An 8-foot-tall body, with an eerie smile and clenched fists, washed up on Siesta Key Beach in Florida Tuesday. But don’t call CSI – the man was plastic.
For the third time since 2007, a giant Lego man has washed up on a beach shore, with previous times being in Holland and England, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The 100-pound Lego man sports the message on the front of his green body: “NO REAL THAN YOU ARE.” The figure was first spotted by Jeff Hindman, who snapped photos and brought the Lego man ashore as a crowd began to gather.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Hindman told the Herald-Tribune, echoing the confusion of many onlookers. Some speculated that the man was just a publicity stunt.
Lego, however, said it has nothing to do with the strange yellow man, which has the name Ego Leonard printed on its back.
A spokeswoman for Legoland said that the figure is not endorsed by Legoland or its parent company, Merlin Entertainments Group.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies, not knowing what else to do with the figure, took it into custody, planning to release it to Hindman if no one claims it within 90 days. Hindman said he plans to sell it on eBay if it falls under his possession.
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The plot thickened later in the day, however, when an email sent to Dutch artist Ego Leonard, who is suspected to be the Lego man’s creator, was answered in first-person, as if he was Lego man.
The Florida newspaper reported that artist Ego Leonard replied in the email: “I am glad I crossed over. Although it was a hell of a swimm … A local sheriff escorted me to my new home.”
He also said in the email: “In case people want to take me on new adventures, just that you know, I have been invited to stay here for 90 days, everybody is welcome to show me all the beautiful surroundings while I am here.”
On artist Ego Leonard’s website, photos of Lego men that look similar to the one that washed up on the Florida beach are featured.
On the web: http://www.egoleonard.nl
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