“It is not a hobby, but a flat-out addiction,” said the 36-year-old Michael Smith.
Michael, who has been a collector and builder of Lego sets for the past eight years, explained where it all started. “When my son was born, he received a lot of Lego as gifts from family members. When he turned three, we started playing with it.”
He added that people might think it unusual for a grown man to play with Lego, and said, “I have my own business and I am extremely busy, so I do Lego to spend some quality time with my son, 8, and daughter, 3, interacting and bonding. It is much better than watching a movie or playing video games.”
Michael said people tend to see Lego as just a toy, but it is much more than that. “Lego teaches children about maths, colour recognition, it is interactive and colourful and encourages them to play with it, while improving their fine motor skills, listening skills, concentration and the ability to follow instructions carefully,” he said.
He explained that there are two types of Lego enthusiasts – those who only buy sets, build them from the instructions and then display them. “Then there are the My Own Creation (MOC) builders who use sets as a foundation, and then add their own designs – like I do. Although it is nice to build with sets, I believe that MOC building is much more creative, and allows you to use your imagination more freely to create what you see in your mind,” said Michael.
Michael started off small, but now he has a vast Lego collection. He wishes to share this joy with other people and that is how the jhbLUG club started. “LUG is short for Lego User Group. We are a family-orientated group that aims to promote the product. The only requirement is that you cannot join our LUG on your own; you have to join with one of your children, for example a father and son, and a mother and daughter,” he said.
They also host exhibitions throughout the year, and Michael said they have at least eight confirmed events for this year already. “Our first expo for the year will be on 3 February at Maragon Ruimsig’s Pre-school. The event will run from 9am to 4pm, and we will have demonstrations, competitions, Lego pits as well as a lot of opportunities for the children to interact and play with the displays,” he said excitedly.
Entrance to all expos is free, because they want people to come and enjoy themselves. “The expos are all about having fun and offering parents the opportunity to interact with their children,” Michael said.
One lucky reader stands a chance of winning a Lego set to the value of R1 000 by visiting www.jhblug.co.za and clicking on the Maragon competition link. The competition runs from 15 to 31 January, and the winner will be determined by a random draw.
For more information, contact Michael on 083 614 9997 or via email info@jhblug.co.za or visit their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1857796171109481/about/).
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