The man who officially has the most

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
Story by Cpl. Aaron Diamant

Date: 01.19.2012
Posted: 01.19.2012 15:48
News ID: 82582
The man who officially has the most

YUMA, Ariz. - While many have a hobby, few have the drive and dedication to turn that hobby into a world record.

Capt. Kyle Ugone, however, not only has that drive, but also the certificate declaring him as the Guinness World Record holder for the most completed Lego sets in a private collection with an astonishing 1,091 sets.

While his record stands at 1,091, Ugone actually has 1,251 sets, but some did not count toward the record due to being reproductions or not having the original instructions.

His vast collection started small and at a young age, but has grown in size and number, including one set that contains more than 5,000 individual pieces.

"I got my first set as a gift when I was 5 years old," said Ugone. "It's a windmill and I still have it today. From there, I kept getting more and more sets."

Rooms in his Yuma home look like they belong in a Lego Land theme park, containing hundreds of completed Lego sets separated by genre, such as space, trains, castles and Star Wars sets, displayed on tables and shelves.

Lego is a line of construction toys consisting of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, mini-figures and various other parts.

Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct objects like vehicles, buildings and even working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart to make other objects.

The toys were originally designed in the 1940s in Denmark and have achieved international appeal, with an extensive subculture that supports Lego movies, games, video games, competitions, and five Lego-themed amusement parks.

It wasn't until 2009, when Ugone was talking to other Lego enthusiasts online, that he decided to go for the world record.

"I was talking to a guy who said he wanted to build every set Lego has ever made," said Ugone, which number more that 5,000 sets, some of which are extremely rare and some that were only available in certain areas, such as Europe.

Ugone contacted Guinness to see what the current record for most sets was. Finding out there was none, he was told he would need at least 500 sets to claim a record.

"At the time, I had about 600-700 sets, but I wanted more," said Ugone. "So, I spent a lot of time scouring the internet to purchase more sets and build them."

After a Lego expert visited Ugone's house to verify his plethora of building block masterpieces, 1,091 of his 1,251 sets were authenticated for the record, earning him the title as the man with the most.

Now, Ugone is slowly taking the sets apart for storage to regain some of the square footage in his home, and taking a break from collecting Lego sets, planning instead to focus more of his attention on restoring a classic muscle car.