Subject:
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My Lego Obsession & Philosophy
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 30 Sep 1999 16:46:09 GMT
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Viewed:
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532 times
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The following was posted to RTL in response to some threads discussing
Adult's playing with LEGO and I finish with my `New LEGO Philosophy'
I hope you enjoy it...
I too have just recently reappeared after my dark age.
I had lots of great sets during my child hood. The earliest ones I
can remember are the Moon Landing set #565-1 from 1975, and an early
motorized LEGO train. I have yet to figure out which set this was.
I remember the fun I had with LEGO way into my teens. Even at 17 & 18
I was still designing, building and playing. I happened to get paid
fro it as well!
I looked after two boys every day after school. One was 5-7 y/o and
the other 9-11 y/o during this short career. We had a great time. I
even brought over my entire collection so we could build bigger bases
and cooler space craft. This was during the glory days of early space
during the 80's. What a great theme!
I kept my large lego collection till I was 18. Then I moved to a
different city, so I could attend University and start a career.
My little 4 year old brother slowly inherited my entire collection as
he grew older. Much to my continual amazement now, I never reclaimed
or retrieved my collection.
Over the years I sent him several very cool technic sets until he hit
about 14, when he started losing interest in new LEGO sets.
Of course I bought these sets several months before his birthday or
Christmas so I could thoroughly play-test them.
I had to ensure there were no sharp edges of missing parts, etc. :-)
It was always a sad day when I sent them off.. And of course I only
had one set at a time so I couldn't build any large custom models.
For some reason I never resumed building another LEGO collection.
Mostly because of cost and lack of time; I was busy spending both
those on computers and other hobbies.
Then LEGO MindStorms came out last fall... That did it! I was
instantly down at the store acquiring any Technic sets knowing full
well I'd need expansion sets after buying the new Mindstorms which
arrived shortly.
I always dreamed of building robots as a kid and young adult, but
didn't have the machine shop, knowledge, or money to pursue it. My
small town high school had neither an electronics or robotics class,
so I missed out there as well.
My younger brother is now in his dark age (18), so I have some hope of
retrieving all my former LEGO and his as well!
He has no idea how much he'll want it back later, when other urges and
interests pass on... :-)
In just under a year my lego collection has gone from zero to about
14,000 pieces (mostly Technic), and blown many other budgets all too
hell.
My other hobbies like computing, and remote control aircraft have
suffered quite a bit financially, but I pursue them with the same zeal
as LEGO.
Family, friends and new acquaintances all think I'm a bit nuts when
the topic of LEGO robots comes up...
Of course, I'm a proud computer geek, and have many computer geek
friends who now curse me for ever introducing Mindstorms and Technic
sets to them. The LEGO obsession bug is easily passed onto
unsuspecting victims which similar interests.
I did the same thing with RC Aircraft when I got back into that sport
recently.
It's also very rewarding to myself when these computer geek friends
make far more money than I, and invest it in toys I get to share and
enjoy... :-) There is method to my madness. What better reason than
this, for passing on the obsession.
LEGO is such a wonderful way to design and construct robots or
mechanized devices. You can try out many, many different approaches
to solving any problem.
The big problem now is taking apart large impressive models to build
new stuff, when I'd like to continue displaying/playing with the old
models.
There is a solution. Buy more LEGO!
Our adult years offer those of us who still know how to play the
opportunity to enjoy life in yet another wonderful way. The
experience of conceiving, designing, building and playing with our own
creations is a wonderful challenge for the mind.
I'm enjoying my working years (only 33), but take comfort in the
knowledge that I would never be bored when I retire or free up more
time. Hobbies like LEGO are too wonderful to consider a child's
activity.
When you come across people who sneer their nose, or can't believe you
still play with LEGO, just do what I do..
Just brush aside their comments without another thought, with the
knowledge that your life is more enriched because you play with LEGO.
Better to play into old age, than to grow old and never play.
<ICS>
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: My Lego Obsession & Philosophy
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| (...) You know it!!! I think one of the main reasons it took me so long to come out of my dark ages was a fear of what people would think about me buying LEGO. Now when a cashier says something like "Someone's going to have a happy birthday" I just (...) (25 years ago, 30-Sep-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: My Lego Obsession & Philosophy
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| On Thu, 30 Sep 1999 16:46:09 GMT, Ian Sinclair uttered the following profundities... (...) I usually get responses along the lines of "aren't you sad, playing with toys." I respond "who's more sad, me, playing with toys, harming no one, or you, with (...) (25 years ago, 2-Nov-99, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: My Lego Obsession & Philosophy
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| (...) I find that as an adult Lego enthusiast I have much more joy and freedom in this hobby than I did as an adolescent. Perhaps it is because I am now at ease with myself. I know who I am and what I enjoy, and I am far far less concerned about (...) (25 years ago, 5-Nov-99, to lugnet.general)
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