My old box and small people building big things with LEGO

It was just a cardboard box, 1’ wide and 1’6” deep, but it is the thing that I remember most from my childhood. Granted, part of that memory is what was in the box.  It was the mid 70’s and in my closet were all my cool toys. I had a tray full of Time-Life WW II cards, lots of comic books, Hot Wheels and in that cardboard box were all of my LEGOs.

There were only three colors, blue, red and white. It wasn’t a LEGO set that made something, it was simply bricks, most, if not all of them were rectangular. Some of the bricks had three studs, others four and there were just a few in my collection that had eight or more. I still remember there were two or three bricks that had two studs.

When I first started playing with my tri-colored LEGO set there were maybe 300 bricks. Over time that number decreased, but I still remember making countless house-type structures. There were no curved pieces in my collection. I was a master of building square or rectangular castles, garages, homes and more.

I remember when the Hot Wheels entered the LEGO building they would shake due to driving over the studs. The walls would occasionally get smashed in by G.I. Joe or Stretch Armstrong, but in the end all (or most of) the pieces went back in the box.  Anything I wanted to be mobile had to be small enough to put on my purple Tonka Jeep, which I still have thank you very much.

Sometimes other toys ended up in the cardboard box, but it was always home to the LEGOS. The last time I saw it was when I went home after college just before my parents moved. I hastily put aside things that I thought I wanted to save and that box, with the LEGOs was forgotten. Unfortunately my concert photos of Ray Charles were also left behind. We had press passes to that show and were granted amazing views of him playing the piano, but that is another story.

Our oldest can now play with LEGOs it’s great to see him create his own things.  He has so many colors to choose from, some bricks that are curved and there are even wheels. I know this is nothing new, but I sometimes flash back to my seven year old self who simply enjoyed playing with bricks.

His younger brother took to Duplo much quicker than he did.  I suspect it was him playing with LEGOs and his motor skills not being advanced enough for the small pieces. For now he’s happy with his Duplo table, making skyscrapers and homes for his various action figures.

At the Dad 2.0 Summit we caught a glimpse of the LEGO Classic box. At Mom 2.0 we got a chance to play with it and it’s everything that I remember from my cardboard box and so much more. This is the creation that Jake made.  He said it’s a spaceship that flies through the sky and shoots things.

This is why LEGO has been one of the go-to toy for kids for generations. There are sets where you’re making vehicles or buildings from movies, but there are also set’s that allow for building anything that a kid can imagine.

We’re early in the LEGO years for sure. At the playground I’ve spoken with other parents who’ve told me stories about their plastic storage bins and big, complicated sets that have been built by their child. As if they can see the gleam in my eye, they’re quick to follow it up with, “we’re not selling them”. I need a better poker face.