Lego Week Pt 5 - Primordial Legos

These are pictures I scanned from a booklet that came with a set of Legos my older brother must have gotten in 1967. The first Lego set came out in 1961, and as early as '67, Lego had focused on making Lego train sets. Man, when I was a kid, I wanted that thing so hard I could taste it.

But, it was not to be, mostly because my folks earned an honest living, instead of being tied in to the Danish mafia. You know... the Forbrydelsen Gruppe. I can't imagine how else a family could afford to support such a lavish Lego habit. Legos cost roughly $97 per pound. I don't know how to guess what the street value of this kid's train set is, but it's more than his dad's life is worth.

There were very few specialized parts back then, and the rectilinear limitations of Lego construction lent themselves very well to the type of architecture that predominated in the 1960s. It just so happens that this is the kind of architecture that I really like - all clean lines and orderly rows. Actually, maybe it's not such a coincidence, since I'd been staring at this booklet since I'd been able to see. Notice the little cars with metal wheels. I never had those, but I still want them today.

There are the blue plates that pass for water in Lego land. A boat with wheels? That's so lame, I think boats aren't even worth building. Check out the kid that looks like George Liquor's son...

This castle is bloody fantastic. I wanted this too (duh). You'd think there weren't any curves pieces that long ago, but actually there was a pack of curved bricks you could buy in 1961 that made a rocket. Mind = blown. Kabloosh!

I'm not sure why all the tires were gray. It does, however, occur to me that in really old cartoons, car's tires were gray also, and usually had a patch sewn onto them. I'll just go ahead and associate the two until somebody confronts me with evidence to the contrary. We did have some of those flat trees, although they're not in my remaining Lego stash.

I'm sure that anybody who grew up with a specialized Lego part for any occasion will make fun of these ancient Legos and the super abstract models that one wound up with, but I like the cubism. This is probably for the same reason that 8-bit video game graphics still charm.

Come to think of it, all my gray tires and flat trees are not to be found. Could I have sold those older parts at some garage sale twenty years ago? Whay did I do that? Kids are so frikkin stupid. Ebay here I come.