A love of Legos, Buffalo, and the Bills.
Many fans will not only see the new Highmark Stadium for the first time in the regular season Thursday night, but they also can see an 85,000-piece Lego display that is set to debut at the stadium.
The project, called the "12th Man in Pieces," represents the spirit of Bills fans. It was led by Eric Santiago, founder of Buffalug, a passionate WNY Lego group. Santiago wanted to bring the art of Legos to light while capturing what it truly looks like to be a Bills fan.
The installation — Santiago's first-ever Lego mosaic — features the new stadium, fans tailgating, the city's skyline and more.
"We didn't want to just do something that was football players or cliché," Santiago said.
It took about three months to complete, with over 2,300 people from the community helping to put it all together. Santiago said the work was built for, and by, Buffalo.
"We went everywhere from Roswell Park to Golisano Children's Hospital," he said. "We did something at the VA, UB. We went all over with a big tour, and we had parsed this thing out into 2,300 build squares."
The project is part of Buffalug’s new 12th Man Mosaic Project; a partnership with organizations and community members to facilitate large-scale LEGO community builds like the one at the new stadium.
The new LEGO display is in the stadium, located at Gate B, Entry 4.
