850 is where it all began for me (not mine)

I have 8860 in the loft.

I still have the figures and probably a lot of the bits from the 8660 at my mum’s. I remember taking the figures and their skis to school in primary 5 or 6.

My wee boy has been buzzing with a police helicopter and running around like crazy with it for a week now.

Edit: and I can remember building the 8832 as well

Strangely I can’t remember building/playing with some of them, time to put that right

While we’re on the subject of older classic sets, I rebuilt my whole collection a few years ago with the kids. Have added a few more recent Technic sets since then!

850 is where it all began for me (not mine)

IIRC that one of the first three Technical sets ever. There was also a red tractor and… something else?

I have a boxed 8862 Pneumatic digger one, in storage at my parents’. I can’t get it at the moment. Will it be worth a fortune when I can find it?

I’ve had a quick google of the vintage sets. I’m sure I had most of them from the late 80s/early 90s. I guess there weren’t so many sets to choose from.

I vividly remember this one (8865). It had pop-up headlights that you activated from the cabin. How 80s is that??

It’s interesting that Lego Technic these days very seldom has studs anywhere. Modern stuff is all smooth beams rather than studded bars – far easier to build with!

853, anyone?

I still have this, boxed, also.

IIRC that one of the first three Technical sets ever. There was also a red tractor and… something else?

Ah, they were sequentially numbered back then. 850 was the forklift, 851 the tractor and 852 the helicopter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Technic#Sets

I got started on Technic lego about 35 years ago now, really liked the pneumatic stuff, and seeing how differentials worked etc.  My dad posted a large box of my old leg down to me, about 2 cubic feet of it, and it never arrived, courier lost it.  The £100 it was insured for was a fraction of what it was worth I’m sure 🙁

My 6 year old has just finished his Christmas Lego – cat for scale

Blast from the past there @Houns

I had many of those too! 8660, 8851, 8841 and 8845.

My mate had the giant car (with the reclining seats) – 8860. I remember being saddened that they had made an amendment / adjustment to the original model and the ‘new’ version updated the suspension shocks from DIY axle pieces with springs threaded over them to the dedicated suspension shock units.

Ever the purist, I thought Lego were cheating by creating such specialist parts. <<Shakes head in disbelief>>

853 here as well.

I have a boxed 8862 Pneumatic digger one, in storage at my parents’. I can’t get it at the moment. Will it be worth a fortune when I can find it?

https://brickset.com/sets/8862-1/Backhoe-Grader

I remember being saddened that they had made an amendment / adjustment to the original model and the ‘new’ version updated the suspension shocks from DIY axle pieces with springs threaded over them to the dedicated suspension shock units.

Oh god, I’d forgotten all about that. Pretty sure my mate had the original design where they’re built from a few separate parts, I’ve half a memory that they had a tendency to ping apart so that might’ve been a fix?

I’ve half a memory that they had a tendency to ping apart so that might’ve been a fix?

Oh yeah, I’m sure various kids were blinded by the original struts coming apart and the resulting flying springs entering their corneas.

In those days, the kids would have just got a clip round the ear for being ungrateful if they complained to their parents about being blinded. No litigation in those (good old) days. So what were Lego thinking of, making single piece parts when 10 components would so the same job? 😉 😉 😉

Health and safety gone mad eh?

I remember having one ‘big’ technics set when I was young. Took me a while to work out it was the 8859 tractor, as I only remember building the alternative off-road truck thing from the same set.

I had the 850 Fork Lift set.

Rack and Pinion steering blew my boyhood mind and pushed me down the path towards engineering.

About 20 year later I was hanging about in Schiphol waiting for a flight back to UK after 2 miserable weeks in a various Chinese paper mills thanks to my career choice and said something to the bloke sat next to me that my trip was due to a childhood toy… turned out he was Lego’s Educational Manager.

Anyone else have the original Technic Unimog aka Power Truck?

Quality

Hmm sure I had that 853 too. Shame all the original boxes have long gone otherwise I’d eBay the lot

I had the Unimog above too. Weird how ‘undetailed’ it looks now. My memory had it down as the spitting image of the real thing!

image upload

Waited for the builder to go home this afternoon – think I might have got laughed at…

Builder went home to play with his Nerf guns.

The 8859 tractor was the first Technic kit I got. It needed little rubber bands for the plow, which mostly broke thanks to my being pretty young and heavy handed with it when I got it.

My mum got me the 8860 for Christmas when I was about 8 or 9. I remember enthusing over it in the model shop and being ushered out by my elder brother and really hoping it would end up as my ‘main’ present. When the day came, my brother helped me build it and then presented me with a motor (probably 870). Within minutes he got it up and running and suddenly the car was going up and down the living room. This was proper next level stuff to me and I was over the moon, but I also had a huge tantrum by accusing him of wearing out the batteries before I could have a play!

Strangely, I can still remember the foamy feel of those mahoosive tyres… and being fascinated by the working pistons, the rack and pinion steering, the suspension…

Here’s roughly how it would have looked on that day:

EDIT: I’m sure we had a remote control too, but I might be imagining that.

I remember buying 8860 from Redgates (mahoosive toy shop) in Sheffield. I had to do a deal on it with my parents which strangely I remember being an £7.99 contribution to a £17 birthday present (yup – sticker price £24.99). Proper big deal – can you imagine my face hauling that box out of the shop.

It’s in the loft with the box, alas some of the ‘swappable’ pieces have been replaced but the wheels, diff, springs and all the bits that make it what it is are still there.

I miss my old lego collection, presents from my childhood.  I was short of cash when me and the Mrs got married, so I built them all up, sourced missing bits from bricklink and, along with the recent gifts I sold them. They are mega bucks now to get them back.

I’ve had a first attempt at building a Supermarine Spitfire.

The design is influenced by the Brickmania style and uses some of the approaches that were used in the Brickmania instructions for my Mosquito build. I’ve also used the undercarriage design from their spitfire model. Other inspirations were from original photographs of actual aircraft.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/194250115@N03/shares/N0ZgUa

There’s some mad skills going on here.

The Countach is built from a single set, the Porsche. I think it’s better than the original model (and better than the one Lego has just leaked as an upcoming set in the Speed series).

Oh! STW embeds Flicker elegantly! When did that happen? Cool.

Good effort on the Spitfire, but no doubt an ME-109 would be a load easier!!

The motorbike 8838 was my first technic kit, had hours of fun with that. Pity I don’t have enough pieces left to properly build this any more.

Then came the brilliant 8455 fully functional pneumatic digger which I still have.

Many moons later…
Spotted the catamaran on sale in Tesco the other week for £20 and built it up with the boys to play with in the bath.

Got bitten by the bug again! With the result that this monster has just come through the door 😁
Looking forward to it.

The Countach is built from a single set, the Porsche. I think it’s better than the original model (and better than the one Lego has just leaked as an upcoming set in the Speed series).

I’m even more tempted to buy the 911 set now. That Countach is great!

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-82416/firas_legocars/10295-lamborghini-countach/

I’ve got that Porsche sitting unopened in the shed, got a bit of a dilemma about how to build it now!

Good effort on the Spitfire, but no doubt an ME-109 would be a load easier!!

It definitely would be! Thanks for the positive feedback on the model itself!

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-82416/firas_legocars/10295-lamborghini-countach/#details

There’s another. Build a Mustang out of a Mustang.

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-32898/firas_legocars/10265-mustang-shelby-gt500-b-model/

I’d only have wanted to go the other way, personally, but I’m also a bit tempted to turn the Fiat 500 into the Cobra from the same guy’s work.

There’s another. Build a Mustang out of a Mustang.

Now I don’t dislike the new Mustang (which is fortunate as there are thousands of them around the place) but I’m definitely siding with @milko9000 here and going with the original.

That countach is phenomenal… Making it as an alternative build better still. I don’t have the collection to build MOCs from “stock” and buying the blocks for a build is so expensive but this I think will get my money

Looks like I’m going to have get on the lego train…

https://g.co/kgs/epJbq6

Now I don’t dislike the new Mustang

I’m guessing you mean the recent-ish sports car, not the current ‘Mustang’ e-SUV monstrosity?

I got 8860 for Xmas when I was 11.

It sits behind me while I work (hence the dust!).
Rubber bands have perished but everything else is good. Rebuilt it several years ago with Thump / Thud over several wet weekends.

View post on imgur.com