Adult Collecting vs. Play

[The_YongGrand]

Ever since I started collecting Legos in 2009, I do not have an urge to play them, like when I was much younger.

I got the new Lego City Prisoner Transport, all I did was a short roleplay and then put it in a decorative form. I do not play it intensively like when I was six anymore.

But on many times when I get up or got back from work I will look and admire the Lego sets and also maybe modify the arrangements and the minifigures around it.

For the adults: Do you play them? Or just make the Legos and the minifigures with different poses for writing comics? Or it is just for admiration purposes only?

[Rick]

TheBrickster started a discussion topic about this quite a while ago.

[Rufus]

TheBrickster started a discussion topic about this quite a while ago.

Indeed. Let's merge!

[Hoboman]

I am glad Rufus merged these threads. I have just spent the time to read most of the nine pages. Some great thoughts.

I think as adults it is hard to keep the child like imagination, but it is more than that. My seven year old has no issue mixing themes. Starwars torsos with Alien Conquest heads and Kingdom horses standing next to a Toy Story Truck and his own MOC "ski-boat". He does not feel the need to keep the themes together etc.

I try to play with him and once in a great while I realize I have slipped out of the adult training and find I can enjoy the moment. Then there are other moments when I find myself thinking like a "grown up".

This is a great subject/thread. Thanks all who have added to it.

[brickmack]

I'm not QUITE an adult yet (Though getting quite close it seems) I do still play with my LEGO sometimes. Spaceship swooshing, the occasional battle ending in smashed ships , that sort of stuff. I do still sometimes make things just for display though. My thought is that my ability to actually play (which among people my own age seems to be very rare) stems from my very odd childhood: As soon as school started (Around age 7 for me) I pretty much focused completely on school, with no time for play or social activities. This lasted for about 2 and a half years, during which I studied the subjects in class and then studied the high school and collage stuff that interested me, and then in about 3rd grade I got bored (ran out of stuff to read) and a few years later started catching up on playing and stuff. I think that massive gap caused some sort of odd difference from the normal pattern, which as best as I can tell, would have had me stop "playing" by about 5th grade. At least that's my best theory so far...

Edited August 29, 2011 by brickmack

[Gryphon Ink]

I do play with my Legos. I'm not talking about lying on the floor making ZAP! BANG! AAAAARGH!! noises while hurling my minifigs at each other, but I play. Whenever I buy a new set, I keep it on the dining table for as long as I can - usually until my wife banishes it - and while I'm surfing online or writing, I will roll it around, spin its working parts, pose the minifigs and open the doors. When I come home from work, or before I go to bed, I will spend a few minutes moving some of the minifigs around on the structures I have built, so that one day they are all standing in formation, while the next day they are laying siege to one of the buildings, and a day later they will all be sitting around a campfire drinking the finest ale in the land, never realizing that a giant Anglerfish is quietly lurking in the shadows behind them.

And sometimes I will lie on the couch or a bed and swoosh things. I refuse to make any swooshing noises, though. Because that would be silly, obviously.

It's relaxing to do this stuff. As a writer, I find that whenever I'm swooshing a Space Police ship or seeing how many Dragon Knights can fit into a treehouse waiting for the king's carriage to roll by, I'm also thinking about stories. They usually have nothing to do with the Legos I'm playing with. I think I'm playing on autopilot.

I also play with my kids, very differently of course. Then it's pretty much all ZAP! BANG! AAAAARGH! Would you care for a cup of tea, Milady? BOOM! SWOOOSH! We have defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your humiliation! KA-BOOOOOM!!

[Vindicare]

I do play with my Legos. I'm not talking about lying on the floor making ZAP! BANG! AAAAARGH!! noises while hurling my minifigs at each other, but I play. Whenever I buy a new set, I keep it on the dining table for as long as I can - usually until my wife banishes it - and while I'm surfing online or writing, I will roll it around, spin its working parts, pose the minifigs and open the doors. When I come home from work, or before I go to bed, I will spend a few minutes moving some of the minifigs around on the structures I have built, so that one day they are all standing in formation, while the next day they are laying siege to one of the buildings, and a day later they will all be sitting around a campfire drinking the finest ale in the land, never realizing that a giant Anglerfish is quietly lurking in the shadows behind them.

And sometimes I will lie on the couch or a bed and swoosh things. I refuse to make any swooshing noises, though. Because that would be silly, obviously.

It's relaxing to do this stuff. As a writer, I find that whenever I'm swooshing a Space Police ship or seeing how many Dragon Knights can fit into a treehouse waiting for the king's carriage to roll by, I'm also thinking about stories. They usually have nothing to do with the Legos I'm playing with. I think I'm playing on autopilot.

I also play with my kids, very differently of course. Then it's pretty much all ZAP! BANG! AAAAARGH! Would you care for a cup of tea, Milady? BOOM! SWOOOSH! We have defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your humiliation! KA-BOOOOOM!!

I'm kind of the same way. I build it and leave it on the table for a while so I can enjoy it. I am most definitely a collector. But, I still enjoy a set for what it is. What I like most about LEGO today, which is sort of like playing. I like to set up my town as if it's bustling with excitement and all ki d's of interactions.

[22kane]

I'm definitely more of a collector now. I find it quite difficult to even open many of the sets I own but occasionally I do build them. From time to time I set up a large section of track and run the trains around for a bit. That's as close as I get to playing with them now. I wish I could still play with them as I did when I was a child but I have lost that innocent imaginative part. Really the fun part now is the building aspect just like with model railroading. Running the trains is fun but building or creating is the highlight now.

There are some interesting questions and responses here especially in the beginning with the Brickster asking why adults find it difficult to "play" again. In my opinion it's an imagination problem. As a child it's easy to assume how things in the world may work or act and getting lost in our toys with stories comes naturally from basic ignorance or simply not understanding. As adults we gain logic and understanding (some of us) and find it difficult to let our imaginations run wild (eg- that could never happen!). There is also shame as an adult, like who wants to get caught talking to their toys? There are then many more responsibilities on an adults mind which can cloud play, I need to pay that bill, wash the dishes etc.

Even though I don't dive into play as I once did I still enjoy running the trains or maybe pushing a truck across the table while making that big large diesel sound. I just don't let my imagination run wild for hours simply because I don't know how to anymore. I also value my "toys" much more these days as they are more expensive than the ones I had as a child. For those that do play, I respect the fact that you still can. I don't see anything wrong with it, it's just something most adults don't accept. For those that are single and still play you may find it harder to meet someone but they say there is someone for everyone The most important part is no matter how you enjoy Lego or your hobbies is that you simply enjoy them without shame or embarrassment. Many people know that I still collect and build and I have no problem with that.

[Brickdoctor]

As this topic's been bumped again, I'll give an update. I think I play more than I did in January when I last posted. In actuality, I build, so as far as Collecting vs. Playing goes, I don't do much of either. Building for me is more serious than playing. Playing is usually what I do to obtain a Playability rating for a review - usually that amounts to swooshing a Star Wars set (with laser effects, of course) and trying out all the play functions. But then I got a train, and now sometimes I just get the erg urge to push it around my brick-built track. And I think that for me, Trains is a lot more playable theme than Star Wars, Castle or Pirates. With those themes, I'm usually just trying to build an MOC that looks good on display. But with Trains, I'm going to want to make my MOCs much more functional. So I can definitely say I play more now, and I can see even more playing on the horizon.

[Triborough]

I would go more with play.

For example, with the collectible minifigs I have wound up doing vignettes with them and using the doubles and triples as the base for new minifigs.

It is fun to create a scene and I try to have some sort of playablity aspect to the MOCs I do, or at least try to make them sturdy enough for play.

[Pingles]

I am lucky.

I have a three year old daughter. She has no interest in a giant tub filled with Duplo but loves "Daddy's" Lego.

As a 46 year old man I am able to play, guilt-free, just about any time I want. The bus picks up passengers from the train station and takes them to the Snow Village Toy Store. The people have snowball fights. We collect "gems" (colored clear single pieces) for a treasure chest that is regularly stolen by Pirates. The firemen are called to put out fires on every structure spread across my office floor.

Many, many adventures are created. I play just about every day.

[KateB]

When I come home from work, or before I go to bed, I will spend a few minutes moving some of the minifigs around on the structures I have built, so that one day they are all standing in formation, while the next day they are laying siege to one of the buildings, and a day later they will all be sitting around a campfire drinking the finest ale in the land, never realizing that a giant Anglerfish is quietly lurking in the shadows behind them.

Yep, this is me. Love taking the time most days to move my minifigures into interesting positions in my Creator houses. It's a great way to wake up my imagination

[dr_spock]

I play a little more now that I bought a pile of train tracks.

I still product test my MOCs for playability.

[MightyMegs]

I've been an adult collector of Lego, on and off, since the first Star Wars sets in 1999... but never played with them until Pirates of the Caribbean sets came put this year. I'm not sure what it is about POTC; it's not my favorite movie series... and I've been enamoured with other Lego series... just never played with them.

Star Wars=never played

Indiana Jones=never played

Agents=never played

Batman=never played

Pirates of the Caribbean=not only have I played, but it's got me scratch-building sets which... except for a Spider-car and Jokermobile... I've never done.

But now I'm getting my Agents sets back out and, combining them with Alien Invasion, I'm building up my Lego City for some BIG adventures. And when the Marvel and DC superheroes hit next year, it'll be even bigger!

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

My minifigs used to come to life and exchange some of their limbs from time to time... My small Lego sets would combine in ways that only as a child I could imagine. No, I don't play anymore. However, I still enjoy building, and the occassional swooshing of a spaceship every time I get a new one (WHO CAN RESIST THAT URGE???) My characters don't come to life anymore... but I do know I still have the ability to do so. Whenever I play with a child, especially my little cousin, I voice characters and play with him or her. My cousin enjoys it so much. I think that in many cases it's just that as adults we don't enjoy playing by ourselves anymore. If your inner child is still there, you can still do it.

Edited August 30, 2011 by johnnyvgoode

[Perry the Platypus]

Considering I have a nine-year old son, I do both. I do enjoy collecting LEGO more than playing, but my son forces me anyway. Sometimes we fly spaceships around, and other times we stage a battle with our heros and villains. But occasionally, we take out our LEGO City policemen and use them to destroy the Alien Conquest invaders. The possibilities are endless!

I think it's all based on imagination, but I also think that everyone, deep down, will always remain a kid at heart. Sometimes, you can't help but releasing your inner child.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Perry the Platypus

[Hoboman]

I am lucky.

I have a three year old daughter. She has no interest in a giant tub filled with Duplo but loves "Daddy's" Lego.

As a 46 year old man I am able to play, guilt-free, just about any time I want. The bus picks up passengers from the train station and takes them to the Snow Village Toy Store. The people have snowball fights. We collect "gems" (colored clear single pieces) for a treasure chest that is regularly stolen by Pirates. The firemen are called to put out fires on every structure spread across my office floor.

Many, many adventures are created. I play just about every day.

Enjoy it while you can. They grow up so fast. Too fast.