Posted May 17, 201410 yr ... Aunt's house! Back story: Growing up I had a a large collection of Lego... when I was 17 or 18 and "sure" my days of playing with "toys" were over I put them all together into a big (clean) garbage can and drove them over to my aunt's house so my then ~9 year old cousin would enjoy them. They had a nice big shed in the back yard so the lego pail ended up in there. As I went through college my cousin got older and Lego was never his thing, he didn't enjoy it like I had. Most of the Legos never made it into his house. At some point they tore down the shed and through everything out (I heard.) It didn't phase me at the time ( a senior in college, starting my career, traveling, having fun) that my thousands of pieces ,may all have been trashed. Circle of life... Well... as the years went on I occasionally wondered what may have happened to them but never thought to ask my aunt about it- didn't want her to feel bad if they were gone. I had been to her house many times, surely I would have seen them if they were there. Last week when my cousin was by- now an adult himself- we were talking about the old Lego sets and he tells me he thinks they are still at his Mom's house, and he thinks he knows where they are. Today, i got the good news- in picture form. Where they were... The tree growing out of the can had to die... My cousin put some in a bin, will pick them up next week!. Going to have a lot of cleaning ahead of me! Edited May 17, 201410 yr by BirdOPrey5
May 18, 201410 yr Great story and great pics. They seem to be in terrific condition, all things considered.
May 18, 201410 yr Author I hope I can find some of the yellow/white and blue/white space men in there.. I must have had a dozen or more.
May 18, 201410 yr Oh my god, that is truly buried treasure! Some of my favorite stuff in my collection is definedly the old childhood stuff! And not just for the memories, some of it is pretty much irreplaceable!
May 18, 201410 yr Wow, what a lucky find! To think that it'd been sitting there all this time with a tree growing out. I wonder what would have happened if it'd been left. Imagine a child in 30-40 years playing in a garden and finding lego among the roots of a tree!! I hope I can find some of the yellow/white and blue/white space men in there.. I must have had a dozen or more. I think I've seen one of the yellow ones in the pile of pieces in the 4th picture. It's on the left hand side of the pile.
May 18, 201410 yr Wow, you've got a brilliant collection and a brilliant story to match! I spy some town, space, and Pirates, you'll have a lot of fun sorting that I bet. Congratulations on finding your childhood collection!
May 18, 201410 yr Author Wow, what a lucky find! To think that it'd been sitting there all this time with a tree growing out. I wonder what would have happened if it'd been left. Imagine a child in 30-40 years playing in a garden and finding lego among the roots of a tree!! As a kid I used to bury some of my toys for future archaeologists to find... never Lego, but some of my less favorite transformers and busted up matchbox cars for sure... I must have been spoiled as a child... oh well... it even out by my teenage yeas.
May 18, 201410 yr A pillowcase and a gentle wash cycle with gentle detergent in the machine and those parts will be fine and clean and nice! That is super cool to see.
May 18, 201410 yr A pillowcase and a gentle wash cycle with gentle detergent in the machine and those parts will be fine and clean and nice! That is super cool to see. Yes, they will be good as new:) I am actually quite impressed with how good a condition they appear to be in.
May 18, 201410 yr Author A pillowcase and a gentle wash cycle with gentle detergent in the machine and those parts will be fine and clean and nice! That is super cool to see. Thanks for the tip... Going to do some "pre-cleaning" or at least dis-infecting before they come inside though, let alone go into a washing machine. I assume you sew the pillow case closed? The smell is pretty awful... Hopefully that goes away with the cleaning as well. I am also amazed how clean the ones further down look- and my cousin said most of the dirt on the top ones was sliding off.
May 18, 201410 yr The smell is pretty awful... Hopefully that goes away with the cleaning as well. Just be careful what you do with them! I had an unfortunate incident a few years ago with some sewage in my basement. What ever you do, don't use toilet bowl cleaner!!!
May 18, 201410 yr Author What ever you do, don't use toilet bowl cleaner!!! Thanks! Mind if I asked what did work?
May 18, 201410 yr A pillowcase and a gentle wash cycle with gentle detergent in the machine and those parts will be fine and clean and nice! You can get special wash bags too, for lingerie and delicates and the like. They have a fine mesh so should be even better than a pillowcase. I bought one but haven't used it yet.
May 18, 201410 yr Thanks! Mind if I asked what did work? There are some suggestions in this thread, I didn't dare put anything else than water on after my attempt :) http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94435&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1 I think in your case I would start with multiple washing a of just water to get the worst off first, maybe just soak them in it for a couple of days, then try with some dish soap or some other mild product. If you try something stronger, first remove those precious space guys and any other treasured printed parts!
May 18, 201410 yr Author There are some suggestions in this thread, I didn't dare put anything else than water on after my attempt :) http://www.eurobrick...l=&fromsearch=1 I think in your case I would start with multiple washing a of just water to get the worst off first, maybe just soak them in it for a couple of days, then try with some dish soap or some other mild product. If you try something stronger, first remove those precious space guys and any other treasured printed parts! Thanks for the link.
May 18, 201410 yr OXYClean will be your best friend for this tough job. It does wonders for smelly LEGO. I use it for the worst, cigarette smelling, nasty bricks. Takes almost all the smell out!
May 18, 201410 yr Author OXYClean will be your best friend for this tough job. It does wonders for smelly LEGO. I use it for the worst, cigarette smelling, nasty bricks. Takes almost all the smell out! Great- I have plenty of that.
May 20, 201410 yr Author The cleaning has begun... Tried with a small sampling of pieces today. Unfortunately dish soap isn't going to be able to handle it. Used some Cascade on a few pieces, it did a great job with the dirt and the pieces seem to be fine.
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