Another thing with non AFOLs and their possible thinking of what LEGO is today isn't what they may have pictured in their mind. For example, I had 10210 Imperial Flagship displayed for years. People were shocked to hear that it was LEGO. Some would question me again, "That's LEGO?!" What it seems is a lot of people don't realize what LEGO is today. It's not just your basic blocks in basic colors.

"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis.

C.S. Lewis for the win! I bought myself the 'Summer Riding Camp' (Friends) for my birthday, and got to build 99% of it by all myself, and was even allowed to not apply the stickers! I'm going to use it as a base for an apartment building, but for now we're having fun learning about 'horsies'. Yay Lego!

I'm glad it worked out for you LukeWarmTea.

Build on!

If reading supportive hobby advice and C.S. Lewis quotes could stop all world insecurity, Eurobricks would be dishing out the cure.

I'm glad things worked out for you LukeWarmTea.

I was a bit "ashamed" when I first started being an AFOL and often hid my hobby from others, afraid of what they'd think of me. But nowadays, I'm pretty open about it. Sure, there are some people who roll their eyes when they learn of it, thinking me childish and crazy - but most people actually react in a positive way; lots of people find it cool and interesting, with many actually asking me if they can build something with me themselves. Others notify me when they encounter LEGO on sale and some even gift me small sets from time to time. Others again simply find it t a fun little quirky side of me, calling me crazy in good-natured jest but accepting that it's a part of who I am.

For years, I often played at night at some video games on the PC while my wife was looking at some TV show. Then one day, after having played during the day with the kids and built houses and planes made of Lego, I went back to the NXT set I bought a couple of years ago and really started to become an AFOL. (and dug into the Lego Technic/Mindstorms world)

My wife looked at me strangely until I found what, IMHO, is an acceptable answer: I asked her if it is better to play Lego and have a creative activity, or if it is better to look at a screen to kill remote players or to try buildind a 'civilization' to be the ruler of the world? She laughed and since that day I'm now an AFOL that completely assumes Lego playing.

There are many people that enjoy video games, why would it be more acceptable than Lego ? Why play Minecraft when you can do the real thing with your brains and hands? With Lego we are using our minds in a positive and creative way.

I think your lucky in that you have a Mini Lego fan to share your Lego love with.

Having said that I don't want to share my Lego!

I tend to get embarrassed in toy shops or the Lego shop. I find myself acting like an excited kid when everyone around me are adults with children. I do worry a little that they think I'm a bit pervy being in a children's' shop without a child (especially after reading that Lego Discovery Centres don't allow adults without children). It must be more difficult for the male collectors who can't just pretend to be 'mum who left kids at home'. It's also difficult fighting past all the kids to 'build your own minifigures' They should have an adult height display too!

I do have to grin though when small child say to parent that they want an expensive set. I get tempted to tell them that if they do well at school so they can get good job they can buy all the Lego they like!

I think my friends have worked out I like Lego as I post pictures of my builds online (Facebook, my blog etc.).

I think your lucky in that you have a Mini Lego fan to share your Lego love with.

Having said that I don't want to share my Lego!

Sharing is hard! I'm working on this apartment MOC and sometimes I find horses or minidolls or coloured bricks in strange places and I think "WHY?!" but then, of course, it's because it's fun! I find it fascinating watching the different way we build and what we care or don't care about {minifigs and dolls crammed into a car (sometimes lying down) is fine; doorway openings that should be proper doors are fine (like toilet doors); walls that are incomplete are fine; but stairs have to go all the way up to the next floor...} and every day we play with Lego and it's different and wonderful. (We also play Minecraft, just cause.)

However, in saying all this, my parents have yet to arrive back from their holidays and are yet to see the massive set I bought myself - perhaps they won't realise? It'll be an apartment building by then, fingers crossed!

Also, there are not enough birthdays in a year!

In addition to the CS Lewis quote above, I would like to offer this gem from a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who was known for being exceedingly quirky and had oddly diverse interests.

"What do you care what other people think?" - Richard Feynman

I think your use of words can influence what people think.

By saying "I play with Lego" does not give the same impression as "I design models using Lego".

I think a lot of it is about balance. If you're going out and having fun, displaying your personal style in other areas of life, pursuing your work and relationships, managing your finances, keeping your living space relatively disaster-free, then nobody will blink if they see a modular building or a UCS model at your place. Conversation is a lost art, so you don't want your hobbies to dominate it anyway. If Lego comes up just mention it along with your other hobbies and don't blink or think twice; if you act like it's weird people will sense that you're uncomfortable with yourself. Didn't some thread on Brickset out David Beckham and Brad Pitt as Lego fans? Remember to curate the rest of your life and Lego will just become one of the many cool bits of trivia about you.

Being an AFOL is all about confidence. Be proud of your hobby, and most people won't question you. If they do, they have their own insecurities.

When I tell people that I still build with Legos, they tend to either have a rush of nostalgia as they remember their childhoods playing with Lego, or they'll tell me how much their kids are into Legos. Either way, I get a postitive response. The only "negative" response I really get is jealousy!

When I first started to tell my family (particularly my wife's family) that I enjoyed LEGO as an adult I got a lot of weird looks, so I would ask, "When you were growing up, what did you want to be? A LEGO set designer?"

Invariably the answer was some form of yes (either an outright yes or that it was on their list or something), so I then would follow up with, "And wouldn't that still be the awesomest job ever?" And those funny looks I got would turn into sheepish grins and nods of agreement. No problems since.

Why do you need to justify your hobby? Just say that you enjoy building with LEGO. What you do with your spare time and money is none of their business.

Also, I find the term AFOL to be pretty silly. I mean, you're a fan of LEGO, so say so. Telling people you're an "adult fan" shows a need to separate yourself from younger fans, which only increases the stigma you're trying to avoid.

I usually classify my ......

..... find joy in that investment rather than stress or shame.

Good luck.

ShaydDeGrai, thanks for saving me typing...I think you said almost everything I was going to say.

The extra advice I would add is - when you are explaining to non-AFOL's, include your honest opinions that are behind the statement "I love Lego and often buy things I really just wanna play with myself". Only you know the answer to these....for me (in no particular order) it would be:

1. great fun;
   
2. a flexible, forgiving way of modelling (ie no glue etc);
   
3. inter-generational;
   
4. good value (even though not necessarily cheap);
   

I think I understand where you're coming from though, despite all the echoes of "who cares what others think", I think most of us wouldn't want to feel like they were being 'labelled' negatively in others' perception.

It bugs me slightly that if I spent money and time on (say) golf and not on LEGO, it wouldn't raise the slightest eyebrow.

If a businessman wants to invite customers/suppliers for a 'golf day' or a 'sailing day'.....the marketing department might agree and direct some extra money toward it. Would the reaction be the same for a 'poker day' or 'LEGO day'? Of course not - it's down to social/corporate norms, not down to golf being better than poker or a sail ride better than LEGO.

In otherwords, some things are considered culturally "middle of the road" and some ain't. Unfortunately LEGO ain't***....but that's not going to stop me!!!!!!

Cheers,

Luke

***I wonder if it's the same in Denmark?

I love the Friends sets, they fill a gap for stuff in CITY. When I go to a shop and buy a LEGO Friends set, people stare and I just say "LEGO is my interest if you think its childish or stupid, you have no reason to look at me".

Don't be ashamed! I deal with non afols and tfols making fun of me everyday!

Or you could tell them LEGO is a work of art, like painting or origami maybe?

Sure, there are some people who roll their eyes when they learn of it, thinking me childish and crazy - but most people actually react in a positive way; lots of people find it cool and interesting, with many actually asking me if they can build something with me themselves. Others notify me when they encounter LEGO on sale and some even gift me small sets from time to time. Others again simply find it a fun little quirky side of me, calling me crazy in good-natured jest but accepting that it's a part of who I am.

I tend to get embarrassed in toy shops or the Lego shop. I find myself acting like an excited kid when everyone around me are adults with children. I do worry a little that they think I'm a bit pervy being in a children's' shop without a child (especially after reading that Lego Discovery Centres don't allow adults without children). It must be more difficult for the male collectors who can't just pretend to be 'mum who left kids at home'.

When I tell people that I still build with Legos, they tend to either have a rush of nostalgia as they remember their childhoods playing with Lego, or they'll tell me how much their kids are into Legos. Either way, I get a postitive response. The only "negative" response I really get is jealousy!

These 3 quotes are so relatable...

When I tell people I build with Lego I mostly tend to show them; cause they've got this oldschool thought in their heads it's "just stacking bricks" together.

I also think being an AFOL has more meaning to it than the acronym implies; sort of a real life ambassador role with lots of creativity, engineering/designing insight and innovative thinking.

When I tell people of my LEGO hobby they are surprised and really don't know what to think/say. When I show them my LEGO studio their eyes open wide and say "that's LEGO?" How did you do that? How do you use LEGOs to make those shapes. They don't want to leave or stop talking about it. These are mostly men (some women) between 20 something and 60 something and all ages in between, they are all truly amazed.

I tell them I look at LEGO as the ultimate, re-useable 3D art medium. Then they understand why I build LEGO. Everyone (well most everyone) has desires of artistic expression and LEGO is one of the easiest ways to let those artistic desires out.

It doesn't mater what I build, a house, a church, a car, or a spaceship... It is all a means of artistic expression.

Children think LEGO is a toy, shh... Don't tell them it is an educational means of exploring their artistic creative side.

You are only too old for LEGO when you can't stack one brick on top of another.

Just MHO, YMV.

Andy D

When I tell people of my LEGO hobby they are surprised and really don't know what to think/say. When I show them my LEGO studio their eyes open wide and say "that's LEGO?" How did you do that? How do you use LEGOs to make those shapes. They don't want to leave or stop talking about it. These are mostly men (some women) between 20 something and 60 something and all ages in between, they are all truly amazed.

I tell them I look at LEGO as the ultimate, re-useable 3D art medium. Then they understand why I build LEGO. Everyone (well most everyone) has desires of artistic expression and LEGO is one of the easiest ways to let those artistic desires out.

It doesn't mater what I build, a house, a church, a car, or a spaceship... It is all a means of artistic expression.

Children think LEGO is a toy, shh... Don't tell them it is an educational means of exploring their artistic creative side.

You are only too old for LEGO when you can't stack one brick on top of another.

Just MHO, YMV.

Andy D

Yeah tbh it rarely comes up, and when people see the modular buildings at my house they think they're awesome. But like I said, it's having a full and interesting life to contextualize the hobby that counts. If it's taking over your life, you might want to have a think about what's really going on.

... Snip If it's taking over your life, you might want to have a think about what's really going on.

I think this says a lot... But if anything is taking over your life, even your job, there can be problems.

But all that said, I can think of worse things to occupy one's time.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andy D

I'm very lucky. I have no problems with family and friends (either lego theme or real) and my husband's other name is 'my lego facilitator'.

I think any embarrassment I might have had died a few weeks ago when I wandered into the Lego store around lunchtime and found it packed with AFOLs. At least a dozen. Not a kid in sight. The clerk was having a VERY good day. By my estimates I was the cheap customer... Only spending $250 or so.

I think Lego helps express your creativity. Some people are creative, some are not, but almost everyone will appreciate structure that is filled with great ideas. Not to mention that some of the builds are just a work of art!