Have you ever thought about your journey with buying, building, and collecting Lego and thought: if could go back in time, I would have given my past-self some advice to approach the hobby differently?

It’s that thought, and when reflecting on my own journey with getting back into Lego over the last 10 years, speaking with my Lego friends, and fellow Lego enthusiasts who have contacted me via YouTube and Instagram, that has led me to observe that:

 …there seem to be distinct ‘phases’ that we go through as adult Lego hobbyists.

So my intention with this article is to present the 6 adult-Lego-hobbyist phases that I’ve identified, and for each phase share advice for you to consider.

While reading this I’d like you to think which Lego hobbyist phase, or phases, you think you are in, and what advice or recommendations I list for each phase you think may be applicable to you.

The phases I’ve come up with are:

  1. The ‘Lego Newbie’
  2. The ‘Experienced Lego Newbie’
  3. The ‘Adult Lego Enthusiast’ (aka the AFOL)
  4. The ‘Lego Exhibitor’
  5. The ‘Lego MOC Enthusiast’
  6. The ‘Exhausted AFOL’

Let’s start with the first adult Lego hobbyist phase, that is one we all have been in and can relate to, which is:

Characteristics:

  • The adult Lego Newbie is often highly excited and enthusiastic about buying and building Lego sets.  With almost any set that Lego release appearing to be special and amazing.
  • This enthusiasm towards Lego when combined with: a lack of knowledge on what Lego products are worth buying versus which are not + an adult level of income, means the adult Lego Newbie often tends to ‘overbuy’ Lego. 
  • The adult Lego Newbie is also likely not aware of the custom Lego model community (i.e. is not aware of custom Lego models that may be better than standard Lego offerings); and is also likely not aware of BrickLink.

As for advice for the adult Lego Newbie, if this is you:

  • I recommend you resist the urge to buy Lego sets on impulse, and/or the temptation to buy every new Lego release that catches your eye.  Instead, slow down and pace your Lego set buying and building, savoring the sets you do buy.
  • When buying Lego sets, I recommend you preference large sets targeted to adults versus small Lego sets.  You’ll find that small Lego sets quickly become ‘house clutter’, and you likely won’t feel the same about them after being in the hobby for few years.  Whereas it is the large, impressive Lego sets that you will find you will not only enjoy building, but you are likely to keep for the long term.
  • Where possible buy Lego from retail stores and online versus directly from Lego, as you are likely going to find the sets you want at better pricing (and often on-sale) to what Lego offer on their webstore or at one of their physical retail stores.

Next…

Characteristics:

  • The adult Experienced Lego Newbie starts to buy and build complex, larger and more expensive Lego sets, enjoying the challenge and results these sets bring.
  • They may however have discovered BrickLink and start to buy highly expensive retired sets that they may have missed out on as a child or from an earlier period of life.
  • They may also start to moderate their buying, sticking to select Lego product lines like Technic, or Ideas or Star Wars sets.

If this is the Lego phase that you think you may be in, advice to consider may be:

  • To again slow down on Lego set buying.  At this stage even if you are not aware of it you still can easily overbuy Lego and end up with large ‘piles of shame’ of unbuilt Lego sets. Focus instead on buying only Lego sets that you connect with on a personal level as the set subject relates to your non-Lego experiences, interests, and other hobbies.
  • If you are getting into buying retired Lego sets on BrickLink, eBay or elsewhere please take your time to research the set you want properly; and seek out the best pricing and a reputable seller to buy from.  Overpaying for a retired set that doesn’t meet your expectations or arrives damaged or in poor-used-condition can be a painful experience!

Moving on to:

Characteristics:

  • The ‘Adult Lego Enthusiast’ Properly collects Lego models and likely follows Lego news and media online.
  • They may have started to build a ‘Lego Room’ or at least has dedicated areas in their house to display their Lego collections.
  • And they may have built one or several custom Lego models buying instructions online from sites like Rebrickable and then the required parts from BrickLink.
  • It’s at this phase of the Lego hobby that they may also have started to ‘invest’ in Lego thinking that selling retired Lego sets at a premium could be a viable means to help fund future Lego purchases.

Thinking about advice for people in this phase of the hobby:

  • Being a full-blown Lego enthusiast is fun but as you well know this is an expensive hobby.  So, to reduce overspending on Lego I recommend you zone-in on only buying sets and/or taking custom Lego model projects, that you deeply connect with as they correlate to your specific interests.
  • Consider how the Lego set you intend to buy is going to look in your house and where you are going to put it. Is the model too big for example or will it visually dominate the space you have available?
  • I also recommend that you ignore the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) on a Lego set offering on release.  You know by now that if you simply wait 3-6 months post release, you’ll likely be able to buy that same set at a healthy discount.
  • For something different try practicing the ‘Joy of Missing Out’ (JOMO!) from time-to- time. Making a deliberate choice to set yourself free from the obligation of having to buy, build and display the next Lego model in a product line that you normally collect.  I’ve personally found this to be a liberating approach to thinking about my Lego set buying behaviour.
  • I also recommend you resist the urge to go overboard on buying LED lighting kits and other similar Lego accessories.  While certainly fun to experiment with and try, spending on Lego accessory items can quickly get out of hand.

Next we have:

Characteristics:

  • The adult Lego Exhibitor enjoys the experience and interactivity of Lego exhibitions and this social side of the Lego hobby, more than building Lego sets at home on their own.
  • The adult Lego Exhibitor often buys Lego sets for specific parts and/or minifigures versus for building the sets themselves.
  • And they will typically be a member of a Lego User Group or club.

The advice I have for the Adult Lego Exhibitor comes from a friend of mine Daniel who exhibits regularly at Lego shows, he’s recommended that you:

  • Start with building small models to exhibit versus going for a huge project immediately. 
  • Consider also re-using and extending your dioramas or models as you exhibit at successive shows, versus always building a new exhibit for each show.
  • Group build projects can be a superb entry path to get into Lego exhibiting.  Participating in a group project will also help you to save money as you can pool funds to buy the required parts.
  • And finally, you don’t need to impress other exhibitors by trying to build the biggest and best creation – just build and exhibit a creation that feels right to you and that you feel proud to exhibit and share.

Almost there, next there is:

Characteristics:

  • The Lego MOC Enthusiast often spends a lot of time investigating and looking into custom Lego builds and projects on Lego MOC forum sites like Eurobricks and MOC sites like Rebrickable.
  • Can get over enthusiastic about buying the instructions and Lego parts for successive custom projects often resulting in ‘piles of shame’ of boxes of unbuilt projects.
  • Can find it difficult to buy and build standard Lego sets as they see the flaws and shortcomings of standard sets and feel that if they bought a given standard Lego set, they would have to ‘work’ to correct it in addition to building it. This is something I know I feel quite often!
  • The Lego MOC Enthusiast will likely will have tried one or several alternate brand ‘building toy’ products; like those offered by CaDa and BlueBrixx.

If you are a Lego MOC enthusiast (like I am) I recommend that you:

  • Avoid the 8 common mistakes made when purchasing custom Lego model instructions!  I go into detail on what these mistakes are in this article.  I recommend you check it out!
  • Set yourself a MOC ‘work in progress’ project limit (say max 5 projects) so that you don’t overbuy instructions and parts for too many custom projects at any one time.
  • Resist buying custom Lego model instructions just because the instructions may be on sale.  BrickVault often run sales on their instructions, and it can be tempting to grab instructions for project that you are only passingly interested in, the problem is you may pay for the instructions but end up never buying parts for, or building, the associated model.

And finally, the last of the six:

Characteristics:

  • The Exhausted AFOL likely already has a large collection of Lego models and possibly have limited space in their home to add more models to that collection.
  • The Exhausted AFOL often has a large volume of unbuilt Lego sets and unbuilt custom Lego model projects. I.e., their ‘pile of shame’ is truly shameful!
  • They likely feel Lego ‘buying fatigue’ – viewing new Lego set releases skeptically, often thinking the sets are ‘overpriced’ and not worth purchasing.
  • They can see Lego set ‘re-releases’ (e.g. Star Wars UCS set re-makes) as making buying Lego less appealing.  As earlier sets that they bought for their collection now seem redundant.
  • And they may feel ‘over’ the social media Lego-hype-train.  I.e. new Lego set release reviews and leak-style videos no longer seem that interesting.

As for advice, if you feel you may be an Exhausted AFOL:

  • Try taking a break from the hobby.  Do something else and come back to it when you feel refreshed and enthusiastic about Lego again.
  • Only buy a new Lego set release if you REALLY want the set as you feel genuine excitement about buying, building and adding that set to your collection.
  • Do a ‘Lego model cleanse’ – sell-off all and any of the Lego models you no longer feel a connection to.  You’ll feel lighter, have more space in your home and have funds to possibly spend on a new Lego model if you want to.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that some of the advice I’ve presented has given you something to consider depending on the phase that you think you may be in with our shared Lego hobby.

If you liked the article and know someone else who may enjoy reading it, please share the article, your support is much appreciated!