Welcome to another instalment of Monday Musings – a fortnightly(ish) series devoted to random musings on the LEGO hobby, community, my collection and beyond.
In case you missed it, Monday Musings can be long-form, or short bursts of whatever strikes my fancy, and be more traditional “blog-type” content. You may have noticed that I’m doing more news and launch posts, which I enjoy and still find ways to inject my opinions, instead of say, just drop a random gallery of images and call it a day, but I like writing, and want to give you guys a peek into how I’m perceiving things in the LEGO World – hence, Monday musings.
To check out my previous 3 posts, check out:
- #1 Having to limit the LEGO themes you collect
- #2 Is LEGO a good investment?
- #3 Does LEGO listen to their fans?
For Monday Musings #4, this will be a bit of a fun exercise exploring the different types of LEGO fans out there. LEGO as a hobby has grown so large and varied, so I thought it’d be cool to put together some of the most common types of LEGO fans.
One of the questions I often have to answer is the type of LEGO fan that I am, which has led me to think about all the different ways LEGO fans and AFOLs interact with the brick.
Here’s what I think are the most common types of LEGO fans:
- The Set Collector
- The MOC Builder
- The LEGO Investor
- The Minifigure Collector
- The Mechanical Maestro
- The Displayer
- The Content Creator
The Set Collector
The Set Collector is probably the most common LEGO fan out there. Set collectors just love everything that LEGO puts out, and diligently focuses on several themes, or types of models – such as Creator Expert Cars, Mechs or Trains.
They’re constantly on the lookout for the latest LEGO news, and set releases, and are content with just building from the instructions, or expanding the number of LEGO sets they have in their backlog.
Set Collectors appreciate novelty, good design and the thrill of what The LEGO Group and army of designers come up with, and love being surprised by sets big and small. They’re generally really chill people, and love striking up conversations with other like-minded fans about their latest builds, and getting excited about new releases.
Likes: Being the first to own and build new sets. Showing off their builds on social media. A good discount, double VIP or clearance sale. January and June.
Dislikes: Not having enough space for storage. When sets they’re after retire early. Re-releases. Deciding whether to keep or recycle LEGO boxes and instructions.
Sub-categories include: The Hoarder, The Backlog Builder, The Bargain Hunter, The Displayer, The Minifigure Collector
The MOC Builder
On the opposite end of the spectrum is The MOC Builder. Creativity and self-expression is their calling cards, and they’re constantly dreaming about their next big (or small) project as well as the next LEGO Convention or Show for them to display at.
Note: MOC is an acronym for My Own Creation, a LEGO term for when you build and create your own designs/models without instructions. Pronounced like “mock”.
MOC Builders congregate in colonies called LUGs (LEGO User Groups) where they mingle and collaborate with other like-minded individuals and constantly one-upping one another to win accolades.
The MOC Builder eschews instructions, but is on the lookout for new set releases, especially from the Creator Expert, Ideas, Technic or LEGO for Adults theme in particular, to learn new building techniques and most importantly to see what new LEGO elements they get to play with.
Nothing fills a MOC Builder’s heart more than a well-stocked Pick-a-Brick wall, or when they discover a Bricklink store that has all the parts they want in a single order.
MOC Builders are the heartbeat and lifeblood of the LEGO Community, and are at the forefront of challenging what can truly be possible with LEGO.
Likes: When LUGBulk finally arrives, Pick-a-Brick, Bricklink, New Elementary, being featured on The Brothers Brick, systematic sorting systems, when elements get new recolours.
Dislikes: Following instructions, transporting displays around the world/country, when they can’t find that one part, when kids at conventions break off parts of their builds.
Sub-categories include: The Mosaic-Maker, The Town Planner, The Statue Sculptor, The Modifier, The Kraggler
The LEGO Investor
Why build LEGO Cities when you can build fortunes? The LEGO Investor is less about Pick-a-Brick, and more about picking the sets that will appreciate in value upon retirement.
Their chief goal is treating LEGO and the LEGO Hobby like the stock market, buying, trading and speculating on sets to make money, and growing the value of their LEGO portfolio.
The LEGO Investor primarily deals in Modular Buildings, Minifigures, Star Wars UCS sets, and/or LEGO Ideas, but savvy Investors are always sniffing out for good deals and love playing the guessing game of how sets will be valued upon retirement.
LEGO Investors are constantly trying to figure out when sets will retire, and are savvy about LEGO trends, and prey on hapless LEGO Collectors who miss out on sets. They know Bricklink Price Guides, and eBay average sold prices like the back of their hand, and may own a storage unit or two where they keep their inventory.
Not to be confused with the LEGO Scalper, or Reseller, whose chief goal is to flip popular LEGO sets for profit, the LEGO Investor takes a long-term view of their portfolio, and is more focused on ensuring that their mint in sealed box (MISB) LEGO sets are in pristine condition than making a quick buck.
Likes: When sets they speculate on retire, LEGO sales and discounts, exclusive limited run releases, good Facebook Marketplace or eBay finds, exclusive one-time only minifigures included in sets, bubble-wrapping LEGO sets, not paying capital gains tax on their investments.
Dislikes: When sets take forever to retire, when sets retire prematurely, eBay fees, damaged corners, when sets are damage in transit, LEGO set re-releases
Sub-categories include: The Scalper, The Reseller, The Bricklink Store Owner
The Minifigure Collector
Not everyone has the space, or budget to indugle in every single new LEGO release – which brings us to The Minifigure Collector. A subset of the Set Collector, as their name suggests, they specialist purely in minifigures.
New set releases only matter if new, and exclusive minifigures are released, and the value of the set is completely dependant on the calibre of minifigures included.
Minifigure collectors are often found on Bricklink, as they’ve worked out that it’s often much cheaper to buy loose minifigures than complete sets, and are thus an integral part of the Bricklink ecosystem, and are in a symbiotic relationship with MOC Builders who are just concerned with bricks.
They proudly display their collections or armies of minifigures, and take great joy in owning especially rare or expensive minifigures, and are constantly hunting for their grails like Mr Gold.
Likes: Sets with lots of minifigures, Ikea Ribba frames, arm and leg printing, feeling for Collectible Minifigures at toy store
Dislikes: Scuffs on minifigures, not getting 3x full sets in Collectible Minifigure boxes, not knowing what to do with their hundreds of 2 x 3 minifigure display tiles, missing out on the Gungan Sub set
Sub-categories include: The Set Collector, The Toy Photographer, The Investor
The Mechanical Maestro
Technic is the name of the game for The Mechanical Maestro – he or she doesn’t quite care for bricks, or studs, and gravitates towards gears, pins and axels and is most comfortable in the Technic aisle.
They may or may not have studied engineering, math or computing in university, The Mechanical Maestro has a keen eye for intricate Technic builds and models.
They’re often trying to solve complex engineering problems and are always looking to mechanise, and power up their creations, or programming their builds to do their bidding.
The Mechanical Maestros love nothing more than to flock together, collaborating on modules for Great Ball Contraptions at LEGO conventions and shows.
Likes: Power Functions, when they’re able to solve complex problems, motors, gears and axels, servo motors, 3rd party brands that fill in the gap that LEGO are not interested in filling, over-designed Technic models
Dislikes: Powered Up, when LEGO makes their parts/software/systems obsolete, that sickening crunching sound when motors fail.
Sub-categories include: The GBC Module Maker, The Robotics Teacher, The Technic Tragic
The Displayer
The Displayer is single-minded in their purpose – seek out and build the biggest, and most impressive-looking LEGO models that take up way too much space for the average fan.
Piece-count, size and height are what motivate The Displayer, who will not get out of bed for anything less than 4,000 pieces. The Colosseum is one of his or her favourite models, and is just waiting for LEGO to smash the record of biggest LEGO set ever.
The Displayer does not recognise The World Map as the biggest LEGO set, and is eagerly awaiting the next set to rightfully dethrone it.
The Displayer finds great pride in admiring their LEGO sets, and finds accomplishment when he or she has guests over and their marvel at their LEGO creations and displays.
Displayers dream of becoming a MOC Builder and would do so, if they had any extra room to store and build! Is probably an Architect, and earns enough money to afford a massive home AND massive LEGO sets
Likes: Massive LEGO sets, sets with more than 4,000 pieces, UCS sets, the recent trend of LEGO smashing the piece-count record every year
Dislikes: dusting their sets, not having enough surface or display areas
Sub-categories include: The Set Collector, The Architect, MOC Builder
The Content Creator
Last but not least, we have the Content Creator. LEGO is their ultimate medium of expression, and creating art and content is what drives them, whether that be LEGO Photography, or making Stop-Motion videos.
Always seen with a camera (or phone!), out and about looking for their next shoot location, the Content Creator almost always carries LEGO minifigures with them, just in case inspiration strikes.
They are fuelled by creativity, and enjoy the limitless possibility that LEGO and Minifigures afford them, spending more time on Instagram, and Youtube instead of Flickr.
LEGO Content Creators play an important part in elevating LEGO sets and minifigures, injecting a sense of wonder, humour and artistic vision into the hobby, and are at the forefront of inspiring others to take happy snaps of their toys.
Likes: good lighting, moss, the outdoors, macro lenses, when the algorithm makes their content go viral
Dislikes: blurry photos, not having minifigures on hand to take a great shot, copycats, when you don’t credit their content
Sub-categories include: The Minifigure Collector, The MOC Builder, The Stop Motion Artist, The Toy Photographer, The Instagram Addict
Do you identify as any one of these types of LEGO Fans? I’d love to know which category you fall into, and if I missed out on anyone!
Thanks for reading! This was a bit more of a fun, light-hearted take on the LEGO Hobby, and just how expansive it is. No matter what type of LEGO fan you are, or if you fall into multiple categories, I sure hope you’re able to find your tribe!
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I’m a lego set collector of Disney kits, Harry Potter kits, Charlie Brown kits and the Elf type kits and lastly Five Nights of Freddie kits. No I don’t collect them to Sale in any website. I build them and set them out all over my house. My grandkids know that your may look at what I have built but so not touch. This is my rule as grandma. They know these are my toys.
Set Collector, Minifigure Collector and LEGO Investor, those three typify how I approach the hobby. I have dabbled in MOC building but I prefer LEGO sets as you get all you need in the one package. In addition LEGO sets are sturdy and I appreciate the design philosophy of the LEGO Group. In many ways when I approach a MOC I incorporate design cues and elements from what I perceive LEGO designers would have done.
Check out my MOCs here,
https://rebrickable.com/users/majora56/mocs/
A lot of great comments here from people I think I can relate to. I’m a Set Collector mostly, and an instruction follower. And while this may seem unusual, I’m also a Set Disassembler; I actually enjoy taking the sets apart. I enjoy building and re-building the same sets, so I disassemble each set into numbered bags just like it came in. Also, as a kid, I didn’t have much Lego as they were too expensive, but most of the toys I had were used (or abused) and would have pieces broken or missing. Once I became fortunate enough to have new and complete Lego sets, I make extra sure that all the pieces are there and I take satisfaction in knowing that I’ll get to re-build the complete set again. One of the thing I look forward to every October and December is re-building the Halloween-ish and WInter Village sets and my kids are getting old enough to be able to build the Expert sets themselves. Like re-watching a favorite movie, I feel like I discover something new each time I re-build a set.
I totally agree. I take sets apart just like you; I disassemble them from the last step to the first and store them in numbered bags. That way it is much easier to built them again according to the (numbered bags) instructions. Same history, not a lot of money going around when I grew up, my dad just now is telling me stories at how close it was sometimes. Yet he managed one year to give me the brand new LEGO set 850; the first Technic set that was the fork truck. I still have that one as a memory to my humble beginnings.
Like you, making enough money now that I can make up for lost times. I have many sets; keep them in pristine order inside the original box. Sometimes I sell some, and buy some new ones. I recently decided to narrow down to just a few lines, because storage becomes an issue.
And I really enjoy rebuilding every November, right after Thanksgiving, the building of some of the winter sets with my teenage daughter, and putting them on a table as a village. I even go as far as putting bright white paper down as a “snowy” surface.
Your story sounds very much the same as mine… 😃
I had set 775, a fire boat from about the same time period as 850. I built and rebuilt that dozens of times. I don’t know what happened to it though.
Yes, absolutely :). I do the same and it makes reassembly as much of a joy as the original build.
The only issue I have now is that the Winter Village construction has to start in October to get them all done in time ;).
I’m probably a content creator, but mainly for TikTok! There’s a thriving & growing Lego community there!
Insightful, humorous and well-designed post! I would add the Child/ Inner Child, who wants models with “swooshability”, combat or play potential. Perhaps that’s what kids are looking for anyway in a LEGO build (apart from flexing on their friends)
Definitely. This is one I was looking for because this is one of my predominant uses of Lego: doing story telling and whatnot
I’m some mixture of set collector and displayer, with a dash of minfig collector. I like to build by the rules and buy sets based on what would be fun to build and play with (or sometimes, just the minifigures) and the sets are sitting on my shelves until I have the time and space to start making brickfilms.
Some great comments here, including by Fiona, Andrew, Paul & Formandacil!
🙂
Great article Jay – keep ‘Em coming!
Very good analysis.
I’m definitely a Set Collector, with a bit of Investor and Displayer in me!
Wish I was a MOC’er too!…. Sadly, I have No time, creativity or skill though 🙁
I’m a combination of set collector and MOC builder. I have my own post apocalyptic theme I build in, so if I see something cool for that, I get it! I have have a serious love for castle themed sets also! Great post Jay!
Love this Jay! I’m several…. I would also add THE (ADULT) CHILD – someone who sees something beautiful/wonderful and must have it…. and/or the adult who is trying to recapture something beautiful and wonderful from their childhood. That probably captures all LEGO adult fans!!!
Oh yes! That’s probably almost all of us. I have The Child set on my desk to remind me of exactly this.
I love this, can see myself in so many of your descriptions – not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing ;). Great post, thank you, I do enjoy your more “bloggy” posts as well as reviews and opinions.
I’d add “The Instruction Follower” as a sub-category. I love collecting (#1) and displaying (#6) but I don’t have a creative bone in my body so have never built a MOC of more than about 100 pieces. Technic is my go to, and I am in awe of those guys who can make it sing – for me I find a sense of real accomplishment in just making the models do what they’re supposed to. I’m not a completist (can anyone afford that anyway these days??) I just buy sets I like, so have a variety of themes (including Duplo!)
Likes: A good sale, getting rare GWPs, trains, Real Space, free shipping, the excitement of the release of a new highly desirable set, Christmas and birthday 😉
Dislikes: Dusting, scalpers, damaged boxes, black instruction books (and to a lesser extent the black boxes), oh and definitely dusting
Would love to hear from anyone who thinks they have enough Lego storage/display space 🙂
Not me. I have no space “sigh”
I definitely think there’s a spectrum between 1. and 2. (Set collector/MOCer) and that even if someone falls into a different “box,” they still plot somewhere on that line. For myself, I’m close to halfway: I do like acquiring sets and anything that smacks of my childhood (and some other modern favourites) is liable to be kept built. But on the flip side, I don’t really buy a lot of sets: Bricklink, Pick-A-Brick, and –my favourite– random used LEGO are all more likely, and while I do enjoy restoring some of this into sets I never owned, this is not the sole or even primary consequence.
But aside from this spectrum, I am a Content Creator, albeit from the sub-species too rare to be listed: the Comic-maker. Some taxonomists consider this to be the same sub-species as the Stop Motion Artist under the name “Storyteller.”
I’m between Set Collector & The Displayer, I mostly collect Star Wars kits, but do like the big kits I can display too. Big Ben set or Millenium Falcon 🙂
The Set Collector, the Mechanical Maestro and the Displayer… and a bit of LEGO Investor as well.
Like large technical sets, and Modulars, like to invest and sell later, and like to display my large sets as well… 😊
The Nostalgic.
Sub-categories: The Tragic. The Romantic. The Historian. The Re-interpreter.