In the middle of the Instagram page of @pumpedsheetlegos, an Arc Trooper Star Wars Lego figure sits. Wearing a white helmet and armed with a black gun, the figurine is marked at $31, made by a passionate builder who started building Lego at four years old.
Junior Deep Goswami started his Lego business during the COVID-19 pandemic due to his low social interaction. As a person who thrives on those interactions, Goswami turned to Lego to occupy himself. Thus, he joined a Discord server of Lego builders.
“I started posting the things I built,” Goswami said. “Using that community, I was not only able to be creative with Legos I built, but I could also share it with others, and they could share their work with me. And with this also came a sense of community. It was a way for me to not feel alone.”
Goswami was introduced to Lego by his father, Bhasker Goswami. As an engineer, Bhasker Goswami enjoys hands-on activities, such as building Lego.
“In the beginning, my dad would build Legos for me, and I would watch him build them,” Goswami said. “As a visual learner, I slowly learned how to build those Legos out of the easy instructions that were given per set, and over time, I found it very fun.”
Deep Goswami eventually found that his father’s love for hands-on activities influenced him too. During class, Goswami said he always found himself building creatively during collaboration.
“The thing with Legos is that it’s not just about following instructions,” Goswami said. “I can use these parts that I have to build anything in my imagination. It’s a sandbox.”
Goswami also started his minifigures as a hobby, but two years ago, it transformed into a side business to fund his passion for Lego. One of his greatest accomplishments was the rare Commander Fox minifigure, for which he had received multiple commissions.
“Commissions were largely a thing I used to do for fun,” Goswami said. “Since I’m a big Star Wars fan, I really loved to make the different characters for myself and others. Since they were rare too, I would be able to both make a profit and have fun making them.”
Goswami sources his parts from BrickLink, an online marketplace, and operates his business on multiple platforms, such as eBay, OfferUp and Mercari. The business has slowed down recently due to schoolwork, but Goswami will never stop shutting it down completely.
“My favorite part about building Legos is the fact that I can add something new to a pre-existing concept, so it would be basically marked as my creation,” Goswami said. “It’s real creativity when you make your own custom minifigure.”
