an extremely modified 6097. The Bat Lord's castle looked
awesome, built on top of a dk. grey mountain, with the separate parts in
different places, and the FK soldiers running around... a mirror placed
strategically at the back of that display made it look bigger.
On the other side, a town harbor with a lot of good-old(ish) town sets...
the latest non-jr. fire station, the TV crew, a few ships... then, under the
"water" (a glass shelf), there was another divers display. Very cool,
including landscaping in green and brown <drool>...
On one of the walls next to the lego shelves there was a dolphin on the
wall... I think there were s'more divers underneath it, but I can't remember.
Throughout the display we spotted some pieces that don't exist in retail
sets, the kind we'd all give a lot for... e.g. clear 1x2 tiles... <more drool>
Most of the actual sets were no big surprise, I gotta say. FAO marks
everything 20% over retail (1) so we were just there to look. This was my
first time seeing the Mickey and LOM sets. Those look neat (LOM moreso than
Mickey! Sorry Sheree ;-).
What's more, we saw 2001 SW sets. More gaping and gawking, fersure, and I
had to literally drag Chris out of there (My sister was getting *really*
impatient - we had spent at least 45 minutes there). They had all the 2001
sets, including the technic Stormtrooper and C-3PO. They had the UCS sets too.
I had a quick discussion with some random guy (seemed about my age) who was
looking at the SW sets, and advised him to buy the sets somewhere cheaper...
also sent him here to check it out.
It was hard to leave, and we were tempted to buy, but luckily my sister was
getting mad, and we were responsible for her, so we saved the bucks. Phew...
On our way out I couldn't help asking two clerks if by chance the cathedral
was for sale. Unfortunately for my collection, and fortunately for my
pocket, they said no. It took them a few seconds to even realize what I was
talking about - one of them said that it's probably been on display for a
long time if she can't remember! :-)
We got some pictures, here's to hoping they came out well. Chris will
probably upload'em when they're developed.
Hope you all had a good vacation, or are still having one...
-Shiri
Please note FUT to lugnet.general, due to extensive XP on this post. Feel
free to change the groups according to what part of the post you're replying to!
(1) my (very opinionated) theory is that it actually makes rich/well-off
parents feel good about getting their children gifts instead of spending
more time with them; the more expensive, the better. <shrug, and calmly
stepping off soapbox>
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: FAO Schwartz display in Forum Shops (Vegas)
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| (...) Hello! I have to say since I live in Vegas I had to read this post. I go to the Forum Shops ALL the time and my first stop is always FAO Schwartz. What was even more exciting was that I could follow you completely in your description. I know (...) (24 years ago, 31-Dec-00, to lugnet.general)
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