LEGO fan takes his LEGO room to a whole new realm

A LEGO fan has built the ultimate LEGO base after being served an ‘eviction notice’ by his wife, resulting in the creation of a brand-new brick-building paradise.

After being given an ultimatum by his wife, LEGO fan James Bruce decided to transfer his LEGO collection from the house to a dedicated cabin in the garden, branded The Brickpit. Having refound his love of LEGO when building with his son, his adult LEGO collection got large enough that only a DIY cabin would serve to house it.

“I was really into collecting LEGO as a child and I have fond memories of playing with my pirate-themed sets and city builds every Christmas,” James told Cornwall Live. “Thankfully, my parents kept all my LEGO bricks in their loft and gave it back to me 25 years later when we got our own house.

“I put the collection away for a few years as my son was too young to play with it at the time, then I introduced it to him when he turned six years old. Something sparked within me, and I decided to build him a table to create his own town.

“But to me, he was playing with it all wrong. It was infuriating to see him break up my cherished LEGO city sets. I know that’s the point of building LEGO, so I decided that it was best if I start my own collection that he can’t break. Pretty soon I had filled the living room, and I was served a LEGO eviction notice by the wife.”

The most expensive – and likely the rarest – set in the collection is the now-retired LEGO Batman 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg!, based on The LEGO Movie 2. Bought on the secondhand market, it set James back more than £400.

“The edge of my cabin is surrounded by custom-built shelving, so I can divide my collections up into zones,” James explained. “I’m not precious about everything being pristine; however, everything gets integrated into a scene and brought to life. I don’t want my LEGO to sit there and do nothing on the shelf, they’re designed to be played with after all.”

Indeed, building LEGO is more than just avid collecting, with James commenting on how it allows him to spend more quality time with his family – eviction notice or not.

“Building LEGO together is one of my family’s favorite activities and whilst we enjoy building new sets, buying mixed bricks in bulk and seeing what we can build is what we enjoy the most,” he said. “A single bulk purchase of LEGO bricks can keep my family busy for months. My wife loves to sort the bricks, whilst my son is building random creations and I’m working out what sets the bricks originally came from.

“Completing a LEGO set certainly has a sense of achievement when we can admire the finished build and see all the stories that the designers put in. I often incorporate and rearrange the cityscapes I’ve created and figure out how the new set fits into the story. Then I’ll add some more mini-figures or other bits to bring life to the scenes.”

Featured image: James Bruce /Madbricks

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