Losing interest in a theme you once loved

[RichardRobins]

When I was a CFOL I loved the wild west and pirate themes, when I was a TFOL Star Wars Lego was my thing

However when returning to Lego as an AFOL, I found pirates,wild west and most of all Star Wars held no interest for me set wise, and instead City/Town and Classic Castle are the themes I really enjoy.

Anyone else here ever lost interest in themes you once classed as your "favorite"?

If there is a thread like this, I couldn't find it after going through several pages of threads/results.

Edited September 22, 2011 by RichardRobins

[Ralph_S]

When I was a CFOL I loved the wild west and pirate themes, when I was a TFOL Star Wars Lego was my thing

However when returning to Lego as an AFOL, I found pirates,wild west and most of all Star Wars held no interest for me set wise, and instead City/Town and Classic Castle are the themes I really enjoy.

Anyone else here ever lost interest in themes you once classed as your "favorite"?

If there is a thread like this, I couldn't find it after going through several pages of threads/results.

I've been there. I used to really like space. When I was a child Futuron, Blackton and Space Police were the big space themes and I used to have a lot of the sets and used to play with them and also used to build science fiction MOCs. I gradually lost interest, though. LEGO introduced a series of space themes that I didn't care much about, but I also stopped building space-themed MOCs.

I was always into Model Team and liked city and those are the kinds of things I still build today, with the odd military model thrown in. I've literally built hundreds of MOCs in the last five years, and only four of those were space-themed and two of those were for exhibitions.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Justin1]

i mainly collect star wars but recently bought some classic castle and really like it, i mean late 70's castle which i remember as a kid

[kyphur]

As a kid I didn't have a favorite or really even know there were themes, it was just all LEGO...

The 1903 Wright Flyer brought me out of my dark ages and I have all 3 Historic Planes (Sopwith Camel & Red Baron) but Star Wars was the Theme that kept me hooked.

Over a period of 8 years I collected LEGO Star Wars Sets to the point that I was only missing 7 of the very earliest sets (4 of them were the MiniFig Packs). The collection grew to well over 200 unique sets with multiples of several sets. I always had more than half of it on display is glass cases purchased just for that purpose. The missing sets bothered me so the hunt carried on. Earlier this year I came to realize that LEGO will probably never lose the SW License since it's literally a license to print money for all parties involved so I've come to the conclusion that my quest for a Complete Collection is impossible. In April I began the great SW Purge and have sold over 90% of my collection since...

LEGO is not gone from my life though, I've moved on to Trains!

[Big Cam]

For me I love the SW sets most, but I find a desire to make Pirate MOC, and I've even bought 3 pick a brick cups with pirate colored parts with the plan of making aMOC one day.

I guess my situation is a little different because I stol live the SW theme, actually I love all themes, I just can't afford them all, I think I'm a bad candidate for this thread. I withdraw my post.

[Andy D]

When I first started LEGO (2008-2009 in the senior citizen age group) I was mostly interested in Mindstorms and Technic, but I found the Cafe Corner, built it from parts from Bricklink and it all changed. Now I am more interested in more "traditional" LEGO constructions, modulars, buildings and the like. I also really like the Creator buildings. Now I have to decide what to do with the 4 unopened large Technic sets that I've not yet built, maybe eBay.

Andy D

[Jordan S.]

I think it's only natural that as we each grow and evolve, our interests in the LEGO hobby do as well. What we build reflects who we are and where we are in our lives at any given time.

I've always been a fan of Town & Train themes first and foremost, both as a kid and as an adult. Yet, I can feel my interest consciously waning, if only because I've been building the same thing for so long and am looking for something different. While I still build a lot of Town stuff, I've been working in touches of other LEGO themes, like Castle and Pirates. I think this is just a natural reaction to build something more fantasy-related after having been rooted in realism for a long time. I feel like my own ability in the train theme has peaked and leveled off, so it's the perfect time to try something new.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

I have a very strained sense of loyalty with Star Wars. My heart's just not in it, but the collection is pretty massive and I still feel a certain responsibility in picking up sets with new figs.

Take, for example, the new Echo Base set. It's ridiculously overpriced, I'm not all that impressed with it, and that money would be SO well dedicated to another set of its size-- but I've wanted that 21-B medical droid for so long, I find myself very seriously debating whether or not to make the purchase. At some point I've got to cut all ties to the line, especially with all the remake sets that continue to arise, but yet it feels wrong to not go after all these great new figs. Dilemna!

[LandShark]

There was one point where I was tempted away from Castle, and towards City. But I managed to convinced myself out of it (which wasn't easy).

I've also almost completely moved away from Star Wars. In my head it's just not an option with those prices.

Wow, this post is pretty depressing. But don't get me wrong, I still love Lego.

[kyphur]

I have a very strained sense of loyalty with Star Wars. My heart's just not in it, but the collection is pretty massive and I still feel a certain responsibility in picking up sets with new figs.

In the end it was that sense of "responsibility" that actually sapped the fun out of collecting. I mean my set was so close to complete and something in me couldn't let go of that need to complete it. If I knew the license was ending in a year I could have held on but with no end in sight I just got out while the getting was good...

With the Trains I don't care to complete the collection, just get what a I want and play with them. The trains are more about playing with than collecting...

[Aanchir]

I collected a lot of Wild West sets from the first wave, but my family only got one or two sets from the later Indian sub-theme. The grotesque racial caricatures for the Indian minifigures might have been part of the reason I lost interest; even as a child I considered them terribly out of place with their odd eyes and noses. But I think a bigger factor was that I mostly liked Wild West for the old-fashioned architecture, and thus the more landscape-based locales for the Indians just didn't appeal to me as much. I had a bit of fun with Wild West later when LEGO Studios came out, creating a cute little adventure with my Wild West sets, but after that mostly stopped building or playing within that theme.

Later, I collected Knights' Kingdom II sets, and while I really enjoyed the theme I stopped buying the non action-figure-based ones after the first wave. It's a real shame because in retrospect there wasn't anything especially appealing about the first wave's playsets, and later waves had much more sophisticated playset designs.

And most prominently, there are Star Wars sets. I bought a lot of the sets in 1999, a decent amount in 2000, and then slightly less each year. The introduction of BIONICLE is probably one cause of this-- even with my parents buying most of my sets at that age, I could only get a certain number of sets each year, and BIONICLE felt more worthwhile to collect.

Overall, though, my tendency as an adult is to build within themes that I'm currently collecting sets from, and not from older themes. As a kid, this was probably a consequence of a short attention span, since I always found my newest sets most fascinating. As an adult, it's more a result of being at college and not having my whole collection at my disposal: while I happily bring certain themes to and from college regularly, I tend to limit my sets to three or four themes: generally two action or sci-fi themes, an action figure theme, and the collectible minifigures. This semester, it's Atlantis, Ninjago, Hero Factory, and the Collectible Minifigures; before that I had Space Police instead of Ninjago, and for my first couple semesters I had Power Miners instead of Atlantis and BIONICLE instead of Hero Factory. Sadly, most of the sets I've collected while at college but that I don't have with me currently are boxed up at home, partly for space reasons and partly because it keeps my little brother from scavenging pieces from them, so even when I go home I don't do much building within those themes.

[Paul B Technic]

I guess we all like different things and over time our preferences change. I have always liked Technic and still do to this day.

Paul

[CP5670]

I like pretty much exactly the same themes that I did as a kid: Space, City and Technic. I've expanded a bit into other themes like Aquazone, Model Team/Creator and Trains since then, but I liked those earlier too and was just never able to get any sets from them.

[CMP]

I started with Star Wars in 2000 or so. 2006 was the last big year for it, and I've only gotten the Hoth battlepacks ever since the CW AT-TE. Now it's mostly other Licensed Themes.

[brickmack]

I first started collecting in 2007, with the Star Wars sets. I haven't gotten many recently though. It's not really that the sets aren't as good, but licensed stuff is just SO EXPENSIVE, I can't afford to get SW and other themes. Normally I only get one if it has lots of new parts, a rare color, or just a REALLY awesome design. Also I'm not really into the Clone Wars series, so that doesn't provide anymore reason to get them.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

However when returning to Lego as an AFOL, I found pirates,wild west and most of all Star Wars held no interest for me set wise, and instead City/Town and Classic Castle are the themes I really enjoy.

I loved Star Wars as a kid and in my early teens. Gradually, I stopped liking SW so much (resenting slightly that sort of blockbuster film feel that you get from it sometimes), and now I don't collect the sets. I do collect the minifigures, but that's probably mostly because of my minifigure interest. Currently, my favorite Lego theme is Space.

[Still Raindrop]

I tend to go in cycles; the "Big Three" (Town, Castle, and Space) seem to be my main ones (with Town the most prominent, then Castle, then Space), but I sometimes find myself really interested in other themes for a short time (Pirates, Adventurers, Rock Raiders, various action themes, etc.). My interest in these eventually wanes, but generally it returns, at least for a while. It's odd. I think the reason for my circulation among the big three is due to the desire for variety, whereas my growing/declining interest for other themes probably comes from my lack of sets or pieces in that theme.

[lightningtiger]

Gee, this is a good topic because I'm going though losing interest in Star Wars....to a point of not even wanting to buy a set to complete a series or something....preferring to spend the money on city or kingdom's (or HP or POTC). The same thing happen with Power Miners but worse I built the number 10 set and then shelved the whole theme there and then, not wanting to have anything to do with it.

Don't worry I won't totally lose interest in SW, it's my favourite movie series of them all !

[Rook]

Yep moving out of SWU and more into Sci-Fi & Acid Funk.

[Zzz]

As a kid I was into town only, as a young teen I was into town, train, pirates, space and technic. Needless to say, those were the glorious ages for these themes. I was not even considering getting some new pirates or some of the PotC licence, actually, and almost the same goes for the other ones. I was considering getting Space Police Central, since it's just so cute and Sci-Fi-esque, but still I didn't do it.

But since there were many years between and those themes changed a lot, perhaps it doesn't count, or only on a side note. SW on the other hand, which I was very loyal to in the beginning, lost it's interest not completely, but I am much more picky which one to get than ever before. Reasons? Space, money, seriously no need. The Minifigures for example, I have multiples of the first 3 seasons, but stopped collecting, but that might be due to the reason that my ex-girlfriend used to search for these, and she was very spot-on in getting the right ones. ( I told her I need samurai and sumo, she came back with 4 each, no mistake) So stopping on these is merely a combination of getting tired, being unable, being sentimental.

Still, one theme I would welcome with open arms is Indiana Jones, it's just amazing and I would buy it even if quality of design was 20% down and price was 20% up. Indy means being loyal to me.

[Cutty]

Classic space was big in my childhood and M-Tron were my absolute heroes with all of their cool vehicles, robots and the magnets with Ice Planet and the occasional Blacktron and Space Police (both I and II) as complementary forces. I had lots of Futuron sets also (which were by the time just called "Raumfahrt" in Germany, which would roughly translate to "space exploration". Yes, the world was simple back then *nostalgia*) and even very old space sets, though not much. Gone safe for the above mentioned nostalgia kicking in.

Classic castle! Forestmen, Black Knights and Black Falcons all the way! Back then! Unless they get reintroduced in a more modern fashion the appeal is as well truly nostalgic.

And my favourite topic of all times: Star Wars... no more! The one thing that rekindled my flame for the brick and threw a life's supply on combustible material in for free? Gone! All of it, be it Lego, be it the movies, you name it and I can wholeheartedly assure you it's cauterised from my list of interests for good.

And now here's the worst of it: I do not miss it, because the modern stuff is just so good. Which is also the best of it, since it paved the way for my complete shift towards all things castle-ifiable. I know it's not an actual word, but it describes the way I percept Lego nowadays.

Perhaps I got a bit carried away, but the on topic-stuff is hidden in the above.

Be well all!

Cutty

Edited November 16, 2011 by Cutty

[Dakar A]

I'm a major town builder, the first set I remember was a fire station, and that's where all of my time and effort goes into. But(and there's always a but!), I will often buy a ten dollar impulse form the currently running action theme. This has included power miners, Atlantis, bionicle, and most recently, kingdoms. I buy these for their unique parts, rare colours, and unique minifigs. The will eventually become parts sets, but for a short time, they hold a special place in my heart.

Dakar

P.S. - my most recent TRUE action theme is alien conquest, not kingdoms! Tee hee!!

[fred67]

I have a strained relationship with all the series right now.

I started collecting all the SW I could get my hands on before realizing I didn't care about anything but the OT. Even then, I don't need "all" the sets, and I'll take one version of a ship and be happy and don't need to get second or third versions. I admit the new MF is better than 4504, but I can't bring myself to spend that kind of scratch on a new one. Anyway, since I have most of the old ships, I'm not too enthused about the new sets anymore, because it's mostly repeats... lower prices would certainly rekindle my interest.

9V trains brought me out of my dark ages and into LEGO as an adult; I'm not too enthused about the PF trains - not so much because it's PF these days, but the train sets just haven't been all that great, IMO. The stand alone models are still good - Emerald Night and Maersk, but I haven't bought a complete set in around 10 years.

I got into the castle theme a few years ago, but when fantasy era ended I realized it was just my love of fantasy (LOTR, of course, but many others, too), and not my love of the castle theme in particular, so while I bought some Kingdoms sets, I'm not really enthused about it.

I loved the architecture series until they started making $200 sets. I did manage to get the last one for in the $130s, but those kinds of prices are enough to suck the enthusiasm right out - I used to think I'd buy all the architecture sets, but if I didn't get the deal, I wouldn't have missed it and not really cared. This is an interesting point, and was mentioned about SW - my enthusiasm definitely wanes when they start jacking up the prices. Until I saw that deal for the Robey House, I'd shrugged and given up on being a completest. Prices also keep me from being a completest in SW, even limited to just OT.

[def]

I am all over the place. At this point, I view Lego as a sort of arsenal, in hopes of being able to make whatever it is I want.

But, when I re-started, I was pretty exclusive to Star Wars. Now, with the price, the constant remakes and all, it's not so appealing. I doubt I'll ever be so attached to a theme ever again.

[XimenaPaulina]

I don't really see it as losing interest to a certain theme, but more like expanding my horizon range of interests. Obviously, I'm a SW fan first, but the new themes that have recently come out and will come out (POTC, DINO, DC/Marvel Superheroes) and even the regular themes like CITY have sets that are too enticing not to get. I even see myself picking up all the cool non-SW sets before the SW ones (which are mostly remakes). But those will not prevent me from picking up my normal dose of SW sets, just 'stretching out the dough' so to speak to accommodate the sets from other themes. I actually think this is a good sign that TLG is doing a great job in raising the quality and innovation across the various themes to attract hardcore specific-theme fans to acquire sets outside their favored themes.