LEGO Super Mario Starter Set
When I was a kid back in the early 80s, I loved going to arcades. But I didn’t always have easy access to them or the games. I might be able to see or play a game at a gas station or in front of a grocery store, but going to an actual arcade was a rare treat. So sometimes when I was at home, I’d play ‘pretend’ arcade games. One time I got a bunch of my dad’s dot matrix printer paper and spread it out from the front door to the back door. On one side of the paper I drew a Xevious map, and on the other side I drew a Zaxxon map. Then I got out my toy spaceships and played ‘pretend’ Xevious and Zaxxon with them. Of course I got in a little bit of trouble for using so much of my dad’s printer paper! Another time I cut out a paper chef’s hat and pepper shaker and played ‘pretend’ Burgertime around the house! And I think that aspect of pretend play is the main inspiration for the LEGO Super Mario sets. A couple of years ago, LEGO and Nintendo teamed up to make these, and there are tons of sets and expansions for them. I got the LEGO Super Mario Starter Set for Christmas and finally got around to putting it together with my brother Jeff, so let’s take a look at it!
