One of the first sets to use the tyres that populates the CITY line today......

Two days in a row, RSotD hits me right in the feels! Oh wow, sit down everyone. I've got a yarn to spin about this little set. You see, this was THE FIRST Lego set I ever owned. And because of it, I am the Lego Maniac that I am today.

So how did such a humble set lead to the 600+ set collection that dominates a whole media room and closet that I possess today? Certainly, there were no signs to indicate I would be a Lego kid. My first toys were stuffed animals, but I quickly moved on to a fascination with trains. This meant die-cast Thomas the Tank Engine toys, but also all manner of moving toys. Toy robots, space shuttle launching replicas, and a plethora of toy cars in all shapes and sizes dominated my playtime. Perhaps these opened the door to a quiet discovery one evening in 1993.

Our small apartment had a wall of cabinets opposite the kitchen counter where we would all eat meals. One evening, I was probing the cabinets, as any curious boy might do, and found a most fascinating object: a bright yellow box with a strange depiction of some kind of blue doll astride a wheeled contraption. The box was open, so I could see a clear bag inside filled with colorful parts that matched some of what I saw on the box image. Feeling bold, I pulled the box out of the cabinet and onto the counter.

My mother undoubtedly observed this, but she probably wasn't too concerned. After all, I was just about 5 and for all she knew, this was just another toy. But she couldn't see the magic revealing itself to my child-eyes as I laid out the pieces and unfolded the instruction sheet.

I can't say I remember the building experience, but I do recall noticing some pieces were missing, and with my mom's help, found them in the cabinet. Complete, I had my first Lego set before me! I began to play and puzzle over this creation, which now was obviously a car to me, and the doll a driver figure, a decent simulation of a person.

It took a while to sink in. I'd like to imagine as I slept that night, ethereal bricks and pieces started to snap together in my subconscious, my brain chemistry ever so slightly re-wiring to this new, pivotal experience. In the following days, I would play a lot with the Mud Runner, and I even began taking it apart to build the other sets suggested by the back of the box. It was starting to make sense.

But what hit me (and eventually, my parents' wallets) was the discovery of the fold-out advertisement in the box. With the Mud Runner beside me, I gazed for a long time at a scene filled with Lego people and Lego cars and Lego monorails and Lego ships and Lego space shuttles; I was glimpsing a whole world of Lego. I was glimpsing my future!

In the actual moment, my eyes were drawn to the other vehicles in the photograph. I zeroed in on the "articulated lorry" that came with 6542. It reminded me so much of the trucks I saw on the road to my grandmother's house most weekends. In Lego form, it had the same wheels as the back pair from the Mud Runner. Vainly, I strived to make the truck from just the one set. As I was immediately thwarted, a new, important realization came to me: I needed more pieces. But how? And lo! The answer was there in front of me, on the page, and I knew then and there that other Lego sets existed, bigger and more intricate and with more pieces. Enough to build everything I imagined! Enough to build a world!

That was how it began. The day I became a Lego Maniac. All other toys fell away or lost their luster. In time, pieces and sets would accumulate, and new themes wilder than any glimpsed back in 1993 prsented themselves. But I never forgot the Mud Runner. It fell into disrepair. The white clips broke, and many times I had to replace them. But I would replace them a hundred times if necessary. Such honor is deserved to such an important part of my childhood.

In 2016, I found someone selling a sealed copy of this set for $20. No debate; I have it as a memorial and reminder, since my original Mud Runner box was destroyed a long time ago. But I still have the original set and instructions.

I know th

[Continued from my post above]

I know this story is long and silly in the great scheme of things. I am not a great man, and I may not leave much impact on this world when all is said and done. But I'd like to think in the story of my life, this set made a difference. My life would be very different if I didn't pull it out of the cabinet that day (I found out later it was hidden there because my grandmother got it for me years earlier, and my parents sequestered it for fear that I might eat and choke on the pieces), to say the least of how my Lego fandom progressed. Often times, it is the small things that make the biggest difference in a person's life. Small acts of kindness, people of small or brief importance, and yes, I would argue even small, trifling toys. Treasure those small and precious things, and remember: one day, you too may pass on that small gift that changes somebody's life.