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. READ FULL ARTICLE »