Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Nerd Week Day 3: Legos!

Not every post can be an Alpha Beta. Sometimes there must be a Lambda Lamda Lambda post, that being a post that is just a little (lot) bit nerdy. I happen to have a few such posts waiting in the wings, so I figure why not shoot them all over the Internet in a single week of unforgiveable nerdiness I am lazily referring to as “Nerd Week.” Enjoy!

I’ve always been a Lego nut, and as I’ve gotten older they have only gotten cooler. Nowadays we get sets that pay homage to pop culture, TV shows, and movies, the most prolific of which has been the brand’s extensive line of Star Wars vehicles and figures.


The crown jewel of my Lego nerddom is definitely this behemoth Super Star Destroyer. It took roughly 11 hours to assemble.  Please forgive the asses in the top left corner - that's a giant Pink Floyd poster in the back room of my man cave where the Lego shelves live.


At 50 inches, the Super Star Destroyer is so big I can't really even photograph it properly.  The coolest part is this little regular-sized star destroyer shown for scale.


As you can see I have a fun mix of other Star Wars models and figures, too. I’m a big fan of the TIE fighter there on the left.


Below that on my man cave shelves are a few other fun items including the Ghostbusters ECTO-1, the Back to the Future Delorean, and the Simpsons house.

When Lego came out with the Simpsons Minifigures, my buddy Craig and I canvassed the town looking for them. It took several trips to different stores, but we eventually found a full end cap display at Target and bought the entire thing so we could bring them home and take our time feeling through the little packages until we had two of every figure. We returned the rest and called it a day. I’m happy to report that each of us now has the full first series, and we plan on doing the same thing again for the second. We are Simpsons completionists, and the Simpsons-Lego crossover cannot be resisted.


The recent line of Lego Architecture has been a blast to collect as well. Here are the White House, the Space Needle, the Eiffel Tower, and the Empire State Building in all their tiny little meticulously-detailed glory. These sets are kind of pricey, but a fun excuse to play Legos as an adult.  I only have some of the cheaper ones here, but Fallingwater and the Farnsworth House will be mine someday...

In addition to all this stuff, I have two massive bins full to the top with every Lego I’ve ever owned in my whole life. Whenever I come across a loose brick floating around in the world without a home, I rescue it. After Katrina I cleaned and disinfected thousands of my friends’ Legos rather than let them end up in the dump. I am positively anal about those expensive little bits of plastic.

See you tomorrow, fellow nerd!

14 comments:

  1. Those Star Wars legos are great! I've thought about buying the TIE Interceptor and X-Wing but I don't have any place for them. Maybe one day.

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    1. Yeah, I lucked out in that my special lady let me go hog wild with the man cave. I'm about to outgrow those shelves...

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  2. I LOVE all things LEGO as well! Great post and it's fun to see another person's collection.

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  3. PS: In case you didn't know, I write a LEGO-centric blog here: http://playingwithbricks.blogspot.com/

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    1. I've been there. I see you're a big mini-fig collector. I can see getting into that, but the last thing I need is another collection - trust me. Still, super dig 'em.

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  4. You drink scotch too? That is some great stuff you have in the background. Have you tried Lagavulin?

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    1. We finished a whole bottle in five days while evacuated to Houston during Katrina. It was a gift from the hotel, and it blew my mind. Can't find it for less than 90 bucks a bottle, though, except on a cruise ship...

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  5. I love Lego, so much so that I try (and often fail) to incorporate them into my blog posts as often as possible.
    Nice Lego Star Wars collection. I should do a post on my collection in the future.

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  6. I too have an over fondness for the buildable. I've been contemplating picking up the Ghostbusters set from Lego and seeing that great minifigure display might just push me over the edge.

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    1. Get it get it get it! It's so much cooler than I was expecting.

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  7. My wife and I put together some Star Wars Lego sets last night (B-Wing and Snowspeeder). It took us a couple of weeks working off and on to assemble the Lego Death Star we got for our anniversary last year. My kids are really into the Ninjago and Superhero Legos, They have a tendency to lose pieces, so they aren't allowed to play with my Star Wars kits.

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  8. I'm soooooo jealous of you right now! That Destroyer is something to take your breath away!

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