Welcome to our first guest post in our series of Builders’ Journeys. We all have a LEGO® set that is special to us for some reason or another. In this series, I am asking readers to send in stories of a set that is important in some way. It might have been your first set, a special present, your first set as an AFOL, or a set you remember building with your school friends.

Today, we hear from Stefan M, from Hamburg, Germany. Stefan is part of the team at Stuck In Plastic, and can be found on instagram as @a_toyphotographer – formerly @herrsm. He was one of the first toy photographers that I encountered on instagram, and one of the first ‘virtual friends’ that I went on to meet in real life, while visiting Billund several years ago. Stefan brings us his memories of his first big adult purchase, and a set that that I know is still the white whale for many of you out there:

First things first: I’m not really a builder. I sure do follow (most) of the building instructions myself. But when it’s down to LEGO and why I’m passionate about it I’ll have to admit that I’m more of an observer. I like sneaking around corners and shooting pics of my favourite toys. But more about that later.