Are you a collector, MODer, or MOCer?

[Paul B Technic]

Recently I have been interviewed for a magazine article, while talking to the reporter about the LEGO hobby we started to talk about the different areas of the hobby and how I approached it. I said I was more of a MODer / MOCer and less of a collector.

Over the weekend while doing some work on my latest Unimog attachment I started to do some stats on if my perception was correct. For the below I class each as this:

SET: Built as per the official building guide with no or very little changes.

MOD: Built as per the official building guide with significant changes, new features or improvements.

MOC: Built without any building guide, all custom made.

Here are some stats:

Not including "Unimog Attachments":

SET = 25%

MOD = 25%

MOC = 50%

Including "Unimog Attachments":

SET = 11%

MOD = 11%

MOC = 78%

So over 75% of what I have built is either a MOD or MOC, I think I was right to say I am not a collector but more a MODer / MOCer.

What are your numbers like? Are you more of a collector or MODer / MOCer?

[TheLegGodt]

I am more like 90% a collector while I do apply some MODs if the out-of-the box model does not fully fit my city layout. But usually that is limited to removing a base plate. My biggest MOD was turning the Crator Town House into a Train Station for my city layout. I have ordered though around EUR 1000 of bricks through PAB to build scenery for my layout (i.e. trees, pavements, roads, hills, beaches, docks, etc.). So I guess that makes me a bit of a MOCcer after all ;-)

[Alfadas]

WelI, I am part Collector, as I make the sets I get according to the manual, but also part MOCer. I sometimes buy multiple of 1 set for the parts, and I also buy loose parts. So I'd say I am 60% collector, 40% MOCer.

[Zerobricks]

I'd say SET 1%

MOD 0%

MOC 99%

I just cant keep my sets in one piece longer than a few days

[hollisbrick]

I used to Moc and Mod quite a but but I seem to have no room and time anymore

I mainly just collect Starwars, DC and Marvel Lego now.

[Boulderer]

I'd say that since coming out of my "Dark Age" I'm heavily leaning towards collector. Prior to the DA I was definitely at the opposite end of the spectrum as an MOCer.

I've started to venture into the MOC world again recently, albeit in a rather small and incompetent way

[ShaydDeGrai]

By pure set count, I'm definitely in the collector camp as I have hundreds of sets, built exactly "by the book" and left assembled for years.

By part count or time invested, however, I'm not so sure. I don't tend to do very many small MOCs these days except when doing "Architecture"-style models or whilst feeling "brick-blocked" (a frustrating phenomenon that combines the creative setbacks of writers' block with the practical limitation of waiting for a very specific Bricklink order to come in) on a major project. I probably assemble twenty kits for every MOC I create, but I spend far more time, money and energy on my MOCs than I do on my kits. My last major MOC was somewhere on the order of 75k to 100k parts and my current project is already over 5,000 parts and is still only in the planning/prototyping phase. I'll spend months working on a single MOC whereas a moderate set (like a modular building or a high-end Technic kit) is only a single evening's activity.

Is it sufficient to say that the collection defines the collector, or do we need to look beyond the artifacts themselves to understand the true focus of the hobby?

[TWO2SEVEN]

At this point, I am mostly SET. However, going by the fact that I have all of my old sets from my childhood I would also be partly a collector. I dabble in MOCs occasionally on LDD. If I ever make something that I am really happy with I will order the bricks to make it a real model.

Once my son is a little older there will probably be more modding as we build our city. :)

[ummester]

MOD - 10%

BRICK MOCer - 45%

LDD MOCer - 45%

I seldom buy sets anymore and everything I have kept is heavily MODed. I don't build everything I design - I like to design, more than anything else and there is something so much neater about playing digitally :D

Edited September 2, 2014 by ummester

[alanyuppie]

Jingle bricks jingle bricks. (I'm a) MOCer all the way. :)

[MAB]

Minifig collector and MOC'er. I rarely bother building sets I buy. They are normally just for parts.

[AFOLguy1970]

I mostly collect sets, however I am working on two large MOCs, one being on the backburner. I have yet to try a MOD, but it is not out of the question in the future.

[alois]

I have collected many sets, recently mostly from the seventies and eighties, assembled in one big Legotown, but I also have a Lego Town that's only moc. They lay peacefully next to each other.

[Hrw-Amen]

I do like to collect a theme if I find it interesting and often buy every set released for it. For example last years CITY mine. I have not made up the larger ones as I do not have room. This year it is City artic.

I also get several of the smaller sets in a theme to make MOCS for that theme. Usually there is a printed tile or sticker sheet and of course you normally get a minifigure so they are useful. This year I have bought about eight of the small snowmobiles to get parts and figures for artic theme MOCS.

Generally though I am a MOCer. My main theme is trains and there just are not that ,many to buy and they are generally big purchases. I have yet to get this years white passenger train but I am saving myt £1.00 coins for it. Nearly all of my railway stuff is MOC'ed though in comparison to the official sets.

I tend to generally get most of my stuff for MOCing from Bricklink and I buy large numbers of bricks ata time generally building up until I have enough to lauch into a MOC. I do not go out with the intention of buying from a aparts list as I have a good idea of what I need without that. I just restock on things I am short off.

So I would say about 90% MOCs and 10% Built as on box. This 10% also tends to include Mods as most of the time I like to tile everything rather than havings nobs sticking up.

[eurotrash]

Hmmm,

I don't purchase many sets, but when I do they all get built according to the instructions - then most of them get disassembled for MOCs (although there's have been a couple of MODs). So the percentages won't total 100%, but I'd say

SETS - 100% -> 20% remain intact

MOD - 30% of SETS

MOC - 80% of my TIME

[dr_spock]

I MOC mostly. I MOD most of my sets to my liking. I collect Technic flagships ocassionally.

[grum64]

Having only ever built one (LDD) MOC, my Meyra Optimus Wheelchair, I can only consider myself to be a collector/builder who aspires to be a creditable MOCer.

[Gremer]

MOC - 0%

MOD - 5%

Collection - 95%

I'm not a big MOCer, and usually only mod if it's really bad (like 75050's guns).

[HawkLord]

When I first started collecting in 2009/2010 it was:

Set - 100%

MOD - 0%

MOC - 0%

This year, it's been:

Set - 60%

MOD - 5%

MOC 35%

I think most of the sets I've bought this year were for parts. It seems to be a natural progression for me, as I used to just buy sets and keep them organized together without letting a single piece get out of order. Now I just buy boxes that I rip open and sort into respective containers for future MOCs.

[fred67]

Mostly a collector, I guess, but MOD sets a lot (usually adding something or removing play features for display). I've done a number of MOCs and have a number of larger ones planned, but don't have a lot of room at the moment, so it's difficult, so when I MOC it's usually something small.

[Paul B Technic]

Thanks for all the replies, it is good to see that we have a wide range of people who approach it from different angles.

[Brickus]

100% Collector.

[Freekysch]

I am too 100% collector.

[samurai-turtle]

I guess I am in the collector category. But, I think I am going to do other stuff. But, never get around to doing them sadly.

[DarthBrickus]

100% Collector, i'd like to MOC some, but i don't have much time