On 28 January we celebrate International LEGO® Day!
For over 80 years, people have been creating their own worlds, brick by brick, with the famous colourful toys. 🤩
So, what better way to celebrate than by reading about the world's LARGEST collection?
Miloš Křeček from Czechia has been obsessed with LEGO® ever since he received his first set for Christmas at the age of 5.
Today, he owns the world’s largest collection of LEGO® sets with 6,005 sets!
After collecting for decades, he realized that he wanted to display his possessions proudly for the whole world to see...
“The quantity of the accumulated sets and the lack of space led me to an idea for the opening of the first [LEGO®] museum in Prague,” he explained.
The Museum of Bricks, located in various cities of the Czech Republic, holds most of Miloš’s ever-growing collection!
People often ask Miloš how much time he has spent building the sets in his lifetime, but he cannot give a precise answer.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be calculated in any way,” he says. “But on average, one set will take you about 2 hours and my collection contains over 10,000 models, so we get to 20,000 hours, which is over 2 years put together.” 🤯
Have you ever built a LEGO® set?
His all-time favourite set is the Statue of Liberty, which he received on a New York sightseeing boat around Liberty Island, where the real Statue of Liberty is located. 🗽
“I bought more than 90% of all LEGO® sets myself,” he clarified, “but sometimes I will receive a set for my collection from my customers or acquaintances, which makes me very happy.”
Fun fact: he and his wife gave rare LEGO® pieces as wedding presents to each other!
They really are made for each other, don't you think? 😆
According to Miloš, the most difficult LEGO® for him to assemble was the LEGO® Star Wars™ 75313 AT-AT™ model.
“It was quite a challenge to assemble, with a total of 6,785 pieces. [But] the set that took me the longest to assemble was the new LEGO® Icons set 10307 The Eiffel Tower, with 10,001 pieces, which is also the tallest building of its kind with a height of 150 cm.”
Another popular question he gets is... how much is his collection WORTH? 🤑
“There are a lot of [expensive sets],” Miloš shared. “For example, LEGO® Cloud City from Star Wars with a current selling price of over 250,000 CZK (£8,608.50; $10,944.07).
“I currently have a crush on the minifigure of Mr. Gold. […] The price of this minifigure increases by approximately 30% every year. The current purchase price is over CZK 85,000 (£2,928.70; $ 3,723.27).
“[When talking about the value of my collection], we are talking about amounts in the tens of millions of CZK and more… The value of the collection is incalculable.”
But if you thought Miloš is anywhere near done collecting his beloved sets, think again...
As he told us, there are still a few sets that he hasn’t been able to find or acquire. 😩
“For example, H.C. Andersen's Clumsy Hans. A total of 400 pieces of this quite special kit were produced for two separate events.
“320 of them were distributed to holders of lifetime passes to Legoland Florida and the rest just to the participants of LIT 2015. […] The model is based on a LEGO statue by Dagna Holm. The current estimated price is over CZK 120,000 (£4,136.50; $5,257.77).”
According to him, his collection proves that “breathtaking works of art can be created from a children's kit.”
LEGOs are pretty cool, aren't they? 💁
Currently, the Museum of Bricks stores thousands of different original sets, which grow by another 300 models every year – but it's not only about that.
The museum also places great emphasis on developing the creativity and playfulness of visitors. This is why it includes a play corner and a generously equipped shop, where one can find everything from commonly available LEGO® building blocks to limited editions and rare sets that are not sold anywhere else in the world! 😮
Would you visit the Museum of Bricks?
Check out this video of kids breaking all sorts of LEGO® records!
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