LEGO:
I'm sure that if you've grown up any time after the 70's, you'll know a thing or two about LEGO. If you're older than that, it's those damn expensive things that your kids asked for when they were growing up, some time after the 70's.
If you still don't know, Google LEGO, and you'll get an endless list of results that could take several days to sift through all of the interesting things in. Just about anything you can think of has been made out of LEGO at one point of time or another. There are several theme parks around the world dedicated to this magnificent and ageless toy. The interchangeable bricks are made for ages 0-100, and bring a joy and frustration all their own, and if you have never played with them, you should try it, even if only so you can say that you have. You need not be a rocket-scientist, an engineer, an artist, or even very creative or imaginative to enjoy LEGO in some respect. It is the simplest concept that has become something quite astounding. And there is an element of deeper complexity that isn't clear on the surface - something as brilliantly simple as the Fibonacci Sequence permitting the infinite complexity of a Mandlebrot set.
Very simply, the basic LEGO element is a block, hollow on the inside, with 'bumps' on the top arranged in a linear array in equal distances in two directions. I think the basic, most recognizable element has two rows of four bumps. These can be stacked on top of each other, and next to each other in a manner that permits them to interlock, and create structures, artwork, and any number of things. They are available in an array of colors, sizes, and even thicknesses to be sure. As the toy has advanced from its humble beginnings in a wooden toy shop in Germany in 1932, 'special' pieces have been developed from the mini figures, to wheels, to wings, antennaes, tools, canopies, etc. There are hundreds of different LEGO elements available today.
Growing up as a child, I did not have the latest video game systems, or the coolest bike, or skateboard. I have never owned a pair of roller blades, or a hockey stick, or ice skates, and my collection of hot wheels fit neatly into just one carrying case. The toy that permeated my memories of growing up was, you guessed it: LEGO.
But you see, I didn't have every LEGO set I wanted either. Even back then, LEGO was very expensive. One of my childhood friends, to my knowledge, had the first LEGO set in the United States, when his father traveled to Germany for business, and brought it back as a gift. I'm certain that has no bearing on the eventual import and marketing of LEGO over here, but suffice it to say that his LEGO collection was the target of my envy. I wrote in for the shop at home catalogs, and I drooled over the photos of the available sets for endless hours, dreaming in my head of an unlimited budget, and the orders that I would place. Oh, the things I would build. Another childhood friend traveled to Germany while in Elementary School, and brought back with him a stack of German LEGO catalogs for me to drool over. Things that weren't available over here, things I would never have imagined. And of course, they were the latest, and greatest. I managed to stop drooling long enough to thank him, I think.
But since Mom couldn't afford to keep me drowning in new LEGO sets, I would disassemble the sets in my mind, trying to figure out how they were built. Then I would spend countless hours trying to build them myself with the parts that I had. Most of the time, I would roughly succeed, proud of myself for my work-around to their special parts that I did not have. Sometimes I would be stumped, and all of my attempts failed to measure up to their intended subjects. But most often, I would learn about another way of combining elements to achieve a result. Something to make my models stronger, more robust, lighter, uniform in color, etc. This kept me thinking of how to do it differently. How to make something with what I had. Resourcefulness, if you will. Oh, sure, sometimes you just HAVE to have the right tool. But most of the time, you can get by without it.
As I got older, my models changed from simple to complex. A Mini figure-scale F-14 Tomcat, with retractable gear, and sweepable wings. A 'low-boy' trailer, and forklift trailer with a forklift for my 'Highway Rig' (5580-1). I worked for years to develop front suspension and steering for the Car Chassis (8860-1). Long-travel independent suspension on the same scale that wouldn't require some sort of sliding drive-shaft. Monster trucks, and tractor-trailers to haul them. An entire LEGO city on top of my desk, with a race circuit, and pits, and racing teams. A two-story house, with a zip-lock baggie filled with water, covered with Kleenex as a water-bed. My Brother and I made stop-motion movies, and elaborate scenarios with our LEGO creations. I once built a crane that would hoist 3 lbs from the floor up to the bed, suspended by the top bunk. In High School, I used a programmable robotic arm to show how container trains and semi-trucks have combined to increase the efficiency of product delivery over long distances. But I don't envision my accomplishments to be anything out of the norm for kids who grew up with LEGO. Still, it has inspired, or at least provided the foundation for the career that I am striving for. It has given me a means, and methodology to design. Because of LEGO, I want to be an Engineer.
It seems all too simple when boiled down that way, and there is still so much more to it. Now, to be sure, I've never built any kind of extravagant model like an Aircraft Carrier that is 15 feet long, or a life-size Jack Sparrow. Nothing that I have built with LEGO will or should ever be displayed in a museum, and there are hundreds if not thousands of people with better brick building skills than I. But LEGO has never been the end to me. Only the start. And so, it is LEGO that makes me who I am.
What was your favorite toy growing up? What part of you did you discover during your childhood?
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