I’m still a sucker for toys well into my middle age. I say this not in the Peter Pan sense, as I’m fully aware when going after large accounts during my nine-to-five insurance underwriting job just what an adult I am. Rather, I consider it a blessing that I’ve been able to continue to experience the joy of acquiring new-to-me playthings like diecast scale models of cars and trucks, the occasional game, and other sorts of items that many might probably associate more with youths than with Gen Xers.
I also hope that many in the CC readership have found success in their year-end searches for treasures for both others and themselves as this year wraps up. I’m the self-proclaimed king of thrift, and I have long been a proponent of the idea that there’s often little correlation between how much one spends and the value one finds in said object(s). Stated another way, you don’t have to fork out a lot to get something you really like. Buy used, beat the depreciation curve, and have and save more of the green stuff for a rainy day, your retirement, or for other things.
This is my last essay of new material for the year. I had stepped back from posting regularly this past spring with a change of work environment – namely a nearly full-time return to the office, which greatly reduced the amount of free time at my disposal. I have since found greater balance in my life in addition to learning more productive ways to spend my commutes on public transit to and from downtown on things other than surfing the net, interacting on social media, and the occasional purchase.
I had rediscovered a way to occasionally put pen to paper while riding the CTA and subsequently came up with some of my favorite essays I’ve ever written for CC. I also had a chance to reassess the place and value with which creative writing has enriched my life. With that said and with no formal announcement that I had returned to my usual Tuesday morning spot indefinitely, I’ve found a way to make it happen on my own terms as long as I have the resources from week to week and also something to say. Thank you for your continued engagement in my musings and ideas.
My friends at the Toys “R” Us store at Macy’s on State in the Chicago Loop. Monday, March 31, 2025.
Legos were a staple of my childhood, and I have many happy memories of having spent hours constructing things on the living room carpet and on the linoleum tile in the foyer, with or without the help of one or both of my brothers. I’d make buildings, elevated bridges and expressways (which I had referred to as “causeways”), and yes – even vehicles. There was a whole art and science to my rudimentary engineering practices for building different types of things, including the shape, color, transparency or opaqueness, and geometry of the connection of the individual Lego blocks. The teenage son of one of my best buds is now a competition-level Lego builder, having constructed truly mind-blowing things that I didn’t even know could be made with Legos. It was also such a happy discovery this past spring while friends were visiting from out of town that Toys “R” Us has now come back with stores within stores, including at the Macy’s On State flagship in the Chicago Loop, with an entire section devoted to Lego.
In case you’re by now wondering how any of this relates to our featured car, it had a Lego-related custom plate out back. It’s my usual practice to edit out the license plate numbers of my subject vehicles out of respect for the owners, but when I saw this BMW M2 the week of Thanksgiving and on the cusp of the year-end holidays, I knew an essay topic had just been born. This thing absolutely looks like a Lego car. In fact, the only more Lego-like new vehicle for sale that I can think of at this writing is a Subaru Crosstrek, and even then, it seems like a push between it and this BMW as to which is more Lego-esque. Even the twin-kidney grille on this Toronto Red machine looks like it was made from two one-by-two black Lego bricks snapped side-by-side onto a base. And I like it for looking that way.
This being CC, I feel like I should include at least a couple of factoids about this 2024 M2. It had been Motor Trend’s Performance Vehicle of the Year that year and features a twin-turbo 3.0L six-cylinder engine with over 450 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Beastly. It weighs about 3,800 pounds and is able to rocket from 0-60 miles per hour in a sickeningly fast 3.5 seconds with its eight-speed automatic transmission, which was three-tenths of a second faster than with the six-speed manual. It was also hecho en México.
Needless to say, it’s a mini-brute of a performance machine. Its $64,200 base price is way more than I would ever spend for any vehicle, but this is coming from a thrifty individual who hasn’t owned a vehicle for literally decades now. Similarly, new Lego sets are also shockingly expensive. Like I’ve made reference to in this post and others, my jam is collecting diecast cars, but if I was still a Legohead, I’d be looking on eBay for giant tubs of used Lego blocks for sale from thrift-minded families who now value the added free space over things. I’d never give the gift of used Legos, though, so for those purposes, it would be off to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Happy Holidays, everyone.
Lakeview, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, November 23, 2025.
It had appeared like you were unofficially back on Tuesdays, so thank you for the confirmation! Tuesdays were just so blah without you getting them started.
Perhaps I should take your advice on channeling time towards other endeavors, like writing. Doing so has been a struggle of late but writing during my commute would be problematic!
Thanks, Jason! As far as writing goes, I recently read an article about retirement (not sure when that would be for me) and how being intentional about pursuing one’s interests is key to enjoying it.
I’m already carving out time now for things I would like to do later with more free time, so staying in the practice of writing and taking pictures and honing those skills will be helpful for later.
And no. I do not recommend driving and writing at the same time.
Mr. Dennis ;
You’re right on target .
I saw most of my peers retire, go home to sit in front of the telly then die of boredom in a year and a half so I never planned to retire .
My Sweet insisted due to my lack of health and keeping busy tinkering on my old vehicles has kept me very alert and interested in living .
When I can’t due to the pain I read like the dickens .
Point being : don’t be afraid of retirement, plan it and enjoy it by keeping busy =8-) .
-Nate
Thanks, Nate! You also bring up something else that I’ve been thinking about this week – reading. I’d say that if anything, quarantine during the pandemic with what seemed like endless amounts of time at my disposal and nowhere to go, I learned to be more intentional about doing things.
I feel like with reading, I’m still expanding my mind with facts or perspectives other than my own.
Indeed Nate, that’s great advice. Keep the brain active even when the body isn’t being cooperative. I think where some guys fall down these days is in not having sufficient interests outside of work – so when they retire they (perhaps subconsciously) feel they’ve lost their reason for being. Instead we should view it as years of vacation to look forward to.
Great write up Joseph! I among many look forward to your Tuesday screeds and observations. Have a great holiday season and see you on the other side!
Thank you so much, Dave – I appreciate this. I hope you (and everyone) also continue to have a great holiday!
I would be interested in your opinion of the next generation Subaru Outback coming soon. It’s much more Lego like than the Crosstrek, which I have now.
I am so glad you mentioned the 2026 Outback, because I had to look it up. I respect Subaru so much. With that said, I cannot imagine the new Outback looking any more like it was styled using Lego in the modeling phase. If I squint, it looks straight up like Legos. The Toyota 4Runner is a close second. Unbelievable!
I could be wrong, but a part of me thinks this new design could turn off a lot of customers. What I appreciated about the original Outbacks was they still retained the a overall appearance of a station wagon that stood out from the remaining SUVs. Looks more like a Forester.
No, I agree with you. Part of what I have understood to be traditionally part of the Outback’s appeal is that it was the anti-SUV AWD vehicle. The new one looks, well, like an SUV.
What’s funny is that the reverse was true of the original Forester. It was Subaru’s small SUV, but it looked like a tall wagon.
It reminds me of the 2021 Honda Civic that was over kill with gnarly looking fake scoops in the front and an equally over kill rear end. I remember there was push back on that generation. Honda must have gotten the message, as evidenced my the toned down current version.
You’re clear minded about your values and also are a good wordsmith .
One must grow older but nowhere is it written one mist grow up .
I’m a geezer yet I still like to play with my old cars, trucks and Motocycles, I get great satisfaction from taking things apart and making them well again or better when I re assemble them .
-Nate
Thanks again, Nate. Speaking of reassembly and improvement (and this is only tangentially related), I recently purchased a somewhat rough 1950 Studebaker Champion diecast, touched up the paint, rechromed the bumpers, and darned if the thing doesn’t look pretty good!
I was very happy to see you return to the Tuesday morning slot; it felt strangely empty there for a while. It’s good to hear how you’ve accommodated your commute with writing for CC.
We share the trait of thriftiness. My latest venture down that road has been to learn how to service/repair mini-split air pumps. I installed them in all of my rental units, but a couple of them have had issues. Around here professionals shun DIY installations, and are very expensive if they actually design to show up. I had one guy quote me a date in late February. So I bought a few tools and some refrigerant and a bottle of nitrogen and in the last two days got both units working again. It’s a bit challenging learning something totally new, but satisfying when the learning pays off.
Thank you so much, Paul. I like that you and others in the CC community are handy with things like this. The ability to use a toolbox, wrench on cars, perform maintenance, etc. It’s something foreign to me, but I respect it. And the money one saves with things like this seems like the icing on the cake.
I scrolled past this this pretty quickly when looking to see what all was up this morning. As I breezed by I made a mental note to myself which was Mustang. As I came back and I thought new Charger after a closer look at the front. Then the medallion came into view. BMW? Ok. Then I saw the rear end and went that is butt ugly. Is this a BMW attempt at imitating an American muscle car look?
I wasn’t able to get a good profile shot that day, as I was in a hurry somewhere and was snapping from the sidewalk, but these cars are also somewhat stubby – but that adds to their appeal to me. The small butt-kicker. The styling also isn’t my absolute favorite, but for any car this relatively small (compared to other new vehicles), anything that does 0-60 in old-school supercar territory has my respect, regardless of what it actually looks like.
The latest Toyota 4 Runner looks like it was built with Legos
One hundred percent it does. Especially with those rally stripes on the size.
Always enjoy your very original thoughts on disparate subjects Joseph, we’re all very glad for a resumption of more regular musings. So thanks for those, and may the New Year bring us more of them, and only good things for you.
RA in NY, VT (and soon CO)
Thank you, Randerson. I appreciate your good words and send them back to you and yours!
Joseph, I might not always comment on your posts, but I always read them. Sometimes it’s because I’m having increasing trouble putting my thoughts into words, other times because I have too much to say – like today! I’ll attempt to be brief.
Lego has long been a ‘go to’ present for my grandson – until now when he has so much we have been told ‘no more!’ There is so much more variety than what there was sixty years ago (pic), when it was just baseplates bricks and windows, and it was up to you to use your imagination to bridge the gap to reality. Now there are so many more curved shapes and specialised pieces; the models look more like what they are supposed to be. At the same time, product seems to be looking more like Lego!
Not keeping up with new cars so much these days, I had no idea there was such a thing as this BMW. While not as visually repellant as some recent things to come out of Dingolfing, and not as Legoesque as some things I’ve seen on the road, you couldn’t really call it attractive. Baby steps along the road back to beauty; I think the designers need to grow out of their Lego phase.
Thank you so much, Peter! I always read your posts, too. Commenting can be a bit of a trick for me (I’m sure I overanalyze this in my own mind) only because sometimes I don’t have anything to add outside of “I liked this” – which I will sometimes write, anyway.
New-school Legos definitely seem much more advanced than even the ones from the ’70s (shared hand-me-downs) and ’80s that I was used to. Even walking down an aisle at the neighborhood Target department store and seeing the Lego sets for sale sometimes has me slack-jawed at not only the prices of some sets, but also their complexity!
Always enjoy your stuff Joseph. My 13yo boy is a big Legohead, so this resonated. I generally dislike cars that look like they were designed by kids who played with legos, and this is certainly one of them, particularly in that color. I find BMW, in particular, to be making some distinctly vulgar vehicles these days, with their oversized beaver incisors. I’m personally ready for a return to more delicate and elegant styling, but art and taste are very much personal.
Regarding the thrifty gene, I think we may have found a trait in which we are distinctly opposite, which is fortunate for you my friend.
Thanks, Brian. I’ll confess that when the more extreme BMW grilles started appearing on the road, I started making buck-teeth faces at them. That sounds weird, I know, but it’s just what they brought out in me. What we’re looking at now makes the Chris Bangle era look like so tame.
As far as your supposed lack of thrift and having read your COAL series so far, it seems you were pretty handy with doing plenty of repairs and body work yourself. That counts.
Ah, Lego! I loved it when I was a kid and my son has played with it since he was about two, starting with Dublo. Initially working with him on models and now seeing what his creativity comes up with is one of life’s great pleasures. I think the tactility makes it a refreshing change from video games, even creative ones like Minecraft. I think he learned a lot about perseverance (sometimes you have to “unbuild” and go back a few stages) and intepreting perspective drawings.
Now 9 years old, he’s an absolute master – a recent highlight for him was to visit the Lego store at Disney World. He was in hog heaven!
He has built an entire Lego village with railway, plus many cars and trucks and is already asking when we can build a real car together, ideally an old VW. That would really be fun!
As to the M2 – I think it is probably the only BMW I would consider these days. It’s got quite a “bulldog”, pugnacious character in natura and great stance. Yes, that rear bumper is perplexing, but the functional look of the front maw suits its character. I hear it is the only really satisfying M car to drive these days, where an M5 weighs over 5,000lbs(!) and isn’t very involving. The golden age of BMW M cars was IMHO when the E36 M3, and 39 M5 were on the market. The E46 and 92 were fine machines too. For me “M” BMWs were about understatement, agility and a fine ride/handling compromise, more than outright power or flashy looks.
I am obviously not their target customer though….
All of this is *awesome*. How cool that you get to experience the Lego hobby with your son. To some degree, I got to do the same on holidays when my nephews and nieces were little kids. (They’re all now teenagers or older – that time period went way too quickly.)
“Bulldog” is exactly what I was looking for in terms of describing the featured M2. It eluded me – I’m riding the CTA Holiday Train on my evening commute home, and thoroughly enjoying it! Have a great holiday.
Late to the party here, but I too wanted to add to the expressions of gladness that there’s still usually a new Joe Dennis post every Tuesday to brighten and inspire. I so admire your ability to regularly produce new text. It’s a gift, and one that I’m glad you’re sharing with us.
The M2…meh. I don’t doubt that it’s a blast to drive if one were to find themselves in the right circumstances. That would in the real world be seldom, since 0 – 60 in 3.5 seconds is practically pointless (particularly in a city) unless the diver has a death wish (for himself or others) and or just wants to be “one of those guys” who give other BMW drivers a not so great reputation. Appearance-wise, I think BMW has firmly and absolutely lost its way over the past half-decade. The M2 is by far NOT the worst-looking newish BMW. But it does look like a toy designed by robots.
Frankly, we could do better with LEGO. I’m a huge LEGO fan, and one of those people who hasn’t yet decided to free up the space taken up by bins and bins of the stuff. I probably have enough to make my own full-sized BMW (so long as one didn’t mind it looking like a BMW VW Harlequin tribute. I also collect some of the old, long-discontinued, LEGO series such as Fabuland.
Thanks so much, Jeff. Writing is something I enjoy very much. This has been true for me since middle school, and I have the awkward (but age-appropriate) receipts in old binders to prove it.
And I had almost forgotten about Fabuland! That’s awesome.
Even later to the party here, but a Joseph Dennis post is always a must read… sadly, I got too busy yesterday and missed this one until now.
Good to hear that you’re mostly back in your old slot, Joe… Looking forward to next year’s musings!
Regarding the Legos, I played with them as a kid too, but they were more for building buildings, and maybe a ship or two, as there we’re any things like wheels, or people, or 1/2 of the specialty things they have now. Kinda jealous, actually!
As to the BMW? eh, not my cup of tea, but respect on the performance. I agree with those above who said the 4-Runner looks like it was built with Legos. A coworker of mine has one in a color not too dissimilar from the featured Bimmer, and that was my impression of it as well when he first got it. On could argue the Rivian or Cybertruck looks a little Lego-esque as well.
Have a great holiday and see you here in the new year!
Thanks so much, RS Rick. And I knew what you meant in your first comment! Sometimes, the same thing happens to me and I can’t edit. I usually let it ride if I think my intent seems clear enough, but like you did here, I’ll sometimes do a post script.
I’m convinced that one could absolutely build a realistic-looking Cybertruck out of Lego with a minimum of specialty parts. And about those specialty parts, there’s a part of me that almost thinks of some of those as “cheating” LOL. I mean, I had to get pretty creative when building things with the old-school Legos that used to be available.
See you (and everyone) in 2026!
Sorry for the misspellings above… the “Edit” function was not offered to me… I don’t like when this happens!
Corrections: “….as there weren’t any things like wheels…” and “One could argue”.
I’m not sure why sometimes I can edit and sometimes I can’t edit, but it has become a crapshoot of late.
My lesson for the day….I now know what Toronto Red is! I am a second generation Torontonian, so it is something I should know. My father was born in Toronto and lived there his whole life. I was also born in Toronto and lived there until I retired about 10 years ago.
I grew up in the pre- Lego era, so I don’t have any hands on experience, but I have seen some amazing things constructed using Lego. We had a much less versatile product called MiniBrix. We only built houses with it.
I remember those, Mike and built many a house with those. In some ways, I liked them better (for building houses anyway) as they looked more natural for that purpose.
One could argue that Lincoln Logs made a more realistic house too.
The best buildings you could do with Legos was old style gas stations… the colors were right for that application, anyway.
Mike, the “Toronto Red” on this BMW doesn’t look red to me at all. I just looked up “Toronto red” online to try to see if there was any location-specific connection between this shade of whatever it is to beautiful Toronto, and I came up short – but admittedly, I didn’t spend a whole lot of effort. “Tomato Red” would have made more sense to me, but I can’t imagine someone wanting a BMW the color of everyone’s favorite non-fruit fruit.
I had never heard of MiniBrix until reading your comment, but they look cool.
And Rick, to what you were saying, I also think Lincoln Logs were awesome and realistic-looking to build with – super fun! Except for the occasional splinters, but that was a relatively small price to pay.
I don’t remember Lincoln Logs, maybe they weren’t sold in Canada. They do look like fun. I would have enjoyed building with them.
As for “Toronto Red”, the BMW Canada site lists it as a current colour for the M4, and M3 but for the M2 it lists “Vegas Red”. I have some level of colour blindness, so I generally ignore any subtleties in colour, but on my screen they all look red.
“Vegas Red” sounds completely appropriate for the level of extremes that this M2 represents.