Sentimental for 80s legos

 I watched the new "Top Gun Maverick" this date. The movie took me back to being a kid in the 80s when lego was "primitive" by todays standards in terms of types and sizes of sets. SPOILER ALERT...there is a scene with the old f14  (or 15) jets go up against the newer jets.  I must be getting old as I rooted for the older jets even though the new jets that the enemies had are much more capable, expensive, and maneuverable.

And then a book I saw at the library came to mind  (which is available at my library and on the Lego website.).  It's called I'm fun too!

The premise of the book is that old sets from the late 70s early 80s being behind the times compared to the current sets of 2022.

In fairness it has been 42 years since the early 80s. So things do change over time.  The pics in the book depicted the kinds of sets I remember from childhood: two are shown in the book "I'm fun too".

Source:I'm fun too a classic LEGO picture book, 2018, Jonathan Fenske.  

Source:I'm fun too a classic LEGO picture book, 2018, Jonathan Fenske

Above: much cooler motorcycle

Above castle horse vs new horse

Source:I'm fun too a classic LEGO picture book, 2018, Jonathan Fenske

Tonight I watched you tube. There are so many channels, vlogs, fancy video productions with big colored letters and people showing $1800 to $2000 hauls from the Lego store.  Part of me doesn't like all the fancy videos, yet another part watches in disbelief and envy.  Then there are so many videos on investment in sets which always make me think "people actually buy these to sell secondhand, it's a kids toy"

So for now I like blogging about legos but unfortunately the flashy videos and more expensive sets surpass me. I just miss the 80s where lego selling didn't exist on computers and costs were not as astronomical due to licensing.  There was just space, town, castle themes and general sets, not todays massive/ licensed sets. Now I cannot keep up with the multiple different lines of products and being part of lego community is hard without keeping up with videos and seeing the diversity of new sets out there online.  Reading a blog about legos can't compete with videos!

So my blogging isn't as neat as the videos, but I'll keep plugging away.  I feel like I'm an actual newspaper in a 24 hour instant news digital world.  I'm becoming obsolete with keeping up on trends and news about lego collecting and sharing on the internet.

After writing and thinking about Lego advances, this article came up on my news feed

Now the new red motorcycle and fancy brown horse in the above mentioned book above are being relinquished to the past and left thinking "I'm fun too"

Sentimental set just from the pictures

Sentimental lego set...the bookshop..  

I didn't want to spend $178 on this set, but the bookshop set I've seen brings back college memories (from years ago!)

This is a picture of the set that I like from lego.com

I'm a nerd, but I liked to study in college and there was a library with 4 floors and a window on the 4th floor like this building .  The 4th floor was only study carels but it had comfy chairs below the window so you couldn't see out, but there was good light from the window...

Above pic from Mapio website 

I don't know what it was about that building but I could take any hard subject and learn it there because it was so quiet and peaceful...

Fast forwarding to grad school,  there wasn't a building I could find that was quiet enough to study in, so when stuff got too hard to learn, I'd escape after classes to Borders bookshop in the city that was blocks away.  It was 3 stories and I'd just look at books that were more relaxing than textbooks..  it had trees in front..the only pic left on internet that I could find was here...

So, this set is one I'm hoping to find used..it takes me back to memories of youth and the sense of being able to learn anything in those books.  So different from now where everything is digital and having to stare at a computer to learn!!  Long live bookshops! (And libraries!)

The picture that really stuck with me and made me want a lego room

The picture that changed my view on the potential of lego
This book was written in 1987 and at my library
Heres the pic and bibliography pic

This picture left such an impression on me as that was unfathomable to me at that age that someone could have that many legos.  Yet with fairly block pieces and 4 colors the depth and beauty of lego really shined through.  I could not imagine having that many legos of 1 color....and how the stacking of yellow creates illusion of sand. The only legos I had were in red and yellow (from the castle set). I think the moment I checked that book out was the beginning of wanting more and more lego...an entire room :)...and now 32 years later...

Why I like lego

I think the thing that makes me like lego is the idea of being disconnected from the constraints of electricity...no matter how dark due to power outages, the legos are there..such a nice reprieve from modern tech.

I think on a deeper level there are 2 other reasons I like legos...the memories of times where I could just sit and build with no adult stress...homework and school were stress but my mind could just relax.  Putting legos together is always so fun trying to find the absolute perfect piece needed at just the right time.  And of course that piece would inevitably be buried under a flap of the bottom of the cardboard box!
The other reason I think I like lego is the idea of having the different pieces available...pieces can be used so imaginatively...an antique car wheel can be a pulley...an antenna as a ski pole...limitless possibilities...
These 2 pictures from idea book 265 shows in 2 pages why I like lego

In this picture there are so many small details that I feel like it's like deciphering the details of a Norman Rockwell painting

1)such an international perspective  as seen by the flags.  And the first 2 flags are similar design just different colors as well as 3 of the flags on the right...I think this symbolizes although different colors, we are similar in our patterns.  The majority of cars hit this point home too...same design, but diverse colors create different and more interesting images.

2) in the race, there is room for different style cars...different sizes and shapes and colors all create an interesting inclusive photo.  A simple car on the right can be on the track with a multiple steps to assemble car competing together as equals...in this day of phenomenal size lego collections, there is still room for the smaller collector with less diverse or vast number of pieces I hope this spirit of lego is never lost in the continued progression of larger, specific sets with specific pieces...theres always room for any size collection or age collector in the lego world.