Last week I was a bit frustrated when my search for the new Summer 2013 LEGO Castle sets turned up all the new summer LEGO sets except for the one I was looking for: 70403 LEGO Dragon Mountain. It seemed weird for all of the other sets to have found their way into retail store circulation without this last set, so many LEGO collectors (and yes, me) began speculating that LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain 70403 might in fact be a store exclusive, explaining its absence. Well, we may have been a bit hasty. I found a full stock of the LEGO 70403 Dragon Mountain summer 2013 set at my local Toys R Us today…

In case anyone missed my rambling about this set on and off for the past month, I like this LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain set quite a bit–it’s easily in my Top 10 LEGO sets being released in Summer 2013. That said, I was not quite willing to bring myself to pay $54.99 for a 376 piece set at Toys R Us’ inflated, scalper-like prices. Will I pick up this set for its retail price of $49.99 when I see it at my local LEGO Store or Target/Walmart or what-not? Definitely. But the extra 10% fee at Toys R Us just for the right to get the set a couple weeks before other retailers really cheeses me off.

For those who haven’t had the chance to see the new red LEGO Dragon from 70403 LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain in person yet, this isn’t some little lizard–this a huge, full-fledged, fire-breathing dragon! The LEGO Dragon figure is easily the centerpiece of the whole LEGO Castle Summer 2013 series and is as big as the entire chunk of castle structure that Dragon Mountain set comes with.

So far, distribution on the new LEGO Castle sets has been very limited and they’ve only turned up at some Toys R Us stores. They should arrive at other retailers within the next month, but if you absolutely can’t wait to get your hands on Dragon Mountain, some have already started to turn up on ebay (at crazy prices). Me? I’m waiting for the LEGO Store. I’ll post an update once the 2013 LEGO Castle summer sets hit more stores.