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I'm skeptical of PE as a substitute for ABS for the application. It would be interesting to see if someone more familiar with the process could weigh in.
by M_Bakhtiari 9y ago
I'm skeptical of PE as a substitute for ABS for the application. It would be interesting to see if someone more familiar with the process could weigh in.
- bllguo 9y agoThe article says "production has begun on a range of Lego botanical elements or pieces such as leaves, bushes and trees". Pieces which are more flexible and, practically speaking, don't necessarily need to meet the same standards as the other pieces
- ghostbrainalpha 9y agoI wish they would focus these on the Duplo Lego sets for Toddlers. A Lego death star built by an adult might need to last twenty years. But a Toddler plays with a Duplo set for maximum of two years, they lose most of the pieces, and if they break it isn't that big a deal. Then they move on to more permanent durable lego sets.
- ars 9y ago> But a Toddler plays with a Duplo set for maximum of two years Do you actually have Toddlers when you say that? They play with them till age 7, and often even later. And do families have just 1 kid now? Do people not give toys away to grandkids or just friends?
- stevbov 9y agoYeah, our 6 year old niece plays with our 2 year old's Duplos. Duplos we got for free from a mommy group on Facebook. Also, I'm pretty sure our toddler would have a breakdown if a Duplo broke.
- ghostbrainalpha 9y agoAgreed... but doesn't your toddler have a breakdown about everything, all the time? Our life is just jumping from crisis, to the next distraction every 15 minutes no matter what.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> Agreed... but doesn't your toddler have a breakdown about everything, all the time? Mine doesn't, and I'm not looking to gratuitously introduce new sources of breakdowns.
- ghostbrainalpha 9y agoI've got a 2.5 yr old and an 11 yr old. The toddler loves his Duplo's, but doesn't build specific things with them. Just randomly mushes them together. My daughter who is 11 now, grew out of that phase at about 5. She wanted real Legos and wanted to follow the instructions exactly to build what was on the box. Maybe that was unusual, she is very uptight, but its what I was basing my experience on.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> But a Toddler plays with a Duplo set for maximum of two years, Lego and Duplo are compatible, so as long as someone is free building (rather than just following instructions on a set) with Lego, there is no reason not to use Duplo as part of that. Unless their parents gave them away, most kids I've known that kept playing with Lego kept their Duplo too. > they lose most of the pieces Duplo pieces are pretty large and distinct, so if they are used indoors, the recovery rate is pretty high. I kind of doubt this, especially on a two-year time frame. > and if they break it isn't that big a deal. Broken shards of rigid plastic around toddlers is, in fact, a big deal, for the same reason people tend not to let toddlers play with steak knives and scissors.
- takk309 9y agoKeep in mind that the plant "bricks" have always been flexible and not made from ABS. The only thing Lego is changing is the raw material for the plastic, not the plastic itself.
- M_Bakhtiari 9y agoNow that I think of it, I seem to remember the plant parts as having a waxy feel to them compared to the regular bricks, consistent with PE, so maybe the only thing they changed was the feedstock.
- dsr_ 9y agoThey aren't substituting for ABS. ABS continues. This is a substitute for the existing non-ABS, non-rubber parts. (You probably know that LEGO makes more tires than anyone else in the world.) Certain small parts are molded in a softer, non-ABS plastic, and PE is the replacement for that. Look for rubbery-feeling parts in existing sets.