Posted September 3, 200915 yr Hey there. I'm a Canadian AFOL, heading to the S.F. area next week. I saw on the web that there are 2 LEGO stores within reach (I'm staying in Alameda) San Mateo, and Santa Clara. Is one preferable to the other, in terms of what they have, size, etc? Any help would be great. Thanks
September 3, 200915 yr Hey there. I'm a Canadian AFOL, heading to the S.F. area next week. I saw on the web that there are 2 LEGO stores within reach (I'm staying in Alameda) San Mateo, and Santa Clara.Is one preferable to the other, in terms of what they have, size, etc? Any help would be great. Thanks LEGO stores seem to be hit or miss. I would google the phone numbers for both, and call before you leave your hotel or whatever and see what they have. Unles you are going just to randomly shop, if that's the case, you won't miss things you don't know are missing.
September 3, 200915 yr Never been to the San Mateo store, but the one in Santa Clara always is well stocked. I haven't been there in about a year, as i make my purchases at the Sacramento Lego store now. (its close to me). But I'd go with Big Cam's suggestion and call first if there's anything in particular your looking for.
September 5, 200915 yr The Santa Clara LEGO Store (my local LEGO Store; 20 miles away) is a great LEGO Store. They have a huge stock of items, and a nice PaB wall. The only bad thing is that it takes a few weeks after a set comes out to appear in their stores. I have no idea about the San Mateo store, sorry.
September 5, 200915 yr I dropped by the San Mateo store yesterday to grab a couple of the discounted Green Grocers. It's a good store, well stocked, and they did have the just-released Fire Brigade on the shelf (no sign of the Tantive IV). They have a decent minifig building station, but the Pick-a-Brick wall is sort of lousy. The Santa Clara store (likely) has a better PaB wall, but it's further from where I live, and getting into and parking at that mall it's in is sort of a pain in the a** (at least the couple times I've been there). I'd absolutely recommend calling ahead if there's anything specific you're after, as others have suggested. I've always gotten good service, both on the phone and in person.
