Vintage Bricks and Pieces magazine unearthed

 

  • Vintage Bricks and Pieces magazine unearthed

    Posted by Huw, 04 Mar 2013 06:54. Filed under Miscellaneous.

    Back in 2010, I was loaned a number of Bricks and Pieces, the magazine for the UK LEGO club back in the 1970s and 1980s, which I scanned and made available here at Brickset.

    I am grateful to Peter S for sending me scans of another issue, from autumn 1979, which I've just added to the archive.

    It's an interesting read, and harks back to a bygone, lost age. The article on the front cover about a shortage of LEGOLAND Space sets, which attempts to explain why there's a shortage, but not in a condescending way, is particularly interesting.

    I also wonder whether they managed to organise the trip to LEGOLAND Billund by ferry, for £50 a person. Unfortunately we don't have the spring 1980 issue to find out...

    As I said once before when discussing old B&Ps, the kids' models in the centre pages are actually quite good, and not the thrown-together bolocs models featured in today's issues. The model of the class 47 diesel loco is pretty good given the palette of parts available at the time, and the winner of the mosaic competition on the back page would not look out of place among AFOL creations today.

    Update: Peter S has provided scans of the spring and summer 1980 issues. I'm pleased to see that a club trip to Billund was organised (they flew from Luton, cost £75, which is about £300 in today's money) and had a wonderful time, according to the report in the summer issue!


    8 comments, latest one posted 2 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by The Lego Train Station in United Kingdom, 04 Mar 2013 12:10

Class 47? Looks more like a class 35 hymek to me... it's very nice we're getting these and being able to look back.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 04 Mar 2013 14:10

Yes, you are probably right, given it's a BO-BO, but within the limits of what was available at the time, it could be anything :-) Whatever, it brought back fond memories of attempting to replicate EMUs and class 33s (I lived in the Southern area :) )

Posted by paulmison in United States, 04 Mar 2013 17:33

I remember clearly the Pollution Patrol Vessel and the mosaics in that issue, so thanks for posting this. I'm also pretty sure that I went to Legoland in the winter of 1979, and it may well have been on that trip. (It's when my parents bought me #918, which I still have stored away, although sadly without its box.)

Posted by omnius in United Kingdom, 05 Mar 2013 15:29

Definitely a Hymek ;) It makes me wish Lego still put out things like this (in the UK at least).

Posted by Ravnut in United Kingdom, 05 Mar 2013 18:13

I'm 99.999% certain my Mother took me to the Lego Club Rally in Birmingham that's featured on the front cover.

Just a point...

I would have been 8 at the time and I'm not the beardy standing on the right of the picture!

Posted by Ian_S in United Kingdom, 06 Mar 2013 09:35

The trip to Billund was indeed fun! I'm in the photo (at the base of the stairs on the right with the decidedly dodgy haircut). I can fill in some of the hole in the Bricks 'n Pieces archive, certainly I've got 1979 No. 1&2. Although they're held together with yellowing cellotape (I didn't know any better as a child), issue 1 is worth it for the giant David Lyall recreation of my personal favourite Classic Space set: 928! Will fire up the scanner this evening.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 06 Mar 2013 16:51

Wow, a comment from someone who actually went! Glad to hear you had a good time!

Posted by The Lego Train Station in United Kingdom, 08 Mar 2013 12:09

Class 33s and EMUs Huw? You'll like these. (Well, you have probably seen...)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10063611@N06/

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