Lego store building its foundation in Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO — “Kids build Lego, Lego builds kids.” That was a Lego commercial back in the day.

The toy brand began in 1955 and has evolved into something kids and adults alike enjoy. Now, Rio Rancho will have it’s own Lego store behind Laguna Burger and next to the soon-to-open L&L Hawaiian BBQ.

Jonathan Sillett hopes to bring Big Brother’s Bricks by the new year.

“It’s something that myself and the wife are super into on our own time. At the moment, three rooms in my house are full of our Lego stuff that doesn’t even go in the store. This is something we do with our three boys, and we’re very passionate about it,” Sillett said.

There aren’t many locations that exclusively sell Lego products in the area, so Sillett and his family thought it would be a good idea to open a shop closer to home. Plus, their family collection grew to be too much, and a store would solve the issue.

“They don’t always have what we need or what we’re looking for, what we want or the ability to get that. Also, it’s 30-minute drive from Rio Rancho,” he said.

However, the main inspiration for the store was more heartwarming than the logistics.

“Initially my wife inherited some Lego sets from her brother who passed away. They’re very old sets. When we moved here, we were unpacking a bunch of stuff found a bunch of Legos. She was like, ‘Oh hey, these are Daniel’s Legos,’” Sillett said.

That was also the inspiration for the name as he was her big brother. Sillett says some of the Lego they found were from the 1980s and ‘90s, and they turned out to be worth some money.

“We kind of delved more into it, and then she pulled out some of the sets and we started building and we kind of regenerated that love of actually playing with it and building it and seeing what we could do with it, too,” he said.

He knows there is a market for it, too. Big Brother’s Bricks won’t be the typical Lego store, either.

Besides selling new sets, they will also be trading and buying new and used sets, including vintage sets and a collection of individual pieces people might need.

“We have an entire catalog of a million and a half pieces to pull from to make those sets whole and then order more,” he said.

They also have an extensive collection of mini figures and other pieces.

“So if there’s specific things that you’re looking for or a set you want from your childhood or the latest thing that came out yesterday, we have it. If we don’t have it in the store, I can get it in two weeks,” he said.

Sillett doesn’t have every set ever made — yet.

“There are some obscure ones that they made 10 of that you had to go on a $10,000 tour of the factory in Denmark to get them. We will have them, though,” he said.

He does have some of the rarer items, such as the employee-only Lego that people only got by working for Lego.

Sillett intends for the store to be more than just an in-and-out shopping experience, however.

“Like a play area for kids to come in and there’s a giant Lego table. Whether you buy anything or not, they can want to come in for an hour and put together some Legos; they’re more than welcome to be in the store,” he said.

He also plans to host some events. One idea he shared was an adult competition at one of the breweries in town. He said the sets would, of course, be more intricate.

He also mentioned Lego nights at some of the local community centers.

While some people might look down on Lego building as only a kids’ thing, Sillett says his store is for anyone.

“Just give them a couple minutes in my store. They will find something they’re into,” he said.

He will have all types of set themes people enjoy. Though he was late to getting passionate about Legos, he knows other people will enjoy it, too.

“We slowly became completely obsessed with it to the point that this is what we want to do, and if I can be a grown man and play with Legos for a job, that’s a dream come true,” he said.

For information about the company, visit the Big Brother’s Bricks Facebook page.