LEGO mega fan collects so many Minifigures he can't even fit them in his home
A LEGO® mega fan has collected so many Minifigures he’s run out of room to display them all.
Steven van Dyk (Belgium) officially has the largest collection of LEGO® Minifigures – a whopping 11,803 of them, beating the previous record by over 2,000.
His road to becoming a record breaker started rather innocently when he was just eight years old, when he got a pirate minifigure with an eye patch and a red and black striped top.
The figure was lost for a while, but just found its way back to Steven.
“It was one of the first that started my love for LEGO,” he told us.
“Recently, my mother found it while cleaning the house and gave it back to me. It’s great to have this piece from my childhood back in my collection.”
Now 41, Steven’s collection has outgrown his home.
He said: “Collecting LEGO Minifigures is not just about the numbers, it’s about the joy and excitement of finding new pieces, trading with fellow collectors and displaying them in creative ways.
“The collection has become so big that I cannot display it at my house anymore, so I rotate parts of it on display.”
Steven says that each Minifigure has its own story and unique design, making them all special in their own way.
His collection includes everything from classic characters to the latest releases, and figures depicting franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, Batman and Winnie the Pooh.
“Some of my favourites include the rare and limited edition minifigures that are hard to find,” he confessed.
One of those is a quintessentially British LEGO man wearing a Union flag waistcoat underneath a navy suit and a bowler hat.
Steven explained: “This one is quite rare and was initially only available through a raffle. I waited in line for six hours to enter the new LEGO store in London and I was lucky enough to win one of the 250 available.”
Steven also loves attending LEGO conventions and events and meeting up with other AFOLs (Adult fans of LEGO).
“It’s a fantastic community and I’ve made many friends over the last years,” he said.
More Minifigures:
- Longest chain of LEGO® minifigures - 69.70 m (228.67 ft) achieved by Tyler Recht and Team Rye Schools (all USA)
- Most valuable LEGO® Minifigure - A gold reproduction of bounty hunter Boba Fett, from the original Star Wars trilogy, is the most valuable LEGO® Minifigure ever made. Only two of these were produced by LEGO®, in 2010. The figures, made of solid 14-carat gold and valued at $11,495.95 (£8,115) apiece, are each part of a boxed set of three, also including silver and plastic versions of Boba Fett. The two sets were given away as competition prizes at San Diego Comic Con and the Celebration V Star Wars festival, both held in 2010.
- Most expensive LEGO® Minifigure - In February 2014, Andre Hurley, of Roosevelt in New York, USA, paid $15,000 (£10,595) for a platinum LEGO Avohkii Mask of Light. The design is part of the now-discontinued Lego Bionicle line, and the platinum piece is the only one of its kind made.
- Farthest distance travelled by a LEGO® Minifigure - Three specially made LEGO® Minifigures made the arduous trek to the planet Jupiter aboard NASA's Juno space probe, travelling a total of 2.8 billion km (1.74 billion miles) from Earth. The figures take the form of the God Jupiter, his wife Juno and 17th-century Italian scientist Galileo (who discovered Jupiter's four largest moons). They are the same size as ordinary Minifigures but are cast from space-grade aluminium rather than plastic.