I'm sure it's somewhere...

Meccano Accessory Outfit? Check. Meccano brass gear outfit? Check. Meccano Magic Clockwork Motor? Check. John Bull Repair Outfit? (For the man who will have the best; note: I did not just make that up) Check. Okana Fruit wood crate that once shipped Canadian pears? Check.

LEGO picture window? Check. LEGO auto wheels? I think there's three. LEGO evergreen tree? One side still looks intact. LEGO front door? Still in one piece, but missing plastic window. LEGO box to store it all in? Long, long gone to the god of landfills.

Seeing a pattern here? The Meccano set I described above once belonged to my dad. In creating content for a toy magazine my group and I are developing, I finally got around to taking these sets out of the old pear crate. Within moments I felt like I was opening a time capsule. Much of it is in very good condition considering its age, which I guess at being more than 60 years old. My dad loved his Meccano set and built many things as a young boy living in rural Saskatchewan. As interesting as his sets are, what I found more curious was that my dad had tacked little nails everywhere on the bottom of the crate. All Meccano plates have holes along their edge and many loose plates were organized by my dad with a series of tiny nails to keep them from shifting about.

It's important to note that at the age of 40, this is the first time I've ever emptied out the contents of this crate to look at all the parts. My father guarded this Meccano set for years. Time came when he outgrew them, but seeing how maybe his own children were a little destructive with their toys, we were not allowed to go near this box. My dad passed away five years ago this past January. When my siblings and I helped my mom move out of her house shortly after, there were possessions she distributed among her children. She asked me if I would like to have this set as my own and I gladly accepted. Even after 40 years, I wait for a day when I can sit down on a bad weather day and tinker with everything inside this old pear crate.

Video of the New Zealand Meccano Exhibition is courtesy of YouTube. (and if you think this is pretty amazing, check this out)

As for the LEGO you see here, it never had the luxury of being put into hiding for 30 years. I inherited these parts as well when my mom relocated. These LEGO parts were part of a set I believe was given to my sister when she was about the age of ten. She and my brother shared the set and it was handed down to me as I became older. I remember my neighborhood friends would come over and we would build toy cars and little bungalows complete with plastic trees for the front yard. When we all reached adulthood, this set sat idle. For a time. Once my sister had children and they would come over to visit grandma and grandpa, her daughters would pull out the LEGO from under the bed, occupying themselves for long periods of time.

This LEGO set has captivated dozens of imaginations in its lifetime. Hence, the box was nearly in tatters when the time came to store them in my home. Now, the parts rest comfortably in a white plastic Tupperware container until the next pairs of hands are ready to snap and configure the parts any way he or she desires.

I can't wait to sit back and watch.