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From portable transistor radios and girls’ own annuals to Game Boys and now drones, children’s Christmas presents have changed dramatically over the decades.
But Michael Peebles believes there is one gift which has stood the test of time – and he’s not talking about anything sappy like “love” or “time spent with family”.
“Lego,” the Bendigo Lego User Group Lego ambassador said.
“It’s the timelessness of Lego really, we’ve got a lot users whose collections date back to the ‘60s and late ‘70s and they can still use those bricks with their current stuff.”
So it didn’t take much in the way of debate for the group to come up with ideas for donations to the Bendigo Advertiser’s Christmas tree appeal.
Mr Peebles reckons the donated Lego sets will bring a smile to the face of the children who receive them. He knows this, because he happens to be hoping for a very similar present himself from the big bearded man in red.
“I suspect it will be bricks,” he said. “I doubt you can ever have enough.”
Earlier this year the group the Bendigo Lego User Group held an exhibition in Strathfieldsaye.
Lego exhibition in Strathfieldsaye
Hobbyists spend countless hours on pet projects but the Piggotts have spent decades.
The father and son duo began on their imaginary Lego city when Micheal was a boy. Dad Gary still has the first Lego piece they bought. He also has one or two more.
The pair have a sprawling city of trains and mono-rails winding over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past the Opera House and through street scenes ranging which include a police officer trying to convince a man not to jump from the top of a building and a team holding a net at the base in case he can’t. Over the water is the Eiffel Tower – and the Taj Mahal.
“The bridge alone took more than 200 hours,” Gary said. “It’s fair to say the kitchen table was out of action for a while.”
The pair displayed at the Bendigo Area Lego Designers on in May.