BackLounge Review: Funstation.in
Call for a Lego set to be delivered to your home, play, and return
Premium
Playing with a Lego set is a bit like origami: If you plan your moves right, you can end up with a Death Star in 8 (a really basic one) folds or 3,803 blocks. But one wrong crease or a missing brick, and you will feel like destroying the universe or yourself with a lightsaber (or holding your head in your hands, weeping and wishing things went your way for once in your life).
Whether you’re a by-the-book kind of Lego collector or a happy-go-lucky freestyler who rips open the box and tosses the instruction booklet out of the window, there is no monetary value that can be assigned to a service that meticulously counts and cleans, then sifts and sorts your Lego pieces by shape, size, colour and complexity. Funstation.in is not just a toy library—it is a specialized rental service for fans of the cult interlocking plastic construction kits.
The good stuff
Self-confessed Lego collector Kashyap Shah runs Funstation.in. The 30-year-old New Mumbai-based entrepreneur also works with an edutainment company and teaches children to build robots, programmable toys and play games like Lego Technic Mindstorms. If you happen to rent a Lego set from Shah, expect him at your doorstep the day after you place an order, armed with impeccably packed bricks in re-sealable zipper bags in a sturdy brown cardboard box, with well-kept instruction booklets.
It took us less than 3 hours on a Sunday to put together a full Lego City Police Station (recommended for children aged 6-12) with 854 pieces only because the puzzle pieces were segregated for easy assembly. As a reward for our accomplishment, we constructed a smaller model (197 pieces), the Cloud Cuckoo Palace, from The Lego Movie in a record 10 minutes. We were only missing a 1x1 translucent stud in one of the sets.
Shah claims each set is thoroughly cleaned and sterilized for new players. Both sets were dropped off and picked up from the residence at no extra charge. There is a full set of rules and etiquette on the usage of the sets, prescribed by the website. It took over 2 hours to just dismantle before returning the sets the way they arrived.
The website offers a limited range from series like Lego City, Duplo, Mindstorms, Technic as well as official comic book and movie merchandise sets like Lord Of The Rings, The Lego Movie, DC Super Heroes, Star Wars and The Hobbit.
The not-so-good
The company only offers cash-on-delivery as a mode of payment for now. The hefty security deposit, from ₹ 3,000-10,000, also has to be paid in cash upfront before renting. The plans are rigid and while children can entertain themselves with the same Lego set for a whole month, adults are likely to tire of some of the more straightforward construction sets. Also, collectors and adult fans are likely to be disappointed with the lack of complex and/or rare sets. There is only one set per series in the 750-plus pieces category. The service is only available within Mumbai’s city limits.
Talk plastic
Each Lego set can be rented at ₹ 700 (sets with less than 250 pieces), with a security deposit of ₹ 3,000; ₹ 1,700 (sets with 250-500 pieces) with a security deposit of ₹ 4,000; ₹ 2,700 (sets with 500-750 pieces), with a security deposit of ₹ 5,000; and ₹ 3,700 (for sets with over 750 pieces), with a security deposit of ₹ 10,000. There is no extra charge if customers lose up to three blocks per set but loss or damage of four-seven pieces will result in a penalty charge of ₹ 60 per piece for small pieces or ₹ 150 per piece if the brick weighs over 2g, and ₹ 400 per minifigure. Missing instruction booklets are charged at ₹ 200 each.
For details, call 9028629628, or visit www.facebook.com/funstation.in for updates and new releases.
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