Oxfordshire’s most expensive LEGO collection worth £15,000

Nigel Love, 65, who never owned a single piece of LEGO before the Covid lockdown, now owns thousands of pounds worth of sets, including every Modular Building released to date.

Mr Love said the hobby helped take his mind off the worrying events unfolding around the world during the pandemic, but quickly became an obsession.

He said: “It all started during the pandemic when I needed something to take my mind away from what was going on.

“It absolutely worked, but it soon got out of hand and has since cost me a fortune.”

Initially, Mr Love bought brand-new sets to build, but soon realised the cost could become expensive.

Instead, he began purchasing second-hand collections from other enthusiasts, often buying large tubs of mixed bricks and trying to identify and rebuild complete sets from the pieces.

He said: “I built what I could and sold them on. What I couldn’t build went into a pile, but that pile soon got very big.”

Over time he organised the growing mountain of bricks into smaller boxes, making it easier to search for missing pieces while also funding purchases of new sets he wanted to add to his collection.

Today, he estimates the collection is worth around £15,000 on the second-hand market.

Among his most valuable items is Market Street, one of the LEGO Modular Buildings, which he estimates is now worth around £1,500.

He owns all 21 modular buildings released by LEGO, with some becoming increasingly difficult to find as they have long since been retired.

Mr Love said: “If you know which ones to buy, some of the sets go up in value after they’re retired.”

As the collection expanded, so did the need for space.

After running out of room in his home, Mr Love had a secure studio built in his garden, complete with alarms and CCTV, to house and display his growing collection.

His wife, Ann, 66, joked he would never be able to fill the space, but she was wrong, as all boxes, shelves and table space have been occupied in the last six years.

Among his favourite builds is the LEGO Titanic, a 9,090-piece model gifted to him by his mother-in-law shortly before she died.

He said the set, which costs more than £580, carries special sentimental value and remains the standout piece in his collection.

Despite owning rare and highly sought-after models, including Café Corner from 2007, the oldest set in his collection, Mr Love believes there are likely bigger collectors out there.

“I try not to add to it,” he said. “But something always comes up.”

For Mr Love, however, LEGO is about far more than collecting bricks. He added: “LEGO just takes you away from everything that’s going on in the world at the moment.”