"The Dark Ages" - How long were you away from Lego?

[Larrynautik]

My Dark Ages period lasted from 2001 to 2009. However, I have bought some Star Wars sets during this period (Jabba barge, ISD UCS, some Bricklink orders), but it was very rare.

I don't remember exactly how I felt down in the Dark Ages, it was a complicated period of my life, many changes, and my only hobby was video games (Star Wars Galaxies, for those who know).

I came back from my Dark Ages... just after seeing Citizen Kane and understanding the meaning of Rosebud. I realised what I really wanted to do in my whole life. Seeing the MOCs or collections of others AFOLs definitely convinced me

When I was young I had a lot of Lego. I had a room dedicated to my Lego city - Lego Star Wars weren't existing at that time. I was mostly creating basements and stories in my city, and was very enjoyed to receive a new set from my parents. I had something like 150 minifigs and was playing a lot with a friend having minifigs too. There was a severe competition about the number of minifigs

I gave most of the Lego I owned to charity during my Dark Ages. I have no regret for that. Now I own 10 times more Lego than before, and something like 937 minifigs

I will try to meet other AFOLs around here in the future, and I will try to go to a Lego event (unfortunately, there are not a lot of Lego events in the south of France), most of them are in the east and it's impossible to go there in car - you get to have a ten-hours travel, and with MY car, it is very long

[LegoPohm]

My total Dark Age was 1990 to 1998 - serious sporting interests and study ate up all my spare time and cash.

From 1999 to 2003 I picked up the odd set here and there because I liked to look of them but had no real call to get back into Lego. In 2004 I got the Ferrari pit stop set (because I liked the look of it) but that set really brought me out of my Dark Ages. It was quickly followed by the dark side developer kit, some star wars and city sets. Had a minor break in 2006/7 when I married and I've been buying ever since. My collection is modest compared to some images I have seen on Lego forums but it is expanding with Castle being the main contributor. My children have a healthy enjoyment of lego now and I have more excuses to buy more.

[TheLegoDr]

Yikes, a dark age... I left the hobby around 1996 (age 12/13ish) and didn't return until fall of 2010 (Harry Potter The Burrow). I dabbled in LDD that summer of 2010 and glanced at the Lego aisle once or twice in 2009. I had no idea what was going on in the Lego world during that dark age, meaning when they had their financial issues in the early/mid 2000s, I had no idea. They could have went bankrupt and ceased to exist and I wouldn't have known one bit, although I would have still liked my classic space/castle/town/pirates sets from the late 80s/early 90s.

Since 2010, I have spent many monies on sets and pieces and sadly there is no end in sight. My wife was trying to get our daughter into Duplo, and she likes it okay, but she much prefers the Friends sets and my little pieces compared to the larger ones. And my wife is getting into the Friends sets also, so I think Lego is here to stay in our household. I don't foresee a dark age again. I may cut down from time to time to help our money go elsewhere, but probably will never quit buying completely.

[just2good]

I think I posted this somewhere before, but...

My primary 'dark age' was from August 2010-November 2011- a year and 3 months. It's a long and complicated story, but I basically lost interest by being away from this forum. I regret not getting most of the great 2011 sets!

Edited April 12, 2012 by just2good

[TypoCorrecto]

I'd say my "Dark Age" was from 1999 to 2010. The modular buildings brought me back...

[Lyichir]

Believe it or not, I can thank BIONICLE for carrying me through what would surely have otherwise been my "dark age".

In my early teens I had started to drift away from LEGO toward more "serious" media like video games (understand that I'm referring to "serious" as how I perceived it then, not as what actually was or was not serious). Perhaps not coincidentally, this coincided with the "Town Jr." era. BIONICLE, with its multimedia storytelling and its mysterious, somewhat edgy storyline, held my attention up through the latter half of the decade. At that point, themes like Exo-Force and Knight's Kingdom II that used BIONICLE-like elements drew me back into System sets.

If I hadn't had BIONICLE to carry me through this period, I may never have rediscovered my passion for LEGO. Now I'm back as a true AFOL, with hopes to work at LEGO as a product designer. I currently hope that modern themes like Ninjago and Hero Factory can help younger kids to maintain a love of LEGO the way BIONICLE did for me.

[zenda]

My Dark Ages have been of long duration, about 35 years.

But I was looking at LEGO sets every time I saw one around.

[lorax]

I have had two dark ages so far. I had the common teenager/uni dark age, which probably lasted 12 years until after I had my son.

The second was around the time I had some big life changes and it lasted about 5 years.

I imagine I will have more periods of 'dark age' in the future... I have a short attention span. (Even now I will spend months without building, and then build like crazy for a few months... I am very up and down in my relationship with Lego).

[bricklayer]

I never had lego growin up.

So my dark ages were about 4-15(11 years) then 22-30(8 years)

Taking the general average of everyone.

So my dark ages lasted 19 years

But im gonna make up for lost time

[tormentalous]

My Dark Ages started when I was about 7 or 8 when I discovered the NES. Video games basically took over from there. Two decades later in 2011, I come back to the world of LEGO with the purchase of the Millennium Falcon (7965). I thank my girlfriend for that because she got into the Harry Potter sets and I was instantly hooked again.

[Yatkuu]

My DA was +-20 years from 12 to 32 years old.

I've been wondering.. do you guys think that the typical Dark Age that most of us have experienced could still happen to the kids today?

I mean when I dropped the hobby at the age of 13 in 89’/90’ the only sets around were city, pirates & space... no internet and playing with LEGO meant sit alone in my room and show my MOCs to my mom.

Nowadays, if you think that the classic lines are too childish you can switch to Super Heroes, make brickfilms with your iphone and become a star on youtube… I mean the social pressure to drop the hobby might not be as strong as what we’ve experienced ourselves and the internet community could also help a lot of fans to realize that they are not alone.

[Vindicare]

I think Dark Ages will still happen to today's kids. Of course the reasons will vary. I'm sure social pressure, from parents, friends, people at school, will play a part in it(too ooh for toys)

[Gory51]

I had tons of Lego as a kid, and kind of grew out of it.... moved away from Mom's house to Dads house .I dont know what ever happened to the stuff but i suspect my mother sold it all as it was no longer used. 25 years later I'm am 38 now, and I suddenly went out and bought a load of Lego from some kids mother who was in turn cleaning out his old toys. I got a real bargain of about 2500 bricks.

i had been looking at some decent MOC's on the web at the time, and the Lego bug just bit me again. That was a few weeks ago, and I have since bought another 7 sets lol.

[Mr_Malfoy]

So far, I haven't had a Dark Age, and I don't plan to.

As long as LEGO keeps on making great sets, I'll always be a fan .

[-zenn]

Mine started in my early teens and ended in my early twenties; so there's about a 10 year gap. The interwebs brought me back.

[moop]

I had a dark period of starting at about the late 80's and just recently took the plunge so about 20 years. I'm all in now and have just finished my first two mocs, one large and one medium.

[Kai NRG]

never - except maybe when I was a baby - so far, at least

[Ash]

About 1983 to 2010.

Almost identical to mine. I was a big fan as a kid, especially of classic space, up until my early teens. Probably somethwere between 82 and 83. And got back into it round the same time.

A couple of things got me back into it. One, having a kid who is just hitting Lego age and the second being at the same venue as last years Lego show (the UK one) for a different reason when it was on and being jealous of everyone who looked like they were having a blast. Oh and the thing that sealed the deal was the announcement of the Lord of the Rings license.

My biggest issue is space (followed shortly by money). I don't have the luxury of a dedicated Lego room or basement.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Ash

[aztec59]

Well, I never played with Lego as a kid, during the sixties they were not available in Mexico, (maybe the rich kids had it)

but then en 1991 working as a manager in a Mc Donalds store in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico, the happy meals included some yellow and red bricks to build cars and helicopters, and, at the end of the promotion, because nobody wanted those, I Take it home a big box with the bricks from the display and a lot of unopened bags for free! I have been playing with legos since those days.

So I never really have a dark age, and now I build a lot of things with my 5 year old son.

[LEGOman273]

I haven't had a Dark Age. I recieved my first set at 2.5 years. I'm 17 now, in college full time, and still have time for LEGO (mostly on weekends, now. Finals. ). I have more time for EB, though, as I have breaks between classes.

Edited April 27, 2012 by LEGOman273

[Vindicare]

Well, I never played with Lego as a kid, during the sixties they were not available in Mexico, (maybe the rich kids had it)

but then en 1991 working as a manager in a Mc Donalds store in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico, the happy meals included some yellow and red bricks to build cars and helicopters, and, at the end of the promotion, because nobody wanted those, I Take it home a big box with the bricks from the display and a lot of unopened bags for free! I have been playing with legos since those days.

So I never really have a dark age, and now I build a lot of things with my 5 year old son.

Good perks of the job!

[SirBlake]

Sorry to dig up a thread from April, but I had to.

I entered my dark age at about 1991, when I got a car. My sweet mom, who's just a big kid like me, threw a few sets my way over the years, but for the most part, I've been dark up until last year when I ran into the kingdoms line, specifically this set: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7946-1

It all came flooding back, and motivated me to dig up the castles that I had at my parent's house for the last 20 years. 36 years old and I'm just as big a LEGO maniac as I was as a kid, only now I have cash, and the internet.

Special thanks to EB for being the single most wonderful online asset for discussion that there is.

Edited May 28, 2012 by SirBlake

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

I had a mini Dark Age, which must have lasted about one or two years. I got very busy in high school, and had more "mature" interests. When in 2008 or 2009 I learned of the chrome C-3PO that was released in 2007, I knew that I had to get that figure. And then, my minifig collecting resumed, with great sets and figs in 2010. I'm almost all out of space, though, so I keep buying figs. Hopefully college work won't take me away from Lego.

[SirBlake]

I had a mini Dark Age, which must have lasted about one or two years. I got very busy in high school, and had more "mature" interests. When in 2008 or 2009 I learned of the chrome C-3PO that was released in 2007, I knew that I had to get that figure. And then, my minifig collecting resumed, with great sets and figs in 2010. I'm almost all out of space, though, so I keep buying figs. Hopefully college work won't take me away from Lego.

Man, in a way I'm jealous. There was very little for me to miss in the late 90's/early 2000's as far as castle stuff goes, being out of the game for 2 decades is tough. Be proud of yourself for coming back to your roots so soon. I remember when the set that's pictured in your avatar was new!

<- Old guy.

Edited May 29, 2012 by SirBlake

[Sid Sidious]

I had a mini Dark Age, which must have lasted about one or two years. I got very busy in high school, and had more "mature" interests. When in 2008 or 2009 I learned of the chrome C-3PO that was released in 2007, I knew that I had to get that figure. And then, my minifig collecting resumed, with great sets and figs in 2010. I'm almost all out of space, though, so I keep buying figs. Hopefully college work won't take me away from Lego.

There's a lot more "mature" interests in college than there are in high school.