G'Day

[Splat]

Hi All,

I've been lurking on these forums for a few months now, and have written about a dozen replies, but I thought that I should formally introduce myself.

My name is Stephan, and I am an Adult Fan Of Lego (AFOL) - the first step of addiction is to admit you have a problem. I live in Melbourne Australia, and go by the aliases of Splat and slfroden at various places around the internet.

Like most of you, my favourite toy growing up was Lego. Looking back on the sets that I had as a kid, it seems that most of them were 'impulse buys'. By that I mean that while shopping, my brother and I would plead for our mum to buy us some Lego, but this meant that I ended up with lots of small sets from various themes, mostly Town, but also Space and Castle, and a little bit of Technic. I remember spending hours looking through the Lego catalogues, and I still have all of my catalogues from about 1982 somewhere at home, but they aren't in the best condition. The only time that I received any of the larger sets was for my birthday or at Christmas.

As well as Lego, I also had a few Transformers and Mask toys while growing up. Lego isn't as big in Australia as it is in other places around the world, so while some friends had a set or two, they definitely didn't have a 'collection'. The only other people that I knew at the time that had a decent collection were my cousins that are a few years older than me.

At the beginning of high school I was mainly interested in Technic sets, and after I saved up all of my pocket money for months, I was finally able to get the 8865 Technic Test Car. It had 4 wheel independent suspension, a differential linked to a gearbox and an engine, Ackerman steering, pop-up headlights, and was easily the biggest set that I had up until that point. I loved this set, and I still have it to this day, although it has 'yellowed' a bit with age. I have taken this set apart and reassembled it more times than I can remember.

Towards the end of high school, study and other interests took over, and I went into my 'dark-ages'. At uni, I was a typical struggling student, trying to make ends meet with the little money that I had, and I definitely didn't have spare money to buy Lego. At that time, I lost touch with Lego. I didn’t know what sets were available, or what changes were happening (more on that in a minute).

Then it happened! I happened to pick up a Lego catalogue in a store one day, and while flicking through it, I saw the 8455 Technic Back Hoe. To me, this set provided a good balance of form and function. I had a bit of spare cash (now that I was working full-time), so I found a local supplier online and purchased it straight away. I was a bit unsure about the changes that had happened to Technic during my dark-ages, such as the move from studded beams to stud-less lift-arms, and all of the new lengths of axles and new gears, but I really enjoyed building that set, despite the fiddly pneumatic tubes going everywhere - I guess my fingers must be bigger than when I was a kid. Even though I enjoyed building this set, I told myself that I would only buy Technic sets from this point on, and only ones that I felt had a good mix of form and function.

A few years later I picked up the 8421 Technic Mobile Crane, and was given the 8475 RC Race Buggy as a present, but I still consider myself to be mostly in my dark-ages during this time.

Since 2010, I no longer consider myself as being in the dark-ages at all any more. It happened when I got the 8265 Technic Front Loader. I’m still trying to stick to my rule of only getting sets that are a good mix of form and function. I’m not going to collect every Technic set available (I’ll let Blakbird have that title), but somehow I think my perceptions are changing, and more and more sets are becoming appealing to me. Since 2010, so far I have purchased over dozen or so Technic sets, and have also got Series 1-4 of the Collectable Minifigures.

But I think I’ve started to enter the next phase – I’ve started buying sets (and duplicates of sets), not for the official model, but for the pieces contained within them. Pieces that I think I could use in my own creations (MOCs). Some of these sets include Bionicle sets (for the Technic pieces within), as well as Town sets to help add detailing to my Technic MOCs. To be honest, this phase scares me a bit because I don’t know where this will end up...

Recently I attended Brickvention, where I picked up a MISB copy of the 7471 Mars Exploration Rover that was originally released in 2003. This started me thinking about the other sets that I missed out on while I was in my dark-ages. I would love to get my hands on some of the Technic Super Cars that I missed out on. But again, this scares me a bit, as it means that I would have to pay the inflated prices on eBay or BrickLink, and the exorbitant cost to get them shipped to Australia. For now I have resisted the temptation, but I don't know how long I can hold off...

I learnt how to use AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max at uni, and even modelled the 8832 Technic Roadster from scratch for a uni project. Recently I have been using LDraw and MLCad (and other applications), and while I have only started to play with these tools, I am finding that they are helping me quite a bit with my MOCs. When creating a Technic MOC with physical pieces, you have to think a few steps ahead (or a few hundred steps), and if a change is required, it could result in pulling the whole MOC apart and starting over. Whereas on the computer I just move entire sections of the model around until I get things just right, then I can pull the bricks out and put it together.

As you can probably tell by now, I will be lurking in the LEGO Technic, Mindstorms & Model Team forum, and I will check in on the LEGO Digital Designer and other digital tools forum from time to time.

Recently I also had a custom bag made by Crumpler. Of course I had to choose a Lego theme, and the most iconic piece of Lego has to be the Minifigure, so I chose a Classic Spaceman. You can see more details on my Flickr page.

Anyway, that is just a 'little' bit about me. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

Cheers,

- Stephan

Edited April 10, 2011 by Splat

[Hewman]

Welcome, Stephan, a lot of us Aussies hang out in the Aussie Sales Thread. If you haven't checked it out yet, you'll discover there's a lot of great informatin on sales applicable to Australian buyers.

[XimenaPaulina]

that is just a 'little' bit about me. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

Yes I finished reading it! Very enjoyable to read such a detailed introduction. Welcome to the forums Stephan and continue enjoying the site!

[Brix]

What a great read! I came here to consider posting my own story, but it's so similar to yours it seems silly to do so.

Whilst I live in Brisbane, I also grew up loving Lego. The only other toys that vied for my attention were my Transformers and Mask toys.

I was also fortunate enough to have a great Technic car set, but for me it was the 8860-1: Car Chassis.

Like you, my first post-dark ages Lego set was the 8455 Technic Back Hoe. I loved it, even if it seemed very different to the Technic studded beams of my youth.

I also had a break for a time for work and study commitments, but am now back into Lego full-steam, having acquired a bunch of decent big sets, with Technic and Star Wars being my favourite themes. Thank goodness for ebay/bricklink to let guys like us catch up on some of the great sets that we missed out on.

Thanks for sharing your story, it's great to know us AFOLs aren't alone. :)

Oh and that Crumpler bag looks fantastic - well done!

Edited April 10, 2011 by Brix

[Splat]

Thanks for the 'welcome' everyone.

I came here to consider posting my own story, but it's so similar to yours it seems silly to do so.

...

Thanks for sharing your story, it's great to know us AFOLs aren't alone. :)

Welcome to you too Brix.

Whilst I don't know anyone else in person that has a similar story to mine, it does seem that there are quite a few AFOLs around the world that do have a similar story. We are not alone.

[Walter]

Welcome to the forums!