| |
In lugnet.general, Tim Courtney writes:
> In lugnet.general, John P. Henderson writes:
Looking back in the thread, I think I was the one who began talking about
"adult" here, although the phrase "Adult Fan of LEGO" (AFOL) seems to have been
created quite a while ago.
I find that I mention adult LEGO fans almost in self defense. Most of my
friends and relatives still think of LEGO sets as toys for kids. And there is
always a little eyebrow raising when people find out that a grown man plays
with those plastic bricks. And spends hundreds of dollars on them. (And posts
on the internet about them when he should be working.)
So, since strangeness loves company, I always point out that there is a huge
community of adults who do the same thing. I mention the websites, the clubs,
the exhibitions that exist. It makes me feel better anyway.
I did not play with LEGO toys as a kid. I didn't discover them until I was
already an adult - when I saw the Castle theme sets my nephew had. I have
always been interested in medieval history anyway, so LEGO became an extension
of that. It was difficult at first to go into a toy store and buy LEGO toys for
myself. I felt a lot better about it when I found Shop At Home. And better
still when I found out that there are a lot of other people like me in the
world.
For me the LEGO Community is a support group.
I still get raised eyebrows, but I don't feel so bad about it now.
I mentioned in an earlier post that the LEGO Group should do more marketing for
the adult audience. What I meant was that the LEGO Group should help us
"legitimize" the adult LEGO fan by publishing some catalogs aimed at an adult
audience. (I know that the idea of "for adults only" has an unwholesome
connotation. It doesn't have to actually say "adult".)
The LEGO Legends line and the My Own Creation lines are perfect products to
market to adults. I imagine a lot of the Train and Mindstorm kits fit here. And
the Bulk Elements seem like they belong here too.
I tend to be inclusive in my thinking. I am not suggesting that adults out to
separate themselves or that there ought to be an age limit. I believe that
adults who are able to retain a childlike ability to play and pretend are the
best adults. Sometimes we have to relearn that from young people so isolating
ourselves is a bad idea.
Stephen
|
|
Message is in Reply To:
200 Messages in This Thread:
(Inline display suppressed due to large size. Click Dots below to view.)
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
