About Me

A Lifelong Brick Addiction

I have been into LEGO since before I can remember. One of my first sets was the 1993 Polly Pick Up #1874Polly Pick Up
#1874, a quirky little brick vacuum shaped like a parrot that doubled as a storage container, when I was two.

The Golden Years of Childhood

Growing up in the early 90s meant I had front row seats to some of the best themes LEGO ever produced.

There was the 1991 Cabin Cruiser #4011Cabin Cruiser
#4011, one of the great sets LEGO made because it actually floated. Yes, you could take it in the bathtub.

Then came Ice Planet 2002, and with it the 1993 Blizzard Baron #6879Blizzard Baron
#6879. Those Chainsaw Trans-Orange Chainsaw
Trans-Orange and Cockpits Trans-Orange Cockpits
Trans-Orange still look great today. White, blue, and neon orange is a color combination that just works.

For pure childhood nostalgia though, nothing beats the 1994 Pizza To Go #6350Pizza To Go
#6350. A pizza delivery truck with an actual pizza restaurant. Amazing. Those 2 x 2 Pizzas Yellow 2 x 2 Pizzas
Yellow were my favorite parts for many years. And the 1995 Shuttle Launch Pad #6339Shuttle Launch Pad
#6339 sparked an early interest in space that never really went away.

The Dark Age

Every LEGO fan knows about the dark age. That period where life gets in the way and the bricks get packed away. Mine hit during the mid Bionicle era around 2003. I was a teenager with other priorities, and LEGO just sort of faded into the background.

It wasnt a complete blackout though. The 2005 UCS Sandcrawler #10144UCS Sandcrawler
#10144 was too good to pass up, and the 2006 Mindstorms NXT #8527Mindstorms NXT
#8527 scratched a completely different itch.

The Purchase That Changed Everything

2010 was the year everything changed, and it started with a decision that seemed crazy at the time.

The UCS Millennium Falcon #10179UCS Millennium Falcon
#10179 had retired. I first saw it back in 2008 at the LEGO Store in Legoland Billund, and it had haunted me ever since. I didn’t have the money back then. Just a kid staring at the most incredible LEGO set ever made, knowing it was out of reach. I did try and convince my uncle to get it for “us” (mainly me), but that didn’t work out.

By 2010, I had gotten a job and started saving. The set was retired, prices were climbing, but I found a retailer selling sealed retired sets. The price? 10,000 DKK. Roughly $1500 at the time.

I bought it anyway.

Its still my most expensive LEGO purchase ever, and I have never regretted it for a single second.

The Return

What really pulled me back was the Architecture line. Those sleek, minimal sets spoke to a more grown up appreciation for design. Tower Bridge #10214Tower Bridge
#10214 was my first major purchase back, and it reminded me why I loved building so much. Although it isn’t technically in the Architecture line.

Then came the Modulars. The Grand Emporium #10211The Grand Emporium
#10211 was my introduction to the series, and suddenly I was hooked on a whole new type of collecting.

2011 hit hard. I managed to get the 2008 Death Star #10188Death Star
#10188 before it retired at the end of the year. I grabbed all the new Architecture sets as they released: the Willis Tower #21000Willis Tower
#21000, John Hancock Center #21001John Hancock Center
#21001, Empire State Building #21002Empire State Building
#21002, and Seattle Space Needle #21003Seattle Space Needle
#21003. The Maersk Line Container Ship 2010 Edition #10155Maersk Line Container Ship 2010 Edition
#10155 and Maersk Container Train #10219Maersk Container Train
#10219 joined the collection too. A lot of catching up happened that year. LEGO also opened their flagship store in Copenhagen, which made it too easy to go buy new sets, whenever the paycheck hit.

The Architecture Obsession

After visiting Fallingwater in person, I made it my mission to collect every Architecture set LEGO releases. Well, almost every one. I am skipping the Skyline series as it does not speak to me, and the original Landmark Series.

This goal has proven trickier than expected. I am still hunting for the Imperial Hotel #21017Imperial Hotel
#21017, Marina Bay Sands #21021Marina Bay Sands
#21021 and Lincoln Memorial #21022Lincoln Memorial
#21022. The updated versions of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum #21035Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
#21035, Burj Khalifa #21055Burj Khalifa
#21055, and Empire State Building #21046Empire State Building
#21046 are also missing from my shelves.

And 2025 is not making things easier with three major releases. The Architecture addiction is expensive, but I wouldnt have it any other way.

Buying Smart

Since around 2020, most of my purchases have been secondhand. I am a big advocate for buying used LEGO. People sell off barely touched sets all the time, and there is no shame in giving those bricks a second life. Your wallet will thank you, and the bricks build exactly the same whether they came from a box or a bulk lot.

Current Favorites

Some recent sets have really stood out. The Milky Way Galaxy #31212Milky Way Galaxy
#31212 is visually stunning, the kind of set where you keep finding details to look at. The Rolling Stones #31206Rolling Stones
#31206 mixes art and nostalgia in a way that just works. The Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck #76989Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck
#76989 is one of the best licensed sets in years, especially when combined with the Base Upgrade #MOC-118870Base Upgrade
#MOC-118870 MOC. And the Colosseum #10276Colosseum
#10276 is just a beast of a build.

If I had to pick one set as the absolute best LEGO has ever produced, it is the Lord of the Rings Rivendell #10316Rivendell
#10316. No contest.

Beyond Collecting

When I am not building or hunting for sets, I am developing software for the LEGO community. I created BrickTracker, a self-hosted LEGO collection tracker you can find at bricktracker.baerentsen.space. If you like keeping your collection organized and your data private, give it a look.

The Collection Continues

From that first Polly Pick Up at age two to wherever the next white whale leads me, the journey keeps going. There is always another set to find, another build to enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!