Adult Fan Of LEGO
- This article is about a label for fans. For the comic book go to AFOLs_(comic).
Adult Fan Of LEGO or AFOL refers to those adult hobbyists who build with or collect LEGO. Quite often these people played with LEGO as children, went through what are called dark ages, in which their interest in LEGO waned, but then regained their enthusiasm for the hobby.
The term AFOL was first used on rec.toys.lego (aka RTL), an Usenet newsgroup that preceded some of the more modern forums such as LUGNET. Jeff Thompson first used the term "Adult Fan of LEGO" on RTL on June 13, 1995. On June 14, Matthew Verdier turned this into acronym form. "AFOL" was added to Derek Schin's guide of RTL acronyms on August 12, 1995.
Related and Alternate Terms
Related terms include such variations as KFOL, or Kid Fan Of LEGO, and TFOL, or Teenaged Fan Of LEGO. Some people prefer the term ALE, or Adult LEGO Enthusiast.
- NLSO - Non-LEGO Significant Other: the partners of AFOLs
- NLS - Non-LEGO Spouse: like NLSO but requires marriage
- NLF - Non-LEGO Friend: other people in the lives of AFOLs
- KABOB - Kid with a Bunch of Bricks
Another variant debuted at BrickCon in the early 2010's when someone made an off-colour joke about A-HOLes, Adult Hobbyists Of LEGO.
Comic Book
AFOL is also the name of a comic book by Greg Hyland and Jake McKee that celebrates the AFOL community. The comic book can be found in PDF form.
AFOL Activities
With the growth of the Internet and particularly forums such as RTL and LUGNET, AFOLs have developed a strong community, complete with the in-jokes, dramas and other paraphernalia associated with such development. A selection of these shared memes have been collected in running jokes and community debates.
As well as the above, certain sets and minifigs have also reached a level of fame amongst AFOLs. These can be found in the famous sets and famous minifigs categories.
