Last Christmas, I was visiting my parents when I discovered an cache of my LEGO Mania Magazines from when I was a kid. Last week, I decided they would make for some fun blog fodder and I posted the cover of the magazine and then the first page. For today's post, I figured it was time to move into the heart of the magazine!
First up, the "Maniac Mail Bag" page plus a short blurb about the new magazine.
I don't recall whether I had actually requested the magazine or if LEGO simply sent it to me. Either way, you can see that this issue is Winter 1994 and then the next issue was to be mailed to me in January of the next year.
There is also a short story that Andrew Mounce from Charleston, IL wrote about his Dragon Master. When I was a kid, I always thought it would have been cool to be featured in the magazine - later you'll see they also publish photos of kids' LEGO creations. As an adult, I have to say that Mounce's short story reads an awful lot like an advertisement...did a kid really fit in the exact name of seven different LEGO sets? I doubt it...
Finally, up in the top right corner you'll notice a "flip 'n build" section. Basically, every right-hand page has another step to a model which will culminate on the final page of the magazine. I won't spoil the surprise for you - see if you can guess what they are making!
Flipping over to page four, we get the first (complete) model instructions in the magazine.
This is a World War I Bi-Plane supposedly designed by an 11 year old from Florida. The thing that I immediately noticed about the instructions (looking at the page now) is just how unclear they are. No pieces used reference, no alternate angles of drawings, and very, very little in the way of clarification. This is even more surprising since you have to hunt for the proper pieces within your own collection (rather than from a small pile from a single boxed set)! I can tell you that I never attempted to build the Bi-Plane since I never had the proper wheels or propeller, nor the tail piece. It's also a bit too blocky for my tastes (then and now) so I don't think I ever missed out on much.
The LEGO Mania Magazine isn't all that long - but as a kid every page was pure gold! I must have spent hours and hours pouring over the various magazines, reading the articles, and mostly staring at sets that I someday hoped to obtain.
The next portion of the magazine delves into the Islanders theme that LEGO produced around this time - a theme that I own exactly one set from...you'll have to stay tuned for that (and maybe even a set review if I can find my lone Islanders set)!
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