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Achievement unlocked

 Quest for Bricks is now hibernating. When I started this blog on March 10, 2012 – exactly 1 year and 6 months ago from today, September 10, 2013 – originally by the name of Quest for Castle, my goal was to simply build (to pass onto my son) and report on the building of the 6080 King’s Castle. It quickly became apparent, though, that there would be more to re-learning LEGO than just one castle. In August 2012 I expanded and added another quest, to build the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train, and opening the blog up for other LEGO topics under the new banner of Quest for Bricks – such…

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Train rolls (into the sunset)

 The Quest for Inter-City train is done! My project to build the classic 1980 LEGO Train, the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train (12V), from new and old parts is complete. See also: Best of times, worst of times and 1980 LEGO passenger locomotives for accompanying comments on finishing the train. Note: You can click the images…

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1980 LEGO passenger locomotives

 As you may have read – see Best of times, worst of times and Train rolls (into the sunset) – my Quest for Inter-City train has been completed. The train I have been building, 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train (12V), was one of two LEGO passenger train sets released in 1980. The other was the 7710…

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Best of times, worst of times

 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…

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1950s – 1960s LEGO

 Over the past year and a half I have covered LEGO brick’s early decades in various blog posts. Here is all from 1950s and 1960s – click on the titles/images below to read more: LEGO from 1960s 1960s Town Plan Keyring 1958 LEGO history 1891-1969 Historical LEGO close-ups 1940s-1980s 1960s LEGO battery box and light…

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213 Small House Left (1958)

 As I’ve mentioned before, I inherited (already back in the 1980s) plenty of 1960s LEGO from my father. However, as my father got them in generic parts packs – at least that is his recollection – and, anyway, they were mixed into one container by the 1980s, I never saw any of original designs. I…

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Old LEGO factory in Finland

 Today, if a number I saw recently stands, LEGO manufactures 90% of its bricks in Billund, Denmark, its hometown – a notable percentage for a western country in this global day and age. Curiously, this has not always been the case, though. In the early days LEGO was a bit like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are,…

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An Unexpected Journey

 The past year and a half as an AFOL certainly has taught me many lessons in LEGO and more, some of which I listed in the closing words for the Quest for Lion Knights’ castle. Most of this was expected, of course. Getting acquainted with the AFOL side and re-acquainted with LEGO certainly meant learning…

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1960s LEGO battery box and light brick

 In the past I have written about my father’s old 1960s LEGO, I also posted some photographs from the Billund LEGO museum showing this era. Also related to this post I recently discussed the modern LEGO Power Functions electronics and the 1980s 12V LEGO Trains electronics on my Quest for Inter-City train series. Here’s something…

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12V LEGO Trains accessories

 Quest for Inter-City train: Yesterday I took a look at the 1980 LEGO Trains upgrades for trains, the versatile motor and lighting options that were available. Where the 1980 released LEGO Trains system really shines, though, is its track system – no other LEGO Trains before or after can match its scope, the nearest comparable…

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So, what’s after next?

 Last August, as the blog and my Quest for Lion Knights’ castle had matured somewhat, I discussed my next project in a blog entry called So, what’s next? After that, I have followed up on that thinking in One year in and Why do adults build LEGO? One overriding theme has been the project nature of my quests – since I have absolutely no idea where my AFOL hobby is headed, I have decided to take things project by project. As my second quest, the Quest for Inter-City train, and various other bits and bobs I’ve been working on is expected to be completed over the next week or so,…

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1980 LEGO Trains upgrades

 Quest for Inter-City train: While unfortunately I only had the 7710 Push-Along Passenger Steam Train as a child (plus something like the 5005 Battery Box and some kind of 4.5V LEGO lighting that I hodgepodged on the train at some point), one of the really cool things about the LEGO Trains of the 1980s were…

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Waiting for train

 In addition to the locomotive and the two passenger wagons, the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train set included an oval track (which I won’t fully build) and a small station platform (which I will build). Although the platform was originally built last in the building instructions, I thought it would be fitting to set it up…

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Early minifigures

 After looking for old train parts for my new-old 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train, I also recently searched for other old minifigures that might be useful in manning the train. Here’s some of what I found… Look familiar? Fortunately my childhood LEGO collection is still mostly intact, unfortunately it is quite disorganized and spread over several…

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Train building

 The train project is picking up steam, now that the castle is finished and my LEGOLAND reporting for the 2013 season has been completed. To illustrate the diversity of my sources for the Quest for Inter-City train, here is a picture of the parts I’m using to build the train. This is also roughly my…

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LEGO for grown ups – Brick City

 Earlier this year I picked up Warren Elsmore’s book “Brick City” at the Waterstones book store in London. Consider it sort of an unofficial LEGO Ideas Book, tuned for an older audience. There was also an accompanying display there at the store, see the story Brick City at Waterstones for a few pictures and links……

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LEGO animals

 Over the past few years I have built quite a few LEGO sets both with my son as well as by myself related to my hobby and this blog. During this time I’ve come across various LEGO animal pieces and I have put them aside for a future photo opportunity. Here they are: Above (from…

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Replacement stickers

 When I was starting the Quest for Inter-City train, I was asked what I’m going to do with the stickers – my answer at the time, I don’t know. More recently I took a look at some of the stickers in my childhood LEGO Trains collection. Currently my plan isn’t to acquire stickers for the…

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