Before this discussion gets started, please remember - it is my mission in life to inform all US citizens that 'Lego' is a brand name/collective noun and as such there is no such thing as 'Legos'. You can have a box of 'Lego', or a box of 'Lego bricks', but you can't have a box of Legos. Thank you for your attention, again. posted by memebake at 12:14 PM on September 20 [8 favorites has favorites]
Thanks, memebake. And thanks for the post, Sciurus.... whenever something I remember is called "classic" I feel old.
There was nothing better to find under the tree at Christmas for me than a big ol' box of space legos. posted by rokusan at 12:21 PM on September 20 [1 favorite has favorites]
Memebake's derail could only happen on MetaFilter. posted by KokuRyu at 12:22 PM on September 20
No, I've seen that level of Lego pedantry elsewhere.
Lego is a brand. There are multiple companies (and subsidiaries) called Lego (in the various nations of the world). Hence, there is such as thing as Legos, it's just that they are corporations, not plastic blocks. But they do fit together quite nicely.
Is this something I would have to leave the cockpit of my Mega Core Magnetizer to understand? posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:34 PM on September 20
The brand name vs. unit distinction is extremely helpful, especially to distinguish between Lego-brand novelty brick units and the imperative I'm always using regarding Eggo-brand frozen waffle discs. posted by farishta at 12:38 PM on September 20 [2 favorites has favorites]
Uh, fuck their trademark status. I played with legos as a kid, and after I put them up my nose and shot them out like bullets I wiped the ropey mucous off with kleenex. posted by bunnytricks at 12:41 PM on September 20 [7 favorites has favorites]
I speak a language known as "English" which is pretty flexible in allowing even non-experts to create new words and/or new usages for old words. When I say the word "legos" everyone knows what I mean and it is therefore a "word" in exactly the same sense that any other word is a word. posted by DU at 12:59 PM on September 20 [15 favorites has favorites]
Great post, brings back some fun memories. *searches for his old legos* posted by glip at 1:07 PM on September 20
Kleenexes. They can be found in Volvos and Toyotas worldwide, many of which have Cokes couched safely in their cup holders. Have you seen my new Reeboks? I'll send you a photo via e-mail; a strange coincidence that we both have Dells, no? Gun shops have a wide selection of Glocks and Berettas. posted by lumensimus at 1:07 PM on September 20
I'm xeroxing this thread as we speak (also, I had that Galaxy Explorer set and it was cool as hell). posted by jquinby at 1:14 PM on September 20
This reminds me that I need to restock my... erm, that is, my dughter's Lego box. posted by lekvar at 2:23 PM on September 20 [2 favorites has favorites]
Whenever I talk about LEGO® Brand Bricks, I always call them LEGO Brand Bricks. (The ® is kinda hard to pronounce, so it's a relief to know that legally, I only need to pronounce it the first time I mention LEGO Brand Bricks in a conversation.) wait...where's everybody going? posted by PlusDistance at 2:28 PM on September 20 [4 favorites has favorites]
I'm actually not into space lego that much, but I do love what people are doing lately with using tiny, non-traditional-brick-but-also-not-"specialty" pieces to make mini-models. posted by DU at 2:28 PM on September 20 [1 favorite has favorites]
Hey, does anyone remember the Legoland Idea book (1980)? It featured two minifigs who go on a long adventure through the town, space and castle lego of the day. It had lots of really imaginative models, including this page which was my favorite bit, when we meet some lego aliens... see also, 1980's lego alien space base, page 1, 2. I think this book sort of defined innovation for me, when I was about 7. posted by memebake at 2:39 PM on September 20 [1 favorite has favorites]
9th Birthday.
Lego Galaxy Explorer.
Life was simple, happiness was pure.
Now I'm thirty five and have a tear in my eye (and a galaxy explorer in a box in the attic). posted by Elmore at 2:44 PM on September 20 [1 favorite has favorites]
There was nothing better to find under the tree at Christmas for me than a big ol' box of space legos.
The thing better than this: finding the Lego Galaxy Explorer under your parent's bed, carefully slicing the cellophane with a sharp knife, assembling it, and surreptitiously playing with it for a month before Christmas. posted by Meatbomb at 2:58 PM on September 20 [5 favorites has favorites]
So, Lego. That's those little colored plastic blocks with the interlocking pegs? And they're really cool, because you can build anything at all that you want from any combination of them, without having to follow instructions and they come out differently every time? I love those things. Or am I thinking of some other toy? posted by nax at 3:16 PM on September 20
I remember reading for the first time on a 1970's Lego schematic from some classic Lego set I ran across a few years back about how they're to be called Lego Brand Bricks and not Legos. I got a real kick out of that sentence and I'm getting a real kick out of these comments. I'm not even going to click the links, I've had my fill of entertainment. Yes, I'm easily amused at times. posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 3:55 PM on September 20
memebake: Yes. I remember this. I got the mid-sized blue-grey spaceship as a Christmas present in 1981. It was incredibly awesome. One of the best gifts I've ever received. posted by sien at 4:46 PM on September 20
All I wanted were Space legos. No Castle, no Pirates, no Town: only Space. However, my friends and family did not seem to understand the magical allure of space. When asking for birthday/Christmas presents I would make it clear that I wanted only Space, but would still end up getting non-Space sets. Rather than accept this and just use the pieces for other things, I made myself build the sets roughly to the instructions, but in such a way that they would be fit for space travel. An airplane received an upgraded cockpit, lasers, and rockets in place of jets. A hotel was retrofitted with an airlock, lasers, and a small landing pad. There would also have to be an elaborate backstory imagined for each of these sets so that they could be accepted into my collection of "real" Space sets. posted by worpet at 5:05 PM on September 20 [7 favorites has favorites]
Hey, does anyone remember the Legoland Idea book (1980)?
I passed down my copy to my son. posted by KokuRyu at 5:42 PM on September 20
An interesting thing about this is comparing the pre-classic space ships to the neo-classic ones. The pre-classic ones actually look like what space craft look like, whereas the neo-classic ones look like how we wished they looked.
Wait, is that interesting? posted by !Jim at 5:49 PM on September 20
This is probably a good time to mention to those of you in the Seattle area that Brickcon is happening in a couple weeks.
I never had the Galaxy Explorer posted by Fleebnork at 6:49 PM on September 20
I never had a Galaxy Explorer either (I do now have a picture of one on my office wall). But I had enough other space Lego to cover half my bedroom floor in a space-base diorama; I only packed it up when I needed the room for Technic. If the Web had been around then, I definitely would have downloaded the instructions and built a Galaxy Explorer from the pieces I already had - but it would, of course, have been missing the critical little LL 928 number-plates. I imagine the upstanding proprietor of Spaceman Dan's Used Ship Lot would have had some difficulty explaining the vessel's provenance to skeptical buyers.
The Robot Command Center? How dare you, sir. posted by Fleebnork at 7:38 PM on September 20
Love it...the Neo-Classic link is great, some wonderful models there. Interesting to note that blue, grey and yellow with white highlights seem to be the official colours of space.
Metafilter: Neo-Classic Space posted by salishsea at 9:10 PM on September 20
I'm curious. I loved playing with my blocks as a kid. But, I was never given large sets so I never saw the full catalogue. Were these actual sanctioned models, or are they unique creations of their respective owners? posted by Severian at 9:57 PM on September 20
Metafilter: Dear God what a load of thundering dorks you all are.
Actually, I rather like that descriptor. posted by Ndwright at 10:00 PM on September 20
I was given a Galaxy Explorer for Christmas one year as a child (with this crowd, thought I should clarify my age). Best present ever! posted by Neale at 11:49 PM on September 20
Yeah, one of my clearest childhood memories is getting the Galaxy Explorer one christmas (pic of box). In Europe the box didn't have a name on it so I never knew that was what it was called. One of my friends also had one, and I thought it very strange that after he had built it, his parents didn't let him take it apart again. They were definitely missing the point. A small tragedy.
I saw this thread yesterday and immediately went out and bought a new Space Lego set.
There are millions of bricks, still sorted by color, at my folks house and now I'm on a mission to reclaim them.
Also, I'm totally hyped about being able to order individual bricks from the Lego website.
I love rediscovering stuff from my childhood and finding out it's still awesome! posted by Jon-o at 4:18 AM on September 21
I started writing another comment, but it turned into a whole big thing so I fluffed it up into another blog post.
In brief: Yes, Space Lego is (more or less) back! posted by dansdata at 9:36 AM on September 21
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posted by memebake at 12:14 PM on September 20 [8 favorites has favorites]