Having three kids in the house, we have amassed quite the collection of Legos. Over the years, they have opened and built a wide variety of  Lego fire trucks, Lego airplanes, Lego spaceships, and of course a large variety of adorable Lego mini figurines. From about the ages of 4 to 12, it seems like Legos were the number one requested gift each year when their birthdays and Christmas rolled around. At this point, we basically have enough Legos to build an entire village or fleet of spaceships, whichever they prefer.

Over the years, through partnerships with various movie studios and the like, some awesome branding has come available for Legos. For example, you can now get the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters or the Delorean from Back to the Future in epic Lego form. Lego now has partnerships with Start Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, the Simpsons, Ferrari, Minecraft, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many more.

We have an official Lego Store here in our town, and we typically hear a chorus of “Wow!” and “Awesome!” from our kids whenever we go there. Of course, getting in on this Lego action comes at a fairly steep price.

The Ecto-1 Ghostbusters kit will cost you $49.99.  The Lego Delorean kit will set you back even further at a whopping $89.99. If you really want to get crazy, the Lego Death Star (below) comes in at a staggering $399.99. Even at that price, the product was back-ordered as of this writing.

The Big Green Bin

As much as our family loves Legos, we have managed to steer clear of the higher- priced sets. I think the most expensive Lego set that we’ve ever purchased was $34.99 (which admittedly, isn’t cheap).

The reason why we’ve been reluctant to buy expensive lego sets is that when its all said and done– all of our Legos end up in the same place: The Big Green Lego Bin. This bin is a bit of a magical place, you see? The Star Wars X-Wing parts end up mixing together with the Lego Shire Hobbit Dwellings. The Lego Minecraft Farm ends up completely mixed up with the parts that make up the Lego Batmobile.

The problem with this, of course, is that once the lego kit has become integrated with the rest of the legos in the Big Green Bin, there is little hope of ever re-assembling that kit back into its original state. Considering that assembling something as small as a roof on a small Lego house can take 20 different steps and one hundred small bricks, it’s no surprise that finding all of these pieces becomes nearly impossible.

The First Time

I should note that the very first time that a Lego kit is assembled, it *is* pure magic. The kids are deep in concentration for a couple of hours, following the well-illustrated blueprints step by step until the whole project is completed. I am always impressed by the amount of detail that goes into every part of these kits, even on the interior parts that you can’t see from the outside!

After the kit is fully assembled, you have a few options;

• Keep the fully assembled Delorean on your shelf or desk to show it off.
• Disassemble the Delorean, and put the pieces back into the original box (in a ziploc bag).
• Let the kids play with the toy –> Which will inevitably lead to pieces falling off of the toy –> Which is how Legos end up in our big green bin.

Since, we have never been the keep-your-toys-in-shrink-wrap type of family, we have always let our kids play with the Legos after they’ve finish assembling them. The end result is that our big green box probably has over $1000 worth of Lego kits in it, all mixed together.

If I could, let me offer one piece of advice. If you have small kids who are beginning to enter the Lego phase, instead of purchasing overpriced kits like the Lego Death Star, just head over to Craigslist or eBay and find someone who is selling a bulk lot of Legos. You will save yourself hundreds of bucks, and you will give your kids hours and hours of creative entertainment. I’ll touch base with you again in 20 years when your kids are the inventors and brainchildren of the future, creating the blueprints for all the Delorean builders of the past. May the force be with you.