I haven't been seriously collecting for a long time, but I find it interesting some of the stories about people buying 30 of the same set, etc.

 

I have gotten immune to some things, but I still haven't been able to bring myself to buy a friends set. And I hate when I walk up to the checkout counter with 4 Lego sets and the cashier just happens to be really attractive

 

So are most of you just immune to it? When do you still find yourself embarrassed. Or are you to the point where it doesn't matter?

 

 

I actually agree to this.  If a girl doesn't appreciate my hobby, no matter how strange, it won't work out.

 

That explains the population of single guys at Comicons

That explains the population of single guys at Comicons

Lego is actually my only "nerdy" hobby, otherwise I am quite athletic, playing basketball, golfing, and training (for a Tough Mudder).  I do things I enjoy, and if I don't enjoy something, I tend to avoid it.

Everyone knows Lego is awesome and the best toy ever.  So I don't have a problem with people knowing that I buy it.

Lego is actually my only "nerdy" hobby, otherwise I am quite athletic, playing basketball, golfing, and training (for a Tough Mudder).  I do things I enjoy, and if I don't enjoy something, I tend to avoid it.

I play golf and basketball too along with baseball. I also do NASP archery target shooting. I have a blast with them all!

Sorry for going off-topic. :offtopic:

I will say that having a kid certainly helps to avoid most initial reactions, but when I'm walking out with over a hundred dollars in LEGO sets, even her presence doesn't prevent what would be awkwardness to some people.

 

Personally, I don't give a **** what people think about what or how much I'm buying.

 

The other plain fact is that, aside from a couple of quizzical looks from the occasional cashier (and when Walmart has to get a CSM to use their key to authorize a deep discount that apparently even they can't believe they did), most of the employees don't give a **** either. They just want to go home or get on break.

 

I've shop mostly at Walmart for my deals because they have the authority per store to mark them stupid low when they have to just get it out the door. After weeks of doing this, I think I've only had one person actually bring themselves to inquire as to what the heck I am doing buying all these LEGO sets.

 

My answer was, "I'm an enthusiast."

Ed, you mean you play the 'single dad' angle for hot cashiers?  JK.  (don't ban me lol) 

Married men get more attention to be quite honest.  

The Guy/Girl thing definitely goes both ways.  Ain't love grand.

 

As far as the cashiers, when they ask, I say I'm stocking up for Christmas and birthdays when stuff is on sale, usually they tell me how smart I am, lol, if they only knew. I am definitely stocked up for many Christmas' for all these kids I don't have.

The only time I was embarrassed was smooshing for Mr. Gold.  I'm done doing that for life.

A lot of the time, I'll get compliments or envious remarks from cashiers. Everybody appreciates a cool toy when they see one, even jaded walmart employees.

The most sets I've bought at once is three, and I had my oldest boy with me. The cashier told him he must be a lucky kid, and he replied, "Just this one is mine, those are my daddy's." lol

Once they're built and displayed in my house, I show them to every guest we have. R2-D2 is by far everyone's favorite.

^haha, cute line by your kid Diablos.  My kid is turning 4 in the October, talks a lot now and it's funny/embarassing what they say in public (have no filter and usually 99% of the time tell the truth). 

^haha, cute line by your kid Diablos.  My kid is turning 4 in the October, talks a lot now and it's funny/embarassing what they say in public (have no filter and usually 99% of the time tell the truth). 

You are right about little kids.  My son Max will be 4 in September and he says some crazy stuff.  He calls people ugly, fat, beautiful....He even calls me Brad Pitt. I guess it's the resemblance.  

no shame here, and I have bought many a cart overflowing with lego, and received "the look". I tell them exactly what I am doing with it. why do they care? they could do the same thing if they wanted to, and since they work there, they would have first crack at any steep discounts. I actually think it's kind of cool what we do, and a few have commented as such after I tell them. I am 36, married, with two kids, but I have never brought my kids on a lego run with me. daddy's "side business" is still a secret to them. however, I have brought my 66 year old father to shopko a few times to act as my buyer so I can take advantage of his 15% senior discount on the first Wednesday of every month. I always wait in the car while he lugs 2 full shopping carts through the checkouts. he has gotten quite a few interesting looks and comments, but he enjoys it too.

You are right about little kids.  My son Max will be 4 in September and he says some crazy stuff.  He calls people ugly, fat, beautiful....He even calls me Brad Pitt. I guess it's the resemblance.  

One of the stories I continually hear is when I went swimming with my grandpa when I was 5, I looked at him and said "Grandpa, you have really big boobs!"  You want to talk about no filter 

 

One way this is relevant is that Grandfather was the one who really started my Lego building, and 18 years later, it's still going!

It stopped the day I was smooshing for minifigs and people were watching. Though even I felt like a bit of a heel loading up a shopping trolley for my 8 year old to say loudly "Dad are these cheap and you can resell them later?"

I'm not sure exactly when I stopped caring and would take a guess it was whenever I realized "Why should I care?"

If people will go online to watch adult entertainment, then how could they give me grief for buying a kids toy?

I stopped caring when I finally got a Girlfriend who would sit down and built Hogwarts with me. 

Most of my purchases I do online, however, last February my local supermarket was emptying their remaining toys that didn't sell for Christmas for 50% off. I got a 4x4 crawler and 4 technic logging trucks. The lady at the cash desk was actually thanking me to buy all this, I told her I was buying for eventual kid birthdays etc. People usually don't assume you buy Lego for yourself! It doesn't cross their minds that this isn't for a kid lol...

The cashier at the Lego store didn't even blink when I purchased over $800 the other day.

I stopped caring when I finally got a Girlfriend who would sit down and built Hogwarts with me. 

 

Wife her.

Ha, this is a benefit to being a 47 year old woman - all the clerks just assume I'm a doting grandma or auntie. 

Whenever someone looks at me funny when I tell them I invest in Legos, I just whip out this picture and all is good! Jk jk i usually say the price is so good I cant pass them up and that Maybe I will contact my son's school about using them as part of a fund raiser. Justafrog is right: being a woman really helps in these situations.

Whenever someone looks at me funny when I tell them I invest in Legos, I just whip out this picture and all is good! Jk jk i usually say the price is so good I cant pass them up and that Maybe I will contact my son's school about using them as part of a fund raiser. Justafrog is right: being a woman really helps in these situations.

 

smacking myself because I was trying to figure out how this was made of legos...

The only time I have that shameful feeling is smooshing.  Nobody else seems to care, heck, they usually join in, but it's just one of those things that I should have outgrown.  Going through the checkout, only one employee has said anything, and I only had 4 Gandalf Arrives.  I told her they were great deals and that I'd find a good home for them.  She didn't give a crap.  Bottom line, most people don't care.

I have never really cared, if someone has a problem with it, then they can just not talk to me

 

Although, when I was clearing out a section of clearance lego, a kid looked at me and asked his mother, "why is that guy buying so many lego sets? She looked at me and said to him, it's because he's a man-child honey."  Now that really didn't happen, but those are the looks I get when leaving the store with a cart full of lego.

What onlookers ? My brain is too busy calculating the    to notice the jealousy