Call it a net positive.
A British fisherman managed to hook an incredibly rare shark — a tiny Lego creature belonging to a 1990s set reportedly worth a few hundred clams on the resale market.
Richard West, 35, reeled in the pint-sized plastic predator 20 miles off of Cornwall’s coast, near probably pirate-free Penzance. The tuned in trawler immediately recognized the article of nostalgia from childhood.
“I could tell straight away what it was, because I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set when I was little. I loved them,” West told the BBC.
“It’s been 25 years since I’ve seen that face.”
None the worse for wear after nearly three decades lost at sea, it turned out the Lego piece had gone missing from an unlucky Tokio Express cargo ship in 1997 — along with 62 other shipping containers worth of product — during an intense gale.
Of the nearly five million plastic pieces that took the plunge that day, 51,800 sharks are said to have gone overboard.
The event has since become the stuff of Lego legend.
Author Tracey Williams penned an account of the incident in 2022, titled “Adrift: The Curious Tale of the Lego Lost at Sea.” She also runs the “Lego Lost at Sea” project — where folks flag the bricks they’ve managed to recover from the briny depths.
When West reported the missing piece to Williams, she confirmed the find as the first shark from the lost cargo ever to be located.
The bite-sized beast belonged to one of three sets: Shark Cage Cove, Shark Attack, or Deep Sea Bounty.
The trio are currently are selling in the stock market-esque Lego resale world for between $105 to $532 apiece.
“I was so excited. I was more happy about finding the shark that anything else I caught this week,” said West. “It’s priceless — it’s treasure!”
Coincidentally, Lego launched a new “Jaws” themed set just a few days ago.
