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| With #8989 Mata Nui for scale. Y'know, the small yellow thing on the right that's hardly visible, standing there, menacingly! Eventually, the Barraki retail flag is somehow going to be relevant to my journey in becoming a LEGO Product Designer... |
In my never-ending quest for collecting all kinds of (niche) LEGO products, this is my first time getting my hands on retail flags. Earlier this year, I've hinted at a Bionicle parcel that was stuck in customs limbo, which were these two.
When it comes to product design, there are parts in this process that is often overlooked. Engineering, advertisement, package design, to name a few. When products are about to be sold in stores, stores have the option to decorate their interior to drive sales. There are many ways a store can do this, as there are all kinds of items to fulfill that purpose.
The world of LEGO-themed store decorations is a bottomless pit. Each time LEGO releases a new product, there's an entire industry of its own, dedicated to produce all kinds of promotional materials. When it comes to collecting and cataloging these items, three categories are common: retail flags, product displays and other decorative objects.
What are retail flags? Large, printed cloth banners designed for halls or rooms, specifically designed to be hung from tall ceilings. In stores, you would see these from far away, marking the location of the corresponding toy isle. If you've ever been to a large toy store or convention, you've probably seen one of these before.
As store decorations continuously comes and goes, all of it is treated as disposable. After products are removed from shelves, related store decorations are destroyed. There's simply too much of it; store owners don't think twice about it. Although, as with everything, there's always some that eventually finds its way on the aftermarket. To obtain specific items however, is not as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of digging, and they aren't cheap.
So, what about the two retail flags I've obtained? In particular, I was after the Barraki retail flag on the left. 2007 was such a fantastic year for the franchise, it is by far my favorite. Consider this retail flag to be the one I wanted the most. In order to purchase it however, I had to throw in another retail flag to meet the seller's minimum purchase threshold. By coincidence, the seller also happened to have another retail flag I was interested in: 2009's #8989 Mata Nui.
Suffice to say, these retail flags are huge. Given the purpose they were designed for, both are two meters tall and 90 centimeters wide, each. Both ends have a small channel, just large enough to fit thin rods or strings inside, so you can mount them on a wall or ceiling. Unfortunately, I don't have space for these in my room. Too large. Once I move out of here, I'll definitely find a spot where they can be admired - as they should be. Heck, finding a method and location to temporarily hang these up for this photo was a challenge in itself! That's why it took me this long to write this blogpost.
There are still a handful of other retail flags I'm specifically after; mainly the other Barraki retail flags. You see, some retail flags are designed as a set. While the one I have is the main one, three others exist. One is the same but without the Barraki (which is a fantastic backdrop of Mahri Nui), the other two (example 1, example 2) are thinner retail flags depicting three of the six canister sets each. Unfortunately, Bionicle retail flags specifically target canister sets, so retail flags of the larger Bionicle sets do not exist. A shame, really. Some of them would've made great retail flags.
Aside from retail flags, am I after any other store decorations? Yes, there are some. I've always wanted to obtain a product display. Preferably one of 2007 Bionicle, but any theme I'm fond of is fine, as long as the display is visually interesting. Bricklink isn't an exhaustive list of the many store decorations out there - for instance, at a convention I once saw a large product display of #6979 Interstellar Starfighter with lights and sound. One that I'll never forget was during my childhood in Tokyo, where there was this massive display of the 1998 Ninja theme at our local Daiei. They built a deep ravine out of BURPs, about two meters tall, and had the sets displayed in them. Honestly, it was amazing for its time and awe-inspiring. It's that kind of ambition and passion that makes this never-ending hobby so great.
But that's it for today - I'll see you guys again next post!