So I just went through a LEGO revival

[Roz]

Hi there!

Today I was cleaning up my room when I found out about a little set of LEGO I have with a tiny submarine and stuff. Nothing big, but boy, it sure made me nostalgic about those years and years of LEGO playing. So I went out to my LEGO chest, opened it and went "whoa". I found out that I have a ton of LEGO pieces! Anyway, after this memory revival I decided to search for LEGO fanbases and here I am. And now I have a few questions ;)

1- Since I've been absent from the LEGO world for years and years, I really don't know how it stands. All I can recall is that LEGO had 3 types. The Duplo one ( for babies I think ), System and Technic. Now, I always loved System (much more than Technic) and I still do. I remember fondly of the city theme, police, pirates, vikings, space and etc.. So I went to a random shopping mall and I found out the little LEGO they sold was that Bionicle nonsense. Even Technic was rare and the ones they had were like a F-One and an ugly car. How come? Did the System LEGO type stop being sold? Or even produced? Does this mean that all those classic System sets (pirates, police, city) are forever gone? I really, really, really hope not because I'm so excited with LEGO that I would spend some serious money on it. So yeah, what IS LEGO now?

2- Since the boxes of the sets I own are long gone and recycled, is there a way I can get about the set plans? As in, the instrucions step by step of the sets? This is because I remember I had a few memorable ones and I would very much like to build and contemplate them again.

I think that's all for now.

Thanks,

Roz

[Starwars4J]

First, I'd like to say welcome out of your "Dark Ages" and to our little site ;-)

As for scans, you can find many of them here, and don't worry, SYSTEM is living fine! A lot of the old themes are gone, such as Pirate, Space, Castle, etc. but if you really want to spend money on them you can find most of them here in any level of condition you could want!

Bionicle isn't all there is, though both Technic and SYSTEM have been produced less than they were, things are actually starting to get back to normal with the wonderful Viking line, and newer Knights Kingdom II sets (which are getting closer and closer to Classic Castle!)

If you can't find any sets in local stores (which sounds strange *wacko* ) you can always order from the official site Shop-at-home at www.Lego.com (just change the country to wherever you live)

Again, welcome back! I'll be happy to help answer any other questions you might have

P.S. Also, make sure to introduce yourself :-)

[kenji]

WHOA!!!!!!

do you thin you can give me some for free if you have so much???thanks

[Hobbes]

Hi and welcome, good to see another System fan!

Starwars4J already told you all the necessary things and links. There's a lot to read and catching up to do for you.

Enjoy :-)

[JINZONINGEN73]

Welcome to our site!

And welcome back to the world of Lego!

So I went to a random shopping mall and I found out the little LEGO they sold was that Bionicle nonsense.

Hey now, them's fightin' words.

Don't discount what Bionicle has to offer... mainly, super-posable joints for making Lego action figures.

If you're more a guy who only likes building original Lego-designed models, I can see how the Technic offerings might seem sparse to you.

But if you're a person who makes mocs (My Own Creations), then by all means, grab 2 canisters of the Bionicle Toa Inika... preferably 2 of the same character (color). You might like'em.

How come? Did the System LEGO type stop being sold? Or even produced? Does this mean that all those classic System sets (pirates, police, city) are forever gone?

Hardly, hardly.

Go to Lego.com immediately and order a shop@home catalog.

TONS of System to be found.

These days, unless you have a Lego store or Toys R Us near you, you're probably not going to find very much system.

Places like Walmart (a big outlet for Lego product) does use their available shelf space more towards Bionicle and Knights Kingdom (the kiddy lines), with just a few system sets here and there.

But lord, that is not all Lego does each year!

So, here's your homework (lol):

--buy 2 Bionicle Toa Inika sets of the same color

--go to Lego.com and order a catalog

*sweet*

[snefroe]

wow!! you really have some serious catching up to do...

but i guess you first of all have to figure out what you want to do with your stuff.

if you feel the urge to start building things of your own, this would be great start to get ideas; the word MOC, means My Own Creation, just in case you're reading that on a regular basis

Bricklink is a great source if you decide to limit your lego hobby to collecting, however, it can't hurt to check Ebay, that usually gives better prices than Bricklink...

i'd also suggest you go to this website and go thru the catalogs, that way you'll get a pretty good insight on what lego has been producing in the last couple of years...

[sam89]

I think another thing worth mentioning is that LEGO have lots of licences now, such as Star Wars, Batman, Spongebob, Ferrari, etc. In the past they've had others such as Harry Potter and Spider-man.

But I think your best bet is to go to LEGO.com and check out their current range:

http://shop.lego.com/

[Ras 74]

Just like to say welcome to the boards.

The answers and good tips you where looking for you already got.

I so recognize my self in what you writing when I discovered LEGO again.

I started of at another board which I will not mention...

...since you ended up on the right one anyway!

Have a good one...

-Ras-

[Roz]

Hey guys, thanks for the warm welcome.

So yeah, I guess I dissed Bionicle without even knowing it so I guess I'll have to learn more about it. As for what I'll do with my bricks and pieces: first I intend to sort them and categorize them all so that I know what I have and what I can do and from there I'll see what I want to do. Many, many, many thanks for the links guys, especially that instrucions one. That's pure gold for me. Now I can revive memories of the past :)

Again people, many thanks for the welcome and help of getting out of the "dark ages". I guess you'll be seeing me around now ;)

Cheers,

Roz

[prateek]

if u want some sets to start u out, u should go to the CREATOR line *y*

[Kanduu]

Ok, I'm usually just a lurker on this board, and I mostly just post on Classic-Castle, but I couldn't let this pass by.

Welcome to the great world of being an "AFOL" (Adult Fan of Lego). There are numerous good sites to check out, one of them is Brickshelf. There are lots of great examples of what adults build. Another is Lugnet. It's mostly known as the staple AFoL website.

The big reason I didn't want this post to get past me is that it's entirely ok to think Bionicle are, um, "not our kind of thing." Some people like them, but many others think that's one more place Lego has gone wrong. (And they have, I mean, Galidor?--you don't even want to know, Roz.)

I might suggest going to a Toys R Us, or online (they don't sell them anywhere else), and looking for the Vikings line. This is a reasonably new line that has become very popular with the older crowd (and I think kids too). It has more of an '90s feel to it, but is still nice and new.

Speaking of Vikings, you had mentioned you remembered them from the past--those are the non-Lego variety, ie. Megabloks. This is an inferior brand, but cheaper price-wise. (Really, the color and brick-binding isn't as good with "clone" brands.)

You might also want to know about the color change. All of the grays and brown are a different color than when you were collecting. (Don't get mad, we all deal with it in our own ways.) :-)

Again, welcome, and good luck with this new hobby.

[vahkimetru]

Here's a list of what certain lines have "become". I hope it's helpful.

Castle: Knights's Kingdom 2, Duplo, Harry Potter, Avatar,

Pirates: Vikings, 4+,

Space: Star Wars, Exo-Force

Town: Same theme with new parts, Spongebob,

Technic: Bionicle, Technic,

Wild West: Gone

Model Team: Gone

[Hobbes]

Here's a list of what certain lines have "become". I hope it's helpful.

Castle: Knights's Kingdom 2, Duplo, Harry Potter, Avatar

*cough* I wouldn't call HP and Avatar Castle lines. They're in the "Licenses" category, I'd say.

Pirates: Vikings, 4+,

Space: Star Wars, Exo-Force

I'd say SW is definitive more a "License" than "Space".

Town: Same theme with new parts, Spongebob,

"Town" is called "City" now and Spongebob is also a license.

So, to sum this up:

Licenses

All new category with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar, Exo-Force. Gone is Spider-Man but it's still available on the second-hand market (ebay, Bricklink, some Toys'R'Uses).

Castle

Knight's Kingdom 1 through... I dunno... 5? Recently a new "Legend" came out, though, so it might re-emerge.

Town

City

Train

9V still available but dying, new RC trains

Space

If we're honest, it's gone.

Pirates

4+, Vikings

Wild West

gone

Model Team

Creator/Designer with a bit less features. prateek mentioned them as starter sets which is a good idea.

Technic

Still here, just studless. Needs getting used to, but it's ok.

Bionicles

That's... uh.... a theme, I guess...

Mindstorms

new version this year

UCS - Ultimate Collector Series

Not really a theme but huge scale display models (mostly SW)

I didn't count any Duplo lines.

hth

[Jipay]

Just a quick welcome. I wouldn't recommend you to visit Lugnet. It's totaly not user friendly and quite messy. The other place we could recommend depend on your tastes. if you're more a castle guy, then Classic Castle is your friend. If you fall into Star Wars, then fbtb is the place.

If you like all the themes, then stay with us :-P

[sam89]

Licenses

All new category with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar, Exo-Force. Gone is Spider-Man but it's still available on the second-hand market (ebay, Bricklink, some Toys'R'Uses).

Exo-Force isn't a licence ;-)

[Hobbes]

Licenses

All new category with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar, Exo-Force. Gone is Spider-Man but it's still available on the second-hand market (ebay, Bricklink, some Toys'R'Uses).

Exo-Force isn't a licence ;-)

It isn't? Well, sure looks like one...

Just checked, according to wikipedia it's "strongly based on the mecha anime genre". So, you could say it's a free license for all anime ;-)

I apologize to all force-stuff-outside fans, of course :-P

[Jipay]

Free licence ? mmhh, sounds like a nice concept. But you are right in saying that it uses a lot of japanse animes stuff. If only they could do this for castle (Japanese animation has countless great castle based stories)

[snefroe]

Here's a list of what certain lines have "become". I hope it's helpful.

So, to sum this up:

Space

If we're honest, it's gone.

hth

:-X :-X :-X nonono 'temperarily not available in current lego catalog'

[Hobbes]

:-X :-X :-X nonono 'temperarily not available in current lego catalog'

:-D :-D :-D

I'm sorry... Hey, I wouldn't mind, either, if it came back ;-)

[JINZONINGEN73]

Just a quick welcome. I wouldn't recommend you to visit Lugnet. It's totaly not user friendly and quite messy.

Understatement of the year.

lol

I've seen electronics manuals that made posting and following responses easier.

But to be fair, at least manuals don't have an elitist attitude once you do speak their language.

;)

[Jipay]

Lol ya made my day :-D

[xenologer]

Just checked, according to wikipedia it's "strongly based on the mecha anime genre". So, you could say it's a free license for all anime ;-)

I dunno...

I've always thought that the anime influence was pretty weak with ExoForce... the mech designs are non-typical for anime, they get lots of japanese words wrong or used in wierd ways... the story lacks the intelligence typical to anime storylines... character develpment....

It really doesn't feel very anime-ish to me...

I do like the sets in general though, as they are a good base to build something Space-like out of, just toss out the wierd hair and don't read the comics on the back of the instruction books...

[Hobbes]

I've seen electronics manuals that made posting and following responses easier.

But to be fair, at least manuals don't have an elitist attitude once you do speak their language.

;)

ROFL

Best ever description of LUGNET :-D

I dunno...

I've always thought that the anime influence was pretty weak with ExoForce... the mech designs are non-typical for anime, they get lots of japanese words wrong or used in wierd ways... the story lacks the intelligence typical to anime storylines... character develpment....

It really doesn't feel very anime-ish to me...

I can't say anything about that because to me all anime look(s) alike and I wouldn't know about any storylines.

The only anime I ever watched was Robotech, the "Mother of All Anime" (yes, I know, it's actually three different series combined into one). As for the rest, I couldn't care less, hence I don't know nothin' 'bout Exo-Force, and that's why I'll stop commenting about it ;-)

[Jipay]

Well the hairstyle has a massive dragonball influence !

[Roz]

Whoa! Lots of new posts. Thanks for new welcome greetings, friendly community this is.

So yeah, yesterday night I was hunting for LEGO so I went to a Toys'R'Us and found the LEGO section with diffrent stuff. It had some Technic Ferrari's, a Ferrari garage, loads of Bionicle, Exoforce, Star Wars ships, Batman, Harry Potter and Spiderman scenes and some big chests of basic blocks and forms. But the one that really caught my eye was a super pack of the City theme. It was composed by some boxes of some sets that in turn were encolsed in a big box with a transparent front. It had a rescue helicopter, somekind of jail car, a police motorbike, a police car and an ambulance. My heart was filled with nostalgy with that classic LEGO System feeling. Unfortunatly, times are rough and I cannot spend my money like that ( 50€ ). I looked like a heartbroken little kid whose parents denied some major cool toy that everybody has, when I left the Toys'R'Us. My girlfriend is a witness :p

Anyhoo, I decided to first organize all my LEGO and so I began today, and boy, I have much more than I thought I had. I opened the chest and after all the dust got away, I began disassembling all assembled bricks and pieces, one by one. Although I have a long way to go, I remembered a valuable lesson from old times. LEGO disassembling in long periods of time is hazzardous because now I have blisters all over my fingers. It was still fun though and I can't wait to have this all nice and tidy.

So whew. Speaking of Bionicle. It really doesn't appeal me like other LEGO does. I dunno, it's just... they look like plastic figures instead of piece by piece LEGO. On the other hand, Exoforce looked much cooler and I'll probably give that one a chance (it had some crazy, funky pieces). As for Starwars, Batman, Harry Potter and Spiderman I dunno. I really do not like these licensed themes because well.. they're just that. I love the original ones like City (my favorite), Wild West (oh god, I love that one) and the others. Oh by the way, I'm terribly sad to know that Model has gone away. I never got ahold of one set of those and I always wished for one (I remember this huge truck that was incredible detailed, on par with Technic).

Whew. I bet your full of reading my stuff. No problem, I'm also tired of writting. I'll keep on "blogging" and coming here for advice.

Again, many thanks guys, you've been awesome.

Cheers,

Roz

____

edit:

This was the pack I was talking about

http://www.toysrus.de/index.php?mapid=592&...SID=bd9d99811d9