My First Adult LEGO Purchase Was This Mario Set and I Have No Regrets
Like a desk plant, but more malicious.
In general, I am a very practical person when it comes to spending money. I buy the essentials I need and occasionally a video game when it goes on sale, but usually I don't really venture beyond that. It wasn't until just last year that I even considered buying something as unnecessary as a LEGO set. Even though I loved building LEGO sets as a kid, at some point I guess I just got older and stopped.
In part, that's probably because LEGO is really expensive. While there are some cool sets for under $25, anything tied to some sort of movie or video game franchise always comes at a higher cost. Which is why it took me so long to convince myself to buy the LEGO Super Mario Piranha Plant. It's been on sale since October of last year for under $50 but I only recently decided my desk needed a new potted plant.
The LEGO Super Mario Piranha Plant
I first started considering this set after reading through IGN's build of the Piranha Plant. I have been a fan of pretty much every Mario game there's been so far, and this set just seemed like the perfect way to display my love of the franchise. LEGO has a lot of flower sets in its botanical line that would look great on my desk too, but none of them are as whimsically terrifying as this little guy.
Now that I've actually built the set, I am really happy to have it on my desk. Every time I look at it I can imagine that I'm somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom with my little potted Piranha Plant I've been cultivating during work hours. And while I love the end result of the set, I enjoyed building it just as much. I was able to put it together in one afternoon, but it was still challenging enough to hold my attention the entire time. It's currently the only LEGO Nintendo set I own, but I'm definitely considering adding more alongside it after my experience.
See more Mario LEGO sets
How Much Are You Willing to Spend on a LEGO Set You Love?
Like I mentioned above, the world of LEGO is an expensive one. With the company releasing new sets targeted at adults every year with price tags of $200 or more, it can be tempting to spend way too much on something awesome. Unless you're made of money, there's a fine line between treating yourself to something you love and bankrupting yourself in an avalanche of plastic bricks.
The fact that this Mario LEGO set was under $50 was enough for me to feel good about buying it for myself. I got to spend hours building it and seeing it sitting next to me brings me a little bit of happiness each day. Is that little bit of happiness worth more than $50? Probably. But that's just how much I'm willing to spend.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 7 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different topics -- from TV series to indie games and popular book series.
