The first toy I ever owned as far back as I can remember were Legos. All the pieces then were mainly square or rectangle blocks in red, blue, yellow and white. I grew up playing Legos with my childhood friend Goff. I recall recreating aircraft carriers and battle scenes from our favorite movie, Midway. Then after 1977, we really had to use our imagination to make X-Wings and Tie Fighters as Star Wars hit the screen. Man, how I loved Star Wars and Legos!
Fast forward 35 years and I still love Star Wars and I still love my Legos. Maybe even more so because now I have the ability to buy any set I want, plus I share that love with my children. With so many to choose from every year, I really have to practice restraint whenever I'm shopping at Amazon. A typical Amazon shopping trip will go like this: First I'll place a $15-20 item in the cart, then I'll add a $40 Lego set to qualify for free shipping. Totally justifiable right?
I did not start collecting Legos until about six years ago when my boys started developing a deep interest in them. Since then, I've spent several hundred dollars every year buying Legos. Some we give away for gifts, some we buy used, and some are hidden away that no one will uncover until I'm dead. Make no mistake, these are my Legos. But don't feel sorry for my kids, they still get plenty with their birthdays and Christmas gifts, and certain sets I open just to get the minifigures. Together, it adds up to quite a bit. We have more Legos than anyone I know. The only problem that keeps coming up is where to display them.
After researching some ideas online, I purchased a 16x20 shadow box from Michael's on sale for $15. Using black foam core, I assembled a shelf for my minifigures. I glued in some 2x12 baseplates and voilà—instant storage display for my most prized characters. Inside the case they'll never get dusty, never taken apart, and never molested by curious, filthy fingers. I value my Legos.
Believe me, I could easily fill the entire case with minifigures, but my boys were already complaining that I confiscated way too many characters. Oh boohoo, Qui-gon Jinn me a river! So being the gracious and merciful father that I am, I limited myself to just 60 minifigures. To fill the extra space on top, I created a grid for the mini-ships from the Advent Calendars. And below I created a snow scene to display the holiday and Hoth characters. All in all, only 95 elements are represented.
You may question how I can spend so much on Legos. It's just a toy! Well, all normal guys have some sort of hobby, some sort of collection. Just like women, guys spend money on things they personally value, regardless of what others think. I see it this way: I don't buy new cars, I don't go to games or concerts, I don't ski, I don't do Starbucks or Quickly, I don't buy fashion sunglasses or shoes, I don't buy video games or Blurays, and I don't have monthly cable or cell phone bills. If you think about your monthly budget for those items, it comes out to a lot of money, and a lot of Legos! Plus, you know I'll never pay full prices.
In this noisy day and age of video games, social media and ADHD, Lego is a quiet welcome alternative that not only spurs creativity, but also encourages problem-solving skills. You can play both on your own and with a friend. But to me, the absolute number one best thing about playing with Legos: Lego-time is time with my kids.
Time flies, and I'm already dreading that day when I'll have to pack all the Legos away. It will be a sad moment for me. Hopefully when they have kids of their own, they'll look back at this time and cherish the things we built together. I hope they'll realize how lucky they were having an awesome, nutty Lego-fanatic dad such as me. And if I'm still alive to play with my grandchildren, maybe, just maybe, I'll unearth those extra-special sets I've been saving...
We'll see.
