Seven-year-old LEGO fan's expert opinion on Canberra's LEGO Certified Store's opening day

But, if anything has come from reporting on the opening of Canberra's first LEGO Certified Store, it's clear that I may be in the minority.

To say that Saturday's opening day was busy would be an understatement. When the store manager arrived at 7am - two hours before opening - there were already 10 or so people waiting. By 8am that line had grown, with people lining up out the door of the Canberra Centre and along Bunda Street. At midday, the wait time was two hours.

Sure, part of it was the store's customer limits brought on by COVID. But part of it was just the sheer number of people wanting to check the store out. One customer had even driven from the South Coast just to attend the store's opening.

So I wanted to find out what the fuss was about and called on the biggest LEGO fan I know to help me out - seven-year-old Jacob Kurtz (who was literally jumping for joy when he arrived). According to this LEGO fan, Marvel is where it is at.

"That's Thor and it's from the film where he gets fat because he drinks too much soda," he says pointing to one scene.

READ MORE:

Of course, the store doesn't just specialise in Marvel sets. Jacob points me in the direction of the dinosaur skeletons. Who doesn't like dinosaurs, after all?

"Did you know that you can get DNA from dinosaur bones and grow real ones?" Jacob says.

It sounds very close to the plot of Jurassic Park but Jacob informs me that his friend Bailey told him and Bailey is never wrong. (Real dinosaurs? What could go wrong?)

What I really wanted to know is where I should start with my LEGO journey?

Jacob points me in the direction of the "girl sets". While he says he doesn't watch a lot of Disney, and his sister Arlo is the expert on that topic, he says it would be good to start with the LEGO sets for either Frozen or Cinderella. I point out the giant Disney castle and ask if that was a good one to put together.

"That's too hard for you," he says. I note that the suggested age for the Disney castle was 16 and over. Hopefully, this means Jacob thinks I look younger than I actually am and not that he has little faith in my LEGO abilities.

It is worth noting though that there were just as many adults in the store as kids - and it was clear that some were there not just as chaperones.

Even when you look at the sets available it's clear that the age range is broad. A kid is not going to care about the sets devoted to shows like Seinfeld and Friends. It's also debatable as to whether they would want a LEGO typewriter set or even the Harley Davidson.

But if you're not a LEGO fan, the store is still cool to go visit - even if it is to see the LEGO Lake Burley Griffin mosaic in all its glory.

As for me, I've taken my new LEGO set home - settling for some flowers - and maybe it will be my new pastime. If not, at least I have learnt more about LEGO. And apparently, dinosaurs.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: