It seem like about a million agonizing years since I broke the news about the LEGO Store’s free promotional polybag set for July 2013–the LEGO Hot Dog Cart 40078–though it’s actually only been a couple weeks. And after an excruciating near-month of waiting, July has finally arrived and the Hot Dog Cart set has been released in official LEGO Stores and online! I know everyone’s seen all the glamor shots on the advertising banners all over the place by now, but there’s nothing like the real thing! So I got up bright and early and headed out to my favorite local LEGO Store this morning to take in-person photos of the actual LEGO 40078 Hot Dog Cart to share…

I was having ridiculous nightmares that I’d get to the LEGO Store today and the employees would be totally clueless about the LEGO Hot Dog Cart promotion, but nothing could be further from reality–there are materials promoting the free promo LEGO 40078 Hot Dog Cart polybag literally all over the store.

The front door has a large poster on it advertising all of the LEGO Store special offers and events for July 2013, there’s a big sticker on the LEGO City display case letting customers know about the LEGO Hot Dog Cart 40078 promo polybag, and two completed LEGO Hot Dog Cart sets in the small display cases on either side of the checkout counters.

If I hadn’t known about the Hot Dog Cart LEGO set before going to the LEGO Store, I sure would have known about it before I could leave the store!

Other than this month’s polybag promo LEGO set, there wasn’t much new at the LEGO Store. I tried to hunt down the August 2013 LEGO Store Calendar, but was told be the employees at the store that they wouldn’t have the calendar until next week (although I bet I’ll find it at another LEGO Store sooner than that–stay tuned). No sign of the Summer 2013 LEGO Star Wars or LEGO Legends of Chima sets yet, but I imagine it’s only a matter of time–the physical LEGO Stores tend to put the summer sets out before they show up online.

If you still want the LEGO 40078 Hot Dog Cart Polybag and you don’t live near a LEGO Store, you can still take advantage of the free promo offer by ordering the set off the online LEGO Store (just make sure to enroll as a free LEGO VIP Member at checkout if you’re not already one!). With lots of new sets available like the LEGO Castle 2013 and new summer LEGO Lord of the Rings and Galaxy Squad themes to choose from, it’s not all that hard to put together a qualifying order to get the Hot Dog Cart LEGO polybag free.

I’ll post a full review of the LEGO Hot Dog Cart 40078 set later, but here’s a sneak peek at my impressions: this is hands-down one of my favorite LEGO polybags ever, and well worth picking up at the outstanding value of free in LEGO Stores this July. Get it while you can, LEGO collectors!