Playing with Fandom

Abstract

Th is article addresses fandom from the perspective of LEGO Fans. Building on data from a large study of the LEGO Ideas platform, we investigate fandom as material narratives of play, nostalgia, and intertextuality. LEGO Ideas is a platform that allows users to submit ideas for future LEGO products, and based on the support of other users in the form of votes and comments on issues such as suggested price and target market, LEGO decides whether or not to produce a suggested product. As such, LEGO Ideas is an online community for fans of LEGO, but a surprising number of projects employ other fan narratives such as Star Wars, Marvel, Gilmore Girls, Beatles, and Doctor Who to name a few. When analysing the number of projects submitted to the platform, as many as 69% build on popular texts, brands and celebrities. Further, two thirds of the approved projects build on popular texts and celebrities with established fan cultures. In this article we argue that fandom becomes a way to create bridges between a variety of users and corporate interests. Although all the active participants on LEGO Ideas self-identify as AFOLS (adult fans of LEGO), they do not necessarily agree about what constitutes an interesting LEGO Ideas project. One way to reach out and draw attention to a project, however, seems to be by employing fandom in general as leverage; that is, materialising fans' narratives in LEGO is a driving force-not just for social interaction among the users-but also in getting their ideas considered for production by LEGO. Th us, when AFOLs bridge the apparent gap between toys and (often) adult fan cultures, they facilitate multiple ways of engaging with both, in ways that underline the play and intertextuality of popular culture.