How old were you when you built your first LEGO kit? I was 39 – AKA today years old – and I built a T.Rex!
My fiancé (we only just got engaged, so I’m still getting used to typing that!) bought the LEGO Jurassic World T.Rex Skull for my birthday at the end of August, and I decided quite late on in December that I was going to finish it before New Year!
I’ve decided to write about the experience, because as someone who’d never before built any kind of LEGO kit despite having very almost reached the grand old age of 40, my brain (firmly stuck in its creative thinking and arting ways) really had its work cut out for it.
Introduction
Let’s see what the official description from the website says, shall we?
A buildable dinosaur fossil for older kids. Once built, the ‘bone’ skull has a movable jaw, ‘fossilised’ footprint and hidden ‘amber’ piece for creating a unique display.
Hmmm. ‘Older kids’, eh? Well, I guess I just about qualify for that, hahah! It came in quite a nice box, and due to my love of dinosaurs, Murdo thought this looked like a fun thing for me to have as a birthday gift… after almost 10 years of knowing me, and knowing I have never once played with LEGO in that time.
I did wonder if his faith in my ability to logic – and have fun with a kit like this – was misplaced. But, I decided to give it a go anyway, as it looked very cool.
It also comes with this nifty little placard that shows you the T.Rex’s key stats, so that’s nice.
Starting to build
The first time I started to build this with Murdo, it was quite soon after my birthday. We made a start on the stand, and the trees, and Murdo helped me by explaining what certain things in the instructions meant.
I’ve got to say, I was initially very slow to get a handle on what I was doing, because my brain is so very unused to doing this sort of thing. You have to pay very close attention to the instructions, flip the thing round, sub-assembly parts and then stick ’em on right.
At times it was a bit confusing, and I couldn’t always immediately get my head around the next step. I found it stressful, I was slow, and when Murdo got frustrated with me, I got a bit upset and cried.
We completed the stand part, and although it looked good, I needed a break, and we didn’t go back to it until… about three days ago!
Getting the hang of it
I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit trepidatious about going back into building this giant tyrant lizard head, but I was determined to get this one thing finished before the end of the year! And this time, I didn’t cry.
I had a better idea of what to expect going into it, and felt quite a bit less stressed about the whole thing.
I still felt slow, and got confused at times, but Murdo was helpful, and remarked that our brains seem to work very differently to each other – as someone with aphantasia (no visual images) he’s been forced to look at things differently, and clearly our brains have developed in very different ways!
Still, I found myself getting more confident, and picking up the pace after a little while. It was fun watching the fossilised footprint and dino skull come together, piece by piece.
Completing my first ever LEGO kit
Okay, I may have struggled to find the appeal in LEGO, having never really been introduced to it as a child – I mean, it was around, but in those days you just had a big bin of different coloured blocks at nursery and it wasn’t particularly exciting to me. Maybe being a little girl, there was also a bit of what was expected of me to play with, and LEGO wasn’t top of the list.
However, completing something as cool as this did have a certain satisfaction to it. I love the fact it’s become a display piece that looks fantoosh in our home. I’ve come to understand the appeal of building something that you can keep and display, and I can see why it becomes addictive.
… Do I want to build any more? Probably not, to be honest. I’m fine with this one… BUT I’LL NEVER SAY NEVER. I do love that it’s got a hidden mosquito block at the back behind the fossilised footprint! How cool is that?!
Also, for a horrible moment we thought we couldn’t find the plaque sticker – luckily it was stuck safely in the instructions! Phew.
Anyway, let’s hear it one last time for this lovely Jurassic World T.Rex LEGO set. I did a thing! Hurrah.
I’m glad I spent time building the thing, and that I explored something that’s grown so much and become such a treasured hobby for so many geeks. LEGO never really felt like it was something ‘for me’, and so I understand a bit more now.
How old were you when you built your first LEGO set – and what’s been your favourite to build? Let me know in the comments.
