What made you get out of your LEGO dark age?

[escortmad79]

My dark age lasted approx 16 years from 14-30.

Seeing the incredible Emerald Night, Cafe Corner & Green Grocer plus over the years I've googled Lego town layouts but not done anything about it.

I have no idea but just before Christmas I decided that I wanted some Lego so my girlfriend got me a bucket & one of the racers, that reignited my obsession!

I now have a whole list of things I want to build!

[Loganwan]

I love threads like this. There actually are humans on the other end of the internet (no offense to any aliens who happen to be LEGO collectors).

Here I am in my early 30s, and make trips a week to TRU and the LEGO store (yup I am lucky enough to have one down the street from my house). It was not that long ago that LEGOs became something that sat in a box in my garage, all but forgotten after growing up, and out of the hobby.

I slowly got into toys, as a progress from reading comics. It was about the same time I was at TRU and happened past the LEGO aisle. They had an end cap that featured some Exo-Force sets. I picked up the two smallest sets, as they were less expensive than the other sets, and had a manga style guy. They actually sat on my desk at work for a long time, maybe a year or so.

I started to collect MiniMates, who attempted a Lego type design with their C3 line. Anyway, with that progression in their toys, they started to put holes in their feet that fit onto Lego studs. I wanted to make a display for them, and pulled out my box of old Legos. The display stand was all but forgotten as I started to rebuild my old sets to remember what they were like. I had to do some research on the net so I could get directions, and found so many new sets.

Now it is four years later, and I have probably have nearly 500x more Legos than I ever did growing up. I have been collecting everything from City (my favorite, starting with construction, Coast Guard, and Fire) to Agents, Indy, Star Wars, Power Miners, Space Police, and Atlantis. My house now looks like a toy store, with primary colors exploding from every pore. I would not change it for anything. Happiness abounds, and getting to come to a site like this and see what kinds of great imaginative things people are coming up with is an added bonus.

[richb]

My dark ages spanned 20 years, from '88 to '08.

I grew up with LEGO and had a HUGE Legoland that covered my bedroom floor through most of the 80s. At its peak (1987-ish) it was probably 5 x 6 road tiles in size, plus some additional 8x32 and 16x32 baseplates around the edges. I began breaking it down when I hit my teens ('88), and packed the whole thing up for good when I eventually found girls to be more interesting than LEGO (how dumb is that?).

I sold my collection, with several complete classic '78-'88 era Legoland/Town sets in 1999 when I was starting a family.

Even though I was guilty of enjoying play time with my kids' LEGO more than they did through most of the '00s, the day I point to as signalling my dark age being over is Valentine's Day 2008. Sometime back in the Fall of '07 I signed my stepson up for Club LEGO. A few weeks later we received a S@H catalog in the mail. When I saw Cafe Corner I told my wife I had to have it. She wound up buying me the Creator Beach House for Valentine's Day '08, mostly as a gag gift since she thought I was being silly asking for LEGO. Well, I showed her when I broke down and ordered both Cafe Corner and Town Plan for myself a couple of weeks later.

[no_skill]

I boxed my LEGO up when I was 14, and kept them that way for about 19 years. When my oldest son turned 3 (year 2000) I broke them out. I wanted him to enjoy Classic Space and Technic (it was called Expert Builder back-in-the-day!) as much as I did as a kid. Knowing that I almost never lost an element, I turned to the web to look for building instructions. I promptly found LUGNET, and was elated to find there were AFOL's out there.

Then I turned to E-bay, just mostly curious about what the collector's value of my Classic Space sets was. I came across a MISB 5542 at an insanely cheep price (you could do that with some regularity on E-bay back then) and figured, "what the heck?" A week later I put that great set together and LOVED every minute of it. I still remember that as the best build of my life. It was my first new LEGO set in 20 years (and the first time I ever used E-bay too!). About 10 minutes into that set, my Dark Ages were officially over.

While I often lament missing so many good eras of LEGO, I'm glad I came back in time to experience part of the 9V train era. Early Star Wars was a blast for my son and me too (although it doesn't much interest me now, he still likes it). I occasionally have mini Dark Ages creep back in, mostly due to lack of time and space. The awesome LEGO exclusives (most recently 10210) always seem to keep the flames burning for me.

So I guess for me, the three bigest factors that killed off the Dark Ages were:

1) A child old enough to enjoy it with (and rekindle the flames).

2) A few awesome enjoyable sets (to fan the flames).

3) Exclusive and adult themed sets (to keep the flames burning).

Sometimes I wonder what will happen down the road when/if my children stop playing with LEGO. I guess there is a chance things may go back into the box (actually, it'll be BOXES now, and more than a few); maybe, maybe not. But if they do get packaged up, the day will arrive that grandchildren come along, and (probably to my wife's dismay) the boxes will come out for everyone's fun, not the least of which will be my own!

[train lover]

Compared to the lego:

Have well played with lego throughout childhood there was a lot of lego building in conjunction with one that went in my class.The first set I can remember is a lego train with blue rails, I think it's set 171, published in 1972 (Peeron ) i shouldn taken care of it!.

Discovered lego technic in the autumn of 1977 (technic set 850) and has probably built most of technic through vocational school osv.Have a "dark age" until 1988 when I saw the Hi fi and electronics magazine that you could make robots ut av legotechnic if you connects it to the old commodore 64 i connecting 2 technic motors to a Commodore 64 and made some stuff, fun but no return message to the computer (an early "edition" of nxt).

Discovered bricklink,Tile association

for Norwegian Lego enthusiasts spring 2007 after trying to buy the Lego set 6116 with no luck.

Edited January 24, 2010 by train lover

[Quarryman]

Pretty sure we've already had (at least) one of these threads, but here goes (again)

My dark ages started around 1996 some time, after computers had gotten more important to me

Then, a Sunday in spring 2004, someone on IRC posted a link to this:

That site of course had links to Lugnet, Brickshelf, Bricklink etc. And some 10 hours later I was an AFOL. At least that's the short version

[SuperChris]

I'm still sort of in it. I've just turned 18, and the last set I brought was one of the Indiana Jones ones (Indy + his Dad on a motorbike) which was 2007, I think. I still browsed Lego sites and forums looking at the released sets, but never brought one.

Then the news of the new Harry Potter sets getting a release has made me return to the Lego world. I spent most of last weekend rebuilding all the Lego Harry Potter sets and arranging them all in my room. I think I'm out of it now, and I can't wait to buy another set. I think I'll be treating myself to the Emrald Night once my EMA bonus hits my bank account!

[Jack Bricker]

I was a total Lego nut from age 3 up until age 15. I quit because I was a little embarassed about my hobby and I was just starting to get into paintball and that was pretty expensive. Also that was when Lego's quality totally went down and there really wasn't anything interesting to get.

I continued to not be interested in Lego much until I saw the Fantasy-Era them sets in 2007 and I totally fell in love with the Kings Castle Siege. Then I saw the Indiana Jones sets and after that the Pirates theme for 2009. Now with the Imperial Flagship I am totally hooked and I am trying to get as many Lego sets as I can afford. I think by the end of the year I will have doubled my collection.

[The Green Brick Giant]

Mine only lasted about a year or two but it wasn't my fault, it was LEGO's. The company started making City Center, aka City Junior and it was a mess, huge mess and a lot of the other sets started sucking too so I stopped caring in 1997-1998, so in stopped caring. Then in a store i saw Space Port and I loved them so I bought all of that theme and that slightly got me back enough to get me through the horrible LEGO years. :lol:

[B-Lister]

Harry Potter and Star Wars kept the embers smouldering, but it wasn't until Castle was relaunched with much aplomb that I really started to take notice.

As a kid I always thought it would be cool to have Star Wars sets, but then when Star Wars sets arrived, I realized that we paid too steep a price, in sacrificing the Space Theme to it.

so it's nice to see the classic, Lego-Owned themes making a comeback alongside the licensed stuff. I am REALLY loving the relaunch of "Pirates" despite not liking EVERYTHING about it (The Flags and Parrots are really kinda cheap looking, IMO).

for the most part though, I'm impressed. I'm glad that they returned to firing cannons in the US after a 20 year hiatus.

[drdavewatford]

After a Lego-tastic childhood I moved on to other things (e.g. video games, music), and I hadn't even looked at a Lego set for around 10 years until my wife bought me 10188 Death Star as a Christmas present.

Since then I have become totally obsessed again - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, modular buildings, trains, Harry Potter, Batman, classic space - and I genuinely don't dare to admit how much I've spent on Lego in the last 14 months (mainly from lego S@H and eBay)......

Dr. D.

[David Thomsen]

Oh, and as for things that kept me in my Lego Dark Age, I went into the store after a five year absense and saw this set. It was a while before I returned again.

[DaCheese]

Lego was a regular and always welcome gift at Christmases and birthdays during my childhood. The kits I used to get most often (and loved) were the vehicles of Classic Town in what were probably its dying days. I remember one year building a small fleet of four stud wide open wheel racing cars and racing them on tracks made of closed-off road plates!

We had some Technic, but never as much as I'd have liked. I never had but always wanted a Lego train or two as well, despite there being no proper steam locos. I've been a train nut as long as I can remember, so I'd have wanted a convincing looking steam loco with driving wheels outside the frames, linked by side rods and with outside cylinders! That 9V motor meant no exposed and coupled driving wheels, so even if I'd known about 3225 Classic Train I'd have been disappointed. I put countless hours into Lego Loco on the first PC we ever had regardless.

I'm not sure when I stopped receiving kits, but I recall gradually becoming less interested in the stuff coming out of Billund. I was in the Lego Club and the magazines I was getting were full of unrealistic themed crap. In addition, the more realistic town stuff was getting reduced to just emergency services. Over the next few years I got a S@H catalogue or two and kept looking at Trains; this was when My Own Train was about. The prices were too high (nothing new there) and the new MOT steam locos still looked rubbish! The Super Chief didn't float my boat, I was still waiting for that realistic looking, UK-style, loco drive steam engine I dreamt of.

I stopped waiting in time because I didn't expect Lego to ever make something that would meet this standard. In 2009, I was proved wrong. My young cousin was collecting these lime green mining-type machines. They put me in mind of Rock Raiders, so curiosity got the better of me and I hit the Lego website to find out more. Power Miners eh? Moving down the list of S@H categories, I saw the Trains logo. The small picture underneath was unmistakeably a steam loco. Long story short, as soon as 10194 Emerald Night went on sale with PF parts, I became £150 or so less well off financially. The build was time-consuming but fun and satisfying, and the end result was spectacular. After that triumph of teenage skill over several bags of tiny bricks and a transparent DSS I bought a couple of City sets, 7641 City Corner and 7635 4WD with Horsebox. I built the bus in 7641 to be right-hand drive, which involved building the thing completely mirrored. Tricky! Despite hating horses, I liked the look of the Range Rover type 4x4 in 7635. Fortunately it proved much easier to convert for UK use!

I don't think I'll ever have the skills or brick collection that some of the builders on here have, but despite this I'd love to be able to spend more on Lego. Unfortunately I'm still in that dark age due to financial constraints; Lego isn't cheap stuff and I'm just out of IT training looking for a job. I'm looking forward to this year's trains though (the cargo train loco looks a lot like a yellow Brush Class 60) and ultimately aim to get my hands on or build a replica of the 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine.

[RocketClone]

My first dark age lasted for about 8 or so years (missing out on some sweet sets ) what snapped me out of it was the first clone battlepack became obsessed with LEGO ever since.

[Tom Bricks]

I have never actually had a real dark age, there had been times when I considered getting rid of my Lego but I never took any apart and would still buy anything that interested me. I would basically buy a set, build it and then not touch lego for a month. I was looking around online a year or so ago and found the new pirate line and this re-sparked the obsession that today takes up so much of my time and money.

[booga-b]

I just got out of my dark age and im actively hunting for a Cafe corner at normal prices. If anyone out there has a site or a shop that i can go to, to get one. please, leave me a msg. The toysrus US site has it for $139 but they dont have any stock. No surprises there. I quickly bought the green grocer before it shares the same fate as the cafe corner. Any help at all will be appreciated.

[k_peek_2000]

I just got out of my dark age and im actively hunting for a Cafe corner at normal prices. If anyone out there has a site or a shop that i can go to, to get one. please, leave me a msg. The toysrus US site has it for $139 but they dont have any stock. No surprises there. I quickly bought the green grocer before it shares the same fate as the cafe corner. Any help at all will be appreciated.

Pretty much your best bet is to wait until somebody posts it on Craigslist that doesn't know what it's really worth. Other than that it's hard to find retired sets without crazy inflated prices. You could also use brinklink to buy each peice individually, and get the instructions separately. I did that with the UCS Tie Interceptor. Other than that your for the most part out of luck. I was actually looking at Corner Cafe this past weekend as well, didn't find anything new under 200.

[booga-b]

Pretty much your best bet is to wait until somebody posts it on Craigslist that doesn't know what it's really worth. Other than that it's hard to find retired sets without crazy inflated prices. You could also use brinklink to buy each peice individually, and get the instructions separately. I did that with the UCS Tie Interceptor. Other than that your for the most part out of luck. I was actually looking at Corner Cafe this past weekend as well, didn't find anything new under 200.

wow! how much did it cost to get hte bricks individually??

[k_peek_2000]

wow! how much did it cost to get hte bricks individually??

If I recall it was a little less than 100. Which was the original price to begin with. The front cockpit piece alone was 20.

Edited February 4, 2010 by k_peek_2000

[The Eye]

I stopped playing with LEGO when I was in my late 12`s. I went to the hospital because I got very sick over the summer. My parents wanted to buy me something, so they brought me places but I didn`t want anything. Until my mom went looking for a gift at TRU, in which I found, bought and loved the Technic Quad Bike. Soon later at 15, I`ve got a Telehandler that works with motors and a Jester- arguably the best figure of all time.

[JayDuck]

The #7140 X-Wing put an end to my roughly 10-year dark age in 1999. After 20 years, finally getting real Star Wars Lego? It was awesome.

[CBFasi]

Played with Lego 1981-1989(age 14), moved overseas for 3 years and by Lego box was put in storage...

Came back and as by this time I had lost the interest for Lego.

Back in 2002 I visited my sister in Germany and we went to Toy'R'Us with my neice and she liked the Lego and brought a kit, I too could not resist... was the Huge City Contruction Crane (the one shaped like a T).

I have not looked back since, and sort of have over 100 times Lego than I had when I was kid already..

[Broken Bricks]

I went into the Dark Ages at the age of 11 approximately. I still held on to my huge LEGO collection but eventually gave it all away to my younger cousins when I was 14.

Then recently, at age of 24, my mom gave me Cannon Battle of the new pirates line for Xmas (along with her actual xmas gift). She said that she had seen at a store and it reminded her of my LEGO years from childhood...

Well, as you can imagine, building that little set brought out so many nostalgic feelings! Moreover, I was so impressed with the new colors, parts and specially the two-sided torsos and printed shakos that I started considering restarting my collection.

So when I stumbled upon Eurobricks and realized there was an entire world-wide community of AFOLs out there I made the decision to buy some sets and here I am!

[jmupton2000]

Had Lego as a child from about the age of three (circa 1978) when I was given as a present a couple of the early City sets with Construction theme and ran with the City and later Castle theme for the next ten to twelve years or thereabouts.

This is my first ever minifig complete with the classic yellow safety bib with the yellow/black stripe sticker although I am not sure which set he originally came in as the his dumper truck (also original from the same period) had a blue torso minifig.

I started to get back into Lego in 2008, the Daily Mirror promo saw free Lego arrive in my house and then I discovered the Lego shop in Brighton (where many moons ago I used to go to the Lego Show at the Brighton Centre, anyone remember that?)

Moving house in 2008 saw me find all of my old Lego, some sets still partially together (Only Charlie above and his dumper truck plus the classic Snack Bar had been left out of the storage boxes) and my 300 odd minifigs(!) A lot of the general brick stock was in a pretty bad way, scratched, battered and grubby but I resurrected plenty of them and then started buying some of the recent Construction sets.

Most recently I have been setting up a town scene using the original style grey road plates, reassembling some classic sets from the 1980's using downloaded instructions and where necessary buying fresh bricks using the PAB shop. In addition I was delighted to find all the parts of the classic 6080 castle which has also been resurrected as well as picking up one or two classic old sets on Ebay where they appear nice and cheap.

I wish we had PAB back in my childhood, the massive search for that illusive tile which could take days now only takes the click of a mouse and I can have a hundred of them if I want!!!

Now I have to decide if I can resist buying the Grand Emporium...

Edited March 5, 2010 by jmupton2000

[ChefAgf]

I never had real dark ages. I did buy less lego during my teenage years. 14-17

But when cafe corner came out i was addicted again right away.

If you read trough this thread everyone has some darker period. Mostly its around 13-18. Pretty logical as we all get interested in other things like: school, sports, work, and the other sexes (or the same if you prefer) until we settle ourselves. Start living together or marry seems to be a breakpoint for a lot of people to start with the lego again.

quite interesting...