Lego is 90: Many exciting things can be built from the Danish clamp blocks, including nerd stuff – from the space shuttle to the typewriter.
A pack of a few plastic bricks that you can use to build almost anything your imagination can throw at you: Even after 90 years, Lego still fascinates both young people and adult hobbyists. With a friendly “adults welcome”, Lego also invites adults to plug in the clamping blocks. Heise online has collected a few suggestions and presents the seven nerdiest sets from the Lego universe.
Set 71374 – Nintendo Entertainment System
(Image: Lego)
The game console from the 1980s was not only one of the most popular consoles of its time, but it is also responsible for classics like Super Mario. Lego offers the gray box including a game cartridge and gamepad. Of course, the model cannot be connected to a real television for gaming, but you can build one yourself – including a moving scene from Super Mario. Also hidden in the console is a miniature version of the first level of Super Mario.
Set 10306 – Atari VCS 2600
(Image: Lego)
The console is considered one of the most culturally important game consoles in history. Atari has (if you add up all model variants) sold 30 million devices. Lego offers a replica of the console with three cartridges, a joystick and scenes from the respective games are also part of the package. Inside the naturally non-functional replica is a scene from a 1970s children’s room where the console appeared. The joystick feels just as “wobbly” as its role model.
Set 10283 – NASA Space Shuttle Discovery STS-31
(Image: Lego)
On April 24, 1990, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope into space with the STS-31 shuttle mission. For this reason, Lego released a 1:69 scale model in 2021. From the more than 2300 parts of the set you not only build the shuttle with its gripper arm, but also the Hubble space telescope. Both can be set up together (telescope in the cargo hold) or separately.
Set 21327 – The Typewriter
(Image: Lego)
From the Lego Ideas series comes a set that represents a mechanical typewriter as it was used until the second half of the last century. Lego writes: “It was inspired by the classic typewriter that Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the founder of the LEGO Group, once used.”
You can’t type real letters on the set, which consists of more than 2000 parts, but the keys work, and at first glance the small machine cannot be distinguished from a real one. A personal letter from the Lego boss in numerous languages ​​is included so that you also have something to clamp for the role.
Set 10294 – The Titanic
(Image: Lego)
You certainly don’t have to write much more about the Titanic. The ship, which sank on its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, is one of the technical marvels of the time. Lego’s Titanic model set has a scale of 1:200 and consists of over 9,000 parts. This makes it one of the largest sets ever.
When completed, the model is 135 cm long, 44 cm high and 16 cm wide. Large parts of it are made of refurbished air, but it can be split in two places at any time to reveal the inner workings of the ocean giant. Among other things, the engines, the cabins, the large staircase and the indoor swimming pool can be seen there.
Set 10300 – The time machine from “Back to the Future”
(Image: Lego)
Without a doubt, “Back to the Future” is one of the best-known and most successful films of the 1980s. And the Delorean DMC-12 converted into a time machine became the most famous film car of all time. Lego brings the car as a set in three versions. Depending on your preference, you can choose a variant (1985, 1955 or 1885).
The real fan buys the Delorean set, which also includes a lighted “flux compensator”, three times, of course, to have all the vehicles at once. Lego has even considered the flight function of the time machine: With a lever on the bottom, the wheels can be brought into a horizontal position. Marty McFly and Doc Emmet Brown are included as minifigures, unfortunately the dog Einstein is not. Fun fact on the side: Lego does not mention the manufacturer of the car at all. It is only ever spoken of “The Time Machine”.
Set 10497 – The Galaxy Explorer
(Image: Lego)
On the occasion of its 90th birthday, Lego is reissuing a special set. The Galaxy Explorer was originally released in 1979 under set number 497. The 2022 model leans heavily on the old spaceship. But it comes with more parts, more functions and also much larger. The set lacks the iconic base plates with the moon craters. You can only buy these used because Lego no longer has them in their range.
Set 75192 – Star Wars Millennium Falcon
(Image: Lego)
Lego and Star Wars have been inseparable since the 2000s. With the Ultimate Collectors Edition (UCS), the company brings a vehicle from the galaxy far, far away to earth almost every year. Usually at astronomical prices. This also applies to the Millennium Falcon: Han Solo’s spaceship is always part of the Lego product range.
The most recent UCS version of the falcon was released in 2017. With more than 7,500 parts and a proud price tag of almost 800 euros, the “fastest rust bucket in the galaxy” makes a difference. voonze online tried twice to set up the Millenium Falcon in world record time.
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