I’m a man of many interests. I’m like an onion, ya know? Layers upon layers that you have to peel away in order to get to know me. Well here’s another layer for you: I like to play with LEGO.
It really shouldn’t be a secret. Seriously, if this surprises you then you obviously have not been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying or doing. Ever. Los likes LEGO, shocker! Did you know it’s not “Lego.” Or “Legos.” It’s LEGO, or LEGO bricks if you really wanna get plural. Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t make up the name, I’m just relaying information. Naming aside, I love all the aspects of this particular hobby. And no, I’m not some old dude sitting in his closet, arranging toys made for kids on his shelves because they look cool. There’s SO much more to it than that! The fact that I have kid toys sitting on shelves in my closet is not the point. What is the point is why they’re there.
Like, “why am I publicly stating that I, as an adult, play with such toys?” Because it’s fun, that’s why. Maybe if us adults spent more time doing fun things and enjoying ourselves, and less time walking around with sticks up our asses, the world would be a better place. I’m not here to out myself as a – quite literally – closet nerd, just for the sake of having something to talk about. Trust me, I just made a list of the things I have to write about and it’s crazy long and this post wasn’t anywhere on it. It’s on my mind because I’ve been really into it the past few weeks.
I’m the type of person who focuses on one thing. I can’t mentally have two hobbies going on at the same time. For instance, I’m a gamer at heart. I love playing video games and getting lost in those worlds. But I also love to read and get lost in a book the same way. But I can’t stop playing a game, then go to bed a read a book. I have to focus on the game and dedicate all my spare time to it. And when I’m done playing whatever it is, I feel accomplished and I move on to the next thing. And right now, my thing is LEGO.
It was gaming a few weeks back. I was very excited to get lost in The Division 2, but thanks to not having the time to dedicate to playing, the urge and excitement came to a full on rolling boil and it’s as if all the water splashed out of the pot. So I was feeling defeated. Felt like my desire to sit down and play games was extinguished thanks to not having time to dedicate to them. This isn’t the first time it’s happened and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It’s not my first rodeo dealing with a gaming slump so I know how to manage. I could’ve gotten into a book or some comics, but thanks to some friends who pointed out some cool promotions going on, I got sucked back into the world of LEGO something fierce.
I always saw it as a way to calm the mind. And that’s what it does for me. As it turns out, I have a some fairly elevated levels of OCD in me that I never knew I had up until a few years ago. LEGO is great for that. The satisfaction of having a pile of bricks and fitting them one by one together to create something grand is beyond satisfying. The snapping, the connecting, the techniques used to bring sets together, it’s so soothing to the mind to just sit there and build. And honestly, that’s only half of it. The other half is a lot more easier of a concept to grasp: LEGO building is just plain fun.
It always helps when you have something you enjoy in LEGO form. Like me, I’m an easy going dude with many likes. Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, etc.. So Marvel is the theme that really grabbed me this time around. With Endgame out (wooooooooooooooo, Endgame. I’ll review that soon), there are new sets that were released alongside it. Personally, I found the Avengers Endgame sets a little lacking, with the acception of Iron Man’s Hall of Armor and the Ultimate Quinjet (which I haven’t gotten yet). But I understand it’s hard to make sets in advance for a movie without spoiling it. I started digging around and found last year’s Infinity War sets and how cool those were. Together with the hype of Endgame coming, and the promotion my friends told me about for a free Avengers Tower set with a $75 purchase at LEGO Stores, it was a recipe for money spending. I’ll get into more detail in a different post, talking about the sets and hunting down certain things.
But that’s what I mean, finding something you’re into. If you love Disney, right now there’s an amazing Steamboat Willie set that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I’m still bummed I missed an autograph signing for the set in the Disney Springs LEGO Store for this one. Also, there are Disney Minifigure blind bags you can find in stores to collect your fave characters. I am still trying to find a Jack Skellington or two. Lucked out and easily found Mickey, Minnie, and Sally. I also kinda sorta spent about 40 minutes in Barnes and Noble feeling up the bags trying to find the Wizard of Oz figures for my wife and a few for the kids from The LEGO Movie 2 blind bags. Hey, The LEGO Movie 2 is out on blu ray now! I reviewed it back when we watched it in theaters and we still love it, so go check it out! They have some awesome sets to grab like Welcome to Apocalypseburg and The Rexcelsior. Star Wars always has a ridiculous amount of sets to go after. Currently, that’s where my head is at as I only have a few Marvel sets left to collect. Sadly, thanks to buying so many Marvel sets, I missed out on getting the free 20th Anniversary Battle of Hoth set they had at LEGO Stores with $75 purchase. I’m beyond bummed I wasn’t able to grab that, but at least now I get to have fun tracking one down when I do have some pocket change again.
See! LEGO scratches many itches. Collecting, hunting, building, it’s just an all around good time to have fun with. Sure, gaming is still a love of mine. But for right now I’m enjoying myself and
taking some me time where I feel like I’m being productive with my hobby. That’s where gaming is hard and LEGO shines. You sit down for an hour or two and you can finish a small to medium sized set and feel accomplished with your time. Gaming, if you sit there for an hour or two you can get up and still be in the same part of the story/character progression as you were when you started. It’s always been a hurdle for me as time isn’t always on my side with gaming so it makes enjoying them harder and harder and I get older. But I still try!
Notice how I haven’t really mentioned a single thing about my kids here. I wanted to try and focus on me with this. Sometimes us adults need that reassurance that it’s ok to like and enjoy these types of things. And no, I’m not talking about that gray haired dude in The LEGO Store that I watched buy $600+ in sets the other day. You’re my freaking hero. No, I’m talking about you closet nerds that are afraid to wear your likes on your sleeve. In this love letter to LEGO I didn’t want to pepper in how I’m doing all this with my kids. Because truth be told, when they’re at school and I’m done with stuff around the house, I’ll sit down and work on them myself. And if the LEGO subreddit is any indication, it shows there are plenty of grown up people – some don’t even have kids! – that love to have at it with a pile of bricks. It’s obvious kids love to play with LEGO, it’s their targeted demographic afterall. And my kids are no different. They’ve been right there with me the past few weeks, getting excited for every set I’ve bought, wanting to buy their own, wanting to help, needing help, it’s been a blast.
The unused half of our long dinner table has been covered with LEGO bricks for about 3 weeks, when one set is done, another takes its place. When I was on my shopping spree for Marvel sets, the oldest filled up his marble jar and was owed something for his achievements (it’s a jar we would put a marble in to reward good behavior and doing chores/schoolwork, etc.). He decided he wanted to go half and half with our help and his birthday money to buy Sanctum Sanctorum. At the time, this is the biggest set we’ve ever purchased in our house and it was soooo worth it. It’s such an awesome build with lots of details, great minifigures, and it was so much fun to watch him put it together and help when he needed it. I’ll get more into it another time, as I’m planning on reviewing sets that we finish building because I’ll never pass up an excuse to take pictures of toys. As you can see here on my Instagram post.
And I’ll leave you with that tease. More LEGO posts coming for sure. Not only the ones I have recently bought, but a few old ones too. I have the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters here along with the DeLorean from Back to the Future that I’m so happy I was able to grab when they were on shelves. I plan on giving them their own posts, along with plenty of others. All of the Infinity War and Endgame series, the Star Wars 20th Anniversary sets I’m hoping to pick up sooner rather than later, a few LEGO Ideas that I want to grab, it’s going to be a fun time collecting and building. And I’ll be honest, I’m getting all giddy and excited more now than I’ve felt from gaming in a good while. Leave it to kids toys to make this old man gamer feel like a kid again.
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click and purchase items through those links in order to help me out, as I’ll get a tiny percentage from the purchase. Thanks!
If you’d like the official LEGO Shop links for those sets, here you go:
Sanctum Sanctorum – The Rexcelsior – Welcome to Apocalypseburg
Iron Man Hall of Armor – Avengers Ultimate Quinjet
