Monster Truck Lego Set
My Husband is an AFOL
No, I’m not trying to be cute and fake curse (if you know me, you know I use the f-word like a comma in conversation). If my hubby was an asshole, I’d just out and say it.
Actually, he’s an AFOL – Adult Fan of Lego – and he’s dragging me down with him.
Being an AFOL, from what I can tell based on the large number of Facebook groups he’s joined, is a pretty common affliction. Addiction? Both. It’s nearly as expensive as a drug habit, but only physically dangerous if you step on loose Lego (Fun fact: the plural of Lego is Lego. Never add an ‘s’ – the internet will come for you). Maybe the vacuum feels differently …
In the last couple years, his addiction has really taken off. Like some bizarre ‘Fifty Shades’ parody, he even has a Lego room. And I must admit, it’s pretty cool. The trains, the motorized ferris wheel (which spins fast enough to double as a mini-fig launcher – maybe they’re prepping for a space mission with those high Gs?), the grand avenue of city buildings, all with their own fun little hidden details. I totally understand why people get into it.
Sort of like how I’ve gotten into it, though to a much lesser degree than he has (hello, other expensive hobbies I’ll write about later). It started with Grave Digger. Yes, the monster truck, because monster trucks are awesome. We’ve gone to see them several times for Valentine’s Day, so he bought me a Grave Digger Lego set.
It was fun, though I did screw it up at one point and need an assist. But the finished product is so cool, and still on display in our living room.
But just like that, I started to turn into an AFOL, too.
I’m not in any of the groups, I don’t wait up ’til midnight for product releases, I don’t have bins and bins of random pieces, but I really do like working on sets. And he knows just what ones to buy for me.
As a former zookeeper who worked mostly with birds, I sure do have a soft spot for our feathered friends. And so I now have a mini-menagerie of Lego birds, though my favorites are probably the Blue & Gold Macaw and Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. They are all painfully cute, and also on display throughout our house.
I’m also a plant person. And Lego plants are much easier to keep alive than the real thing (same goes for birds, I suppose). And the Botanical Collection sets are actually beautiful – you can hardly tell they’re not real until you’re close to them. And a plastic orchid is the only orchid that will survive under my care. Or a plastic bonsai or bird-of-paradise for that matter. No watering, just dusting. That’s my kind of greenery.
The moral of the story is that I’m happy to keep building, as long as I’m not the one buying them. It’s a great activity to pass time on a rainy day, and even better when we’re working next to each other on the couch, and can be each other’s eyes finding pieces. Because sometimes even when you sort them, they still elude you.
I definitely played with Lego as a kid, but never imagined I’d still be doing so as an adult. It is a really nice feeling seeing the sets come together, though, and the folks that design them put in some fun little details (a Lego gun in the succulents? Hidden frogs? More, please!) that make the builds even more interesting.
Are you an AFOL, too? What hobbies do you enjoy? Did you find it on your own? Or did someone else introduce you to it?
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