Photo by Gabe Alejos
By Forest Lassman
For many, Legos are just a toy, but for Tayler Anderson, they are a blank canvas.
Anderson, a 19-year-old second year student, loves building these Lego creations and competes in building contests with the blocks.
As a child, Anderson loved Legos, receiving them as gifts on almost every holiday. As he reached middle school, he moved away from Legos, but a few years later, Anderson was pulled back by his girlfriend. She worked at Legoland, and suggested Anderson go to one of the special “No Kids Allowed” nights at the store.
At the event, Anderson entered a build-off, where he was given a basic topic and a short time to build. He planned too big to finish his design, but came away from the experience hooked on building again.
Afterward, Anderson brought out his old Legos and started to collect more. His collection now is well over ten thousand of the small building blocks.
Anderson put this massive collection of blocks to use, building all the time. When it came time for the Super Bowl, Anderson watched from the corner of his eye, instead focusing most of his attention on finishing up a build.
Different types of creations are scattered around Anderson’s house. Everything from the DeLorean from “Back to the Future” to the Parthenon are part of his collection.
One of Anderson’s favorite builds is the Ecto-1 from the film “Ghostbusters”. When he builds it, Anderson becomes silent, focusing intently on finding the correct piece from the hundreds in front of him. As the final piece is put in place, Anderson’s joy is obvious.
Creating so many builds does take a lot of time. Some of the more intensive builds can take hours to make, and can use up to thousands of pieces to properly make.
Even after putting lots of time and energy into finishing these builds, Anderson enjoys taking them apart. Building something different is an entertaining and satisfying challenge for Anderson.
“Opening a new box and finding all the new pieces that I didn’t have is great. Seeing them always sparks ideas of what it could make,” said Anderson.
Working on a new idea for a build is an entertaining challenge for Anderson. With so many different pieces, finding a unique way to use them feels rewarding, and even when a build doesn’t work out, Anderson feels satisfied with the journey. Failure is a part of his creative experience, and each tries leaves Anderson with a few more ideas to use in the future.
These builds also help Anderson in school, where he is studying graphic design. Anderson loves to work with clean lines and shapes for whatever project he’s working on, and Legos are “a lot like that on a 3D level.”
His love for Legos are not just a one way relationship. After placing second in a competition where he build Wilson from the film “Cast Away”, he won an opportunity to compete in a build-off for a TV segment. An even better opportunity soon came when Legoland hired Anderson to work at the store
Anderson is able to live the dream of many children, building Legos as a job, and enjoying every second of it.
Contact Forest Lassman, copy editor, flassman@jccc.edu