LEGO Building Instructions • Hacker News Board

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#61

Post by samstave » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #4

My kids being 4 and 6 means we’re full into Lego. I grew up with two brothers so we have like three hundred pounds of it. But lost most of the instructions. It’s been amazing to go online and find any instruction and re-assemble these kits. It also made me realize something: half the value of buying a kit these days is that you aren’t spending hours finding needles in a 300lb haystack.

>>*half the value of buying a kit these days is that you aren’t spending hours finding needles in a 300lb haystack.*

Are you NUTS?

Are you trying to shame my 1980s values with LEGO?

"I KNOW that FN piece is in here!!!! I JUST SAW IT!!!!"

You're robbing your kids of a life lesson. and better image recognition, memory, sorting processing thoughts, etc.

There are so many lessons embedded in working with LEGO that can only be learnt through the frustration of a F-ton of brix in a bin and your looking for that specific 1x2 -- or worse yet, 1x1 smooth piece.

I used to buy things in bulk from LEGO at the mall in San Jose and just have bins of smooth pieces and other were parts...

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#62

Post by rkangel » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

bluetomcat wrote: post #49

rkangel wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In recent years, there is a general drift towards "collectible display models" I think there is an actually an "addition" here rather than a change. You're an adult conversing with adults (I assume) and therefore the discussions you have and the marketing you see are more about sets targeted to AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego). The classic Lego childhood lines (Lego City) still exist and still work just as well for play…

Even the vehicles in 5+ City sets are affected by this trend. It takes about 50 parts stacked in intricate ways just to build the base chassis structure of a van, for example. In the 1990s, Town vehicles were 4-stud wide and didn't focus on the small detailing. The instructions for the original vehicle were just a single sheet of paper with less than 20 steps. You could build the original vehicle by memory after havi…

There is a good range of "3-in-1" sets that are good at starting kids off building the same bricks into multiple models: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/themes/creator-3-in-1

Once they've got a few sets like that, the rebuilding into unspecified stuff seems to come naturally (at least with the cousins and friends kids I've played with).

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#63

Post by tspike » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:06 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #58

el_benhameen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for sharing this. I’m going to show it to my 6 year old and he’s going to lose his mind. Great way to make use of my massive box of childhood legos and empty summer hours.

There is/was a website where you could upload all your parts and it would tell you what you could build.

Rebrickable. Very much still alive.

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#64

Post by gleenn » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:06 PM UTC

I was sad not to see the original Technic Super Car. It had a working V8, 4 wheel drive with 4 wheel steering and 3 way differential, and even an actual gear box with shifter. You could see the pistons pump when you pushed it around. One of the best birthday presents I ever asked for.

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#65

Post by XCSme » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:08 PM UTC

photonerd wrote: post #8

Probably an age thing, but I’ve never understood the point of Lego instructions. Or the sets. The whole point of Lego was creative free form building. Remove that & it’s dull as hell. It just becomes model building with poor quality models as the result. I’m happy other people find it fun, but to me it misses the entire point in favor of weak licensed “kits”.

It's like assembling Ikea furniture. Some people like it.

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#66

Post by m3kw9 » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:11 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #4

My kids being 4 and 6 means we’re full into Lego. I grew up with two brothers so we have like three hundred pounds of it. But lost most of the instructions. It’s been amazing to go online and find any instruction and re-assemble these kits. It also made me realize something: half the value of buying a kit these days is that you aren’t spending hours finding needles in a 300lb haystack.

You need a rule that you cannot mix more than 2000 pieces from different kits. Basically 1/3 of those organizer boxes. A balance between search ability and organization, otherwise you get in these situations where it’s not feasible to rebuild a kit that you have, it’s like mixing different engine parts and expect to build that same engine

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#67

Post by MisterTea » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:13 PM UTC

gleenn wrote: post #64

I was sad not to see the original Technic Super Car. It had a working V8, 4 wheel drive with 4 wheel steering and 3 way differential, and even an actual gear box with shifter. You could see the pistons pump when you pushed it around. One of the best birthday presents I ever asked for.

That was a great set - it also featured double wishbone suspension supported by spring struts.

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#68

Post by endemic » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:14 PM UTC

chias wrote: post #16

Oh man, this sent me down a trip to memory lane. I had a lot of the Spyrius set as a little kid, and I loved them to bits. I just looked up how much they'd cost to buy them again, and they're like $1000 a pop :o

nostalgia is a helluva drug

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#69

Post by m3kw9 » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:15 PM UTC

photonerd wrote: post #8

Probably an age thing, but I’ve never understood the point of Lego instructions. Or the sets. The whole point of Lego was creative free form building. Remove that & it’s dull as hell. It just becomes model building with poor quality models as the result. I’m happy other people find it fun, but to me it misses the entire point in favor of weak licensed “kits”.

Why did you buy the specific kit just to build your own stuff? The process of going thru the process and the satisfaction of finishing is rewarding

Re: LEGO Building Instructions

#70

Post by tspike » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:16 PM UTC

gumby wrote: post #42

It wasn't until I started buying Lego for myself (in my 20s) that I learned that Lego came with instructions. When I was a kid my parents would open the box and discard the instructions before giving it to me. Back then (60s/70s) the sets were quite general and open ended. Modern day Lego has the thinking done ahead of time, and has too many specialised pieces.

This is definitely a “get off my lawn” comment. Creativity with Lego has never been more vibrant. I encourage you to visit your local Lego fan convention, or explore one of the many online forums where people share their “MOCs.”

Those “specialized” pieces are incredible fodder for sculpting. Check out newelementary.com to see some examples.