Addiction is mostly used as a term to express the negative effects of a substance. However, one thing to consider is the addiction to childhood. The hit toy LEGO is just the thing that Juniors Kaylee Cook and Noah Finn could not get enough of.
For several years, these two students have been saving money to feed into this childhood nostalgia of building LEGO sets. They spend several hours and paychecks to get that perfect LEGO set completed and off the checklist. Not for the addiction of the bricks themselves, but for the love of collecting.
“I love to collect all types of LEGO sets but I think the flower bouquet ones are my favorite,” Cook said. “Even though I love the flower bouquets, my favorite LEGO set overall is my tuxedo cat that was around 20 bags of pieces and took me a whole day to build.”
While focusing on the budgeting may not be the crucial focus, the joy of a specific set is powerful for some. However, buying an entire set and ending up losing it all may feel like a gut punch to both one’s bank account and time commitment.
“There was an accident not too long ago at my house so I lost quite a few of my sets,” Finn said. “I used to collect a bunch of Legos when I was really little but I only have about eight sets now and the several dollars from birthdays and Christmas cards I spent all just pretty much flushed down the drain.”
Having lost these little toys that had been collected for a long time could be considered grief to these builders. However, reaching for a different angle is also crucial. There is nothing other than the debate on name brand and off-brand.
“I think that the off-brand LEGO bricks are really time wasting because the bricks themself are a lot more difficult to build with and the instructions aren’t as clear,” Cook said. “It depends on what set I would want as well, but I think that more and more people are wanting to buy the main brand rather than the cheap stuff.”
This battle has been fought by several master builders around the world, but worth is important to those who don’t view LEGO sets as toys, but rather masterpieces for wealth. Finn has collected for a long time however Cook only started around a few years ago, but the profit and worth is astonishing.
“Getting all the sets was hard because of the amount of money I had when I was growing up,” Finn said. “However at the end of the day, I saved up and now the few sets that still stand on my shelf I would say rank up to about $400.”
Not putting in the effort and rolling with the punches may lead to the side effects of feeling melancholy or gloomy. But creating a checklist of your wants, dealing with accidents and breaking open that piggy bank to get that one thing you truly want, can always come to those who find joy in what they collect. Growing up is such a key part of a person’s life, and the toys students surround themselves with are the central plane of childhood.
