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[Curious music]
- Emily Krans: I think part of what draws people to LEGO
is this child-like sense of wonder about them.
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They're colorful.
They'll make a beeline for something that is bright,
almost as if it's flashing at them.
My name's Emily Krans,
and I'm an unofficial LEGO Master Builder.
I had been on some Internet dating sites,
[Keyboard clicking] and was in my thirties,
and I said, "Okay,
"this is gonna be the last round of guys that I email,
"and after this, if I don't find anybody,
"I'm single for life.
"I'm okay with that, you know?
"That's what God has planned for me." [Chuckles]
My email went something like this,
"If you are a bottom feeder, please do not respond."
[Laughing]
- Eric Krans: Not being a bottom feeder, I replied.
[Emily laughs]
[Curious music]
- Hi, my name is Eric Krans,
and I am an unofficial LEGO Master Builder.
- I knew by the end of that first date
that either we were gonna be something special
or we were going to be really good friends
for the rest of our lives.
Yeah, it turned out we were something special.
[Romantic Italian music]
We got married the next year. [Bell chimes]
He had been into LEGO for about two years
before I met him.
And before I knew it, I was kinda building with LEGO.
And now we don't have a living room anymore.
We have a LEGO workroom. [Chuckles]
We bounce ideas off of each other all the time.
- She is the more creative type
and she can imagine stuff and just build.
[Mystical Christmas music]
My wife builds a Christmas town
as she envisions it in West Bend.
- I love those little miniature Christmas villages,
but sometimes they can be a bit chintzy,
and sometimes, they're also really expensive.
And I thought, "You know what?
"I could build a Christmas town,
"and I could make this relevant
"to the community that I live in,"
'cause I've always loved Wisconsin.
And so, because of that, I wanted to pay tribute.
- She also has a California Christmas...
[Upbeat surfer rock and roll]
which is what she would envision California
would be like during Christmas time.
She gets to build without snow.
And so, there's a lot more color evolved
instead of everything being covered in white.
And I'm amazed at her ability
to just spontaneously create things.
I need something to springboard off of.
[Mysterious music]
- His theme is Harry Potter.
Because he's so focused with one theme,
it gives him the chance to really dig in
and he has both small builds and big builds.
The one that we get the most ooh's and ah's over
is the moving Quidditch pitch.
[Mystical wizard music]
- Eric: I estimate that to be about
13,500 bricks
to 14,000 bricks.
- And he was holed up down in the basement,
like a mad scientist,
[Haunting laugh]
working on this for-- I would say-- about six months.
And all the gears, all the workings,
all the mechanics, everything that's in there,
it's all LEGO. [Electric motor whirring]
He is a bit of an engineering genius
when it comes to LEGO.
It blows my mind that he's able to take
these plastic gears and rods, and put them together,
and make these little figures fly around.
And they don't just fly in a circle!
No, you have a couple of them that are flying in a circle
and then you have one that's doing this little motion.
And the fact that he could figure out how to do that motion!
And then, you have a couple other players
that are doing other things.
- I do things that really draw the crowd in.
Like, "You can do that with LEGO?
"Holy..." Insert your favorite phrase here!
[Chuckles]
- Emily: We do anywhere between 6 to 10 shows a year.
And every time we do a show, we try to bring something new.
So, that pushes us not only to show,
but also to build.
I mean, what's more fun than hanging out with a bunch of people
that love to play with LEGO?
- Eric: We're always expanding.
We're always building new things,
until we can't build any more, I suppose.
[Laughing] - Run out of pieces or money
or space! [Both laugh]
- Space is the big one. - Right? [Laughing]
Little house, lots of LEGO!
I think it's part of what keeps us happily married.
The family that LEGOs together, stays together.
[Laughing]
[Whimsical music]
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