'08SEAL Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 Did anyone build legos as a kid? I know I did, heck every once in a while I still do. Any of you guys?g
Harry P. Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I never had them as a kid, which is odd because I was really into those types of building toys... I had lots of those types of building and construction sets, but never Legos. Maybe my parents never bought me Legos because they were too expensive. But I remember buying a lot of them for my own kids. Man, they are not cheap! Especially those cool sets where you could build a specific model like a pirate ship or whatever. I probably spent hundreds of dollars on Legos for my kids, and finally got my chance to play with them when I built stuff with my son. When my kids outgrew them I gave them all away to a friend with a young son, so hopefully they had a second life!
Harry P. Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 One of my favorite building sets as a kid was "American Plastic Bricks." They were sort of a forerunner of Legos, but the biggest difference was that the bricks didn't fit tightly like Legos do. With Legos, you can build something and then pick it up and actually play with it, but with American Plastic Bricks, the bricks fit loosely; gravity held everything together. Once you built something, you couldn't pick it up; it would just fall apart. http://www.google.com/search?q=american+plastic+bricks&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=QHrvT-ylEsaYrAH1-5SPAg&ved=0CFUQsAQ&biw=1261&bih=721
Casey Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 They were easily my favorite "toy" to play with as a child, and I still play with them occasionally with my daughter. I have all the LEGO blocks I got when I was younger, and have collected a few more sets and bulk bags from various thrift stores. It's amazing to see how many unique pieces have been designed in the last 20+ years, and comparing them to what we had to work with in the '80s. A specialized forklift piece(s) back then was a part to be protected as it was easily stepped on and broken. Plus, there are so many different colors now, which didn't exist back in the '70s and '80s. It was black, blue, red, white, yellow and grey back then, with a very rare clear blue or clear yellow windshield part from an "outer space" type kit. I used to use the blocks for mold boxes, too, now use other things.
Fat Brian Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I got my first Lego set when I was about five and they were my favorite toy for years. I got a bunch of sets and still have a large box full of various parts and pieces. Legos are a great toy for mechanically minded kids, I built all kinds of stuff with them. As I got older I built trucks with working suspensions and four wheel drive, along with tilting bodies like funny cars. Sometimes I still want to build with them and I've been looking on ebay for some cheap parts lots.
rmvw guy Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 A recent trip to the Lego Store at Downtown Disney, Florida, I discovered you can buy them in bulk, any color, any size. I loaded up the little red bricks, my favorite, when I over heard my Daughter-in-law say, "What's he going to do with them?" Seeing that everyone else was ready to go and not wanting to wait in line to check out, I sheepishly put them back. After leaving the area I told her what all I could do with them and how I always wished I could just buy the ones I want. Then I got, "Why didn't you? It looks like another trip to Disney!!!
Sixx Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I build mold boxes with them ... That's what I used fer my zombies!!!!
mnwildpunk Posted June 30, 2012 Posted June 30, 2012 I ended up with a huge rubbermaid box full of legos which have since been past down to my son. I agree that lego has come along way since my building days. I love when my son gets a new kit because of the quality time we spend together building it even though he can do them on his own
Austin T Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 They were my favorite toy for at least eleven years then models entered into my life.I still remember my parents getting me my first lego set on my fourth birthday.I have easily 20 pounds of legos in the attic,now I want to go get them and start building again!
62rebel Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 i had Erector Sets and my cousins had something called "Super City" IIRC, that were white plastic beams, windows, etc that built into "modern era" representations of steel framed structures. if i'm right, they also had grey plastic streets and sidewalks to complete the effect. i also had Lincoln Logs, when ALL of it was wood. one cousin had a real engineering mind and had a table saw which he used to cut MILES of scale lumber out of 2x4's.... that was in our model railroad period. but Lego was out of my parent's price range when i was a kid....
Harry P. Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 ...but Lego was out of my parent's price range when i was a kid.... I think that was the same problem with my parents, so I never had them as a kid...
Don Sikora II Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 Yeah, I had Legos as a kid in the 1970s. They are all at my sister's house and her friend's kids still play with them. I have some of the recent Architecture sets like the Space Needle, Rockefeller Center, The Brandenburg Gate, and Fallingwater. Also have the big Eiffel Tower that I've built.
JamesW Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 I think I had the biggest Lego collection in town. Still did until a couple years ago. Sold em all for $1500.
slantasaurus Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 Legos were great...........until you stepped on one barefoot.
Sixties Sam Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 I had a small set of Legos in the early 1960's. I think they had just come out. I kept them, then when I had two sons, bought many sets for them. We spent endless hours building all kinds of things. The Legos are still here, and my wife's grandkids play with them now. Harry, I had those American bricks, too, plus many other building toys: Erector set, Lincoln logs, Block City, Girder and Panel (beams and columns with snap on wall and roof panels), and more. Some of the sets were in HO train scale, and I used to make a whole town for my trains. Great times! Sam
Skip Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 I got my first Lego's for Christmas in 1962 or 1963, when they first came out here in the U.S. they were all brick for the most part ( full, half and double if I remember). The windows came first then wheels, gears evolving to what we know today as Lego's. I still have a five gallon bucket full to the top of some pretty vintage Lego's that have passed through me, both my brothers, nephews and neices, my son and daughter and are being played with by a third generation. Let's see any other toy that can take that much of a workout and still survive, some of them don't fit as tight as they used to but they still lock together. I remember the first ones fit so tightly together that you almost had to literally pry them apart! My older brother and I had some of the American Bricks before I got Lego's, as Harry said they fit really loosely together. We used to make American Brick walls across our 1/24th scale Strombecker slot car track then start from the back of the wall racing to see who could get there first sending brick flying. Try that with a Lego block wall and you'd probably total out the slot car! My wife got me a Seattle Space Needle Lego kit the other day, she said it was like watching a kid playing with the Lego's. Have to admit it brought a smile to my face and made me feel like a kid too!
Harry P. Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 Harry, I had those American bricks, too, plus many other building toys: Erector set, Lincoln logs, Block City, Girder and Panel (beams and columns with snap on wall and roof panels), and more. Some of the sets were in HO train scale, and I used to make a whole town for my trains. Great times! Sam Yes! I loved those "girder and panel" sets! I had them too. Great fun... and great memories!
62rebel Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 hmmmm... where does the controller plug into a Lego? hahahahahahaha... they never need rebooting, either.... well; you can boot 'em across the floor after you step on 'em! i have a set of some kind of castle blocks i found at the flea market long ago... they almost scale out at cinderblock size in 1/25-1/24th.
Aaronw Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 A recent trip to the Lego Store at Downtown Disney, Florida, I discovered you can buy them in bulk, any color, any size. I loaded up the little red bricks, my favorite, when I over heard my Daughter-in-law say, "What's he going to do with them?" Seeing that everyone else was ready to go and not wanting to wait in line to check out, I sheepishly put them back. After leaving the area I told her what all I could do with them and how I always wished I could just buy the ones I want. Then I got, "Why didn't you? It looks like another trip to Disney!!! Actually you can order brick by brick direct from Lego. http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme Like Old Hermit I use Legos in resin casting to make my mold boxes. I color coded mine by type of block to make it easier to find the block I needed. The price for the regular bricks is pretty reasonable. They also have a lego builder program you can use to make your own sets. You build you set in a virtual Lego world then if you want it will provide you with a list of every block you used. My son likes to build things in the program, which is basically an unlimited box of virtual Legos, unfortunately it is quite a bit more expensive to order the stuff he makes compared to the off the shelf Lego sets, so they usually stay virtual (not that he doesn't have an enormous stash of Legos already). He is also a big fan of the MegaBlock Halo kits which are Legos in all but trademark.
Aaronw Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 hmmmm... where does the controller plug into a Lego? hahahahahahaha... they never need rebooting, either.... well; you can boot 'em across the floor after you step on 'em! i have a set of some kind of castle blocks i found at the flea market long ago... they almost scale out at cinderblock size in 1/25-1/24th. Funny that you mention that... http://powerfunctions.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx?icmp=COUSFR30PowerFuctions
camaroman Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 Never had any as a kid ... but now! My youngest son works for one of the Lego retail stores! I got hooked on the Trains and the City/Construction vehicle stuff! He is into the Building Sets that he is building into a city blocks I will try to post pictures of what he has done so far.
Edsel-Dan Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 I still have all the sets I had as a kid too!! first were just generic quantity sets. They did show ideas, Next a few Truck sets, The the Oridinal Train set, Then the Motor set. I still buy a few once in a while. Got the "Quidich Match" set not to long ago. Some of my Favorite Older sets were the Mini-Vehicles. I even have the Fire House with Engine, Ladder & Ambulance.
rmvw guy Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 (edited) Actually you can order brick by brick direct from Lego. http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme.......Thanks but, don't tell my wife, I was looking forward to another trip to Disney. lol I noticed a lot of ours have little teeth marks in them.. I remember telling my son not to use his teeth to take them apart when he was little, he is now 31, they last forever and so do the tooth marks! And it's not "when you were a kid" because I'm still a kid at heart, hope I never grow up. RMVW Like Old Hermit I use Legos in resin casting to make my mold boxes. I color coded mine by type of block to make it easier to find the block I needed. The price for the regular bricks is pretty reasonable. They also have a lego builder program you can use to make your own sets. You build you set in a virtual Lego world then if you want it will provide you with a list of every block you used. My son likes to build things in the program, which is basically an unlimited box of virtual Legos, unfortunately it is quite a bit more expensive to order the stuff he makes compared to the off the shelf Lego sets, so they usually stay virtual (not that he doesn't have an enormous stash of Legos already). He is also a big fan of the MegaBlock Halo kits which are Legos in all but trademark. Edited July 1, 2012 by rmvw guy
SSNJim Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 A recent trip to the Lego Store at Downtown Disney, Florida, I discovered you can buy them in bulk, any color, any size. I loaded up the little red bricks, my favorite, when I over heard my Daughter-in-law say, "What's he going to do with them?" Seeing that everyone else was ready to go and not wanting to wait in line to check out, I sheepishly put them back. After leaving the area I told her what all I could do with them and how I always wished I could just buy the ones I want. Then I got, "Why didn't you? It looks like another trip to Disney!!! There is a Lego Store in Indianapolis: http://stores.lego.com/en-us/Indianapolis/LandingPage.aspx
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