I’ve been wandering the excellent Peeron website devoted to Lego for a while now, but only recently got around to looking at the scanned catalogues they have. Specifically, the 1985 one.

I was three years old in 1985, and can’t remember much about it beyond a few fragmented mental images of where we lived then, my parents car, and a couple of places we went to regularly. But I do still have all the Lego from then.

Looking through the pages brought it all back. There was the car and caravan, which always puzzled me as one of the Lego chaps had to sit in the caravan while it was being towed due to the cars only having one seat. I was always a bit worried about this as I’d been around caravans from the age of six months and knew that people weren’t allowed to travel in them. They were probably alright providing they avoided the Police station with its helicopter, car, and motorbikes,

There was also the Police van with the working siren and lights, which I still have. The siren had two modes, switched by turning the top of the top hat-like brick.

The breakdown truck was there, but without the annoying problem mine always had of the hook slowly descending if you put any load on it (such as a Police van with a 9v battery inside to power the lights). Likewise there are a significant number of yellow earthmovers which I still have somewhere and the very neat set featuring a car, working jack, and what appears to be a wheel balancing machine.

The other interesting part is to compare it to the current range. There is still a large dump truck, although the modern one is larger and has things like a cab (evidently ROPS has arrived in Legoland). The small digger has larger wheels, but a less impressive engine and scoop. The cement mixer is wider, has a detailed cab, and uses gears to rotate the drum rather than it just being mounted on a swivel.

There are more specialised pieces now, but the sets look much better for it. They’ve transitioned from pure toys to models that happen to be made from Lego. Certainly there’s nothing in the 1985 catalogue to compare with the tower crane I mentioned a while ago.

And yet, some of the modern range just doesn’t compare. The 1985 Lego astronauts have craft that look far more interesting than the current bunch, and no slightly unethical story about going to an alien planet, taking crystals, and bashing the "aliens" when they complain. The old Lego astronauts, one sensed, would have introduced any aliens they met to their robot friend who looked not unlike a post box with arms before offering them a ride on the single-seat jetpack thing. If the chap in the red spacesuit didn’t mind anyway, it was his flying armchair after all.

The 1985 railway wasn’t radio controlled, but it had recognisable models of real trains and included things like remote controlled points, signals, and uncouplers. You could build a decent layout with the older stuff given space and funds. Now the only additional parts you can get are a rather natty station and assorted track. If your parents bought you the high speed train, in other words, all you’ll be able to do is buy armfuls of track and annexe the living room for your railway empire.

Unfortunately I never had the old Lego trains. I did make up for it later when the 9v system turned up.

I think I shall have to go up to the attic and hunt for a six wheeled dump truck tomorrow…