Duck

"The Dark Ages" - How long were you away from Lego?

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Hi!

First off, I apologise if this has been asked before or if there is a topic somewhere that I haven't spotted! If so, feel free to close this mods!

I just wondered how long people had spent in the LEGO-less (No LOTR similarity intended) world? and also what it was that drew people back to the thing that we all love?

Personally I was addicted to LEGO as a kid. I played with it and built new creations up until I was 14/15ish. My parents also bought be "Lego Studios" which got me interested in brickflicking (although that was obviously very primitive and looking back they were awful the ones I made!)

At around 15 however, I grew out of LEGO - or certainly forced myself to decide I was too old for it and so I ended up spending the time that I used to play with LEGO on some computer game or other (I lived in a small village so my social life wasn't great until I hit the late teens!)

Back in 2009 at 22-23 me and my girlfriend were shopping and went into a toy store for a laugh. Looking at the LEGO I remenised about my old days of playing with it (although might have played down the extent a little!). When we got back to mine I showed her some which I had to hand which we had fun looking through and building with... and I showed her my brickflicks. She thought they were cool and a couple of days later we made one together which was fun. And that could have been an end to it - but then I started searching in the evening for LEGO type things and came across Classic-Pirates.com and ultimately this forum... and then I was hooked again!

I found a new stopmotion program and bought a new webcam - and created my first youtube video "Lego Pirates: Rafting, Battling and Commandeering" which received very positive feedback. I then set to work on a brickflick series "Brickington Sails Forth" which again got generally good feedback... and that's been me back into LEGO and Brickflicking ever since!

In short, my dark ages were from 2001ish to 2009 so around eight years - how long were yours? Or did you not have any!?

P.S. I'm still with my girlfriend and now share a flat with her. The LEGO occupies a large amount of it... much to her annoyance! She's going to do some voices for my latest brickflick later tonight though, so I think I'm converting her! :wink:

Edited by Fugazi

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1994 - 2011

When I was 14, I discovered computers. 15 years later, I discovered the Lego retail store.

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I don't remember exactly when I got away from LEGO, most likely the typical window, 13-15. It was a lovely 1-2 knockout for me that drew me back in, 10182 Cafe Corner and 10190 Market Street did it. Worst mistake(for my bank account) I ever made. :tongue: I just wish I was one of the ones to keep all their childhood LEGO. :cry_sad:

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For the tiger, I fell into the dark ages at age 14, 1982 and came back to the light of the brick in 2008 at age 40.

That is a long time, I thank my son for wanting Lego....and he still does....fingers crossed he doesn't fall into darkness. :blush: :blush:

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The last thing I remember buying before dark ages is a red and a blue bucket when i was in 8th grade (won $50 in a raffle) and almost everyone made fun of me being too old for LEGO. I'd say I really stopped in highschool not because of feeling too old but just having other interests and only so much time and money.

I got back into LEGO due to a photo contest on a dgrin.com in Nov 2009. The theme was "Comedy or Tragedy" and I was having a difficult time coming up with an idea for my photo when suddenly it hit me that a scene from Hamlet using LEGO figures would be perfect and fun. Since it was 10pm on the night the photo was due, I didn't have much hope to pull it off but ran down to Walmart and picked up one set (Crackin Attackin) and used a few parts I found in my niece's small collection and my old stuff. Photo turned out well (I was happy with it).

Since then it's been nonstop buying, selling, building, and overall AFOLing it up at my house. My husband doesn't like to do anything with LEGO but does enjoy my Flickr stream more since I started building.

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I just wish I was one of the ones to keep all their childhood LEGO. :cry_sad:

I have all of mine, but it's in relatively poor condition (faded, scratched, brittle.) I have it separated and sorted into little plastic bags and stored in a set of containers. I don't mix it with my new pieces; if I *need* a vintage piece, I will go pull it, but I prefer to keep the new bricks on their own.

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8-12 was my (Extreemly odd) dark ages. The last set I rember having before my dark ages was a racers $5 set, then I got back in with the Green Grocer.

Dakar

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Never had a dark age myself. My guess is that there was a lack of peer pressure because I've never had many frends (and those I did mostly were geeks too, and used to such things

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Never had a dark age myself. My guess is that there was a lack of peer pressure because I've never had many frends (and those I did mostly were geeks too, and used to such things

Same logic on my end.

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I haven't really had one, unless you count only buying EXO-FORCE for 3 years as a Dark Age. Once it ended, I was pretty much devastated and didn't buy LEGO for around 8 months, during which I worked on a lot of school (For my graduation from high school) and played a lot of video games. I got into LEGO Star Wars in 2009, and since then, I've been buying SW and Ninjago, with HP on the side.

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1994 - 2011

When I was 14, I discovered computers. 15 years later, I discovered the Lego retail store.

Hah - almost exactly the same for me, but it was more like 1993-2009. When I was 13 I discovered computers and when I was 29 I discovered Lego Star Wars.

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For me, it was 2004. I was 15 that year, going on 16. I had always been passionate about cars and now could legally drive one. It was also the year I started partying and finding new things to do with girls. That and looking through the few Lego catalogs that arrived, I felt I wasn't missing anything. City and World City sets were, for the most part lame. Back in 2009, something inside triggered. I think I typed in "Lego City" on youtube or google and found some websites with some nice layouts. After searching eBay and buying 10159 Century Skyway, I really started collecting default_classic.gif

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I never really had a Dark Age, but from the 2003-2008 period, I only got about 10 sets in total.

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Hrm. I first encountered the brick around '74 or '75, when I was about six or seven years old, and enjoyed LEGO throughout the remainder of the '70s and into the early-to-mid '80s; I probably drifted away in my early teens or just before, sometime from around '81 to '84. LEGO actually stayed around in mind, to some small extent, and though I had sadly parted ways with my older sets :cry_sad: , my dark ages took an eensy hiatus in the early '90s when I sent away for these four free sets from a Kellogg's mail-in promotion, just as a lark.

It would be another decade before I was pulled all the way back, though. Over the intervening years I occasionally found myself looking with admiration and just a slight pang of longing at set boxes on stores' toy shelves, but it was in 1999 that I finally found myself really captivated by the new LEGO Star Wars theme, and in 2002, after a few years of looking on, I finally took the plunge and started picking up sets again - just a couple small ones at first, since I wasn't going to want more than just a few small sets to mess around with... :look: Yeeaaaahhhh. Riiiiight.

P.S. I'm still with my girlfriend and now share a flat with her. The LEGO occupies a large amount of it... much to her annoyance! She's going to do some voices for my latest brickflick later tonight though, so I think I'm converting her! :wink:

A few months ago I moved in with my own girlfriend, just as we were both turning 43, and we have a "fun room" that houses the LEGO. She's a little overwhelmed by how much I have, I think, but she doesn't begrudge it, and in fact I've turned her into something of an AFOL herself. She enjoys City sets, and checking out Miniland with me when we go to LEGOLAND Florida. Eventually we'll have our own sibling cities - it'll be great!

:classic:

Edited by Blondie-Wan

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A few months ago I moved in with my own girlfriend, just as we were both turning 43, and we have a "fun room" that houses the LEGO. She's a little overwhelmed by how much I have, I think, but she doesn't begrudge it, and in fact I've turned her into something of an AFOL herself. She enjoys City sets, and checking out Miniland with me when we go to LEGOLAND Florida. Eventually we'll have our own sibling cities - it'll be great!

:classic:

Alas, our one bedroom flat does not accomodate for such luxuries as a fun room! She's happier since I got a laptop for brickflicking as it means I can now sit at the dining room table (Which is actually in the living room) and create and film on there as opposed to spreading out over the carpet next to the old desktop - plus I'm not getting any younger for clambering around on my hands and knees!

She is quite tolerent of my hobby though and she seemed to really enjoy doing the voices for the film last night! I'll get her on this forum... one day!

Thanks for the replies everyone, its interesting to hear about how long LEGO has been a part of peoples lives, and whether or not they've had a break from it or not!

Edited by Duck

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I would have to say, that mine was when i was in 8th Grade, till only recently. so about 2008-2012.

I have never lost interest in it, just that school, homework, after school commitments and weekend trips to Walt Disney World, suddenly become more fun. But i never lost my touch with LEGO, often stopping in the LEGO Immagination Store, and perusing, picking up the odd grab bag, for a quick build or a small PAB cup.

When i started thinking about what to do over the summer between High School/College, i thought i could get myself back in to the groove

AND I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO NOT LOVING LEGO!!!1

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I've never had a Dark Ages, nor do I intend to have one! Although I can predict being in a mini Dark Age when I go to university, but I'll still try to maintain my interest. If anything it'll be a pause (that hopefully won't happen).

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About 1983 to 2010. I came back thanks to Fallingwater and haven't looked back.

Thankfully we kept all our childhood LEGO (I have 4 older sisters so we had quite a good collection, albeit in those limited colours) and even more remarkably, the original boxes although many got nibbled by white ants default_thumbdown.gif. We decided it would be kept at Mum & Dad's for the next generation to enjoy. That next generation is now growing up, the youngest is 9 and eldest 18, and now I'm out of my Dark Age I want my LEGO back!!! Mum will be very pleased to be rid of the boxes but I think she likes having the LEGO there for the little ones. Maybe I'll just take my classic Space sets for now...

Edited by caperberry

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For the tiger, I fell into the dark ages at age 14, 1982 and came back to the light of the brick in 2008 at age 40.

That is a long time, I thank my son for wanting Lego....and he still does....fingers crossed he doesn't fall into darkness. :blush: :blush:

Though the years are different, this is pretty much it for me too. I played with legos from about 1981 until 1991(14 years old, about when most of us outgrow legos and find girls, cars, etc.) My mom put all my legos away when I went to college, never to be heard from again. Flash forward to Christmas 2010, my son is 4 and a half, and he gets a Lego Star Wars set as a gift, and I was amazed at how much Lego had changed, and of course, all my own childhood memories came back.

I busted out all my old Lego sets to show him to build. Of course, they were not "cool" like his new one, so I decided to sell them, and was pleasantly surprised that vintage Lego was worth something. A year and a half later, we have a basement full of new Lego, a few thousand less in the bank account, as dad and son can't get enough, and his mom thinks I'm crazy. I have my modulars, he has Star Wars and City galore, and his younger sister likes to pull their heads off. Our next project is getting parts for 10179.

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Though the years are different, this is pretty much it for me too. I played with legos from about 1981 until 1991(14 years old, about when most of us outgrow legos and find girls, cars, etc.) My mom put all my legos away when I went to college, never to be heard from again. Flash forward to Christmas 2010, my son is 4 and a half, and he gets a Lego Star Wars set as a gift, and I was amazed at how much Lego had changed, and of course, all my own childhood memories came back.

I busted out all my old Lego sets to show him to build. Of course, they were not "cool" like his new one, so I decided to sell them, and was pleasantly surprised that vintage Lego was worth something. A year and a half later, we have a basement full of new Lego, a few thousand less in the bank account, as dad and son can't get enough, and his mom thinks I'm crazy. I have my modulars, he has Star Wars and City galore, and his younger sister likes to pull their heads off. Our next project is getting parts for 10179.

I do harbour jealousy of AFOLs with kids! But console myself knowing I don't have to share with anyone default_satisfied.gif

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About 1983 to 2010. I came back thanks to Fallingwater and haven't looked back.

Thankfully we kept all our childhood LEGO (I have 4 older sisters so we had quite a good collection, albeit in those limited colours) and even more remarkably, the original boxes although many got nibbled by white ants default_thumbdown.gif. We decided it would be kept at Mum & Dad's for the next generation to enjoy. That next generation is now growing up, the youngest is 9 and eldest 18, and now I'm out of my Dark Age I want my LEGO back!!! Mum will be very pleased to be rid of the boxes but I think she likes having the LEGO there for the little ones. Maybe I'll just take my classic Space sets for now...

Heres what you do. Take a good sized cup or a few zip lock bags that you can fit in your pockets and slowly fill up with pieces every time you visit. Or, take a backpack and make it quick and easy. :tongue: slowly and surely you'll have the majority of your LEGO back, as long as your mom doesn't bother to pay too much attention to them.

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Heres what you do. Take a good sized cup or a few zip lock bags that you can fit in your pockets and slowly fill up with pieces every time you visit. Or, take a backpack and make it quick and easy. :tongue: slowly and surely you'll have the majority of your LEGO back, as long as your mom doesn't bother to pay too much attention to them.

default_devg1.gif

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Like most people my Dark Ages began in my teens probably around age 15. I blame D&D.

I came out of my Dark Ages when I started seeing some fantastic Star Wars models in 2001 or 2002.

I then started collecting various discounted Bionicle and other lego sets.

I had a grey period of not buying lego from about 2005 for financial reasons.

Now I have a bit more spare money I have gotten heavily into City and Train Lego. :laugh:

But I am still looking for bargains. :laugh:

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I had a small dark age between January 2007 and early 2010. I dont know why it happened and I regret missing some of the awesome sets of those years. I got back into Lego by accident I was about to sell all my Lego on eBay but I had to build the sets in order to complete them. While I was rebuilding the batcave and jabbas sail barge I realised how much fun it is to build Lego. I guess breaking all those sets up for storage was my fail safe :laugh: .

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