Returning to Lego

By Xander Townsend | Misfit Media Editor

I was one of those children that grew up on Lego, with access to massive tubs of blocks and absolutely no instructions. I distinctively remember being able to build little houses and cottages for my toys, with it being a massive outlet for my imagination. But, as most people do, I fell out of love with Lego when I grew up.

Recently, I found myself in a newly established certified Lego Store at my local shopping centre and to my amazement, I felt the urge to buy several boxes. Now I will say, if you are genuinely wanting to grab some Lego kits, they cost a pretty penny, with the average price of a kit reaching the several hundreds of dollars. So obviously I wasn't intending on spending the equivalent of my retirement fund on a bunch of plastic bricks but If I had the money, I absolutely would have.

With kits including Diagon Alley from Harry Potter (for the small price of $600 AUD), Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill (a smaller $120 AUD), the classic Millennium Falcon (a whopping $1300 AUD), A giant Hedwig as part of the Hogwarts collection (a measly $400 AUD), a massive Tree House ($280 AUD), all the way to kits such as a buildable Vespa ($170 AUD) and a typewriter ($330 AUD), there are so many beautiful, aesthetically pleasing, collectable and showcaseable collections. The statue collector in me felt like a kid in a candy store… If all the candy was worth several hundreds of dollars. After over an hour of deliberation, I decided to revisit an old love and see if I could spark an old interest from when I was a child.

I picked up a Lego pack based on one of my favourite television shows, Friends. With an extensive set of instructions, a build time of around 4 hours, and an excuse to sit down and build something new, I found that I had fallen back in love with Lego after approximately 15 years. Following the extremely precise instructions and seeing the build evolve seemed to cater to my more mature self, with it being a fantastic excuse to sit down and do something relaxing.

Now I don’t think I will be the kind of person that has cabinets of Lego builds lining the walls of my house, refusing to let my hypothetical children play with them because they are expensive and have specific rules, But I see myself reserving a shelf or two. Especially the ones with relevance to some of my favourite IP such as Star Wars, Friends, Harry Potter, etc.

I would highly recommend those who once had a love for Lego, go out and buy a new build and see if that old spark is still there. With all new IP related kits and extensive build options, there is bound to be something for you, young or old.