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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)

#121

Post by ARandumGuy »

gilbetron wrote: post #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 jus…

I feel like a lot of people look at the intricate sets that cost hundreds of dollars, and conclude that Lego has abandoned play and creativity. In reality, there's an abundance of kid-oriented sets that are meant to be built, played with, deconstructed, and modified. But those aren't the sets that get shared through social media.

Lego has embraced the adult collector as a valuable customer. But that does not mean they have abandoned the children who just want to play with some Lego.

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

#122

Post by fullstop »

rnernento wrote: post #44

Legos are still one of the most satisfying toys to buy your children. Yes they are expensive, yes it's annoying that a lot of them are built just once. That being said when you look out at the competition the bar is low. I have a 5 and 3 year old and watching them patiently page through the instructions and put together something complex that they really care about is incredibly satisfying. Some of the sets have rela…

I got some of the Lego Elves sets for my daughter, but the line was later discontinued and prices skyrocketed. I ordered some Communist Bricks / "Illegos" from Ali Express, and the quality was decent if you wanted them to sit on a shelf. Some of the parts, though, did not hold up to "play time" and I had to buy a few critical components from bricklink to put the dragon's wings back on.

My daughter loves the intricate Friends sets, but dislikes the Friends minifigs.

edit: you may find this interesting -- https://brickset.com/article/38929/a-survey-of-communist-leg...

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

#123

Post by nkrisc »

eru wrote: post #88
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.

Glad to get this advice. My parents sent me all my old LEGOs a while ago and I’m still in the process of disassembling all the sets, though at least organized into plates, bricks, etc.

Fortunately I know they’re not truly dirty, though they’re still pretty dusty so a good wash will help.

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

#124

Post by ARandumGuy »

enriquto wrote: post #119
gilbetron wrote: post #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 jus…

> Modern legos are awesome. Indeed they are! But, as much as I also dislike, like you, these bizarre comments; there's one place where I drew a red line and lego has sadly crossed it recently: lego sets that become obsoleted because lego removes some software from the app store. Previously, sets were standalone and eternal. But today you can buy an awesome technic set that will become "bricked" in a few years when th…

I mean, that isn't really new either. I had the first generation Lego Mindstorms set (pre-NXT, with the old yellow control brick), which required a USB device and special software to edit programs on the control brick. After ditching Windows XP for Windows 7, I could never get the USB device, or the required software, to function properly. The software and drivers just weren't maintained and updated, and I could never figure out how to fix that.

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

#125

Post by stuckinhell »

patwolf wrote: post #87
thorin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Bingo. I think this comment nails it. Minecraft is the digital lego for alot of kids these days. My youngest daughter is 9 with autism, and she is always talking about minecraft. She just absolutely loves it to death.

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

#126

Post by retSava »

I feel many of those points ring true, in our case. What I discovered was that Minecraft is the Lego of today, but digital. It fills many of the same creative urges.

We have quite some Lego Friends and different kits on shelves, which can't be touched according to the Creator :). A big bag of second hand parts lies in peace, but Minecraft on the PS5 is now the go-to. We sometimes play 2 player together, building things. Basically almost always in "creative mode", and never online.

I kind of wanted my daughter to feel the same positive way as I did with Lego, but no dice. Minecraft seems to do that.

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

#128

Post by stuckinhell »

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...

I have a boy and girl, I purposefully made the effort not to push them into gender specific things, but hell they still ended up pretty stratified. They even play minecraft differently!

I'm convinced there is a major biological underpining after watching these two grow up.

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

#129

Post by em-bee »

onychomys wrote: post #102
ilikerashers wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

EU has about 20% VAT, but even taking that into account it's still more expensive

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

#130

Post by phil21 »

nkrisc wrote: post #123
eru wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Glad to get this advice. My parents sent me all my old LEGOs a while ago and I’m still in the process of disassembling all the sets, though at least organized into plates, bricks, etc. Fortunately I know they’re not truly dirty, though they’re still pretty dusty so a good wash will help.

Dishwasher (on low temp) also works fairly well, just don't use any (or a very small amount) of detergent. I like to put about 1kg or so in the "delicates" laundry mesh bags when I have a lot of used legos to wash.

Also need to reiterate do not heat dry or use hot cycles if you go this route :)

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