Monday, February 20, 2006

Lego Lego Loco


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Originally uploaded by J. S. Anderson.
Well, let me tell you something right now, just in case you didn't know. I collect vintage legos, and, currently, I have an obscenely large repository of them. This habit/obsession started about ten years ago (1996), and has not really ceased any since that time. And, in that time, I have aquired approximately 200-250 sets, ranging in price from the smallest of the small, to the largest of the ginormous. Needless to say, the entire collection is rather...shall we say, 'all-encompassing,' and takes up a signifcant sector of my basement.

Now, you may be wondering, (or maybe not), how on Earth does one keep a lego collection in their basement, and if one does, what is the status of the said legos. Well, here is the other obscenity concerning the vastness of the blocks. They are completely assembled. Thats right, I assemble the lego sets that I buy, and then I proceed to put them, assembled, into their own (or share) a respective container (generally of the same theme). This way, the said legos do not suffer the ill effects of being in a basement for an ungodly amount of time--the amount of time it will take for me to have enough money to complete the collection and display them adequately. Just as an FYI, my idea of displaying my illustrious collection of legos is to have them in lit, ventilated display cases, where all the sets can be arranged by theme, and be seen by all, where they will be finely appreciated and preserved in a state of quasi-infinite stasis.

With all the above comments, you may, or may not be wondering what is involved with a vintage lego collection. Well, for your convenience, I shall now outline my standards for a lego collection that has potential for retaining value for the future. First, and foremost, the condition of any given lego set is obviously of supreme importance. You can't simply reduce the item for trash and expect it to have some intrinsic value. This means that the said lego said must be complete (all pieces! preferably original), and must retain its original instructions--in pristine condition--and, its box--preferably in pristine condition as well. In addition to this, the original packaging that the pieces came in, as well as any advertisements would be good to have. However they are not requirements for retaining the value, at least in my book. But, one must have ALL THE PIECES, THE IMMACULATE INSTRUCTIONS, AND THE MODERATELY FLAWLESS BOX. I am proud to say that all the lego sets in my collection meet my own standards.

Now, if you've read this much of the Blog, then I am quite impressed, and I can't say that I woudl necessarily do the same. However, you may be wondering, why would somebody decide to write about their vintage lego collection. Well, to be honest, there is no particular reason. I just decided to splurt about something, and here that something is. I would also like to share some of my short term goals with the collection, and then conclude with what this could mean to you, and, ultimately, what this means to me.

My short term goals for my lego collection are, first, to complete my Lego Star Wars Collection, and, then to have every lego themed space set from the years 1988-1997. Now, if you know anything about legos, this may seem excessive, however, I am already well on my way, and I am pleased to say that I don't have that much to buy (once you consider how many I already have).

Now, ultimately, this Blog entry means nothing to you, unless you just like to know what I'm up to in the world of legos, want a lego collection of your own, or simply find the topic interesting. However, I shall continue collecting legos, even though the age limit says that I shouldn't, lol. Oh, by the way, I only keep them as collectables, I don't play with them. There, I hope that has aleviated some of my freakdom.

Well, I shall take my leave for now, but I'll be sure to keep my maybe-non-existent-readers posted on any lego collection news that enters my brain.

The End.




Sunday, February 19, 2006

Genesis

Well, as the title of this blog entry implies, this is the first blog entry of, well, my blog. To be honest, I really don't know why I've decided to start this. This is quite random, and I've never been one to promote random ramblings from random ramblers all over the internet, because frankly, most of the time I don't care. People start posting their most trivial thoughts, and the most trivial events of their day, so that maybe, somewhere, somebody will read it. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I believe it can be healthy to start spouting the inner workings of your mind; sometimes it proves to be an effective therapy for stress and other forms of distress. However, there reaches a definate limit when it's just a waste of time for the writer, and it becomes counterproductive--generally evolving into some form of procrastination. In addition, it can become counterproductive for reader as well, for they are now reading your not-so-significant thoughts, and probably doing so only for the purpose of procrastinating in their own efforts. So, the very act of internet writing/distractions, such as blogs, myspace, xanga, facebook, and the countless others, chain reacts into one giant mechanism for procrastination--a network of people, both writer and reader, who, in that moment, have no desire to do what they should be doing, or are simply bored to woeful tears, and, for some reason, find writing/reading about the insignifcant thoughts/ideas/events of another interesting. Both of the above cases, not ironically, happens to be the case with me in this particular moment. Currently, writing this blog is killing the time that would otherwise kill me with boredom, yet, I technically shouldn't be bored because of the semi-wide array of studying that I should do on this eve of finals week. Therefore, I can only conclude that, in this moment, it is moderately advantageous of me to continue writing this blog. Currently, it is in my 'best interest' to continue enabling the cliche of posting random randomosity, that may, or may not be read by others.

There, now that I have shared some of the logic and reasoning involved with actually justifying my waste of time, I can rest easier in creating this blog ;) I hope you enjoyed the first read, even though, when I look back over it, it's rather boring. Oh well, I shall post a larger, more detailed, less boring/logical blog in the near future, as I'm sure that I'll have the time, maybe.

Have a nice day :)

The End.