A few years later, my younger brother and I got to share the much bigger Universal Building set 400-1.
I tend to lurk on Eurobricks and other AFOL websites, and one recurring theme I see is "dark ages". Posters constantly bemoan the fact they didn't buy this or that set because they didn't have any interest in Lego at the time, hence the "dark ages" term. It certainly makes sense, as young men between 18 and 25 should have other things on their minds tbh as they start out their careers and what not. I guess it shouldn't seem that odd to me that I never really had a similar period in my life, as part of me has never really wanted to grow up. Not a unique concept, though the way I expressed it is not as common I guess.
I've had a mild obsession with the Castle theme since my father brought us back our first set from Germany, and kept from ever dropping my interest. Now I have "branched out" my collecting as a I grow older and my kids exert their own preferences. But this toy remains the most fun when used in a social setting and in a free form manner, and some my best memories (with hopefully more to come) involve communal builds.
Today, I am thankful for that.
Funny that your picture should have that little shovel piece in it. That was one of the main pieces I've always remembered having. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I figured out what set it belonged too. Having so much Lego passed down to me from your wife as well as the constant garage sale additions made for many set mysteries over the years.
ReplyDeleteI remember in particular one yard sale haul that came with a ton of classic space sets complete with instructions. Despite them being a bit before my time, I was in awe of the sets once they were built. I felt like a museum curator that had stumbled upon an unopened crypt. It was awesome.
My dark age started around 96-97 I think. I remember one the last sets I got was the City Police Surveillance Squad. Also I got that huge Islanders set with the two baseplates. Around that time I think Aquanauts were starting to come out and for whatever reason they didn't hold my interest. That dark age carried on until a few years ago when I noticed that the City sets were getting back to their roots. I'm still a bit disappointed at the lack of proper space or castle sets (although The Hobbit stuff was pretty cool - Bagend is a wicked looking set), but I'm happy to see City flourishing again.
Oh, and I realized recently that I've been missing out all long - the Train sets are amazeballs.
Great post, love the nostalgia. Good job on raising the next generation of Lego Maniacs!