Lego. What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Hours of fun and creativity with the building toy as a child? Back problems from hunching over those delightful interlocking, multi-color plastic bricks for hours on end? Indescribable pain from stepping on one in the dark? A considerably lighter wallet? I think of all of them, but mostly the hours of fun and creativity- and for me, the enjoyment has extended considerably beyond childhood- but let's begin back in the day.
It was in the mid '80s that I first fell in love with Lego. The construction toy offered endless possibilities- I could (and did) build houses, forts, spaceships, military bases, vehicles, forts, castles, forts . . . ahh, the good old days. Most sets came with those delightful little Lego people, with the bland yet cheerful smiling yellow faces, as shown below. Any Lego set was fun, but what really made my day was the themed sets.
I don't know (or care) when the themed Lego sets originated, but what joy they brought to this child. Many themes have come and gone over the years (examples here), but the staple themes I remember in the '80s and '90s were city, castle, space, and pirates. Building castles or ships for my little Lego knights and astronauts filled my rainy days with hours of fun, creativity, and lower back pain. I remember the frustration of searching for that one piece I needed for minutes- sometimes hours- and the triumph of finally finding it in the sea of plastic potpourri. I recall the happiness I felt when my creation was finally complete- and the outrage that set in when one of my siblings destroyed it through carelessness or malice. But, it was Lego- it was meant to be taken apart and re-formed into some marvelous new creation. Whatever hobbies my children pick up one day, I hope they have an outlet for creativity like what I enjoyed through these toys.
I drifted away from Lego in high school and early college, which is to be expected- after all, if one has any hope of being considered cool, you have to noticeably distance yourself from such 'childish' things. Alas, popularity never worked out for me, in spite of my best attempts- to include the hairspray enhancing my naturally handsome features- and while I stepped away from the toy for a while, it never let go of its hold on me. And, I still remember that day when I was launched headfirst back into Legomania.
In 1999, something happened that would alter the fate of the toy universe- Lego came out with its first Star Wars-themed set. It was my sophomore year of college- I was walking down an aisle in Target, and I spied it. A Star Wars Lego set. Oh. My. Word. I knew at that moment that Lego had me for the rest of my life. An awesome, creative, fun construction toy that now had Star Wars characters and vehicles available? Sign me up, please. Lego corporation complied- for an exorbitant monthly fee.
While I wanted to collect the Star Wars sets in college, I didn't have the time, money, or space to indulge in the hobby, so it had to wait until after graduation. But, when I started working, I now had the means, and no small part of my discretionary income went to Star Wars Lego. Not much has changed in the last 10 years, come to think of it. Lego is still pumping out many Star Wars sets every year, and I'm still buying them. Not all of them, mind you- I pick my favorites and exercise a small amount of discretion- but a decent percentage of them. Enough to build me an army worth of Mordor . . . or Endor, as it were.
After the success of their Star Wars line, Lego started going more and more commercial, to the delight (or dismay) of many. Themes include Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, DC/Marvel Superheroes, and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While Star Wars is my mainstay, I can't resist picking up a few of these other themes- after all, they're all compatible, and imagine the cross-over scenes that can be created when all of these franchises are thrown together. Maybe I can convince my children to make a stop-motion movie someday.
In recent years, Lego has produced more and more detailed, realistic, "application-specific" pieces for their sets. This has led to more realistic models, but also criticism for sacrificing creativity offered by basic blocks for the sense of increased realism. My personal take is "so what"- the basic blocks are still available, and can be used in conjunction with the modern pieces to create truly amazing creations.
In summary, Lego is a fantastic toy that exercises those creative juices and improves manual dexterity in both children and adults. Since I've become a father, every year for father's day I get a Lego set from my kids. In the years to come, I sincerely hope they'll share my love of this toy, and we can spend many a day wading through seas of bricks, looking for that one final piece to complete our Super Star Destroyer. Here's hoping.
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