On October 25th, Jeff Hindman was walking along Florida's Siesta Key Beach when he saw what appeared to be a rather large marine animal washed ashore. However, when the Sarasota resident got closer, he realized that it was not an animal in distress, but a giant Lego Man!
At first he thought the 100 pound, eight-feet tall castaway, that had the strange message 'No Real Than You Are', inscribed on its green shirt, was an advertisement gimmick for a new Legoland that is scheduled to open in the area. However, officials of the amusement park claimed they had nothing to do with the Lego Man and did not even want him, since he is not made from genuine Lego pieces!
Upon closer examination they found the name of Dutch artist Ego Leonard, written on the back. When a local newspaper tried to contact the artist via e-mail to see whether he was responsible for the masterpiece, they received a rather cryptic e-mail reply, which read 'I am glad I crossed over. Nice weather here and friendly people. I think I'm gonnna stay here for a while'.
Since this did not give them any answers, officials took Lego Man in custody and are currently storing him at the Sarasota police property room where he will remain for a maximum of 90 days in case, an owner emerges. If not, Jeff Hindman will become the proud owner of this fiberglass man - At least for a short time, until he can sell it on eBay.
This is not the first time one of these mysterious figures has washed up on beach shores. In 2007 and 2008, two similar figures were found on the shores of The Netherlandsand England respectively. The only difference was the color of their shirts! As it now stands, no one knows where these toy figures are swimming in from or where they will show up next - So be sure to keep an eye out the next time you are on the beach!
Resources: huffingtonpost.com, scholastic.com, dscdiscovery.com
