Pittsfield — The city has teamed up with local merchant Bottomless Bricks to offer LEGO™ “nerds” a weekend to remember.
With their popularity having spanned the test of time, the local upcoming programs featuring the interlocking blocks will undoubtedly appeal to all generations. According to its website, the LEGO™ company was founded almost a century ago based on “the iconic LEGO™ brick,” developing further to become a global manufacturer of the play toys.
Owned by Erin Laundry, a former contestant on television show “LEGO™ Masters” (think “The Great British Bake Off” but with LEGOs™), the Pittsfield retail store sells new and preowned LEGO™ sets, pieces, and collectible minifigures as well as hosts community events and birthday parties. She currently serves as coach to a First LEGO™ League team, with the group involved in competitions utilizing LEGO™ robots.
Bottomless Bricks reopened in May 2023, after the shop closed due to the pandemic that followed its October 2019 debut.
The weekend
This weekend’s three main events begin with a family friendly “Meet and Greet” at Bottomless Bricks, 163 South Street, Suite 4, on Saturday, December 14, from 1 to 3 p.m. The afternoon features Dominic (Dom) Forte, a LEGO™ builder with a social media following who competed with Laundry on Season Three of “LEGO™ Masters.”
Bricks & Brews, the 7 p.m. Saturday evening program at Hot Plate Brewing Company, 1 School Street, Pittsfield, offers adults ages 21 and up a taproom experience focused on building LOVE PITTSFIELD sets, with the brick projects custom created for the weekend. Forte and Laundry will be available to help, and the first 30 kits are free, with additional kits available for purchase.
Kids and adults alike are welcome to a free LEGO™ build with Laundry and Forte on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Wander coffee shop, 34 Depot Street, Suite 101, Pittsfield. A video of Forte’s LEGO™ Masters Holiday Bricktacular will be playing in the background for inspiration, and the pro will be available for questions.
Ongoing during the weekend is a scavenger hunt—Saturday and Sunday—with Forte’s signature minifigure stickers, or cartoon versions, hidden in downtown Pittsfield. If one of these stickers is located, finders can take a photo of the object and tag “@LOVEPITTSFIELD” for a chance to win a prize.
The venture was hatched when Jennifer Glockner, director of the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development, recently contacted Laundry about featuring the iconic brick blocks. The two had previously discussed what such a program would look like, and spotlighting a LEGO™ influencer locally, Laundry said. “We are so excited for this weekend,” Glockner said. “It will bring together LEGO™ enthusiasts to enjoy Pittsfield and also have a chance to meet two really cool LEGO™ Masters, Erin and Dom.”
Click here for more information on the events.
Not just for kids anymore
Laundry addressed the recent rise of LEGOs™ for adults who house childhood memories of playing with the connecting pieces. “When the pandemic hit, the adult market really exploded, and that’s also when LEGO™ began to market sets towards adults,” she said. “We have a lot of kids who have always been into LEGO™. There’s a lot more girls who are into LEGO™ than when I was a child because of certain sets that they’ve created specifically to try to bring more girls into the hobby.”
Laundry also noted the increase in interest by women, especially in the modular botanical LEGO™ lines. “LEGO™ is so good at knowing what the adults want and what their market is,” she said. “They’ve come out with so many pop culture sets from ECTO-1 Ghostbusters to the ‘Back to the Future’ car to architecture.”
LEGO™ options include kits creating different historical sites such as the Colosseum and the Titanic. LEGO™ conventions dot the U.S. landscape every year, Laundry said, catching the eye of “mostly adults who build fantastic structures including things like stadiums, entire cities.”
“It’s a great way for adult builders to get together and see what everyone else is doing,” she said.
Although the hobby doesn’t come cheap, Laundry said the LEGO™ company “is aware of” its affordability issue and is “striving to make sure that there are sets in every price point to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to build with LEGO™.” The product is especially beneficial to children whose brains are developing, she said, building their hand-eye coordination and spatial relations.
“There’s something for everyone with LEGO™,” Laundry said.
