I don’t keep in mind when my household first acquired our first Lego bricks. Like awakening from a fever dream, I regained consciousness previously few years and realized we now have a complete room devoted to Lego, with 1000’s of bricks organized by coloration in a chest-high shelving unit (and a giant bin of blended items on the ground).
Most fans can empathize and have the same expertise. None extra so than Stacey Roy, the “brickfluencer” who gained final yr’s season of Lego Masters. The Fox present is a contest between various pairs of Lego fans as they compete in opposition to one another in a collection of, frankly, insane themed constructing challenges. Final season, actor Chris Pratt guest-hosted a Jurassic Park–themed episode the place the groups needed to embody fireworks and explosions of their dinosaur builds. Roy and her associate, Nick Della Mora, gained in a finale that challenged them to include their very first Lego set into their grasp construct.
Contestants Stacey and Nick within the “Brickminster Canine Present” episode of LEGO MASTERS.{Photograph}: TOM GRISCOM/Fox
The competitors removes one main constraint: Every staff can decide no matter items they want and nonetheless many from the Brick Pit, an unimaginable wall with tens of millions of bricks and specialty bricks for every problem. When you’re just starting out, accumulating sufficient items to construct something can seem to be step one on a path to insolvency. Sure, generally you’re simply broke. (I promised my husband the Colosseum for Christmas, FML.) However all of us have to begin someplace. We requested Roy for her recommendations on methods to get began constructing a Lego assortment.
Begin With a Theme
Most of us get into Lego the identical manner—we discover a set we actually need and go from there. “I felt the urge to get again into Lego a couple of years in the past, in essentially the most insane manner doable,” Roy says. “I purchased the Millennium Falcon ($850). It’s a tremendous set and I extremely advocate it.”
Lego began making licensing deals way back to 1999, including iconic properties like Star Wars and Marvel to its roster. When you’re into Star Wars, beginning out by gathering every of these units might be one of the best ways to construct up a group of specialty items to reuse. Essentially the most recognizably distinctive items are probably the minifigures, however with slightly creativeness, different items will be repurposed as effectively. Roy factors out that the Lego pink frog on a bonsai tree seems to be precisely like a cherry blossom if you take a step again.
When you’ve began with a theme, Roy recommends the modular building sets, which include numerous significantly helpful constructing items. For instance, the Boutique Hotel ($230) has Victorian-style wrought-iron railings that, if you look nearer, are literally skeleton arms. “Lego is extremely imaginative in the case of reusing items,” Roy says. Take note of what you need to construct, and you’ll be taught which items and constructing types you like.
Discovering Particular Items
If there’s a selected piece you could have to finish a construct, Lego’s on-line Pick a Brick—the place you could find items by key phrase, piece quantity, coloration, and set—is the pure first place to begin. However it’s not your solely useful resource.
My household is subscribed to the Lego Insiders program, which, relying on what number of Lego bricks you purchase, is price it. You get factors for purchases and a heads-up on Lego gross sales. My 8-year-old additionally enjoys the Lego Life youngsters’ journal. It’s necessary to notice right here that you simply don’t get factors for purchases made outdoors of official Lego shops or Lego.com, which signifies that purchases made at Legoland and at Lego-certified or affiliated shops gained’t depend towards your totals.
Roy recommends visiting your native Lego retailer in particular person. “As a result of each Lego retailer is completely different and gives various things, I make it a precedence to go to each retailer in particular person once I journey,” she says.
