For a while now, it seems that the 'go to' construction toy is Legos. Goodbye Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, and even Erector sets. All right, erector sets are not the great old Gilbert classics, but still - Legos?

Pegs and Blocks, really. Yes I know, they have the high tech Mindstorm deal, but that's not what gets fetured in magazine articles. They do things like a Lego Mustang or somebody's huge something or other. Not sure what I'm missing here.

Anybody know what the deal is?

Thanks,

hj

 

I don't know, but my son had a set that said 2 to 3 years. It only took me 5 hours to put it together.

 

The deal is that Legos has a REALLY good marketing department! You don't think all of those Lego displays happen organically, do you? Legos marketing people are behind the scenes making it happen.

 

You are too old. If you were between 2 & 3 years old it would have taken you 15 minutes.

Or maybe the 2-3 years was how long they predicted it would take you to assemble it, and you blew the estimate out of the water!

 

I think you are on to my assembly skills and project timelines.....

 

In the grand scheme of things you never really know how long it took. I mean, it could have sat on the shelf for three years before you go it, in which case the assembly time estimate was a bit short...........

 

It's a bad joke I ripped off from a rodeo clown in Woodlake CA.

Back to Legos: My kid did a few of those space craft things, along with other more basic stuff. He was pretty fast on them, stuck with it etc. We had a model engine to build, that went ok, but the timing was off....

He was in Robotics at school.

Anyway, he's starting in Mechanical Engineering at Northeastern University so we shall see if any groundwork was laid for all that.

I think the marketing angle is probably correct. "Legoland"? Anyone ever go to "Erector Set Land"? "Lincoln Log Land"? Huh? Oh....

 

When Erector Sets were all the rage it was a vastly different time----not too many electronic gadgets to distract us and essentially eliminate any attention span we had.

Dad's would typically also jump down on the floor with us, watching and gently guiding us along as we tried creating a death ray to dispose of a pesky sister or brother.

To a degree Legos fit perfectly with the no-attention-span generation, that one where creativity and imagination or long-lost concepts of grandparents. See it on the box, snap it together like shown and off to another project---quick as a bunny.

Legos are cool if used to stimulate the imagination----otherwise they're 3D jigsaw puzzles.

 

I grew up with legos and disagree with you guys. They have some pretty advanced models that take a fair amount of time to put together. I have a back hoe that has an exposed v6 engine that spins when the wheels moves. It has a working differential and has a full pneumatic ram system that makes the front and rear buckets move exactly as a real back hoe would. I have numerous other lego models that have similar functionality. It is pretty easy to customize them as well.

 

If I could've in real life built everything I had built out of Legos as a kid I would be a freaking millionaire....
I can't wait for my four-year-old and two-year-old boys to be old enough to do the same with my old Legos! It beats the heck out of a videogame.... Completely mindnumbing in my opinion and I own a almost unused Xbox 360... And i'm not that old of a guy.

 

Legos were great. Not so great to step on, though, in bare feet. Erector sets were OK too. Gilbert Chemistry set, Jarts, cap guns, tennis ball cannon made out of beer cans.. etc etc

Yes, the poor kids today have been completely pathologized.

 

Simple Water rockets were a fun way to pass the afternoons. This guy has it perfected.

 

Huge LEGO fan here. I've still got my space pieces including the big square pads that were part of the launch system? Anyway I still from time to time buy Star Wars LEGO sets and play with them. Yes, I'm a Toys R Us kid... Still can't bring myself to spend a couple hundred on that awesome Millennium Falcon though.



BTW they can't even keep up with worldwide demand- this far in the future!

Worldwide Lego shortage: tension builds as toy-maker warns it can't meet Christmas orders - Telegraph

 

James May from across the pond did some TV specials on toys a few years back. I think they are pretty neat episodes.

Here he talks about lots of old toys, including erector sets and legos. Jump to 7 minute mark for the legos.

James May - Top Toys
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ibuo_james-mays-top-toys-1-3_fun
This one devotes and hour to the lego. He builds a full size house out of them.

James May Toy Stories - Lego
http://www.hulu.com/watch/323940

 

I grew up with Legos too I'm 19 and I'd still build em if I had em, I never really cared to build the vehicle they had in the box/instructions I was the person who would take two kits and throw em together or make a Frankenstein with just one kit lol that's when Legos get fun, especially if you're friend had em too that's how Legos got lost lol