Tag Archives: Collecting

A conversation with Matthew Hocker – a LEGO ephemera collector [Interview]

Matthew Hocker has been on the LEGO scene for quite a while now and has had his builds featured right here on TBB. What you may not know is that he has an extended love and appreciation of collecting LEGO ephemera. The term is derived from the Greek word ephemeros, which means “lasting only one day, short-lived.” An ephemera collection consists of the paper materials that frequently get thrown away or lost because of their short-term usefulness or popularity, such as letters of correspondence, sales literature (brochures, pamphlets, catalogues, etc), postcards, ticket stubs, etc. Matt’s love for his LEGO collection enhances his appreciation of the hobby and its vast history.

  Matt in 2014 together with the wooden duck in Idea House

Matthew has contributed digitized literature and write-ups to Brick Model Railroader and digital contributions to the library section of Brickset. His research skills and appreciation for a collection of this nature stems from his day-to-day role as a librarian.

Our curiosity got the better of us, and we ended up having a long conversation with Matthew, learning a lot about what he does and why he does it. Here’s an insight into Matthew and his collection.


A portion of Matt’s collection of Brochures

Read our full interview with LEGO collector Matthew Hocker

The garden of earthly colors

Each LEGO builder has their own niche within the hobby, and TBB’s own Elspeth De Montes has found hers in an affinity for LEGO colors. She’s taken up collecting certain elements in as many colors as she can find, and she’s designed this lovely little garden, cleverly incorporating a few varieties of them more organic-looking elements in their full spectrums. Some, like the ferns, have only appeared in three shades so far, while others, like the 1×1 flowers come in a great number.

Elsie's Colourtastic Garden (1)

LEGO is a worse investment than gold [News]

Contrary to popular belief, LEGO bricks are not a better investment than gold, based on findings from a new study we’ve conducted. The study analyzed each substance without bias to test the popular notion that the world’s best-selling toy is a better investment plan than stocks, bonds or precious metals.

Gold imitation bricks, available from Amazon.

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