Celeri

You too, tell us about your dark age!

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Hi all,

One thing I find rather facinating with LEGO is that most – if not all – AFOLs have gone through the famous "dark age", which has usually kept them out of bricking activities during many years before brutally coming back to business.

Personally, mine started at the age of 15, in 1995. I had been playing LEGO since I was 5 and got some great sets in Castle, City and Technic themes, my very last set being the famouse Claw Rig (#8868). I had much pleasure to build and rebuild it again after trying its B model, but it was not enough to keep me in. I cannot be sure, but I think that what cut me off LEGO was the incoming of internet at my house: it was very early for that in France, but my interest for networks was soaring at that time. I also already was a video game fan and I was starting to publish walkthroughs on my webpage back then.

My dark age ended in late 2019 : my young daughter had been offered a Duplo brick box as a birthday present. This set was lacking figures, so I tried to see if I could find some on the net. And then I started to see what was going on in the brick world at that time. In the middle of this ocean of available sets, the 911 RSR really flashed in my eye, and the great price reduction I spotted finished the work. I really enjoyed building it, feeling again some goold old sensations, even if the model was not really a challenge nor very interesting. So when I tried to find some designs ideas to make it better (and especially adding it a HOG), I stumbled upon Rebrickable and BrickLink, both of them I totally ignored the existence thereof. And boom, after that, it took me less than 2 years to accumulate about 50 sets + a good dozen of the community's MOCs.

Something else which still baffles me with this "dark age" period is how much the LEGO news and product were completely transparent to me during those 24 years. LEGO made no TV ads in France at that time, and no related website caught my eyes either. In fact, the only contact I had with LEGO was news I could read about their video games and movies, which made me think they were completely changing their core business! But clearly, even if I played LEGO for a large part of my childhood, my brain just snapped out of it completely in a few months before making me an AFOL just as quickly.

Now I would really like to hear from other AFOLs' dark age, and especially:
- At which age did it happen and how much time did it last?
- What has been its starting & ending cause(s), if any?
- Were you even aware of what was going on in the LEGO world during that time or not at all?
- Have you been able to recover some of your childhood's sets/MOCs when becoming an AFOL?

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It's funny that you mention the internet driving Lego out, because for me, since I didn't have google-fu Lego.com was one of the sites I visited most. Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident, Stormrunner, Mata Nui Online Game... those where some great games. There was also a game for Insectoids (boy did I ever love those bugs) but I haven't found that one online anywhere. You had to navigate a Beta Buzzer around magnetic fields that would attract and repel you. And the Throwbots game was a fairly unique mechanic (though incredibly awkward, honestly. I just loved the graphics.)

I lost a lot of interest in System when it became clear that we weren't getting any more space after Life On Mars and all of the System stuff was getting <insert that tiresome argument> and reskinned in muted, drab colors. Bionicle bridged the gap; it's deep lore and worldbuilding and just overall goodness made it The Story of 2001. I started to lose the Bionicle thread after they made 12 figures with the same design (Bohrok) and then soft-rebooted into a prequel. Really, the further Bionicle got from Templar Studios' vision, the further I got from it.

Part of my interest in Lego, especially Space and Castle, had always been this mystique that there was a continuity between the barely-remembered old themes of the past and the themes of the present. Seeing the instructions to the Mega Core Magnetizer, or old minifigs in an Idea Book, or shredded promo booklets at school... so the replacement of house themes by licensed themes also kinda made me lose interest (I know that's a common refrain here, yeesh.)

I came back to the hobby really through collecting old sets on ebay and bricklink, but also sometime TLG started putting out really good sets, even with my nostalgia goggles I can see that. I'll still die on my angles-look-better-than-curves hill but compare sets from 2003 to 2013 or 2020 and it's crazy how much better they are. And they've picked up that they can slap the Black Falcon or Space logo on an already-great set and make it a buy for a fan like me. I probably would have liked the original Star Wars run a lot more if they'd looked half as good as the star wars sets we get now. Though I will die on the hill that Star War's "battleship gray everything" look is better expressed in Warm gray than Cold gray.

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O yes, I have also certainly had a period of what is now called ‘dark ages’. About 35 years…

I got my first LEGO when I was ten and that was in  1957. It was not really a set but a nice box with red and white basic bricks, a grey plate 10 x20 and some doors and windows. And I loved it. Soon I had a nice amount of parts collected.

But then I was about 17. LEGO was in those days only a toy and certainly not a collector’s item. It was not ‘cool’ to play with toys at that time and all the LEGO-parts ended up in a big carton box in the attic of my parents.

That was the beginning of my dark ages. And indeed, I was in no way aware of the whereabouts of the LEGO company

Somewhere in 1998, I decided to clean up our own attic; therefore, I moved an old dusty box. By lifting it, spontaneously the bottom fell out and there I stood with a pile of LEGO parts over my shoes. The first reaction: throw it in the dustbin. But doing all the parts in another box, I wonder if it had any value to sell it. Looking at the internet, I discovered how many adults were doing great things with LEGO. That there were all kinds of LEGO- associations and events..

I’m not very interested in the typical LEGOsets. I’m a typical MOC-builder… but I reconstructed a tramstop that I had built when I was a child.  

In short, instead of selling the parts, I started building and buying new parts.

A great hobby was reborn…

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18 minutes ago, Pinnacle said:

A great hobby was reborn…

I really like your story! And you did not have a second dark age since then?

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I myself never had a dark age. I had periods of lull, sure, but that was mainly in college where I didn't have time to build MOCs (I still was doing LDD) and would purchase stuff every now and then, but I was still fairly open about the hobby, and when I was on holiday breaks I'd be building and such, and Christmas and birthdays always brough LEGO from family.. Always checked EB and Brickset everyday.

Since graduating college four years ago, the "grey" ages haven't come back. I'm constantly buying sets, building digital and physical stuff, etc. I might be one of the odd ones out in AFOL communities.

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Really nice topic!

I started my LEGO building experience at age 3. Well, my parents did. Which was more than a fortune for them back then - I never realized that until ... falling into my dark ages. 

From 3 to 15 years of age LEGO was central to my life. I had a small bucket of LEGOs, collected during these years, I believe to remember that the small sets I got, "peaked" when I turned 10. And built whatever came to mind. It felt good.

And then - I met my wife. I was 15 years old, she was as well. And LEGO was nonexistent in her world. Which in turn made me feel - at age 15 - stupid. Childish. Whatever. And that turned that light out.

1996 our daughter was born. A year and a half later I thought Duplo may be something she may like ... and as back then, "online" was like "Back to the Future", I browsed the shelves. And was taken away ... 15 years are a long time ...

1997 our second daughter saw the light ... and three months later we moved from Germany to the US - SoCal, Irvine. Not much time left to think about Duplo.

1998 BOOOOOOM. Target had the first Mindstorms set (9719) on sale. It blew my mind. Sensors, actuators, a controller. I will never forget, what happened to me, when I spotted the boxes on a shelf more or less hiding across from sleeping bags. That definitely ended my dark ages.

2021 Nothing has changed since 1998. Other than complaining here and there (solely on EB that is; I love this place for the folks posting here in the way the do). Never lost the feel. For whatever reason, 70430 simply made me recall what LEGO is all about. Forget the "Hidden Side", the cell phones, the crap: Pulling that lever and make that subway look like a monster - true LEGO. Wonderful.

Best
Thorsten 

P.S.: I forgot: My wife turned that light out at age 15 is >not< true: I turned it out. Over the past 44 years, she tells me that I have more than enough LEGOs (where do you want to put them?) - but something is odd: Other than the "spatial" issue, there is nothing else ... :pir-love:

Edited by Toastie

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19 minutes ago, Toastie said:

My wife turned that light out at age 15 is >not< true: I turned it out. Over the past 44 years, she tells me that I have more than enough LEGOs (where do you want to put them?) - but something is odd: Other than the "spatial" issue, there is nothing else ...

After discussing after a few AFOLs, most often the space question is the only real problem. Lego can be seen as a toy, I do not think many people (even among wives) find it stupid. Useless at worst, maybe... But it teaches so many things and with visible results that even that would be exagerated.

However, it is true that it takes space, especially for those living in an appartment (like me) and cannot imagine re-selling or giving away parts of their collection! And if our LEGOs get in the way or become too messy, it can trigger some unrelated criticism... This is why we have to be creative to manage our passion without taking TOO much space... which is part of the fun, in the end!

Edited by Celeri

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23 hours ago, Celeri said:

I really like your story! And you did not have a second dark age since then?

No. Mij first dark age was long enough,  Not to say; to long...   

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I didn't have a dark ages until I went to college and lived in a dorm.  I didn't bring any Lego with me since I didn't trust that it wouldn't get stolen or broken, and I had no money.  I would still get a lego set or two at the holidays, but that was it, and I missed out on some of the best stuff, including Vikings and the Fantasy Era for castle.  In grad school I had the same problem: no time, no money, and didn't live in an area where I trusted the crime (and I had my place burglarized, so it was a good choice).  I finally got back into Lego after I got a job, but wish there was a way I could have not had a dark ages!

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My "dark ages" started around 2001, other interests and LEGO's decline for a while (Bionicle/Star Wars weren't my big interests, but I did have most Slizers from 1999-2000 beside the 2 big ones) made me not care too much about toys, and video games were in a rapid developing era, and internet at the time wasn't yet mainstream enough to be considered the main source of LEGO info/sales.

LEGO also had a few year break from themes like Town / Castle / Space , and 2001-2004 was a major time for the then highly discussed Warcraft franchise (Warcraft 3 / World of Warcraft), I still love the franchise, just not the current state of the video games.

If LEGO ever did a Warcraft theme I'd be interested, not in all this microtransaction video game/mounts and such they do nowadays.

Came back to LEGO when rebuilding old sets around 2015, and then looked up upcoming themes and saw Nexo Knights for 2016, and after that ended, mostly switched to City/3-in-1.

 

 

 

Edited by TeriXeri

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On 7/14/2021 at 8:37 PM, EamonnMR said:

It's funny that you mention the internet driving Lego…

I returned to LEGO in 1993 when I was already well into adulthood. The internet was still in its infancy and I didn’t have access to it. As far as I knew, adults didn’t collect LEGO, but being the non-conformist that I am, I started getting fantasy themed sets that appealed to me anyway. I didn’t become aware of AFOLdom until the early 2000s. I think I placed my first BrickLink order in 2006. 
 

In one sense, those who become AFOLs today have the advantage of all the resources of the internet from sites like this one to fan media, peer-to-peer selling (e.g. BrickLink, Ebay) and recognition by LEGO itself. They also experience less stigma of being “an adult who buys kids’ toys”. On the other hand, by having been an AFOL for 28 years, I didn’t miss out on many themes or minifigures of interest. 

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I started to play with LEGO at age of 6 or 7. I found that LEGO bring me some wonderful and creative times when I built my own city out of colorful plastic bricks. I was not aware of LEGO’s decline in 2001 when I was 10 years. I was fascinated by Bionicle and Harry Potter themes. When I was in high school in 2006, I was too afraid what other teenagers would think of me playing/collecting LEGO so I abandoned my wonderful hobbies in order to be a stereotypical cool teenager (I know, it was a stupid idea). And my dark age began…

Fast-forward to the late 2013

When I heard about the LEGO Movie during a college time, that brought joy to me. I realized something important - I really miss my old hobby. When the LEGO movie was released, my college freinds and I went to a movie theater to watch that movie. I love that movie! So it led me to wonder if LEGO had that  TLM sets so I checked the LEGO website and saw so many new sets, including Collectible Minifigures. I took a few minifigures to my college dorms. 

After graduating from college in 2015, I started to collecting more and more sets. This made me feel like I was a kid again!

Fast-forward to the present day

I am about to enter my se icond dark (literally) age. This is a heart-breaking moment - I am diagnosed with User’s Syndrome (combination of graduation loss of vision and deafness). I am born deaf and I start to lose my sight. It’s hard to see colors, minifigure’s details, stickers, etc. Sometimes I am thinking about abandoning my LEGO hobby once again but I am determine to pursue my fun hobby! I’m still collecting minifigures from Collectible Minifigures and some sets from City, Harry Potter, and Marvel. 

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4 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

'...

I am about to enter my se icond dark (literally) age. This is a heart-breaking moment - I am diagnosed with User’s Syndrome (combination of graduation loss of vision and deafness). I am born deaf and I start to lose my sight. It’s hard to see colors, minifigure’s details, stickers, etc. Sometimes I am thinking about abandoning my LEGO hobby once again but I am determine to pursue my fun hobby! I’m still collecting minifigures from Collectible Minifigures and some sets from City, Harry Potter, and Marvel. 

How sad to hear that. I wish you all the best.

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9 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I am about to enter my se icond dark (literally) age. This is a heart-breaking moment - I am diagnosed with User’s Syndrome (combination of graduation loss of vision and deafness). I am born deaf and I start to lose my sight. It’s hard to see colors, minifigure’s details, stickers, etc. Sometimes I am thinking about abandoning my LEGO hobby once again but I am determine to pursue my fun hobby! I’m still collecting minifigures from Collectible Minifigures and some sets from City, Harry Potter, and Marvel. 

This must be so harsh for you, so sorry you have to endure that... I sincerely hope it could end up less bad than expected!

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13 hours ago, Pinnacle said:

How sad to hear that. I wish you all the best.

 

8 hours ago, Celeri said:

This must be so harsh for you, so sorry you have to endure that... I sincerely hope it could end up less bad than expected!

Thank you folks! I greatly appreciate your kind words. Yes it’s very sad but lI sure hope there would be a cure against blindess and Usher’s Syndrome. While wiating for a cure, I will try my best to pursue a fun hobby as much as I can!

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18 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

but I am determine to pursue my fun hobby!

I truly hope and wish that you can do that for years to come. Who knows!

I had pure luck - should be blind by now, as judged from 35 years ago. They told me that back then. 25 years later, they simply fixed it. As the "cure" was there. It was more or less mechanical, as they essentially stitched my retina back together, using tech stuff, micro-surgery and lasers and so on. Not important.

You have to face a completely different situation - and different kind of hope. However, there are also similarities: I do not believe in things to happen by higher authorities, I believe in progress of mankind. It became true for me. You may not have the time, as I had, but maybe you know is maybe. So maybe you have - waiting for a cure!!! It may very well happen. 

I truly hope - from the bottom of my heart - that you will get this cure. It is absolutely possible. Look at Covid: When people are willing to be vaccinated, mankind won. Again. Vaccination is surely not what you need to get your eyesight back, but who knows!

All the very best. And keep pursuing your fun hobby!!!

Thorsten

P.S.: I forgot: Hakuna Matata!

Edited by Toastie

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