Lego art and ads showing what I think is the spirit of building with Lego

The spirit of lego 

I don't know how I stumbled across this picture, but I think it is genius!! 

Source:August 2015 Scandinavian Traveller.  Written by Daniel Dasey and photo by Jann Lipka, page 60.

The picture above makes me think of aspects of what I consider to be the spirit/essence of building or playing with Lego whether as a child or being an adult. I have broken down my thoughts as to what using lego represents to me and what to never let go of. These 7 aspects include: giving, creating, rebuilding, celebrating different tastes in sets and themes, coming together from diverse backgrounds to make things, imagining and developing ideas.  I've tried to use lego ads and pics to illustrate my point!

 

1) Creativity

 The spirit of creativity is used by both kids and adults no matter how complex a build.  In the never let go picture above, creativity is seen by using all pastel colors indicate a consistent and complementary color scheme that a relatively older builder would think of.  The technique of stacking of bricks conjours images of creativity of a child or me in youth playing with lego when pieces of of lego were very simple/limited as children and color schemes didn't matter.  Creativity is present at both ages.

Now, years later, the creativity of lego building is still the same. Fancier techniques and pieces are available as demonstrated in the Lego Movie logo.  The font below is much more complex than the first picture in this blog saying "never let go."

Even with such contrasting fonts used in the never let go picture and the lego movie 2 picture, the creativity used to make each is the same process

As a side note, I don't think we'll ever see the ultimate collectors letter and numbers set, but there may be a market for the creativity it would allow.  One has to only look at Etsy to see child names and initials for sale due to the creative look!

2) Giving

The second piece of lego art conveying the spirit of lego is present in the picture below.  This craft was made by a nice person who knew I like building with Lego.  I was really touched that they took the time to make this...

Lego gives a way for people to create original projects and give/share those creations to others.  It could be a parent making a plane or car while playing with their kids, or an adult buying a set for a person they know.  I've had people bring me lego mugs and "candy blocks" that look like lego and it is so appreciated!

Related to the giving spirit, I often browse the lego aisle and commonly hear people buying for kids and laughing "oh, look they have a garbage truck" or "look there's even a little cat"..  Again, legos bring out a giving spirit as the people mentioned above will often say "well, I think that they'll like the boat, let's get that".  (Then they'll look at the price and say "good grief"-except for grandparents!).  Parents say "put that back!"

3) Rebuilding

I love the above picture, the symbol of arm for using your body for building.  The "t" in the 2nd line shows putting pieces together, in usual or new ways.  The final "o" shows the gladness and happiness in doing the rebuilding.  

4) Celebrating different likes and dislikes in sets and themes

5) Diverse groups of people and pieces coming together in the spirit of creativity 

6) Imagination

One only has to type afol moc in the search box to see this demonstrated

7) Creating ideas

 A self built prosthetic arm, placing lego in holes of real buildings, making train models. There's never a shortage of lego ideas!

There is a final ad that summarizes what I think all the 7 elements of the spirit of lego building present in both youth and adulthood...

  

In summary, I feel that there are multiple elements that form the spirit of building with lego.  These elements include giving, creating, rebuilding, celebrating different tastes in sets and themes, coming together from diverse backgrounds to make things, imagining and developing ideas. I  think the ads and art pics above convey visually what I'm describing as the essence of building with lego.  From youth to adulthood, there is always progression in the 7 elements that I consider to be the essence/spirit of building with Lego.  Never let that go!

 

The space hangar

 I love the idea of space hangars.

  I'd love to make one but didn't know where to find inspiration and while I was looking I came across gundam models...

I dont care for the mechas that go with these hangars but love the gray hangars!  Heres some lego versions

From an artist on flickr..Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann ...multiple photos are present and I highly recommend viewing all the photos present!

I want to make a hangar type moc to either repair or make models 928, 926 and 918. Yet another idea I want to make "soneday" when time stops and I have endless hours!!!  I wouldn't be surprised if the legos just jump out and put themselves together.

The picture that really stuck with me and made me want a lego room

The picture that changed my view on the potential of lego
This book was written in 1987 and at my library
Heres the pic and bibliography pic

This picture left such an impression on me as that was unfathomable to me at that age that someone could have that many legos.  Yet with fairly block pieces and 4 colors the depth and beauty of lego really shined through.  I could not imagine having that many legos of 1 color....and how the stacking of yellow creates illusion of sand. The only legos I had were in red and yellow (from the castle set). I think the moment I checked that book out was the beginning of wanting more and more lego...an entire room :)...and now 32 years later...

The mistakes I made in making my lego room part 1!

I wish I had kept a running total of how many legos were there based on tracking sets I bought...of course half the legos were bought just from random bags found here or there.  I hated that I'd buy a 2.00 bag of thrift store toys for the 3-20 legos there, but I'd usually re-donate the remaining toys or find a kid with parents there to see if theyd want them.
The second mistake I made was covering the peg boards that I could have used for more storage
Third mistake...could have been anyways, is not saran wrapping the legos when i moved ..I'm still convinced pieces fell out where the lid could have lifted during moving.  I never thought of this til I saw another afol move his lego room... brilliant idea.
Fourth mistake:no shelving.  Eventually there were so many sterilite containers stacked that the lids began to cave in...enough to where I distorted some of my plastic wings. .that's when I got some heavy shelving and it has worked well.  I love the look of the stainless steel wire type shelves available at target. But I'm glad I got heavier ones more like what Sam's club has as warehouse industrial shelving.  I did work at a start up company with at least 50 of the stainless type that were industrial grade.. every time I went in for equipment all I could see in my head was a room full of boxes of legos...so many that I wouldnt even know how much was there or even what pieces i.e. beautiful treasures were there waiting to be found.  However on the other hand..how inefficient would that be...and unfortunately, there wouldnt be enough time needed to sort through...but it was a nice daydream for the workday.  I guess my ultimate goal would be to have the legoland workshop.

legoland workshop picture from google image search, 2013

How I started my lego room

Davidslegoroom, David's lego room.

How I built a lego room and random lego thoughts:

In 1998 I found a box of legos from a garage sale...sounded fun..I soon had a few hidden in boxes in the closet that I started collecting.
Then at a hospital book sale in 2002, I had another lego find -- a book for kids with legos enclosed..  I bought 4 of them and had a new pile of legos...I thought to myself that I  could make trucks and had 4 minifigs...just like when I was a kid.

Then in 2003. Walmart did a clearance of tie fighters....I bought 3 and the rest was a blur.  $10 each..at that time they couldn't get rid of them!!

Kmart kept putting star wars sets on clearance too!
I knew there was an issue when my wife said what's going in with legoland in the basement!
I had a life long love of lego...I used to mow 4 yards at 10$-5$ and get 28$ a week where at times, I would buy legos when I could get to kiddie korner toy store..I did that 3 times I think.  Every time I went though I would come home (no matter how lucky I was to have gotten anything) and feel after looking at the catalog that there was a kit that was better that I couldnt afford.  I dreamed of the day I would have an adult income to spend on lego... because all adults get to spend their check in whatever they want...right?

I moved from my first house with about 6-7 medium sterilite boxes, then we moved.
I needed my room to hold our tools and books too.  The room was a woodshop before I lived there!

2006 above

2021 above

On a subconscious level, My Jr. high friend Mike had grandparents who had a whole room of the space legos from 1978-1984.  He also was my chemistry partner in 7th grade; this kid was so smart and organized.  I guess I thought in my head that if I had the cool legos he had as well as the organization skills, I could be smart too.  He could put the sets together so easy while I took forever!!!