PaB Crawl 2013 - Conclusion

Was it worth it ?
As I'm writing this some four and half months later, I would have to say yes. It was a lot of fun.

Would you do this again ?
Probably, I mean they have a new one in the Metro Centre, Gateshead now.

Would you do anything different ?
Other than adjusting the route for new store(s), probably not. You could probably include more stores into the days, making it quicker, but that was never the idea, its not a race - that would be something different though...

What advice would you give to someone who wants to give it a go ?

• Plan in advance, its an absolute must, if only for taking advantage of cheaper rail/accommodation rates.
• Be mindful of the time of year you go. Colder months mean more clothes like coats to get in the way.
• Do it during the week (M-F) to avoid engineering works on transport links.
• Use bases, I used two Manchester & London, that way you don't have to hump everything around all the time.
• Factor in enough time, I was making notes of stock as well as packing, so I didn't want to rush.  Also, trains have been known to run a little late, so give yourself a little extra.
• Check when the stores are actually open (Glasgow shuts at 6pm except Thursdays, London Westfield on the other hand is open till 10pm)
• Try and avoid weekends, they'll be busier and Sundays have limited opening times.
• Wear comfortable shoes/trainers, you'll be walking a lot.
• Take baggies to transfer your swag from the tubs making for easier case packing. Plus you'll get a 75p discount for reusing them.
• Don't forget your VIP card...

Anything you wouldn't do again ?
Stock taking - that got real old real fast.
Take an Android tablet, the cutdown apps of websites don't quite measure up to their fully functional counterparts, so I'd take a proper laptop instead.

Any favourite memories from this trip ?
The ever changing and in some cases, spectacular scenery from the various trains.
Thunder and lightning at Manchester.
Warm and sunny in Glasgow.
The friendliness and professionalism of the Lego store staff.



I would like to thank the following:

East Midlands Trains
Northern Rail
First TransPennine Express
Virgin Trains
Arriva Trains Wales
First Great Western
First Capital Connect
Southeastern
London Midland


Except for delays caused by a large thunder storm, all trains ran to time.


Gardens Hotel, Manchester
Imperial Hotel, London
Holiday Inn, Milton Keynes

Pleasant stays at all three locations.


Finally, all the hard working, friendly and professional staff at all twelve Lego retail stores.

PaB Crawl - Swag List

So over the 5 days, I picked up 34 Large Cups and 3 Small, recycling as I went, getting the 75p discount on as many tubs as I could.

From this I got 78 different pieces in 27 colors (see breakdown below) for a total of 18,307 bricks/pieces.






Most of it will come in handy for upcoming MOCs but a percentage was just filler for the cups.

Here's a couple of summary pics, the full list can be found on my Flickr set

PaB Crawl - Day 5 (Part 2)

After a relatively short train journey I had arrived at sunny MK. Time for the final walk from the station to my final destination.

The MK store being the oldest is also the smallest of the dozen, with the PaB wall near the front window, rather than the back wall. Also due to lack of floorspace, the usual wall has large plastic bowls with a mixture of two or three different pieces inside. Again, the layout doesn't leave any room for the small shelf behind the tills for packing. By this stage of course that didn't matter, as I was only going to get one large tub here.

PaB Crawl - Day 5

I can't believe it, the last day has arrived the last two stores to do. It seemed like a distant memory, enjoying the warm sun in Glasgow. Still enough sentiment, off to Watford...

My case was now pretty full, so dragging this became a pain in the backside, not that I'm complaining it was my choice. Still at least the walk from the station was fairly level.

I was getting to the point that "enough is enough", a kind of shopping centre fatigue if you will, things looked all too similar.

Back to Watford Jct for the final leg to Milton Keynes.