90 Years Of Playing Well
August 10, 2022 2:14 AM Subscribe
Today marks the 90th anniversary of Danish toymaker Ole Kirk Kristiansen founding a small manufacturer that would, after the development of a system of interlocking plastic bricks, become an iconic brand shaping the childhoods of millions of people - LEGO.
The history of the brand is well known - Kristiansen founds LEGO as a producer of wooden toys, but in the 50s moves to injection molding as plastics become a popular material for toy manufacture. It is at this time that he the Kristiansen family create interconnecting bricks, figuring out how to build an interlock system that could be manipulated by children, allowing the building of creations that could become playthings in their own right.
As LEGO continued to grow on the back of their Automatic Binding Brick product, they would expand into other concepts, starting with LegoLand (which would become the progenitor of the modern City line), then themed sets like Classic Space, Castle, and Pirates, the more engineering focused Technic system, and more besides. Sadly, mismanagement and unfocused growth had LEGO teetering on bankruptcy by the turn of the millennium.
It was at this point that Jørgen Vig Knudstorp came to the helm of the company, and instituted a plan to turn the company around. Major elements of this plan were the trimming of the brick catalog to make manufacture more cost-efficient, the selling of rights to ancillary products like video games and theme parks to third parties better focused on those fields, and what would be the most controversial and successful of these moves - licenced LEGO sets, beginning with LEGO Star Wars. These moves righted the company, stemming the bleeding and eventually allowing a resurgence for the brand.
While LEGO was designed as a children's toy (and is still sold as such), the company has in more recent years acknowledged the significant adult fandom, known as AFOLs (Adult Fans Of LEGO). The development of the adult-focused LEGO Icons series with its distinct black trade dress, as well as the fan-driven LEGO Ideas submission process have illustrated the company's greater engagement with the adult fan base, and adult-focused concepts such as the Botanical Collection have become top sellers for the company.
The history of the brand is well known - Kristiansen founds LEGO as a producer of wooden toys, but in the 50s moves to injection molding as plastics become a popular material for toy manufacture. It is at this time that he the Kristiansen family create interconnecting bricks, figuring out how to build an interlock system that could be manipulated by children, allowing the building of creations that could become playthings in their own right.
As LEGO continued to grow on the back of their Automatic Binding Brick product, they would expand into other concepts, starting with LegoLand (which would become the progenitor of the modern City line), then themed sets like Classic Space, Castle, and Pirates, the more engineering focused Technic system, and more besides. Sadly, mismanagement and unfocused growth had LEGO teetering on bankruptcy by the turn of the millennium.
It was at this point that Jørgen Vig Knudstorp came to the helm of the company, and instituted a plan to turn the company around. Major elements of this plan were the trimming of the brick catalog to make manufacture more cost-efficient, the selling of rights to ancillary products like video games and theme parks to third parties better focused on those fields, and what would be the most controversial and successful of these moves - licenced LEGO sets, beginning with LEGO Star Wars. These moves righted the company, stemming the bleeding and eventually allowing a resurgence for the brand.
While LEGO was designed as a children's toy (and is still sold as such), the company has in more recent years acknowledged the significant adult fandom, known as AFOLs (Adult Fans Of LEGO). The development of the adult-focused LEGO Icons series with its distinct black trade dress, as well as the fan-driven LEGO Ideas submission process have illustrated the company's greater engagement with the adult fan base, and adult-focused concepts such as the Botanical Collection have become top sellers for the company.
There are compatible bricks available, I've bought a couple of different brands to have a look, and they were not as good as the original.
posted by Harald74 at 3:16 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 3:16 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
Here's a race car on AliExpress for a low price that probably breaks all kinds of IP laws in the West.
posted by Harald74 at 3:22 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by Harald74 at 3:22 AM on August 10, 2022
LEGO was basically all I did as a child.
posted by Jacen at 3:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 3:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
My son has a massive collection that I could never have as a kid, but as an adult, I get to torture my understanding of your technical capabilities into the phrase 'mapping your Lego blocks'.
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:37 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:37 AM on August 10, 2022
I had a second round of playing with Lego with the kids, but they've now put all theirs away (youngest is 11 yo), but I also played a LOT when I was a kid, and it was probably the toy I put away last.
posted by Harald74 at 3:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 3:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised there aren't replica Lego bricks available on Alibaba for dirt cheap, Legos can't be that hard to replicate.
There very much are knockoff Lego sets, but as reviews point out, they routinely fail to connect and hold properly because the molds they use don't meet the high tolerances of LEGO molds. There's also the fact that many of these sets are licensed models, which adds copyright to the mix of the issues that knock-off sets deal with.
That's not to say that there haven't been competitors to LEGO that were successful. For example, back in Japan in the 60s, LEGO found themselves on the back foot in the market, thanks to a local maker of toys, playing cards, and other amusements creating a successful competing system that actually beat the Danes to the punch with things like curved blocks.
Yes, at one point, one of the biggest competitors to LEGO was Nintendo.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:41 AM on August 10, 2022 [13 favorites]
There very much are knockoff Lego sets, but as reviews point out, they routinely fail to connect and hold properly because the molds they use don't meet the high tolerances of LEGO molds. There's also the fact that many of these sets are licensed models, which adds copyright to the mix of the issues that knock-off sets deal with.
That's not to say that there haven't been competitors to LEGO that were successful. For example, back in Japan in the 60s, LEGO found themselves on the back foot in the market, thanks to a local maker of toys, playing cards, and other amusements creating a successful competing system that actually beat the Danes to the punch with things like curved blocks.
Yes, at one point, one of the biggest competitors to LEGO was Nintendo.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:41 AM on August 10, 2022 [13 favorites]
Never had any Lego; I was a kid before their time (or at least before they were sold in the US). Instead, I used my set of wooden American Bricks to build structures.
posted by Rash at 3:52 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by Rash at 3:52 AM on August 10, 2022
NoxAeternum, that is interesting. The interior of the Legoland Conference Hotel at Legoland in Billund is decorated with LEGO and Nintendo characters (and, I think, no other IP), so the relationship must be rather more cordial these days. My (CS) department has held its annual retreat there two times, and the hotel rooms are nicely themed (I stayed in a knight themed room last time).
As for LEGO compatibility, I have noted that, e.g., IoT kits from M5Stack come with LEGO compatible holes making it a doddle to build prototypes given a bit of Technic.
posted by bouvin at 3:54 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
As for LEGO compatibility, I have noted that, e.g., IoT kits from M5Stack come with LEGO compatible holes making it a doddle to build prototypes given a bit of Technic.
posted by bouvin at 3:54 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
The default Lego purchase nowadays is a kit: you make a STAR WARS spaceship, or a maybe a nice crocodile or something. Lots of little bricks with different shapes that build the thing from the kit, with long (excellent) instructions.
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit. I mean, I can, but my kids (5/7/9) struggle.
There aren't just lots of regular-sized bricks that you can combine to make shapes, like walls or houses or anything really. And there is pressure to not break apart the Lego you DO have because, well, you spent so long building it.
So you just have lots more cars, or doll houses, or dinosaurs. You don't have a way to make things. Which was the point.
Lego should be a great toy: it isn't. You have to work to make it a good toy. By default it is not: it's an okay way to pass some time. Maybe it was always so? I don't know.
posted by one more day at 4:00 AM on August 10, 2022 [8 favorites]
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit. I mean, I can, but my kids (5/7/9) struggle.
There aren't just lots of regular-sized bricks that you can combine to make shapes, like walls or houses or anything really. And there is pressure to not break apart the Lego you DO have because, well, you spent so long building it.
So you just have lots more cars, or doll houses, or dinosaurs. You don't have a way to make things. Which was the point.
Lego should be a great toy: it isn't. You have to work to make it a good toy. By default it is not: it's an okay way to pass some time. Maybe it was always so? I don't know.
posted by one more day at 4:00 AM on August 10, 2022 [8 favorites]
They have got a bit of pushback on this in recent years. Have a look at among others the Creator 3-in-1 themed boxes where you get more general-purpose bricks and three sets of instructions.
posted by Harald74 at 4:17 AM on August 10, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 4:17 AM on August 10, 2022 [15 favorites]
I'm surprised there aren't replica Lego bricks available on Alibaba for dirt cheap, Legos can't be that hard to replicate.
It’s really hard. For Lego to work at all, every new Lego brick has to fit perfectly into every other Lego brick ever made. The amount of testing and process control they do to achieve this is incredible, and just isn’t something you’re going to get from anyone selling a knockoff.
posted by mhoye at 4:25 AM on August 10, 2022 [8 favorites]
It’s really hard. For Lego to work at all, every new Lego brick has to fit perfectly into every other Lego brick ever made. The amount of testing and process control they do to achieve this is incredible, and just isn’t something you’re going to get from anyone selling a knockoff.
posted by mhoye at 4:25 AM on August 10, 2022 [8 favorites]
I wish I had noted the source but I recall someone — Twitter type? Late night monologue? — saying something to the effect of “______ years ago today the first LEGO block was manufactured. But it wasn’t until the second block was produced that they realized they were onto something.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:30 AM on August 10, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:30 AM on August 10, 2022 [15 favorites]
Really tight tolerances in production means that they have to retire molds after comparatively few cycles compared to other types of plastic toys, driving up costs.
posted by Harald74 at 4:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 4:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
Did anyone else have Brix Blox as a kid? I had a small laundry tub full of lego, including several gen 1 space sets, but I also had a large pail of Brix Blox I got from my grandparents at Christmas one year, probably 78 or so. It was a knockoff (incompatible, natch) sold by Sears. (The set came with a catalog that included the pictures in the linked article, which...wow , that was an unexpected memory rush).
In the last couple of years my consulting firm has started making custom engraved bricks with people's names on them and then other bricks with large project or committee names, and accreditations, and role titles, and years of employment etc. and everyone has a tower on their desk of all of their professional history, in Lego. Because I worry a lot about this kind of thing, I was afraid it would exclude junior, less experienced staff, but its ended up becoming somewhat aspirational. In the last 6mo or so, competition around custom minifigs has become pretty fierce. [My main sop to customization has been that my largest project was a multimillion dollar thermal soil remediation, and the project name was large so the brick is long...and I melted one end black with a cigarette lighter and placed it in my tower such that the burned end is sticking way out.]
posted by hearthpig at 4:46 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the last couple of years my consulting firm has started making custom engraved bricks with people's names on them and then other bricks with large project or committee names, and accreditations, and role titles, and years of employment etc. and everyone has a tower on their desk of all of their professional history, in Lego. Because I worry a lot about this kind of thing, I was afraid it would exclude junior, less experienced staff, but its ended up becoming somewhat aspirational. In the last 6mo or so, competition around custom minifigs has become pretty fierce. [My main sop to customization has been that my largest project was a multimillion dollar thermal soil remediation, and the project name was large so the brick is long...and I melted one end black with a cigarette lighter and placed it in my tower such that the burned end is sticking way out.]
posted by hearthpig at 4:46 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
Cobi are Polish and make "building blocks with an interlocking stud and tube system, compatible with Lego blocks" to quote wikipedia. I think they're a bit cheaper than Lego, but they mostly focus on military replicas - tanks, ships, planes etc. that Lego are not going to make. I only have the one set of theirs, but it doesn't seem too different in quality to other Lego sets.
adult-focused concepts such as the Botanical Collection have become top sellers for the company
I really love this collection, as it's both fun and different to make, and is a nice display piece afterwards. Same goes for a lot of the Architecture collection.
posted by scorbet at 4:56 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
adult-focused concepts such as the Botanical Collection have become top sellers for the company
I really love this collection, as it's both fun and different to make, and is a nice display piece afterwards. Same goes for a lot of the Architecture collection.
posted by scorbet at 4:56 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
The default Lego purchase nowadays is a kit
Yes, this seems to be super common. It's a shame. My nephews and nieces don't have the pleasure of emptying out a giant bucket of assorted but more-or-less similar pieces and using them as the primary-coloured raw material for anything from a petrol pump to a space ship. The kids are great at following written instructions to build lego models, and will probably be whizzes at Ikea in the future, but there's definitely less creativity and free play involved, that's for sure.
(Get off my lawn etc)
posted by tavegyl at 5:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yes, this seems to be super common. It's a shame. My nephews and nieces don't have the pleasure of emptying out a giant bucket of assorted but more-or-less similar pieces and using them as the primary-coloured raw material for anything from a petrol pump to a space ship. The kids are great at following written instructions to build lego models, and will probably be whizzes at Ikea in the future, but there's definitely less creativity and free play involved, that's for sure.
(Get off my lawn etc)
posted by tavegyl at 5:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yeah, hearthpig, my household was a Brix Blox household. Whenever I got to play with some other kid's Lego, I found them a bit more difficult to use, because of their lower/slimmer profile--Brix Blox had longer pegs (are they called pegs?), so I think that helped, but also their looser design tolerance made them more wobbly, which also made them easier to pull apart.
A silver lining inside the wobbly-design cloud.
posted by theatro at 5:04 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
A silver lining inside the wobbly-design cloud.
posted by theatro at 5:04 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Don't throw out my Lego(s)
My kids are 30-ish now and we still play with them when they come home. The "sets" have long since devolved into big buckets of free-form creativity. Also they were great for multi-day road trips in the pre-handheld-electronic-device days. Bet they still are.
posted by evilmomlady at 5:14 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
My kids are 30-ish now and we still play with them when they come home. The "sets" have long since devolved into big buckets of free-form creativity. Also they were great for multi-day road trips in the pre-handheld-electronic-device days. Bet they still are.
posted by evilmomlady at 5:14 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
The default Lego purchase nowadays is a kit: you make a STAR WARS spaceship, or a maybe a nice crocodile or something. Lots of little bricks with different shapes that build the thing from the kit, with long (excellent) instructions.
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit. I mean, I can, but my kids (5/7/9) struggle.
There aren't just lots of regular-sized bricks that you can combine to make shapes, like walls or houses or anything really. And there is pressure to not break apart the Lego you DO have because, well, you spent so long building it.
So you just have lots more cars, or doll houses, or dinosaurs. You don't have a way to make things. Which was the point.
Lego should be a great toy: it isn't. You have to work to make it a good toy. By default it is not: it's an okay way to pass some time. Maybe it was always so? I don't know.
-
I'm sorry, that simply isn't true.
Every time we have a Lego thread on Metafilter, someone makes a post like this complaining about IP and "special parts" and kits and Star Wars and so on and so forth.
Lego still sells classic brick boxes. You can buy them everywhere. Target, Walmart, Amazon, Costco... They're not hard to buy!
Classic brick boxes and buckets still exist. Lego never stopped making them. They've been available the entire time.
Lego just sells more of EVERYTHING now.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:15 AM on August 10, 2022 [30 favorites]
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit. I mean, I can, but my kids (5/7/9) struggle.
There aren't just lots of regular-sized bricks that you can combine to make shapes, like walls or houses or anything really. And there is pressure to not break apart the Lego you DO have because, well, you spent so long building it.
So you just have lots more cars, or doll houses, or dinosaurs. You don't have a way to make things. Which was the point.
Lego should be a great toy: it isn't. You have to work to make it a good toy. By default it is not: it's an okay way to pass some time. Maybe it was always so? I don't know.
-
I'm sorry, that simply isn't true.
Every time we have a Lego thread on Metafilter, someone makes a post like this complaining about IP and "special parts" and kits and Star Wars and so on and so forth.
Lego still sells classic brick boxes. You can buy them everywhere. Target, Walmart, Amazon, Costco... They're not hard to buy!
Classic brick boxes and buckets still exist. Lego never stopped making them. They've been available the entire time.
Lego just sells more of EVERYTHING now.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:15 AM on August 10, 2022 [30 favorites]
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit. I mean, I can, but my kids (5/7/9) struggle.It sounds like the hard part is being willing to take it apart. My son (4) has had zero qualms about that and we’ve seen a ton of different things built with kit parts and extensive mods. Maybe part of this could be rebuilding from the instructions to show you can always get the original back? (The Brickit app is also great for ideas)
I would also recommend the large bins other people have been mentioning. A couple of those $20 sets really opens up the scale of what you can build.
posted by adamsc at 5:23 AM on August 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
I recently bought and assembled “Greg Universe’s van” a McFarlane Toys kit that was LEGO-like. I buy the odd LEGO set and this was NOT LEGO. The tolerances were a joke and the brick colors in the instructions didn’t match what came in the box (amongst other things.)
posted by 41swans at 5:28 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by 41swans at 5:28 AM on August 10, 2022
But now you have a plastic toy! And to build anything new you have to break it up. And the bricks are all different shapes, so you can't build anything easily except the original kit.
I was a big fan of Space LOGO as a kid, but had a bunch of the regular bricks. I would make the design on the box cover exactly once, and then break it up and use the pieces to build whatever I could think of. My childhood was full of the unique sound of digging thru blocks in a big bin.
But then, it wasn't a licensed model like an X-Wing or anything like that. I don't know if I ould break one of those up myself.
posted by Gelatin at 5:29 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was a big fan of Space LOGO as a kid, but had a bunch of the regular bricks. I would make the design on the box cover exactly once, and then break it up and use the pieces to build whatever I could think of. My childhood was full of the unique sound of digging thru blocks in a big bin.
But then, it wasn't a licensed model like an X-Wing or anything like that. I don't know if I ould break one of those up myself.
posted by Gelatin at 5:29 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's still pretty possible and fun to break apart the "nice official" sets and build something new. But yeah, they look so close to models that the psychological barrier is a bit higher.
posted by dominik at 5:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dominik at 5:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
It sounds like the hard part is being willing to take it apart. My son (4) has had zero qualms about that and we’ve seen a ton of different things built with kit parts and extensive mods. Maybe part of this could be rebuilding from the instructions to show you can always get the original back? (The Brickit app is also great for ideas)
This is a good point. While growing up, I noticed that I was more than willing to disassemble a Lego set and build my own stuff. My brother, however, did not. He just played with the assembled sets.
My son is like me, he dives in and rips pieces off to make his own world. Some of it is personality.
However, there is a Lego Instructions app (or the Lego website) where you can look up instructions if you need to re-build anything.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is a good point. While growing up, I noticed that I was more than willing to disassemble a Lego set and build my own stuff. My brother, however, did not. He just played with the assembled sets.
My son is like me, he dives in and rips pieces off to make his own world. Some of it is personality.
However, there is a Lego Instructions app (or the Lego website) where you can look up instructions if you need to re-build anything.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
I had some Tyco blocks growing up and they were mostly compatible with Lego but they had the habit of permanently welding themselves together.
And even in the early 1990s we were reluctant to take kits apart. If it wasn't for all the kits I had received as a little kid that my parents had assembled for me and then subsequently taken apart, I wouldn't have had a large bucket of bricks to be creative with as a pre-teen because every kit I received after the age of 11 or so I kept together.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:35 AM on August 10, 2022
And even in the early 1990s we were reluctant to take kits apart. If it wasn't for all the kits I had received as a little kid that my parents had assembled for me and then subsequently taken apart, I wouldn't have had a large bucket of bricks to be creative with as a pre-teen because every kit I received after the age of 11 or so I kept together.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:35 AM on August 10, 2022
I just chucked the kid's Legos in a big plastic tub when they were done. My wife, who never had any Lego growing up, insisted we collect the instructions in a binder and try and keep the bricks sorted. I've never seen any of the kids reach for the binder, to be honest.
posted by Harald74 at 5:36 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 5:36 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
Slavishly following the Lego instructions has become such a problem that they made a whole movie about it.
posted by Flashman at 5:36 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 5:36 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
My brother, however, did not. He just played with the assembled sets.
My daughter is like this, but more than anything she loves building the models according to the instructions. Occasionally, she'll use the random bricks to make something, but mostly she gets a new set, builds it, plays with it a bit, and then takes it apart and builds it again, sometimes immediately after taking it apart. We keep every set in a plastic bag with the instruction booklet, so she can keep rebuilding them.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
My daughter is like this, but more than anything she loves building the models according to the instructions. Occasionally, she'll use the random bricks to make something, but mostly she gets a new set, builds it, plays with it a bit, and then takes it apart and builds it again, sometimes immediately after taking it apart. We keep every set in a plastic bag with the instruction booklet, so she can keep rebuilding them.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
The interior of the Legoland Conference Hotel at Legoland in Billund is decorated with LEGO and Nintendo characters (and, I think, no other IP), so the relationship must be rather more cordial these days.
Given that there's an entire line of Mario themed LEGO sets, along with several Nintendo based Icons sets (I have the ? Block in my backlog, and am eyeing the upcoming Bowser set), I would say so. But Nintendo hasn't forgotten their past either - in Super Mario Land 2, there's a level that to Western audiences seemed to be LEGO themed. But finding a secret path in said level reveals the truth - one block there has the logo for the Nintendo Block system.
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:47 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Given that there's an entire line of Mario themed LEGO sets, along with several Nintendo based Icons sets (I have the ? Block in my backlog, and am eyeing the upcoming Bowser set), I would say so. But Nintendo hasn't forgotten their past either - in Super Mario Land 2, there's a level that to Western audiences seemed to be LEGO themed. But finding a secret path in said level reveals the truth - one block there has the logo for the Nintendo Block system.
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:47 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Our (my brother's and mine) original Legos were stolen from his car ages ago, and I'm still bummed about that sometimes. One of the few really good memories I have of time with my dad was putting together the original Police Station set (and now I'm, uh, pretty strongly anti-police, to put it mildly). And we had so much of the original space line. I don't think we ever had more than a couple of the big (at the time) sets, never had the pirate ship or a big castle, but so many little sets over the years add up.
For the winter holidays last year I bought myself three sets; I'd been debating buying new Legos for years, wrestling with "should I be buying more plastic" and "should I be buying these at my age" and so on -- and it was deeply, deeply satsifying to spend Saturday and Sunday mornings for a couple of months putting these together. A big castle, a 3-in-1 space set, and a general box of assorted whatevers. The castle was a lot of fun. I'd put on some early medieval music playlists, winter sunrise streaming in through the window, and settle in. Some of what's in the new sets is really clever. The castle had a little waterwheel attached to an axle attached to a hammer, positioned over a sword and an anvil -- trip hammer! The early months this year were incredibly hard for me, and it felt genuinely healing to lean into this part of my brain and just click bricks together for a few hours on the weekends.
Following the instructions is GREAT. :D Methodically sorting the pieces, laying everything out, working through it in discrete blocks (heh) of steps. And then, eventually, taking things apart and re-arranging. I worked on a combo medieval-space castle for awhile, and when I've got some downtime it's easy to open up the bin I tossed it all into and put some bricks together and see what comes together. Will probably buy some more in the next few months -- need to start looking online and seeing what's available.
Thanks for this post!
posted by curious nu at 5:53 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
For the winter holidays last year I bought myself three sets; I'd been debating buying new Legos for years, wrestling with "should I be buying more plastic" and "should I be buying these at my age" and so on -- and it was deeply, deeply satsifying to spend Saturday and Sunday mornings for a couple of months putting these together. A big castle, a 3-in-1 space set, and a general box of assorted whatevers. The castle was a lot of fun. I'd put on some early medieval music playlists, winter sunrise streaming in through the window, and settle in. Some of what's in the new sets is really clever. The castle had a little waterwheel attached to an axle attached to a hammer, positioned over a sword and an anvil -- trip hammer! The early months this year were incredibly hard for me, and it felt genuinely healing to lean into this part of my brain and just click bricks together for a few hours on the weekends.
Following the instructions is GREAT. :D Methodically sorting the pieces, laying everything out, working through it in discrete blocks (heh) of steps. And then, eventually, taking things apart and re-arranging. I worked on a combo medieval-space castle for awhile, and when I've got some downtime it's easy to open up the bin I tossed it all into and put some bricks together and see what comes together. Will probably buy some more in the next few months -- need to start looking online and seeing what's available.
Thanks for this post!
posted by curious nu at 5:53 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
The early months this year were incredibly hard for me, and it felt genuinely healing to lean into this part of my brain and just click bricks together for a few hours on the weekends.
A lot of people rediscovered Lego during Covid times, and the company is well aware. They have a lot of adult targeted sets, along with an "Adults Welcome" marketing push.
It can be very satisfying to reconnect with your youth, and assembling something to completion is satisfying, too.
Lego has been a place of refuge in my life. I joined the online Lego hobby community around 2000, and some of my best friends are people I met through the hobby. I divorced in February of 2020, just before the Covid lockdown, so having Lego as a hobby and talking to friends online and in Zoom calls has helped keep me going. And my son is a fan too! We went to Brickworld Chicago convention in June and both had a blast.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:59 AM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
A lot of people rediscovered Lego during Covid times, and the company is well aware. They have a lot of adult targeted sets, along with an "Adults Welcome" marketing push.
It can be very satisfying to reconnect with your youth, and assembling something to completion is satisfying, too.
Lego has been a place of refuge in my life. I joined the online Lego hobby community around 2000, and some of my best friends are people I met through the hobby. I divorced in February of 2020, just before the Covid lockdown, so having Lego as a hobby and talking to friends online and in Zoom calls has helped keep me going. And my son is a fan too! We went to Brickworld Chicago convention in June and both had a blast.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:59 AM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
On a family road trip when I was little, I was playing with a car I had made of Lego bricks. Because it was like 1980, I was kneeling on the back seat of our car, using the rear deck of the car for my toy to drive on.
At a dip in the road the car got away from me and lurched straight to the open window! I watched it sail right out the gap, arc through the air -- in agonizing, heart-breaking SLOOOWWW MMMMMO -- and burst apart on the shoulder of the road.
đź’”
(Luckily I had made it from loose parts grabbed out of the 5-gallon Kikkoman Soy Sauce bucket that I used for storing my Lego, so I got over it quickly.)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:04 AM on August 10, 2022 [12 favorites]
At a dip in the road the car got away from me and lurched straight to the open window! I watched it sail right out the gap, arc through the air -- in agonizing, heart-breaking SLOOOWWW MMMMMO -- and burst apart on the shoulder of the road.
đź’”
(Luckily I had made it from loose parts grabbed out of the 5-gallon Kikkoman Soy Sauce bucket that I used for storing my Lego, so I got over it quickly.)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:04 AM on August 10, 2022 [12 favorites]
But then, it wasn't a licensed model like an X-Wing or anything like that. I don't know if I ould break one of those up myself.
I got the LEGO pirate ship as a present. It was really cool to build, but it was super hard to bring myself to take it apart. Eventually, I forced myself to do it, but it was sad. Then I was left with tons of bricks that had little use as anything other than part of a ship.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:55 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
I got the LEGO pirate ship as a present. It was really cool to build, but it was super hard to bring myself to take it apart. Eventually, I forced myself to do it, but it was sad. Then I was left with tons of bricks that had little use as anything other than part of a ship.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:55 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love most types of construction toys, but my favorite were the several Tente sets I used to have, which I came to like much more than Lego. They had a lot more flat pieces, which lent themselves better than Lego for making space ships. When I played with friends' Lego, they just felt more blocky and clunky and I had trouble making the more streamlined models that I was used to. I also liked that the Tente blocks had a small hole in the middle of each stud, which allowed small bits to be attached in different ways.
posted by indexy at 7:28 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by indexy at 7:28 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also if someone wants to put together a Bionicle post I will make like 100 comments in that one.
posted by curious nu at 7:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by curious nu at 7:32 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I firmly believe that it is never too late to have a happy childhood. So I am a 52 year old man who still buys a couple Lego sets every year. Most of them I build with my 20 year old daughter, but occasionally I build one by myself.
My latest acquisition was the rebooted Galaxy Explorer. The original was the thing I wanted most as a 12 year old kid but it was way beyond the limit of what my parents would spend on a "toy" for Christmas. Sometime in my 40s I found one on eBay and building it was one of the happiest moments of my life. The rebooted version is bigger and uses modern pieces and building techniques but is very much in the spirit of the original. It is a lovely set, targeted mostly to Gen-Xers like a lot of their current sets. I just saw that they released an Atari 2600 set which is, unfortunately, over the limit of what I will pay for a set.
As to the never-ending argument that "you can only build the model on the box", that is a thing that people have been saying forever. The very first Lego catalogs had models and the very latest catalogs have boxes full of generic bricks. It's true, there are more models today and more specialized pieces today, but kids and adults alike use those pieces in all sorts of ways. Spend ten minutes browsing any Lego site to see the amazing creations people are building and you'll understand.
That said, as an adult I only build the models on the box. Between my lack of imagination, lack of time, and my sore neck and back, I cannot sit and build random spaceships and cars for hours and hours like I did as a kid. That's ok, though. There is something about following those illustrations and snapping together those perfect, perfect pieces that is really satisfying. My daughter is autistic and a Lego set is one of the few things that will pull her away from her screen. She gets the same tactile satisfaction that I do.
They're really getting good with making sets that appeal to adults. My living room is filled with flowers and plants from the Botanicals collection, I have a "vintage" typewriter up on a bookshelf, a jazz quartet sitting on our piano, and birds lining the windowsills of our dining room. There are very few brands I'm loyal to, but Lego is one of them.
I love Lego. Always have, always will. Lego was a huge part of my childhood and continues to be a part of my adulthood. I will be a Lego fan and builder as long as I'm alive and as long as they keep churning out sets.
posted by bondcliff at 7:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [11 favorites]
My latest acquisition was the rebooted Galaxy Explorer. The original was the thing I wanted most as a 12 year old kid but it was way beyond the limit of what my parents would spend on a "toy" for Christmas. Sometime in my 40s I found one on eBay and building it was one of the happiest moments of my life. The rebooted version is bigger and uses modern pieces and building techniques but is very much in the spirit of the original. It is a lovely set, targeted mostly to Gen-Xers like a lot of their current sets. I just saw that they released an Atari 2600 set which is, unfortunately, over the limit of what I will pay for a set.
As to the never-ending argument that "you can only build the model on the box", that is a thing that people have been saying forever. The very first Lego catalogs had models and the very latest catalogs have boxes full of generic bricks. It's true, there are more models today and more specialized pieces today, but kids and adults alike use those pieces in all sorts of ways. Spend ten minutes browsing any Lego site to see the amazing creations people are building and you'll understand.
That said, as an adult I only build the models on the box. Between my lack of imagination, lack of time, and my sore neck and back, I cannot sit and build random spaceships and cars for hours and hours like I did as a kid. That's ok, though. There is something about following those illustrations and snapping together those perfect, perfect pieces that is really satisfying. My daughter is autistic and a Lego set is one of the few things that will pull her away from her screen. She gets the same tactile satisfaction that I do.
They're really getting good with making sets that appeal to adults. My living room is filled with flowers and plants from the Botanicals collection, I have a "vintage" typewriter up on a bookshelf, a jazz quartet sitting on our piano, and birds lining the windowsills of our dining room. There are very few brands I'm loyal to, but Lego is one of them.
I love Lego. Always have, always will. Lego was a huge part of my childhood and continues to be a part of my adulthood. I will be a Lego fan and builder as long as I'm alive and as long as they keep churning out sets.
posted by bondcliff at 7:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [11 favorites]
Spotted in the recent Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers movie: a billboard promoting a new musical, LEGO Misérables. Hollywood, make it happen!
posted by SPrintF at 7:42 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 7:42 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
... the several Tente sets I used to have...
My boxes of Legos (officially-branded red blowmold briefcases) -- which I still have, and have grown in content as my younger siblings got pirate and other sets in their childhood -- had a handful of random Tente pieces in them which didn't fit with Lego, and I have no idea where they came from (I have vague memories of them being a small promotional kit; my mom liked the 'mail proof of purchase to get cool stuff' deals in the 1970s).
The Lego boxes also were magnetized towards other little pieces, so it also contains Star Wars guns, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weapons, GI Joe bits, board game pieces, etc.
My favorite Lego thing in the late 70s/early 80s was that Lego put out books of simple assembly instructions (without the blocks), so you could just pour out your bucket of Lego, turn to page whatever, and build a ambulance or a interesting Euro-design house or whatever else they had in the book, and it'd look like the thing in the book but a jumble of the wrong colors because most of what I had seemed to be either red or blue blocks.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:45 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
My boxes of Legos (officially-branded red blowmold briefcases) -- which I still have, and have grown in content as my younger siblings got pirate and other sets in their childhood -- had a handful of random Tente pieces in them which didn't fit with Lego, and I have no idea where they came from (I have vague memories of them being a small promotional kit; my mom liked the 'mail proof of purchase to get cool stuff' deals in the 1970s).
The Lego boxes also were magnetized towards other little pieces, so it also contains Star Wars guns, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weapons, GI Joe bits, board game pieces, etc.
My favorite Lego thing in the late 70s/early 80s was that Lego put out books of simple assembly instructions (without the blocks), so you could just pour out your bucket of Lego, turn to page whatever, and build a ambulance or a interesting Euro-design house or whatever else they had in the book, and it'd look like the thing in the book but a jumble of the wrong colors because most of what I had seemed to be either red or blue blocks.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:45 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
LEGO actually has a series of soccer stadium models, for those of you inclined in that manner.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:21 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:21 AM on August 10, 2022
I have a couple of really good friends who work for Lego at the mothership in Denmark. It is, from all I hear from them, a more wonderful place to work than you could imagine. The only downside is never being out of earshot of the songs playing at Legoland next door.
Lego are much more open now: their Build HAT made in conjunction with Raspberry Pi, and their Spark Prime boards now run open-source MicroPython. But of course, they were very Lego indeed in introducing a new incompatible connector for all their new electronics.
While I have a general brick set (housed in one of the boxes they partnered with Ikea to make), even a short build session reminds me that 53 year old thumbs are much more creaky than they were. The only Lego bricks I miss were a weird proto-Technic set I was given c.1977 that was all gears and shafts and bearing blocks. Every Technic kit I've seen (within affordable range, that is) is "build this specific thing", and that doesn't work for me. Yes I do need to build a house that's actually a giant epicyclic gearbox, thank you very much
posted by scruss at 8:25 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
Lego are much more open now: their Build HAT made in conjunction with Raspberry Pi, and their Spark Prime boards now run open-source MicroPython. But of course, they were very Lego indeed in introducing a new incompatible connector for all their new electronics.
While I have a general brick set (housed in one of the boxes they partnered with Ikea to make), even a short build session reminds me that 53 year old thumbs are much more creaky than they were. The only Lego bricks I miss were a weird proto-Technic set I was given c.1977 that was all gears and shafts and bearing blocks. Every Technic kit I've seen (within affordable range, that is) is "build this specific thing", and that doesn't work for me. Yes I do need to build a house that's actually a giant epicyclic gearbox, thank you very much
posted by scruss at 8:25 AM on August 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
I found where my random Tente bits came from -- the back of a cornflake box it seems.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:35 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:35 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
My favorite Lego thing in the late 70s/early 80s was that Lego put out books of simple assembly instructions (without the blocks)
I have a couple of those books from the 1980s and they even included stickers so you could take generic blocks and turn them into custom control panels, signs, and decorations.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:10 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have a couple of those books from the 1980s and they even included stickers so you could take generic blocks and turn them into custom control panels, signs, and decorations.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:10 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I remember, as a kid in grade four or five, going over to a friend’s house to play for the first time and seeing that they made all of their Lego kits once and left the models on their shelves. My reaction was exactly the same as, years later, going over to someone’s home “to play” and seeing that they have no books anywhere: per John Waters, I’m probably not gonna be a return visitor. All play styles are valid but I’m a die-hard “make it once, break it up, and go nuts” Legoist.
posted by sixswitch at 9:24 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 9:24 AM on August 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
Ooh, Tente, that brought up some memories. I actually had a ship or two from them, but haven't thought about them for years and years. I think I mostly made unlikely-looking monster naval vessels.
posted by Harald74 at 9:31 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by Harald74 at 9:31 AM on August 10, 2022
I’m turning 50 this year, and I just built the rebooted Galaxy Explorer last night. It was fantastic fun. My kids have finally outgrown building Lego, so I’ve missed having an excuse to build and play with Lego. Turns out I don’t really need one! The original Galaxy Explorer was my favourite set as a kid, and I played the heck out of it for years. I managed to keep the entire set intact, with boxes and instructions, but it was in the attic of my parents’ house and my sisters kids got their mitts on it. That was the end of that. When I see the price a complete original set goes for I could cry.
The rebooted set is amazing, and such a blast of nostalgia.
As for the “kit” aspect of modern sets, my kids would build sets, and generally they ended up pulled apart or heavily modified, except for their favourites (mostly Star Wars spaceships, which were still modified or “improved”). As a result, they have several boxes of parts they would build their own designs with.
posted by fimbulvetr at 9:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
The rebooted set is amazing, and such a blast of nostalgia.
As for the “kit” aspect of modern sets, my kids would build sets, and generally they ended up pulled apart or heavily modified, except for their favourites (mostly Star Wars spaceships, which were still modified or “improved”). As a result, they have several boxes of parts they would build their own designs with.
posted by fimbulvetr at 9:33 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
On a family road trip when I was little, I was playing with a car I had made of Lego bricks.
Saddest story on MetaFilter….
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:44 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Saddest story on MetaFilter….
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:44 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I used to have a bunch of Lego sets, mostly gifts over about 30 years. I had them in their boxes, in storage boxes, and rarely messed around with them. One of my coworkers was struggling financially and had a son who loved Lego, so I gave the dad almost all my sets to dole out over the year. Everyone won.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:48 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:48 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is corresponds strongly with my interests!
See also LEGO trains.
posted by e-man at 9:53 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
See also LEGO trains.
posted by e-man at 9:53 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, if anybody tries to milkshake-duck LEGO I will not be responsible for my actions...
posted by e-man at 9:56 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by e-man at 9:56 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I visited the factory that makes all Lego sold in the Americas just last week! It was mind-boggling. It was an item in my bucket list I did not know I seriously needed to tick off. It's a giant place (the brochure states they could store 2,500 buses just on the storage area), and almost wholly automated on the production side, although they do employ around 5,000 workers. The machine which inserts the little minifig hands into the arm sockets just broke me.
posted by Omon Ra at 10:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Omon Ra at 10:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
The instructions usually had steps listed for more than one thing. You couldn’t usually build them all at once but with a few extra pieces you already had, you could maybe do two of the minor designs in a given set.
As a kid I always wanted to have a few more of some of the pieces so I could make an eight- or ten-wheeled version of the six-wheeled thing pictured on the box.
My sister and I ascribed sinister personality to the wavy-armed claw thing that came with a couple of the space sets, and made a fairly long-lived cardog named Rover out of a hinge with two pairs of wheels on it.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
As a kid I always wanted to have a few more of some of the pieces so I could make an eight- or ten-wheeled version of the six-wheeled thing pictured on the box.
My sister and I ascribed sinister personality to the wavy-armed claw thing that came with a couple of the space sets, and made a fairly long-lived cardog named Rover out of a hinge with two pairs of wheels on it.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Really tight tolerances in production means that they have to retire molds after comparatively few cycles compared to other types of plastic toys, driving up costs.
And Lego production is almost entirely automated and hands free, driving down production costs. They have entire factories with barely anyone in them at all, just high precision injection molding machines pumping out millions and millions of bricks and parts. As indicated in this thread they have an enviable profit margin despite high mold costs.
That being said they definitely have some of the tightest tolerances of any company out there who molds plastic bits and are engineering and production marvels.
posted by loquacious at 10:16 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
And Lego production is almost entirely automated and hands free, driving down production costs. They have entire factories with barely anyone in them at all, just high precision injection molding machines pumping out millions and millions of bricks and parts. As indicated in this thread they have an enviable profit margin despite high mold costs.
That being said they definitely have some of the tightest tolerances of any company out there who molds plastic bits and are engineering and production marvels.
posted by loquacious at 10:16 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
My partner likes to make the big kits marketed mostly for adults - Batman cars and planes, Star Wars ships, and some NASA stuff.
The Saturn V rocket was one of his first big builds. He had it on a bookshelf, and I was moving things around one day and picked it up to gently move it somewhere it wouldn't get wrecked.
Well, I didn't know that there were two main pieces that were not connected structurally... so I picked it up and the other half fell to the ground, shattering pieces everywhere.
I am a full grown woman and still was soooo upset at myself. Partner laughed it off, and we both talk about rebuilding it but the pieces remain in a ziplock bag. One of the hard parts is that the instructions are written so linearly, it's hard to figure out where to pick up when you have a half-built piece and need to repair it. But mostly I think what he enjoys is the immersion of building a big, intricate piece like that and assembling new kits have taken priority over rebuilding the rocket.
posted by misskaz at 10:24 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Saturn V rocket was one of his first big builds. He had it on a bookshelf, and I was moving things around one day and picked it up to gently move it somewhere it wouldn't get wrecked.
Well, I didn't know that there were two main pieces that were not connected structurally... so I picked it up and the other half fell to the ground, shattering pieces everywhere.
I am a full grown woman and still was soooo upset at myself. Partner laughed it off, and we both talk about rebuilding it but the pieces remain in a ziplock bag. One of the hard parts is that the instructions are written so linearly, it's hard to figure out where to pick up when you have a half-built piece and need to repair it. But mostly I think what he enjoys is the immersion of building a big, intricate piece like that and assembling new kits have taken priority over rebuilding the rocket.
posted by misskaz at 10:24 AM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
My brother and I used to annoy the hell out of our parents by taking our giant box full of individual LEGO pieces and dumping them out on the living room floor to make finding pieces easier. At like 7:30 am on a weekend.
The classic Space set will always be LEGO to me—I mean, Town and Castle were OK, but SPACESHIP!!! Which is why I follow
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
The classic Space set will always be LEGO to me—I mean, Town and Castle were OK, but SPACESHIP!!! Which is why I follow
@LegoSpaceBot on Twitter, because who doesn't want to see the All-Terrain Voyager from 1981 every once in a while?posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:02 AM on August 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
LEGO sets were always my favorite as a kid, loved building the designed sets and coming up with my own monstrosities. In my 50s now I started picking up a set here and there a few years back and am still really enjoying them. All of the little details and amazing engineering are such a joy, working transmissions and engines with cylinders that reciprocate, hidden easter egg parts buried in the build that nobody other that the builder will ever see.
Any more I just enjoy the meditative aspect of building the set and tend to leave them displayed on a shelf, but I very much admire some of the creatives out there modifying and coming up with their own creations. There are a ton of great builders to be found on YouTube, JK Brickworks being one of my favorites.
posted by calamari kid at 11:09 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Any more I just enjoy the meditative aspect of building the set and tend to leave them displayed on a shelf, but I very much admire some of the creatives out there modifying and coming up with their own creations. There are a ton of great builders to be found on YouTube, JK Brickworks being one of my favorites.
posted by calamari kid at 11:09 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Uncanny. Just yesterday I made my first ever big-(ish) LEGO purchase as an adult. (I dipped my toes in with some $10 boxes a couple months back.)
It's the 3-in-1 Majestic Tiger set . I've already built the red panda, am planning to work on the Tiger by the weekend, and then hope to round up the extra pieces needed to build JK Brickworks' Koi automaton conversion for the set. We'll see.
posted by col_pogo at 11:10 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's the 3-in-1 Majestic Tiger set . I've already built the red panda, am planning to work on the Tiger by the weekend, and then hope to round up the extra pieces needed to build JK Brickworks' Koi automaton conversion for the set. We'll see.
posted by col_pogo at 11:10 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
The classic Space set will always be LEGO to me—I mean, Town and Castle were OK, but SPACESHIP!!! Which is why I follow@LegoSpaceBot on Twitter, because who doesn't want to see the All-Terrain Voyager from 1981 every once in a while?
Oof! Right in the nostalgia! :O Recognizing a lot of sets I had and miss.
posted by curious nu at 11:14 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oof! Right in the nostalgia! :O Recognizing a lot of sets I had and miss.
posted by curious nu at 11:14 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
The classic Space set will always be LEGO to me—I mean, Town and Castle were OK, but SPACESHIP!!!
Have you seen the reborn Galaxy Explorer? Pretty much pre-ordered it as soon as it was announced. (As I told my wife, Benny is my childhood condensed into a minifig.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:26 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Have you seen the reborn Galaxy Explorer? Pretty much pre-ordered it as soon as it was announced. (As I told my wife, Benny is my childhood condensed into a minifig.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:26 AM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I grew up (in the 90s) playing with knockoff pastel LEGOs and never thought twice about it. And the 90s were big for brands -- I remember having the "right" Nikes and my favorite team's Starter jacket. But LEGO? Absolutely not. I have niblings now, and I was surprised learn how strong the real LEGO brand is these days.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:34 AM on August 10, 2022
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:34 AM on August 10, 2022
Oh, and if you want to see one of the more entertaining collective LEGO mechanisms, I recommend looking up Great Ball Contraption on YouTube - these are sequences of mechanisms linked together to move LEGO balls around in a conveyor designed by Rube Goldberg. One of the more notable GBC module designers is Japanese designer Akiyuki, whose designs are incredibly well engineered.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:38 AM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
A few months away from 50 and am hitting my third go-round with LEGO. First it was myself, with classic Space from the early 80's - and Castle. I always thought my collection was "huge" (it was modest, it could all fit in an old 'cake tin', I still have that box - it is a little dented-up from my youth, it is the ONLY thing I have from my childhood) - and it was dumped on the floor every saturday morning, and I would play non-stop making my own creations, after the initial "follow-the-instructions" build.
Then - in my teens, I gave it away or sold it - but once the internet hit, I started following newsgroups and websites, but never got back into it. Until, well - we were expecting the birth of my first child, and I told everyone... if you are going to get toys, LEGO will be best. And, so I accumulated sets and we played a bit as she got older - even the original MINDSTORMS. However, between her and her younger brother (who came along 4 years later), they never did take to LEGO - their passion has been Minecraft, Roblox and basically video gaming in general. I eventually gave the MINDSTORMS sets to a local STEM program, as they were languishing unused.
Three and a half years ago, my granddaughter arrived - and she is now very very interested in LEGO - so, we build things together, but she is already trying to build her own creations, and considers the instructions "optional".
posted by rozcakj at 11:58 AM on August 10, 2022
Then - in my teens, I gave it away or sold it - but once the internet hit, I started following newsgroups and websites, but never got back into it. Until, well - we were expecting the birth of my first child, and I told everyone... if you are going to get toys, LEGO will be best. And, so I accumulated sets and we played a bit as she got older - even the original MINDSTORMS. However, between her and her younger brother (who came along 4 years later), they never did take to LEGO - their passion has been Minecraft, Roblox and basically video gaming in general. I eventually gave the MINDSTORMS sets to a local STEM program, as they were languishing unused.
Three and a half years ago, my granddaughter arrived - and she is now very very interested in LEGO - so, we build things together, but she is already trying to build her own creations, and considers the instructions "optional".
posted by rozcakj at 11:58 AM on August 10, 2022
In the late 60s or early 70s they made gears that would snap onto small turntable/hub blocks that snapped into the plates. This was before Technilcs, I think, and there were no axles or bushings yet, just the gears and primitive turntable/hubs. I would build compound gear sets that you could get spinning very fast. I’m not sure there was much more you could do with them, but it was amusing enough at the time. I’ve never met anyone else who remembers them, but I swear they existed!
posted by sjswitzer at 3:00 PM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 3:00 PM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
I’ve never met anyone else who remembers them, but I swear they existed!
They still exist - the LEGO Super Mario sets make extensive use of them.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:13 PM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
They still exist - the LEGO Super Mario sets make extensive use of them.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:13 PM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Those 70's gears were slightly different from the LEGO Super Mario gears
I still think that their instruction manuals set the high bar for instructions.
posted by mdoar at 4:01 PM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I still think that their instruction manuals set the high bar for instructions.
posted by mdoar at 4:01 PM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
My first interview for a university place went like this
"Why do you want to be a mechanical engineer?"
"I like playing with LEGO Technic. A lot."
Got an offer.
posted by mdoar at 4:03 PM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
"Why do you want to be a mechanical engineer?"
"I like playing with LEGO Technic. A lot."
Got an offer.
posted by mdoar at 4:03 PM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
Thanks mdoar! I vaguely remember there being a motor in the set, now that you’ve reminded me, but memory is fickle.
posted by sjswitzer at 6:19 PM on August 10, 2022
posted by sjswitzer at 6:19 PM on August 10, 2022
Some time during Covid it occurred to me that, "Wait ... I'm an adult with a job. I can buy myself Lego sets and build them, instead of just buying them for my kids." (Also my MIL who finds me difficult to shop for LOVES that I am now putting Lego sets on my Xmas list.)
One of my brothers is a huge AFOL and has tons of sets and builds really cool things. He stores them in the basement on shelves, and all of his nieces and nephews LOVE to go down there and gawk at his giant adult Lego sets. Honestly a good 80% of adults who come over to visit go down to see the Lego gallery and get REALLY EXCITED. Everybody loves Lego.
Last Christmas, my dad built his first-ever Lego set, helping one of my kids with their build. He was like, "This is really neat! I love this! The instructions are so good, and it's all so clever how it fits together!" He started buying Lego for his own kids when we were three years old (we still have some of that Duplo from 40 years ago! Still good!), but somehow he never got to indulge in it himself until he was 72.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:21 PM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
One of my brothers is a huge AFOL and has tons of sets and builds really cool things. He stores them in the basement on shelves, and all of his nieces and nephews LOVE to go down there and gawk at his giant adult Lego sets. Honestly a good 80% of adults who come over to visit go down to see the Lego gallery and get REALLY EXCITED. Everybody loves Lego.
Last Christmas, my dad built his first-ever Lego set, helping one of my kids with their build. He was like, "This is really neat! I love this! The instructions are so good, and it's all so clever how it fits together!" He started buying Lego for his own kids when we were three years old (we still have some of that Duplo from 40 years ago! Still good!), but somehow he never got to indulge in it himself until he was 72.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:21 PM on August 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
but somehow he never got to indulge in it himself until he was 72.
He’s living his best life now!
posted by sjswitzer at 6:41 PM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
He’s living his best life now!
posted by sjswitzer at 6:41 PM on August 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
My favorite Lego thing in the late 70s/early 80s was that Lego put out books of simple assembly instructions
I have a couple of those books from the 1980s and they even included stickers so you could take generic blocks and turn them into custom control panels, signs, and decorations.
6000 Idea Book!
Brickinstructions.com has scans of the pages, if you'd like a trip down memory lane.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:36 AM on August 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have a couple of those books from the 1980s and they even included stickers so you could take generic blocks and turn them into custom control panels, signs, and decorations.
6000 Idea Book!
Brickinstructions.com has scans of the pages, if you'd like a trip down memory lane.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:36 AM on August 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
I learned to facilitate the LEGO Serious Play methodology about 8 weeks pre-pandemic, and bought two each of the big foundational sets the method requires, as well as a great big bunch of the LSP starter sets for participants. I can't wait to use them for work - the bits in the Connections set are so cool!
posted by ersatzkat at 8:23 AM on August 11, 2022
posted by ersatzkat at 8:23 AM on August 11, 2022
I normally really dislike licensed LEGO but oh my goshhhhhh
(also I just ordered some more thanks to this post, ugh!)
posted by curious nu at 9:37 AM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
(also I just ordered some more thanks to this post, ugh!)
posted by curious nu at 9:37 AM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
(also I just ordered some more thanks to this post, ugh!)
A comment on the LEGO thread elsewhere:
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:06 PM on August 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
A comment on the LEGO thread elsewhere:
This thread is an opium den full of opium addicts discussing how much they enjoy opium, what opium they're looking forward to getting in the future, new opium that's been revealed, how to best display or store their opium, and opportunities to buy hard to find opium.Discussing LEGO tends to lead to more LEGO.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:06 PM on August 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
I appreciate that the plurals don't work the same way in Danish and everything, but when I moved to the UK I found a lot of people really upset that Americans say "legos" instead of "LEGO® Brand Brick-Food Product™", in Strict Contravention of the Corporate Brand Guidelines. I'm happy that there's a mix in here.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Discussing LEGO tends to lead to more LEGO.
And as if to prove the point, I went to the LEGO Store and bought more LEGO that I now need to fit in a suitcase.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:03 PM on August 11, 2022
And as if to prove the point, I went to the LEGO Store and bought more LEGO that I now need to fit in a suitcase.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:03 PM on August 11, 2022
My first experiences with LEGO were playing with my older brother's collection. There was a crank winch with thread, and there was a window. I would build tall walls, tie the thread to the window at the top, and crank the thread down until the wall bent and broke. Then I would rebuild and do the same thing again, testing every wall to destruction. Having started that way, I usually wasn't precious about whatever I built, since I could just rebuild it. I remember a couple catastrophes that were actually upsetting, but usually I'd build something, play with it for a while, and then tear it down for parts to build something else.
Once I started getting sets of my own I flattened the boxes and kept them along with the instructions and even the catalogs. I had the original Galaxy Explorer and built it so many times I could do it without checking the instructions, but I never had qualms about taking it apart and building other things instead. For one thing it just wasn't big enough so I basically built my own jumbo ships, expanding the little rover compartment into something I could put a shuttle craft in, and so on, out of whatever color bricks I had. I don't currently have the budget to buy the new one, but I acknowledge that I am absolutely the target market for it.
I never got the castle, though. I coveted that and the trains. We took a trip to London in what I think was December 1982 and the store display at Selfridge's blew my mind. We couldn't even get those trains in the US. The sets weren't in the catalogs I was saving.
posted by fedward at 8:30 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Once I started getting sets of my own I flattened the boxes and kept them along with the instructions and even the catalogs. I had the original Galaxy Explorer and built it so many times I could do it without checking the instructions, but I never had qualms about taking it apart and building other things instead. For one thing it just wasn't big enough so I basically built my own jumbo ships, expanding the little rover compartment into something I could put a shuttle craft in, and so on, out of whatever color bricks I had. I don't currently have the budget to buy the new one, but I acknowledge that I am absolutely the target market for it.
I never got the castle, though. I coveted that and the trains. We took a trip to London in what I think was December 1982 and the store display at Selfridge's blew my mind. We couldn't even get those trains in the US. The sets weren't in the catalogs I was saving.
posted by fedward at 8:30 PM on August 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
A comment on the LEGO thread elsewhere:
This thread is an opium den full of opium addicts discussing how much they enjoy opium, what opium they're looking forward to getting in the future, new opium that's been revealed, how to best display or store their opium, and opportunities to buy hard to find opium.
Sometimes when chatting with someone who is interested in our local Lego club, I jokingly(?) tell people "This is not a support group, we are enablers."
posted by Fleebnork at 5:48 AM on August 12, 2022
This thread is an opium den full of opium addicts discussing how much they enjoy opium, what opium they're looking forward to getting in the future, new opium that's been revealed, how to best display or store their opium, and opportunities to buy hard to find opium.
Sometimes when chatting with someone who is interested in our local Lego club, I jokingly(?) tell people "This is not a support group, we are enablers."
posted by Fleebnork at 5:48 AM on August 12, 2022
And as if to prove the point, I went to the LEGO Store and bought more LEGO that I now need to fit in a suitcase
Lego stores are dangerous. I'm currently trying to talk myself out of buying the new big castle. On the one hand I *need* it because CASTLE! on the other it's €400. The display model my local Lego store has doesn't help in the slightest.
posted by scorbet at 6:01 AM on August 12, 2022
Lego stores are dangerous. I'm currently trying to talk myself out of buying the new big castle. On the one hand I *need* it because CASTLE! on the other it's €400. The display model my local Lego store has doesn't help in the slightest.
posted by scorbet at 6:01 AM on August 12, 2022
I have several friends sharing my Lego addiction, sorry, enthusiasm, and the announcement of a new kit is often met by our tagging each other on social media with the details and the comment "do I need to ask?"
There is a downside to this. Mrs Clanger and I moved house this week, and I am typing this literally surrounded by cardboard mover's boxes, a good portion of which have 'FRAGILE - LEGO' written on them. I hasten to add that our removals firm have been really good with the Lego (and in fact everything else), carefully boxing assembled kits in bubblewrap. The only one they balked at was the UCS Millennium Falcon, which I ended up moving myself in a large crate full of padding.
posted by Major Clanger at 7:51 AM on August 12, 2022
There is a downside to this. Mrs Clanger and I moved house this week, and I am typing this literally surrounded by cardboard mover's boxes, a good portion of which have 'FRAGILE - LEGO' written on them. I hasten to add that our removals firm have been really good with the Lego (and in fact everything else), carefully boxing assembled kits in bubblewrap. The only one they balked at was the UCS Millennium Falcon, which I ended up moving myself in a large crate full of padding.
posted by Major Clanger at 7:51 AM on August 12, 2022
The display model my local Lego store has doesn't help in the slightest.
The store I went to had a sign next to the display saying "Welcome To Your Middle Ages!"
My first thought was "a little on the nose there, don't you think?"
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:29 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
The store I went to had a sign next to the display saying "Welcome To Your Middle Ages!"
My first thought was "a little on the nose there, don't you think?"
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:29 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
ah fuck the tallneck is back in stock I’m about to make Bad Choices
posted by curious nu at 10:19 AM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by curious nu at 10:19 AM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Are there any other kind when it comes to LEGO?
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:48 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:48 PM on August 18, 2022
I remember wanting the big castle set when it released in 1984 but of course never got it since it was very expensive and I was just a regular working-class kid, but I saw the tribute set they just released that scorbet was talking about and I was thinking "should I" right up to the point where I saw the price tag...
posted by Harald74 at 12:00 AM on August 19, 2022
posted by Harald74 at 12:00 AM on August 19, 2022
There is a Creator "3 in 1" castle set that's still quite large, that isn't $400.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:01 AM on August 22, 2022
posted by Fleebnork at 5:01 AM on August 22, 2022
That's one of the sets I bought when I got back into Lego this year, I've really enjoyed it. That trip hammer is still just so cool to me.
posted by curious nu at 1:04 PM on August 23, 2022
posted by curious nu at 1:04 PM on August 23, 2022
There is a Creator "3 in 1" castle set that's still quite large, that isn't $400
I already have that one, but the new big castle set is still calling to me. (I am a huge castle fan.) And the new mechanised lighthouse looks amazing too...
posted by scorbet at 6:12 AM on August 24, 2022
I already have that one, but the new big castle set is still calling to me. (I am a huge castle fan.) And the new mechanised lighthouse looks amazing too...
posted by scorbet at 6:12 AM on August 24, 2022
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It'd be cool to make and sell guerilla Lego sets of local landmarks and places that would never be made by Lego proper. I'm surprised there aren't replica Lego bricks available on Alibaba for dirt cheap, Legos can't be that hard to replicate.
posted by geoff. at 3:02 AM on August 10, 2022