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Cumulonimbus

New personal Lego dark age looming?

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Hi guys, I like to share a personal dilemma with you:

Lately I’m feeling increasingly “meh” about Lego Technic and I can’t put my finger on a reason. A few of the symptoms are:

  • Fewer ideas for new MOCs
  • WIP’s are grinding to a halt and gathering dust, even in the winter months. Related to this: I noticed that I'm missing the necessary patience to tackle a building problem.
  • Reduced urge to participate in AFOL community activity. Both my rate of visits and topic activity have been decreasing for a while.
  • Less excitement when new official sets are shown, I used to get all excited when seen first images of upcoming sets and started thinking about possible MODs to make it more personal or a little bit better. Not so much nowadays.
  • I almost never admire my display anymore nor do I take models from their display and play with its functions.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming this on anybody but me. I think new sets are still good and the community is still very active. So I think there is a personal reason behind it, but I can’t think of any. It is probable that creative energy is being directed to other projects like my 3D printer and Makerspace activity.  But then again, I have always been busy with many activities besides Lego.  Nor is it the financial resources which are the bottleneck.

I don’t feel this is a problem per se, but I miss the excitement I use to have for sets, MODs and MOCs and I feel a bit sad if I consider a Lego-less future for me.

Is this recognizable to anyone? Is my inner child simply done with “lego-ing”?  Should I go with the flow or try to reignite the passion with a new Technic project?

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Yeah, I get mini dark ages from time to time too. During this time I'm normally switching to something else (non-LEGO stuff) I love doing also. 

For example, I've been away from EB forums for more than a year. I had more interest in building my own Modulars than Technic, so there just was no need in reading the forums. Got my news from Brickset and inspiration from other sources. However Technic thingy is now growing back on me, so here I am here posting this now.

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@zux i'm exactly the same... sometimes i don't touch lego for a few weeks even months. not because i don't enjoy it, its just that other things take my attention. Recently i've been doing a lot of mechanical work on a couple of vehicles i own. Not unlike technic lego in many ways!! But thats kept me busy (and i enjoy it).. over that time an idea for a moc came to mind. I'll probably get round to starting it in a month or so. I don't think its a darkage, its just as you get older you get more interests and your time needs to cover them all..

@Cumulonimbus  I wouldn't worry about it.. do other stuff, its not compulsory after all! Then one day in a month or 2, that idea will seep in and you'll start mentally planning it... next thing you'll be hunting for that elusive vital part!!

There are many people with no hobbies... we're lucky. we have lego plus others. I'd rather have too many and not enough time, than have none. 

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I'm in the same boat. I used to follow very closely the new Technic sets and get them as soon as they come out. Now, it seems all new sets are 'variations on a theme' ... but in fact I think it is me, It's like any other hobby, I've had few of them over the years (astronomy, reef tanks, FTA, electronics, 3D printing, ...), and interest 'disappears' after a couple of years. That and lately that the cost of Technic sets has gone way up. The one hobby I have not given up yet on is gardening ... what's the point in having a house/yard if you can't grow some greens?  I'm now contemplating bee-keeping, but not sure the neighbors would approve. 

Back to Lego, I've reached the point where, just like SR71, I want to sort/clean/pack my many sets and find a good buyer.

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Ever heard of, or read the book, "who moved my cheese?" - Good little read. 

That cheese moves sometimes in life is not always evidence that something is wrong.  Even if we assume that is the case.  Sometimes it is good counsel to just move on as well and find where that cheese has moved to. 

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Hi All,

I’m exactly at the same stage.

I’ve been losing some interest in Technic, I’ve dedicated some time to Christmas villages but nothing compares to the glorious years after the dark age (10 years ago) . Although I’ve never been a great or prolific builder, I’ve been experiencing a loss of excitement for Technic. I think there are a few reasons: Age (I’m 48 now), My 2 boys (13 and 16) don’t care about Lego, other interests, the cost of new sets, the lack of storage space (and I keep my sets apart)

On an even more personal note, looking at where we are, and forgive me if I’m being unfair, sometimes I get the feeling that everything has already been invented or tried and I get that even from TLG.

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11 minutes ago, Detzit said:

On an even more personal note, looking at where we are, and forgive me if I’m being unfair, sometimes I get the feeling that everything has already been invented or tried and I get that even from TLG.

TLG seem to be going down the futuristic route again lately, probably to curtail this sentiment. Look at 42038, the 42063 B-model, the 42070 B-model and now 42081. All of which I think is for the best.

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Same here!

In my case my son uses most of my time/energy, when he is sleeping I have potentially 2-3 hours for Lego (or other stuff), but often I enjoy so much the couch.
But there is even a bit of lack of motivations. It's more than a year that I have a Dakar Truck ready, but I don't find the desire to make the video and even less the instructions.
Another problem is that, personally, I raised the bar to much high with the last Moc (on my personal scale) and now I have some trouble to find some good ideas.
I think my swan song will be with the next Moc (Dakar Truck excluded), not before, but first I have to finish distracting myself with the static modelllism to gain some desire back on Lego.

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Dark ages can come on for many reasons... real life gets in the way, you think you are developing carpal tunnel syndrome from playing with bricks (my reason for giving them up in 2010 to 2016) or you have too many irons in your fire.  Heck just getting an idea out of your head that has been in there for 25 years can send you into a grey period,  which for me happened after finishing my last MOC. But then I worked on it for 8 months straight nearly daily,  interspersed with building official Lego models as I purchased them used on craigslist.  I am sitting with a huge backlog of sets right now and I am taking a break at building to concentrate on some of my own irons in other fires including 3-D printing, and finishing my three axis CNC router table along with the host of other things on my honey do list from my wife.  I am staying active in my technic hobby right now by reading and posting on the forum but I am certain that once the bug bites me again,  my forum activity will drop to nothing and you won’t hear from me for a while while I finish my next MOC. One piece of advice- don’t sell your Lego!  Pack it up and put it away, but don’t get rid of it. You will seriously regret it in the future. I didn’t sell mine, but I did give it away to my brother,  and he has a really nice collection now and I’ve told him I don’t care if he gets rid of it, but so far he has held onto it thank goodness.

Edited by Bublehead
Typo

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I know the feeling. It was a mix of big changes in life happening so Lego was put on hold, and my personal goals in making models were already met, or became unattainable (creating progressively faster and stronger large RC cars). I started shifting my interest to hobby RC and other things, so I figured I might as well drop Lego entirely since I would never be satisfied. Since then I have had great success building my own RC car and it's been a ton of fun. I miss Lego but I don't have many regrets, other than my new hobby being more expensive :wink:

I guess you just have to understand what your goals are - what do you want to achieve in your MOC projects, and do you see yourself capable of reaching that goal while having fun in the process?

If you don't need the money or extra space, I'd avoid selling the collection. I sold mine to afford what I have now and it kinda sucks when I see a really good MOC or set coming up that I would like to tinker with, but without my collection I don't think getting a new set would be worth it long term.

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I think it's perfectly normal that interests move between subjects from time to time. This month most interest goes to this, next month it can be another thing, and so on. I haven't worked on my crane for a month, that's not because I lose interest, but because there are other things taking the time (a particular game, or a podcast I discovered, or a new app, a TV series, or whatever). I found a new music program last month, so last few weeks, more time goes into tinkering with that instead of Lego.

I always find the term "dark age" sound so rigorous - not because of the "dark" but because of the "age". That sounds like a lreally long time - what you @Cumulonimbus seem to describe, sounds more like a temporary shift in interest. Which is fine. Interest in Lego will come back. Or maybe, it won't, which would be fine either, if another interest replaces it. As long as there are things you enjoy, whether it be Lego or something else entirely, I wouldn't worry :)

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1 hour ago, Erik Leppen said:

This month most interest goes to this, next month it can be another thing, and so on.

Exactly...

I started with technic is 1979.. had a decent dark ages of about 15 years, but have been back for 10 or 12, and even in the dark ages i often thought about it and looked at new sets... Its been part of me for so long, it will never go away. I might not have time or motivation for potentially a few months, but its always there. I have several other time consuming hobbies and priorities ebb and flow, but lego takes its turn at the top. Mainly in winter when outdoor stuff is restricted. 

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My last dark age I purposefully stayed away and didn’t keep track because I know it can suck me in and I was trying to keep from getting carpal tunnel, so it was cold turkey. I moved to AZ, left my entire collection to my brother in Ohio with the exception of my favorite SW’s UCS’s and it was unearthing them and a visit to the doctor (who said my numbness in my left hand was due to a nerve in my elbow, not my wrist) that put me back on track. I assembled my UCS sets, then checked craigslist for Star Wars UCS sets I might have missed and my journey from the dark side back to the light was complete. And yes my left hand ring and pinky fingers still tingle but they are not getting worse. 

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Sort of the same situation here, but it's pretty much solely because of work. Work goes from anywhere between 10-12 hours a day and sometimes can go for weeks without a break. I'm mostly too tired to come home and do anything but relax, eat and prepare for work the next day :/

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I also have other interests besides lego ( I sometimes think i have too much interests) which take up a lot of my time, I also work fulltime so lego does not get enough time. I have the past few weeks built half a car chassis, a 3rd of a truck chassis and some tank tracks with suspension. I also have the chassis of 42069 sat on my table. I try and put something together for a few minutes at the end of the day i think this prevents a dark age creeping in.

H

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The only "dark age" in my short life is when I moved, and all my parts were in storage for almost 2 months... I do understand how interests can wane, or switch from one thing to another, or life gets in the way. For now, @Cumulonimbus I think you should hold on to at least 60% of your parts (if you choose to sell anything) and see what happens. Perhaps you'll find your interest in Technic again, or perhaps not.

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So, I have a similar issue.  

I have been buying larger lots of technic parts of pieces to get a larger collection of my own.  A number of purchases later, after it has all been separated and stored... I lost interest in building very quickly.  

Not too long ago I could build for hours on end, sun up to midnight sometimes just building whatever came to the mind, but now that my collection has been built up... the passion for building is not there anymore.  

I am not sure what the cause is, but I would love to be able to build like that again :)

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33 minutes ago, aminnich said:

So, I have a similar issue.  

I have been buying larger lots of technic parts of pieces to get a larger collection of my own.  A number of purchases later, after it has all been separated and stored... I lost interest in building very quickly.  

Not too long ago I could build for hours on end, sun up to midnight sometimes just building whatever came to the mind, but now that my collection has been built up... the passion for building is not there anymore.  

I am not sure what the cause is, but I would love to be able to build like that again :)

Same on me but without buying a lot. Everything I like has been done and aesthetics do not motivate me so without new pieces that expand the functions I'm bored.

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12 hours ago, Cumulonimbus said:

Is this recognizable to anyone? Is my inner child simply done with “lego-ing”?  Should I go with the flow or try to reignite the passion with a new Technic project?

To most of us, Lego-ing is just a hobby, and hobby changes over time as we grow up or age. However, with the pieces lying around, we can always get back when the interest returns :wink:

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I had couple of these dark ages. But they were cured by new cool sets and parts.

I'm so excited to see new PF things, pneumatics, controllers!

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For the purist guys, I am truly sorry for what I am about to say... 

If I had a 3D printer, I think the spark would reignite 110%.   I love 3D modeling on the computer and to be able to make my own parts would be awesome!!!

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25 minutes ago, aminnich said:

For the purist guys, I am truly sorry for what I am about to say... 

If I had a 3D printer, I think the spark would reignite 110%.   I love 3D modeling on the computer and to be able to make my own parts would be awesome!!!

Getting a 3d printer and making parts - getting another standalone hobby even if it will be connected with lego.

Plus at this point molding beats 3d printing just because molding was refined for years now.

Edited by Omikron

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27 minutes ago, Omikron said:

Getting a 3d printer and making parts - getting another standalone hobby even if it will be connected with lego.

 

I feel like having a hobby overlap with another one would help "dark ages" be much shorter 

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Just now, aminnich said:

I feel like having a hobby overlap with another one would help "dark ages" be much shorter 

Or one may overshadow another

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