Brickcent$ Holds Open House

During the Sugarbeet Festival this past weekend, Brickcent$ held an open house. The doors of Brandon Nissen's LEGO® office at 236 Indiana Street were open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. for strollers to stop by and see Nissen's collection and the projects he has been working on recently.

Those walking the streets on Saturday, October 1 would have noticed a LEGO brick painted on the sidewalk next to a Sugarbeeter. Nissen speculates that several people stopped in to view his 500k - 1 million piece collection and claimed pleasure at getting to talk LEGO and show what he has assembled.

Some of those pieces were collectibles from Star Wars, a recreation of Vincent van Gogh's famous painting "Starry Night," a baby grand piano with moveable keys, the castle from The Wonderful World of Disney featuring various scenes from memorable movies, the Dodge Charger that Dominic Toretto drives in The Fast and the Furious films, and the house from Home Alone-complete with a furnace that lights up. Nissen also displayed various smaller LEGO sets made into such iconic symbols as a stop sign, floral arrangements, and BB8-an astromech droid and one of the main characters in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Nissen confessed that Toretto's Dodge Charger was "a nightmare to build" since the pistons kept falling out. Besides the pistons, which move up and down, the car has other moveable parts. For example, the trunk, hood, and doors all open to reveal details like nitrous tanks and engine parts. If he's working nonstop, Nissen claims he can assemble one of the larger LEGO sets in a day, two tops. Others, like BB8, he can create in three hours.

Combining his passion for LEGO construction and his experience with financial planning, Nissen launched a YouTube Channel earlier this spring. By July, he had acquired 80 followers but had to take a break "due to life." For his videos-all fourteen minutes or fewer-Nissen uses storytelling to discuss topics such as stocks, bonds, savings, and purchases.

Nissen's most recent YouTube video, "Transform Your Financial Plan Today," features a special guest: Optimus Prime, an auto-converting robot. Constructed from LEGO bricks, Optimus stands as a metaphor for transforming one's financial life. "If you feel like you need to make changes in your financial plan, Transform today and start doing the work. Optimus says so! Please don't wait," Nissen states.

In the course of the video, he encourages better saving habits, responsible spending habits, and more mature investment strategies. "We develop financial habits from an early age," Nissen tells viewers. "These become ingrained in our brains, but you can transform your financial life at any time."

After that video aired, Nissen put the channel on hold temporarily so that he could pull together some pieces for sets and hold auctions. Since July 1, he reports having successfully completed about ten auctions.

"I did buy two collections that were too good to be true. I sorted and have sold those now as well. I am hoping to ramp up video production again very soon," Nissen stated.

To conduct the Brickcent$ auctions, Nissen uses the Whatnot App. He will typically hold one or two auctions a week. "They have really taken off, and I'll have anywhere from 30-50 people at a time on a stream, bidding and buying.

In June, Nissen donated ten LEGO sets for a raffle to help raise money for the Friends of the Pool and Park Foundation. He also encourages people looking for gifts for birthdays or Christmas to let him know since he has a wide variety of LEGO sets for sale.

The other project on which he is currently working is building a LEGO city. His wife convinced him to build a city that community members can come to see. "My hope is that I can unveil that for the Parade of Lights," Nissen said.

The entire enterprise began in 2020 when Nissen bought someone's private collection of four bins of LEGO bricks. He sorted those pieces into 80 complete sets and sold them. "Dealing in LEGOs is way more lucrative than selling insurance and investment products," Nissen commented. "This is more consistent. Plus, building, sorting, and dealing with LEGOs not only gives me a sense of purpose but serves as a stress reliever."

The idea to hold an open house was born from people's asking for a tour of Nissen's LEGO collection. "I am always happy to facilitate this request," Nissen said. "I don't know what the long term plan is but I know I love LEGO, and many kids and adults share that love. Just know, my collection will change by the next time you see it."