Mike Comstock grew up constructing with Lego bricks. When he got stuck mid-build, his mother helped him find the right pieces to complete his creation.
Years later, when his son pulled those same Legos out, the moment brought back childhood memories — and led him to start building again. His collection has since grown to fill a significant portion of his basement, with thousands of interlocking plastic bricks he continues to expand and refine into creations.
Comstock enjoys building city scenes, from detailed streetscapes to architectural models that blend official sets with his own original designs.
“I like the challenge of taking shapes from the real world and interpreting them through the brick,” said Comstock, 52, a video producer. “Things like spaceships have curves that aren’t easy to recreate with Lego, but you can if you work with it and take some artistic liberty.”
In basements, studios and community spaces across Northeast Ohio, self-taught creators — many of them adults like Comstock — are snapping together thousands of Lego bricks. Not as toys, but as a creative medium, blurring the line between hobby and art.
It’s a modern take on centuries-old sculptural and assemblage traditions, swapping marble and metal for plastic.
Comstock’s fascination eventually led him to Northeast Ohio Lego User Group, a regional club of adult builders who take the hobby way beyond casual play. Members work with collections ranging from small, intricate creations to large-scale builds made up of more than 10,000 pieces. Their displays have appeared at venues including Great Northern Mall (North Olmsted), Laurel Lake retirement community (Hudson) and Akron’s Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, where Lego scenes are a recurring feature inside the Manor House during the holiday season.
Members typically meet four times a year to socialize, plan upcoming shows and, of course, build.
“There’s great inspiration out there, and many people are doing amazing things,” Comstock said. “There’s lots of ideas, opportunities and places to grow.”
Build whatever you want: ‘It really builds your imagination’
Each builder brings a distinct style and interest to the group. That variety helps define its work, said Todd Wolf, 44, a full-time firefighter who serves as NeoLUG’s spokesperson.
“We have folks who focus on space — spacecraft and space stations — others who build architecture, vehicles, animals or fantasy worlds like Harry Potter,” Wolf said.
Wolf, who has a particular interest in historic architecture, has created Lego replicas of buildings in several cities, including a replica of Stan Hywet.
“You can follow the instructions and build what’s in the set, or you can go off on your own and build whatever you want,” Wolf said. “It really builds your imagination.”
In one past holiday installation at Stan Hywet, Comstock built a Santa-themed vehicle inspired by a children’s story, complete with a sleigh-like car and a team of small snowmobiles pulling it through a winter scene.
To bring those ideas to life, Comstock often begins his builds digitally, using Studio, a Lego design software, to map out each piece before assembling the final model.
Even with careful planning, translating real-world designs into Lego can be challenging, especially when working with shapes and proportions that don’t easily fit the brick system. That’s why builders balance accuracy and creativity, adjusting scale and structure to fit within the limitations of bricks.
Building with DUPLO to assembling miniature figures
While girls her age played with Barbie Dolls, Cindy Frink was drawn to Lego — a toy often seen at the time as geared toward boys.
Around age 7, she got her first DUPLO set from her grandparents after a trip to Europe. DUPLOs are a line of Legos designed for younger children, with larger, easier-to-handle bricks that introduce basic building skills.
Frink joined NeoLUG in 2015 and earned the nickname “Minifig Queen” for her love of building with miniature figures. For her, building Lego is more than following instructions — it serves as a creative outlet and a way to unwind. She enjoys reworking existing designs into something of her own.
“I’ll take something someone else created and kind of ‘Frankenstein’ it into what I want,” said Frink, 47, a medical transport driver.
In one recent build, she transformed a space station set into a restaurant after deciding the original design didn’t fit her vision.
Even simple shapes can present unexpected challenges.
“We did Lego snowmen, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to build a circle,” she said, laughing. “I had to get my nephew, who’s a math whiz, to help me figure it out.”
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From private builds to public displays
At Stan Hywet, Lego creations take on a seasonal role. Last year’s display followed a theme centered on bringing winter activities indoors.
“When you walk through the house, you really feel like nature has kind of taken over inside,” said Bailey Yoder, a curator at Stan Hywet.
Around a dozen NeoLUG builders created scenes inspired by seasonal play, including ice skating rinks, snowball fights and Santa’s cottage.
“Planning typically begins nearly 10 months in advance, but no one knows how the final assembly will come together,” Wolf said. “It’s always difficult having multiple people building on their own and then combining all of the creations together as a cohesive unit.
“We never know how it’s going to turn out until the day we set up.”
