Lego is Freaking Awesome
LEGO Is Freaking Awesome – Jeremy Liland
Welcome to another edition of LEGO is Freaking Awesome, where I interview people about their thoughts and feelings about LEGO. Today, we talk to Jeremy Liland.
Jeremy was born and raised in Calgary, and is 36 years young. he’s a father of two boys (6 and 4 1/2). He’s a interesting character, full of life and the celebration thereof. Jeremy has number of interests and hobbies, but his favorite, by far, is spending time with his kids.
On to the questions.
What was the first Lego set you remember playing with?
Hmmm…. First lego set? Probably just some basic color ones with the big green plates. But I really remember my moon set. I think it was a moon set, it had large thin grey plates, a moon “rover”-car, some men and a lot of grey white and black pieces to build space craft with. Also I had a motor that took batteries, and you could set it up with wheels to pull/push things or attach it to a rope and pulley.
Jeremy is talking about the famous Moon Base Beta set.
Note sure if either of these motors are what Jeremy meant, but they’re pretty cool.
What was the coolest Lego set you remember?
I think the coolest was the two mentioned above. The moon set because it was new and NOT colourful and it was spaceships, nuff said. But, you could do some really cool things with the motor.
How much Lego did you have as a kid?
Quite a bit, I remember having storage issues sometimes. My cousin had a lot more, he had a 6′ circle of denim or something that he kept all his lego in. The edges were laced so when you were done, you just pulled on the laces and picked it all up at once. But if you imagine ( or in your case physically demonstrate it) a 6′ circle piled with lego, not too high but it was a lot.
How much Lego do you have now?
None really and my heart is breaking as I write this. Although my boys have some and we often play with it.
Have you seen any Lego sets recently that made you want to buy them?
Sorta, but it seems like there’s a little less imagination required with some of the sets, the pieces just lend themselves to a certain arrangement and it seems hard to vary. Some, like the Bionicle stuff, doesn’t interest me at all. Maybe I’ll just go buy a giant starter kit and start playing again.
When was the last time you built something with Lego?
Probably within the past week with my sons.
Many thanks to Jeremy for sharing. I suspect he’ll be visiting the LEGO Store soon, if he hasn’t already. Join us again soon for another edition of Lego is Freaking Awesome.
Lego is Freaking Awesome – Josh Bertwistle
Today in “Lego is Freaking Awesome”, we talk to Josh Bertwistle, an actor/comedian from Calgary, Alberta. I’ve known Josh for a few years now, and he’s one of those people that is infectious with energy. You can’t help but get excited and involved when Josh is nearby.
Josh went far beyond the call of duty, sending me copious pictures of the sets he remembered. If these were all from memory, remind me never to bet against Josh.
What was the first Lego set you remember playing with?
A Space Station with monorail. I remember that it had a moon crater plate, and a big one-piece viewscreen with the picture of a space guy on it doing a space walk. It kinda looked like this:
(Josh is clearly speaking of 1980′s 6970 Beta 1 Command Centre)
What was the coolest Lego set you remember?
A big roll-y satellite-launcher from 1984. It had eight big studded tires all on different adjust-y axles so that it could roll around over pillows and other uneven terrain. And it had two long hinge pieces with a clamp on the end to fold down and hold the satellite, or extend it so that you could point it up for launching. It was also the first set that I saw that had yellow suited space guys which totally blew my mind. That was a great Christmas.
Josh draws:
Compare to 1982′s 6950 Mobile Rocket Transport
How much Lego did you have as a kid?
Lots. Space, then Castle.
When was the last time you built something with Lego?
I helped a friend’s kid put together a fire rescue helicopter two weeks ago. He’d say: “Now I need four of this piece,” and I’d sort through the set to find them. It brought back a lot of lego-memories.
Have you seen any Lego sets recently that made you want to buy them?
Yes. The five-hundred dollar Death Star.
(In the Lego fan world, we call this one “The Mortgage Payment”. Well, I do, maybe it’ll catch on.)
6) Tell us a little bit about yourself for the readers.
I used to totally rip off Transformers or Starriors and build these lego-robots. Like this Tron tank-thing:
It turned into the vulture-guy from Starriors:
Or this little guy I was super-proud of, inspired by the Clash of the Titans robot owl. Later when my friends were in junior high kissing girls, I was at home building five of these owl-guys that could combine into a big dude. And it had working joints, which was a happy surprise:
And then there was this little tank-guy that I liked that hunted down humans. Total Starriors rip-off:
Tune in next time for more fond memories, and talk of Lego past. If you’d like to be interviewed for this series, drop me an email, and we’ll get things going.
Lego is Freaking Awesome – Ochre Jelly
Once again we delve into the past of people I know in order to rekindle memories of Lego past. Today’s guest is Iain Heath, known to the Lego community as Ochre Jelly. I had the pleasure of meeting Iain at BrickCon 2009 in Seattle last fall. He’s a master of his craft, and a fellow blogger as well. You can find Ochre’s blog, “The Living Brick” at the link below. And I suggest you do, as he some great pics and interesting articles there.
I’m an Englishman abroad. I currently live in the Pacific Northwest where I am a computer programmer (I think they call us ‘software engineers’ nowadays, but if you knew what really went on in this industry, you wouldn’t call it “engineering” either!).
My consuming hobbies are Lego, card magic, and synthesizers. However I am only good in one of these three areas (guess which?). I watch a lot of English TV, and am constantly amused by my childrens’ “valley girl” west coast accents! I cook a mean curry. I run a Lego related blog called “The Living Brick” where I attempt to make Lego seem funny. Somewhat feebly.
On to the questions! One caveat, when I created this series, I made the questions for people who aren’t Lego crazy, so questions like “when was the last time you built something with LEGO”, are a bit comical. On the plus side, we tend to know set numbers, which makes the photo searches a bit easier, so thanks for that, Iain!
What was the first Lego set you remember playing with?
It was my first set, which I got for Christmas at the age of 4 or 5. It was set 622 (baggage carts).
What was the coolest Lego set you remember?
When classic Space (with mini figures) came out, I basically wet my pants for a very long time. I remember seeing a large poster with a blowup of set 442 (shuttle) and falling in love with the grey plates, new transparent bricks, and the specialized ‘space’ parts like the rocket jets.
How much Lego did you have as a kid?
Freaking tons. It was my main toy as a kid. I used to keep a catalog of how many pieces I had in each combination of shape and color (Captain Sadness!). So I know I had 8000 bricks. I used to try and recreate ship interiors from shows like Star Trek and Space 1999, but this was before mini-figs so the heros were a bit blocky!
Hmmm, blocky people hey? Seems to have had an impact on Ochre…
When was the last time you built something with Lego?
…yesterday. I’m working on something new to unveil at a Lego convention in San Francisco in April. The subject is appropriately “geo-political” for the Con. I can say no more than that, for now!
Have you seen any Lego sets recently that made you want to buy them?
I rarely buy official Lego sets for myself – I mainly just get bulk bricks because I am Lego nerd. But I do get Lego sets for my kids, and recently was a bit jealous of the Toy Story “Army Men on Patrol” set that I got for my eldest!
Many thanks to Ochre Jelly for playing along, and sharing his LEGO memories with us. If you have some memories to share with use, drop us a line.
Lego is Freaking Awesome – Paul Killam
Welcome to the continuing series “Lego is Freaking Awesome”, where we look at people’s early and continuing experiences with Lego. Today’s guest, San Francisco’s own Paul Killam. Paul is arguably one of the funniest people you will ever meet. He’s also a talented improvisor, a man of endless knowledge, and very tall.
What was the first Lego set you remember playing with?
I’m an old dude, so sets were VERY different. I remember being confused when the themed sets started arriving. I didn’t even have the lego people in the sets – mine were pretty basic. In fact, I remember getting my first thin grey platforms and thinking: Wow! These will be so helpful… The platforms we had before then were 1 brick thick and not very wide.
Perhaps something like this
What was the coolest Lego set you remember?
There was this train set with a powered motor…
We’re guessing, but here’s a train from 1968
How much Lego did you have as a kid?
LOTS! My parents used to take us on trips, and we had this big suitcase (well it seemed big) full of Legos – we’d get in the hotel room, and start building stuff…
When was the last time you built something with Lego?
Last Christmas. My nephew (6 years) is a lego boy, and he saves stuff to build with me.
Have you seen any Lego sets recently caught your eye?
The Indiana Jones Temple of Doom-y thing (I don’t know if that’s the “name”)
We think perhaps Paul means this set. This again is a guess, but it’s arguably the coolest Indiana Jones set out there.
Tell us a little bit about yourself for the readers.
I’m an actor/improvisor, and I teach at the College of Marin in Northern California. I perform regularly with BATS Improv, and have performed and taught all over the world. I play the ukulele – mainly early Talking Heads and Bowie tunes.
Brickwares is a big fan of BATS improv, and if you’re in the Bay Area, you should be too. Check them out at http://www.improv.org/Home.aspx
Lego is Freaking Awesome – Andrew Phung
Today in “Lego is Freaking Awesome”, a good friend of Brickwares: Andrew Phung.
Andrew is a big kid at heart. During the day he’s the Program Director of a local organization. He loves toys and wrestling belts. He keeps action figures in his office. He’s been an improviser at the Loose Moose Theatre since he was 16 years old.
What was the first Lego set you remember playing with?
I remember getting something like this for a birthday:
My dad’s always been really good with his hands so he encouraged me to build things. My mom taught me that building it is most of the fun. This set was dope. It was a blank slate for me to create things. I had a phase where I’d make guns and than a Star Trek phase and eventually a wrestling phase.
I use to take my Mattel wrestling figures and play with the LEGO sets. I’d build announcer tables, dressing rooms, and even the ring. It was awesome.
What was the coolest Lego set you remember?
The coolest ones were the space ones:
I was a big Star Trek nerd so I loved anything to do with space. I think the appeal of something flying with guns was the main attraction. You could build small ships, big ships, etc. Also, these sets had more color and lasers and stuff.
How much Lego did you have as a kid?
I had a fair amount of Lego. Maybe 6 shoe boxes full. I never kept anything together for too long.
I remember this one time I had built this badass recreation of the USS Enterprise. I put it on my shelf in my room. This kid Daniel came over to play. He was an aggressive kid who did things just for a laugh. He started playing with it and dropped it. I went nuts on him. I was also in Tae Kwon Do so I could hold my own. He and I fought it out in my room. A while later I got him back by stealing the nun-chucks fom his Michelangelo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy. He cried when he lost it.
When was the last time you built something with Lego?
The last time I probably built anything was with this set:
I remember being really into basketball at the time and this toy store had it for half off. It came with spring-loaded men that could shoot the basketball. It didn’t take long to build but it took hours to figure out how to shoot the ball into the rim. Once I built it and played with it, there wasn’t much I could do with it. Unlike my previous sets I couldn’t take it apart and build something new. It was a basketball arena and that’s it. Anyways, it was good times and currently sits in the basement of my parents’ house.
Have you seen any Lego sets recently that made you want to buy them?
During Christmas this year, I saw some Batman sets that looked pretty dope. I remember walking over and reasoning it my head. The biggest question was, “will I play with it after I build it?” I didn’t think I would so I didn’t buy it. But I looked at it…a lot.
The one set I wish LEGO but I’ve never seen is a wrestling set. As a kid I loved wrestling and I always thought it was a good fit for both sides.
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Many thanks to Andrew for sharing his Lego stories with us.
We’re always looking for more stories for “Lego is Freaking Awesome”, so if you’re interested in appearing in the segment, send us an email.