favorite things 10

i recently came across some fantastic sites for lego enthusiasts. brickset is a database featuring most of the models sold and/or given away as promotional items for the last 50 years. you can browse by year or theme, and it's a great nostaligia trip for anyone who's ever tried sorting through an enormous pile of plastic bricks looking for a specific part.
and should you find a set from your childhood there, but can't remember how to put it back together, peeron may be able to help. all you need is the model number (like the one in the upper left hand corner of this picture) and peeron will give you an inventory list, instructions sheet or both. and they are always adding to the database and accepting additional information. so if you have some old lego sets with instructions they may need your help.
both these sites were a great resource for me as i went looking for the first lego set i ever had with a minifigure in it. although the pieces were long intermixed with all my kids pieces, i was able to find them and restore something that hadn't been built in years. and that is really the genius of lego. the set i'd had from 20 years ago, now mixed in with their parts, had perhaps been a part of countless other models or lay dormant and now returned to life. and those pieces from 20 or more years ago fit perfectly with those they make today. amazing. a virtually seamless cross-generational toy experience.
and although at times i may have balked at the prices for some of these new models as birthdays and Christmas' passed, one has always been able to buy a very simple version (like the one pictured above) for less than a fiver in an auntie's birthday card. and that gives everyone a level playing field. because for all those kids whose parents showered them with whatever they asked for, there were always the ones with less making up for it with imagination. my lonely rocket man roamed the craters and humps of couches and carpets and always met great adventure.
the little model above is from a theme called "space" which began in 1978 and has continued nearly uninterrupted in some form to today. and if you'd like to delve a little deeper today into the "lego space" mythology continue reading here.