The Itch to Build

In my closet there’s an ammunition crate, painted red.

It’s where I keep my LEGO bricks.

There are LEGO bricks in that crate that are older than some of my coworkers. No, I’m not kidding. There are some LEGO boat pieces (that float on water) that I know date from the late 1970s, and I have coworkers who were born in the 1980s. I can’t be 100% certain, In my KRE-O/LEGO Enterprise, which sits on my bookshelf at the office, but I’m sure there are a few pieces older than my coworkers. (Note: The images at that link don’t work. I need to fix them.)

Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of LEGO in that crate.

I really should do something with them. I should build with them; I haven’t really dug into the box in a year. I still have a couple of LEGO Lord of the Rings sets to build, to say nothing of a few KRE-O Star Trek sets and the K’Nex Beatles Yellow Submarine set.

Once upon a time, I’d have said, “It’s not LEGO, so it must be crap.” Then I started working with non-LEGO bricks, and I discovered there’s some quality out there like KRE-O and Character Building. (There’s also crap, like Best Lock’s Stargate SG-1 sets.) I liked Hasbro’s KRE-O Transformers sets; in some respects, they “feel” more authentic in my hands than the LEGO Alien Conquest sets did. (On the other hand, Hasbro’s older Transformers Built-to-Rule sets were crap.)

This Saturday is “Bricks and Baseball Night” with the Harrisburg Senators: “The Senators will be wearing special Lego themed jerseys presented by PSECU.” Of course I’m going to be there. I love that jersey. All the primary colors. The right typeface for the team name.

I need to get back to building. The reason I don’t is a lack of space. I’d want to build something and put it on display, but I don’t have the space to do that in my apartment.

LEGO building is an expensive and space-consuming hobby. 🙂


Topic taken from The Daily Post‘s “Toy Story” prompt.

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

One thought on “The Itch to Build

  1. So interesting, Allyn!! We have a LOT of Lego in our home, and I agree…. expensive and space-consuming!! Still not sure what to do about the space part of it. Lots of closet shelves in the kids’ rooms look like Lego museums!

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