{"id":96555,"date":"2026-06-01T08:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/96555\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:37:12","slug":"the-dubai-company-helping-lego-fans-who-have-run-out-of-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/96555\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dubai company helping Lego fans who have run out of space"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many Lego fans<\/a>, the problem is no longer finding new sets to build. It is finding somewhere to put them afterwards.<\/p>\n

Across apartments and family homes in the UAE, shelves are filling up with Technic supercars<\/a>, sprawling Star Wars<\/a> displays and increasingly elaborate collector editions aimed squarely at adults. The hobby has grown far beyond the toy boxes it once occupied, bringing with it a familiar issue for dedicated builders: space.<\/p>\n

That problem is what inspired Brick Borrow UAE, a Dubai-based Lego rental service that allows subscribers to borrow sets, complete them at home at their own pace and return them afterwards.<\/p>\n

The company was launched two months ago by Steve Carter, who turned a long-running Lego hobby into a business after leaving a 25-year career in health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got taken over by one of the big companies, and I didn\u2019t really know what to do with myself,\u201d Carter tells The National. \u201cI always thought I didn\u2019t want to go back into health care.\u201d He was already running Dubai Lego Dads, one of the UAE\u2019s largest Lego communities outside buying and selling groups.<\/p>\n

While on gardening leave, he came across Brick Borrow, a UK Lego rental company that had recently started franchising.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was immediate,\u201d he says. \u201cI was on the beach sending messages to them and trying to get them to contact me straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UAE operation is run from a shop in Dubai Investment Park. Stacks of Lego boxes line the walls and large communal tables are used for building sessions, workshops and sorting returned sets.<\/p>\n

Originally, the plan was to simply replicate the British model, where sets are delivered directly to subscribers without a storefront. But practical considerations in the UAE soon pushed the business in another direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turned into a shop, which wasn\u2019t really the intention,\u201d Carter says. \u201cWarehouse capacity in the UAE is tricky, so it was easier to get a shop and keep all the stock there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The business’s launch has come as Lego continues to expand its range of adult-focused collector sets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifteen years ago, there were very few sets designed for adults,\u201d Carter says. \u201cNow there are more than 100 large-scale sets clearly marketed at adult builders.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many collectors, the issue is not just cost, but accumulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou build the sets, put them on the shelf, and then Lego releases another 15 sets you want next year,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s only so much capacity financially and physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brick Borrow removes the pressure of ownership, allowing the focus to shift to the building process itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s zero expectation from our side,\u201d Carter says. \u201cIt\u2019s really about how you want to enjoy the creative experience of Lego.\u201d<\/p>\n

That slower, more focused experience has also attracted customers looking for a break from increasingly screen-heavy routines.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is busy, complicated and fast, and so much of it is spent in front of screens, whether you\u2019re five years old or 55,\u201d Carter says. \u201cIt gives people a chance to detach<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have kids who come in with ADHD or who are on the autism spectrum, and their parents really appreciate what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s growing customer base reflects how much broader Lego\u2019s audience has become in recent years. Carter cites the popularity of the botanical collection, a line of flower and plant display models that has become one of the company\u2019s fastest-growing themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people buying botanical sets are adult women who may never have found Lego appealing before,\u201d he says. \u201cThen they move into art sets and other themes as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Customers either collect sets from the Dubai shop or can have them delivered anywhere in the UAE for a flat fee. Once completed, the sets are dismantled, packed into zip bags and returned for cleaning, checking and redistribution.<\/p>\n

Missing pieces, Carter admits, are inevitable. \u201cLego pieces go missing. It\u2019s a fact of life,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Brick Borrow UAE is also looking into school partnerships and additional services such as taking apart complex builds for customers who dislike doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnic sets are by far the hardest to dismantle,\u201d Carter says. \u201cI completely understand the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes the appeal of the business comes down to something simpler than collecting rare sets or filling shelves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about creativity and the experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many Lego fans, the problem is no longer finding new sets to build. It is finding somewhere…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6050],"tags":[12920,637,4248,6051,8313,8312],"class_list":["post-96555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lego","tag-arts-culture-team","tag-dubai","tag-lego","tag-lego-group","tag-standard","tag-story"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116673947101404420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}