Month: December 2015

Subject # 17 Jörg R. of Germany

Germany

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Jörg R. from Kassel in Germany began his love of LEGO in a much simpler time in terms of LEGO set design. Being born in the mid-1960s means that a lot of his childhood LEGO would now be considered “vintage” by today’s modern enthusiasts. His Dark Age lasted around 11 years and covered an era that included the introduction of the minifig and popular themes like Castle and Classic Space. During his Dark Age, Jörg sold all of his LEGO sets and pieces, his other toys and all of his comics. He returned to LEGO after the birth of his first son and seeing an old 802 Gear Supplementary set at a flea market inspired him to attempt to buy all the sets he had as a child.

Jörg likes to collect old sets and has quite a good storage system for old bricks. His newer LEGO bricks are sorted by their colour or part type. Many of these are then stored in big boxes, which means it’s not that easy to find some parts. As a reflection of his need to improve his storage system, Jörg tells the story of seeing the 10194 Emerald Night on eBay and thinking about how he’d like to own the set. A few days later he was reorganizing a shelf and discovered that he already owned a copy of the set!

Meeting other AFOLs is important to Jörg. He doesn’t build many of his own creations but he does like attending AFOL events and meeting new people – especially ones from other countries. One of Jörg’s favourite things is to rebuild rare sets that he wouldn’t normally be able to buy. He finds it frustrating when it’s not possible to purchase the correct pieces or if they are very expensive

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Finally, Jörg spearheaded the LEGO-Fans help refugee-kids charity drive where LEGO sets and parts were donated to refugee kids. This fantastic initiative has brought much joy and happiness to children escaping horrible situations in their home countries.

 

Subject #16 Steve R. of Melbourne

Australia, Melbourne, Victoria

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Steve R. of Melbourne, as with so many AFOLs, was unable to keep his childhood LEGO as it was donated to cousins during his Dark Age. He fondly remembers a yellow tow-truck type vehicle from his childhood but also recalls his family having a number of castle sets. He’s not sure when he was first given LEGO sets but does recall having some when he was around 10 years old. Steve emerged from his Dark Ages in his twenties when he started buying random sets. At the time he told his then girlfriend (now wife) that he was buying for the nephews and nieces or for their future children. Moving forward some years, he is now an avid LEGO collector and builder and regularly attends meetings of the Melbourne LEGO User Group (MUGs). Now that his kids are into LEGO, he has to fight to keep them away from his LEGO collection.

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“Semi-organised” is how Steve describes his storage method. Steve prefers to sort by colour and has his most common colours loose in a box with other colours bagged and stored in the same box. The bulk of Steve’s LEGO is on display so he doesn’t have to worry too much about organizing his spare parts.

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Being part of the local LUG community has been a fantastic opportunity for Steve. He’s met some awesome people who wouldn’t be part of his life if it weren’t for being a member of the LEGO community. For Steve, sharing his passion for LEGO with his kids is an important part of being a LEGO Fan. He wants them to love LEGO just as much as he does. The downside is knowing that he will probably never have the opportunity to own any of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive superhero figures and sets. Sadly, they are outside of his budget. In the meantime, he’ll continue to modify sets and build his own superhero creations.