AFOL's on CBS Sunday Morning

[Sir E Fullner]

This sunday on CBS they interviewed various AFOL's on their hobby and profession. You can view the video here.

Under the photo is a link to an interview with an AFOL

CBS News

[Big Cam]

Very cool, it's good to see the adults in the LEGO world getting some recognition.

[DLuders]

"The Lego Group estimates there are at least 40,000 of these later-in-life Lego lovers. In fact, they account for five percent of all Lego sales. And they live among us."

"Mike guesses he has 400,000 Legos in his basement collection - that's about $40,000 worth....'You know, every man needs a mancave'....but in my world my husband needs a Lego room.'" Don't we all!

[fred67]

AAACCCCCHHHHH!!! at "Legos" instead of LEGO!!!!

Yes, I am a nerd.

[prateek]

Very cool. This was one of the better news reports I've seen about Lego.

[Adam the Ant]

AAACCCCCHHHHH!!! at "Legos" instead of LEGO!!!!

Yes, I am a nerd.

Yes, I found it a bit irritating after a while, but it was a very good report overall. I liked how we're described as almost alien like

[drevim]

Good piece. May need to try and make it VA next year to see "the mist rising" in person...

[Flare]

Great! I hope more of us LEGO enthusiasts are interviewed!

[Lego Otaku]

"The Lego Group estimates there are at least 40,000 of these later-in-life Lego lovers. In fact, they account for five percent of all Lego sales. And they live among us."

I would think us AFOL spend a lot more than that. I figure I spent about $3,000 on Lego just the past 3 months. No 10 year old kid with allowance gets to spend that much in a single year.

Should that line read "In fact, they account for ninety-five percent of all Lego sales."

[fred67]

I would think us AFOL spend a lot more than that. I figure I spent about $3,000 on Lego just the past 3 months. No 10 year old kid with allowance gets to spend that much in a single year.

Should that line read "In fact, they account for ninety-five percent of all Lego sales."

It's very tricky, sometimes, to decipher these values. In this case they actually say "sales" and not "customers," so us 40,000 account for 5% of LEGO sales.

When you think of perhaps tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of LEGO customers worldwide, then 40,000 accounting for 5% of sales is pretty impressive.

[Masked Builder]

Hey nice! Wish I could have seen this on the TV...

[Seluryar]

i was told about this an hour ago

[lightningtiger]

AAACCCCCHHHHH!!! at "Legos" instead of LEGO!!!!

Yes, I am a nerd.

Ah, you see they don't understand it is just simply called Lego.....it seems alien to non-AFOL's !

Besides that......you are only a nerd if you use pocket protectors !

Now I would say there would be more than 40,000 of us brick-crazied adults out there in the world.....more like hundreds of thousands of AFOL's !

I'm a conformist! everyone !

[DaleDVM]

I turned on Sunday Morning but missed the LEGO segment. It must have been early in the program. Luckily CBS had the footage online and thanks for providing a link for everyone.

It was a good story. I wonder if they got those sales and AFOL statistics from TLG? I am surprised CBS didn't do a little more research and find out about the LEGO vs Legos thing...

Although I consider my LEGO hobby the nerdiest thing I do. I never got the feeling that Todd does at a convention. Maybe it is the cool people I hang out with at the cons... You guys and gals know who you are!

Building my MOCs at home for many hours by myself and sorting brick endlessly is a very nerdy thing to do. When I go to the conventions I am surprised at how mainstream most of the AFOLs are. When we are sitting around eating, drinking, joking around, it feels more like a tailgate party than a nerd-a-thon.

[fred67]

It was a good story. I wonder if they got those sales and AFOL statistics from TLG? I am surprised CBS didn't do a little more research and find out about the LEGO vs Legos thing...

I'd never heard an actual number... 40,000, but I did read before that AFOLs made up 5% of sales, and I'm fairly certain the number came from TLG.

The things that got me: I don't normally care when non-LEGO enthusiasts say "Legos," it's not a big deal... but many of the people interviewed used the term "Legos," too... and then they had the BIG graphic: AFOL Adult Fans of Legos!

[rriggs]

A good report but I have a couple of observations:

- As others have said the use of the term Legos was a bit irritating - especially when used by AFOLs being interviewed!

- 40,000 seems a low number to me. Is this the number for the US or worldwide? They don't say...

Cheers

Rog

[Superkalle]

Wasn't there another video about AFOLs some time ago? Anyone remember?

[Joebot]

Although I consider my LEGO hobby the nerdiest thing I do. I never got the feeling that Todd does at a convention. Maybe it is the cool people I hang out with at the cons... You guys and gals know who you are!

Building my MOCs at home for many hours by myself and sorting brick endlessly is a very nerdy thing to do. When I go to the conventions I am surprised at how mainstream most of the AFOLs are. When we are sitting around eating, drinking, joking around, it feels more like a tailgate party than a nerd-a-thon.

I would say "geeky" rather than "nerdy." Maybe it's just semantics, but in my mind "nerdy" has a very negative connotation that implies a person who is socially awkward, with perhaps questionable personal hygiene habits. The AFOLs that I've met are smart, friendly, out-going, and showered. On the other hand, "geeky" just means someone who cares deeply about something that most people find to be quite trivial, be it Star Trek, fantasy football, stamps, etc.