60 Years of Lego Part 1

The plastic brick building system Lego was developed 60 years ago in Denmark in 1949. In the first of two parts about this remarkable toy, I was lucky enough to be able to interview Joseph, my local Lego expert, aged nine.

Taccola: What’s your favourite Lego set?
Joseph: The Dino Attack Helicopter.

The Dino Attack Helicopter.

T: How long have you had it?
J: Two or three years.

T: Why is it your favourite?
J: Because it’s big, and I like big sets, and it’s long so it’s easy to carry and it’s not delicate.

Indiana Jones Flying Wing

T: What’s your favourite single piece?
J: The wing from the Indiana Jones Lego Set ‘Fight on the Flying wing’. It’s the biggest piece. I bought this one with my own money.

T: Why is Lego good stuff?
J: Because you build it, and then you can play with it and the characters, or you can break it and build it again.

T: How many Lego sets do you have?
J: Around 30.

T: How old were you when you got your first Lego set, and what was it? J: About six – it was an old style set called ‘Wookie Attack’. I’m nine now.

T: What’s the smallest piece you’ve got?
J: Probably the single round flat piece.

T: What’s the biggest thing you’ve made that is your own design or invention?
J: Dino Attack Base.

T: How did you design it?
J: I broke most of my Dino Attack Lego, and then I got the tracks from the tank and attached them to the base that I built and then I built onto it. I put stuff onto it that I liked like cannons and characters.

T: What is the most important thing about Lego?
J: That it’s not Mega Bloks! It’s bits and pieces – it’s not just one thing.

T: What’s the biggest Lego set in the world?
J: The $1,000 dollar Millennium Falcon limited edition.

T: What’s your favourite type of Lego?
J: Star Wars Lego – not the Clone Wars, the older type.

T: What Lego do you want next?
J: There’s a few; the AT-AT Walker; the Dino Attack jeep thing; the Ahsoka Starfighter and droids and the Hailfire droid.

T: What do you think you’ve learned from using Lego?
T: Everything I know about Star Wars!

Building Bionicles in a couple of minutes. Building Lego much quicker and not needing any help.

T: What don’t you like about Lego?
J: Nothing except the new style the Clone Wars – because they have the worst designs and the characters with big eyes.

T: Would you like to go to Legoland in Denmark?
J:Yes!

T: Thank you Joseph!