LEGO @lemmy.world sbv @sh.itjust.works 8 mo. ago

Teenager finds ‘holy grail’ Lego octopus from 1997 spill off Cornwall coast

www.theguardian.com Teenager finds ‘holy grail’ Lego octopus from 1997 spill off Cornwall coast

Boy discovers octopus figurine that fell from cargo ship along with 5m other Lego pieces during storm

The octopus is one of nearly 5m Lego pieces that fell into the sea in 1997 when a storm hit a cargo ship 20 miles off Land’s End, Cornwall. While 352,000 pairs of flippers, 97,500 scuba tanks, and 92,400 swords went overboard, the octopuses are considered the most prized finds as only 4,200 were onboard.

21 comments

To clarify, the octopus mold itself isn’t particularly rare or expensive. The article refers to this individual piece as a “holy grail” because among the parts of the Cornwall flotsam, the “octopuses are considered the most prized finds as only 4,200 were onboard” in the lost cargo. The family in the article has been scavenging for years to collect the various parts, so this is something that is valuable to their subset of collectors but not really valuable to the typical Lego collector or fan.
- Good to know cause ive got an old bin of lego and got like 5 octopus
  
  @MycelialMass @Squorlple was going to mention just the same 😅
- Thanks for clarifying, I thought it was odd considering the octopus doesn't seem like a rare piece.
- Interesting, thanks
~~What the fuck, I am 100% positive I have one of those in my childhood Lego crates back in the basement of my mom. Will definitely search for it~~

E: nvm, skipped past the part that they are only special when fished out of the sea spill.
- Just dump it in salt water for a year or so. I👏dentical
- E: nvm, skipped past the part that they are only special when fished out of the sea spill.
  
  How can someone tell them apart, it's not like they have serial numbers?
  
  Probably by the degree and type of erosion, I would guess. Sellers and traders of these pieces also likely would have to keep up some level of reputability in order to remain in the market.
Tom Scott went to visit a couple years back: The beach where Lego keeps washing up
- That sounds cute. And then it gets very un-cute.
  
  That is horrifying..
  
  TL;DR?
Ocean is full of plastic Legos, got it.
So, if this is in fact from 1997 it would have been on the beach a long time. I myself have beach-combed legos and the ABS is in no way nearly as good condition as this when it's been out to sea a while.
I went to the beach and all I got was this stupid octopus
.

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