A LEGO collector from Liskeard has built his own cabin in the garden to house his vast collection.

Most people will have heard of LEGO and it’s likely that many have owned at least one set at some point throughout their childhood.

One collector who recently rekindled his love for LEGO is James Bruce, 42, a writer from Liskeard.

James said his love for LEGO began at an early age — growing his vast collection of bricks from sets he received as Christmas gifts.

James explained why it’s become an important part of his life again in adulthood.

He said: “I was really into collecting LEGO as a child and I have fond memories of playing with my pirate themed sets and city builds every Christmas. Thankfully, my parents kept all my LEGO bricks in their loft and gave it back to me 25 years later when we got our own house.”

James rekindled his love for LEGO when he first introduced the building blocks to his son for the first time.

“I put the collection away for a few years as my son was too young to play with it at the time, then I introduced it to him when he turned six years old. Something sparked within me, and I decided to build him a table to create his own town.

“But to me, he was playing with it all wrong. It was infuriating to see him break up my cherished LEGO city sets. I know that’s the point of building LEGO, so I decided that it was best if I start my own collection that he can’t break! Pretty soon I had filled the living room, and I was served a LEGO eviction notice by the wife.”

In order to vacate the living room and find a way to house his vast collection of LEGO builds, James found a solution: “I bought a small cabin, dubbed the ‘Brick’ and built it in the garden to house the hundreds of LEGO models I’ve collected. The most expensive set I own is the “Welcome to Apocalypseburg” from the LEGO Movie 2 series, which I had to source online and cost me over £400.

“The edge of my cabin is surrounded by custom built shelving, so I can divide my collections up into zones.

“I’ve spent around £3,000 on LEGO building sets and between £1,000 to £2,000 on bulk building blocks over the years. I’m unsure on how much my sets are currently worth, and while some of the sets I’ve found contained in the bulk building blocks I’ve bought could be rare, I’m yet to catalogue their exact value.”

James’ new found love for LEGO has allowed him to spend more quality time with his family, participating in building creations with his wife and son.

He said: “Building LEGO together is one of my family's favourite activities and whilst we enjoy building new sets, buying mixed bricks in bulk and seeing what we can build is what we enjoy the most. A single bulk buy of LEGO bricks can keep my family busy for months. My wife loves to sort the bricks, whilst my son is building random creations and I’m working out what sets the bricks originally came from.

“Completing a LEGO set certainly has a sense of achievement when we can admire the finished build and see all the stories that the designers put in. I often incorporate and rearrange the cityscapes I’ve created and figure out how the new set fits into the story. Then I’ll add some more minifigures or other bits to bring life to the scenes.”

His friends and family are envious and supportive of his hobby and his ever-growing collection. He said: “My parents think I’m a big man-child, but they thought that anyway before I got back into LEGO. My friends or visitors are super envious and always go home thinking about how they can turn their spare room into a LEGO room. Thankfully, my wife is amazing and fully supportive of my hobbies.”

There’s more to LEGO than keeping yourself busy or occupied, it’s been proven that it can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing and improving fine motor skills, even as an adult.

This is something that has had an impact on James’ life too: “I’m fortunate that my day job isn’t too stressful, however building LEGO is definitely cathartic. I like the physicality of it and, similar to board games and puzzles, it hasn’t been replaced by a digital version or a video game. There’s just something about manipulating the physical bricks in a world that otherwise does everything on a screen.

“It’s also taught me how important the concept of “play” is as an adult; I think a lot of people have resigned that to childhood.”

For more information visit madbricks.com