I suppose a Hello is in order =)

[Luciant]

I finally had some time to kinda play around the forums and go to other sections than the most important one (the deals section right?) :D Decided it was proper to introduce myself correctly.

So I loved Legos when I was younger, so much so that I thought I wanted to be an Engineer... Kept my sets nice and organized in some plastic containers while I went off to college (brought em with me), and then back, and somewhere along my many moves they ended up stored at the parents and one of the two tubs is now MIA :( I was fortunate my castle, a good lot of my sets and at least one of my "Light and Sound" sets was saved.

So hadn't really thought about Legos in a while, and recently went to NYC with my wife on a vacation, and a friend took us to the Rockefeller (spelling?) building that has a Lego store next to it... checked it out and remembered how awesome they were. They had some nice stuff, but it was so packed we didn't stay long.

Then we went to Texas for Thanksgiving and of course we were out Black Friday shopping and while the wife waited in the longest line on the planet for a pair of jeans, I decided to wander the mall. I ended up in the Lego store amazed at all the fantastic-ness. I almost bought my wife a Buzz-lightyear keyring because she loves Toy Story and I thought the minifig was awesome. I left managing to refrain from buying anything and went to check on the status of my wife. It had been like 30min and she still had at least another 15min before she was gonna be to the front (sadly not exaggerating the time). Told her of all the fantastic stuff and how I refrained but if I had to wait much longer I was gonna be bad. She told me it was ok if I was bad, and told me she'd be finished soon.

So off I went back to the Lego store, kitchen pass in hand....Even then I think I felt the obsession back in full force =) Legos are so expensive though... do I REALLY want to start collecting again? If I did, I would have to be smart and economical! Which set was going to be the First of the New Era of Lego...I got to the back of the store and saw some prospects...Then I came to the Creator section... 3 different builds for each set of pieces.... why how can you deny the value of these sets? I mean... isn't it 3 for the price of one? So which one... OMG.... Sonic Boom is so awesome... Jet, prop plane, Boat.... $60...it's kinda expensive though. Oh wait... everyone gets a scratch off guartee'ing at least 10% off, up to 30%.. SOLD.

Now.. how to justify a $60 Lego... the wife DOES love Toy Story, and there are a few awesome Toy Story Lego sets. I wanted to get her a Buzz and Woody Minifig so she would buy into this Lego craze with me. Hmm.. Toy Story Train, already 20% plus the scratch off? Sounds like a winner to me with all the minifigs. I also saw the Lego Games which looked awesome, so I decided I would buy one to check how fun they really were. Asked the sales guy, and he recommended Minotaurus. I haven't cracked it open yet, but it looks pretty fun... Can't wait to try it out.

So my first purchase of this new Era was not too bad, and totally justifiable in terms of savings, but did it work? Like a charm. Wife LOVED the Toy Story set, so guess what set I was able to hunt and buy "for her" ? =) I was also lucky that she fell in love with the City theme as well (score). I decided I wanted to focus on Star Wars since it's very popular and awesome, the only prob is the theme is HUGE.

So finally got looking during Christmas for all the sales I could, and started researching Legos as I was purchasing a few older sets on the cheap (or so I thought) on Ebay. Eventually I learned of Peeron, the Lego store, bricknet, and finally TnB. TnB has been the most useful community site I've been to. I thought I had joined sooner than Jan 8, but I guess i was just in lurker-mode til then. Thanks to this site I've been able to find some great deals, great clearance, and saved a ton of money. I've become MUCH more informed about the Lego community, price, second hand market, and am learning more and more every day.

The Lego community i've experienced so far seems very warm, inviting, and sympathetic to our mutual struggle to cope with our expensive addiction :) I've decided to become an active member, and to try to become a true Lego Guru, and maybe even one day a certified Lego building Expert =) You've got an awesome thing going here, and I'm honored to help contribute to it. Glad I found you!

-Luciant

[Ice]

Welcome to Toys N Bricks! Thats a very nice story. Star Wars is indeed a big theme and one of the most expensive lines due to the license with Lucas Arts. Inflation and probably an increase in license fees from the renewals isn't helping the cause either. But of course, the sets gets better and more realistic than previous ones.

LEGO is an expensive toy but thanks to everyone sharing the sales, we can all get much more manageable prices along with crazy deals like $3 LEGO sets at K-Mart. Glad you found us Luciant! :)

[Brickbuilder0937]

Welcome to TnB, we're glad you like the site.

[Mantisking]

Helloooo. :)

[legitimatealex]

Nice story : ) In the end though glad to have you. Welcome to TnB.

[legohunter]

Welcome to Tnb. Congratulation in finding this forum. There are many active members in here and you could always find your answer. I can't stop surfing this forum after I found it. Good luck to your wallet.