Ham and I were in the third year of renovating our Edwardian flat in 2012. Three years sounds insane but we did it ourselves and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world. We were in the throes of designing and constructing our kitchen that year–the last room on the renovation checklist–and completion was finally within our purview. Hooray, right? Nope. I stared at François, our lovely French range, for two years as it would be that long before we’d finally complete our cucina.
Always the optimist and avid planner, I turned my attention towards interior design and decor. Ham gave me free rein to design our space but the one thing that he and I could never agree on was art. I’d always run pieces by him and he’d shake his head no.
While reading Interiors: The Allure of Style by Mary McDonald, I became inspired by her thoughts on curating. She writes, “I love nothing more than seeing a curated collection of something I never found intriguing until it’s been amassed in a particular and thoughtful way.”
The proverbial light bulb flicked on. Why not display my collection of Lego minifigures as art? I ran the idea by Ham. As soon as he gave the thumbs-up, I took my minifigures out of their tragic zipper bags and placed them in frames with brick-built shelves. The result was a playful display chock-full of personality and an unexpected visual of a treasured hobby.
Luckily for us, the idea came during the Golden Age of Lego licensing. We filled our frames with everything from Lord of the Rings to Ghostbusters to Star Wars to Scooby Doo to the Simpsons. Our walls were a sentimental nod to childhood nostalgia and iconic pop culture.
Although the 2012 Marvel sets mostly centered on the Avengers movie, Lego rounded-out the theme with sets inspired by Wolverine and Spider-Man. All in all, collectors were treated to Lego versions of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk and a few more big names from the Marvel universe. Lego additionally released two exclusive minifigures at San Diego Comic Con and two at the New York International Toy Fair.
The only thing that has me scratching my head, though, is why Lego included Iron Fist in Spider-Man’s Doc Ock Ambush (6873). Hmm, cheese.
Lego Marvel Superheroes Sets:
Captain America’s Avenging Cycle (6865)
Wolverine’s Chopper Showdown (6866)
Loki’s Comic Cube Escape (6867)
Hulk’s Helicarrier Breakout (6868)
Quinjet Aerial Battle (6869)
Spider-Man’s Doc Ock Ambush (6873)
Lego Marvel Superheroes Polybag:
The Hulk (5000022)
Lego Marvel Superheroes Exclusives:
Captain America
Iron Man
Phoenix
Spider-Man (Symbiote Costume / Black Suit)