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I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

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Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#81

Post by maximusprime »

[deleted] wrote: post #75
maximusprime wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BS @ trend. Go back 50 years and it was dolls and toy guns. Nothing has changed, boys still like building and destroying, and girls still like caring about things and craft things. You can try all you want to make boys play with dolls, and girls play at killing each other, but they won't in general, because it's not in their biological makeup to do so.

[deleted]

I agree, but I really don't understand how or why scientifically minded people could claim that they believe male and female brains to be absolutely biologically identical.

We evolved to have specific gender roles. We have obvious physical differences related to those roles. We have obvious psychological differences as well.

I can only imagine that to some people, the truth is inconvenient to them in their "everyone is absolutely identical" utopia.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#82

Post by archangel_one »

sethg wrote: post #46
rokhayakebe wrote: post #16

Does LEGO have some sort of patent on "legos"? In other words are other companies allowed to build similar kits?

Any patent LEGO might have claimed on the basic brick design must have expired long ago. MegaBlocks makes bricks that are advertised as compatible with LEGO bricks, but in my experience the tolerance is just a little bit off.

We have some Mega Blocks here and yes, they do work with Lego but they don't quite have as good a feel. Also there are some significant differences, like the flatter plates look to be half-height instead of 1/3 height which would cause problems if you intermix the two!

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#83

Post by pbreit »

maximusprime wrote: post #70
pbreit wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's much easier for a single company to make some changes than it is for a single or even very large group of consumers to drive a change. It stinks, but every complaint about products asks for an Apple comparison. I would say both Apple and Pixar have demonstrated that sticking to the purity of your craft can be both fulfilling and extremely lucrative.

You assume people want a change. I do not think they do. Do people want an end to gender specific toys? Certainly some do. But the vast majority do not. I firmly believe, through interacting with people in general, and my own children, that female and male brains are completely different. They are hard wired to like different things, and behave differently. I don't see anything wrong with that, and don't see any reas…

I was referring to the broader argument, not just the gender aspect.

And, yes, I think people do want change. This is proven by the success of Apple and Pixar who both reject a lot of commercial demands.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#84

Post by leslyn »

kaybe wrote: post #32
bryanlarsen wrote: post #18

I'm having trouble understanding the backlash against the new Lego for girls initiative. As the father of a couple of pre-school girls, I'm loving the new initiative. It appears to consist of 3 things: - realistic looking minifigs. Not square and not oversexed. - additional brick colors, and not just pink. - sets not based on movie tie-ins, but in real-world locations like an inventor's workshop, a café, an animal ho…

But why would you want two different products? It sounds like you like the "girl" lego much better than the "boy" version. Why not make it accessible to all kids?

Outside of the box packaging, lego's are gender neutral in terms of red/blue/black/white snap together boxes. My daughters built play houses and towers until they were 12. We (society) have missed the point if all we do is encourage building what the 'set' advertises ... In my generation it was Tinkertoys and I built lots of interesting creations using my imagination instead of using directions.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#86

Post by pyre »

[deleted] wrote: post #75
maximusprime wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BS @ trend. Go back 50 years and it was dolls and toy guns. Nothing has changed, boys still like building and destroying, and girls still like caring about things and craft things. You can try all you want to make boys play with dolls, and girls play at killing each other, but they won't in general, because it's not in their biological makeup to do so.

[deleted]

I think that the general idea is that if a girl wants to play with 'boy' toys, people shouldn't look at her weird like there's something wrong with her. If boys and girls in general will trend to certain types of toys, that's ok. It's the "Billy is playing with dolls, let's make fun of him" or "Billy is playing with dolls, let me beat the crap out of him because I don't want no gay son" attitudes that we want to discourage.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#87

Post by maximusprime »

pbreit wrote: post #83
maximusprime wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assume people want a change. I do not think they do. Do people want an end to gender specific toys? Certainly some do. But the vast majority do not. I firmly believe, through interacting with people in general, and my own children, that female and male brains are completely different. They are hard wired to like different things, and behave differently. I don't see anything wrong with that, and don't see any reas…

I was referring to the broader argument, not just the gender aspect. And, yes, I think people do want change. This is proven by the success of Apple and Pixar who both reject a lot of commercial demands.

Lego Star wars is MASSIVE. It sells by the boat load. Kids lap it up. Same with the other movie tie ins. Why would it not?

I play Lego star wars the game, and obviously I now want all the characters in real Lego.

Doing movie/character tie ins, gives customers what they want.

I was pretty excited to see http://www.legosuperheroes.com/ (Lego are making a new superhero range in January).

And for people who don't want the movie tie ins, there are still tons of generic building sets you can buy.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#88

Post by Poiesis »

javanix wrote: post #2

Look: I will fully admit that these sets are really, really cool. My son is getting a gigantic Millenium Falcon set from Santa this year (DON’T TELL) and both my wife and I are excited to play with it too. But it’s a model kit. We will put it together once and we will play with it a lot and that will be that. It won’t get remixed, won’t get hacked. Eventually it’ll come apart and be put away and not rebuilt because 1…

Seconded. There's no way in hell my kids would keep the pieces from one model together, anyway. We probably have tons of "unique" pieces, but let me tell you, they all get remixed just the same. Another reason to not keep them as kits: all Legos eventually are considered communal in our house after a certain period. It was just too hard to keep track of whose little orange brick it was that they were fighting over.

This Christmas (don't tell!) they're getting five pounds of bulk bricks. Also, no kidding, this for storage: http://www.harborfreight.com/mobile-double-sided-floor-rack-... . The mess was getting to be a problem.

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#89

Post by berberich »

amirmc wrote: post #66

It's not Lego that's "highly-problematic". They're simply trying to give the kids(parents?) of today what they want. If you follow the NPR article linked in the article, you'll see that Lego clearly did their homework before embarking on this new line. In light of this, I think it's odd for them to be accused of reinforcing stereotypes when their research showed that this is how (most) girls like to play . I do think…

Here's the article (Businessweek) amirmc is referring to:

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/magazine/lego-is-for-gir...

Re: I'm starting to think LEGO is evil

#90

Post by sliverstorm »

pfarrell wrote: post #63
sliverstorm wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we've constructed memories of childhood that remove the marketing we now see as adults You're telling me this: http://www.innovationinpractice.com/.a/6a00e54ef4f3768834013... Is a piece of marketing? Because that & similar pieces was 95% of what I used.

That's the product, not the way it was sold. That product is still available. My nephews are guilty of the same build the set and chuck it type behaviors. I've got my own son and daughter interested in the building aspect. I remember looking a the awesome pictures of what you could build with the Technics sets (this is way before Mindstorms). That was me being marketed to. I wanted those sets without knowing anyone t…

I guess my experience was probably a little different from the usual. My parents simply bought a sack of old pieces unprompted from Goodwill one day and gave them to me and my brother. I suppose they could have been acting on marketing they saw though.
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