rec.toys.lego

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Revision as of 05:27, 2 November 2024 by Ringtail Raider (talk | contribs) (i might split Lego information into its own page, it seems notable even if nothing from it has survived)
rec.toys.lego
A rec.toys.lego message from September 1994 viewed in a Windows 3.1 newsreader
Type of site
Usenet newsgroup
Created byDavid Koblas (RTL)
URLrec.toys.lego
Launched
  • January 1993 (ATL)
  • 10 January 1994; 30 years ago (10 January 1994) (RTL)

rec.toys.lego (often abbreviated RTL)[1] 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] before moving to the rec.* hierarchy one year later.

History

The alt.toys.lego newsgroup was created in January 1993.[4][note 1] It was the first of a number of toy-related newsgroups in the alt.toy.* hierarchy; others created later in 1993 included alt.toys.hi-tech in May and alt.toys.transformers in September.[U 1][U 2] ATL received continuous activity soon after its creation; however, 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.[4] 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.[U 4][U 5]

On 14 October 1993, ATL user David Koblas drafted a proposal for the creation of rec.toys.lego and rec.toys.misc, both under a new rec.toys.* hierarchy.[5][U 6] 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 ATL's readers enough to draw them away from that newsgroup.[5][U 7] Voting for the two new groups began on 30 November and ended on 21 December.[U 8][6] The results were announced on 3 January 1994: 243 users voted, and both newsgroups passed overwhelmingly.[5] The new rec.toys.lego newsgroup was created on 10 January 1994 under the following charter:[6]

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.

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

As it was proposed alongside RTL, 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. Many other toy-related newsgroups were created in rec.* over the following years, though some groups like alt.toys.transformers remained active in alt.*.[5] ATL was largely abandoned, though it continued to exist and receive occasional posts.[4] Some Internet directories in the 1990s continued referring to ATL as the primary LEGO newsgroup over RTL.[7]

Discussions

What content was discussed on RTL. Also a section about related sites, including fan sites, the reasons for LEGO.com, and LUGNET replacing RTL.

Associated websites

LEGO Information

LEGO Information Page from 16 December 1994 (top half)
LEGO Information Page from 16 December 1994 (bottom half)
The LEGO Information website in December 1994

There are many things here, but it's been somewhat difficult to get everything organized.

David Koblas, legowww.homepages.com[8]

RTL founder David Koblas launched an experimental LEGO website (at the time called a "LEGO WWW server") on 28 December 1993.[U 9] Originally available at legowww.itek.norut.no, in November 1994 the domain name was changed to legowww.homepages.com when Koblas moved the server hosting from Norut in Norway to his own California-based company, Home Pages, for faster access speeds.[U 10][9] Koblas's website, titled LEGO Information, featured pages covering the history of LEGO, the LEGO Builders Club, lists of sets that were available to purchase at the time,[8][7] parts lists, and a written tour of the at LEGO factory in Enfield, Connecticut.[10] The site also offered entertainment, such as ideas for LEGO projects, games using LEGO, computer programs, and a "LEGO theme song". It additionally hosted images from LEGO catalogues and snapshots of television commercials alongside pictures of homemade LEGO models and LEGO robots.[9][8][11] A link near the top of the home page invited viewers to contact Koblas and submit new information, suggestions for site improvements, and images of their own LEGO creations.[8] Other links directed readers to external websites.[7][10]

LEGO Information was one of the first pages on the World Wide Web dedicated to LEGO. Koblas's website was featured in Jim Sterne's 1995 book World Wide Web Marketing, where it was praised for its positive tone and user-friendly layout.[8] In March 1996 LEGO Information was featured in MacUser's list of 101 must-see websites. It was placed in the "Have You Lost Your Mind?" section, alongside other websites with subject matters considered niche or unusual.[12]

In 1995 things went wrong

Notes

  1. ↑ The earliest alt.toys.lego post archived on Google Groups is from 18 February 1993.[U 11] An alt.* newsgroup listing from 5 February 1993 does not include alt.toys.lego;[U 12] however, an archived message in alt.fan.warlord appears to reply to an ATL message dated 5 February 1993,[U 13] and ATL is mentioned in a news.admin.policy message from 8 February.[U 14] Koblas's RTL proposal from October 1993 refers to ATL as having been active for nine months.[U 6]
  2. ↑ A rec.toys newsgroup had previously been suggested in news.groups in April 1993, though it had not been created.[U 3]

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. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 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.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Eaton, David (10 September 2013). "The AFOL History Project". Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Text is CC BY-SA 3.0.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Bohannon, Ric (1996). "Hobbies, Travel & Tourism". In Gagnon, Eric (ed.). What's on the Web (Spring/Summer 1996 ed.). Fairfax, Virginia: Internet Media Corp. p. 179. ISBN 1-884640-19-2.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Sterne, Jim (1995). "Interactivity Is King – LEGO On-Line". World Wide Web Marketing: Integrating the Internet into Your Marketing Strategy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 133–136. ISBN 0-471-12843-0.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Betts, Mitch (September 11, 1995). "Lego finds unauthorized Web pages easy to build". Computerworld. Vol. 29, no. 37. Framingham, Massachusetts: IDG. p. 68. ISSN 0010-4841.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Maxwell, Christine (1995). McKinley Internet Directory. Indianapolis: New Riders Publishing. p. 524. ISBN 1-56205-439-2.
  11. ↑ Schepp, Debra Sorkowitz; Schepp, Brad (1995). Kidnet: The Kid's Guide to Surfing Through Cyberspace. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 154–155. ISBN 0-06-273380-X.
  12. ↑ Myslewski, Rik; Brisbin, Shelly; Snell, Jason; et al. (March 1996). "Welcome to the Web!". MacUser. Vol. 12, no. 3. New York: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. p. 81. ISSN 0884-0997.

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Usenet posts

  1. ↑ USENET news (20 May 1993). "Create newsgroup alt.toys.hi-tech". Newsgroup: alt.toys.hi-tech. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024.
  2. ↑ Steven Mar (12 September 1993). "Transformers E-Mailing List". Newsgroup: alt.toys.transformers. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024.
  3. ↑ E. Kontei (23 April 1993). "Test Baloon: rec.toys". Newsgroup: news.groups. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  4. ↑ Ron Carter (16 September 1993). "A thought for discussion..." Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024.
  5. ↑ Ron Carter (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.
  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. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Ed Bailey (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.
  9. ↑ Koblas, David (28 December 1993). "Experimental WWW server online". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024.
  10. ↑ Koblas, David (12 November 1994). "Re: WWW: LEGO page". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 1 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Daniel LaLiberte (18 February 1993). "Lego strategy game". Newsgroup: alt.toys.lego. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Nick Leverton (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...
  14. ↑ Erik Olivers (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.

External links

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