Everything is awesome
June 5, 2017 10:50 AM Subscribe
I am againts the Freinds due to the incompatible minifigs, but the sets are actaully quite nice? Certainly not dumbed down compared with, say, City, and with plenty of opportunities for play and recombining into something new - also my kids like it, which is possibly the thing i should actually go by.
posted by Artw at 12:00 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:00 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
This year’s follow-up, The Lego Batman Movie, outperformed the last “proper” Batman movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeThere are so many things about this sentence that I find astonishing, I'm just going to assume the whole article is parody of something that was originally a more subtle parody, rather than an actual thing that exists in the world. I'll be curled up at the back of my cave playing with a stack of smooth rocks if anyone needs me.
But, it's great that Lego continues to exist. It's great that they've found a way to convince grandparents to give their toys to girls as well as boys. Huzzah.
posted by eotvos at 12:19 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
If you look closely, he's wearing knee-pads. They've thought of everything.
posted by RobotHero at 12:25 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by RobotHero at 12:25 PM on June 5, 2017
As one of those kids who grew up with the basic, original LEGO bricks, I always find going into the LEGO store pretty upsetting. It's all custom sets now. You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
My girls love the Friends series and the playroom has been covered in pieces for weeks because they keep building new things to buy and sell and drive and everything else. I originally felt weird about buying them a high school, but then again I begged and pleaded for those old space fighters.
posted by sauril at 12:36 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by sauril at 12:36 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thozdad - I'm confused, you went to a Lwgo store and you were upset because there were Lego sets?
posted by Artw at 12:39 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Artw at 12:39 PM on June 5, 2017
I built the new Saturn V set at the weekend. It's amazing.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's all custom sets now. You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks.
You know that ship sailed in the 80s right?
SAILED INTO SPACE THAT IS
posted by GuyZero at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2017 [8 favorites]
You know that ship sailed in the 80s right?
SAILED INTO SPACE THAT IS
posted by GuyZero at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2017 [8 favorites]
As one of those kids who grew up with the basic, original LEGO bricks, I always find going into the LEGO store pretty upsetting. It's all custom sets now. You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks.
Here you go.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:41 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Here you go.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:41 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
And I should add that the best part of the first LEGO Movie was Benny the 80s space lego guy who had a cracked helmet.
posted by GuyZero at 12:42 PM on June 5, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 12:42 PM on June 5, 2017 [21 favorites]
There are so many things about this sentence that I find astonishing, I'm just going to assume the whole article is parody of something that was originally a more subtle parody, rather than an actual thing that exists in the world. I'll be curled up at the back of my cave playing with a stack of smooth rocks if anyone needs me.
The original Lego Movie is really good, and the Lego Batman movie not AS good but still pretty amazing as far as "movies based on toys based on films based on comics" go. I took my Lego/Batman obsessed kid, and I enjoyed it and laughed a fair bit. It really takes the piss out of Batman as much as it sells you toys.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:45 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
The original Lego Movie is really good, and the Lego Batman movie not AS good but still pretty amazing as far as "movies based on toys based on films based on comics" go. I took my Lego/Batman obsessed kid, and I enjoyed it and laughed a fair bit. It really takes the piss out of Batman as much as it sells you toys.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:45 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
As one of those kids who grew up with the basic, original LEGO bricks, I always find going into the LEGO store pretty upsetting. It's all custom sets now. You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks.
Man, who could forget those classic days of only 2x4 bricks? One time my brother and I were playing with our Lego, back when there were no special pieces or models and you could only get the basic bricks. I clearly remember that day because we had just finished seeing the Sinbad genie movie and the next day we watched the Challenger explode on live TV.
posted by bondcliff at 12:45 PM on June 5, 2017 [17 favorites]
Man, who could forget those classic days of only 2x4 bricks? One time my brother and I were playing with our Lego, back when there were no special pieces or models and you could only get the basic bricks. I clearly remember that day because we had just finished seeing the Sinbad genie movie and the next day we watched the Challenger explode on live TV.
posted by bondcliff at 12:45 PM on June 5, 2017 [17 favorites]
Glen Weldon on Pop Culture Happy Hour did a great bit on the changes in Batman over time and where the Lego Batman Movie fits into the cycle.
posted by GuyZero at 12:47 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 12:47 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
"As one of those kids who grew up with the basic, original LEGO bricks, I always find going into the LEGO store pretty upsetting. It's all custom sets now. You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks."
I hear this a lot, but they're pretty clever about making even the most "custom"-looking bricks combine well with everything else. And you can do nifty things with some of the odd shapes.
posted by floppyroofing at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I hear this a lot, but they're pretty clever about making even the most "custom"-looking bricks combine well with everything else. And you can do nifty things with some of the odd shapes.
posted by floppyroofing at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm travelling from Nicaragua to Argentina over seven months at the moment (in Valparaiso at the moment) with two kids (5 & 7). The primary toy we brought is a 1 kg bag of assorted Lego bricks and figs. It's provided endless entertainment for my kids. It's just the right lubricant for their incredible imaginations.
posted by Amity at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Amity at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just want to say that I love how The Lego Movie astronaut had a crack in his helmet chin strap right where they always cracked.
edit: DAMNIT!
posted by leotrotsky at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
edit: DAMNIT!
posted by leotrotsky at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
SPACESHIP!
posted by bondcliff at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Cracked Helmets and Being Understood.
I’m not sure if Kids These Days picked up on that little detail, or if they did, if they understood it. But for anyone who grew up as I did playing with those early space sets, that helmet crack was a wink from the moviemakers. I’m fairly certain that was no random decision and no carefully focus-tested, marketing-approved character decision born of a corporate desire to sell vintage 80s LEGO Spacemen (though it may have that effect).
I had many LEGO sets growing up, and the space sets were always my favorite in those early days, so I had a fair number of little LEGO astronauts, and after so many deep space explorations and hard moon landings and harrowing flights in experimental spacecraft and rough rides in poorly-engineered land rovers, pretty much every single one of them had that same crack in that exact same place.
For me, Benny’s cracked helmet wasn’t just a nice touch, it was a beautifully chosen detail that said “We know. We had the same experience that you did.”. I still would’ve enjoyed the movie whether Benny’s helmet had been cracked or not. But the fact that it was took me from feeling like I was watching a movie made for my children to feeling like I was watching a movie made for me.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:58 PM on June 5, 2017 [32 favorites]
I’m not sure if Kids These Days picked up on that little detail, or if they did, if they understood it. But for anyone who grew up as I did playing with those early space sets, that helmet crack was a wink from the moviemakers. I’m fairly certain that was no random decision and no carefully focus-tested, marketing-approved character decision born of a corporate desire to sell vintage 80s LEGO Spacemen (though it may have that effect).
I had many LEGO sets growing up, and the space sets were always my favorite in those early days, so I had a fair number of little LEGO astronauts, and after so many deep space explorations and hard moon landings and harrowing flights in experimental spacecraft and rough rides in poorly-engineered land rovers, pretty much every single one of them had that same crack in that exact same place.
For me, Benny’s cracked helmet wasn’t just a nice touch, it was a beautifully chosen detail that said “We know. We had the same experience that you did.”. I still would’ve enjoyed the movie whether Benny’s helmet had been cracked or not. But the fact that it was took me from feeling like I was watching a movie made for my children to feeling like I was watching a movie made for me.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:58 PM on June 5, 2017 [32 favorites]
Also worth noting they've offset 100% of their energy use by, among other things, investing in offshore wind farms.
posted by gwint at 1:06 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by gwint at 1:06 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
I've found Lego to be a huge and largely unexpected source of comfort in the recent general insanity of the world. I just feel a lot better after spending a while building something; the more pieces the better, as much as anything because it takes longer. It's soothing in a way I find difficult to articulate. I've always had a soft spot for Lego but in the last year or so it's really ramped up and become something of a refuge for me.
I started the Ferris Wheel this weekend.
posted by nickmark at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
I started the Ferris Wheel this weekend.
posted by nickmark at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
Please print out the mandatory bingo card before continuing this thread. Thank you.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:44 PM on June 5, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:44 PM on June 5, 2017 [13 favorites]
I've never had trouble locating a standard bucket of lego in most big box stores. They're not as visually appealing or varied as the specialized/ branded sets, so their basic nature relegates them to the lower shelves and end caps, but I don't think they're any harder to find than they used to be.
posted by Think_Long at 1:49 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Think_Long at 1:49 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
You'd have to go back to the 40s to find a time when Lego exclusively made bricks not intended for any particular model.
posted by Artw at 2:14 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:14 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thorzdad: "You have to search hard to find just a basic box of bricks."
I am firmly convinced that the people who keep saying this have never actually looked for Lego in a store. There are always packages of plain bricks. There have never NOT been packages of plain bricks. They even come in nice plastic tubs for storing said bricks. That said, there have been themed Lego sets with instructions since 1964. That means if you are under the age of 53, you cannot now and never will remember a time without themed Lego sets plus instructions. The "it was only bricks!" memory you have of childhood is not real.
Also. One of the joys of Lego is that even the sets that come with directions have a secret - are you ready for this? - they will, once disassembled, become (gasp!) A PILE OF PLAIN BRICKS (plus some special parts that are only found in the set). Mind blown, right?
posted by caution live frogs at 2:24 PM on June 5, 2017 [16 favorites]
I am firmly convinced that the people who keep saying this have never actually looked for Lego in a store. There are always packages of plain bricks. There have never NOT been packages of plain bricks. They even come in nice plastic tubs for storing said bricks. That said, there have been themed Lego sets with instructions since 1964. That means if you are under the age of 53, you cannot now and never will remember a time without themed Lego sets plus instructions. The "it was only bricks!" memory you have of childhood is not real.
Also. One of the joys of Lego is that even the sets that come with directions have a secret - are you ready for this? - they will, once disassembled, become (gasp!) A PILE OF PLAIN BRICKS (plus some special parts that are only found in the set). Mind blown, right?
posted by caution live frogs at 2:24 PM on June 5, 2017 [16 favorites]
We're a Lego Family (seriously, our house looks like a freaking Lego showroom with a Duplo section and a Friends/Disney Princesses section and a "big giant sets for grownups" section) and nothing in this article was news to me. I've been to the factory and been to the Idea House museum and found my original bucket o' bricks in the vault and watched my husband get misty over the new boxes he remembered drooling on at Toys R Us when he was wee. The crazy thing about being a Lego fan is if you want to go see all this stuff you can sign up for it and pay them a large sum of money and then you can do it. Imagine if you wanted to go see Barbies or Mickey plushes being made. Designed, sure! But I'd be pretty shocked if most toy manufacturers have factories they'd be willing to show fans as young as 7 around in.
Ultimately Lego are a triumph of physical-world API design. When you talk to their designers, they are facing really similar problems to the ones I face as a working software engineer a lot of the time. The constraints of the work felt very familiar, and those constraints have really only been present or observed since the "turnaround". There's a huge focus on reuse of shapes, sizes, and colors that are already in production for other sets. Once I got that I felt like I had a much deeper appreciation for Lego set design. At this point, when I pick out a big set to do, I try to guess who designed it. I'm often right, which is both scary and awesome. And sometimes I'm surprised, and then I buy and build the set and I'm like, "Ohhh. Yeah, I get it, that was you." Different designers have different aspects of set design that get them excited. I feel like this is probably roughly how movie nerds feel when they watch movies. There's definitely an aspect of auteurship to the big sets that took me a long time to get my head around.
In short, if you're one of the many many people who think it sucks that Lego makes all these prefab sets, that's your prerogative, but you're REALLY missing out. There are people doing some really, really interesting things with these little pieces. I'm glad to have the money to be able to appreciate this art form. It's not the cheapest hobby out there, that's for damn sure.
Despite being this sort of ridiculous superfan I actually thought I would hate the Lego Batman Movie (I like Lego, sure, but Batman?? I hate Batman) and was pleasantly surprised that in fact I liked it a lot.
posted by potrzebie at 2:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [23 favorites]
Ultimately Lego are a triumph of physical-world API design. When you talk to their designers, they are facing really similar problems to the ones I face as a working software engineer a lot of the time. The constraints of the work felt very familiar, and those constraints have really only been present or observed since the "turnaround". There's a huge focus on reuse of shapes, sizes, and colors that are already in production for other sets. Once I got that I felt like I had a much deeper appreciation for Lego set design. At this point, when I pick out a big set to do, I try to guess who designed it. I'm often right, which is both scary and awesome. And sometimes I'm surprised, and then I buy and build the set and I'm like, "Ohhh. Yeah, I get it, that was you." Different designers have different aspects of set design that get them excited. I feel like this is probably roughly how movie nerds feel when they watch movies. There's definitely an aspect of auteurship to the big sets that took me a long time to get my head around.
In short, if you're one of the many many people who think it sucks that Lego makes all these prefab sets, that's your prerogative, but you're REALLY missing out. There are people doing some really, really interesting things with these little pieces. I'm glad to have the money to be able to appreciate this art form. It's not the cheapest hobby out there, that's for damn sure.
Despite being this sort of ridiculous superfan I actually thought I would hate the Lego Batman Movie (I like Lego, sure, but Batman?? I hate Batman) and was pleasantly surprised that in fact I liked it a lot.
posted by potrzebie at 2:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [23 favorites]
Erector Sets > LEGO. Come at me.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 2:42 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 2:42 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Erector Sets > LEGO. Come at me.
Small screws and nuts that fall into deep-pile carpeting, never to be seen again.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:48 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Small screws and nuts that fall into deep-pile carpeting, never to be seen again.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:48 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Erector Sets > LEGO. Come at me.As someone who grew up with both - 'cause my mom had a nostalgic impulse to seek out a used erector set as a gift long after they ceased to be popular - I'm not convinced. I'm a big fan of forcing kids to use mechanical tools. In principle an erector set seems like a great idea. But, the amount of time required to achieve a rather limited set of outcomes was more frustrating than inspiring.
If you ask me, Erector Sets belong on the "really neat idea in principle, not actually fun" pile along with Lincoln Logs, Spirographs, and Jacks.
A big box of 80/20, on the other hand, would have made for an awesome childhood experience that my mom couldn't have possibly afforded.
posted by eotvos at 3:15 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've probably got 20 or so original spacemen minifigs with no cracked helmets, so I didn't really get that part of the movie being some sort of shared experience. But when I added my old space lego to my daughters' stash I realised what was going on. I just never removed their helmets, or even pulled them apart really. It took about 2 seconds of my daughter playing before there was a pile of spaceman parts and red helmets on white guys and all sorts of abominations. I had to leave the room.
posted by markr at 3:29 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by markr at 3:29 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
One of the things I like about the Lego Ideas designs (including the amazing Saturn V I mentioned upthread ;) ) is that, almost by definition, they have no special custom pieces that are just for them. Because the designs are originally contributed by people who don't work for Lego, they can only work with pieces that Lego already put on the market for other things.
That doesn't mean there are no weird pieces, but it does mean that the weird pieces show off some clever repurposing that undermines the idea that modern Lego sets can only be used to build the thing on the box; eg the turbo-pump exhausts on the F1 engines are made from petrol station pump handles and the teeny-tiny astronauts were apparently originally Oscar statuettes for minifig movie stars (used because if they'd built to minifig scale, the rocket would have been 11 feet tall!).
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 3:51 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
That doesn't mean there are no weird pieces, but it does mean that the weird pieces show off some clever repurposing that undermines the idea that modern Lego sets can only be used to build the thing on the box; eg the turbo-pump exhausts on the F1 engines are made from petrol station pump handles and the teeny-tiny astronauts were apparently originally Oscar statuettes for minifig movie stars (used because if they'd built to minifig scale, the rocket would have been 11 feet tall!).
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 3:51 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
For any boardgame / tabletop wargaming fans, if you want one more reason to buy Lego, you should check out Mobile Frame Zero.
In summary, it's a tabletop wargame of 'Mech-like battlesuits that scales nicely from 2 players to 4-5 players (free for all) where all the figures and terrain are built out of Lego. Even better, the rules are designed to be very generalized, and you can basically build whatever you want and use it. You just need to be able to point out to an opponent what part of a particular model counts as a particular system (e.g. "This jetpack is the upgraded movement system").
The rulebook PDF is free (with a suggested price of $10, totally voluntary). The only downside is the rulebook takes too long to explain what are ultimately not that complex of rules, and it may require a few reads to get the gist, but it's a fun time and a good excuse to build whatever you want and fight it out with friends in destructible Lego terrain.
posted by tocts at 3:56 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
In summary, it's a tabletop wargame of 'Mech-like battlesuits that scales nicely from 2 players to 4-5 players (free for all) where all the figures and terrain are built out of Lego. Even better, the rules are designed to be very generalized, and you can basically build whatever you want and use it. You just need to be able to point out to an opponent what part of a particular model counts as a particular system (e.g. "This jetpack is the upgraded movement system").
The rulebook PDF is free (with a suggested price of $10, totally voluntary). The only downside is the rulebook takes too long to explain what are ultimately not that complex of rules, and it may require a few reads to get the gist, but it's a fun time and a good excuse to build whatever you want and fight it out with friends in destructible Lego terrain.
posted by tocts at 3:56 PM on June 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
Kids love making stuff with plain bricks. I say this as a preschool teacher. (Pro-tip: put them out on a sheet and cleanup takes three seconds when you scoop the whole sheet up)
posted by transient at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by transient at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
I am old enough to remember when lego was mostly boxes of bricks, so I get the outrage about custom sets in the store. However, it's more of a ratio change. When I was a kid the lego lineup in stores seemed to be 70% boxes of bricks, and 30% custom sets (this is my recollection and therefore may be very wrong). The custom sets were super expensive, didn't seem to offer good value for money, and my family couldn't afford them anyway. Now it's switched around and I take my kids to the lego store where its mostly custom sets, with some boxes of bricks.
I have bought a box of bricks for my kids and it was pretty disappointing, the vast majority of the pieces were tiny shrapnel-sized 1x1 and 1x2, and not enough 2x4 or larger.
posted by Joh at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2017
I have bought a box of bricks for my kids and it was pretty disappointing, the vast majority of the pieces were tiny shrapnel-sized 1x1 and 1x2, and not enough 2x4 or larger.
posted by Joh at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2017
It's funny, my recollection from the 80s is reversed - 70% sets, 30% bricks, which were either little starter boxes or giant tubs. My first several sets were basic bricks (and Happy Meal sets) - they're a good way of seeing whether or not your kid(s) will actually be into Lego. I don't have kids so I finally sorted my old stuff into sets one last time, put a few sets together, and then shipped them to a charity that cleans them up, finds missing pieces/instructions, and gifts them to foster kids. So I'm glad that Lego is still a thing.
posted by sysinfo at 4:29 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by sysinfo at 4:29 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
It still feels really weird to have worked for Lego but know that the division I worked for was a pretty big part of the problem and one of the first things to be jettisoned as they got back on track.
I'm super glad that they're doing well (in no small part because they were pretty fantastic to work for), it just...feels weird. I'm also really glad that they finally started finding different ways to reach girls because it was a definite point of concern for the company for a long time but the ideas they came up with were so terrible (Clikits, anyone?).
Clearly the company leadership has put some much needed time into figuring out what fits the brand these days. So yeah, go Lego.
posted by librarylis at 5:20 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm super glad that they're doing well (in no small part because they were pretty fantastic to work for), it just...feels weird. I'm also really glad that they finally started finding different ways to reach girls because it was a definite point of concern for the company for a long time but the ideas they came up with were so terrible (Clikits, anyone?).
Clearly the company leadership has put some much needed time into figuring out what fits the brand these days. So yeah, go Lego.
posted by librarylis at 5:20 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Are you a Bionicle?
posted by Artw at 6:47 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:47 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I clearly remember one of my early birthdays where my aunts decided to surprise me with a Lego gift. They set up a small scavenger hunt with notes where I should look for clues, and then at the end of it all, hidden behind a curtain and standing up against the window, was my reward, the Lego Police Station set (6384, for those who need to know).
3 vehicles! A printed computer brick! (3039p34) A red phone brick! (3040p02). A red shirt guy with what I believed were tennis rackets! Crazy!
That set and that specific memory probably cemented my viewpoint on Lego as something that I will never grow out of. Never mind the chipped teeth and fingernails from having to pry apart 2 thin pieces that stuck together because you just really had to apply force to them that one time.
I still think about how I felt that specific day. I don't really recall what else was going on around that time, but my memory tells me that the sun was shining brightly through the window when I parted that curtain to find my gift. That memory can't be wrong.
posted by FarOutFreak at 6:57 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
3 vehicles! A printed computer brick! (3039p34) A red phone brick! (3040p02). A red shirt guy with what I believed were tennis rackets! Crazy!
That set and that specific memory probably cemented my viewpoint on Lego as something that I will never grow out of. Never mind the chipped teeth and fingernails from having to pry apart 2 thin pieces that stuck together because you just really had to apply force to them that one time.
I still think about how I felt that specific day. I don't really recall what else was going on around that time, but my memory tells me that the sun was shining brightly through the window when I parted that curtain to find my gift. That memory can't be wrong.
posted by FarOutFreak at 6:57 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
There was never a problem with "custom sets", IMO - because, I was born in '72, therefore I remember always having (and wanting) custom sets...
The problem, when the LEGO group nearly went off the rails in the 90's was...
BURPs (Big Ugly Rock Pieces)
posted by jkaczor at 7:04 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
The problem, when the LEGO group nearly went off the rails in the 90's was...
BURPs (Big Ugly Rock Pieces)
posted by jkaczor at 7:04 PM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
My friends Saturn V is stuck in customs, because LEGO put the wrong value on it. They wrote $75,000 which is apparently the value of an entire palette of Saturn V's.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 7:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Are you a Bionicle?
No, sorry, the other multi-million dollar mistake from that era. Also thanks for a terrible flashback. We sold so many of those stupid canisters and I can't tell you how many upset eight year old boys I had to deal with every time we sold out of whatever the gold one was called. And when the movie came out it was on pretty constant loop which was ugh, so awful. On the other hand, that era also produced a set of Lego RC cars, so that was fun if totally off-brand.
Looking back, there were a whooooole lot of mistakes being made back then that the article doesn't even go into (all of that Lego looking forward mentality, no doubt).
posted by librarylis at 8:35 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
No, sorry, the other multi-million dollar mistake from that era. Also thanks for a terrible flashback. We sold so many of those stupid canisters and I can't tell you how many upset eight year old boys I had to deal with every time we sold out of whatever the gold one was called. And when the movie came out it was on pretty constant loop which was ugh, so awful. On the other hand, that era also produced a set of Lego RC cars, so that was fun if totally off-brand.
Looking back, there were a whooooole lot of mistakes being made back then that the article doesn't even go into (all of that Lego looking forward mentality, no doubt).
posted by librarylis at 8:35 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
The accompanying photos were all rather...unsettling? Beheaded minfigs, workers menaced by looming piles, the Lego House out of the Silicon Valley titles, the minifig passing the spliff and THAT POOR WORKER ON THEIR KNEES, ON THEIR KNEES AMONGST LOOSE LEGOS.
Apparently you don't know how this works, nor have you watched the recent reveal of how this works on the latest episode of American Gods. Power is gained by sacrifice. That worker is the sacrifice. What he endures today guarantees your access to Lego in the future.
So, feel so bad now?
posted by Samizdata at 8:54 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Apparently you don't know how this works, nor have you watched the recent reveal of how this works on the latest episode of American Gods. Power is gained by sacrifice. That worker is the sacrifice. What he endures today guarantees your access to Lego in the future.
So, feel so bad now?
posted by Samizdata at 8:54 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh I loved all the space lego sets when I was a kid, but I hated that the minifigs were always smiling. Nobody should be smiling as they're taking desperate evasive maneuvers through a sky full of missiles, lasers, and enemy craft. I turned all their heads backwards in their helmets so the blank yellow made it look like a proper spacesuit.
posted by drinkyclown at 9:37 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by drinkyclown at 9:37 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's funny, my recollection from the 80s is reversed - 70% sets, 30% bricks
Then that must have been my perception of the store displays, as a kid! Another possibility is that stores ordered what would sell in their area, and where I lived was a box of bricks town, rather than a custom sets town. Either way, I don't feel any aggro about the custom sets, they get repurposed by my kids into new things just as well as any piece of lego.
posted by Joh at 11:09 PM on June 5, 2017
Then that must have been my perception of the store displays, as a kid! Another possibility is that stores ordered what would sell in their area, and where I lived was a box of bricks town, rather than a custom sets town. Either way, I don't feel any aggro about the custom sets, they get repurposed by my kids into new things just as well as any piece of lego.
posted by Joh at 11:09 PM on June 5, 2017
I've a theory that this is where the false memory of only having buckets of bricks sets in - with any self respecting kid the sets only exist in their "official" sate for about a hot second before being broken down and going into the general pool of bricks.
posted by Artw at 11:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:33 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm curious why I hear people talk about Lego so much (mostly just on MF), but I found the article confusing;
They sales were suddenly dropping (no clear reason given, not enough variety of product?)
They tried to expanded into other toys and tech that weren't their core business and went on a building spree. (painted as dumb)
It didn't work so they cut back to their core business (genius)
And then expanded into other toys and tech that weren't their core business and went on a building spree. (even more genius)
If you ask me, Erector Sets belong on the "really neat idea in principle, not actually fun" pile along with Lincoln Logs, Spirographs, and Jacks.
We loved Erector Sets, as well as Lincoln Logs, and Spirograph and I get a bit nostalgic seeing them in stores. We played with Lego, but there just wasn't any connection there. That's why the whole Lego resurgence seems so odd to me. I wonder if we just didn't have enough of them to do anything fun?
posted by bongo_x at 12:18 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
They sales were suddenly dropping (no clear reason given, not enough variety of product?)
They tried to expanded into other toys and tech that weren't their core business and went on a building spree. (painted as dumb)
It didn't work so they cut back to their core business (genius)
And then expanded into other toys and tech that weren't their core business and went on a building spree. (even more genius)
If you ask me, Erector Sets belong on the "really neat idea in principle, not actually fun" pile along with Lincoln Logs, Spirographs, and Jacks.
We loved Erector Sets, as well as Lincoln Logs, and Spirograph and I get a bit nostalgic seeing them in stores. We played with Lego, but there just wasn't any connection there. That's why the whole Lego resurgence seems so odd to me. I wonder if we just didn't have enough of them to do anything fun?
posted by bongo_x at 12:18 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
This Australian child of the 70s has no memory of plain boxes of bricks, as a further data point.
posted by deadwax at 12:27 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by deadwax at 12:27 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
That means if you are under the age of 53, you cannot now and never will remember a time without themed Lego sets plus instructions
Drat... now you're making me feel my age, because I can remember that.
Somewhere in the attic, among the "stuff we've never thrown out even though oldest child has turned 30" there are two plastic trash cans full of Lego bricks. Many sets that we bought them, along some from my childhood, but definitely no instructions.
I'd need quite a lot more, though, before I needed one of these.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:29 AM on June 6, 2017
Drat... now you're making me feel my age, because I can remember that.
Somewhere in the attic, among the "stuff we've never thrown out even though oldest child has turned 30" there are two plastic trash cans full of Lego bricks. Many sets that we bought them, along some from my childhood, but definitely no instructions.
I'd need quite a lot more, though, before I needed one of these.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 12:29 AM on June 6, 2017
with any self respecting kid the sets only exist in their "official" sate for about a hot second before being broken down and going into the general pool of bricks.
:(
I used to keep them in their "official" state because I liked the designs.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:13 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
:(
I used to keep them in their "official" state because I liked the designs.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:13 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Howard County school system tested me and determined I was "gifted" and not applying myself and unmotivated and [insert 1970s jargon for "we haven't discovered dyslexia yet so it's clearly the kid who's at fault"] and so my dad bought me a large and expensive fischertechnik set all the way from Germany to supplement the family's considerable collection of basic red/white/blue blocks and plates.
If it's possible for a set of plastic construction toys to figuratively and insistently inform you that you are a complete fraud in the smarts department and that you will soon be found out, fischertechnik was the all-time champion of shaming. At least Lego only hurt your bare feet.
posted by sonascope at 4:12 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
If it's possible for a set of plastic construction toys to figuratively and insistently inform you that you are a complete fraud in the smarts department and that you will soon be found out, fischertechnik was the all-time champion of shaming. At least Lego only hurt your bare feet.
posted by sonascope at 4:12 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
bongo_x: The article glides over the major cause of Lego's near death: cost control. There's some detail in this Strategy+Business piece on it, though this isn't the article I was looking for that I read about it.
Basically the designers were creating all these news sets with loads of pieces, often custom ones, but had no idea what the cost of it would be, or what the target price would need to be. It killed their margins. Some sets cost more to make than the sticker price.
The unique piece count exploded, as did the number of SKUs. The original flock of management consultants who advised diversification made the whole thing worse (as they often do).
This carefree approach to costs flowed through to everything else in Lego's supply chain. It was ragingly inefficient.
Once they fixed that, and got rid of all the extraneous stuff, Lego could start adding things back in (video games, movies, etc.) in a way that made money, but they appear to have kept the discipline they added in.
Which is one of the things I love about Lego the most, and always have (70s and 80s Space sets represent!): you have the same pieces combined in new and interesting ways to create an endless array of new stuff. I love seeing a set with a new building technique, or a piece used in a surprising way (to me) because it opens my eyes to new possibilities.
Lego, to me, is all about the endless possibilities of combinations, and the joy of exploring to see what you can come up with, even if it doesn't always quite work. You just try again. :)
posted by But tomorrow is another day... at 4:50 AM on June 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
Basically the designers were creating all these news sets with loads of pieces, often custom ones, but had no idea what the cost of it would be, or what the target price would need to be. It killed their margins. Some sets cost more to make than the sticker price.
The unique piece count exploded, as did the number of SKUs. The original flock of management consultants who advised diversification made the whole thing worse (as they often do).
This carefree approach to costs flowed through to everything else in Lego's supply chain. It was ragingly inefficient.
Once they fixed that, and got rid of all the extraneous stuff, Lego could start adding things back in (video games, movies, etc.) in a way that made money, but they appear to have kept the discipline they added in.
Which is one of the things I love about Lego the most, and always have (70s and 80s Space sets represent!): you have the same pieces combined in new and interesting ways to create an endless array of new stuff. I love seeing a set with a new building technique, or a piece used in a surprising way (to me) because it opens my eyes to new possibilities.
Lego, to me, is all about the endless possibilities of combinations, and the joy of exploring to see what you can come up with, even if it doesn't always quite work. You just try again. :)
posted by But tomorrow is another day... at 4:50 AM on June 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
I grew up with Legos, and spent endless hours creating spaceships, buildings, vehicles, lunar scenes, abstract sculptures, and anything else I could think of. Building blocks, erector sets, and Lincoln logs are all cool – but Lego hits the perfect sweet spot. No joke – I believe that it played an important role in guiding me toward a career in engineering (specifically, software development). And Legos are one of the few activities that I genuinely enjoy sharing with kids.
I don't care for the branded sets that dominate the product line these days, but I still love Lego.
70s and 80s Space sets represent!
QFT
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:53 AM on June 6, 2017
I don't care for the branded sets that dominate the product line these days, but I still love Lego.
70s and 80s Space sets represent!
QFT
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:53 AM on June 6, 2017
*gasp*
Lego movie dad.
Please... call him President Business.
Lord Business if you're nasty
posted by aureliobuendia at 6:57 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Lego movie dad.
Please... call him President Business.
Lord Business if you're nasty
posted by aureliobuendia at 6:57 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
I like that the Lego Movie eventually turns out to have a message in favour of diversity in styles of Lego play.
posted by Artw at 6:59 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:59 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I like that the Lego Movie eventually turns out to have a message in favour of diversity in styles of Lego play.
Lego Movie: You don't have to build what the instructions say! Mix it up and build whatever!
Lego Store: Here is a set where you can build the exact mixed-up model from the film.
🤔
(I kid because I love!)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:36 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Lego Movie: You don't have to build what the instructions say! Mix it up and build whatever!
Lego Store: Here is a set where you can build the exact mixed-up model from the film.
🤔
(I kid because I love!)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:36 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
But building from instructions saves the day and is also valued. Mainly the message is intergeberational bonding and fuck glue.
posted by Artw at 7:50 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:50 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
And I should add that the best part of the first LEGO Movie was Benny the 80s space lego guy who had a cracked helmet.
I was a very awkward kid without a lot of friends and I loved my LEGO a lot, and I loved my Space LEGO the most (and in the hands of such a kid all LEGO becomes Space very quickly). I had the blue space guy with the cracked helmet.
I loved spaceships.
My name is Ben.
At the very moment that Benny got his spaceship, at the age of 29, I burst into tears of joy in the theater and I have never before or since been so emotionally satisfied by a film.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:58 AM on June 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
I was a very awkward kid without a lot of friends and I loved my LEGO a lot, and I loved my Space LEGO the most (and in the hands of such a kid all LEGO becomes Space very quickly). I had the blue space guy with the cracked helmet.
I loved spaceships.
My name is Ben.
At the very moment that Benny got his spaceship, at the age of 29, I burst into tears of joy in the theater and I have never before or since been so emotionally satisfied by a film.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:58 AM on June 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
But tomorrow is another day...
Thanks for the explanation. Interesting. I have heard, I don't know if it's true, that the first thing that goes into designing an Ikea piece is the price.
posted by bongo_x at 9:05 AM on June 6, 2017
Thanks for the explanation. Interesting. I have heard, I don't know if it's true, that the first thing that goes into designing an Ikea piece is the price.
posted by bongo_x at 9:05 AM on June 6, 2017
"really neat idea in principle, not actually fun"
Heh - for me, that was "my" working model steam engine, that I was never allowed to touch, for fear of either getting burned, or having it explode...
posted by jkaczor at 9:33 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Heh - for me, that was "my" working model steam engine, that I was never allowed to touch, for fear of either getting burned, or having it explode...
posted by jkaczor at 9:33 AM on June 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Legos are occasionally my form of adult coloring books. I used to build plastic model kits as a kid, and now I'll sometimes do a lego kit because they're relaxing, and at the end, I'll have a snow-speeder model, or whatever. They relax. Now Kre-O sets? They do the opposite.
posted by drezdn at 10:18 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 10:18 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I grew up loving legos (thought not loving that somehow I always ended up with all the stupid yellow pieces, due to having an older sister...). Spent hours playing with them. I've got some mixed feelings about the Friends sets because my sister and I did in fact play "house" with our legos (one big hit: the monorail set; then the resident marbles could go to different stations! Commuting is great!). But I think I also benefited from the fact that they were the same exact toy that the boys got, we just played with it in our way.
Two things about Legos as an adult-- I still enjoy them, and actually like building the models from instructions now (never a huge fan as a kid, we'd built it once and then use the pieces to build other things). And as a kid I really really wanted to go to Legoland, then only in Denmark. Now I live in Denmark, and I'm leaving soon, and I doubt I'll get to go there (and would feel kinda weird about it, I don't have a kid to borrow). But I do live within 100m of the Lego store in Copenhagen, and I certainly explain where I live to people that way. It seems an important landmark, plus even if it's closed you can see the neat display of lego-logos-over-the-years (and accompanying dragon, whom you see a bit of in that photo).
posted by nat at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Two things about Legos as an adult-- I still enjoy them, and actually like building the models from instructions now (never a huge fan as a kid, we'd built it once and then use the pieces to build other things). And as a kid I really really wanted to go to Legoland, then only in Denmark. Now I live in Denmark, and I'm leaving soon, and I doubt I'll get to go there (and would feel kinda weird about it, I don't have a kid to borrow). But I do live within 100m of the Lego store in Copenhagen, and I certainly explain where I live to people that way. It seems an important landmark, plus even if it's closed you can see the neat display of lego-logos-over-the-years (and accompanying dragon, whom you see a bit of in that photo).
posted by nat at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Is it wrong to hope for a Lego Wonder Woman movie?
Nope. There are a lot of much worse ideas. But I wouldn't hold your breath.
posted by GuyZero at 11:20 AM on June 6, 2017
Nope. There are a lot of much worse ideas. But I wouldn't hold your breath.
posted by GuyZero at 11:20 AM on June 6, 2017
Disappointingly I don't see any Lego tie-in sets for the current movie.
posted by Artw at 2:17 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by Artw at 2:17 PM on June 6, 2017
Ah, found this one on the Lego site. Ehh, doesn't do much for me.
(May contain semi-sort-of spoiler)
posted by Artw at 2:22 PM on June 6, 2017
(May contain semi-sort-of spoiler)
posted by Artw at 2:22 PM on June 6, 2017
Can't be a bigger spoiler than what they did for Iron Man 3.
posted by ckape at 2:48 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by ckape at 2:48 PM on June 6, 2017
My only beef with the current kits is that some of them, it's all just HUGE special pieces and there's HARDLY ANY BUILDING because you just snap together six special pieces and, bam, it's a tanker truck. I want to spend a long time snapping together a lot of pieces! But you can avoid it by looking carefully at the pictures.
"Pro-tip: put them out on a sheet and cleanup takes three seconds when you scoop the whole sheet up"
I own an indoor snow shovel specifically dedicated to cleaning up Lego.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:27 PM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Pro-tip: put them out on a sheet and cleanup takes three seconds when you scoop the whole sheet up"
I own an indoor snow shovel specifically dedicated to cleaning up Lego.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:27 PM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Shuttle
It's just a matter of looking them over. Some kits have tons of building; others have a LOT of special pieces and it's just snapping a handful of pieces together. I personally like the more-building ones, but it's just a personal preference.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:32 PM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's just a matter of looking them over. Some kits have tons of building; others have a LOT of special pieces and it's just snapping a handful of pieces together. I personally like the more-building ones, but it's just a personal preference.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:32 PM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sooner or later their only business will be branded 3d printers.
We'll have personal jet packs and talking, flying dogs before we have a 3D printer that can produce a lego brick with the same tolerances as their injection moulding process.
posted by GuyZero at 9:44 AM on June 7, 2017 [7 favorites]
We'll have personal jet packs and talking, flying dogs before we have a 3D printer that can produce a lego brick with the same tolerances as their injection moulding process.
posted by GuyZero at 9:44 AM on June 7, 2017 [7 favorites]
You can make, like, maybe a megoblock that way.
posted by Artw at 9:46 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:46 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
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The accompanying photos were all rather...unsettling? Beheaded minfigs, workers menaced by looming piles, the Lego House out of the Silicon Valley titles, the minifig passing the spliff and THAT POOR WORKER ON THEIR KNEES, ON THEIR KNEES AMONGST LOOSE LEGOS.
Needs a trigger warning for any parent. Worse than hot coals.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:47 AM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]