While in Cape Town, I embarked on a great pilgrimage to Canal Walk. In this mall, I found a Certified Lego Shop full of, you guessed it, Lego! There was more Lego than I’ve ever seen in one room and the entire shop felt like I had stepped into The Lego Movie. I had to check my hands at first to make sure they didn’t turn into little Lego Minifigure hands. This is what happened…
Everything was Awesome!
I was blown away by the display cases with pre-built models of what was on sale. But what really sucked me in was this huge box adorned with a giant Lego character. On his shirt was written, “Build Your Own Minifigure” and upon closer inspection I noticed holes in the box full of little Lego heads, bodies, legs and items.
I must have spent two hours building my three characters. This was my first time seeing something like this in a shop. I ended up building a Mexican dude, an eye-patched explorer and an unshaved man who likes to saw wood and probably likes to sip hot chocolate by his fireplace. Maybe he’s a writer? Maybe he’s a carpenter? Maybe he’s a serial killer? Maybe he’s all of the above? Who knows!? He is whatever I want him to be.
It was a lot of fun having a bunch of people move around this structure piecing together their three little custom-built Lego Minifigures. It reminded me what Lego is all about at its core: creativity and imagination.
There are no rules with Lego. There are guides to help build certain sets but nowhere does it say one has to follow those guides to the letter. That’s probably why Lego is so popular by the young and old?
If you have a fondness for Lego and are in Cape Town, check out the Lego Store at Canal Walk. You can find all their locations here.
I would also like to take a moment to pay respects to Jens Nygaard Knudsen. The creator of the Lego Minifigure. Although the sets are always fun, for me it has always been about the Minifigures. Those cute little plastic characters that I’ve told countless stories with through childhood play and still do to this day through my photography. Thank you for having such an impact on my life. I hope there is a Lego Land amongst the clouds!
