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I think traditional Lego died when they introduced the parts separator tool - back in my day, you destroyed your fingernails (and sometimes even used your teeth) separating parts. Attaching two 2x1 thin bricks was considered horrific, because you knew you'd never be able to separate them anymore. Kids these days have it too easy.
What about: 1. Massive online community 2. Virtual simulators 3. Part numbers and 2nd hand retail 4. Computer and phone interfaces 5. Patent expired so more community
Are resin 3D printers any better than FDM in printing Lego bricks? I hope they get good enough so that every kid can make all the pieces. It's a shame that a new 8880 kit costs an arm and a leg.
> Lego has become more gender stratified In this day and age, I would be surprised if the Lego Friends line, which was created with girls in mind, were marketed explicitly to girls. My guess is that the girls stratify themselves by what type of toys they are attracted to. There's evidence that the preference is biological: Male monkeys prefer boys' toys https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13596-male-monkeys-pr...
I think the point is capitalism gives people what they crave. Not necessarily what they need. But any alternative is unimaginable in individualized minds of modern people.
My friends and I used to build Lego spaceships and then "battle" by physically smashing them in to each other. Fond memories.
Are resin 3D printers any better than FDM in printing Lego bricks? I hope they get good enough so that every kid can make all the pieces. It's a shame that a new 8880 kit costs an arm and a leg.
What's really holding us back is copyright. I wish there were high quality Ninjago or especially Star Wars clones.
> Lego has become more gender stratified In this day and age, I would be surprised if the Lego Friends line, which was created with girls in mind, were marketed explicitly to girls. My guess is that the girls stratify themselves by what type of toys they are attracted to. There's evidence that the preference is biological: Male monkeys prefer boys' toys https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13596-male-monkeys-pr...
My kids have a mix of classic & branded sets and the play area is a mix of designed builds and improvised creations. The favourite and larger sets stay in their own bags when deconstructed but most others are added to the common boxes, which are sorted by rough shape based on what we’ve seen stimulates free building. There are a lot of complex shapes but many of those are useful in free building. I’ve purposely bought some sets with multiple complex flats & bricks as they allow more creativity than just the basic bricks.
But I know other children who just like to follow build instructions or just like to play with the characters and that’s OK. That’s the flexibility of modern Lego.
> Lego has become more gender stratified In this day and age, I would be surprised if the Lego Friends line, which was created with girls in mind, were marketed explicitly to girls. My guess is that the girls stratify themselves by what type of toys they are attracted to. There's evidence that the preference is biological: Male monkeys prefer boys' toys https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13596-male-monkeys-pr...
I think the point is capitalism gives people what they crave. Not necessarily what they need. But any alternative is unimaginable in individualized minds of modern people.
The photograph of the girl building things with the universal bricks is just marketing, not a report from the 60ies. It does not imply that girls actually did that en masse.
Personally I remember building houses with Lego (so walls and a roof), but not much more. These days the Lego toys may actually be more fun.