Rec.toys.lego: Difference between revisions

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'''rec.toys.lego''' (often referred to as '''RTL'''<ref name="Seybold"/> or '''r.t.l''') is a [[Wikipedia:Usenet|Usenet]] [[Wikipedia:Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup]] dedicated to the discussion of [[LEGO]] products and [[LEGO clone|LEGO-compatible toys]].<ref name="Engst"/> It was one of the earliest online LEGO fan communities, starting in early 1993 as '''alt.toys.lego''' ('''ATL'''<ref name="Bender"/> or '''a.t.l''') before moving to the ''rec.*'' [[Wikipedia:Usenet newsgroup#Hierarchies|hierarchy]] one year later.
'''rec.toys.lego''' (often referred to as '''RTL'''<ref name="Seybold"/> or '''r.t.l''') is a [[Wikipedia:Usenet|Usenet]] [[Wikipedia:Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup]] dedicated to the discussion of [[LEGO]] products and [[LEGO clone|LEGO-compatible toys]].<ref name="Engst"/> It was one of the earliest online LEGO fan communities, starting in early 1993 as '''alt.toys.lego''' ('''ATL'''<ref name="Bender"/> or '''a.t.l''') before moving to the ''rec.*'' [[Wikipedia:Usenet newsgroup#Hierarchies|hierarchy]] one year later. The newsgroup led to the creation of many other online communities, most notably [[LUGNET]], and additionally played a role in the [[LEGO Group]] creating [[LEGO.com]].


== History ==
== History ==

Revision as of 19:02, 14 August 2025

rec.toys.lego
A rec.toys.lego message from September 1994 viewed in a Windows 3.1 newsreader
Type of site
Usenet newsgroup
Available inEnglish
Created byDavid Koblas
URLrec.toys.lego
Launched
  • January 1993 (ATL)
  • 10 January 1994; 31 years ago (1994-01-10) (RTL)

rec.toys.lego (often referred to as RTL[1] or r.t.l) is a Usenet newsgroup dedicated to the discussion of LEGO products and LEGO-compatible toys.[2] It was one of the earliest online LEGO fan communities, starting in early 1993 as alt.toys.lego (ATL[3] or a.t.l) before moving to the rec.* hierarchy one year later. The newsgroup led to the creation of many other online communities, most notably LUGNET, and additionally played a role in the LEGO Group creating LEGO.com.

History

The alt.toys.lego newsgroup was created by David Koblas[U 1] in January 1993.[4][note 1] It was the first of a number of toy-related newsgroups in the alt.* hierarchy;[6] others created later in 1993 included alt.toys.hi-tech in May and alt.toys.transformers in September.[U 8][U 9] Although alt.toys.lego developed an active community soon after its creation,[6] the alt.* hierarchy was not well-propagated due to many dial-up Internet service providers not offering it to subscribers; suggestions were made in many alt.* groups to migrate to one of the Big 7 hierarchies as a result.[4][7]: 156  A new LEGO newsgroup under the rec.* (recreation) hierarchy was suggested in September 1993,[note 2] with the goal of making the community more accessible to readers without access to alt.* newsgroups.[U 13][U 14]

On 14 October 1993, David Koblas drafted a proposal for the creation of rec.toys.lego and rec.toys.misc, both unmoderated and under a new rec.toys.* hierarchy.[6][U 6] Koblas had originally wanted to create alt.toys.lego in the rec.* hierarchy, but did not believe it would pass a vote for creation at the time.[U 1][note 3] The name rec.toys.construction was alternatively suggested as a more inclusive name that would allow for discussion of other construction toys; Koblas rejected this idea, as his original intention was to increase the LEGO newsgroup's readership by moving it out of the alt.* hierarchy, and he felt that the alternate name would not appeal to LEGO enthusiasts enough to draw them away from the alt.toys.lego newsgroup.[6][U 15] Voting for the two new groups began on 30 November and ended on 21 December.[U 16][9] The results were announced on 3 January 1994: 243 users voted, and both newsgroups passed overwhelmingly (219 "yes" against 20 "no" for rec.toys.lego, and 211 "yes" against 18 "no" for rec.toys.misc).[6] The new rec.toys.lego newsgroup was created on 10 January 1994 under the following charter:[9]

rec.toys.lego seen in a list of rec.* newsgroups, c. 1994

To provide a forum for the discussion of all things and experiences relating to the Lego(tm), Duplo(tm) and compatible construction toys. Including interesting models that one has built, experiences one has had using legos, or questions about how to build particular components.

As it was proposed alongside rec.toys.lego, the rec.toys.misc newsgroup was originally described as covering "non-Lego toys topics, from Barbi [sic] Dolls to My Little Pony gift sets." Its charter's wording was soon altered so that it would cover all toys that did not have their own newsgroup within the rec.toys.* hierarchy, without any reference to LEGO. Within a few months, activity in rec.toys.misc had surpassed rec.toys.lego. Many other toy-related newsgroups were created in rec.* over the following years, although some groups like alt.toys.transformers remained active in alt.*.[6] alt.toys.lego was largely abandoned following rec.toys.lego's creation; despite users sending rmgroup messages to have the newsgroup removed, however, it remained available in some news servers and continued to receive occasional messages.[4][U 1]

Notes

  1. ↑ The exact date of its creation is unknown. The earliest alt.toys.lego post archived on Google Groups is from 18 February 1993.[U 2] A list of alt.* newsgroups from 5 February 1993 does not include alt.toys.lego;[U 3] however, an archived message in alt.fan.warlord (a newsgroup dedicated to mocking bizarre and excessive signatures)[5] quotes an alt.toys.lego message dated 5 February 1993,[U 4] and alt.toys.lego is mentioned in a news.admin.policy message from 8 February 1993.[U 5] Koblas's rec.toys.lego proposal from 14 October 1993 refers to alt.toys.lego as having been active for nine months,[U 6] and the FAQ post from 11 January 1994 claims alt.toys.lego had existed for "almost one year".[U 7]
  2. ↑ A rec.toys newsgroup had previously been suggested in news.groups in April 1993, though it had not been created.[U 10] rec.toys.construction, rec.toys.system, and rec.toys.lego were all suggested as possible subgroups for replacing alt.toys.lego.[U 11][U 12]
  3. ↑ Newsgroups in the alt.* hierarchy can be created by anyone without approval, while those in the Big 8 (originally the Big 7) require discussion and voting to be created. The Usenet acceptance criteria requires at least two-thirds of the votes to be for "yes", and for there to be at least 100 more votes for "yes" than for "no".[8][7]

References

  1. ↑ Seybold, Patricia B. (2006). Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future. New York: HarperCollins. p. 392. ISBN 0-06-113590-9.
  2. ↑ Engst, Adam C. (1994). Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Hayden Books. p. 850. ISBN 1-56830-111-1.
  3. ↑ Bender, Jonathan (2010). LEGO: A Love Story. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0-470-40702-8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Eaton, David (July 25, 2013). "20th Anniversary of the Online LEGO Community!". Brickset Forum. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kehoe, Brendan P. (1994). Zen and the Art of the Internet (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PTR Prentice Hall. p. 47. ISBN 0-13-121492-6. The newsgroup alt.fan.warlord is a dumping ground for the most heinous of signature violations. In the course of reading news, people occasionally do follow-ups into alt.fan.warlord to show off their latest discoveries — talking whales, ten-line-high cacti, and a variety of other ASCII miracles.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Myers, Eric G. (September 17, 1996). "A Brief History of Toy-Related Usenet Newsgroups". Raving Toy Maniac. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Carroll, Jim; Broadhead, Rick; Cassel, Don (1997). 1997 Internet Handbook (Educational ed.). Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada, Inc. pp. 156, 158–161. ISBN 0-13-851487-9.
  8. ↑ Barr, David (1995). "So You Want to Create an Alt Newsgroup". Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on 24 January 1997.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Eaton, David (10 September 2013). "The AFOL History Project". Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Text is CC BY-SA 3.0.

Usenet messages

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pfeifer, Tom (12 December 1994). "Re: rec.toys.lego vs alt.toy.lego Question". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Quoting post by David Koblas (December 1994). "Re: rec.toys.lego vs alt.toy.lego Question". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. 1 year and 11 months ago I created alt.toys.lego, since I didn't think that rec.toys.lego would pass a vote without some precidence... [sic] 11 months ago, I caused the creation of rec.toys.lego and rec.toys.misc based on the success of alt.toys.lego.
  2. ↑ LaLiberte, Daniel (18 February 1993). "Lego strategy game". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024.
  3. ↑ The Society for Reviling ATnT (February 5, 1993). "Another listing of newsgroups in the "alt" Usenet hierarchy". Newsgroup: alt.newgroup. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024.
  4. ↑ Leverton, Nick (11 February 1993). "Re: LegoLand in England??". Newsgroup: alt.fan.warlord. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. In alt.toys.lego, article <[email protected]> [email protected] (Nick Pettefar) writes...
  5. ↑ Olivers, Erik (8 February 1993). "Re: Anonymous postings to non-personals newsgroups". Newsgroup: news.admin.policy. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Koblas, David (14 October 1993). "RFD: rec.toys.lego and rec.toys.misc". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  7. ↑ Pfeifer, Tom (12 December 1994). "LEGO frequently asked questions". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024.
  8. ↑ USENET news (20 May 1993). "Create newsgroup alt.toys.hi-tech". Newsgroup: alt.toys.hi-tech. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024.
  9. ↑ Mar, Steven (12 September 1993). "Transformers E-Mailing List". Newsgroup: alt.toys.transformers. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024.
  10. ↑ Conty, Enrique "E. Kontei" (23 April 1993). "Test Baloon: rec.toys". Newsgroup: news.groups. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  11. ↑ Smith, Lawrence C. (29 April 1993). "Re: Test Baloon: rec.toys". Newsgroup: news.groups. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Smith, Lawrence C. (29 April 1993). "Re: Test Balloon: rec.toys". Newsgroup: news.groups. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  13. ↑ Carter, Ron (16 September 1993). "A thought for discussion..." Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  14. ↑ Carter, Ron (18 September 1993). "OK, how about a modified suggestion (trying to please all :-)". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Koblas, David (16 November 1993). "2nd RFD: rec.toys.lego vs rec.toys.construction (straw poll vote)". Newsgroup: news.groups. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024.
  16. ↑ Bailey, Ed (30 November 1993). "CFV: rec.toys.lego and rec.toys.misc". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
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