Rushden toy shop is a model customer!

A toy shop in Rushden has had its facade recreated entirely out of Lego bricks.
Will Osborne with mum Pam. NNL-180126-145005005Will Osborne with mum Pam. NNL-180126-145005005
Will Osborne with mum Pam. NNL-180126-145005005

Osborne’s Sports and Toys in High Street was the first independent retailer to sell Lego 60 years ago.

To mark the anniversary the toy giant offered to make a Lego model of the shop front – but it was far bigger than the store’s Will Osborne thought it would be.

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He said: “My dad was the first person in the country to sell Lego and with that in mind they said what they would like to do was make a replica of the shop.

L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005
L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005

“I said ‘will it be about 3ft?’ and they said ‘no, no, it will be the whole front of the shop’.

“We were astounded to be honest. It’s phenomenal.

“To think the little Lego brick can create something like that is amazing and the attention to detail is superb.”

The replica facade was built at a Lego factory in the Czech Republic and shipped over.

A close up of the Lego shop front. NNL-180126-145029005A close up of the Lego shop front. NNL-180126-145029005
A close up of the Lego shop front. NNL-180126-145029005
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It is made out of more than 277,500 bricks weighing 610kg and measuring 4m tall by 16m wide.

The replica took 639 man hours to make and was made by 41 team members.

Osborne’s was run by Will’s father Jim with his wife Pam, having bought the shop in 1955, until he died in 2015.

Will said: “He [Jim] would have loved this.

L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005
L-R: Libby Risdale, Will Osborne, Pam Osborne and Donna Aitken. NNL-180126-145017005

“This shop is his legacy and it’s nice that Lego have acknowledged the value of the small traders.”

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The Lego replica will be on display all weekend until it is taken down on Monday (January 29) morning.

Several shoppers have been to have a look but Will said not everyone has noticed it.

He added: “There’s been quite a lot of people who have come in and I’ve asked them what they thought of it.

“Some have asked where it is and I’ve taken them outside and they’ve gone ‘crikey’.

“It’s that realistic.”