Meet a member: Erylion
Posted by Huw,
Our guest today is Zachary Workman, aka Erylion, who's a Middle School Spanish Teacher in Utah.
What is your first LEGO memory?
I was two years old in 1989 when the Pirates theme first hit the market. Only a year or two later my parents bought 6270 Forbidden Island for me. I'm not sure what possessed my parents to purchase LEGO for me that young, but I picked it up fast and never looked back.
Did you have a dark age and if so what caused you to emerge from it?
I never had a complete Dark Age, but I certainly had limited engagement with LEGO during my university years. I would purchase a small set here and there, but my collection resided at my parents' house.
During my last year of university I got married. When my wife found out just how much a loved LEGO growing up, she secretly arranged for my parents to bring the entirety of my collection up to us. She had no idea just how much LEGO that would be, nor the revival she was about to instigate.
To make a long story short, my wife has developed her own genuine interest in LEGO, and we have purchased more in our 9 years of marriage than my siblings and I did in the 23 years prior. She has been thoroughly indoctrinated, and loves the Harry Potter and Creator Expert Modular lines.
What's more, our children (my 5 year old son in particular) have developed an interest in LEGO to rival my own. My son may have already surpassed me, which is saying something.
What are you building right now?
My son and I are working on a hilltop castle on a 48x48 baseplate. It started out a couple of years ago as a mountain setting to showcase the 60202 People Pack - Outdoor Adventures. A few weeks ago my son suggested we put a castle on top of the mountain. It's been a fun build.
How do you store your LEGO?
We're slowly but surely sorting by part into Sterilite drawers of various sizes.
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
While Castle is my favourite realm, I probably do more City-type builds than anything. My son often has requests for random builds, so those are all over the place.
What set/theme/part (take your pick) would you like LEGO to produce?
I'm of the subset that would love to see a revival of Castle. I'm keen to see some Forestmen and Wolfpack in particular. The Fantasy Era and Kingdoms (2010) were amazing, but the 2013 line was a letdown, design-wise.
How long have you been visiting Brickset? Been a member?
I found Brickset in 2012 and became a member in November of that year.
What's your favourite/most used feature of the site?
I make sure to track my collection here. I've found many of set reviews very helpful; the photography is clear and crisp, the reviews are fair and as objective as one could hope for. I check daily for news on upcoming sets.
Have you been to a LEGO event?
I've attended Brickslopes in Orem, Utah a few times. Perhaps someday I'll submit an entry!
Thanks Zach!
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19 comments on this article
6270 seems to be an excellent set to begin with. I had a similar wife situation. We are married for 14 years and she's still asking me when I'm gonna get rid of all that Lego... She is funny that way :)
The picture is hilarious.
I thought you were Simon Pegg, for a second there.
@Zordboy said:
"I thought you were Simon Pegg, for a second there. "
Snap!
When you and your son complete your awesome castle on the mountaintop, you could submit that as an entry. It looks fantastic!
@omnium said: "Snap!"
Well I didn't mean it in a bad way! He just, he really looks like Simon Pegg in that first photo :).
Excellent article. Nice to meet you, Zachary.
Another US-based entry. @Huw - does Brickset just have a much bigger US audience, or are our American members just a bit more enthusiastic about sending their forms in?
When's the next Brickset stat-fest due? Or indeed do you have a link to the last one?
Roughly 50% USA, 30% UK, 20% ROW,
Feel free to contribute!
A fellow Utah-based AFOL! Yes!
Is that a moded Benny's space ship in the picture? I really can't tell what it is
where do you sign up to volunteer for an interview?
^ Drop me a line via the contact form.
@legoman_John said:
"Is that a moded Benny's space ship in the picture? I really can't tell what it is"
It appears to be the official set.
@Volfogg said:
"where do you sign up to volunteer for an interview?"
@Huw posted instructions here:
https://brickset.com/article/49461/what-brickset-will-do-for-you
@The_Chosen_1 said:
"A fellow Utah-based AFOL! Yes!"
Woot!
Haha haha! I was wearing that very same shirt yesterday!
This may sound boring but I’d love to hear more about the storage being used; what are the blue sectioned containers under the building desk & the sectioned tray on the right side of the table? Also 1st time felt old by the fact the article says “...was 2 yrs old in 1989...”
@MTimes3 said:
"This may sound boring but I’d love to hear more about the storage being used; what are the blue sectioned containers under the building desk & the sectioned tray on the right side of the table? Also 1st time felt old by the fact the article says “...was 2 yrs old in 1989...”"
The blue containers are Ezy Storage Sort It. They are particularly nice because they have individually removable units within the main bin.
https://www.ezystorage.com/product-category/storage/sortit/
They're manufactured by an Australian company, and for a while were sold at Sam's Club in the US, but sadly I don't think they're sold at all in North America anymore. According to their website, only stores in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK carry them. You can occasionally find them on Amazon.
Your mountaintop castle MOC is so cool! I would love to try that.