Last night, The Little Brick and I went to our first, appointment-based, LEGO Monthly Mini Build. Let me tell you, it was quite a different experience from previous events…and I rather liked it!

We arrived at the mall an hour early to play at the indoor playground and get some wiggles out. Already, I could tell from the lack of kids at the playground that this was going to be nothing like all the other builds.

As we approached The LEGO Store, gone were the silver poles and velvet ropes of events prior. Gone was the hustle and bustle of kids and parents running in and out of the store. As I walked in, I was quite surprised to be greeted by a calm atmosphere with two building tables set to the side as if an afterthought. Obviously, the first day of the event was not this serene.

I spoke with our store manager for a bit and he said the first day was met with great success, with the exception of those families that don’t come for every build. They came expecting to line up as usual, wait for their tickets and then wait for their build time slot. So you know there was more than one child upset they weren’t leaving with a LEGO whale.

To counteract the bad feelings, our store manager pulled leftovers from previous builds and let those kids pick a build they may have missed previously. He said for the most part it worked to ease down the child, with only a few major meltdowns. I was glad to hear he found a way to make almost everyone happy.

As for the build, once I saw it come together, I changed my mind about my previous comments on the whale. It’s a rather fun looking build and I do like how they modeled the spout and water cresting at the top. The blue and white make it a sharp build, too.

It’s a rather quick build as well. I stepped away twice: once to speak to a store employee and another to talk with a friend, and when I came back, The Little Brick had already finished the build!

If you’re interested in building one of your own, above is the LEGO parts card showing the pieces for this set. There are a number of LEGO parts you probably won’t find in a regular bucket of LEGO bricks, but you can probably piece this together in a different color from other sets you’ve purchased.

If you need a downloadable parts list, you’ll have to wait, as Brickset nor Rebrickable have one available yet. You can, however, download the instructions for the July 2015 LEGO Mini Build Whale here.

How did you like this month’s mini build? How was your in-store build experience?