When I was younger, all Lego sets showed pictures of alternative builds on the boxes ( usually a couple of options) so anytime I got Lego it got built 4 times - properly > alternate builds x2 > properly again (then on a shelf!)

Part of the fun was figuring out how to make the alternates! I really miss that part of it, but these days, with the kids running around, it's all I can do to find the time to build the good sets once!

Stif wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 8:05 pm > properly again (then on a shelf!)

My sets never stayed together for too long. Initially built, played with, and enjoyed them disassembled (or more likely destroyed in some imagined catastrophe) so the pieces could be used in my own creation. All the pieces to all my sets were mixed up in one big ass box!

That's how my kids do it, and I have to grit my teeth every time

My wee sister was always of the opinion that Lego was as much for destroying as creating, but from my point of view I'd bought a set with a purpose, so like to keep them that way.

I have specifically bought my son's boxes of loose Lego to build creatively with, but they still prefer to do it with the expensive branded sets...

jtc wrote: ↑Sun Feb 06, 2022 9:43 pm I have the Porsche 911

The only thing keeping me from getting that Porsche, and some other awesome sets, is simply not having the space to put them somewhere.


Here’s my big box of 50 years of Legos! As you can see, I still have almost all the directions for the specialized sets.

That's something I really love about Lego - no matter how specialised the stuff is (custom pieces etc) it's all still fully compatible with every brick ever made (hell, even Duplo will connect to standard Lego!) - there's something just really cool about that!

I remember watching a wee documentary a few years ago where the designer of Lego Friends was talking about the creation of the new-style 'Friends' mini-figs, and how important it had been to maintain that compatibility and have something that worked well with the whole Lego ecosystem, whilst also increasing inclusivity.
Lego has never really been a 'boys toy', yet sales skewed that way - it was a great watch and made me see the Lego Friends stuff in a whole new light - sure it was on Netflix, I'll need to try to find it...

Lego is just for kids.

Just a few, we've also built the new Defender, a Mack Truck/Bin Truck, 911 RSR & have the Liebherr Excavator sealed in a box next to do.

The Ducati, Ferrari & Lamborghini built since December.

Stif wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:30 am That's something I really love about Lego - no matter how specialised the stuff is (custom pieces etc) it's all still fully compatible with every brick ever made

I remember watching a wee documentary a few years ago…sure it was on Netflix, I'll need to try to find it...

That’s always been the appeal - no matter the nature of a set, it was all compatible. Making my own stuff was always more important to me than the sets. I was actually a bit disappointed as I saw the sets get more complex and specialized. I think that limits creativity. A buddy of mine helps his son build sets then on a shelf they went never to be touched again. That’s fine if you’re an adult, but what’s the point if you’re a kid?!

I saw that show on Netflix! Fantastic!

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:53 am
That’s always been the appeal - no matter the nature of a set, it was all compatible. Making my own stuff was always more important to me than the sets. I was actually a bit disappointed as I saw the sets get more complex and specialized. I think that limits creativity.

I see both sides of the creativity and complexity views. As a kid, similar to your Lego bucket, we had a huge suitcase full of pieces. They were sets of bricks rather than the breakdown of individual models. I loved playing with Lego but, lacking any real artistic talents, it was fairly aimless "locking of blocks".

Bring along the models, the more complex the better, and it engaged my more process oriented nature - there was an end goal, a set of ingredients, a series of steps to follow and a degree of technical learning/understanding. For the creative mind, there are still all the pieces to let you explore.

I suppose what I am trying to infer is that, from a relatively creative toy back in the 70's, it has matured massively over those 50 years to encompass both the creative and ordered minds.

AliBar wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 12:29 pm I suppose what I am trying to infer is that, from a relatively creative toy back in the 70's, it has matured massively over those 50 years to encompass both the creative and ordered minds.

Excellent way to put it! I suppose my hay day with Legos as a kid was before they got super specialized and definitely before they started doing all the tie ins with movies and stuff. Like you, my first experience was the universal sets.

I remember as a kid playing Legos with friends. Round 1: build a bunch of cool stuff; round 2: play out some adventure with what we built; round 3: save the big stuff, destroy everything else.

One time it was battleships. My best friend and I made these elaborate battleships and actually carried them back and forth between our houses on wood paneling!

Good times

I do Lego from time to time because I'm looking at screens all day in the week and Lego in the main is analogue.
Only use my laptop sometimes for instructions if I don't have the book/s to hand or if it's a download.

I can’t believe I have forgotten to mention this, I suppose as it’s not actually Lego, I’ve accidentally overlooked it.

As one of my several extra curricular activities, I am a member of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) and I currently sit on their board of trustees.

A few years ago, our president at the time launched the Little Linac campaign. A Linac, or Linear Accelerator, is the name of the medical equipment used to deliver radiotherapy treatment to cancer patients.

The aim of this project was to make Little Linac model kits which the Institute sold for £10 each. That amount would pay the cost of the sold kit and the profits would allow us to buy extra kits to donate to paediatric radiotherapy centres. The idea was that every child undergoing radiotherapy could be given a “Lego” kit to build a Little Linac so they could see the machine before they started their treatment. They could then keep it and once over their cancer, could use the kit to build something else.

Unbelievably, Lego refused to help out so we had to have these made by a “rival” manufacturer. Sadly the project is now finished but you can read more details here if you are interested.

https://www.ipem.ac.uk/About-IPEM/Campa ... ttle-Linac

And here’s a photo of the kit. I have one fully made in my office at work and it’s a regular talking point with any visitors I get.

This is a great thread!

And this:

iain wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 7:23 pm few years ago, our president at the time launched the Little Linac campaign. A Linac, or Linear Accelerator, is the name of the medical equipment used to deliver radiotherapy treatment to cancer patients.

is incredible Iain!

Kind of on similar lines, (I work with sailing boats) my partner got me this a few years back for my birthday: Stock photo as it's currently dismantled back in its box waiting for me to have time and space. But it lived on my desk at work until the pandemic and work-from-home (Whereupon it moved home with me, lived on the window sill and now has faded sails). Sometimes when a question among the engineers about the physics of our boat came up in trying to work something out, the Lego boat would be used for demonstration.

I've loved Lego since being a kid and have a box of unassembled and mixed together (sorry!) models in my parents loft. The only thing I was allowed to keep there as "it would be good when you have your own children". Sod that, if we get space again for Lego (hence why my collection hasn't grown in spite of my desire to do so) I'm building things again for myself! One of my best mates used to loan me sets - he'd build them, dismantle them, then store them in boxes so I often got the chance to do the same. Now we live thousands of miles apart.

iain wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 7:23 pm I can’t believe I have forgotten to mention this, I suppose as it’s not actually Lego, I’ve accidentally overlooked it.

Unbelievably, Lego refused to help out so we had to have these made by a “rival” manufacturer. Sadly the project is now finished but you can read more details here if you are interested.

What a fantastic story! Shame on Lego for not supporting this.

I played with Lego so much as a child that I was delighted when my daughters bought me a Campervan kit as a bit of a joke because my wife and I had just bought the real thing.
I enjoyed it so much it started a bit of a tradition for them to buy me something for birthday/ Christmas / Father’s Day. We have even started building them together. So several years later the current collection is below. I say current because in a watch style I have ‘flipped’ a few. Lego holds its price remarkably well. The defender was far the hardest. The pistons and gears actually work. The boxes are the next on our list.