Posted By Adam White on Oct 14, 2021 | 3 comments

I’m mentioned my various standout LEGO® moments over the years but thought it would be fun to tell my LEGO story. Like many, I had multiple LEGO sets as a kid. They included sets 6080: King’s Castle, 6482: Light & Sound Rescue Helicopter and many more. I’ve often been reminded by my Mum that she had to spend Christmas Eve, putting the sets together so they would be ready to play with on Christmas morning. A popular trait for many AFOLs is having LEGO sets as a kid and then losing interest in the brick for other things. The spark is then reignited many years later.

I can pinpoint that very moment as July 13th, 2007. I was a member of the UK Garrison, a UK-based Star Wars costuming club, which I was first introduced to at the National Space Centre in Leicester. Star Wars Celebration was taking place in London, where as well as donning my Yavin Honour Guard costume, I also crewed, which had me looking after someone wearing an incredible Chewbacca costume. As I wrangled the Wookie, I was approached by someone wearing a LEGO branded shirt. They were from the LEGO Star Wars stand and wanted to get a picture of Chewie on it. After the pictures were taken, we went on our way around the convention. A few minutes later the same guy from the LEGO Stand, sidled up to me and slipped me a small white bag as thanks for delivering them the Wookie.

As I looked down into my hand I found I had been gifted a golden C-3PO Minifigure. Little did I know this small gesture would kick-start my interest in LEGO once more. That little gold coloured Droid was limited to 10,000 worldwide and so my interest in LEGO returned.

I can remember the first ‘big’ LEGO set I purchased myself, it was also my first LEGO.com order and it was set 79003: An Unexpected Gathering. I say big, back then it was, as I’d mostly been buying Collectable Minifigures and the odd small set here and there. Oh, how times have changed, back then dropping £60 on a set wasn’t an easy decision. Fast-forward a few years and I wouldn’t think twice about spending a couple of hundred pounds on a set.

For work, I’ve always been within the world of retail, from games assistant at my local video store, which once had me sitting amongst the Japanese Nintendo executives at ECTS, to working in WHSmith. A connection to LEGO hasn’t been far off. Whilst at WHSmith, we gave away various free gifts with some of the national newspapers including the LEGO polybags. Over the years they have switched between The Mirror, the Daily Mail and The Sun. In the early days, there was little fanfare about this promotion. As I had access to the details around the promotion, I wanted to share them. Which led me to BrickFanatics. I soon began writing for their website, moving from just covering LEGO games to the Editor. After helping the site achieve a massive fanbase, it all ended. Due to certain reasons and with no notice, my services were no longer needed. I must stress, there is no connection to the current owners.

My work with BrickFanatics led me to become a writer for Blocks magazine, and then Bricks Magazine. My sudden exit from BrickFanatics also allowed me to create my own website called BricksFans. But after working immensely hard to build my audience, the plug was pulled and I lost everything. BricksFans was positioned to be a sort of online arm of Bricks magazine. The domain was owned by the publisher and after they suddenly disappeared, access to my site was lost, with no means to get it back.

And so BricksFanz was born. It continued the success of BricksFans but this time I owned it and with lots of help from Nick at Minifigs.me, I had a vehicle to share my LEGO mutterings. Soon after my original website was established, I was accepted into the LEGO Ambassador Program. This has been a big honour for me. Not only was my love of LEGO being recognised by the LEGO Group, but I also took and continue to take the role extremely seriously. I have never done it to gain anything, be that money or freebies. When I take interest in something I will do all I can to express this in a positive light to others.

It’s also helped my mental health. In recent years my stepdad died without leaving a will so my home of 20 plus years was at risk of being lost. My Mum’s health has been pretty bad and my own health hasn’t been much better. More recently I was made redundant. Without the world of LEGO, covering and discovering the latest LEGO news, building sets and interacting with fellow fans has really kept me going. I may not have many friends and those I thought were friends have disappeared but every nice comment, like or share of my LEGO output, it lets me know, what I’m doing is worthwhile.

It’s also helped me do things I never thought I’d ever do. I’ve been on local radio, interviewed for national newspapers and attended various product launches. Some of my Minifigures, from childhood sets, have featured in a couple of DK Books. It’s also allowed me to get on a plane for the very first time and visit another country. Getting to visit Billund and walk around the LEGO factory and underground vault will be with me forever.

I’ve no idea what the future will hold but I will continue to share my love of the LEGO brand. I’d love to make BricksFanz way better than it is, with a redesign, more contributors and that sort of thing. But with no job at the moment, lack of the technical skills to do it myself and caring for my Mum and a loopy dog, that will be off the cards for a while.

One thing I would like to say is a massive thank you to each and everyone who visits BricksFanz and puts up with all my nonsense. I may not have met them yet, but I made some great digital friends through the LEGO community and BricksFanz. It really means more than you think. LEGO really is more than a brick.