NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Joe Trupia fell back into the seat of an old wooden school desk.
He looked weary, tired or nervous. It was hard to tell which. Probably all three. He’d had a hectic, anxious past few weeks. For one thing, he still didn’t know how to respond to the heartbreaking emails he’s been getting from Ukrainian customers. His company, Citizen Brick, founded a dozen years ago, makes largely underground, nearly clandestine, often satiric, very limited edition quasi-Lego minifigures and playsets. Many are bawdy, hilarious, the sort of stuff Lego would never touch. Such as a Lego-ish “Breaking Bad”-like meth lab. Or a strip club featuring “realistic spinning action,” titled “Center for the Performing Arts.”
He once made a Harry Carey minifigure titled “Cubs Enthusiast.”
