After
a minor joke around my birthday time I am currently revisiting a childhood
obsession with Lego. I’ll be the first
to admit that I never stopped being interested in the wee plastic blocks (as
the presence of a couple of newspaper freebies and numerous individual minifigs
around the house will prove) but not to the extent that it has been filling my
spare time of late. I can’t recall a
first set, it was just something that was always there when I was growing up –
the toy of choice in most circumstances.
Having Danish ancestry must have been a plus point in the accumulation
of the stuff, and I do recall that some of our sets were inherited from cousins
(and the uncle in that case worked for Shell which must explain why we have so
many petrol station pieces!) but for many years it was top of the Christmas and
Birthday lists. Being the older of two
brothers meant I must have had a bit longer on the pure play level than might
be normal but I can’t be sure on when either of us bought our last childhood
kit either (although there are some great web sites out there giving dates sets
were released where I could work it out if I could be bothered). We definitely visited Legoland on Danish
holidays in 1980 and 1984 and I know I bought some on that second trip, but
after that things get a bit hazy. The
last I recall is sorting it all out into categories in separate ice cream tubs for
storage in the loft sometime before we moved to Felixstowe in 1989.
Although not building anything in the years following that,
I kept pace with what was available through the simple expedient of working for
Argos. All those deliveries and sales
passing through my hands meant I was up to date with everything new until I
finally escaped from retail in 1998, and even then stayed in touch through the catalogue
as Joan didn’t leave there until 2006 and we still picked one up every six
months after that. When the bagged
single minifigures started appearing in the shops I resisted but finally
succumbed around series 3, and there I was back in the collecting game
again. OK, only the people and the
freebies mentioned above but still it began to nag at me. And as it was the 21st century
starting looking at the odd fan site on the web and sought out photos on flickr
(and started taking some pics myself). Then
last year while we were in America I gave in to temptation in a larger way in
the Lego store at Disneyland with the purchase of the Back To The Future
set. Which was great fun to build, and
introduced me to a whole load of techniques not officially employed back in the
good old days. I blame watching the Lego
movie on the flight over!
So, when I couldn’t think of anything I fancied for my
birthday (see depression post below) I suggested my brother should go up in the
Parent’s loft and find me a technic set to build. He ended up getting the whole lot down and
all the tubs are now sat in my study, calling out to me every time I pass the door. When I brought them home there was some discussion
about passing them on to the offspring
of a cousin (said cousin having split from his wife and now needing a set of
toys at each home) but I’m not sure I’m ready to give it away just yet. If nothing else I wanted to know exactly what
was in those tubs and reminisce unashamedly for a while. Which has nicely coincided with a couple of
tv shows about Lego and adult fans and the launch of a magazine or two. Not that I have bought any of those, but they
are interesting to flick through.
Up to now I have built a couple of ancient (and presumably
inherited) sets from the days before the minifig was invented (a bus,
naturally, and a Shell station) all the space sets I can find pieces for and
tonight will see me finish off the technical stuff. I suspect I will then work my way through the
classic town sets and all the older bits I can work out from the bricks that
remain. 30 years on from my last
recalled construction binge I am having the time of my life and it seems to be
providing me with the therapy others are getting from all the adult colouring
books flooding the shops. Disappointed
that we have managed to lose a few bits along the way but there you go. Nothing I can’t improvise around.
And we are having a day trip to Legoland Windsor next week
as well. Must not let it take over my
life, but it will keep me amused for a few more months yet.
