It was the summer of 1979 and I was 9 years old. I was spending part of the summer with my grandparents in Butler, Alabama.  I owned a few LEGO sets, a couple small vehicle sets and one of the old flip-top cover Universal Building Set. (Those sets with the clear plastic tray organizer.)  At the time I was more interested in Star Wars Figures than LEGO Bricks, but by the end of that summer I would be hooked on LEGO bricks for life.

It all started with my Grandparents buying me my first major LEGO set, the Police Station (Set #381), pictured below.

I still have this set, with the exeption of one rare missing brick, the antenta.  I’ve seen this part for sale a few times, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to pay $10 for one brick to complete this set.  Eventually I’ll probably break down and buy it though.

Over the next year, I spent all my money and asked exclusively for town sets and road base plates for any gift-giving occasions. Pictured below is the full set of 1979/1980 town sets which I collected during that time period.

These pictures were taken a few years ago when I had my old town sets assembled on the floor of my guest bedroom.

You might notice in the picture that I also added some newer sets with my old town sets in this picture. (Like the Pizza Shop and Trains) I also have a 1980 LEGO Town catalog open in from of my town display.

The only Town set pictured in this catalog that I didn’t own as a child was Main Street (Set #6390). This was the most expensive town set of the time, and I never managed to save enough to buy it.  I ended up waiting 23 years to own it until 2003 when LEGO re-issued it as Set #10041. My dad bought it for me that year as a Christmas gift, which completed my collection I had started as a 9 year old boy.

I still own almost every brick I ever have. The story of how I still have these old sets almost 30 years later, is an interesting one that I will save for another day.