Helping me Lego (TM) my depression a little bit.

I realize that treating depression through Lego is way more expensive and not as effective as actually going to a doctor or therapist... but it did help me through the worst of my depression in the last month, AND I now have the start of the massive Lego collection that I have wanted for years but put off on buying. I did have the money to use, although I COULD have spent it on better things like paying off student loans... but sometimes you just have to splurge. My only problem now is that I'm out of space to build/display my collection. (All of the following sets were purchased and assembled sometime between mid-December 2016 and now.)

The only place I have to display my sets are on an admittedly large desk in the basement. You'll notice on the left side that I also have some Nanoblock sets. I like them a lot for their models, as they feel generally 'cleaner' than a lot of mid-size Lego sets, and are dramatically cheaper at about 5 cents an advertised block as opposed to roughly 10 cents an advertised block for Lego. You also get about 40 extra full size Nanoblock pieces per set, as compared to the 13 small connector/gear/single stud pieces you get per Lego set.

(Side note, my favorite mid-size Lego build is in this shot, it's the white and blue Rebel U-Wing in the top right, between the Millennium Falcon and Kylo Ren's shuttle.)

I'm sure you're all wondering about where I got the numbers from my last picture, and the answer is, I'm kind of a nerd... so I've collected a number of statistics from my sets. My statistical sample is not huge, comprising 49 built Lego sets and 7 built Nanoblock sets, but it's given me some preliminary numbers. I'm still in the process of going through and collecting several pieces of data that I thought would be neat to know. (For example: Number of Vehicle guns [described this way to eliminate confusion with MiniFig weapons, which would also be an interesting stat but I'm too lazy to count through currently] and number of ammo pieces of each type, from the long spring loaded shots, to the single stud shots, and finishing with flick missiles. ... Like I said, I'm a giant nerd.) Since the Nanoblock sets are more simple, without MiniFigs, working actions, and several other things, the stats for them are comprised mainly of just block counts and extra pieces. Oh, and finally, these stats are comprised ONLY of built sets, and don't include numbers from the 10 Lego and 7 Nanoblock sets that you can see under the desk, but I can't build because of space constraints.

Nanoblock numbers:
7 Sets
2660 Total Advertised Set Pieces (This is the number of blocks advertised on the box as the 'size' of the set.)
380 Average Pieces per Set
265 Extra Pieces
37.86 Average Extra Pieces per Set
2925 Overall Total Pieces.

My favorite Nanoblock set is probably the space shuttle with launch tower that you can see in the very back of the shelf on the bottom left of the first picture.

Lego numbers:
49 Sets across 6 Themes. The vast majority are Star Wars, but other themes are City, Lego Batman, DC and Marvel Super Heroes, and Jurassic World.
24001 Total Advertised Set Pieces
158 Total MiniFigs (including constructed ones that are not 'traditional' MiniFigs)
4239 Total Instruction book pages
67 Total Vehicles
638 Extra Pieces
19 Brick Tools
3 Ultimate Collector's Series Sets
2 Missing/Incorrect Pieces from Sets
24639 Total Pieces in Collection

Some averages for you guys next:
489.8 Average Pieces per Set
3.22 Average MiniFigs per Set
86.5 Average Instruction Book Pages per Set
(1.14 Average Books per Set)
5.66 Average Pieces per Instruction Book Page
1.37 Average Vehicles per Set
0.041 Average Missing/Incorrect Pieces per Set
13.02 Average Extra Pieces per Set
%2.66 Average Percentage of Extra Pieces per Set.

The average set size and Minifigs per set are likely skewed low at the moment, since the sets range from very small Mini Polybag sets of 30-60 pieces (which are all built, since they are pretty easy to find space for) to several sets in the 3-4k pieces range (2 of which are waiting to be built, since they are massive and I have no room.)

My favorite sets I've separated into four categories, which I don't have hard definitions for, beyond if you had the sets in hand you would understand.

Large build:
76042 SHIELD Helicarrier. 2996 pieces. Includes 5 MiniFigs and 12 MicroFigs, 10 Vehicles total, and Power Functions including lights in the bridge and a motor to spin the 4 fans. It's the huge set taking up all the desk space in the second picture

Medium build:
75155 Rebel U-Wing Fighter. 659 pieces. Includes 5 MiniFigs. Wings sweep all the way back as seen in the Rogue One movie. Also include a really neat firing mechanism for 'laser' spring loaded shooter. In the first picture.

Small build:
76025 Green Lantern vs. Sinestro. 174 pieces. Includes 3 MiniFigs. The theme isn't really great here, but the ship just feels solid and awesome, like an old school Lego spaceship, which was an awesome surprise out of such a small set. Also includes a Super-Jumper Space Batman with extended Space Bat Wings. 5-7 would Space Bat again. Can be seen peeking from under the SHIELD Helicarrier on the bottom right of the second picture.

Ultra Small build:
75030 Millennium Falcon MicroFighter. 90 Pieces. Includes 1 (Han Solo) MiniFig. This is just a solid build that really captures the iconic ship while staying small and compact. You'll pay a lot for this for the size (probably more than 30$ new and sealed) but it's one of the few builds I feel is worth that kind of markup. Can be seen in the left center of the second picture, just above the SHIELD Helicarrier's very front end.

Nanoblock Dragon and Unicorn Tax, since I don't have any cats or dogs at the moment.

I know this was a long read, but I hope you guys all found it interesting!