Brent: LegoHammer and LegoHammer 40K
I had my nephew over last weekend, and all he could talk about on the way over was the Lego ship he’d been building.
Naturally, I bored him to tears forcing him to listen to my stories about how much cooler everything was when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure that never gets old.
Then it occurred to me – all that stuff is still sitting in a box somewhere, all these decades later! I avoided telling him what I was doing, just in case I was wrong, but when we got home I started tearing through the junk closet…
…and proved once again why I’m the best uncle ever. I mean, he’s only six and I’m a grown man with a game room full of toys. What’s not to like, when you’re that age?
In my dating years, that room was secret. After all, Upper Echelon Stealth Geeks are upper echelon… and dating at all… because of the word ‘stealth.’
Now, this is sad, but I deliberately avoided getting down there and building things with him. He didn’t need my help – his imagination works just fine. Besides, I probably would have taken over the game or something. So no.
But there was this box.
It’s like some scene out of a science fiction book; think Alistair Reynolds or something. I had know idea what was in this box.
But I knew all the same. And I didn’t want my nephew – my buddy, my pride – to get into it.
Because IT’S MINE! MINE!
I left him digging through the box of Legos and took the real prize aside to open…
…and I was six all over again.
Don’t know what this is? This is the 80’s Lego kid equivalent of a Battlefoam PACK System. I started pulling out bags and shaking out the contents.
Yeah, so bag one contained the original Lego steeds and a Dragon I built when I was eight. It would be forever before Lego realized it needed a dragon – long after I could get away playing with toys anymore.
(Meaning I had to get toys I could call ‘models.’)
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| Found this in Google Images – the original kit from 1981. Easy to remember – that’s when I saw Return of the Jedi in London on opening night. Thanks for ruining that memory, Lucas. |
As you can see, knights slowly got better…
…but naturally you also needed Men at Arms by the truckload to make up the armies I needed – because long before Warhammer I simply wasn’t satisfied with anything less than a battlefield.
Not only did I have my LegoHammer, but… what else..? LegoHammer 40K.
Naturally the games became more convoluted as I grew older. The different colors meant different abilities, and eventually alliances formed out of that.
These two scientists are from the first set my mother bought me, way back in 1980 or 81. I was exactly my nephew’s age. They were at odds forever, until an industrial accident (my dog) tore apart the good guy – in the middle, there – and my games tone became a bit more subtle. The enemy, always good at building things (because it’s Legos, naturally) put together a robot body and Frankenstein’d him back.
I’ll spare you further details. I can name the robots (Titan, on the upper right, was the first, in 82) and most of the major characters.
Because it was important. As I grew older, others were involved in these games. In England, you built with purpose, because your ships had to weather a storm of rocks without parts flying off.
Or a ship flying apart. Good times!
Later, naturally, it was dice. I wrote down rules and tried to add another level to these battles – but it was the wrong medium. Instead of adding to the game, it took away. But by then it was time to put these toys to bed – I was officially too old for them.
And I’m putting them away now. There’s the box, on the on the shelf, next to the Necrons. Naturally, I’ll pull them down sometime in the near future, so me and the kiddo can play with them.
Hmm. When he can appreciate them, you know?
And I’ll probably superglue the important stuff together first. Can’t expect a kid to understand history.
Speaking of subtle, here’s my nod to the games of our youth that sharpened our love for the hobby. Any stories you care to share?
So this one was different; still, thoughts? Comments? Hugs and – hey! There are kids around.
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| I found this image online after writing this article… I’m guessing someone took it a bit farther than I did! |
