Lego, how you have fallen...

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Looking at the shelves, Lego is now what it was when I was a kid. These poor kids get like 10 unusable pieces (preformed huge pieces) for like 20 dollars. When I was a kid it was Space Police, Blacktron, Ice Planet, Those Underwater Sets Which I Cannot Remember, Those Midevil Sets Which I Cannot Remember...ect. What happened!? Now they are just huge unusable pieces that are very specific. What the hell are you supposed to make with half of a star wars ship!? Also these new secondary colors frighten me, TEAL, PINK, ORANGE...These are Legos? These kids are being shorted in the imagination area here folks, eveything is already made, they just have to put together 5 Star Wars themed "bricks" and feel that they are doing something creative...sigh. It is like they have fired all the original designers and now only make big movie themed sets.


I will now await ripster.

[chimera15]

I have every space set from like 1978 when they started, to like 1984.  I should totally put them on ebay. lol  I remember I once wrote lego when I lost a part and they sent me a replacement. They had heart in those days. lol  

I also have the early castle stuff which was pretty cool and the first one of their series to really diverge.  I have all the boxes and everything. I've kept them for like 30 years. lol

I agree, I started to loose interest when they started blacktron and really started to get crazy.

Part of the fun was collecting every set, but that's like practically impossible now even if you're filthy rich.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Kids today!

When I was a wee lad, we played with lawn darts. AND WE LIKED IT!

You better be good at playing it, because if you weren't, it was perilous for family and friends!

[TexasFlood]

Kids today!

When I was a wee lad, we played with lawn darts. AND WE LIKED IT!

You better be good at playing it, because if you weren't, it was perilous for family and friends!

Show Image

Funny.  Did you have to walk miles to retrieve them and then back to throw them again, uphill both ways in 4 foot snow drifts?

[itlnstln]

Ah yes, lawn darts.  I had a set of those when I was a kid.  They were fun, and no, I didn't kill anybody.  They wouldn't work where I live these days, though.  The ground is too rocky.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Funny.  Did you have to walk miles to retrieve them and then back to throw them again, uphill both ways in 4 foot snow drifts?

4 feet? 4 FEET?

Try 6 feet, BAREFOOT! AND WE LIKED IT!

[chimera15]

Actually if you truly followed Lego you would find they still have lots of interesting designs - because of a recent turnaround their profits are going through the roof which allows them to hire some top notch designers from around the world.

You're are just an Old Fart stuck in a 20 year old body.

That's precisely the problem.  What was fun about legos was trying to design things out of a standard set of parts that you normally wouldn't be able to do anything interesting or different with.  You had to be a real hacker to play with legos.  Now it's just absurd because there's a part for everything.  A friend of mine made a x-wing fighter in like 1980, now that was totally awesome.  Now you just buy one.  You might as well buy a real model x-wing, if you want to do it that way.  It won't be all bumpy.  What's the point of a lego x-wing that wasn't made from something else.  It doesn't make any sense at all.  What else could you possibly build from an x-wing lego kit.  It's an xwing with bumpy bits, and a bunch of specialized parts that are custom made to make an x-wing.

[mr_a500]

 

[chimera15]

I used to envy those lucky bastard kids who had Lego. My family had the cheaper Bricks Blocks - no faces, no themes, just different shaped bricks. We had to really get creative trying to create people and things (smallest two-nubbed brick was always used for eyes). Later, I realized we were the lucky ones - because we could make anything (...well, anything square) as long as we used our imagination, while the Lego kids were stuck with the pre-made themes.



Ah... lawn darts... that takes me back. The yelling, the screaming, the threats of police action when I hit my brother in the head with one... good times.

We weren't stuck with pre made themes.  I had a pile of legos that I would use to build original things, and then a pristine set that was built to factory specs. lol  We had the tools to build what we imagined.  That's why most sets that came out from 1978-1984 I had two sets of.  My father had a pretty good job, and I would save my allowance sometimes for months to buy certain sets, and every christmas and birthday it was always lego's for gifts. lol  Some of the sets were rarer and expensive, and we would have to scrounge and call around to stores to find certain ones that were available.  I remember driving like 100 miles to a store that had a rare set with my mom once.  Legos were like my life when I was a kid.

One of the reasons I became a sculptor.

But you're right, the same point I was making.  Too much detail and it no longer is about the art and imagination.  Too little though is worse because it becomes frustrating and really no fun to play with.

[itlnstln]

That's one hell of a paper they have when it's bigger than the Staten Island Ferry.

[mr_a500]

Nah, you guys still don't get it.

You are only limited by your limited imagination you old poops.

Show Image

No, you don't get it... you lucky Lego bastard. We didn't even have pieces that thin, so we had to imagine that the Sunday paper was the regular paper. Not only that, but it was red, so we had to imagine it was white.

[chimera15]

Nah, you guys still don't get it.

You are only limited by your limited imagination you old poops.

Show Image

If you want to encourage your kids to explore their own design just stick with the Creator series.

Show Image

The new plane looks great.

Show Image

You guys are just obsolete adults and no longer doted over children so get over it.

I'm still a doted over man-child, so nyah! roflol  God that series looks boring as hell.  That'd be like torture to a kid if you gave them one of those sets wouldn't it?  lol

Nice model of a jet from 1950, and an... alligator?...roflol  Imagine all the fun the kid could have pretending to fly around in his amorphus red painted non military jet from 1950, or stalking people on a river bank pretending he's an alligator. roflol  Maybe he can pretend he's Steve Irwin, and he can make a lego manta ray next. roflol

[chimera15]

See, what did I tellya?!

Lack of imagination.

Show Image

You're just trying to egg me into pulling out my legos.

[chimera15]

Lego My Eggos.

>

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Show Image

I don't think that bothers anyone else.

[Mental Hobbit]

We weren't stuck with pre made themes.  

This. When I was a kid, a box of Legos was... a box of Legos. Noone told us what we were supposed to make of it. I feel themed sets beat the purpose of Lego, which is challenging kids' creativity.
From a marketing perspective, they're brilliant of course.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Guvf. Jura V jnf n xvq, n obk bs Yrtbf jnf... n obk bs Yrtbf. Abbar gbyq hf jung jr jrer fhccbfrq gb znxr bs vg. V srry gurzrq frgf orng gur checbfr bs Yrtb, juvpu vf punyyratvat xvqf' perngvivgl.
Sebz n znexrgvat crefcrpgvir, gurl'er oevyyvnag bs pbhefr.

I agree completely. Of course, I was one of those kids who sucked with Legos because I'd lose the damn pieces before I was done building it...

[microsoft windows]

Kids today!

When I was a wee lad, we played with lawn darts. AND WE LIKED IT!

You better be good at playing it, because if you weren't, it was perilous for family and friends!

Show Image

That's nothing. When I was a kid, I had to walk 3 miles up a hill both ways to collect rainwater from a pit full of skeeters! We didn't even have lawn darts. All we had to play with was dirt. And what we called a trailer back then was a regridgerator box on wheels! And we liked it!

[mr_a500]

Man, I wish we had dirt to play with. We only had rat droppings we had to pretend was dirt. We made lawn darts out of seaweed and dried snot. I combed my hair with a flattened roadkill beaver. Yeah, those were the days.

Modern kids are so spoiled.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

I agree with that completely as well!

Ab ybir sbe EBG13?

[Mental Hobbit]

Man, I wish we had dirt to play with. We only had rat droppings we had to pretend was dirt.

You never found out how to make real dirt out of rat droppings? Man, that's pathetic.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Rat droppings were a luxury, we had mouse turds.

It takes a lot more mouse turds to make dirt to play with. They're a lot smaller.

Kids today...

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Hell, yes. Man I miss those boxes with all the glowing clear parts.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

[chimera15]

Lego clearly needs to make legos for adults.

[chimera15]

(snicker)

[chimera15]

Wow? Ya all seen this? Lego keyboard.



Ah it's a musical keyboard. lol

[chimera15]

Do legos fit cherry stems? It seems to me one of those squares had a round thing in the center that suggested they might?

[vils]

I have atleast 15 pounds of lego parts at home, from my childhood, my brothers and new stuff. For most of the time it's allover the living room, sigh. A lot of cursing when you get those suckers under the feet. But all three kids and me and my wife spend considarable time every day building things, brilliant toy I must say. Can't wait 'til the kids are old enough to appreciate Mindstorm Lego... I wish that existed when I was a kid.
But I agree that there are to many special parts, I have bought several boxes of standard parts to remedy the lack of basic bricks.

[Findecanor]

Do legos fit cherry stems? It seems to me one of those squares had a round thing in the center that suggested they might?

No, they don't. That is one of the first things I tried ...
There are rods for Lego Technic that also have a cross-profile, for things such as cogwheels, but they are too wide.

[Oqsy]

I had the space shuttle set, several of the glowing clear plastic space kits (small sets), some robin hood looking set, colonial soldiers set, and a bunch of random basic sets.  

The big kits were cool because of the unique pieces you'd get and could use in unique ways with the standard sets.

My kids LOVE Legos, but the problem is the limited availability of the basic sets like I had.  My wife and I looked for big buckets / boxes of standard legos for our kids on several occasions and never found anything worth mentioning.  I agree with the OP, and this is coming from a Star Wars fanatic...  the theme sets are a bit boring, and leave you without the standard go-to pieces for building from scratch.  Have any of you priced the big green flat pieces?  Outrageous.  

It would be great to have a Lego store in the mall that had "grab bags" or even buffet style brick counters (imagine the "by the pound" dog treats at Petco/Petsmart) in addition to the kits.  I shouldn't have posted that, as it might have been a plan I could have sold to Lego.  Oh well...

[nowsharing]

What is the point of creating a sulking thread like this? Ripster has proven the limitless creativity that Legos offer on hundreds of occasions.

You knew that when you started the thread, and it's a little insulting to those of us who enjoy seeing his works. Would you really have any reason to talk about Legos at geekhack if it weren't for ripster's designs?

Go whine to your friends at the senior center, around here we respect the lego.

[kishy]

I mailed ripster a Lego-associated gift.

My actual Legos, however, are being donated to my friend's younger brother.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

What is the point of creating a sulking thread like this? Ripster has proven the limitless creativity that Legos offer on hundreds of occasions.

You knew that when you started the thread, and it's a little insulting to those of us who enjoy seeing his works. Would you really have any reason to talk about Legos at geekhack if it weren't for ripster's designs?

Go whine to your friends at the senior center, around here we respect the lego.

This has nothing to do with ripster's creations at all. I'm talking about the direction that Lego has taken with their marketing.

[chimera15]

roflol That's awesome.  Talk about over-diversification though. lol

[EverythingIBM]

I prefer IBM lego:

[nowsharing]

This was sitting in the lobby of the Opera house in Manaus:


It was stunning, but my own pictures didn't turn out. I found these on flickr.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

roflol That's awesome.  Talk about over-diversification though. lol

Not really, that's the beauty of the bricks being really inexpensive to make (the creative people cost money).

Those giant sets sell to [strike]man children[/strike] adult Lego enthusiasts at a hefty profit.

[gr1m]

I used to play with this sort of space-themed toy set that was based on the same idea as legos but not as modular. I think they were called "Cosmos Conquerors" but a google reveals nothing. I miss them.

[Findecanor]

I played a lot with LEGO, but I also had a tiny amount of TENTE, some of which was space-themed. The space theme was called "Cosmic". Is that what you are referring to?

Btw. LEGO is getting quite popular as office toys on my workplace right now for some reason... (filled up with mostly computer nerds in their 30's..)

[ricercar]

My Danish friend says Lego translates to "play nice." Ripster, I'm looking at you.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

My mind says Tecnic but my body says Duplo.

[vils]

My Danish friend says Lego translates to "play nice." Ripster, I'm looking at you.

He's correct, Leg Godt means play good/nice.

[quadibloc]

The original post in this thread certainly corresponded to my sentiments about Lego today, starting probably 10 years ago. The Star Wars sets, the current Bionicle sets (those are the Polynesian giant android sets that are probably the underwater ones the OP didn't remember the name of)... there are too many special purpose sets with special purpose pieces for building just one thing.

There are still also some general sets for building houses and the like, but they're small sets directed at very young children. Perhaps Lego has taken its extra profits, and is producing a more diverse line of products now, as Ripster has said, but if so, my local retailers are not feeling as adventurous as Lego itself is.

It was stunning, but my own pictures didn't turn out. I found these on flickr.

And that is how the actual Manaus Opera House looks as well! At first I thought it might be a model of the Vienna State Opera!

[Pixel_Outlaw]

ripster, this might seem like a really odd question but I know you have an eye for detail. Have you noticed that some of the clear parts of lego seem discontinued? More specifically the clear neon green does not match the clear neon green from say the blacktron era. The modern variant seems much lighter, I know it is not the discoloration of the plastic either. The clear parts were sacred objects in my childhood.

[quadibloc]

The big buckets of standard legos are easy to get at any Walmart or Target in my town.

Oh, yes, they at least have that.

And I see that the first LEGO Store in Canada is about to open in Chinook Centre in Calgary. So at least some people living not too far from me will have access to a wide range of LEGO products.

[kishy]

Not quite true, quadibloc...there was a local LEGO Store. It closed a couple years ago, but it was definitely in Canada.

[Nonmouse]

And then they invited this thing called the Internet!

Did it RSVP?

[washuai]

I think I'm more concerned about all the "Sorry, item is not available in this country: United States." on some of the lego sets, than the squash the creativity of the kids.  Kids are kids, the creative ones will always find a way to use something for purposes it was not originally intended.  Gems used to be various tinted clear one dot circular pieces and now they are actual gem shaped . . I hope there would always be room for "themed sets" and basic bricks.

I'm glad they have like 700 piece sets (although limited to 25 at a time), for people who want to build outside the box.  Those kinds of things seemed harder to find, as a kid.
My cousin had most of the legos and I think he even has my old sets.  I think I like blank faces better than the prints, because we would paint on with model paints, which looked way cooler and far less fugly, than the newer lego ones.

Space/medieval/sea faring sets all cool.  I don't mind theme sets, but it always seemed like they included fewer pieces and of course, fewer basic building blocks as the years went by.