How open are you about your Lego passion?

[Tobbe Arnesson]

Legononymous, wow what a story! :-O

[gogobig]

Nope I am broke. Want to buy me some legos lmao

All I gotta tell you is that hard work pays off ;) Sure whats your address I'll ship some to you hahaha. Im bit moderate when it comes to lego spending; while I could spend much more on lego, my other hobbies drain my money out too.

Jebediahs; that is legendary haha "go play lego"

[The Green Brick Giant]

How out of the LEGO closet? Oddly enough all my LEGOs are shoved into a closet.

I'm out and pride, in both meanings. I don't know how my I dated someone briefly who loved LEGOs until his junior/senior year of high school (2006). It seems he stopped right before the color change / color quality mess. We even went to a LEGO thingie together, It was a nice two week relationship. We are now friends and briefly talk about LEGOs because we have 100 other things on our minds.

I used to wait a little while to bring up LEGOs, but gay guys are little kids stuck in adult bodies and I haven't met one yet that didn't like LEGOs or go "Ohh... a LEGO train!"

Edited March 11, 2010 by The Green Brick Giant

[gratefulnat]

How out of the LEGO closet? Oddly enough all my LEGOs are shoved into a closet.

I'm out and pride, in both meanings.

Now get those LEGO out of the closet as well!

[legotrainfan]

I'm not necessarily too open about it. My paternal relatives know it. They've been pretty neutral about it. Just one aunt wanted to know where I get all that stuff from since she never finds anything like that for her son in shops. Well, that's the problem with exclusives, especially when you aren't aware of S@H.

Some of my friends know about this hobby too. But there aren't so many who know it. Only some. So far I think it's better to reveal such a hobby to female friends. They are less in a mocking mood when it comes to disclosing my hobby. But even one of my male mates from university found it quite ok to collect LEGO. He himself collected old computer games. Maybe he still collects them. No idea.

[MrTools]

Almost everyone i know, knows family, friends, people i hardly know (thank facebook for that one). I don't care if anyone knows the only people who have a problem with it are the kids at school that do drugs or are bad kids. (not sure how they know might hear me talk about LEGO with friends on the bus) but everyone else doesn't have any problem with it.

[legitimatealex]

I make little comics out of my LEGO for funny or for worse and just occasionally update my Facebook status to share it with my friends. My family definitely knows as they purchased some sets for me for Christmas. Some people are a little confused. They kind of expect other things in a guy's apartment. Who knows what

[Dunjohn]

Nobody outside of my immediate family knows. That's siblings and parents only. I have no kids of my own. I keep very few models built, with those that are built being ready to be shoved out of sight at a doorbell's notice. I'll admit, I'm quite self-conscious about it, that it'll be seen as childish and amusing.

[Calanon]

I am very open with my Lego, any friends who visit will notice it as my bedroom is stuffed full of Lego!

I don't have it as a conversation with anyone often, but I'm willing to talk about it, defend it from anyone that says that it is childish, and admit that I love it. I don't see any point in lying about it.

[Ratshot]

My wife says, "Go Play LEGO!" when she wants me out of her hair. ;-P

That's a classic, when someone in my house wants me to do away they always say "Go play with your little toys"

Edited March 27, 2010 by Ratshot

[Cecilie]

I'm very open about it. Whenever it fits the conversation, I'll talk about it. Sure, people laugh and say it's a toy for children, but then I just argue that it's actually a very challenging hobby, and that it's no different from a lot of other adult hobbies (such as radio controlled model airplanes), and people tend to agree. Besides, people already think I'm pretty weird (being a geek girl and all... I'm a software developer), so one extra weird thing about me won't really change anyone's opinion about what type of person I am. So by talking about my LEGO hobby to as many as possible, maybe someday I'll find a fellow AFOL in my surroundings

[vmln8r]

For me this is simple. Of course I probably wouldn't introduce myself to someone and say, "Hi, I'm VMLN8R and I like Lego".

But for people I know and spend time with, why would I keep such a trivial secret as playing with a toy? Surely that would diminish your enjoyment from it?

[Lego Lassie]

I'm quite open about it all. I don't use it as a conversation starter but I give full disclosure about it when the opportunity arises. Everyone has (or should have) a hobby of some kind and this makes me happy. If a store clerk mistakenly believes I'm buying a present for a child, I always tell them proudly that it is for myself. I've received no disdain for admitting it and have even gotten very interested responses.

My father loves to make videos of our area (ground travel plus from the air with his ultralight plane) and gives them to all sorts of people from friends to near strangers he just met (sort of like an informal video rental store ). His videos are quite well known in our town and a while back he shot some footage of my collection. So for all I know, my hobby could easily have been broadcast all over town! Could be a great way to find another AFOL around here

[Matt Dawson]

Not very - my immediate family knows, but no-one else...though I think my Facebook friends are a little suspicious with all the Lego pages...

I model railways (in British 00 gauge), and they think that's odd, though when I tell them of all the things you cover with it, i.e. woodwork, electrics, scenery modelling, model making & maintenance, they shut up...

So lego must be even odder...though saying that, as I'm a "loner" to some people, I have no qaulms about displaying my lego - I currently have a bit (2 road plates and a modded City Corner set) on permenant display on my model railway baseboard...though it will be staying there for a while yet...

Maybe I should ask my cousin if he wants his lego any more...

[Shroud]

I never told anyone until one of my friends saw me using LDD now i have a whole circle of mates addicted to it, none of us are that young either

[-zenn]

I'm pretty open on it, but most people don't understand what it's about until they see what I'm building. I won't go screaming I'm a afol, but i'll talk about design a lot when I see it, it just has to catch my eye.

My parents and my girlfriend don't mind at all, they even buy me Lego and stuff. She even likes to go with me and spend hours in a local Lego store, hanging around chatting and drinking coffee with the owner.

My coworkers however have mixed feelings about it; I'm a assistant manager at a big supermarket chain, and decided to become that cause I like building big displays (some even won prices), but they sometimes still find it awkward I'll buy Lego in the shopping mall we we are located in. But others are really interested in it and mostly amazed when they see how parts can be used.

My friends think it's cool, cause most of them are in Warhammer 40K stuff, I tried that, but painting isn't my thing. As soon as I would get a kit, I'd cut and glue everything up.

The only ones I sometimes have a problem with are the toytore employees. They give you this weird look, like 'are u retarded or something', when you buy Lego. When they do I'll let them gift wrap it; more work for them, a present for me.

[Dreamweb]

I don't introduce myself by: "Hi, I'm Dreamweb and I like Lego", obviously. If I did this, guess I'd have to tell about my other hobbies and I have a few so that's really not such a good idea.

But I am pretty open about it and most of my friends know about it. Whenever somone starts discussing Lego, I'm more than willing to talk about it.

Also, a lot of people learn about my hobby by seeing my Lego first rather than hearing about it. When somone visits me, it's really hard to miss my cabinet with pirate ships, so they usually ask me about it. Actually I think it's better to introduce people to it by showing it to them. If you just say to someone "I like Lego", some people may find it strange. But if you first show some of your Lego stuff to them, and my experience says they usually like it, and then say "Oh, you know, it's a hobby of mine", it's much better because people can actually experience how cool it is, and that's better than words.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

Hey folks, after reading a few posts I realized that a lot of people are a little apprehensive about being above a certain age and going into stores to shop for Legos so I have a question I'd like to discuss; do you openly share your hobby with your family, friends the community etc?

I am 21 and to be honest even though I stopped playing with Legos at around 15, I have always kept track of new sets, MOC's, reviews, and as of last year am back into it and more excited than ever. The only issue I have is that this hobby is really kind of a personal thing, and even though I don't think they would mind, I wouldn't share with my close friends and family because there's a certain amount of backlash and judgmental when you reveal that you're an adult and collecting and building, well... toys after all.

I do find myself asking for gift receipts and saying things like "my little cousin loves these" when I buy multiples of sets at TRU.

Anyways end of personal drama.

How do you approach the hobby, do you share it, or keep it to yourself, and if you do share it, what have you found works at getting people to understand the Lego fascination?

[prateek]

I'm kinda secretive about it, since only my family knows. It's not a big deal, as I only have one shelf of Lego, and not a full room like some people here.

[Buckshot]

Yeah, I was just like you when I was in my twenties. Luckily, now that I'm in my late thirties, I don't really care anymore.

Clerk: "Is this for your children"?

Me: "This Lego? No, it's all for ME! HAHAHAHA!"

Getting old does have some benefits

[-zenn]

I'm very open about it; my family and friends even buy me lego cause they'll know I appreciate it. In public when people ask about it I use the word 'design' rather than 'play', it helps explaining the hobby.

Or just show off my moc's when I have the chance, most people only remember the 'oldschool traditional' building style of Lego. When they see other styles they'll understand how many hours and ideas go into a moc.

At most toystores they give me the 'weird eye' look. So when they ask 'should I giftwrap it' I'll let them do it; more work for them... It's also more fun to open it as well...

Edited December 29, 2010 by -zenn

[Enpaz]

I guess I had some problems with it in the beginning, but I'm getting better and better at sharing it with the world.

When questioned about it, just show them your passion. Tell them you can build anything you could ever imagine out of bricks and that your only restriction is your own creativity.

EDIT: Oh, and it certainly makes it more understandable for people if you use the term "build" rather than "play". Anyway, I prefer to use "play".

Edited December 29, 2010 by Enpaz

[Arigomi]

With any hobby, most people get bored when you try to explain. Unless someone shows an actual interest in understanding more, I wouldn't go out of my way to talk about it.

[roamingstop]

Clerk: "Is this for your children"?

Me: "This Lego? No, it's all for ME! HAHAHAHA!"

Getting old does have some benefits

Here here. I completely agree!

HAHAHAHA!

[Churchill]

Buckshot, I like your approach! I admit that I've said yes to gift receipts before...

I don't hide it, but I don't advertise it.

If anything, my wife advertises it for me, whether I want her to or not. Oh, and the lego all over the house gives me away to friends and family!