Hi, guys!

[Xfing]

Xfing here. I have decided to register a while ago, because I thought this forum was the best place to hold some discussions on LEGO. Let me tell you my story.

I'll turn 23 in May, so I'm actually young for an AFOL. I don't really consider myself an adult person either, unless it's in legal terms. But I digress.

My adventure with LEGO started in the early 1990s, where I would regularly get LEGO sets as presents from my dad or grandparents (maternal). These were mostly action themes, such as Aquazone, Rock Raiders, UFO, Insectoids etc, a little bit of most that was available in toy stores in 1995-1999. After that I focused on action-themed Technic sets, being able to collect all of the RoboRiders sets as well as the entirety of the first line of Bionicle Toa. I do have most of the parts from these sets to this day, and even rebuilt what I could recently, but I am indeed missing some parts, which I'm hoping to replace via Bricklink. I have also received several larger sets, which were mostly Technic. One of them was the 1994 universal construction set (the one where you can build a red helicopter, jeep etc), as well as a 1999 newer helicopter set, a blue one. Sorry for not being very specific but I don't really feel like seeking out the sets' true names just to write them here, haha.

Anyway, I basically quit LEGO sometime around 2002-2003, and didn't get back until 2013. A 10-year-long Dark Ages, if you will. Therefore all the changes that have happened to LEGO since then at first startled me. I have noticed that the Light and Dark Grey got phased out in favor of Bley, odd-length Technic axles got a different color (basically all pins and axles got recolored, with reds, blues and tans abounding). The changes to Lego Technic were the most drastic, since when I quit TLG was pretty much in the transitional period from studded to studless, what I like to call "hosed/cabled", as they enjoyed using those kinds of elements very much back then in their sets. As with many things in life, my stance on Lego Technic is the favor of hybridization - for some reason I like old Technic bricks very much (both for how they look and how sturdy they are) but I cannot argue with the usefulness and versatility of the new Technic beam. Hence, my favorite sets are ones that combine these two approaches, such as the amazing 8421 Mobile Crane and my favorite Technic set, the 8275 Motorized Bulldozer (I MUST get that baby one day!).

Believe it or not, what first gripped my attention and put me on the track of recovering my passion for LEGO was stumbling once again upon the flagship of the Aquazone Stingrays line, the Stingray Stormer. I dreamed about acquiring the set for over a month and started reading brick-related stuff. Believe it or not, my literary escapades brought me to articles about clone and bootleg brands. I was very low on cash at that point and hence I would read passionately about cheaper clone brands and their products. I got particularly interested in the Polish brand COBI, which I had heard made products of comparable quality to LEGO themselves. I even set my sights on the Tiger tank from their military series, which sold for peanuts and contained 500 parts. But then I got a job and decided "hell, maybe I'll buy me some real Legos instead!".

I started my set acquisition spree rather modestly, buying the Spy Shark from the Aquasharks line - I used to own that set as a kid, but I could only recognize maybe 10% of the parts in my remaining brick collection. I loved the way the set built and how sleek it looked - I continued to delve into the Aquazone line. I acquired the Crystal Scavenger from the Aquaraiders line, and I consider it really amazing, especially for that time. Very playable, great selection of parts and amazing design .After that I went berserk and acquired the Hydro Search Sub from the Hydronauts line, along with that little Sea Sprint boat from the initial Aquanaut line. The big boat's playability and design amaze me to this day, even though the set seems not to have a universally warm reception. I mean it does look a bit awkward from the side, but from above, the front and the back it looks sweet. For some reason I have also always been a sucker for the propeller housing piece as well as the octagonal pontoon-like cylinders that abounded in the Aquazone line overall. I still hope to acquire the Stingray Stormer one day, and maybe even more Aquazone sets. That was a sweet freaking line, if I do say so.

Recently, though, I have decided to mix things up and acquired a 2013 model from the Creator line, the 31008 Thunder Wings, after reading a review on this very site. That let me notice how LEGO System has changed in 15 years from the time of those Aquazone sets I bought. I built all three models and immediately noticed a very different approach to part selection, with the majority of the parts being very small and multi-purpose, quite unlike the Aquazone sets. Other than that, the building tricks and procedures used also felt much, much more streamlined, thought-out and advanced than in the 1990s sets. The changes like introduction of the staple cheese slopes as well as those good looking sloped air intakes etc had at first put me off (maybe it was jealousy or something, the feeling that I missed out on all this new, good stuff), but after playing around with the set, I must confess that I really like the new LEGO System.

Of course, Creator is not an action line, it's a line geared towards creative thought and building "what you want" with no limits - and that's something that in my opinion epitomizes LEGO - much more so than the themed action sets ever could hope to. Still, that doesn't mean I can really have the authority to say that I know of the changes in the action themes - could someone give me a slight update as to how today's action-themed sets (like Mars Mission or Galaxy Squad for instance) are different from those from mid to late 1990s? Thanks in advance.

Right now, enchanted with the whole premise of Creator, I'm waiting for the remaining two 3 in 1 sets from 2013 - Highway Speedster and Power Mech - to arrive. I'm gonna play around with the two sets a bit, build all the models, then mix the parts of these three sister sets and try to come up with a cool MOC or two. Then I'll probably buy an Aquazone set or two, and then I'll try to get updated on Lego Technic. Could someone propose a good mid-sized (around 20-25$ on Bricklink) Technic set for each major aesthetic and construction shift since say, 1995? I'll start buying them one set per month and see what changes I can observe. Thanks again, guys!

Summary:

Favorite themes: Aquazone, UFO, Technic

Would like to: Acquire the Stingray Stormer, the 8880, the 8275. A mid sized (around 180 pts) Technic set for each year starting at aronud 1995.

[Sir Brickalot]

Well, welcome back! Nice, detailed intro. See you around!

[legolegoandlego]

welcome newcomer welcome.

[Milan]

Way to introduce yourself :)

8880 is one of my favorites, too!

Welcome!