A salute to Vintage Space Lego
As Christmas time approaches, I thought it would be fun to talk about Space Lego. Mainly because it was often featured in my letters to Santa, but I never got it.
Now, I turned out just fine, Christmas was amazing but my folks would just settle for a regular Lego set. I pined for this stuff from afar.
To get my fix, I would have to visit a neighbour kid who had several of the sets. I was allowed to fiddle with them under his very strict supervision, but he was extremely controlling. He was also extremely annoying and gave me chicken pox on the day before March Break(!) but those brief moments where I got to play Space Lego are very fond memories for me. I was captivated by it’s detail and the amount of fun these sets have. The happy little space men had me.
I ended up with one small set for Christmas 1981 (I believe it’s option C here). As an adult toy collector, I’d always see vintage Space Lego at shows, even an awesome display (See Below) but I never felt it had much room in my collection. I had/have too many interests as it is. I didn’t need another thing stressing my budget.
However, I married a woman who not only grew up with Space Lego, but it was her favourite toy ever! She began collecting in the late 90s and even though she’s retired, I got to have a Space lego collection, after all, I still couldn’t touch it without supervision but hey, that feels like an authentic childhood experience to me. Below are some shots of her collection when we had it on display in my old office:
Lego has reissued the Galaxy Explorer this year and the price isn’t insane all things considered. It is the toy I fell in love with as a kid and I’m happy to see it back.
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Space Lego
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>I didn’t need another thing stressing my budget.
Truer words are seldom spoken…. I’ve resisted the lego thing for a LONG time; even though I have a few sets, and a couple e-books about customizing. I’ve always dreamt of re-creating the Eaton’s center space lego display; the one where they fused a bunch of base plates together to make what looked like a hollowed-out asteroid. Luckily I have no pics, otherwise the plans would start flowing….
Don C.
I had a few of those sets. Some of the best times ever!