The Only Way Is Up

It's official. I have run out of room. If I don't do something truly creative soon my Lego collecting may have to come to an end.

The shot below is my "office" (click to enlarge). A last baby bookshelf has been squeezed in to display the latest acquisitions (8087 Tie Defender and 8088 ARC-170 Starfighter) but now there is no more room to house anymore display furniture. You can see my knee at the bottom of the picture. To my back is my PC desk and another wall of (occupied) shelving units.

The collection has already spread piecemeal to other upstairs rooms but it would be unfair of me to commandeer more space. I confess I'm at a loss as to what to do. I'm selling off a few unwanted sets on eBay but these are only small and have never been displayed anyway (bought as part of a job lot last year).

A loft conversion is one solution I've come up with but there simply ain't enough moolah to accomplish that.

The only workable alternative is to order extra shelves for the existing cases and see if I can squeeze more layers in...

*Sigh*

Who'd be a Lego addict?

A New Flame Has Come

My latest acquisition – and the first of the new 2010 sets – is 10211, The Grand Emporium. I built it yesterday as I had the day off work. It was a very enjoyable build, taking about 4.5 hours to complete. The most time consuming element is locating all the correct pieces and setting out the pavement design. Once that is out of the way the rest of the build goes pretty smoothly. The Grand Emporium is another example of excellent Lego design – realistic enough to appeal to architecture buffs but also inescapable Lego in its aesthetic.

One of the cuter features of this model is the backdoor where the shop assistant’s can sneak out and have a crafty fag during the shop’s quiet periods (because of course it is now illegal to smoke on business premises).

The building features three furnished floors, each reached by an escalator which sadly doesn’t move (but that would have been an incredible feat of engineering if they’d managed it), a revolving door which does and a large skylight on the roof which allows you to look down upon all three floors of the model. You will see from the photos (click to enlarge) that the model also features a window cleaner on one of those electronic winch platforms. By coincidence I actually saw one of these for real in Leamington only yesterday. An act of undoubtedly benign synchronicity.

This last photo shows The Grand Emporium placed alongside the other Lego modular buildings that I own. It’s getting to be quite a little town. The minifigures now have somewhere to buy groceries, to dine out, to call for help should there be a fire and to buy clothes and toys. Alas what they don’t have are proper toilet facilities. I can’t see such a model being a big seller for Lego so it may have to be something that I engineer myself. In the meantime – call me sad if you must – I am getting an inordinate amount of joy from just sitting in my office and surveying my extended domain.

The Inner Sanctum

Few people get to see The Inner Sanctum. Even those of my friends who know I collect Lego have rarely gained admittance to this holy of holies. Not sure why. I'm certainly not ashamed of it. It is, however, my refuge and my temple. A place that is indelibly stamped with the things that I like. When people do get a rare chance to peek inside the reaction is usually one of shocked awe. "Oh we knew you had a big collection but..."

The photos below may give you a little idea as to the nature of the "but...". As you can see four themes dominate my collection: Classic Space, Classic Town, Star Wars and (modern) City though I do occasionally dip into other themes if I like the models - hence the new Space Police models.

Feel free to browse and leave a comment - this blog is purely for my own amusement - but all are welcome to have a look around and offer an opinion. I am an active collector so please check out the advert on the right if you have any Lego (in good condition) for sale.

Click on an image to download a bigger version.

Behind the door - modular buildings and Tantive IV.

On the windowsill - some classic Town and City buildings plus one of my own creation.

In front of the window - a hodgepodge of models: lots of Star Wars, some Classic Town and Aqua Raiders.

Another shot of the modular buildings and a hint of my depth of feeling for Classic Space.

Star Wars and Classic Space - my hardy stand-bys.

Some of the bigger Star Wars models and the gorgeous Medieval village scene plus the Christmas Shop...

More Star Wars stuff: the fabulous Dropship - one of my favourites - has pride of place atop my computer.

A good array of some of the most aesthetically pleasing Star Wars models.

Oh I do like Classic Space!

I shall be focusing on specific models over the coming months but for now this is a mere glancing overview of part of my collection - a collection currently valued at just over £10,000. That's a lot of moolah - but it stops me drinking, gambling, drug taking and (sin of sins) getting into football! ;-)