Hello, my name is Nina (not related to LEGO Friends Nina), and I am a big LEGO fan. To be specific, I am a collector of the recent Harry Potter themed sets (2018 till to be determined). Extremely specific, I know! To add to it, I am not a completionist. I generally pick sets that I like, which tend to be sets that remind of specific scenes or storylines in the movies (more like 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake and less like 76391 Hogwarts Icons - Collectors' Edition).

It wasn’t that I always liked LEGO and to be honest I am late to the game. It all started when my brother and I inherited some 80’s DUPLO sets from our older cousins. We added to the collection and immersed ourselves in the world of DUPLO. I don’t think we were any architects in the making, but we had hundreds of hours of fun. Then when it came time to upgrade to LEGO my brother made the move and I decided to play with Playmobil and Barbie.

It wasn’t till many, many, many years later when I would get to be around LEGO again. A friend of mine had mentioned to me how LEGO had helped him with stress at work. I thought it was strange to think that somehow these little bricks would help relieve stress, but who was I to judge. I noted the conversation in the back of my mind, but didn’t do much with the information. That is, until I started to experience stress at work myself.

I tried working out and meditating, which did help, but something was still missing. Then one day browsing through the local Walmart and remembering the conversation with my friend, I decided to venture into the toy department. On a whim I decided to pick up the 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall from the Harry Potter theme. It retailed for $99.99, which I felt was a lot of money for something that I didn’t even know I would enjoy. Even if I would enjoy putting the set together, then what? There was a lot of doubt in my mind that the investment would yield a return!

The easier part was settling on the LEGO theme. I love Harry Potter! I have watched the movies countless times and remember going to the movie theater with my family to see “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.” My brother was the one who read the books and the reason why we went to the movie. However, I ended up thoroughly enjoying the movie and started to follow the movie franchise. I feel ashamed for saying this, but I have not read all the books. I am currently working on it! I wasn’t much of a reader growing up, and when I read, I stuck to R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps.

It was a challenging time justifying the price of the LEGO Hogwarts Great Hall set and after sleeping on it I went back to Walmart to return the Great Hall the next day (I had not even opened it the day I got it, as I was that unsure about about the purchase). I explained to the customer service representative that I had gotten the wrong set (making it sound like I had purchased it for someone else). Yes, I was awkward and embarrassed about returning a LEGO set. The customer service representative was nice about it and even mentioned how cool the set looked, which made me regret the return instantly.

After getting home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the set. The price was difficult to justify, however, I decided that it was worth a try for the stress relief it may offer me. I figured I could resell the set to recoup some of the investment and so I ventured back to Walmart in the spring of 2019 to purchase the set again and that is where my LEGO journey began…