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Posted by Alexis on November 20, 2006, 2:34 am
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Hi,
Recently I read an article or saw a television show describing the
contrast between "old legos" and "new legos". The point of the article
was that in the good old days lego kits were full of generic, highly
interchangeable bricks that could be used to make anything you could
imagine. But nowadays the newer lego kits are full of bricks of more
limited intercompatibility, bricks which are mainly designed to let you
construct the single, elaborate, predefined centerpiece pictured on the
box (such a spaceship, or a car).
The article argued this change was a bad thing, since it required less
imagination from people using legos. I have two questions for the lego
mavens here.
Simple Question: Where on Earth did I read this article (or TV piece)?
I can't remember where I ran into the idea, but it took root in my
mind. I'd like to revisit it. It may have been on the BBC, but I'm
really not sure.
Deeper Question: Is this true? Is this the common wisdom, or a common
complaint, among lego afficianados? Have lego kits changed from the
good old days, so that now a given kit can produce a smaller number of
interesting results? If this is for real, what kits old and new stand
out as representative examples of this trend?
I'm much obliged for all your opinions and pointers.
Alexis
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Posted by Jason on November 20, 2006, 3:15 am
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NO doubt that modern LEGO sets have more specialised parts. They also seem to be
curvy and round now, Lots more curved
bricks etc.
I think kids now prefer something that looks good, rather than using the parts
to build something else. Lack of patience
is probably the reason for this.
Technic is probably the worst, I don't particularly like the Smooth Technic
Beams they use now.
> Hi,
>
> Recently I read an article or saw a television show describing the
> contrast between "old legos" and "new legos". The point of the article
> was that in the good old days lego kits were full of generic, highly
> interchangeable bricks that could be used to make anything you could
> imagine. But nowadays the newer lego kits are full of bricks of more
> limited intercompatibility, bricks which are mainly designed to let you
> construct the single, elaborate, predefined centerpiece pictured on the
> box (such a spaceship, or a car).
>
> The article argued this change was a bad thing, since it required less
> imagination from people using legos. I have two questions for the lego
> mavens here.
>
> Simple Question: Where on Earth did I read this article (or TV piece)?
> I can't remember where I ran into the idea, but it took root in my
> mind. I'd like to revisit it. It may have been on the BBC, but I'm
> really not sure.
>
> Deeper Question: Is this true? Is this the common wisdom, or a common
> complaint, among lego afficianados? Have lego kits changed from the
> good old days, so that now a given kit can produce a smaller number of
> interesting results? If this is for real, what kits old and new stand
> out as representative examples of this trend?
>
> I'm much obliged for all your opinions and pointers.
>
> Alexis
>
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Posted by on November 20, 2006, 11:11 am
Please log in for more thread options Jason wrote:
> Technic is probably the worst, I don't particularly like the Smooth
> Technic Beams they use now.
Huh. I was going to say Technic is in some sense the best, since the
"studless" system works perfectly well with the "studded" system, and
there are a lot of things I can do with a studless construction that
there's just no way to do with conventional brick-and-plate.
To the original question, yes, there do seem to be a lot more
specialized, "one use only" parts. But in some sense I think these have
*decreased* in the past couple years. Also, in some sense the biggest
offender on this point, Bionicle, is also one of LEGO's best sellers,
so there may be a good economic point to more "specialized" parts. All
that said, I don't find the amount of creativity reduced at all - to
the contrary, actually. I keep tossing parts that are "worthless" to my
9-year-old son, who finds amazing uses for them very different than
their "intended" use. Perhaps it's not the product that's lacking
imagination and flexibility, but our older generation mindset.
--
Brian Davis
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Posted by jd on November 20, 2006, 8:17 am
Please log in for more thread options don't know where you saw the article, but I've been feeling this way for
years. I like the technic stuff, but when they moved into "this is the
custom molded hood/nosecone/arm/whatever", I stopped buying most of the
kits. Now I tend to weatch out for the sales on the "stareter" type sets, or
just buy bulk brick through the parts stores...
-_JD
> Hi,
>
> Recently I read an article or saw a television show describing the
> contrast between "old legos" and "new legos". The point of the article
> was that in the good old days lego kits were full of generic, highly
> interchangeable bricks that could be used to make anything you could
> imagine. But nowadays the newer lego kits are full of bricks of more
> limited intercompatibility, bricks which are mainly designed to let you
> construct the single, elaborate, predefined centerpiece pictured on the
> box (such a spaceship, or a car).
>
> The article argued this change was a bad thing, since it required less
> imagination from people using legos. I have two questions for the lego
> mavens here.
>
> Simple Question: Where on Earth did I read this article (or TV piece)?
> I can't remember where I ran into the idea, but it took root in my
> mind. I'd like to revisit it. It may have been on the BBC, but I'm
> really not sure.
>
> Deeper Question: Is this true? Is this the common wisdom, or a common
> complaint, among lego afficianados? Have lego kits changed from the
> good old days, so that now a given kit can produce a smaller number of
> interesting results? If this is for real, what kits old and new stand
> out as representative examples of this trend?
>
> I'm much obliged for all your opinions and pointers.
>
> Alexis
>
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Posted by Ken Rice on November 20, 2006, 12:53 pm
Please log in for more thread options alexisgallagher@gmail.com says...
>
>Hi,
>
>Recently I read an article or saw a television show describing the
>contrast between "old legos" and "new legos". The point of the article
>was that in the good old days lego kits were full of generic, highly
>interchangeable bricks that could be used to make anything you could
>imagine. But nowadays the newer lego kits are full of bricks of more
>limited intercompatibility, bricks which are mainly designed to let you
>construct the single, elaborate, predefined centerpiece pictured on the
>box (such a spaceship, or a car).
>
>The article argued this change was a bad thing, since it required less
>imagination from people using legos. I have two questions for the lego
>mavens here.
>
>Simple Question: Where on Earth did I read this article (or TV piece)?
>I can't remember where I ran into the idea, but it took root in my
>mind. I'd like to revisit it. It may have been on the BBC, but I'm
>really not sure.
>
>Deeper Question: Is this true? Is this the common wisdom, or a common
>complaint, among lego afficianados? Have lego kits changed from the
>good old days, so that now a given kit can produce a smaller number of
>interesting results? If this is for real, what kits old and new stand
>out as representative examples of this trend?
>
>I'm much obliged for all your opinions and pointers.
>
>Alexis
Anyone who thinks the newer pieces engender less creativity hasn't been to
BrickFest in recent years. I am amazed at how these "more limited
intercompatibility" pieces are used in models. I think these newer pieces call
forth more imagination and creativity.
--
Ken Rice -=:=- kennrice (AT) erols (DOT) com
http://users.erols.com/kennrice - Lego Compatible Flex Track,
Civil War Round Table of DC & Concentration Camp made of Lego bricks
http://members.tripod.com/~kennrice
Maps of Ultima 7 Parts 1 & 2, Prophecy of the Shadow, Savage Empire,
Crusaders of Dark Savant & Others.
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>
> Recently I read an article or saw a television show describing the
> contrast between "old legos" and "new legos". The point of the article
> was that in the good old days lego kits were full of generic, highly
> interchangeable bricks that could be used to make anything you could
> imagine. But nowadays the newer lego kits are full of bricks of more
> limited intercompatibility, bricks which are mainly designed to let you
> construct the single, elaborate, predefined centerpiece pictured on the
> box (such a spaceship, or a car).
>
> The article argued this change was a bad thing, since it required less
> imagination from people using legos. I have two questions for the lego
> mavens here.
>
> Simple Question: Where on Earth did I read this article (or TV piece)?
> I can't remember where I ran into the idea, but it took root in my
> mind. I'd like to revisit it. It may have been on the BBC, but I'm
> really not sure.
>
> Deeper Question: Is this true? Is this the common wisdom, or a common
> complaint, among lego afficianados? Have lego kits changed from the
> good old days, so that now a given kit can produce a smaller number of
> interesting results? If this is for real, what kits old and new stand
> out as representative examples of this trend?
>
> I'm much obliged for all your opinions and pointers.
>
> Alexis
>