Opinion: is AFOL decided by how many sets you won?

Once in a while I tend to put down an opinion piece here about things that caught my intrest or create some mild frustrations in the geeky sphere.

And today, I`m putting down some thoughts about something that bothers me slightly on Facebook groups.

Are you considered only a Lego fan these days if you can show off how many UCS, Exclusive or what else 200+ euro sets?

I know, Lego has boomed in the past two years due to mainly the Lego movie, and a lot of people have returned out of their Dark Ages due to children catching on intrest in the toy.  But if you look around these days in your average Facebook `fan group`, it`s either a heap of resellers (something I`ll tackle in a future opinion piece) or people only showing off their collections, boxed or not, and speaking down on others due to them.

Well, that doesn`t mean they are the only or the right kind of AFOL!

I understand people completely that just want to buy boxed sets and display them once build, just like collectors of other sorts of toys and goodies do.  But I don`t understand the arrogance at times they measure themselves compared to other Lego fans because they own all the modulars, the UCS sets, and other high end sets, while other people don`t want to invest in those things.

Being an AFOL is more then that.  I can go arrogant on those groups as well if I want, I can show off no less then FOUR yellow castles, including a box and all if I want.  That is, if I recuperate all the bricks from other builds I`ve been doing.  I think, since my parents kept my pre- dark ages Lego and the amounts of stuff I bought since I came out of them, amounts to about 500+ sets, including multiple copies of sets just for the parts.  Build one once, then sort out all the pieces and stuff for MOC material.

Don`t get me wrong, I don`t have anything against sets at all.  For example, I personally believe the Black Pearl is one of the most beautifull ships to have around on display in a living room.  People tend to have something with regular sailing ships in an household, and almost every visitor will have a good look at it and love it.  But when the ship is in Lego, they even do so more, I had it just this week with the landlord and his wife as they kept watching and feeling the Pearl while passing by.

But what is causing me some mild irritation is something that amongst other things happened at BMA the past weekend, people finding it `beugh` at the events that they
1. Can`t buy your creation in the store and
2. Why the hell aren`t there any instructions for it.

I mean, does that not mean they don`t know or missing certain points of being an AFOL?  Not realising it is, in essence, just a BUILDING toy an not something that once put together must not be touched ever again?  After all, if you want to have it back, you can take out the instructions and just rebuild the set from your bricks... if you find them back again with some sorting of course ;-)