Memories Are Made of This
July 18, 2012 4:09 AM Subscribe
When I saw that Galaxy Explorer, I could almost feel my old living room rug under me again.
posted by orme at 4:26 AM on July 18, 2012 [19 favorites]
posted by orme at 4:26 AM on July 18, 2012 [19 favorites]
I miss my old LEGO rescue team collection :(
posted by leevituulola at 4:32 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by leevituulola at 4:32 AM on July 18, 2012
A paradise on earth. If someone brought me a big set, I'd so want to hang out in the living room on the floor and put it together. It'd be better than a puzzle.
posted by koucha at 4:41 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by koucha at 4:41 AM on July 18, 2012
Reminds me to get my Star Wars Lego out of storage.
And yes, seeing that Galaxy Explorer got my my memories of long rainy afternoons spend building space stations going again too.
posted by MartinWisse at 4:52 AM on July 18, 2012
And yes, seeing that Galaxy Explorer got my my memories of long rainy afternoons spend building space stations going again too.
posted by MartinWisse at 4:52 AM on July 18, 2012
Sorry, dear. Our son and I are blowing off all weekend chores to sift through mine and his Lego to build the Galaxy Explorer.
posted by I'm Doing the Dishes at 5:03 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by I'm Doing the Dishes at 5:03 AM on July 18, 2012
I've got a whole dining room-sized table set up with organized Technic Legos in drawers. Then in the main living room we have a bin of miscellaneous Legos (plain blocks or other non-Technics I don't want to sully my main set with) for the kids to build with.
It's pretty great.
posted by DU at 5:05 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's pretty great.
posted by DU at 5:05 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
When I saw that Galaxy Explorer, I could almost feel my old living room rug under me again.
God, yes. That was exactly what I thought.
posted by mhoye at 5:06 AM on July 18, 2012
God, yes. That was exactly what I thought.
posted by mhoye at 5:06 AM on July 18, 2012
BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL
posted by louche mustachio at 5:12 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by louche mustachio at 5:12 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Woah, I want that Lego A380!! Can I have it, mom?!??
When I was 13, I decided that the best thing to do with my bar mitzvah money (well, a good chunk of it anyway) was to buy the Lego monorail set. I took over my family's living room (yay only child!) and played with it non stop for two weeks.
Then I got distracted by something else and moved on. Didn't play with it for years and always felt a little stupid after the fact for spending so much money. If I had it now I'm not sure I'd ever stop playing with it.
posted by dry white toast at 5:26 AM on July 18, 2012
When I was 13, I decided that the best thing to do with my bar mitzvah money (well, a good chunk of it anyway) was to buy the Lego monorail set. I took over my family's living room (yay only child!) and played with it non stop for two weeks.
Then I got distracted by something else and moved on. Didn't play with it for years and always felt a little stupid after the fact for spending so much money. If I had it now I'm not sure I'd ever stop playing with it.
posted by dry white toast at 5:26 AM on July 18, 2012
I remember that Lego Galaxy Explorer set as well. Wonderful nostalgia.
Lego should re-sell the Space series. Do the original ones again and make new ones too.
posted by gen at 5:33 AM on July 18, 2012 [4 favorites]
Lego should re-sell the Space series. Do the original ones again and make new ones too.
posted by gen at 5:33 AM on July 18, 2012 [4 favorites]
Wow, did everyone 'of a certain age' have the galaxy explorer? I loved that thing.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 5:43 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by sevenyearlurk at 5:43 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Wow, did everyone 'of a certain age' have the galaxy explorer?
I never had the Galaxy Explorer when I was a kid. I pretty much grew up resenting the fact that I never had it. Then, about a year ago I found one on eBay.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
posted by bondcliff at 5:50 AM on July 18, 2012 [17 favorites]
I never had the Galaxy Explorer when I was a kid. I pretty much grew up resenting the fact that I never had it. Then, about a year ago I found one on eBay.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
posted by bondcliff at 5:50 AM on July 18, 2012 [17 favorites]
Okay boys, we're hitting the vault tonight. Everybody knows their jobs. Tomorrow, Lego building on the beach in Bermuda.
posted by Splunge at 6:11 AM on July 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 6:11 AM on July 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
The instructions for the Galaxy Explorer. (If you all your old Lego are still at your parent's house like mine are yeah now I have something to do besides drink the next time I visit.)
posted by Cyrano at 6:12 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Cyrano at 6:12 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Instructions for hundreds of LEGO kits
(I posted this a few years back but the URL has changed slightly)
posted by Lucinda at 6:15 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
(I posted this a few years back but the URL has changed slightly)
posted by Lucinda at 6:15 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
I love LegoS.
posted by adamdschneider at 6:16 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by adamdschneider at 6:16 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Cargo doors in the back for the moon buggy, a cockpit with x-wing style lid and controls painted inside, lasers at the tip of the ship, and moon craters on the base plates (it came with two!) that could hold small 1 pieces as treasure/scree. And so many astronauts with the coolest logo a five year old had ever seen.
posted by furtive at 6:17 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by furtive at 6:17 AM on July 18, 2012
I do believe I have seen Valhalla.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:17 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by wenestvedt at 6:17 AM on July 18, 2012
(I stored all my Lego in a five-gallon Kikkoman soy sauce bucket my dad got from a friend who ran a restaurant. I can still hear the scratching, rhythmic noise it made as I ran my arm around and around and around trying to make a whirlpool that would drive a specific part to the surface.)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:19 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 6:19 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Hey, I have two ship's keels, but not the boats they are designed for. MeMail me if you want to make an offer so your cute little police- and fire-boats stop capsizing in the tub!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:21 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by wenestvedt at 6:21 AM on July 18, 2012
I still need to liberate my Lego from my parent's attic. My Lego lust object will continue to be 8448
posted by VTX at 6:24 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by VTX at 6:24 AM on July 18, 2012
Our parents' attics: containing our Lego sets for more than 30 years.
posted by Rangeboy at 6:29 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Rangeboy at 6:29 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Typical Gizmodo.
The vault doesn't contain one of every set in history, but it does contain a large cross-section of sets from sets over the decades. Although rumor has it that there is an actual non-public vault that does contain at least one of everything.
On the other hand, since it's not secret, you guys will be glad to know that you, too can visit this vault if you travel to Billund for the Lego Inside Tour.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:42 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
The vault doesn't contain one of every set in history, but it does contain a large cross-section of sets from sets over the decades. Although rumor has it that there is an actual non-public vault that does contain at least one of everything.
On the other hand, since it's not secret, you guys will be glad to know that you, too can visit this vault if you travel to Billund for the Lego Inside Tour.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:42 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
My life with Legos started with the Space Cruiser, the modest younger brother to the Galaxy Explorer. Same feelings conjured up by this article. Some recollections:
A friend and I coined the term "barnaby bendabies" for those 1x2 gray right angle hinges you could never find enough of.
I lived on the border of Enfield, Ct, home of the Lego factory for North America, so I sent them a letter when I was 6ish asking if they'd make Army Legos. I still have their response somewhere at my mom's house. (it was a nicely worded "maybe someday")
The Lego Idea Book was my holy bible back then. I can still see the story of Bill and Mary building their house. The FEELING of paging through it is way more than mere nostalgia. There has to be a Danish word for this.
posted by hanoixan at 6:53 AM on July 18, 2012
A friend and I coined the term "barnaby bendabies" for those 1x2 gray right angle hinges you could never find enough of.
I lived on the border of Enfield, Ct, home of the Lego factory for North America, so I sent them a letter when I was 6ish asking if they'd make Army Legos. I still have their response somewhere at my mom's house. (it was a nicely worded "maybe someday")
The Lego Idea Book was my holy bible back then. I can still see the story of Bill and Mary building their house. The FEELING of paging through it is way more than mere nostalgia. There has to be a Danish word for this.
posted by hanoixan at 6:53 AM on July 18, 2012
Loving this, will have to show my daughter when she gets in from school.
Counting down the days until the youngest is old enough to go on the Lego Inside Tour.
posted by lloyder at 6:54 AM on July 18, 2012
Counting down the days until the youngest is old enough to go on the Lego Inside Tour.
posted by lloyder at 6:54 AM on July 18, 2012
When I was little, my mum would drop me off at "daycare" at the home of one of the teachers at my school. I didn't get along with any of the other kids there, and I was too young to get along with the teacher's son... But he often let me drag out the huge bin of Legos he kept under his bed. Many of them were permanently stuck together, you couldn't make a set out of any of them if you tried, and I had no idea what to do with them in terms of building something coherent... But that huge bin got me through two otherwise awful summers at their house.
Later, shortly before he died, my dad found his old Legos from the 1950s. There was no "set," there was no way for them to stick together unless gravity held them that way, and they came only in red and white... And they were the best toy I'd ever discovered to date. I only wish he had more - my Lego-palace dreams were somewhat limited by the small number, but we made some awesome buildings nonetheless.
...Now I have to go find that set... It's probably off with his Lionel train set.
posted by Urban Winter at 7:24 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Later, shortly before he died, my dad found his old Legos from the 1950s. There was no "set," there was no way for them to stick together unless gravity held them that way, and they came only in red and white... And they were the best toy I'd ever discovered to date. I only wish he had more - my Lego-palace dreams were somewhat limited by the small number, but we made some awesome buildings nonetheless.
...Now I have to go find that set... It's probably off with his Lionel train set.
posted by Urban Winter at 7:24 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
* happy sigh *
posted by Elly Vortex at 7:34 AM on July 18, 2012
posted by Elly Vortex at 7:34 AM on July 18, 2012
Sets, bah! I say. Sets are only something you build so that you can get ideas of what else you can build with the unique parts in that set.
"Okay, now that we've followed the instructions, lets take it apart, combine it with the stuff from the giant bin, and build something REALLY cool."
posted by VTX at 7:52 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
"Okay, now that we've followed the instructions, lets take it apart, combine it with the stuff from the giant bin, and build something REALLY cool."
posted by VTX at 7:52 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Urban Winter:
Are you sure those weren't Playschool American Plastic Bricks? They are as you describe - Lego-like, but red and white (mostly) and requiring gravity. We had many of both and the American Plastics were fun because you could make large structures just explode when hit with a projectile.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 7:53 AM on July 18, 2012
Are you sure those weren't Playschool American Plastic Bricks? They are as you describe - Lego-like, but red and white (mostly) and requiring gravity. We had many of both and the American Plastics were fun because you could make large structures just explode when hit with a projectile.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 7:53 AM on July 18, 2012
Lego's customer service is (or at least was, I only have the one data point plus hanoixan's story above) a real class act. When I was 7 I wrote them a letter saying that I would be happy to provide a real kid's review of their sets if they would just send me the new ones as they came out. I offered to work free of charge.
They sent a very nice letter back saying that they did indeed do that, but only to Danish kids around the world headquarters. Never had I so wanted to be a Dane.
posted by BeeDo at 7:58 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
They sent a very nice letter back saying that they did indeed do that, but only to Danish kids around the world headquarters. Never had I so wanted to be a Dane.
posted by BeeDo at 7:58 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Clinging to the Wreckage:
That's exactly what they were! I'm so glad you showed me that - now I can try to find bins of them for sale and start building all over again! Some of my best memories with my dad involved those little bricks.
And in the late '90s, the ever-popular Beanie Babies made excellent attacking monsters.
posted by Urban Winter at 8:04 AM on July 18, 2012
That's exactly what they were! I'm so glad you showed me that - now I can try to find bins of them for sale and start building all over again! Some of my best memories with my dad involved those little bricks.
And in the late '90s, the ever-popular Beanie Babies made excellent attacking monsters.
posted by Urban Winter at 8:04 AM on July 18, 2012
Agree about Lego customer service. One of the first little space sets I got was missing a piece so I wrote them a letter. A couple weeks later I got the piece in the mail along with a little catalog of special sets consisting of just windows or roof pieces.
Susan Williams. Enfield Connecticut. I still remember that name. Turns out she's not a real person.
posted by bondcliff at 8:06 AM on July 18, 2012
Susan Williams. Enfield Connecticut. I still remember that name. Turns out she's not a real person.
posted by bondcliff at 8:06 AM on July 18, 2012
BeeDo: It's funny, I hadn't thought about this in years, but I wrote them (probably with encouragement from my parents or a teacher, since it's not the sort of thing I would have ordinarily done) when I was in middle school, for some reason. I don't remember what my letter was about, but I do recall that they invited me to go to the factory in Enfield, CT. (Which, given that I lived in Connecticut and the factory was open to the public was really a polite brush-off, but I was thrilled.)
Sadly, the factory has been closed -- relocated to Mexico, apparently -- but it was an amazing place, and they ran a great tour. It must have been fairly new when I went there, but at the time they would basically walk you down the production line, showing you the bins of little plastic pellets that came in, and then the bricks that they were turned into. Pretty sure they gave me some pellets and a brick to take home. It even smelled like hot Legos.
It saddens me that the factory is closed, and that if I were growing up today it would just be another distant, TV-screen abstraction.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:10 AM on July 18, 2012
Sadly, the factory has been closed -- relocated to Mexico, apparently -- but it was an amazing place, and they ran a great tour. It must have been fairly new when I went there, but at the time they would basically walk you down the production line, showing you the bins of little plastic pellets that came in, and then the bricks that they were turned into. Pretty sure they gave me some pellets and a brick to take home. It even smelled like hot Legos.
It saddens me that the factory is closed, and that if I were growing up today it would just be another distant, TV-screen abstraction.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:10 AM on July 18, 2012
* spends the morning looking at his old sets on brickset *
Are the current sets any good? Every now and then I look at the Lego store site and they feel.. gimmicky or something, I don't know.
posted by curious nu at 8:58 AM on July 18, 2012
Are the current sets any good? Every now and then I look at the Lego store site and they feel.. gimmicky or something, I don't know.
posted by curious nu at 8:58 AM on July 18, 2012
VTX: "I still need to liberate my Lego from my parent's attic. My Lego lust object will continue to be 8448"
Oh god yes
posted by notsnot at 9:47 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh god yes
posted by notsnot at 9:47 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
bondcliff: "Agree about Lego customer service. One of the first little space sets I got was missing a piece so I wrote them a letter. A couple weeks later I got the piece in the mail along with a little catalog of special sets consisting of just windows or roof pieces.
Susan Williams. Enfield Connecticut. I still remember that name. Turns out she's not a real person."
Is she a Lego person?
posted by Splunge at 11:22 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Susan Williams. Enfield Connecticut. I still remember that name. Turns out she's not a real person."
Is she a Lego person?
posted by Splunge at 11:22 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Well, she is always smiling and she's an odd shade of yellow.
posted by bondcliff at 11:42 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bondcliff at 11:42 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
VTX: "I still need to liberate my Lego from my parent's attic. My Lego lust object will continue to be 8448"
No way, 8480 all the way.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:50 AM on July 18, 2012
No way, 8480 all the way.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:50 AM on July 18, 2012
Well, I'm more a gear-head (Automotive enthusiast to use a culturally neutral term) and the combination of a working manual transmission, steering, working engine, and fully independent suspension is what does it for me.
I haven't been able to find anything with those features (especially the transmission) in another, more attainable set.
If I can find something with the parts for that gearbox, perhaps I could combine it with something that has the parts for the rest...
posted by VTX at 12:03 PM on July 18, 2012
I haven't been able to find anything with those features (especially the transmission) in another, more attainable set.
If I can find something with the parts for that gearbox, perhaps I could combine it with something that has the parts for the rest...
posted by VTX at 12:03 PM on July 18, 2012
I bought 8880 one day when I was living along in my 20s because I realized I was living alone, I was in my 20s, and Lego was really fun to build while high.
posted by bondcliff at 1:09 PM on July 18, 2012
posted by bondcliff at 1:09 PM on July 18, 2012
Oh man. About 10 years ago, fresh out of college, with a decent-paying job and living at home, I had lots of excess cash on hand. I could finally afford all the big Technic sets I'd always wanted, and afford them I did. The 8466 4x4 was my first one, then the 8448 as mentioned (definitely one of my favorites). I also had the 8458, an F1-style car with V10 engine. I was a sucker for the working geartrains etc. My prize acquisition, for which I had to venture to eBay, was the 8880 Super Car, which had not only the working 4-speed transmission, but also all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering (and all four wheels had independent double-wishbone suspension as well).
I still have all of those sets, and continue to be amazed by the complexity they were able to implement using simple plastic blocks and gears.
posted by TheCowGod at 1:41 PM on July 18, 2012
I still have all of those sets, and continue to be amazed by the complexity they were able to implement using simple plastic blocks and gears.
posted by TheCowGod at 1:41 PM on July 18, 2012
I just went to Memory Lane on this year's Lego Inside Tour. My sisters and I weren't so into Lego growing up, so I found my first big red bucket and then my Lego memories don't really start again until Mindstorms 2.0, but I think my husband might have wept in there if there hadn't been so many people.
The Inside Tour wasn't cheap, but I think it was worth it. If you're a Lego fan, I highly recommend it.
posted by town of cats at 8:11 PM on July 18, 2012
The Inside Tour wasn't cheap, but I think it was worth it. If you're a Lego fan, I highly recommend it.
posted by town of cats at 8:11 PM on July 18, 2012
Are the current sets any good?
Here's my household's perspective: the last week or so we have been sorting out each boy's Giant Storage Tub of Commingled Lego back into the constituent sets from which it was assembled. We kept the booklets, of course, so we've just grabbed a gallon zip-loc bag and started pawing through the piles looking for the right pieces.
After several days of this, and having just bought a huge Hogwarts School set, one of my sons said that the new sets are kind of lame since you can't do much with them. I wonder whether the increase in specialized shapes and the relative scarcity of simple shapes is die to the expiration of the patents on the Lego bricks and the resulting rise of competitors. Anyone know for sure?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 AM on July 19, 2012
Here's my household's perspective: the last week or so we have been sorting out each boy's Giant Storage Tub of Commingled Lego back into the constituent sets from which it was assembled. We kept the booklets, of course, so we've just grabbed a gallon zip-loc bag and started pawing through the piles looking for the right pieces.
After several days of this, and having just bought a huge Hogwarts School set, one of my sons said that the new sets are kind of lame since you can't do much with them. I wonder whether the increase in specialized shapes and the relative scarcity of simple shapes is die to the expiration of the patents on the Lego bricks and the resulting rise of competitors. Anyone know for sure?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 AM on July 19, 2012
The Inside Tour wasn't cheap, but I think it was worth it. If you're a Lego fan, I highly recommend it.
town of cats, would you care to say how much it cost? This spring I took a behind-the-scenes tour of the National World War II Museum, and what seemed like a high cost before I got there seemed like a steal once I was done.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2012
town of cats, would you care to say how much it cost? This spring I took a behind-the-scenes tour of the National World War II Museum, and what seemed like a high cost before I got there seemed like a steal once I was done.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2012
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posted by shortyJBot at 4:25 AM on July 18, 2012 [7 favorites]