Despite the fact that I have moved into a new office space, this isn’t what this post is about. I’ll no doubt be writing about what my new office if like, once I’ve gotten through the week and have acclimated to my new environment. No, this post is about a different kind of “Office.” Since we had some spare time and no evening plans last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with my wife building a newly-acquired LEGO diorama of the hit television series The Office.
Ordered directly from the LEGO Canada website and boasting 1,164 pieces, this diorama-style set shows the main entry and office space, Michael Scott’s office and the staff board room in a fun display that took us well into the wee hours of the morning to complete. With our snacks, wine and streaming on the big screen, we sat side-by-side in the living room in an attempt to assemble this beast on our living room coffee table. And we succeeded. All in all, it didn’t feel as complicated as some of the other sets I’ve assembled. Despite the large number of pieces, every little coffee cup or item on Michael Scott’s desk counts as a piece, requiring no assembly, so it’s a bit misleading in terms of how complicated it would be to assemble.
Interestingly enough, Michael’s office is detachable and can be removed as a standalone piece. Since this doesn’t apply to the conference room, I’m not sure what the thinking behind this may have been but the railing system that was used is pretty unique and I haven’t seen it in any of my other sets. I handled most of the bulk assemblies while my wife put together some of the smaller components that my meat hooks were too big or indelicate to handle. If she hadn’t dealt with all the stickers, the diorama as a whole would likely look quite bland as I wouldn’t have bothered.
For those who have watched the US version of the series, you’ll recognize a number of familiar aspects within the completed diorama. As you walk into the office, Kevin is standing there with his large pot of homemade chilli. There are pieces inside to represent what he spills on the floor, I simply didn’t bother to spread them around. Next to the fax machine behind Pam, you can see a fax to Dwight from his future self, warning him not to drink the coffee. There are a number of awards and things on the wall, including Pam’s drawing of the office itself. The white board in the conference room has the pyramid scheme that Michael thought was not a pyramid scheme, drawn upon it. there’s even a jello mold containing Dwight’s stapler on top of a filing cabinet.
If you look on the right-hand side of the very first photo, you’ll notice a small barrel that Dwight used to start a small fire during a fire drill. And you can clearly see Stanley holding what appears to be a pretzel that he got from the vendor downstairs. So many little details… All in all, it was definitely a worthwhile set to work on and I was even happier to have gotten the opportunity to work on it with my wife. Both our backs were killing us by the end; being bent over a coffee table wasn’t the most comfortable of assembly positions. But we powered through and got it completed before we hit the sack and it marks the first time I’ve assembled LEGO with someone else. Even after all this time, we can still have firsts. I’ve added the larger, beige baseplate for better stability and my goal will be to have it set up in my new office location eventually. ☯️
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