The real Lego Movie city! Obsessed father spends five years and $96,000 building a huge city with 1,600 Lego sets and an extra 81,000 bricks
by Chris Jewers For Mailonline- Josh Foote, 35, from New Jersey has bought over 1,600 Lego sets
- He said it started when his wife bought him a model at a toy store in 2015
- After that, the political consultant was hooked building the huge Lego city
- The story draws some uncanny parallels to that of the 2014 'LEGO movie'
A Lego obsessed dad has spent five years and over £70k on building a huge Lego city in his basement.
Josh Foote, 35, from New Jersey, United States, began his project back in 2015 and moved it from his bedroom to his new home with a basement as he continued to expand his Lego city.
The hand-built city consists of 1600 different sets of Lego with the retail value of $50,000 - with an additional 81,000 pieces of Lego with the retail value of $14,000.
On top of this the custom buildings cost $500 each with the skyscrapers, Avengers Tower and Museum being an additional $1000 each.
Josh now estimates that he has spent over $90,000 on his basement project.
The political consultant said: 'I initially started my current Lego city around 2015 or so.
'Growing up, Lego was one of the toys you could see me always playing with, and I had a makeshift city that you would imagine a young child building in the early 1990's.
'Like most kids, I grew away from toys and into sports and other such activities during my high school and college years.
'In the Lego adult fan community, this time period is commonly referred to as your 'dark ages.'
'Fast forward to Christmas of 2012 when my then-girlfriend, now wife, and I were at a Toys R' Us getting Christmas presents when I saw some of the Marvel Avengers Lego sets.
'She ended up going back and picking me up one of the smaller sets and I was hooked again!
Breakdown
1600 Lego sets - $50,000
81,000 Extra parts of Lego - $14,000
Custom buildings - $500 EACH
Large buildings - $1,000 EACH
TOTAL - $90,000
'I had to complete the Avengers team, so I bought some more sets, and then I saw that there were Batman Lego sets and it was a slippery slope of buying all the sets that I missed out on.
'While buying these sets, I came across a Lego Theme titled Lego Creator Expert, which is billed more towards adults with their complexity and prices. These sets serve as the basis for the Lego Modular city.'
Josh says his family never realised how obsessed he's become with Lego until they witnessed his creation for themselves.
He said: 'My family never realised how 'crazy' it was until they walk down the stairs to my basement and see just how large it is.
'Overall, everyone likes to see what's new when they stop at my house. Additionally, it has made the holidays easy for them, as buying me a Lego set is an easy purchase for them.
'My basement is just over 1000 sqft. About 50 per cent is dedicated to my city, 25 per cent is dedicated to my New In Box and extra parts storage and the last 25 per cent is holiday decorations.
'My wife and I have a 7-week old baby, so he hasn't been roaming freely as of yet.
'When he gets older, I imagine I will let him play with it under my supervision.'
Fans of the 'LEGO movie' will likely have already spotted parallels between Josh's story and the movie, which came out in 2014.
In the LEGO movie, animated Lego characters are brought to life with a combination of CGI and real Lego models, telling the story of a heroic adventure that involves characters spanning from 'The Lord of the Rings' to Marvel and DC superheroes.
However, in the third a act of the film, it is revealed - spoiler alert - that the action has been a figment of a boy's imagination, playing with a Lego city his father has built in the basement of their family home.
It turns out the villain of the story 'lord business' is a metaphor for the boy's father, who calls the Lego a 'highly sophisticated interlocking brick system' that is not to be played with by children.
Despite his son's protests, pointing out that the Lego was bought at a toy store, the father goes about dismantling the more fantastical models that his son has built.
But in a heartwarming scene which cuts between the imaginary characters facing off in a final showdown, and the son showing his father the fun he has had making new models, the father comes to terms with his son's more eccentric creations, eventually joining him in playing the Lego city.
Josh's city looks remarkably similar to that seen in the Lego city, and he will be hoping that his own son can have as much fun with the city when he grows up.
