Allan Grant of Mount Cotton may not have played LEGO® much as a child, but he has made up for since taking it up last year.
In that time, he has spent about $12,000 on LEGO and will display his avengers/super hero city at a LEGO Event coming to the Sleeman Sports Complex, Chandler on October 3, 4 and 5.
“I don’t want to stereotype people but there are all sorts of interesting people I have met through Lego. There is an underground city of LEGO heads. I have just caught this random bug. I guess I’m a ‘why not?’ kind of guy,” Grant said.
Never one to do things by halves, Grant’s “bugs” have seen him spend $90,000 restoring a Honda Civic and purchase mountain bicycles worth $17,000.
“I always jump in with two feet. I took up racing at 19 and I am still doing it. LEGO wakes me up at 2am when I think, ‘Wow, that’s how I can do that.’ I like to think that you can get a box of random bricks at Kmart and turn them into a plane or a boat or a car and then you can pull them apart and make something even cooler. I like that,” he said.
Grant, 37, said he took up LEGO while overseas on a mountain bicycle race.
“I had some time and I noticed someone doing LEGO on you tube. Then I walked past a toy shop and it was on sale. It caught my interest. I know a guy who spends $100,000 a year on it. It blows your mind,” he said.
He said it was also something he could do with his daughter Scarlett, 4, besides playing Barbies.
“My 15 month old is more of a destructive monster than a helper. But Scarlett loves to see the trains come out of the tunnels and push the cars around and put people in,” he said.
Grant’s city joins other displays such as the Great Ball Contraption; a tribute to pop culture and many movies (Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Star Wars); Minecaft world complete with Zombies, Creepers and the dreaded Endermen.
This will also be the last opportunity to see Old Parliament House before its de-commission. The BrisBricks Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) community in South East Queensland provides an interactive display, a large train layout, and displays from AFOLs located all over the country. This year, the expo has a replica (13:1 scale) functional model of the Joyglobal P&H 2300xpc made in Yungaburra. This model alone has an estimated 30,000 LEGO elements, and took 14 months to build.
Over 1.5 million bricks will be displayed this year to wow and excite ticket holders.
There will also be a LEGO play area for kids, plenty of retailers and food vendors.
Tickets are adults $10, child (3-15years) $5 and children under three free. Book on http://www.trybooking.com/IGIB. Tickets will not be sold at door. More on www.brisbricks.org
