I LOVE THE SMELL OF PLASTIC IN THE MORNING!
Sanddoodle and Lego Castle.
My husband and I never played with LEGO bricks as children. Why not? Because they weren't even invented yet! We had to content ourselves with Tinker toys, Lincoln Logs, Erector sets, and toys earned by sending in box tops from cereal packages. (My favorite was the Captain Midnight decoder ring that glowed in the dark.) But I digress.
Now over the age of 65, we have recently discovered the fascinating world of Lego building and became addicted very fast. As explained on my Philosophy page, I believe in "painting" (any kind of creativity) and "puzzling" (mental workouts) as the foundation for happy retiree life.
Imagine my surprise on discovering that a Lego building kit contains BOTH puzzling and creativity -- the best of both worlds!
Exploring further, we found that a limitless world exists outside the kits -- in MOC (My Own)creations and the Lego Digital Designer CAD program. Lego bricks are not just for kids any more. We are now AFOLs, Adult Fans of Lego -- Senior ones. This is our story so far.
CONTENTS
Now over the age of 65, we have recently discovered the fascinating world of Lego building and became addicted very fast. As explained on my Philosophy page, I believe in "painting" (any kind of creativity) and "puzzling" (mental workouts) as the foundation for happy retiree life.
Imagine my surprise on discovering that a Lego building kit contains BOTH puzzling and creativity -- the best of both worlds!
Exploring further, we found that a limitless world exists outside the kits -- in MOC (My Own)creations and the Lego Digital Designer CAD program. Lego bricks are not just for kids any more. We are now AFOLs, Adult Fans of Lego -- Senior ones. This is our story so far.
CONTENTS
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE DISAPPEARING ROOM
My husband -- I call him "the Half-Brick Prince" -- loves everything Harry Potter, read all J.K. Rowling's books, saw all the movies. I saw Brick Queen's reviews of some Harry Potter Lego sets on YouTube. I thought, one of those would make a nice gift for him. Not being a Lego fan at the time, I had never seen these sets before. They were fascinating!
But Harry Potter is now a Lego "retired product" which means one must pay the "collectibles" price to get one. I thought it was worth it. After all, a collectible is an investment, not a waste of money. I ordered the first set, Hogwarts 4842, from Amazon, who obliged in record time. Little did I know what this reckless act would lead to: more Harry Potter collectibles! Soon, more big Amazon boxes were arriving. It was Christmas in July! ... MORE |
2. LEGO CASTLE, JOUSTING, AND MEDIEVAL MARKETPLACEThree Lego sets were perfect for illustrating the story of Michael Crichton's Timeline novel, set in Castelgard, France, in the year 1357 AD. The Medieval Marketplace represents Castelgard, into which a group of young archaeologists are pitched by a sort of time machine. Their professor went back first, then got stuck there. Lego's "Kingdoms Jousting" represents an important scene in the novel (it was not in the movie), and Lego's large 2013 Castle becomes Castle LaRoque.
3. SORTING, ORGANIZING AND STORING LEGOSIt doesn't take long to figure out that there is more to this hobby than just buying kits and building them. This "toy" requires some serious thought about organizing! Especially as you accumulate more and more bricks. I hope that our pictures give you a new way of looking at the way you sort your Lego elements for building, and then KEEP them sorted for storage -- which should be minimal.
4. DISPLAYING LEGO MODELSHere's a common problem: You have to start breaking down your models because you have no display space. Now your storage needs escalate! You end up, like so many, Hoarding Not Building. Displaying your finished pieces is always going to take less space than original bags and boxes lying all over the floor, or even categorized pieces in bins and cabinets -- still sitting on the floor. Our solution is: Don't disassemble! Don't store! Display your models on a Hobby Wall. Here's how...
5. MOC: MY OWN CREATIONSThis is the part we were always aiming for!
After completing the Harry Potter and Castle/Medieval kits, we were ready to learn how to design and build our own creations. We bought doors and windows, plants and trees, roof tiles, basic bricks, and small kits that we looted for parts -- and of course all the wish list pieces we could find at the local Lego store, using the big plastic Pick a Brick cups. Fooling around with the bricks we have on hand has produced these large and small models so far. Shown at left is the Playable "Charmed" Manor. 6. TRAINS: HOGWARTS EXPRESS AND LEGO CITYBefore we got into the Lego hobby we used to be model railroaders. When we saw the Hogwarts Express, we knew we would have to have it to fill out the Harry Potter collection. (It was danged expensive for a train with no motor and no track!) We built it, but it looked funny just sitting there. .... MORE
7. CITYSCAPES: "CREATOR," MODULAR, other BUILDINGSThose big Lego "Creator" sets certainly did look intriguing, especially that 1932 Firehouse! I thought "Well, okay, just one maybe...," even though we really had nowhere to put another model, especially one this large. The modular buildings are scaled equally and have built-in connectors so that they can be attached to each other (or not), in any order. Our collection includes: Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium, Pet Shop, Palace Cinema. Coming soon: Tower Bridge. Parisian Restaurant.
8. DESIGN QUIRKS AND ANOMALIESDo Lego designers ever make mistakes? We uncovered a few anomalies. They were easy to fix. Since Harry Potter, and probably before, the designers also love to put in secrets and hidden objects.
Since the advent of fully enclosed buildings (as in Creator series), many whimsical unseen objects appear that rarely see the light of day. 9. LEGO'S MAGNUM OPUS: TOWER BRIDGE (10214)This one's got to be their best work ever -- at 4,287 pieces. Designer should get a prize!
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