Aubrey SquiresFollow

Date Collected

Winter 12-5-2017

Place item was collected

Hyrum, UT.

Informant

Aubrey Squires

Point of Discovery/Informant Bio

I was raised in Provo, and in West Jordan. I currently live in Hyrum, Utah. I am a 29 year old Caucasian female. I am the only girl out of 4 children and I am the second oldest. My whole family is LDS and very religious. I am a Utah State University undergraduate student. I work as a molding sander at Homestead Cabinets. I like writing books, spending time watching movies with family, and working in my friend’s garden whenever I can. I also enjoy collecting things that bring meaning to my life, like the items in this collection piece.

Context

It all started back in the spring of 2011, when Borders in Logan, UT. (A local books and other things store), was having their close out sales. They were going bankrupt and soon closing their doors permanently. One day I went with my family to this store to see if there was anything worth buying for the last time. I ended up buying some books and two Lego mini figure mystery packets. When I sat down in the car, I opened the first package right away to see what Lego figure I got. It was a green exercising guy, which I wasn’t too excited about. I ended up giving it to a family member. I was a little nervous to open the second package because I was worried that I wouldn’t like what was inside. When I decided to peek into the package to see what it was, I was relieved to receive a girl singer with a pink shirt. This first-time experience of buying these mini figures, and not knowing what was inside until opening the package, created a collecting addiction for me. A couple of days later I went back to buy more packages in hopes of finding something I really liked. Unfortunately, when I pulled up to the building there was a big sign on the door that said “sorry, we are closed.” I went home disappointed, but now that I knew about these mini figures, I was determined to keep my eye out for more. Whenever I saw a new series enter the stores I would try to buy one or two to add to my collection. The store that I would buy the most at was the local Wal-Mart, because I went there a lot to buy my groceries. I would always find myself stopping by the toy aisle. When I found out that one of my family members could detect what was in the packages by feeling for the objects, my desire to collect even more was enhanced. We would make frequent stops to Wal-Mart late at night when there were not very many workers there. That way we weren’t asked about what we were doing as we felt our way through the packages. The two of us became so good at the guessing game that we hardly ever guessed wrong. I discovered that I could get the ones I wanted more often and decrease the number of unwanted figures. I ended up buying even more of them at one time, because I needed to make sure I got the ones I wanted from each series. I currently have at least two or three mini figures from each series. The last Lego mini figure that I’ve bought was from series 20. As of today, I have not seen any new series enter the stores, but you can count on me to buy more mini figures as soon as there are new ones available. I also make sure to ask my family members to bring me back Lego mini figures from Lego Land California when they go. That way I can continue to build my collection.

Text

The picture on the left displays the first Lego mini figure that I bought back in 2011. It came from series number 2 mystery package. It is a girl singer with a microphone. The picture on the right is of all the Lego figures I have as of now. There are roughly fifty Lego mini figures.

Texture

I don’t display these out in the open because I don’t want to lose them or damage them in any way. I do not like to share these figures with anyone but my family, when I can watch them handle my collectibles. I only get them out once or twice a year and for the rest of the time I keep them stored in a box in my closet, so only I can get into it. They are stored in a small clear box that is inside a larger clear box. In this large box there are other precious items stored away. There isn’t any dust on the boxes or on any of the items in the box. Until I can buy a display case for them to sit in, they will continue to be stored away in their box. When I do buy a display case, I will set them all up with my other Legos and look at them often. I still won’t get them out of the case much but at least others who visit will be able to enjoy them just as much as I do.

Course

Intro to Folklore, English 2210

Instructor

Lynne S. McNIEll

Semester and year

Fall 2017

Theme

G8: Objects with/of Customary Use

EAD Number

3.20

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Additional Files

Lego Mini figure Singer.JPG (4128 kB)
First Lego Figure

Lego Mini Figure collection.JPG (3968 kB)
Current Lego Collection

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