Building bricks

LEGO and Me

I started with DUPLO, and even after transitioning to the classic LEGO System, I would occasionally return to it. There's a beauty to the simplicity of the blocks, and their compatibility with the LEGO System made them very useful.

A young boy standing next to a Duplo building

One of my earliest and most memorable newly-bought sets was the Temple of Anubis (5988) from the Adventurers line—a birthday gift that perfectly aligned with my childhood obsession with Ancient Egypt, fueled by 360-degree photographs in Encarta, the Franco-Belgian Papyrus comic and its TV adaptation, and, of course, The Mummy. Nowadays, I am more fond of this pulpy approach to Ancient Egypt than Ancient Egypt itself, perhaps.

A young boy who just unwrapped a LEGO Adventurers set

A huge part of my childhood LEGO experience was second-hand, mostly from my dad’s old sets and the random lots he’d buy. As a result, I grew up with a lot of 70s and 80s sets—Town sets, Castle sets (even one of the Black Falcons fortresses). I distinctly remember him bringing home a collection of Fabuland once. We reassembled them together, and though he eventually sold them, I still think fondly of their charming designs. I never had any of the so-called “girl lines” like Paradisa or Belville, but I always liked their soft pastel colors whenever I saw them in stores and catalogs.

For a brief moment, I even ventured into the weird world of Znap. As I understand it, I had shown interest in K'NEX, and my parents, firmly loyal to LEGO, figured their in-house alternative would be the superior choice.

Then came Slizer and RoboRiders. Those small, canister-contained sets were my first taste of Technic-based action figures. Then Bionicle arrived and changed everything. The early years of Bionicle were mesmerizing—the techno-tribal aesthetic, the deep mystery, the collectible masks, the online adventure game. I was all in. Those first few years of lore were a perfect storm of adventure and mystique. But when the story shifted to Metru Nui, something about the new setting and tone just didn’t capture me the same way.

LEGO Harry Potter* was another major fixture in my later childhood. Naturally, I was obsessed with the franchise, but the LEGO sets were fantastic even outside of their licensed appeal. They were playful, filled with tiny whimsical details, and prioritized fun over strict accuracy. They encouraged alternate builds, which made them feel infinitely replayable. But after the third movie, it felt like the whimsy was lost, and worst of all, the minifigures switched to flesh-colored faces.

The last theme worth mentioning is probably LEGO Star Wars. My first set was the Podracing bucket (7159). It barely resembled the actual pod racing scene from The Phantom Menace—but who cares? It is a LEGO bucket! Over the years, I picked up some Star Wars sets, but I never really prioritized them. I do remember enjoying the early LEGO Star Wars video games.

Leftover bricks

Bricklink Studio

Bricklink Studio is such a fun software tool to digitally build LEGO with. It is, however, frustratingly unclear how I can contribute missing parts.

Clone bricks

There are several brands other than LEGO offering compatible bricks. Of the Chinese manufacturers, GoBricks seem to be well-regarded. They provide bricks to brands such as Mould King.