The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

One week into my exploration and I’m slightly overwhelmed. Most relationships with Lego evolve in a much more organic way. Some people start their journeys so young that they’re in the middle of it before they realize what’s happening. They’re learning everything they need to know along the way, but it’s a natural progression so it never feels like an avalanche of information.

Then there’s me. I spent a couple hours one afternoon researching Lego lingo and I’m just like: aawaweiijeeetooollaaaaap!!!!

Me going "aawaweiijeeetooollaaaaap!!!!" while holding up a list of Lego terms

Jumper is one of the words I came across. What is a “jumper” you ask? (Shut up! I know you know what it is. Don’t mock me!) A jumper is a 1x2 modified plate with one stud.

Well, of course that’s what it is! I can think of nothing else it could be. (She said in the driest sarcastic tone you’ve ever heard.)

Alright, let’s go back and start with the Lego lingo basics.

AFOL. That one I learned pretty quickly once I started working for BrickWarriors. AFOLs might be my favorite people in the world when it comes to my job. AFOL is an acronym that stands for Adult Fan of Lego. To me, AFOL means someone who’s not going to ask a lot of questions and has their own money to spend.

KFOL – Kid Fan of Lego. These jerks still live with their mommy and daddy and their ability to spend money depends on said mommy and daddy. (And hopefully some grandparents with a hefty pension and a passion for spoiling their grandchildren.) They are the target demographic for The Lego Group aka TLG or TLC (The Lego Company). By extension they are also the target demographic for BrickWarriors. Their parents though, especially those who are non-Lego parents (NLPs) are the bane of my existence. (But that’s a discussion for another time.)

TFOL – Teen Fan of Lego. They’re not in Lego’s target demo anymore, a fact which their NLPs probably remind them of a lot, along with asking them why they don’t have more friends. (Just kidding!) They’re probably also avoiding their Dark Ages.

Dark Ages – the time during a Lego fan’s life when he or she stops collecting and playing with Lego to pursue other interests, perhaps those that are considered more “normal” by society’s standards. (Normal is overrated kids!) For some, the dark ages may be permanent, but those that find that Lego magic again become AFOLs.

FFOL – Female Fan of Lego. Do the Lego ladies really need a separate acronym?? Damn patriarchal society!!

Let’s go back to AFOLs for a minute. Lego might be the only toy company with such a passionate adult fan base. Some adults become collectors of toy memorabilia. Some adults enjoy playing with toys in order to spend time with their children. But Lego has grown-ups buying their products not solely for display on a shelf or so their children will talk to them. It's for their own pure enjoyment and entertainment.

That’s how a toy company can become the world’s most powerful brand. That’s how there end up being dozens and dozens of Lego conventions that are not run by The Lego Group. It’s because they’re run by AFOLs! And all the vendors at those conventions…AFOLs!! (Unless the head of one of the vendors decides he doesn’t want to attend conventions and sends his non-AFOL minions employees instead.)

Did I mention I know an AFOL? Ryan Hauge of course. The co-owner and CEO of BrickWarriors, and most importantly the designer of all the BrickWarriors pieces you love (or will love if you’re new here.) I’m not sure if Ryan ever went through a dark age in his Lego fandom. But thank goodness his college years weren’t the dark ages like they are for many people. Otherwise we wouldn’t have BrickWarriors, which he started after graduation.

Real live AFOL, Ryan Hauge, out in the wild

FOM – Fan of Minifigures. Okay, now these are my absolute favorite people. I’m going to touch on minifigures more in a separate blog post, but it’s good to mention their awesome fans now. If you’re a fan of minifigures, you should be a fan of BrickWarriors (a premium minifigure accessories company).

Ryan is quite obviously a FOM. Read what he said on the BrickWarriors About Us page: “I have always enjoyed building various creations with LEGO®, but my favorite part has always been populating my creations with minifigures. In fact, when I was a young child, I would always put together the minifigures first and then create a building or vehicle to fit with the minifigs.”

Obviously when most people think of Lego, they think of the connecting bricks, but minifigures have become a major part of the brand. For goodness sake, they have video games for major franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars where the players are made to look like minifigure versions of the famous characters instead of the human versions we know from the movies.

       
        Lego Harry Potter video game                                                           Lego Star Wars video game

I never really understood that. Must be a lot of FOMs in the video game world.

Let’s move on from discussing types of Lego fans to talk about a major Lego lingo faux-pas: Legos. That is a not a word. You do not refer to Lego in the plural form by adding an “s.” Even Microsoft Word knows that.

Fun fact: I actually did not know that. Saying things like, “he’s got lots of Legos” or “seriously, why would a grown adult own so many Legos” are just some examples of how I might have been guilty of this horrendous grammatical error.

But I am a quick learner, and now know to say things like, “that’s a butt-load of Lego!” and “you can never have too much Lego!”

I’m sure there are people who will still say “Legos.” Even some diehard Lego fans might be guilty of this, but on my honor I will try to never say “Legos” again.

Alright, it turns out there is a great deal of important Lego lingo out there, and I’m not trying to write a novel, so I will split this topic into two blog posts. Next week’s lingo will focus on the terms that relate to the actual building of Lego: MOCs, vignettes, dioramas, and that damn jumper!

But there are two more terms to discuss today.

Parts Monkey or Brick Monkey (Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?) – A parts monkey is someone that is not involved in the building of something (a set, a MOC, etc.), but just helps find the parts needed for the building. This could be a situation where a parent or relative is helping a KFOL find all the parts they need to build something, whether it’s looking online or from somebody else’s collection. Once the needed parts are found, the KFOL, or whoever the builder may be, will do the actual building without help from the monkeys. This could also be a situation where a Lego fan is active online and reaches out to the online Lego community to help them find the parts they need for a certain build. This is where being on an LMB (Lego message board) comes in handy.

Which leads to the final Lego term I will cover this week.

MLN – My Lego Network – This is the community of people that a Lego fan can/will recruit to help them find the best deals on Lego or to find certain Lego parts and pieces. For the AFOLs out there, hopefully this includes a very understanding spouse, especially if that spouse is an NLF (non-Lego fan).

So that’s all of the Lego lingo I will cover for this Brick Connection. Hopefully you learned something or at least hopefully I entertained you with my lack of knowledge.

Before completely wrapping up this post though, it’s time to give credit where credit is due. My sources and resources for obtaining this wealth of Lego knowledge:

First up, I’d like to thank Tall Man X or TMX and his awesome YouTube channel, TMX Brick Notes. On his channel he has nine videos of Lego terms quizzes. I watched every single one and did quite horribly, but I took notes and soaked up all the knowledge I could. I’ve embedded Quiz #1 below so you can test your own knowledge. And be sure to check out the rest of his channel and his website. He does reviews, shows off his Lego hauls, gives tips, and much more. I definitely think TMX Brick Notes will be a major Lego resource for me as I continue my journey.

And next I want to thank The Brothers Brick, a Lego blog for AFOLs. On their website they have a Lego glossary that was very useful. Check out that glossary here. I will definitely be keeping an eye on their blog going forward.

And finally, a shout-out to Lego fan William Reed and his guide to Lego terminology.

Check back next week to see if I ever find out what BURP and SNOT mean.

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet. *