The Dark Ages are over! Martys back in Lego Town

[martyboy70]

After some recent turmoil in my life (more details here http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59279) my old Lego has proved to be a great bonding exercise with my son who is nearly 4.

We have had a great time building and playing with all my sets from back in the day along with some recent cheap additions.

Firstly a quick sum. Take this lot(All your base plates are belong to US):

Add this:

And this:

Finally add some great educational fun,some teamwork and a great time spent together and you should end up with this:

We had a great time building and playing with all the sets and its been good for his colour,spatial and number skills and a couple of the smaller sets were built by my son Kyle with little or no input from me apart from a watchful eye and an encouraging nod or two.

Please allow me to give you a tour of our little Town.

CAUTION!!! DIESEL SPILLAGE

To the tune of Milkshake by Kelis-My fuel spill brings all the boys to the yard:

The Emergency services get a callout to deal with some carelessness by Mr Shell(He thought he was working for BP)

Little do these guys know they have a LONG wait ahead of them. The motor on the train doesnt work and is awaiting Power Functions conversion and I have removed the 12v conductor rail:

It costs HOW MUCH for a gallon of gas????

The garage employee explains that fuel prices have changed somewhat since he last got a tankful in the 80s and that filling his car AND boat will require a second mortgage.

The tractor driver isnt bothered he runs on red diesel.

5 Bonus points if you can figure out why the tow truck has a missing headlight.

Oh and is anyone elses Town plagued by Mutant Parrots?

The tension builds as we await the start of the Victory Lap Grand Prix.

Lightning McQueen has qualified on pole and the other drivers are waiting patiently as their mechanics make sure their cars are tuned up and ready to go as the cameraman films all the action.

Car #3 had a big crash in qualifying and lost his front wing but is hopeful of making the grid.

The crane driver had always struggled to tell the difference between freight and passenger trains:

Space...The final frontier

These are the voyages of Classic Space

Its 35 year mission

To explore strange new carpet.

To seek out new dust and new civilizations

To boldly go where no Minifigure has gone before.

5.4.3.2.1. Operation Living Room is go for Launch.

A busy day at the Airport as the bins are emptied and the Top Gear film crew realise they have turned up at the wrong airfield.

The Blizzard Blazer had ploughed all the snow into one MEGA Snowman.

Leaving on a Jetplane...but not before the technical fault with engine 4 has been fixed.

Jake Raines delivers Airmail to the Post Office.

Having a Post Office at the end of the runway has caused some Health and Safety concerns(but hey I have lost the baseplate)

The local Medieval War re-enactment society are always kept busy.

I have been pleasantly surprised to find out that only a couple of Minifigs, one baseplate and a few pieces(probably less than double figures)have gone missing in all the years I played with it as a child and in the 20 odd years its been away

Hes on his way round to mine tonight so it wont stay like this for too long so I thought I better get some pics.

We are going to disassemble 7745 tonight and build the alternate build as he is a big Thomas fan and loves his Steamies.

Thanks for looking.

Any comments or questions are always welcome.

Edited September 26, 2011 by martyboy70

[lightningtiger]

I bet your son is happy to play with dad's old toys 'martyboy70', great collection of classic town with some trains, space and castle too.

Hopefully your luck will change for the better, Brick On 'martyboy70' !

[martyboy70]

Yeah he has been enjoying every minute of building and playing with it and now if you ask him what he wants for his birthday its a one word answer "Lego"

I was into a bit of everything back then so its a nice mix.

Im really looking forward to getting the train running again soon too.

I fully intend to brick on as this will be start of a bigger collection-Im just in a bit of a dilemma as to whether keep it 80s(mainly 4 wide)or go modern which looks a bit bigger scale wise.

Anyway its onward and upwards.

[Zeon]

Indeed, a great collection. I bet your head were spinning with memories during the build. It's always nice to see dads passing down Lego and it's nice to see the funny background story you two made up for the sets/combinations.

Fascinating how good a four years old can build with lego, isn't it :) It makes me wonder how TLG cames up with the recommended age bracket for a set?

keep on building!

[martyboy70]

Indeed, a great collection. I bet your head were spinning with memories during the build. It's always nice to see dads passing down Lego and it's nice to see the funny background story you two made up for the sets/combinations.

Fascinating how good a four years old can build with lego, isn't it :) It makes me wonder how TLG cames up with the recommended age bracket for a set?

keep on building!

Yeah the (good)memories have been flooding back since I dug it out of my mums loft a week or so back.

It was a way of getting him some free toys for my new place and I did think of selling it on ebay and getting him some new stuff but to be honest the fun we have had building and playing with it has been absolutely priceless.

His imagination is endless and some of the scenarios he comes up with have been hilarious.

Hes a big Cars fan so I had to get him the Lightning Mcqueen after something he said when I built the garage. I built it as per the instructions and he took the light back off the towtruck and said "Thats better,now hes Mater"

On the recommended age thing I know what you mean.

The LMQ has an age of 5 up but hes not 4 til December but built it in 2 minutes with almost no help from me.

Im amazed at how good condition it is still in-a lot of my other toys of the time ended up in bits while the Lego just kept on trucking-probably because its designed to fall apart!

Oh and "keep on building"-you betcha!!

Edited August 30, 2011 by martyboy70

[The Blue Brick]

Great collection. I can only imagine the feeling of having so much bonding time with your son when you built this. It must feel great.

[martyboy70]

Great collection. I can only imagine the feeling of having so much bonding time with your son when you built this. It must feel great.

Its been a special time for sure!

[Artifex]

There's something about these old sets... I don't really know what... But... I don't get the same feeling from looking at cars and buildings of the same age.. Real cars and buildings, I mean... I guess that is nostalgy, after all...

Love your town, mate! Hope your kid and you have a great time together - especially when playing with Lego!

[dhc6twinotter]

Very cool. I miss those older sets. I think the only one I have from your list is the blue truck and boat. The grand prix set was on my wish list for a while, but I never got it. I really liked the trash truck as well.

(All your base plates are belong to US):

ROFL

Edited August 30, 2011 by dhc6twinotter

[martyboy70]

Very cool. I miss those older sets. I think the only one I have from your list is the blue truck and boat. The grand prix set was on my wish list for a while, but I never got it. I really liked the trash truck as well.

ROFL

Couldnt resist that one-glad somebody got it!

[dr_spock]

Love those older sets. Something about 4 wide vehicles.

[martyboy70]

Love those older sets. Something about 4 wide vehicles.

Yeah this is the one small problem I have.

Should I keep it mainly 80s which are pretty much 4 wide but can be pretty expensive unless they are "pre-loved" or go for newer stuff which looks a bit bigger to me scale wise but may have more play features.

I think it will be a decision based on what I can pick up cheap.

[Zeon]

Yeah this is the one small problem I have.

Should I keep it mainly 80s which are pretty much 4 wide but can be pretty expensive unless they are "pre-loved" or go for newer stuff which looks a bit bigger to me scale wise but may have more play features.

I think it will be a decision based on what I can pick up cheap.

Trust me, your 4yo won't care. Go with him and focus on the play value :)

[martyboy70]

Trust me, your 4yo won't care. Go with him and focus on the play value :)

TBH its gonna come down to 3 factors-price, price and price!

[The_YongGrand]

You have a lucky kid! I hope I have such Lego collections! Your kid is going to be really amazed by these collections! :)

[martyboy70]

You have a lucky kid! I hope I have such Lego collections! Your kid is going to be really amazed by these collections! :)

Hes having a great time so far!

[martyboy70]

I know its bad etiquette to double post but I thought this was worth the bump.

I recently posted this thread to show some pics of my old Lego which me and my son had built.

When my mum visits its usually when my sons here so that she gets to see both of us(I know its really just to see him if I'm honest )

Anyway I showed her this thread to let her see it all built up and set out as he has usually reconfigured it due to play.

She saw the one of my son and and went "Oh I have a picture of you thats just like that"

So I was round at hers for dinner tonight and she produced the photo and another so I scanned them.

I originally posted this of my son playing with my 7745 trainset a couple of weeks back:

And tonight I scanned this(forgive the hair, clothes and decor-it was THE 80S people)

The pic is dated on the back Xmas 1988 so I would have been about to turn 12 the following February and the pic was taken after I built it up on Christmas Day and you can see some of my other sets dotted about.

I thought I would post it to show the longevity of Lego as that me and my son playing with the same bricks almost 23 years apart.

Lego should use them in an advert.

This is me on Christmas morning beginning to build it(the same disclaimer as above applies as the hair and jammies are even worse as I'm just out of bed)

[lightningtiger]

Yep, and you look half asleep in that last shot !

Pure genius, assembling Lego in your sleep !

Nice seeing your old train still looks as new as back in 1988 !

Brick On 'martyboy70' !

[The Blue Brick]

I love seeing photos like this. It brings back memories of when I was little.

[martyboy70]

Yep, and you look half asleep in that last shot !

Pure genius, assembling Lego in your sleep !

Nice seeing your old train still looks as new as back in 1988 !

Brick On 'martyboy70' !

So it was worth the bump then!

In the second one its probably about 5AM and Ive probably only had a couple of hours sleep cos' I could never sleep at Christmas.

[Zeon]

Hes having a great time so far!

God bless the mothers and their cameras. One of the best posts here I read so far :)

[martyboy70]

I kinda like the fact that although the 7745 Train was clearly the "Buzz Lightyear" that year my other sets are still dotted around being played with and have not ended up under the bed and become "Woodys"

Thanks Zeon getting back into Lego and introducing it to my son has been amazing.

Edited September 26, 2011 by martyboy70

[martyboy70]

THE NEW SETS

My son is coming down today and I've went a bit mad on Ebay.

So far this is whats come in and there are loads of others on the way:

My favourite is the Utility Repair Lift with the Medical Plane a close 2nd.

He will be down soon so we are DEFINITELY having a Lego day.

[Rumble Strike]

I love the pics of your son and then you when you where younger. Great stuff!

As you say, it's a fantastic advert for the durability and timelessness of Lego.

[martyboy70]

I love the pics of your son and then you when you where younger. Great stuff!

As you say, it's a fantastic advert for the durability and timelessness of Lego.

Yep when I dug it out again it was as a cheap way to get plenty of free toys quickly in my new place so it goes to show "Look after your Lego and it will look after you"