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Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

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Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#81

Post by jacquesm »

mcv wrote: post #71
jacquesm wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you still have the flag for that yellow castle hang on to it, that's a collectors item.

I don't think we ever had the yellow castle, although I do remember that flag. And we definitely had a set with a horse in the style of the yellow castle. So either we did have the yellow castle but lost the instructions, or I knew someone who had it, or that flag also appears in another set. But I really have no idea. It was a long time ago.

The reason those flags are so rare is because the grip of the 1x1 round brick at the bottom is much stronger than the strength of the flagpole so if you would remove it by pulling on the flag you'd break it.

So these commend ridiculous prices for small pieces of plastic (about 8 euros or so last I checked).

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#82

Post by insickness »

captainmuon wrote: post #28
insickness wrote: post #8

> 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...

That study doesn't show what most people think it does. Monkeys have no idea what a firetruck is, so how could a monkey have any preference towards it? The only thing they managed to show is that there is a flaw in the experiment. In a sense it is the ideal control question: do the monkeys distinguish based on something they cannot know? A more charitable reading which is mentioned is that male monkeys prefer hard sh…

A monkey doesn't know what a firetruck is, nor is it influenced by cultural pressures, such as glitter and pink are for girls. The difference in gender preference is that the females prefer people, such as faces and social interaction and boys prefer objects such as trucks.

This preference was also shown in studies where female new born babies tend to look at faces more than male babies.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#83

Post by wiredfool »

Eh, I think the biggest change is that technic style bricks are pushed down much farther in the line than they used to be (late 70's early 80's). There are a lot more moving parts, more wheel and tire styles, and the average part is now a 1x or flat rather than a full height 2x4. There's also just a lot more sets and options.

The other big change is that all of the sets have instructions that the kids seem to start out following, and some of that comes from the branding, but some also comes from the more complicated nature of the more technic style sets.

There are a couple of unique parts per set, but nowhere near what most pundits claim. Most of the parts are interchangable for builds, especially if you're not too worried about the colors.

(source, 3 kids now in their teens with 10+ years of someone getting at least one set for christmas/birthday, and 1/3 m^3 of lego that's less and less used now. And my own collection of ~ 1/2 ft^3 from way back when)

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#84

Post by tonyedgecombe »

where-group-by wrote: post #12
bluetomcat wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more interesting comparison would be to put the core themes of the 1990s (Castle, Pirates, Space, Town) against the modern popular themes (Ninjago, Creator, Star Wars, City). The old sets had less specialised parts and less colour variety, which allowed kids to combine sets from the same theme easily. The buildings (castles, fortresses, harbours) almost always had a big baseplate (flat or 3D). Minifigs were themed…

The number of specialised parts is one thing I dislike about modern Lego sets. They do look great and have really smart building techniques, but I just want to build a brick house with my kids. There is always Lego classic sets, and smaller creator houses do have a lot of regular bricks too. But it is a bit annoying once you amass a few sets from other lines. Still, I'm glad they are in business. I will take whatever…

>The number of specialised parts is one thing I dislike about modern Lego sets.

Lego started pulling back from that a long time ago because they were too expensive.

They had a leadership change in 2004, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp came in and one of the first things he did was halve the number of different parts.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#85

Post by nix23 »

thot_experiment wrote: post #49
nix23 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That being said when you look out at the competition the bar is low. Bluebrixx, Cobi and Xingbao are probably much better.

I would be absolutely floored if any of those other toy brick manufacturer had the quality of LEGO, they are injection molding wizards.

Ah yes checkout Bluebrixx, they are German...the quality...not where it's produced of curse.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#86

Post by rgoulter »

iqanq wrote: post #34
scotty79 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Quoted post unavailable.

I liked Deborah Tannen's remarks in the afterword of a reprint of "You Just Don't Understand".

The book is about her observations that some conflict between men & women resembles inter-cultural conflict; i.e. men would talk with a different set of cultural attitudes than women.

She said that people asked her how much that came down to nature vs culture. If nature, then the differences are what they are, and culture doesn't need to (and cannot fundamentally) change. If cultural, then inequality would reduce by ironing out the differences.

As I understand it, worry about gendered-for-girls toys comes from the latter view. (Differences lead to inequality).

(FWIW, Tannen's suggested solution is that differences as they are now should be recognised and worked-with).

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#87

Post by patwolf »

thorin wrote: post #55
altacc wrote: post #39

Most of the now & then examples are both true now. The classic sets still exist and how children play with Lego depends on their personality and what they have available (and how it is stored). Children are individuals and Lego allows a larger variety of play than most other toys on the market. My kids have a mix of classic & branded sets and the play area is a mix of designed builds and improvised creations. The fav…

I'm pleased you said that, because we also have a mixture, but most of the sets that were built were broken up and are now in communal boxes. This seems pretty unusual compared to most parents, I guess it's mostly because the parents don't want things to get mixed up. In theory we could rebuild according to the instructions, but in reality it's never going to happen as it would take so long to find all the pieces. Al…

I wish my kids were more into free play. When their sets inevitably get broken and end up in the communal box, that's usually the last time they play with it. I should stop buying them more sets, but as an avid collector myself I enjoy getting sets as much for my own enjoyment.

For them I think Minecraft scratches much that creative itch that Lego used to bring me.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#88

Post by eru »

cosmodisk wrote: post #73

When my daughter was about 3 years old,I went on Ebay and bought a huge bag of used Lego. I think it was 10KG or so. My wife nearly got a heart attack, especially when I poured all those little pieces into the bath and filled it up with water,so I could wash them a bit. Then ended up catching the smallest pieces when I pulled the plug. We poured all those pieces in the living room. Took like 3 days to dry out. We bui…

The advice I got was to stick your dirty second-hand Lego in a pillow case, zip it shut, and put it through the washing machine.

Though that route can only take quite a bit less than 10kg at a time.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#89

Post by tejohnso »

altacc wrote: post #39

Most of the now & then examples are both true now. The classic sets still exist and how children play with Lego depends on their personality and what they have available (and how it is stored). Children are individuals and Lego allows a larger variety of play than most other toys on the market. My kids have a mix of classic & branded sets and the play area is a mix of designed builds and improvised creations. The fav…

> My kids have a mix of classic & branded sets and the play area is a mix of designed builds and improvised creations.

Amazing. My kid just wants to get the build over with so he can get back to gaming or youtube, where he watches other people gaming.

Re: Lego has changed since we were kids (2014)

#90

Post by biorach »

Yes, many, but not all, Lego sets these days are more specific and have more specialised parts. But in the end, most children end up with a big box with a jumble of many sets, same as past decades. Maybe the first few days of a new set being introduced is dominated by following the instructions, but after that imagination takes over.

My son and his friends played with Lego for over 10 years - there are few toys that comes even close in terms of longevity and value for money (despite the high up-front cost).

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