This thread is for Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs) to share stories, pictures of/discussion about builds, LEGO news, etc.
- Related acronyms and terminology might not always be explained up front
- “Lego” (vs “LEGO”) is fine; “Legos” is not
- Please no comments that you haven’t touched a brick in X years, complaints about how much some sets cost, etc.: if you aren’t an adult who has assembled or designed a build within the past year, this probably isn’t the place for you
This thread might wind up sinking like a stone, but I figured I’d give it a shot!
I’m 53, but relatively new to building: I only finished my first set in March 2023. I’m not creative enough to be into MOCs, but I really love sets and earlier this month I completed #32. Here’s an Imgbb album with pictures of all of them. I’m single with a decent income and no kids, so my only real restriction is available display space – which, frankly, is becoming pretty limited in my small place.
Here are some questions to get folks started, and my own responses…but any LEGO-related talk is fine with me!
How Did You Get Started?
I blame my now-23-year-old “nephew” (my best friends’ kid), who’s been into LEGO for as long as I can remember: as he got older, that became all he wanted for Christmas and his birthday (it still is!). So I was always aware that there were some great sets out there, but I never really felt the urge to get one until the fall of 2022: I’m a jazz singer, and learned that a very cool-looking Jazz Club (10312) set was going to be released in January 2023. It was kind of big and pricey for a first set, so I put it in the back of my mind, but when I discovered that a smaller and more affordable Jazz Quartet (21334) already existed I bought it for myself as a Christmas gift and started building it in January 2023. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually have the patience for following instructions and dealing with lots of tiny pieces, but I wound up loving it!
In 2017, I’d purchased small Eiffel Tower (21019) sets for some friends and myself as a half-joke (we went to Paris together that fall). I never assembled my set but still had it, and after finishing the Jazz Quartet I pulled it out of the closet. That became #2. A month later, in a complete stroke of luck and amazing timing, I discovered an old storage bin in the deep recesses of another closet and found the Fallingwater (21005) set that my mom had given to me – a longtime Frank Lloyd Wright fan – for Christmas in 2010! I’d completely forgotten about it, but had somehow held onto it for 12+ years (and 3 moves)! Upon the completion of that one, I was officially hooked. 
I did eventually buy the Jazz Club for myself, in late 2023; it became #10.
How Do You Decide What Sets to Buy?
They have to be either holiday-related, or personally meaningful in some way: I won’t buy a set just because it looks cool, or to have something to build.
(I love Harry Potter, but have held off on getting any HP sets because I know they will be a serious slippery slope – more dangerous even than Star Wars – and I’d need to move to a place with an extra bedroom just to display everything. )
Where Do You Get Your LEGO?
I mostly order from the LEGO website (gotta get those gifts with purchase! LOL!), but I’ve also bought a bunch of retired sets on Amazon. There’s a LEGO store in a nearby mall that I had to go to once for a return, and (of course) I bought something while I was there. Also, there are a couple of Bricks & Minifigs stores in my area: I bought a set from one of them in September, and expect to do so in the future.
How Do You Build?
I build at my kitchen table: I can see the living room from it, and I always put something on TV that I like but don’t need to pay much attention to (e.g., a show I’ve seen many times). Before starting I lay all of the bags on the table in numeric order, and put any stickers, minifigs, special pieces, etc., to the side. I always download the build instructions PDF, and prefer to work from them (on my iPad Air) vs the hard copy instructions. I set up a folding table next to the kitchen table, and that’s where I put my phone, TV remote, brick separator, whatever I’m drinking, etc. I also have a small rolling cart nearby, with scissors, tissues, and all of my extra pieces (the cart gets stored in my third bedroom when I’m not building). Don’t ask me why I keep my leftovers, since as mentioned I’m not into MOCs. I just do. I tend to build for 1-2 hours at a time, and might have more than one build session per day on weekends/holidays, so I often finish even large sets relatively quickly.
Do You Take Sets Apart After They’re Built?
No, I put them on display and that’s where they stay. Except holiday-related sets, which get disassembled after the holiday and stored in marked Ziplog bags to be put together again the following year.
Do You Keep The Boxes?
Nope: once something is built and on display, all of the packaging is thrown away.
What’s Up Next?
A couple of months ago, I bought several retired sets on Amazon. I built a few of them before Thanksgiving, but I’ve been saving three Washington, D.C.-related sets* for after the holidays: right now, their display space is being usurped by decorations. I always undecorate right after Christmas, though, and I figure that this weekend I can let myself start building the biggest set and by the time it’s done I’ll have a place to put it. So, on Saturday I’ll start assembling The White House (21054).
*I live in the DC area.
