A couple of weeks ago, I purchased 60 lbs. of bulk Lego from a friend at work. There was so much I’ve discovered already; you can read about that here.

Amazingly, there was more that hadn’t been included in the first batch! I was delighted, not only because who doesn’t want more Lego but also because quite a few pieces were missing from my initial attempt at reconstructing the minifigures. I had hoped that the special third box would contain them.

The third “small box,” as it was erroneously labeled, was this massive three-drawer storage container. Two drawers were filled, and the third was maybe a quarter full. I didn’t pay extra for this, so everything here, including the drawers, was free. After the loot passed the necessary cat inspection, it was time to unpack this haul and see what treasures I’d acquired.

I found a lot of good elements as I started to dig. There are two red kayaks, and I’ve found the paddles to go with them. As I want to build a beach scene, these made me rejoice!

As the owner of a couple of voids, it was fitting that I found the molded black cat (which I discovered goes with a witch minifigure) in the collection. What a home it will have here.

Finally, this batch’s elements, such as the little car below, were mostly intact. Do not ask me where the driver’s body went. I think that is best left unanswered. I found motorbikes, helicopters, planes, and several buildings intact enough to identify their sets quickly.

After doing an initial sort on the plate, brick, and tile, my attention turned to reconstructing as many minifigures as possible. Partly this was to help identify the sets in the haul, and mostly because it’s fun!

On the green baseplate, I have placed all the minifigures I have reconstructed from licensed sets. I have several Storm Troopers, pilots, Iron Man, and Marvel superheroes figures. Putting together Storm Troopers has been challenging as many are similar, but it is satisfying when they come back together in their original form.

On my blue baseplate, I have placed the City-themed minifigures. I have put fewer of them together as they are harder to identify due to many prints appearing in multiple sets. I have taken an artic person to populate my winter village, hence the gap. I also want to add that I find the baby minifigures beyond adorable.

I still have just as many, if not more, minifigures to go through. I have sorted the disassembled ones into separate elements: legs, torsos, heads, helmets, hair, heads, and accessories. (I have far more accessories than pictured below). My technique is to use the torso pieces, with the help of web searching, to identify the minifigure. Then, if possible, I crossmatch the minifigure with any unique pieces in the set it originated from to confirm I’ve put it together correctly. This arduous process is more important for the franchise minifigures due to their value and to match who they represent. I think I can be more lenient with the city figures as long as I don’t have fireman legs with a construction worker’s torso. That would be weird.

As well as parts, I have constructed minifigures that need to be verified. The previous owner mixed his figures up, so I don’t trust that any are in their intended state. As you can see, I have so many still to work through, and it’ll be a lengthy project. Importantly, though, my city will have a decent population from day one.

The haul contained plenty of other goodies too. I was surprised to find three big cats and a polar bear! I sense I should start to plan for my city to have a zoo at some point to properly incorporate these. Or maybe in my city, big cats are tame, and they can live in the park.

I also discovered a couple of dogs; the husky is my favorite. Animals are important to me, and I will need to get more for my city than this, but it’s a great start. As these parts are rare and/or expensive, finding these kept adding significant value to my collection.

Now, how to put dinosaurs into my city proves a far more significant challenge than a panther and tiger. I’m now the proud owner of half a dozen dinosaurs (some need a bit of TLC to be restored), and I don’t want them to go to waste. I could build a Jurassic Park diorama or perhaps have them causing a riot in the city and fighting some superheroes. Alternatively, they could live as shelf decorations.

I also have the rhino from a Black Panther set. He, too, needs to be restored, but I think it’s a fantastic build, so I will take the time to do that. Again, how this fits in the city, I don’t know. I am leaning toward building some sort of animal habitat that makes sense, but that is far in the future. After all, my entire city is entirely conceptual at this point.

The final animal to incorporate is far more manageable, and that’s the host of crocodiles I now possess. I have a few from the first batch of this haul, as well as some sharks. I will have a water section with pirate ship #31109, so these will fit nicely in that area. Once again, I am chuffed with finding expensive elements I was planning to purchase.

I may have a lot of sorting and reconstructing to do, but it is clear that I have hit the jackpot with my first bulk purchase. The minifigures alone more than justify what I paid. Discovering the animals and dinosaurs was a pleasant surprise; they have my creativity flowing.

I am excited and getting impatient for my Lego City building journey to start. It’s going to be one hell of a ride. 😊

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