Feb 08
photo by undronotto
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with Legos.
Just think about it.
Two little Lego bricks (like the 4×4 squares in the photo above), when pushed together (the bottom of one to the top of the other) will stick together. Yet can be pulled apart. Yet can be stuck together. Again. And again.
Amazing.
What I love about Legos:
- They’re colorful and tactile - they appeal to the senses, as most toys do.
- They’re versatile - Once you’re done building the “prescribed” model, you’re free to tear it apart and build something else, and their design allows a multitude of designs.
- It teaches fine motor skills to young kids - I watched my younger boy struggle with it when he was 4-5. Now at age 6, he has no trouble building sets labeled for 8-12 year olds. (Ironically, they have larger “Mega Bloks” for preschool aged kids).
- They spur the imagination - CHiPs was one of my childhood favorites, and I built my own lego motorcycle to imagine my own chase scenes.
- Legos will last - They toy has stood the test of time, and today’s blocks are totally compatible with yesterday’s and tomorrow’s models.
- I know they appeal to boys, but I would say they are certainly girl-friendly - I’d be curious to hear my female readers’ experience with Legos.
Lego was not the first “erector” type toy but its success has spawned a number of copy-cats, including much “slicker”, “cooler” toys.
However, Legos still sits atop of my all-time favorite toys list.
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February 8th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I’m a Lego fan too. I love their simplicity–they’re just little bricks, but you can make very elaborate creations with them.
I recently came across some Lego videos on YouTube, where they act out movies entirely using Legos. Those videos are very entertaining for some reason!
February 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Wasn’t lego one of the best toys ever invented? We hardly used to play with anything else indoors when I was younger.
And you can make amazing things from it. They always have something really elaborate at the lego store in Downtown Disney. They had this huge lego sea monster thing for ages - not sure if it’s still there.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I really want lego to move beyond the toy and child phase into adult life.
Why think of it as a children thing? Why should they have all the fun?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge it - far from it. I loved it when I was a nipper.
But just think of the possibilities.
A blogger lego kit. You build the foundations with a set of brown bricks - hey presto! You’ve got SEO and visitors.
Or perhaps a (lego) bricks and mortar business. You build a team of staff out of small plasticcy bricks, and they’re exactly the size and dimension of people who give a s*it.
And money. No I don’t mean building plastic-based bank notes. I mean compound interest. You hand a few dollars/pounds to a lego investor, and they invest it and build a really great building you could either sell or re-mortgage to support your entrepreneurial endeavours.
And finally, smiles. A square, plasticcy smile is far better than we get from many people who we thought were really genuine.
At least lego is sturdy and reliable, if not plastic.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Hi Nez,
I do think Lego does market toward the male audience, however, girls have fun with them as well. I don’t know if they produce them in girly colors or not, but maybe they should.
I like they fact you never see them on the toy recall list. Do you know where they are made?
February 8th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
@ Hunter: Yes, there are some excellent Lego videos on YouTube, some stop-motion animation, some computer-generated.
@ Catherine: When I was a kid, I wanted to go to Legoland, but we never made it there. Perhaps one day…
@ Ian: I thought I saw somewhere on the Lego.com site where you can create your own custom Lego design, and they’ll send you the pieces (for a price, I’m sure).
@ Barbara: Guess what, I did some more research on the Lego site, and it turns out that have a COUPLE of products aimed towards girls. However, only one looks like Legos, and is somewhat of a departure from the standard sets (the figures are NOT the Lego men from the other sets. What gives?!) Oh, well, at the least, they seem aware that there is a large untapped market out there.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Oh man, you bring back so many memories. Well, it wasn’t that long ago that I was a kid playing with legos, but wow. I went to Lego land outside of London a long time ago (I must have been around 10 or so) and the memories of that place are still impounded in my head.
Ever since visiting there I have wanted to build a large city out of legos, like the displays they have as you enter the park.
I’m not entirely a fan of the new stuff they are putting out though, such as the “Bionicle” series. They just don’t have that feel that legos do, the parts are too specialized I suppose. They are designed to become one shape only.
Does anybody remember that old lego game for the computer? That must be back from the mid ’90s. You got to build stuff like cars and boats from pieces that you found, and you had to catch the prisoner in the end who got a key from a pizza you delivered to him? That was a fun game that entertained me for hours!
February 9th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Hi Rashy,
I must have blinked. All I remember were the “Legomaniac” ads on Saturday mornings.
It’s really cool what they have these days: Star Wars and Harry Potter Legos…
February 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
What a fantastic photo! When I was a kid (an only child) my father didn’t believe in anything feminine, so there was a lot of lego, meccano, that kind of thing in our house. I loved it! Now my oldest is 8, he loves the sets for older kids and my little one attacks MegaBloks with a joy you wouldn’t believe. Definitely a toy for all the ages.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Hi, Naomi, thank you so much for the comment! I enjoy Ittybiz a lot, and I appreciate you taking the time out to come visit.
And, yes, the kids always long for the more “advanced” sets — interesting way of marketing, isn’t it? They kids learn quickly how to read numbers, and so 5-7 or 8-12, and they start to think, “I can do that set, even though I’m not that old yet!”