Lego has changed since we were kids (2014) • Hacker News Board

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

#181

Post by watwut » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:49 PM UTC

makeitdouble wrote: post #148

MivLives wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd also wonder if their cost per part on the bigger sets is higher or lower. I've been building the adult sets over the last few years and you're right it's a nice nondigital way to unwind. Unlike my job everything works, has a place, and is all neat and organizable. Interestingly my mother who is retired has gotten into lego. Initially she got into it because she decided to resell all my childhood sets which were s…

There was an average price by piece comparison a few years ago but I can't find it back. The gist of it was that price by piece didn't change that much, while sets are getting bigger and more complex. I'd also wagger that we now have a lot more smaller pieces that make these kind of calculations more flawed.

It is not even that sets would be universally bigger. You can buy middle sized, small and super small sets still. Lego sets literally start from small bag for 5e that builds something super small.

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

#182

Post by brimble » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

tokai wrote: post #61

bluetomcat wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's take a look at this particular small set from the old Pirates theme: 6259: Broadside's Brig [ https://brickset.com/sets/6259-1/Broadside-s-Brig ] For what was a very small and cheap set at the time, you are getting 3 minifigs and a small building on a baseplate. The bulk of the parts are yellow- and white-coloured bricks for walls and architectural elements. There is a specialised yellow-coloured edge panel wit…

Then lets look at this one, from the same period: https://brickset.com/sets/6834-1/Celestial-Sled Weird ski bricks, seethrou chain saw, antenna, big arrowshaped structural piece, etc. I'm not surprised the one you linked is from 91. Noone is disputing that the complexity rose from the 80s. But the complexity we are seeing now is not a new thing. It started in the 90s.

Some of the late Ice Planet (dunno the real name) space stuff from that same series, and some of the underwater exploration sets from IIRC about then or a year or two later, are specifically what I think of when I think "where did lego start to go wrong?" I kept getting them for Christmas and kept building and playing with them but the 80s (through very early 90s) themed sets were peak for those, IMO. I never did as much combining and modifying/expanding with those later sets as I did with earlier ones. I was still playing with the earlier ones and changing them to other things and combining them when I had those later sets, but the later ones could only really fit in if they could do it whole and as-is, that is, the earlier sets had to change to fit them, they couldn't really do the reverse.

... I don't think that era was especially complex, though, and in fact when I think about the worst sets from that era they were ones that were built with like half a dozen huge pieces for the bulk of the structure (there was some kind of Ice Base from that same series you linked that stands out, in particular).

Complex is the modern sets. Fiddly, even. Look at the size of a finished largish modern set (for kids, not one of the adult stick-it-on-a-shelf models), and its part count, and look at similar-sized sets from the 80s through, I dunno, maybe '95, and see what their part count was. The modern sets have so many itty bitty pieces. 500-something piece sets used to be really big when assembled.

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

#183

Post by altacc » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:51 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #108

tejohnso wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Do so, no question about it! Once most children disappear down a YouTube rabbit hole of unboxing or gaming they're lost. It's scary to see how addictive our modern passive entertainment is. In my experience, the best thing to do is start limiting from early on. My kids are still under 10 and it's 1 to 1:15 hours of gaming + same of TV on each weekend day, never on a school day. They are hardly aware that YouTube exists, they only watch it with us.

This takes up a lot of our time, as we're their entertainment, but the times that I let go and let them watch more typically come back and bite me as they haven't had enough time to play & be creative and that leads to tantrums and bad bedtimes. We use Google Family to control their tablets and it's the timer on there that stops them playing, not us, which feels fairer to them.

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

#184

Post by clean_send » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:51 PM UTC

Another good way to get lots of random pieces cheap is go to eBay and look for bulk lots. Most people sell by the pound and ultimately it’s just your imagination holding you back!

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

#185

Post by clean_send » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:52 PM UTC

A good hack to getting lots of random legos cheap is buying bulk lots off of eBay. Most people sell by the pound and it’s always fun to see what you’ll get!

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

#186

Post by tills13 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:53 PM UTC

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…

> yes it's annoying that a lot of them are built just once

how is this a point people are hung up on. nobody is telling anyone they can only build a set once. hell, Lego has even started offering "alternative instructions" for certain sets to encourage you to take it apart and rebuild it.

You can do whatever you want with LEGO after you buy it and it has never been a better time to be an enthusiast.

People just like complaining about now vs. the Good Old Days (tm)

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

#187

Post by watwut » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:53 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #78

The main difference is that the sets and instructions got way more complicated and elaborate. So much so that they stifle and discourage the creativity instead of feeding it. The first set I had was a minuscule "mineral detector" from the space set - https://media.brickinstructions.com/06000/6841/001.jpg There were 6-step instructions [2,3] AND there was a separate page with what else was buildable from the set [4].…

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/the-fox-lodge-21178

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/bricks-and-houses-11008

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/creative-suitcase-10713

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

#188

Post by tills13 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:55 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #78

The main difference is that the sets and instructions got way more complicated and elaborate. So much so that they stifle and discourage the creativity instead of feeding it. The first set I had was a minuscule "mineral detector" from the space set - https://media.brickinstructions.com/06000/6841/001.jpg There were 6-step instructions [2,3] AND there was a separate page with what else was buildable from the set [4].…

first-party extra models: https://www.lego.com/en-my/service/help/bricks-and-sets/buil...

third-party extra models: https://rebrickable.com/sets/alternates/

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

#189

Post by watwut » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:56 PM UTC

tokai wrote: post #24

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…

If you look at Lego Space during the 90s it is a long list of new versions (almost yearly) each with their own specialized parts. Personally I don't feel like this narrative about a substantial shift in Lego sets fits with reality. To me it feel like people conflates it with the rise of licensed sets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Space

Afaik, lego went through changes. They had period when then introduced a lot of special parts (I think nineties or so) and then period when they simplified again.

They introduced special parts at the height of popularity and money success. Simplified when they had money issues - simple parts are cheaper to manufacture. Now that they are popular again, they are having more special parts again, but still less then used to be.

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

#190

Post by tills13 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 4:56 PM UTC

ysamjo wrote: post #173

Lego really dialed the monopoly rent to 11. I wonder what the material cost for a 2,000 pieces set really is? After all it's a bunch of formed plastic pellets. My journey and a product idea: https://medium.com/hyperlinked/whats-missing-creator-platfor...

Seems like you're missing the part where they have to pay someone (or more accurately, entire teams of people) a lot of money to actually come up with the set idea and instructions.

Boiling LEGO down to just "a bunch of formed plastic" is criminal.