I Blew All My Writing Money on a LEGO DeLorean

I needed another hobby like I needed a shiny new hole in my head, but here we are

The first time I saw a bonsai tree was in The Karate Kid. The proverbial seed was planted almost 40 years ago, and it took this long to sprout. Now I’m in my mid-40s, and finally, I have 4 little bonsai trees. I’ve been growing them for a couple of years, and I find them delightful even though they’re still babies. I’m in the process of training them, pruning them, and shaping them into interesting shapes. Bonsai trees are no different than their larger relatives, they’re just trained to remain small.

Last year, my mom got me a LEGO bonsai tree from their Botanical Collection. The Botanical Collection is made up of grown-up toys like plants, flowers, and centerpieces for your dining room table. They’re quite whimsical and easy to care for compared to their living cohorts. Having brightly colored plants that are actually toys reminds me to lighten up because they’re fun, so I’m keeping this one on my desk at work.

The LEGO bonsai tree is relatively simple and traditional. The set comes with lots of pieces you can swap out and includes a complete set of pink and white blossoms for you to completely change the look of the tree. The original kit included 878 pieces and came with plenty of whimsy to keep things interesting. At first, 878 sounded like a lot of pieces, but then I realized lots of those pieces were the “dirt” and other accessories like pink frogs that rest on the blossoms.

LEGO even has a plan to source all their blocks from sustainable sources by 2030, and the leaves for many of their sets are already made of plant-based plastics. In the back of the book are several pictures of different and creative things people have done with their bonsais. They were unconventional and inspiring and I immediately wanted to tear into my kids’ LEGO boxes and make something weird.

When I was a kid, though people bought me the occasional LEGO Technic set, I mostly played with other stuff. Most of my weekends were spent traipsing around my dad’s playing gigs before I became a budding musician myself.

Because of that, I only had a little time to explore and use my imagination with LEGO. Playing with toys as an adult brings me back to a more playful, innocent time. Much like making art, there’s something meditative about putting some pieces together and making something where there once was nothing.

These days, my kids and I like to work on the sets together. The manuals are all on the LEGO Builder’s app, and kids like those more than they like the paper instructions. They follow along and we do the steps together.

They’re currently done helping me with the bonsai tree shown above and we’ve moved on to a much bigger project:

The Back To The Future DeLorean.

This beast of a kit has a whopping 1872 pieces. It comes with a Flux Capacitor that lights up, which is kinda cute and all, however, I think we can do better. I bought an aftermarket LED lighting kit which will add a lot to the finished product.

There aren’t many childhood toys that transcend childhood. However, LEGOs are one of them. I didn’t play with LEGOs much as a kid. I spent most of my time with cars. Pop culture was riddled with awesome cars in the 80s. After Smokey and the Bandit evaded capture in the 70s, Transformers and Knight Rider came to town.

The Dukes of Hazzard had a ’69 Charger, Magnum P.I. had a badass Ferrari, the A-Team had a bitchin’ van, and the Ghostbusters had their Cadillac. Sure, they’re all obnoxious and ripe with toxic masculinity by today’s standards, but that’s what I was into. Also, they were awesome.

And then there’s one of the most iconic movie cars of all time — the time-traveling DeLorean. When we were at the LEGO store in Disney Springs a couple of weeks ago, it called out to me from across the store. Suddenly, money didn’t matter any longer. I needed this thing, whatever the cost. Either I was suffering from vacation fever, or this was something I needed in my life. I’m pretty sure I hit 88mph on my way across the store.

Because my childhood is intertwined with all things from the 1980s like Back To The Future and Star Wars, I can’t help but be a little more emotionally invested in this build. So when my kids ask to help me, I welcome them cautiously and threaten them with grave harm if they start horsing around and lose a piece.

At the same time, I realize it’s just a toy. I want to share the build with my kids instead of hoarding it. Maybe someday they’ll cherish the time we spent building this thing and remember how much I loved it. Maybe they’ll laugh at the lunacy of a flying, time-traveling DeLorean and wonder why the hell Dad liked it so much.

Each night, the kids help me a little, then get distracted easily on such a big project. They don’t have the patience for 1800 pieces any more than I did when I was 10. After they go to bed, I get out my little tray with more pieces and pull out the instructions. I settle in and go back in time to 1985 when things were simpler. Cereal and Looney Tunes, Lightsabers and neighborhood baseball games, Flux Capacitors and Huey Lewis.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna do some serious shit.