Towers of blocks fall down

December 19, 2011 10:31 PM

The best kapla destruction ever - speed building

Kapla wall fan
kapla construction destruction domino : double spirale 2
Kapla bridge
Impossible kapla structure
Tour Eiffel en Kapla - Construction
Kapla destruction construction : Tour circulaire
Kapla destruction: Colisée sur pattes
Kapla destruction : escalier
Kapla experiment #2 : Pont 2x4
kapla construction destruction domino : pont et serpent
Serpentin en spirale en kapla
Serpentin et ponts en kapla
Pont en spirale perpendiculaire
Mur, pont et tours en kapla
Meli melo en kapla
Poont 6x8 en kapla
Pont 7x7 clac clac clac
Colise clac clac clac
Self destructing Kapla coliseum
Kapla destruction: serpent
Kapla destruction : 8 bridges
Kapla zig zag
kapla construction destruction domino : double spirale

In March 2008 a group of Kettering University students also built a 31 foot tall Kapla Stack tower as a charity fund raiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They used a slingshot to bring it down

Bonus:
Jenga World record disaster at Northern Michigan University
The same creator Bryant Varney also Demolished his Jenga Sears Tower using robots from the Engineering Department.

Also, Same thing with cards

posted by Blasdelb (24 comments total)

Apparently, Kapla also means "success" in Klingon.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:43 PM on December 19, 2011 [3 favorites]

I approve of this kind of planking.
posted by vidur at 10:54 PM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Apparently, Kapla also means "success" in Klingon.

In Xanadu, did Kapla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree...

(Great video. I like how the towers are limited in height by the point at which the builder's head touches the ceiling.)
posted by chavenet at 10:59 PM on December 19, 2011

Love it. I want to get a Kapla set for my son but find the sets pretty pricey; I can't imagine how much this guy paid for all of those Kapla blocks.
posted by zardoz at 11:00 PM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well the guy in the first video needed 23 sets, @ 70 bucks each on amazon that's $1620 bucks.

Or 180 bucks per hour. Very cool though.
posted by neversummer at 11:11 PM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is the perfect combination of slow, planned destruction and tinkling sounds.
posted by not_on_display at 11:18 PM on December 19, 2011

Einstürzende Neubauten
posted by stbalbach at 11:28 PM on December 19, 2011 [5 favorites]

Haha! I love this one - the first time it stops the one friend's indignant voice is saying "exactly like I said it would! Exactly like I said!"
posted by kavasa at 12:02 AM on December 20, 2011

It's like an Angry Birds level that destroys itself!
posted by bicyclefish at 1:25 AM on December 20, 2011

Apparently, Kapla also means "success" in Klingon.

*Ahem* that's Qapla'. (Or  for those of us with the proper fonts installed.)
posted by XMLicious at 1:35 AM on December 20, 2011

I like. Bought equivalent in South Africa, where it's called "Planx" (suggest you add that tag). Certainly astoundingly cheaper than in Europe, or, at least, than in Switzerland. I love the sound.

One time we built a tower in the living room, just 1x1 planks, until we could fit no more on top. The wood then absorbed moisture and the tower increased in height so the top was jammed against the ceiling! This was cool, and we started building cantilever offshoots.

One day we were in the next room when suddenly it exploded. Figure it swelled up so much it needed to give. Pity. It was starting to be decorative and useful.
posted by Goofyy at 1:37 AM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

My kindergarten had the exact same box design 18 years ago. I hope they never replace the pictures of the bearded austere carpenter man or that post-war kid in the thick sweater in a pale room playing with his gloves on.
posted by rowancluster at 3:36 AM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I notice that the videos all seem to refer to "Kapla" rather than "Kapla Blocks." Does this mean Kapla fans aren't as much of pedantic douchebags as Lego fans?

There's only two good ways to refer to them: the colloquial "Legos" or the full-on "Lego^® brand building blocks."
posted by explosion at 4:30 AM on December 20, 2011

Who else jumped to the end just to see the destruction? Because let's be honest that's the most awesome part of this thing. I know I did.
posted by Fizz at 4:45 AM on December 20, 2011

I love that it shows him cleaning it up afterwards.
posted by Gorgik at 5:47 AM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

This just isn't tedious enough for my tastes. I'd prefer it if the videos began with someone whittling each block by hand.
posted by orme at 5:52 AM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Is this something you'd need to not own a table saw to understand?

Seriously, somehow I missed the existence of these, and while I admire their simplicity and understand the value (and inherent fun) of playing with blocks, I'm kind of shocked to learn that my offcuts box, that I normally have to beg someone with a fire place to dispose of, could be used to make the better part of a house payment.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:07 AM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

The video is cool and I appreciate this kind of hobby, but people really spend $70 (or the Euro equivalent) on a shiny box of kindling?
posted by Think_Long at 6:20 AM on December 20, 2011

Yeah, right away I went to check into getting some for the kids. $300 for 1000 pieces? I'll stick with Lego, thanks.
posted by CaseyB at 6:50 AM on December 20, 2011

Instead of having a planned place and time to start the destruction, I'd like it better if once they are done they would let loose in the room a cat or a small child.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:20 AM on December 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

*slow clap*
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:52 AM on December 20, 2011

I love how unsystematic the dude in the first video is. He's all, "I'm gonna start over here and then... oh... doesn't connect. OK. I'll take this down and fix it... And now I'll start stacking these ones in the middle here and fill in the rest later..."
posted by that's candlepin at 8:03 AM on December 20, 2011

We have some Kapla blocks and the kids love them. They've been one of the longest-lasting toys we've bought besides Lego. The kids build towers with them but also use them to make roads and things like that. I have noticed cheaper versions showing up in our local fancy-pants toy stores and in the gift shop at the hands-on science museum.
posted by not that girl at 8:04 AM on December 20, 2011

I was really enjoying that first video, but it turns out I found the end most compelling, when he was cleaning up all the piles of blocks to leave a clean floor. Something might be wrong with me.
posted by vytae at 10:13 AM on December 20, 2011