Which set took you out of your dark age?

Comments

• Ayberk Member Posts: 9

  August 2017 edited August 2017

  Wunderbar to see how diverse the initial spark can be. From small, mundane to big, elaborate.
  Though, obviously, Star Wars has played the biggest part in creating this renassaince (and taking LEGO from near-bankrupt to biggest and most respected toy manufacturer). As widely dismissed the prequels are, we should be at least thankful for their existence in regard to them being the first step in saving LEGO and making it what it is today.
  Seems to me, that when our Danes finally accepted the dark side of reality and put colored faces (as in non-yellow) and weapons in their world, it led to all worlds... Ugly beasts and pure beauty.
  

  

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• MrShinyAndNew Member Posts: 285

  August 2017

  Ayberk said:

  
  Seems to me, that when our Danes finally accepted the dark side of reality and put colored faces (as in non-yellow) and weapons in their world, it led to all worlds... Ugly beasts and pure beauty.
  

  Funny you should mention that: at the time (2004) I was only buying Star Wars and the change in greys and skin tones put me off Star Wars almost entirely and nearly made me go into a 2nd dark age.

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• Boardshorts85 Member Posts: 183

  August 2017

  Back to the Future started the ball rolling and then The Tumbler kicked it into high gear...

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• Fauch Member Posts: 2,711

  August 2017

  not an easy question. I actually began by re-building my old sets, before deciding to look on internet what had been done during my dark age. probably built Night Lord's Castle first. or maybe Fort Legoredo. then among the set that drew my eyes on internet, I remember Vampyre Castle, Kingdom Joust, Medieval Market Village or Fire Temple, but I bought Stagecoach Escape first as I didn't want to risk being disappointed with a 100€+ model.

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• Mr_Cross Member Posts: 1,713

  August 2017

  It's complicated and I'm not sure who'd be interested in any of this.
  
  Classic Space was my regular habit as a child. I always wanted to get into Castle too but my parents had three older children who apparently needed feeding or something else stupid like clothes and my Lego needs were, frankly, never met.
  I also got the odd technic set, #8860 Car Chassis was (and still is) one of my favourite sets, I had to buy this for myself though using some birthday money, Christmas money and savings made up from 50 odd weeks of 25p in pocket money. It was rough growing up, I'll be honest.
  
  I think the last set I bought as a child was #6876 in '88.
  
  Lots of stuff got in the way over the next few years, mainly pointless education that involved almost no Lego at all, what were my teachers thinking? Well who knows, but somehow I managed to scrape qualifications and made it to a degree, but still there was no Lego.
  I can't recall where my money went, but the bits that aren't swimmy seem to suggest more work than was strictly good for me.
  
  Then in '95 I got my first full-time job after University and I picked up what I've always thought of as an astounding update of the Car Chassis: the Super Car #8880.
  But for some reason, drinking beer with "friends", girls and "going out" seemed far more alluring to my twenty-something self and even though I bought and built the entire first release of Lego Star Wars in 1999, still I did not exit my dark age... I was (and still am) a fool!
  
  Finally, after finding the right girl, getting married and buying a house, the time had come and so had the set... #4504. My newly wed wife said "This isn't the start of something is it?" "No," I replied casually, "I just want this one thing..."
  ...and for a few years it was brilliant, I had incoming and outgoings, I had a Lego budget, there were holidays and savings, the mortgage got paid, there was even food and clothing, it was good.
  Then we decided to have a couple of children, I asked my wife whether they would get in the way of my Lego addiction, "No." She replied casually...
  I was the one with the less good career and so got to do the domestic home-maker bit.
  We do have two (admittedly lovely) children but there wasn't much of anything other than nappies, sleepless nights and worry about the various intakes and outputs for about five years. So, It's been a semi-dark age again until recently, mainly involving the odd "on-offer" set in Asda, so there hasn't been one set that marked my (re)return to the hobby but I would definitely admit that the arrival of the Nexogon has been a catalyst for me.
  
  NB. Some of the facts surrounding the sets mentioned above have been manipulated for dramatic/comedic effect and may not be entirely true.

  

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• eMJeeNL Member Posts: 818

  August 2017 edited August 2017

  I got the VW T-1 #10220 as a gift when graduating from University, which really sparked by interest in Lego again.
  
  First, I started collecting the large Technic sets (Unimog, Mobile Crane MkII, Digger), which led me to buy the first set after it was EOL ( #8258 Crane Truck). 
  
  When buying the Mini for me, the GF got a promotional "gift"; the Winter Village #40106 Toy Workshop, which got me into the Winter Village.
  
  A little later, a friend of mine bought Parisian Restaurant, which introduced me to the Modulars. A Detective Office later, I started collecting those...
  
  Now I've let go of collecting the Technic and Non-Modular/non-WV Creator sets, and am focusing on building a city with Modulars and City/Creator houses.

  

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• kendalbricks Member Posts: 49

  August 2017

  It was #70503 The Golden Dragon that did for me! I found it at a local shop for 50% off whilst looking for something entirely unrelated.
  
  My partner was unimpressed; she's warmed to the hobby since and has enjoyed building some selected sets with me - including a small Winter Village that sprouts up each year under our Christmas tree.
  
  I have a feeling that it is unlikely that a second Dark Age will ever come; our first little 'un is due any day now, and my folks have recently delivered all my old bricks (M-Tron for the win!) and all the Duplo we had as kids in readiness for our children to get equally addicted!
  
  The other reason I feel like this is a long-term hobby is the people. I've met a few awesome fellow AFOLs at brick shows, but running a BrickLink & BrickOwl store has put me in touch with some wonderfully talented builders and every one has been so friendly. I just wish there was a LUG a bit closer to home that I could join!

  

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