The timelessness of Lego

The boys are heavily into Lego, just as I was.

They’re into building spaceships and cars, just as I was.

I was most of 30 years old before I really put Lego down.  I can still remember my dad having a little fun with me for asking for, receiving, building, and enjoying the 8824 Hovercraft the Christmas I was 23 years old.  (‘Course, then I busted him driving it around the coffee table after dinner.)

These days, one of my favorite idle occupations is to take whatever Lego pile one boy or the other has left on the couch cushion, the ottoman, or wherever, and build what I can with it.  Generally it earns their approval.  I built a scout/attack craft two weeks ago that is still intact.  (He said, proudly.)

They recently learned that Dad’s Lego collection survives.  It occupies all of the top shelf in his closet, complete with all of the instructions for the Whirl ‘n’ Wheel Super Truck, the Super Car, the Whirlwind Rescue, the Rally Van, the Technic Fire Engine, the Off-Roader, and many, many others.  There are over 100,000 pieces up there, all meticulously organized into trays and compartmentalized boxes.

(Some of the kits are worth several hundred dollars on the collectors’ market now, but I’d never try to turn a profit on them.  Legos are some of the greatest toys ever invented, and great toys are to be played with.)

Occasionally the boys remember they’re up there and get after me to get them down, and I will soon, but I think I’m going to wait until a cold night and/or weekend.  There seems something proper about that.

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3 thoughts on “The timelessness of Lego”

  1. That feels right, doesn’t it ‘seester?

    I actually built the Super Car (pictured), which Lea gave me for Christmas before we were married, when I was shut in with the worst flu I’ve ever had. There is definitely something about being trapped inside that is conducive to Lego.

    Reply

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