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What’s the worst you have done in the name of Lego?

BrainsluggedBrainslugged Member Posts: 2,245
edited October 2020 in Everything else LEGO

What is the worst you have done to fuel your Lego addiction? Or what trouble has it got you into? We don’t want to hear about anyone stealing, beating someone up to take their Lego stash or anything else illegal or truly immoral. Maybe just stuff that you feel mildly ashamed about.

I had the idea to create this post a couple of days ago when I was viewing a house to potentially purchase. The kids’ rooms had a lot of Lego in them, and I noticed that amongst all the half built/smashed Lego, was a Queen Amidala #sw0387. She is pretty high up on my list of “ones that got away”. I feel ashamed just typing the words, but I briefly wondered whether the child would miss Amidala if it fell into my pocket. I cannot stress enough that there is absolutely no way I would ever have stolen from someone, let alone a child. But there is no escaping the fact that the dark, dark thought was allowed to take root inside my brain. I’m starting to think that the only way to rid myself of the dirty feeling it has left might be to go back with a little Lego gift as some sort of penance.

So what have you done that you are ashamed of or that pushed the boundaries of what might be considered socially acceptable? Have you been busted by your significant other decanting a freshly-acquired Lego set into a cornflakes box to conceal your purchase? Or have you had to live off beans on toast for a month as your entire budget was spent on brick.? I will post a couple of personal examples in separate posts to help kick things off. There were also some great examples in the Bonusball thread I hosted in June of 2019. Feel free to reproduce those to memorialise your shame in this more permanent thread.

Brainslugged


Bumblepants560HeliportFizyxNateMN2020Cymbelinemic27andhecozyBrickfan50gmonkey76OnebricktoomanyAddicted2Oxygen
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Comments

  • BrainsluggedBrainslugged Member Posts: 2,245
    edited October 2020

    I was in my local Tesco feeling up newly-released Disney 2 CMFs with my (then) 7 year old daughter. I was approached by some sort of manager and the store security guard. I thought they were going to tell me off for feeling up Lego, but their opening gambit was "we know you're buying discounted Lego and returning it for a full price refund. We want you to leave the store immediately and never return". Long story short is that they had just f-ed up. I'd bought a bunch of Lego Movie 2 sets, but then bought them again the following week when they were reduced by 50%. I then returned the originals with receipt. I tried to turn it into a learning experience for my daughter by pointing out how I'd remained calm with the staff and explained to them what I'd actually done enough times to ensure I'd erased any concern of wrongdoing from their minds. A bit of an uncomfortable experience all the same - especially as I spend a small fortune at that store and am in there at least every other day.

    560HeliportFizyxandhecozyOnebricktoomanyAddicted2Oxygenbricknation
  • Dude4LegoDude4Lego Member Posts: 35
    Just purchased a chrome C-3P0 and said nothing to my wife. It’s the only Star Wars minifig I was missing. I think I’d be sleeping on the couch for awhile if she found out how much it was. I have it prominently displayed though. 

    It was a opened one in perfect shape. So it wasn’t THAT expensive. 
    560HeliportBumblepantsFizyxCymbelineandheOnebricktoomany
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    I glue LEGO plates onto my jackets, jeans and shoes to try to look cool without paying for the real thing. (Not really!)

    If asked by family what sets my kids would like for presents I will tell them things that I might like to help build. Although the kids build faster than me these days so I don't really get much of a look in.

    I will tell my kids "Hands off, that's Dad's LEGO" but also play with theirs.

    I often sell stuff for twice what I paid for it.

    I don't mind paying way under the going rate if someone doesn't know what they have at a boot sale or charity shop.
    Mr_Cross560HeliportFizyxKungFuKennyCymbelineMynattmessycozyOnebricktoomany
  • PaperballparkPaperballpark Member Posts: 4,268
    edited October 2020
    Brainslugged said:

    I was viewing a house to potentially purchase. The kids’ rooms had a lot of Lego in them, and I noticed that amongst all the half built/smashed Lego, was a Queen Amidala #sw0387. She is pretty high up on my list of “ones that got away”. 

    What you should do, if you end up putting in an offer on the house, is specify that the Amidala Lego figure has to come with the house.

    Or, y'know, you could just negotiate as much of a discount as you can on the house and just buy the figure from Bricklink ;)
    FizyxKungFuKennyCymbelineBrainsluggedandhegmonkey76Onebricktoomany
  • Blockwork_OrangeBlockwork_Orange Member Posts: 189
    Concealing LEGO purchases from my significant other is a recurring conundrum.  I rationalize it by telling myself "It's not about being deceitful. It's to prevent her from being pissed off at me for adding another item to overwhelming hoard of sets".  

    My one technique is to leave purchases in the trunk (or "boot") of the car until I can quietly sneak then into the house.  Having my significant other working from home the past 6 months has made this much more challenging.  :)

    I have felt guilty about buying LEGO from a seller that had no idea of what it was worth, but I figure if they set the price it isn't so bad.
    BrainsluggedFizyxjmeninnovanvonfullandheMr_CrossMeganLOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
    Oh wait, that was Johnny Cash.

    I often buy readily available items via Amazon, so there is 'cover' for my LEGO trade boxes.  And I might have a business account for shipping said product.  Maybe.
    andheBrainsluggedMr_CrossKungFuKennymessygmonkey76OnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenmanSprinkleOtter
  • RedbullgivesuwindRedbullgivesuwind Member Posts: 2,115
    @flowerpotgirl if you take your models apart and just store the pieces they lose interest. My fiancé’s goddaughter and her brother were desperate to see my lego room. All my sets are stored by part. Two very disappointed children left that room.
    KungFuKennyflowerpotgirlFizyx560HeliportAstrobricksCymbelineOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • flowerpotgirlflowerpotgirl Member Posts: 195
    Redbullgivesuwind said:
    @flowerpotgirl if you take your models apart and just store the pieces they lose interest. My fiancé’s goddaughter and her brother were desperate to see my lego room. All my sets are stored by part. Two very disappointed children left that room.
    I do store my sets by part.  I had a box of parts down stairs, and I was stacking my 2 x 4 bricks for storage. My niece just looked at them and said "oh towers",  then completely ignored them and played with a box of unsorted lego I had allowed her. 


    Fizyx560HeliportKungFuKennyRedbullgivesuwindOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • jason1976jason1976 Member Posts: 320
    Just before coming out of my dark ages, I gave a box of my old Lego to my friends daughter (my goddaughter) who had got some. Just bricks, roof slopes, doors and windows that I grabbed from a quick rummage through the box it was stored in.

    On realising I still loved Lego I started sorting out the sets I had as a child and I realised that I must have given away some parts needed to complete some sets such as #374 and #675. I'm not going to ask for the Lego back but every time I'm round at my friends I keep an eye open for those parts and do wonder if I would steal them back if I had the chance.....
    flowerpotgirlFizyx560HeliportKungFuKennyCymbelinemic27andheOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • PaperballparkPaperballpark Member Posts: 4,268
    Redbullgivesuwind said:
    @flowerpotgirl if you take your models apart and just store the pieces they lose interest. My fiancé’s goddaughter and her brother were desperate to see my lego room. All my sets are stored by part. Two very disappointed children left that room.
    See, my girlfriend's little boy sees my nicely sorted collection and just wants to explore every part and build with it! And honestly, how can I not let him, when my dream at his age was to have enough Lego parts that I could build anything I could think of?

    There are a few rules though - no mixing it with his Lego, and anything he builds from my collection will at some point get taken apart and put back into the collection.
    560Heliportmic27FizyxCymbelinejason1976SumoLegoRedbullgivesuwindOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    edited October 2020
    The_Rancor said:
    I don’t know what happened with the pristine action figure!
    When he's sleeping, I would take his kidney.  Heh heh.  No, I'm kidding.

    - stares blankly-

    Do it.
    560HeliportflowerpotgirlMarshallmarioThe_RancorGothamConstructionCoKungFuKennygmonkey76Onebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • oldtodd33oldtodd33 Member Posts: 2,694
    ^ First it was my body parts and now other people's?   You may have some issues. Let me guess, Halloween is your favorite holiday. 
    560HeliportflowerpotgirlKungFuKennygmonkey76Onebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • RedbullgivesuwindRedbullgivesuwind Member Posts: 2,115
    CCC said:
    I can imagine someone fist pumping the air along with saying "they left disappointed and won't be coming back again"
    I was told I was being excessive when I shouted at them "and don't come back!" then shut the door and counted the parts to make sure they are still there. 

    @Paperballpark haha I agree that it is most kids' dreams to be able to build literally anything with as many parts as possible. I think when I have children that is probably the rule I will put in place. It just seems to be harder to try and control kids that aren't your own. so harder to put a rule in place.
    CCCFizyxOnebricktoomany
  • JudgeChuckJudgeChuck Member Posts: 1,581
    Bumblepants said:
    I have on occasion added the extra bits from my kids Lego sets to my own collection. Most notably the 1x1 printed Forestmen logo tile from Nexo Knights. But I also give them a crapton of Lego so it works out in their favor anyway.

    LOL! I do exactly the same for some of the extras from my own kids' sets. Again, like yours, they get plenty of Lego, so I don't feel too guilty about it.
    They have also been asking for additional Elves / Friends / City animals, which I will get for them from BL / PaB, so they do very well overall.
    560HeliportBumblepantsmic27KungFuKennyOnebricktoomanydavetheoxygenman
  • vanvonfullvanvonfull Member Posts: 268
    I hear you blockWorkorange...I have 5 sets in my trunk/boot right now. 

    My wife can see my purchases in our shared accounts.  She asked me to cut back recently and talk together about superfluous purchases over $100. 

    So now I’m buying smaller sets for awhile.

    I like to tell the truth: “Oh that, that’s for the niece/nephew, or our kids for Christmas”

    but the whole truth is that I probably bought 2 copies and already built mine by the time we talk about it.  



    560HeliportOnebricktoomany
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    oldtodd33 said:
    ^ ...Halloween is your favorite holiday. 
    It's actually Valentine's Day --- where it is acceptable to steal people's hearts.

    Bwhahahahahahahahahaha!
    Mr_CrossFizyx560HeliportKungFuKennyBumblepantsgmonkey76OnebricktoomanySAMAEL64davetheoxygenman
  • cody6268cody6268 Member Posts: 298
    JudgeChuck said:
    Hmm, where to start?! ;-)

    Yes, like most / many, I definitely under-represent what I spend on Lego and definitely sneak sets into the house. I also have sets delivered to a local Amazon pick-up point, so that I *can* sneak them in... I am trying to work out how I can do similar from [email protected] as well. I am very bad. :-(

    The other day, the subject of my collection came up and the other half made a comment along the lines of "That's all you'll have to leave your children in your will", followed up by "How much do you think it is all worth? £1000? I reckon it must be around £2000"... Ahem.

    On the plus side, my daughters love Lego as well and they help me build mine and have plenty of their own too. I'm not *all* bad... ;-)

    Do you have the equivalent of the UPS Store in the UK?  We have one here in my town, and before that, a couple of local businesses offered "UPS Drop Off/Pickup" services since they sent a lot of stuff by UPS anyway.  From what I understand, you can have your packages delivered there to pick up later, but I've never done it myself.
    Onebricktoomany
  • ShropshireShropshire Member Posts: 654
    we can have them rerouted to either the courier depot or to a local shop acting as agent for a particular courier.. they tend to be convenience stores and in my experience you run a risk of damaged parcels the longer it's left as, certainly in my area, they end up in a big pile in the corner.
    andheOnebricktoomany
  • truck730truck730 Member Posts: 365
    My tips don't see light of day other than to buy lego, I find change always on the footpath so I say the purchases were with the street money
  • JudgeChuckJudgeChuck Member Posts: 1,581
    I'm not sure you can easily do that with orders from the Lego Online Store in the UK. @Shropshire How are you organising this?
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    JudgeChuck said:
    I'm not sure you can easily do that with orders from the Lego Online Store in the UK. @Shropshire How are you organising this?
    When they used DHL you could do it online when they sent a delivery text. I don't know what they currently do, haven't ordered a normal set for ages, just PAB and B+P which come in other ways.
  • ShropshireShropshire Member Posts: 654
    @JudgeChuck  I wasn't saying S&H specifically, the convo was about amazon / ups store etc

    However, whenever I get an order from S&H via DPD in the UK, you can in their app/message/email choose to defer or redirect under "not going to be in....". Not sure what the specific options are so there may be a redirect to depot option.

    I do know as fact that with DPD irrespective, if it's undelivered at the end of the day after undelivered items are returned to depot you can go along with 2 forms of ID to collect.


  • JudgeChuckJudgeChuck Member Posts: 1,581
    edited October 2020
    @Shropshire Thanks for the info. Yes, I was aware of the depot pick-up possibility, but that's not really an easy option, compared to a local Amazon pick-up. @cody6268 mentioned UPS in reply to my comment about [email protected] I'll definitely look into it though, for my nefarious needs. :-)
  • BrainsluggedBrainslugged Member Posts: 2,245
    I'm not sure if I just crossed a line. All I did was pick up this lego magazine... and buy it. I specifically didn't inspect the other magazines to confirm whether or not I had a stowaway.

    Not sure if I'm gonna sleep tonight as despite the plausible deniability, I'm worried I'm slipping into a life of crime.

    FizyxCCCMr_Cross560HeliportOnebricktoomanygmonkey76davetheoxygenman
  • Mr_CrossMr_Cross Member Posts: 1,688
    If it will assuage your guilt, you can send the "spare" or "ill-gotten" one to me ;-)
    Onebricktoomanygmonkey76
  • MrJacksonMrJackson Member Posts: 454
    Is that an orange helmet? That was only available a single time before, the universe nexus polybag. If so, it's good to see it return.
    Onebricktoomany
  • ShropshireShropshire Member Posts: 654
    We really need to start a self-help group....... Lego Anonymous.. it will be a 12 step programme starting with confession of Lego related sins, progressing to a full supported 'coming out' to family and work colleagues and having counselling for recurrent dreams about colour variations and changes in quality. For those in particular dire straights, you have to have over the keys to your VIP account to a sponsor.
    560HeliportandheOnebricktoomany
  • BrainsluggedBrainslugged Member Posts: 2,245
    MrJackson said:
    Is that an orange helmet? That was only available a single time before, the universe nexus polybag. If so, it's good to see it return.
    Dark orange. Still only one set, but much more recent: #70431
    Onebricktoomany
  • RedbullgivesuwindRedbullgivesuwind Member Posts: 2,115
    @Shropshire I think we need to establish a confessional, where people come and confess their sins to a group of three people who then pass judgment.  

    I may have nicked this from Simon Mayo
    flowerpotgirlGibbo1959Onebricktoomany
  • Gibbo1959Gibbo1959 Member Posts: 548
    Redbullgivesuwind said:
    @Shropshire I think we need to establish a confessional, where people come and confess their sins to a group of three people who then pass judgment.  

    I may have nicked this from Simon Mayo
    I think Simon might have pinched the idea from the Roman Catholics. 
    flowerpotgirlandheOnebricktoomanyGothamConstructionCoRedbullgivesuwind
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,229
    Brainslugged said:
    Still only one set, but much more recent: #70431
    Lighthouse of Darkness.  So clever!
    OnebricktoomanyAstrobricks
  • masterX244masterX244 Member Posts: 534
    Shropshire said:
    By law all Lego that successfully makes it into the loft without being spotted is both free and doesn't exist... when it finally appears it's "oh, that, I got that ages ago don't you remember......oh, that, that was a free gift with that other Lego you saw.."

    When I know specifically there's something coming that deffo need to hide, I will stick the cctv display up so I can head the courier off outside, this new tactic is only since lockdown as we are both now at home working whereas prior it was just me so anything arriving after 8 and before 5 was "invisible"
    Seems like smuggling in parcels is common for some people. I usually reroute parcels that should stay "hidden" (i prefer DHL and UPS in germany due to that, easy to redirect them once registered). Car trunk is also a hiding spot for me sometimes.
    Onebricktoomany
  • WatfordScottyMWatfordScottyM Member Posts: 501
    I'm working from home at the moment due to the 'situation'.  This obviously means that it's easy for me to take delivery of parcels and safely transport them to the loft and out of sight. 

    I've just had notification that my order from last week (Treehouse and Elf Clubhouse) will be delivered today.  My wife has also decided that she's going to work from home today...  Gulp...

    How to sneak, what I can only imagine is going to be a massive brown delivery box, through the house???  Ideas welcome.
    Brickfan50OnebricktoomanyCharmiefcb
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