Humans of Ōtautahi: James and Colin
James “I probably spend a couple of hours a day building. My favourite Lego part is the two-by-four brick – I’ve always had a fascination for two-by-four bricks. One day, I was just randomly building with them, and I came up with the idea of a series of characters, and that’s the only brick I’ve used to build them.
“My favourite set is the Ninjago Dragon Pit that came out a few years ago from one of the older seasons. I like all kinds of grey. I see colours differently to most people, but it doesn’t really matter when building with Lego.”
Colin “We got into Lego again when James was about four; it started with the Star Wars Red Five X-wing. I basically looked at the bigger sets rather than the smaller ones. The kids always love playing with those big sets.
“My wife Aimee doesn’t do as much building, but she certainly is the official ‘puller-aparter’ of the Lego, and then I sort it. We sort it by part type. James and I do most of the building together; it’s a good way to reset. And, of course, it is an activity that doesn’t require a screen. So, it gives you that away from technology.
“In 2018 we put our first display in for the Annual Christchurch Brick Show, a winter scene which was certainly challenging to build. We all participated, went to the workshops, and learned new things.
“The inspiration for this castle came from James’s school doing a focus on levers and pulleys. I created a guard tower with a drawbridge that went up and down. It was taken to school, and the kids played with it. Then they were talking about catapults – so I built a trebuchet that actually ‘flinged’ bricks. [James: “It was awesome!”]
“For next year’s show, we’re looking to expand it with a bay, and we’re going to do a pirate ship so there’ll be more water and a sandy beach. We’re thinking like a small medieval village with a Gothic cathedral.
“There’s a lot of support in the community. We love getting to know some of the people because, obviously, they all share the same passion that we do, which is building and playing with Lego, and it did encourage us to exhibit for next year’s show. And we haven’t stopped yet.”