What sort of Lego are you building/collecting/buying and why?

[SpacePolice89]

What are your personal criteria/interests when building/buying/collecting Lego? Do you like everything or are there some limits for some reason? Limiting factors for me are interests (I mainly like themes and building styles from the 80s and 90s and modernized versions of them, money (I can't buy everything so I focus on the stuff I like the most) and space (If I had unlimited or more space I would widen the criteria for buying and include more sets and themes). Because of these criteria I focus on:

1. The original themes Town(including Trains 9v and other related subthemes), Space and Castle as well as Pirates and Aquazone because these themes are the ones I like the most.

2. Sets and themes from the time period 1978-1999 and modernized or new versions of them like the Santa Fe Super Chief or the new Renegade (in my opinion the golden age of Lego is from the mid 80s to the mid 90s)

3. When it comes the new sets I only buy ones that are close enough to the originals, the colors and minifigs are important because I like to display both old and sets together. Therefore I bought the new Galaxy Explorer but not the new Eldorado Fortress. Remakes must fit seamlessly with the originals.

4. Sets that I like very very much for some reason like the upscaled minifigs or sets that I buy for specific pieces (like the Dreamzzz set with the Futuron style torso).

5. When I buy pieces for MOCs I avoid pieces that doesn't fit the 80s and 90s aesthetic. I only use colors that were available before the year 2000, (for aesthetic, economical and storage space reasons). I try to keep a large inventory of pieces for MOCs, set restauration and landscape builds and I can barely fit all the pre 2000 colors in large enough quantities). When I build MOCs I mostly focus on my favorite themes but sometimes I just want to build something crazy like a jet engine powered chicken.

 

[Feuer Zug]

I do a lot of Town/City building with some (Classic) Space and castle/adventure thrown in. I'm not picky about sets as a lot of times I get bulk LEGO and MOC what I want. Most modern sets are bought for the parts, not for the build. I'm good with the new parts types and colors for my builds. They can add some interesting splash into the mix.

[Mylenium]

6 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

What are your personal criteria/interests when building/buying/collecting Lego?

I have to like it and/ or there has to be some value in the parts. Otherwise it's just like with my musical tastes - I'm totally eclectic and will pick whatever I fancy in the moment. I have a thing for stuff that isn't really targeted at me (if you can call buying Friends and Disney sets that for an older male), but I'm not locked into that just to prove a point, either.

6 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

Do you like everything or are there some limits for some reason?

Well, there are of course limits. If LEGO are being utter morons and ruin a theme I'm not going to support their errant ways by sending them more money. A bad set is still a bad set. I also dislike poorly designed and engineered sets. I always check the PDF instructions before buying and if something feels too "WTF?" I usually don't buy it. Naturally money is a concern because my resources in that department are limited. I rarely buy anything at full price and have a hard ceiling and if things don't work out and I can't justify to myself buying an exclusive Set directly from the LEGO store then I don't lose sleep over it. I also don't like the LEGO "death race", i.e. the market being flooded with too many sets, but the time to buy them getting shorter and shorter. Some stuff is only on the market for a few months and it really becomes a struggle to buy it with so much else available, too. In a way the sheer mass is also an issue in itself. For instance I haven't bought a single Speed Champion set this year because buying those 12 F1 cars and the other ones on top of that feels stressful. It's not that I wouldn't love to have those models, but I've decided I can spend my time and money on other sets more efficiently.

Mylenium 

[Lyichir]

For me, I've been a longtime collector of original themes over licensed themes. As a kid I had some licensed sets like Star Wars and Harry Potter, but before long I decided that the tendency for themes like Star Wars to have their sets often supplanted by superior versions made collecting those a neverending struggle, and I tended to prefer the design of original themes anyway (since they could focus on being a cool looking and interesting toy first and foremost). I'm especially drawn to "story themes" and have been since Bionicle—their strong character designs and toyetic set designs tend to feel like they offer all the benefits of licensed sets with more creative freedom for both the designers and myself as a MOCist. So currently, some of the primary themes I collect currently are Ninjago, Monkie Kid, and Dreamzzz (though with two of those ending soon I'm looking forward to what's next). I also pick up Friends sets every now and then—I love their color schemes and emphasis on playable detail (though I especially miss the Elves theme, which combined those aspects with a fantasy setting and story I couldn't get enough of which might've made it one of my favorite themes of all time).

Recently I've also collected some of the City space subtheme (the latest of which feels like a worthy successor of the original Space themes I grew up with). And I've been making exceptions to my preference for unlicensed sets with the Super Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing sets—I've been a Nintendo fan for almost as long as I've been a Lego fan, and I've been extremely impressed by the results when they finally started collaborating.

That's mostly all for "themes", but I also often enjoy many of the bigger standalone sets like the Icons modular buildings and nostalgia-focused remakes/homages to older themes, Ideas sets, and the occasional Lego Art set. I've also started building Botanicals sets with my mom (a great bonding activity with one of the less Lego-crazy members of my immediate family), and I often help my Dad with some of the sets he enjoys as well (often City, Trains, and sculptural vehicles like Icons vehicles and NASA sets).

[JesseNight]

What I collect nowadays is very limited. Not just because of budget, but my taste has become far more picky than it was as a kid. For instance, one my childhood favorites (after Space) was Castle, but it doesn't have the same appeal to me anymore. I love trains but I wouldn't go there due to the scale limiting me in making somewhat realistic setups.

What I collect nowadays is mostly limited to 3 things still appealing to me.

• Space from 1980-1994 period, something that was and is still my favorite. This includes successful remakes like the beautiful Galaxy Explorer, and the new Renegade (but skipped on the Cruiser).
• Icons from themes I have a special connection with, like the Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the BTTF DeLorean. I like beautiful scale models, and some of those are or will be equipped with light effects.
• Limited Technic. I was a fan of large car models and the 8880 from 1994 was one of my favorite Lego sets, that's now standing next to my favorite modern supercar (the Lamborghini Sián from 2020).

The first group has the most realistic chance of expanding further, if I can get my hands on some old models that I would still love to get, or if there's gonna be more successful remakes that stay true to the themes from that time period.

Oh... and I did get the tuxedo cat from Lego Ideas, bc I'm a cats person.

[Peppermint_M]

I buy for colours of parts, minifigures/figure parts and lastly if I really want to build a set.

My most important factor is what parts/colours I can obtain for MOC building. I dabble in all kinds of themes and love all the colours I can get now (including coloured tyres ) . Building my own design or freeform creating as I go needs a lot of parts to hand.

Second is supplies for custom figures to create characters as stand-alone for fun or a "seed" figure or group for a MOC. Again, I keep a lot of parts and accessories for this random building.

The last: a set that is so impressive or interesting to me that I have to get it to build. That's a random one too. Construction Equipment from City, an animal from Creator. The upcoming Game Boy. 

Money and space are limiters, but I budget.

[Murdoch17]

I don't usually buy sets anymore, I mostly just make MOC's. The closest I get to buying these days is when I see a new set and I reverse engineer it from pictures... I did this most recently when the haunted mansion CREATOR set leaked and I made it into a modular a full two months before it was released.

[DonQuixote]

Castle,  pirates and classic space remakes. And Rivendell....

I'm not a lord of the rings fan but that set is the most beautiful set I've ever seen.

Finding space to display the sets, is the biggest problem for me. 

[Siroco]

Mostly Pirates but and sometimes can't resist a good buy like 60430 Interstellar Spaceship, beautiful ship, lots of printed parts, zero stickers, all for 20€. A perfect set. Or the little cute 40650 Land Rover Classic Defender.