For the Love of Legos

Adrian!!!! It's Rocky Ornament on alowisheskitsch at Etsy! Sweet Little Lego Man!

The Lego Plastic Block Enigma

I was a 70's kid. I lived in Lego land. I could spend hours playing with those little plastic blocks. I would rather build in Lego land than play with Barbies. What was wrong with me?  I wonder if somehow, they have inadvertently formed me into a plastic junkie.    Truth is, most of us had toys that were plastic, whether it was plastic dolls, plastic cowboys and indians, or plastic trucks and cars.  Maybe even bath plastic boats, or rubber ducks? I just think when you entered Lego land it was more of an addicting little play world.  Build, destroy, build, destroy, build, fall apart, built, bust up, build, rebuild, build bigger....must...build.....ack!

This great and rare vintage Lego set available on Etsy at tarlotoys !

According to Wikipedia, Legos were started by the Danish as wood toys. What?  I can't imagine them not being plastic, can you?  Of course when they figured out how much cheaper it was to produce them in plastic, they switched. Some early examples are museum worthy, and not to mention a pretty penny!

Sport this Lego purse, many styles available at Agabag on Etsy!

Adults Love Legos, If They Say No, They Are Lying

I worked with an ADULT guy at Diamond Comics. I remember him telling me about his Lego creations and how he was going to work at Lego land  Parks some day. Well, he won a contest and low and behold packed up his family to live his dream. Soon I'd get emails of his creations and he was making their displays (of which are huge.)   Imagine my surprise when I realized this guy is getting paid to play with toys ALL DAY LONG.


Now, for those of you who visited such places as Lego land, just admit it. You claim the trip was for your kids, but you really wanted to go and ride that Lego roller coaster yourself. You just won't convince me otherwise.

For the Lego lover, a vintage lego brick ring. how lovely!  At Gr0glmann.Etsy.com

Lego is Freakin' Huge

Just how big is Lego?  It's huge. In fact I think it's a cult. There are forums just for Legos, Lego Wikias, Websites dedicated to making Legos, adults who collect Legos, kids who want to grow up and be the next big Lego Display artist in Lego Land......sigh.  Oh, get this, do you think it's odd that in my spell check program, Lego is listed and auto corrects, but Etsy is not. Goodness!  Speaking of which, on Etsy, as I've displayed above tons of crafters are using Legos in their art. Used and new, Lego is a serious business.  Who would have thought those cute little plastic blocks would turn out to be loved by so many? 

Legos are being used for crafts, like these keen Lego Ornaments, buy them at agabag.etsy.com

Tell me, what are you best Lego memories?

About the Author:
Thanks for visiting Melmac Central aka my RetroChalet blog. I love all things vintage, plastic and retro.  I would appreciate you liking my Facebook page for the Melmac blog here, or even check out my RetroChalet shop on Etsy. Drop me a line below if you have a favorite lego memory <3.

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Rosti Melamine now Rosti Mepal Oh So Mod Pod!

Set of four Rosti Bowls by MagicMuti on Etsy, $39 and lovely.

The Rosti - Mepal company is still in business making lovely plastics today. The original Rosti Company was founded in 1944.  Mepal (another Dutch company) was founded in 1950. Mepal and Rosti collaborated in the early days, and over time their modern and functional designs became timeless icons in the kitchen industry (cookware, storage, and baking plastic products.)

This photo, from the official Rosti Mepal site, shows the popular Rosti bowl design kept alive !

In the early 90's, (1993 to be exact) Rosti and Mepal merged, so the company is now known as Rosti Mepal and is located in the Netherlands. It keeps alive the old popular lines of kitchen cookware like the mixing bowls, but adds other cool household products from time to time.

See the whole line of these MARGRETHE mixing bowls & Rosti Mepal products here.

Egon Wolff started the Mepal company--and since 1950 was known for his high end plastic products. Although the same "Margrethe" mixing bowl designs are still produced today, vintage ones are still easy to find, and highly sought after. They can be functional in your retro kitchen today!

ModernSpecific on Etsy offers this lovely mixing bowl in bright yellow.

ThankHugh offers this wonderful Rosti pitcher in lime green.

Some find it hard to tell vintage Rosti items from newer especially when the products are still being made and sometimes in similiar colors! Certain colors are discontinued which may help you date age.  The older backstamps differ and have changed over time--I've counted four plus of them.  Good designs stay true over time.

This backstamp, as shown by BeggarsandChoosers on Etsy  , was on my mother's mixing bowls from the 1970's. 

More variations in backstamp as shown by Midwest Splendor on Etsy.  (Left-cursive, Right-words going around the outside and no inside backstamp.)

So how else to tell?  Even more confusing, the vintage items also had rubber non-slip bottoms --like the new, but the old often show rubber that may be dry rotted with age.  Just when you think dry rubber can help you, it can't, as this however could also have happened when a 1990's housewife put in the dishwasher too much.  Some rubber rings will be missing altogether. 

Luola offers this great set.

Whatever the case, mixing the old with the new can make for an interesting kitchen!