Hi Bricksetters! I'm Paul and I'm looking for a little help please

GeordiePaul

Hi there, my name is Paul and I've been lurking on Brickset for around six months now, so I figured I should officially join in and interact.  I'm originally from South Shields in the north east of England (near Newcastle) but I moved to the US in 2008 and I'm currently living in Salem, Massachusetts.

I grew up with Lego in the late 70's and early 80's but lost interest around my early teens.  My wife bought me the Death Star set (10188) for my 39th birthday and it got me hooked again, so I now consider myself an AFOL (a term that I had no idea existed a year ago).  I have a (nearly) four year old son who also loves Lego, so we get to play together every day.  We've spent thousands of dollars in the last 18 months, although I dread to think exactly how much it is!

I've been picking up the modular sets, and I'm trying to find the Town Hall, Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium to extend my modular street display.  I've given up hope of finding the earlier sets (Corner Cafe, etc.) due to their insane prices on eBay and Bricklink.  I also have lots of Star Wars sets, but I'm really only collecting the Episodes IV-VI stuff.  Pondered collecting Episode VII stuff, but decided it was a bad idea financially with a second child on the way!

We also have various City sets that my son loves to mess around with, but we don't really do MOCs yet.  That may change when he gets older and he's still interested in Lego.

My main question is this - are there any other AFOL groups in Massachusetts other than NELUG?  And is anyone here a NELUG member?  I haven't approached them via email to join up yet, and was wondering what would be expected of me if I joined.  It would be great if I could find some fellow AFOLs closer to Salem, MA who might know of other meet-ups.

Okay, I've written WAY too much now, so I'll stop waffling on.  Any information would be greatly appreciated and the Lego community appears to be unbelievably helpful and supportive judging by what I've seen on the Brickset forums.

Thanks in advance!

catwrangler

Welcome to Brickset! :)

snowhitie

Hi Paul! Can't help you with any LUG'S nearby but welcome to the forums.

Great to share a bit of your story, good luck with the second kid and finding the things you want for your collection!

bandit778

Don't know personally of any LUGS in you area but have you tried http://lan.lego.com/lugs to find registered LUGS. Even if some of them are not close to you, they may have information about more local organizations.

GeordiePaul

Thanks catwrangler! Looking forward to contributing more around here

GeordiePaul

Hi snowhitie! I certainly enjoy reading other people's stories, so I figured I'd write a little more than usual. I'll get those modulars somehow!

GeordiePaul

bandit778 - much appreciated! I'll be sure to check out the link you provided. Hopefully I'll get a bit more info there.

msanders

Welcome to brickset. Personally I wouldn't bother with the retired modulars. The money is better spent on current modulars and sets. Plus they release a new modular every year so you will expand your city in no time. Plus there are the creator buildings you can add. 

Good luck with the second child. 

GeordiePaul

msanders - many thanks! Your advice is much appreciated, and I'm usually VERY frugal, but when it comes to Lego my wallet opens way too easily. I'm sure I'm not the only one around here who has that problem too!

Common sense tells me the $1000+ I'd need to acquire those three modulars would be much more wisely spent on other sets, but when you have holes in your collection it almost becomes an obsession to complete a particular theme. The chances of me getting all three are slim to none, but I reckon I can still snag a Grand Emporium before the end of the year :-)