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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)

#101
I really dislike all the bizarre "lego ain't what they used to be!" comments - they honestly come from people who haven't spent time with modern legos. For reference I was born in 1970 and played with legos probably from 1975-1985, and then seriously picked it up again in 2012 or so when my son was old enough to play with them. People paint this picture of these new legos that are made up of like 5 parts that you just click together and have a transformer or something. Reality is far from that - there are so many cool pieces that let you build things never before possible. I was going to make an analogy about it being like having 100 crayon colors instead of 1, but it is more like having a whole artist's toolbox at your disposal, including 100 crayons. People say, "but it is too complicated!" - well then just buy the classic bricks, they are easy to purchase in bulk, and you can find lots of instructions all over the place for fun ideas to learn with.

And then there's this weird idea that it is so complicated that you have to build it once and then never take it apart. Please, taking it apart was a huge amount of the fun for my son. He'd repurpose parts into his never ending scene that sprawled a 10x10 area in our family room. He (and us) would play with them literally daily for at least an hour, if not more, adding sets as they came along. Much of it stayed in bins, just because he had so much (youngest child of a youngest child, means you have lots of generous Aunts, Uncles, and cousins!).

Even now, at 13, he literally was putting a set together with is friend just yesterday. It's rarer now, since he likes the intense interactively of computer-based "legos" (People Playground, Minecraft, Garry's Mod, Teardown, and modding for other games, not to mention VR stuff).

Modern legos are awesome.

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

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A simple spaceship https://www.lego.com/en-be/product/space-shuttle-adventure-3...

You have to sift through pages to find this one and it is 50 euro for a small set.

In my head, Euros are worth basically the same, maybe a little bit more, than USD. But the US version of that set is only $40 (although it's sold out, so maybe the EU version is higher in price due to scarcity). https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/space-shuttle-adventure-3...

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

#103

> 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 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.

Lego themselves talked about lego friends being meant for girls, publicly and loudly. Also, all characters are girls. The kids in ads for lego friends are all girls too. It could not have been more clear that it is for girls.

The other legos at that time and few years before were very very clearly for boys. They used colors used for boy toys. Toy stores are clearly separated to boy and girl section by color. They also used themes that literally any kid over 2 identify as boys.

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As side note, claim that they are less about building then other lego sets for same age brackets is untrue. I dont know why the article felt the need to claim the difference is character vs building.

Actual differences against other themes are colors, fight vs life, indoor vs outdoor, gender of characters.

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

#104
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Doesn't the actual injection molding happen in China anyway? Wouldn't it be more surprising if the Chinese didn't learn the tricks of the trade by now?

No, for Lego the injection molding is strictly headquarter business. To the extend that the old molds/tools are literally encased in concrete beneath the buildings (you can see examples if you go to "Lego House" museum at the headquarters in Billund, Denmark).

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

#105
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 haven't really followed recent Lego developments, but I'm relieved to see the "classic" sets still exist - although it's understandable to not be aware of them, because all of the advertising goes into the branded sets, probably because the margin on them is much better (ok, they probably have to pay some license fees to Disney, Warner or whoever, but still...)

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

#106
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't the actual injection molding happen in China anyway? Wouldn't it be more surprising if the Chinese didn't learn the tricks of the trade by now?

No, for Lego the injection molding is strictly headquarter business. To the extend that the old molds/tools are literally encased in concrete beneath the buildings (you can see examples if you go to "Lego House" museum at the headquarters in Billund, Denmark).

So, no patents, but trade secrets?

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

#107
Soda was sweeter when I was a kid. The playgrounds were taller. I never needed money. Cartoons were so good I could sit and watch them for hours after school everyday, and the advertisements never bothered me. My computer had a 4MB hard drive, and that was enough for everything I ever needed. My Dad still loved my mom...

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

#108
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.

My kid is only 3, but I am already contemplating time boxing and auditing gaming and YouTube time. It seems significantly more difficult than it ought to be, thanks to all the brain hijacking dark patterns out there.

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

#109
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…

most others are added to the common boxes, which are sorted by rough shape based on what we’ve seen stimulates free building.

I inherited a bunch of legos from older cousins when I was a kid (and I've since donated them to a school). My parents did get me a tackle box to go along with them, and sorting/putting them away is as much part of the play/learning as building, I think. Just like you can't really go fishing if you can't find the right lure, you can't really build that spaceship if you don't know where the cone piece is.

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

#110
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.

Haven't tried those specific brands (and they tend to change brand every time they get sued), but I had a bunch of Lepin and whatever else. You can tell the difference if you start mixing pieces. The official ones SNAP together, the cheapo copies just smush and don't really stick. They tend to get loose way faster too. They're good if you want to get that 5000 piece car, build it and put it on a shelf. But if you're…

Competition has made huge quality leaps in recent years. They can not be compared to Lepin anymore.

Cobi, a Polish Company, has actually better quality than Lego and is the only one producing in the European Union.

The Chinese brands are already at 95% percent there, especially as modern Lego is actually getting worse (and probably producing in the same factories anyway). Sadly the remaining 5% can make all the difference and can be a bit frustrating at times but we should hopefully see parity soon especially a those brands try to go into the quality segment more and more.

As an adult, I don't see a reason to pay Lego prices when I can have nicer and bigger sets for much cheaper. I can cope with a little bit of frustration and some pieces not being perfect.

For children though, yeah Cobi or Lego any day.

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