Community survey: are you a LEGO addict?

Ok here we go.
1. I’m a TFOL.
2. My first set was 7694. I has was addicted after that.
3. I’m usually very relaxed, unless I’m wrestling with LDD’s flex tool again.
4. I doodle around a lot.
5. I keep some and recycle others. I’ve built nearly 80 official sets according to brickset, and I’ve smashed and built stuff countless times.
6. Just teen budget space 🙂
7. No real schedule, basically when I can afford it.
8. Nope. My Local LUG is 18+ (GRR!)
9. Pros: It’s fun! Cons: It’s expensive.
10. Hopelessly addicted.

1. AFOL
2. My first set was 6416 Poolside Paradise. I was seven years old and I was thrilled. I played with Lego well through my teen years, then took some time off while I was away at the University, and then started collecting and building again after I graduated.
3. I feel energized and thoughtful when I’m working with Lego, and feel pleased and accomplished when I finish a project I was working on.
4. At the very least I have a general idea of what I want to build when I sit down, though I will sometimes have used Lego Digital Designer to make even more specific plans as to what I would like to build.
5. I build both official Lego sets and works of my own design (MOC My Own Creation, as they are typically referred to in the Lego community). It is hard to estimate how many official sets I’ve built over the years, probably in the realm of 150 or more. I’ve built three larger MOCs/dioramas in the past several years, and probably 20-30 smaller works of my own design. I usually keep sets together for a few months at the most before they are taken apart for something new, unless they are part of the city/townscape I’ve been working on.
6. I have five shelves in my bedroom for display and half a closet for storage, with some extra storage tubs stored in the corner of my room. Space to store/display/build is definitely a concern.
7. I typically buy Lego once to twice a month, depending on if there is a sale or a special deal. The most I’ve spent in a single month on Lego is probably $750 – the least $80. I went approximately six years without buying Lego while I was at the University and in between various living situations.
8. Yes. I am part of ULUG (the Utah Lego Users Group). I have not yet displayed at an event, but I hope to soon.
9. I would definitely recommend Lego as a hobby to just about anyone. Pros: it’s creative, relaxing, and fun. It encourages problem solving and new ways of thinking about everyday situations. Cons: it can be an expensive hobby. Careful budgeting and being in control of your spending impulses is a must!
10. Pretty much addicted. I find myself thinking about Lego at odd hours of the day and night, there are bricks scattered all over the house, and my non-necessary expenses budget is almost entirely for Lego purchasing. I recommend the following book: Brickdiction: A Seven Step Recovery Guide for People Addicted to LEGO®

1. TFOL
2. Literally as long as I can remember. The first set I clearly remember is 5925. Instantly, it was like I was born for it.
3. Pride when it turns out decent, amazement when I find a new building technique.
4. It all depends on what I’m building. For instance, if I’m building an entry for a contest, I’ll do a fair amount of planning, often building in my head before getting to physical bricks. But another way I often build is taking apart two sets and combining them without a plan.
5. I *always* build a set by the instructions on the first go-around. Most of the time, I’ll strip it for parts later. The only things I leave together are either large or display, for instance the Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace are still together. Oh gosh, at least 150. Completely original designs, maybe 30. I keep them together long enough to recreate them in LDD, and then I disassemble.
6. Storage is a constant struggle. I really only need 2-3 shelves for builds, since I keep few together. Storing elements is the hard part, I’ve got 3 divided containers to hold the bulk of plates/small bricks, and probably 8 containers filled with random elements.
7. Monthly. The least is probably $10, just going in for some polybags. The most I can remember is getting MetalBeard’s Sea Cow as well as some smaller sets, totaling about$300 that month. I had a dry spell from ages 9-11 where I was more into Transformers, since then I haven’t gone more than two months without a purchase.
8. No, but I’m looking into it. I’ve displayed the past two years at Brickfair VA and plan on doing so for, well, ever.
9. Pros: Nothing is set in stone, there are no rules. There’s no wrong way to Lego, the possibilities are limitless. The fan base is massive, growing, and incredibly diverse. It’s also a very cost-effective hobby, compared to something like stamp collecting or model trains. It also helps with areas like math, architecture, and engineering. Cons: Though cost-effective, it does run a fair sum. In certain areas, like Australia or South America, Lego can be difficult to acquire. I would absolutely recommend Lego to anyone.
10. I’m definitely in deeper than just a casual pastime. I keep my limits on time and money, but even then there’s little time for much else. I’m definitely addicted, but not quite ‘hopelessly’ just yet

I’d be happy to answer any of your questions!
1. I am a proud TFOL!
2. I loved LEGO instantly! I got into LEGO when I was about 3 to five years old. My relatives had three giant bins of DUPLO and I was hooked, and still am ever since.
3. Hmm, let me think. Well, sometimes I have frustration when I can’t figure out how to make something for a MOC creation or when I skip a step in a booklet. But when I am surrounded by LEGO I feel better, it has a sense of home to it that brings me up. Once I went to Seattle and didn’t have any LEGO around me (not even a keychain!) and to be honest I had a withdrawal. It was pretty bad.
4. I usually just pick things up and start building, sometimes it doesn’t work out for me though, probably compared to all of these guys here on TBB, I’m not as experienced as them, I just started a few years ago making MOCS.
5. I have more LEGO creations than MOCS. Mainly Ninjago, and older sets like Indiana Jones, some old and new star wars, etc.
6. That’s strange, I have practically the same things. I have a shelf, half a closet, a desk, well pretty much my whole room is crowed with LEGO.
7. I purchase a new one every mouth, (Somehow I still have enough room in my little crammed room. 🙄 )
8.Nope but I would really like to be, I have my sister and my mom, that’s about it.
9. Pro’s there are many pros, you can expand your creativity, impress your relatives, it’s really fun and a great way to pass the time! Con’s: They are really painful to step on. 😆
10. Am I hopelessly addicted? Yes, but I do think I have a good way of investing and spending money. Half the time.

I hope this helps you!

I think these are very good questions. You can definitely make a nice long report about this topic. But I’m weird, and my answers tend to be also odd.
1. TFOL. And I wouldn’t be if not for my brothers and Star Wars.
2. I believe my first sets were 7474 and 7476, back in 2005-2006. I can barely remember building them, beyond the fact that my dad and I found them frustrating to build. I never really got much into LEGO, all I know is that my brothers and I had quite a few sets and lots of spare parts by 2011, and most of those were parts from sets we had destroyed, and built our own things out of. The vast majority of those creations no longer exist.
3. Usually I feel peaceful and creative, until I start to run out of pieces and that turns to frustration. 😕
4. I always have an idea when I start building. Otherwise I will not take about my stuff to start, because I don’t like messes. Most of the time I like modifying things instead, however, so the idea sis already there: I just make it better. 🙂
5. Recently I’ve tried to build every LEGO set I get exactly like the instructions say. I’m not sure why, I didn’t care before. 😐 I believe I have about 20 sets total, and I try to keep them whole at all times. But I often dismantle one or two to build a MOC. I think my brothers have at least 20 each, and they destroy them frequently, though the sets are always rebuilt.
6. All my family’s LEGO is in one small room in our attic. That’s it.
7. Not often. I try to avoid buying more if possible, for concerns of space. The least I spend is on average $0, and the most I think I’ve ever spent on LEGO at one time is ~$58. That was the 75021 Gunship, at half sale price.
8. Nope. I think my brothers and I are some of the only LEGO fans in our town.
9. Pros: It’s fun, sometimes relaxing. Cons: You can get sucked in really quickly, and it can become an obsession. Which is a problem if you’re in school (and taking Calculus).
10. Very reasonable. I prefer not to buy anything, but just look at it online or in-store. I can’t afford much, as my current life savings is about $200.
Hopefully this will help you with your project. Good luck! 🙂

1. At going 37, I guess it`s AFOL 😉

2. The first time at around 4, lasting to 14. It was a `toy` back then, suited to build camps with for my other toys like MASK or Transformers. It re-entered at 34, briefly for display but quickly involving to moc`cing, I guess mostly due to the internet connectivity of the current days.

3. Relaxation, and `healthy` frustration when trying to figure something out

4. A very vague sketch outlining the general idea, and the minifigs I would like to make the `build` around.

5. Both. The Tolkien lines remain on display as they are, though I`m even building display scenic bases for them. Some other, bigger, sets like the Black Pearl reamin on display because they are just so pretty, but all the rest gets build once, then recycled.

6. I`m constantly running out of space. At my parental house, where my bricks are in my old room as a workspace, I have a bunch of closets and shelves, but the big display sets are spilling over into the GF`s place as well…

7. Regularly. I guess, not counting loose bricks from Brick Link and the likes, the minimum is around 10 euros (there is ALWAYS some handy small set in discount somewhere), the maximum willbe around 500 euros.

8. I`m a part of BeLUG, now in my third year of membership, and started showcasing since last year at their local event.

9. The pro and con are the same for me: it`s high quality, but comes at a price. The Lego survived the 20 year storage in boxes, while most of my other toys have been tossed due to aging. The other huge pro for me is that it can be `inherited` by the younger ones (alot of City parts for example, as I don`t really build in that direction), so if that means it might cost me some more then other toys on average, I`m happy paying for it.

10. I`m addicted. I got the self-control of a tazmanian devil with rabies when I walk in a toystore, or scroll through sites like amazon or brick link. `Oh Shiney` is often the last sane thing I say before my bankaccount gets another assault to endure. And I, errm, “bend the truth” when the GF asks just how much I`ve spend yet again…

Hope this is of any help, from Belgium, with greetings!

1. Tween Fan of Lego 😉
2. When I was around the age of 5. My mom got me Mega Blocks but I felt that they were to big. So, my grandma took a trip here and gave me a blue box with pieces. The box said “Lego” and I remember how excited I was! I liked Lego instantly, and even before I opened the box!
3. When I am creating lego, my emotions are excitement. I love legos because you can build whatever you’d like from your imagination. There is so many ways to use legos.
4. I have a specificic plan and starting point in Lego, and always follow the instructions. I hate when Lego pieces from another set get mixed with another set!
5. I build them according to the instructions. I’ve built to many official Lego sets that I can’t count! I have a few things of my own design. Most of the time I keep them together.
6. I’ve had to empty 3 shelves, one giant table, 2 tables in my room, my desk, and more! I have lots of trouble with finding space! Last week I had to clear out a whole rug and table so that I could get the Star Destroyer Lego set, which, by the way, I’m getting next week.
7. ? I don’t know, sorry!
8. Nope and no. I don’t showcase any lego sets I have made, I just make a lot of stop motion with Legos.
9. Pros: Lots of fun! Creativity. Imagination. You can make stop-motion!
Cons: Lost of space, losing peices, stepping on a Lego piece hurts so bad! No really, have you ever stepped on a lego?!
10. I’m just hopelessly addicted. There is something about Legos that make you want to continue and play with it. I never want to stop playing and building with Lego. It is to fun.

Hope I helped! 😀

1: Technically an AFOL, but as an 18-year-old most of my experience as a LEGO fan comes from my years as a K/T FOL
2: I don’t remember my fist interaction with LEGO, but it’s had an influence on me since birth. My father played with LEGO as a kid, and a bucket of duplo was one of the first gifts given to me as a baby. I first interacted with the standard system bricks around three, they were in a McDonald’s toy and reportedly I couldn’t stop playing with them from the moment I opened the little bag it came in
3: I experience calm and bliss, almost as if I were doing meditation or yoga. Oddly, my mind is not only calm but tumultuous, as the ideas and visions in my head crash and churn, mirroring my frantic movements as pace from one side of my bedroom to the other, grabbing boxes of sorted Lego from the shelves and crevices in which I’ve organized them.
4: I have a concept in my head, but I never draw it on paper or plan out the dimensions. my building process is organic and free form, so I don’t like to try and make it structured or limited.
5: I build a great deal of official LEGO sets, but for the most part I prefer building my own designs. I’ve built literally hundreds of sets, and several dozen completed custom designs. I usually leave a set or MOC built for a few months to a year before breaking them apart, but my favorite creations stay built for years.
6: I’ve lived with my parents my whole life, and so I’ve been limited to one room: my bedroom. I’ve had a more or less constant volume of space to store my LEGO, but as my collection grows I keep abandoning other toys/ belongings to make more room. Today, my bedroom is occupied by little more than my furniture, clothing, and LEGO collection. Though I always find a way around LEGO storage issues, I’m concerned about going to college and living in a dorm, becuase I can’t take my LEGO with me and will have to either pack everything up or break it down.
7: I usually have severl-month long dry spells of LEGO buying, when I spend absolutley nothing on LEGO, followed by a spending spree when the next wave of new sets comes out of usually $200-$300. The most I’ve spent in one trip is probably around $400, and I’ve gone upwards of a full year without buying LEGO.
I am a member of my local LUG. We do a few local events, but the majority of our effort goes to organizing events for club members, like games and raffles and the like.
8: LEGO can be an expensive hobby, and sticking to the instructions can stifle creativity. Otherwise, LEGO is entirely pros: I can say with 100% honesty that LEGO has had the single greatest positive influence on my life, besides my own parents. I wouldn’t recommend it only because everybody has their own way of exploring their creativity and expressing themselves, and LEGO just happens to be my method.
9: I would say that I am “addicted” to LEGO, except that the word “addicted” has a negative connotation that I consider inappropriate to describe my relationship with LEGO. I feel no shame in devoting my time and money to LEGO, as like I said it has had such a positive influence on my life, so I find it very easy to justify my time and financial investments in LEGO.

1.) AFOL (44)
2.) I was 10 years old and I instantly loved them. A toy with endless possibilities that allowed me to imagine and play my way.
3.) A mixture of childhood nostalgia coupled with complete and utter relaxation. No deadlines, no pressures, for me, it is purely about fun, playing, imagination, etc.
4.) I would say about 50/50, plan versus free-play. Sometimes I have a specific project in mind, other times I am just tinkering.
5.) Often I build in accordance with the instructions, so I don’t get Kragle’d by Lord Business. Sometimes I leave creations built for a while, but usually they are broken down, ready for me to create again when the mood strikes. I have around 15 sets, I huge bin of loose items, and a mini figure set that is growing at a terrifying rate.
6.) I am fortunate that I have an entire spare room dedicated as my office/workshop, so generally speaking, space is not an issue. My mini figures are taking over my desk, so I am working on an open-air, wall-mounted display stand for them. No case! They have to be able to breath for Pete’s sake!
7.) My lawyer has advised me not to answer this question so I do not incriminate myself. 🙂 My wife and I are on a mini figure buying craze right now, so every few days we get a new “visitor”. The least we have spent was on one of our mini figures, just under a dollar. The most (currently) was just on the Star Wars Slave 1 Ultimate Collectors Series. The longest I have gone without a purchase was when I joined the Navy at 17 and did not get back into Lego until very recently.
8.) I am not a member of any local groups. I have been told I don’t play well with others.
9.) Pros: Endless opportunity to create, you can get so much mileage from a single set. Not many toys/hobbies are like that IMHO. Cons: As others have stated, can be pretty addictive and cost can be a problematic. I would definitely recommend!
10.) I try to strike a balance between responsibility and addiction, I really, really do! That should count for something, right? In all seriousness, we try to be pretty disciplined with our spending on Lego … but I kind of feel like Lord Business confessing that he so badly wants to throw Bad Cop out the window! I once considered trying to determine how much I have spent on Lego overall, but some secrets are just best left untouched.

Good luck with your research!
Do you believe you are a LEGO fan with reasonable limits on investment of time and money in the hobby, or are you hopelessly addicted? Explain.

im a TFOL and i first knew about lego but i dint any sets whaen my mom bought my brother a lego city train well i loved it only at first i thought lego was for boys only.then we went to toys r us to buy a gift to my brother and we passed the lego sección and i saw lego Friends…imediatly i knew lego is for girls to

1. Love of Lego started as a KFOL and still as an AFOL.

2. I started playing with Lego at a young age ~6 years old. Some of my earlier memories is of my mom stumbling over the blocks… I think I tended to create more buildings as a child rather than more complex builds (and using trolls and giants to come destroy it).

3. When I build with Lego, emotions are dependent on what I’m building. Certain sets (like the Research Institute) I was incredibly happy and gleeful. Original sets can sometimes be combined with frustration when missing a part or when you have the vision in your head that you can’t seem to make physical. However, once the original idea comes together, the feeling is satisfaction.

4. Sometimes I have a specific goal in mind when I start building original builds/projects. I’ll use LDD sometimes to help formulate what I want to build.

4. With Official Lego sets, I start off with the instructions. I’ll either leave the build and display it, or integrate it into the stash for other builds. At the moment, I have 5 sets on display and the rest have been combined.

5. Legos are in several regions of my house. Special Official builds are in the formal dining room for display. The upstairs office has special bins categorized by size/type.

7. Lego purchases change depending on what sets are available and if I’m buying for myself, friends, or friend’s kids. Around Christmas time I spend a lot on Lego. The maximum I’ve spent on a single set is ~$100. We also have a local store where they have bulk bins (Bricks and minifigs) that I will pillage with the boyfriend occasionally and walk out of there easily spending $50-$100. That said, I can go 6 months without buying a set.

8. I’m not an active member, but I do see other projects at the nearby Lego hobby store. I post and comment with friends on facebook.

9. Of course I would recommend Lego to others! Pros: really helps the hand-eye-brain coordination. It’s also a great way for science, technology, engineering, and math education which I’m an avid supporter of. Cons: some of the cooler sets are super expensive which can make it difficult for some to purchase. Also, statistically there is a gender imbalance. I didn’t notice as a young girl (minifigure boy, but it’s a her because I said so!), but as an adult there is a clear difference such as cool space characters and themes. While I can appreciate this is starting to change with new sets (such as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy) and Lego Friends, Lego can continue to improve this.

10. I think I have reasonable limits. Sometimes. 🙂 It’s a controlled addiction.

1. I am a TFOl, both in age and budget.
2. LEGO DUPLO entered my life when I was 2 and LEGO system entered my life when i was 4, I don’t remember much about when I got my first LEGO DUPLO but I am quite sure I instantly liked the system sets.
3. When I create something out of LEGO bricks I experience feelings of joy when I can admire a build in it’s full glory, wether a MOC or just a retail set. But I can also be quite mad/depressed if I can’t find the piece I have been looking for for two hours and when I have to use a substitute due to that. relaxtion and concentration are also something I usually experience when building.
4. I usually have a specific starting point when I start building in the form of a simple drawing with a floor plan and rough elements of the 3D structure or a page open on the internet(as was the case when I sought inspiration for interior details for my grand emporium). However my plans are usually a bit over the top and most, if not all of the times I change a lot about it. After all you can’t turn 1.500 bricks into 1.5000.
5. I do a mix of both, I usually build the official set or one of the other models(2in1, 3in1 etc.) but with most of the sets I disassemble them later and then I use the pieces for MOCs. I keep my modular’s and most of my Star Wars sets intact though and when I disassemble them I keep those piece a part from other sets. I sadly break MOCs down due to space issue’s after a certain time. I’ve had some vignette’s that I kept intact for long times.
6. I have emptied one shelf so far for my LEGO hobby, counting all shelf’s I have 24 shelf’s, of which quite a few are still empty(investing in storage space sure is a good idea). I also have a table on which I build my MOCs, I build the official set’s at my desk due to the fact that my table is covered with MOCs.
7. I purchase LEGO 6-10 times a year due to my TFOL budget. The average amount of money I spent on LEGO per month is €40 however it can be as low as €0/month or as high as €240/month(only happened once) My average spendings when I buy LEGO are €60(or something near that). I usually buy two large sets(€100+) a year, then two or three medium sets(€30-€100) and then 1-5 small sets. However most of the small sets I buy are under €10.
8. As there is no local LUG, I would say no.
9. Pro’s:
-Long lasting value.
-You can do everything you want with the brick’s, they are reusable.
-There are many different piece’s.
-It’s a way to be creative.
-It relaxes you.
Con’s:
-It is very expensive.
-It can be quite time-consuming.
-It can make me neglect important things.
-It take most of the space in my room.
10. I am hopelessly addicted and proud of it. I invest 95% of my yearly income in LEGO(not smart, i know) and I invest heavily in storage space.
but the LEGO addiction runs in the family.