A Look Back: 1990 LEGO Magazine (Technic)

It's been a couple of weeks since I last showed off more of the 1990 LEGO Magazine.  

We are nearly done with this particular issue that I saved from my childhood but we still have one more major theme to take a look at:  Technic!

The Technic spread in this particular magazine doesn't seem to get the same sort of love and care that many of the other themes got.  For example, there are no super cool layouts or detailed scenes involving the models.  If I had to guess, I would say that LEGO was going for a slightly older audience here (even if the stated recommended ages are only 7-14).  As far as the models go, I actually owned set 8024 back in the day - it was one of three different Technic sets that I had.  Actually, set 8700 is also featured on this page (the Power Pack, one of my other three Technic sets).  The neat thing about those two sets together was that there were instructions in 8024 that used the motor from 8700.  The not-so-neat thing about that motor set is that it used a bunch of giant C batteries!

The other half of the featured Technic sets include some of the bigger models for the time period.  As a kid, I remember distinctly thinking that these sets were actually kind of ugly.  The Power Crane, in particular, is way too boxy looking to be of interest to me while the Auto Chassis is so bare bones that I never had much interest in that either.  The Forklift is probably the best looking of the four featured sets on the page but even that doesn't look great.  

I don't think I noticed this as a kid but looking at the magazine now I can't help but see how much the color red was used in Technic sets at the time!  There are a total of nine sets (counting the Power Pack) between the two pages.  Of those sets, five of them are predominantly red sets, three are predominantly yellow, and one (8832:  Roadster) is black.  Not a whole lot of color variety for Technic builders of the era!

I should also point out that the modern incarnation of Technic usually doesn't feature the classic LEGO studs.  That's a radical change from the old Technic sets (and truthfully, the modern approach means that the resulting Technic models have a much more sophisticated look to them).  In my eyes at least, the more modern sets look much more finished as compared to the old 1990 sets (especially that ugly Auto Chassis set)!

That does it for all of the major themes that LEGO had in 1990.  That said, we aren't quite through the entire magazine - there's still the "shop at home" section which features a bunch of cool little sets (and accessories).  Perhaps even more interesting, the "shop at home" section is the only part of the magazine that also has actual prices printed.  There are a couple of sets featured in the section that I owned as a kid but you'll have to wait until I scan and post the last few pages to find out what they were!  

Comments

  1. Their Technic sets are one of the things I still can't get into. They've come a long way in regards to designs, but in general I prefer the bricks.

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    1. Yeah, for the most part I agree with you Fuji. I will say that my (almost) 2-year-old loves the couple of Technic cars that I have, I think he likes seeing all of the moving gears.

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