[tommica]

I remember being a kid, and really wanting one of those for xmas - I think it was the first versions they had made of them. Unfortunately it was too expensive, but man did it look exciting, and the idea of having your own robots was so cooooool.

Oh well, years later I got access to computers and ended up doing programming, but now that I could afford one, I cannot find them anymore :(

[MaKey]

I got it as a kid but after diving into it I lost interest once I got everything working. I guess for me assembling things and getting them to work was always the most interesting part, after that I moved on to something else. Today I'm a DevOps Engineer :D

The parts should still be somewhere in my father's basement but getting them would take time. I found a new Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 1.5 on eBay (auction number 324365658011) if that is the one you are looking for.

[Teknoman117]

I do miss the heyday of LEGO Mindstorms. Everything seems to have moved to low-cost limited use sets you can get on Amazon. Lowering the bar of access is a good thing, but I do miss the feeling of having a big tub of LEGOs you could build anything you want from.

I guess the cool kids learn CAD and just 3D print the parts they want, which is also awesome (I wonder if there is any research in recycling failed designs or prints back into filament)

I certainly do that with PCBs these days. The cost went down so far I just throw a design together in kicad and have them made for me and shipped over in a week or two. It's only a few bucks more than ordering protoboards and doing all of the wiring myself. I'll exchange a lunch out for that convenience.