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>Now the kits seem more like models to be assembled and put on display and not touched rather than “a paint brush of blocks” where I can use my imagination. Th

>Now the kits seem more like models to be assembled and put on display and not touched rather than “a paint brush of blocks” where I can use my imagination. This isn't true at all. You can still buy a box full of bricks. You can even go online and purchase single bricks if you have a specific build in mind. Even the model kits are still just a box full of bricks--Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. The reason a lot of adults gravitate toward the finished kits is the same reason adults stop picking up cool sticks outside: We just lose our imagination.

spicybright 5y ago
Everything you said is very true. ANY Lego set you buy lets you arrange the bricks how you want. If you want different parts you can buy different sets. Why are people saying Lego should be responsible for this? Take your model and drop it on the floor. Start building.
Broken_Hippo 5y ago
The reason a lot of adults gravitate toward the finished kits is the same reason adults stop picking up cool sticks outside: We just lose our imagination. This just isn't true. When you are a kid, lots of sticks seem different: When you are an adult, you've seen lots and lots of sticks and they cease to become interesting. This is the same reason we don't find a lot of joy in children's learning toys. We should be moving on. Some folks find out they like putting things together, even if there isn't much imagination going on: Cue lego kits, puzzles, cross stitch, home improvement, and so on. Adult imagination looks different from children's imagination, in part because adults have knowledge and experience that children lack, which is why sometimes an imaginative child won't necessarily be creative in their daydreams. Adults are more likely to put it into things like parenting or making dinner or trying to stretch money to cover everything and still get gifts. Adults are out there making artwork. Creating new software. Creating music and movies and designing buildings and public spaces and stadiums and playing sports. All of these things require imagination and creativity.
CapitalistCartr 5y ago
I have discovered a way to reverse that effect of aging, but it's painfully expensive: I have a son in my fifties. It has rejuvenated my sense of play.
- kzzzznot 5y ago
  I have recently been enthusiastically playing with my daughter and her Duplo sets (Lego for younger children, basically just larger blocks). Now eyeing up various adult sets for myself…
dr_orpheus 5y ago
> Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. Its always my favorite thing to see how some of the semi-unique pieces get re-used. I put together Anakin's Podracer recently and part of the decorative elements on the engine part were the Lego LOTR Orc Swords!
- mcphage 5y ago
  I purchased the Spring Lantern Festival earlier this year, and the decorations on the corners of the pagoda are blue bananas :-) And the lightposts used paint rollers as part of their design.
- abbub 5y ago
  I think the fins on the back of a batmobile set I have are from a dragon in one of the 'castle' sets...
  - dr_orpheus 5y ago
    Or the original blasters in the Star Wars sets that were backwards megaphones with a piece on the end.
    - smarterclayton 5y ago
      The Lego Star Destroyer has several “hammer of Thor” greebles (the interesting decorative surface details) in the engine section
- GLGirty 5y ago
  bullwhip + lightsabre hilt = ghostbuster proton wand
- mcbain 5y ago
  When I was building the James Bond DB5 I was amused that the exhaust manifolds for the engine are actually revolvers: https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-4211029 https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-4211029
dave78 5y ago
> Even the model kits are still just a box full of bricks--Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. I've heard this again and again, and I believe it used to be true. But is it still really the case? My daughters have been gifted a number of Lego sets in the past few years that are simply full of very one-off looking pieces that are hard to use for much else, with very few standard bricks. I don't doubt that the molds can be repurposed for some other sets potentially, but as an example look at this set that we have and see if you really think it's "just a box full of bricks". https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/anna-elsa-s-frozen-playground-10736 https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/anna-elsa-s-frozen-playgr... What bugs me about sets like that is there's very little ability to build something completely different with it, which to me is what Lego used to be about. The most fun I had as a kid (and what my kids seem to enjoy most) is just building random things from a pile of bricks (which is why I buy them the generic brick packs rather than the sets like above).
- cout 5y ago
  I don't see any specialty pieces in there that I would be unable to use in another build. The problem is that the ratio of specialty pieces to generic pieces is too high; you would need a lot of generic rectangular bricks to build anything substantially different from what's in the picture. I wonder how much the ratio of specialty to generic pieces differs between the lego junior sets like the one you linked vs sets intended for older children.
- shagmin 5y ago
  I believe it's true for some sets more than others. In my experience any sets with Disney on them or sets based on partnerships with other brands are the worst for this however.
- OskarS 5y ago
  I just bought and built the relatively recent Lego typewriter set [1], and I had this exact same question: how much of it was going to be purpose built, and how much would be just generic pieces. The answer is: almost all pieces are just regular Lego pieces. A small number of components (the curved edge just above the keyboard, for instance, or the roller handle) seemed purpose-made for this model, but, like 99% of the pieces were totally generic. And this is in a set with more than 2000 pieces with lots of very intricate mechanics (there's a roller, a carriage, air pistons, and a ratchet/escapement mechanism that moves the carriage), but virtually all of it was made up of standard bricks, rods, connectors and generic components. I was super impressed. Even the keys are just Lego disks with stickers on them. The spacebar is just regular Lego with a smooth surface. I feel like people have been making this complaint against Lego forever, and it's always "when I was kid, we just got a box of bricks and let our creativity take over!". The harsh truth is that Lego didn't change. We just grew up. [1]: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/typewriter-21327 https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/typewriter-21327
robbyking 5y ago
Absolutely! I wasn't into building with Lego growing up, but my 5yo is and we often go to an aftermarket Lego store to buy bricks in bulk that aren't part of a specific kit.
jerrysievert 5y ago
> Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. true for the most part, but there was a time where that was not true, we had part of the 90's where unique pieces ran wild. thankfully, they've moved back to more generic pieces, but the bioncle years were crazy.

spicybright 5y ago

Everything you said is very true. ANY Lego set you buy lets you arrange the bricks how you want. If you want different parts you can buy different sets. Why are people saying Lego should be responsible for this? Take your model and drop it on the floor. Start building.

Broken_Hippo 5y ago

The reason a lot of adults gravitate toward the finished kits is the same reason adults stop picking up cool sticks outside: We just lose our imagination. This just isn't true. When you are a kid, lots of sticks seem different: When you are an adult, you've seen lots and lots of sticks and they cease to become interesting. This is the same reason we don't find a lot of joy in children's learning toys. We should be moving on. Some folks find out they like putting things together, even if there isn't much imagination going on: Cue lego kits, puzzles, cross stitch, home improvement, and so on. Adult imagination looks different from children's imagination, in part because adults have knowledge and experience that children lack, which is why sometimes an imaginative child won't necessarily be creative in their daydreams. Adults are more likely to put it into things like parenting or making dinner or trying to stretch money to cover everything and still get gifts. Adults are out there making artwork. Creating new software. Creating music and movies and designing buildings and public spaces and stadiums and playing sports. All of these things require imagination and creativity.

CapitalistCartr 5y ago

I have discovered a way to reverse that effect of aging, but it's painfully expensive: I have a son in my fifties. It has rejuvenated my sense of play.

kzzzznot 5y ago
I have recently been enthusiastically playing with my daughter and her Duplo sets (Lego for younger children, basically just larger blocks). Now eyeing up various adult sets for myself…

dr_orpheus 5y ago

> Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. Its always my favorite thing to see how some of the semi-unique pieces get re-used. I put together Anakin's Podracer recently and part of the decorative elements on the engine part were the Lego LOTR Orc Swords!

mcphage 5y ago
I purchased the Spring Lantern Festival earlier this year, and the decorations on the corners of the pagoda are blue bananas :-) And the lightposts used paint rollers as part of their design.
abbub 5y ago
I think the fins on the back of a batmobile set I have are from a dragon in one of the 'castle' sets...
- dr_orpheus 5y ago
  Or the original blasters in the Star Wars sets that were backwards megaphones with a piece on the end.
  - smarterclayton 5y ago
    The Lego Star Destroyer has several “hammer of Thor” greebles (the interesting decorative surface details) in the engine section
GLGirty 5y ago
bullwhip + lightsabre hilt = ghostbuster proton wand
mcbain 5y ago
When I was building the James Bond DB5 I was amused that the exhaust manifolds for the engine are actually revolvers: https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-4211029 https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-4211029

dave78 5y ago

> Even the model kits are still just a box full of bricks--Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. I've heard this again and again, and I believe it used to be true. But is it still really the case? My daughters have been gifted a number of Lego sets in the past few years that are simply full of very one-off looking pieces that are hard to use for much else, with very few standard bricks. I don't doubt that the molds can be repurposed for some other sets potentially, but as an example look at this set that we have and see if you really think it's "just a box full of bricks". https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/anna-elsa-s-frozen-playground-10736 https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/anna-elsa-s-frozen-playgr... What bugs me about sets like that is there's very little ability to build something completely different with it, which to me is what Lego used to be about. The most fun I had as a kid (and what my kids seem to enjoy most) is just building random things from a pile of bricks (which is why I buy them the generic brick packs rather than the sets like above).

cout 5y ago
I don't see any specialty pieces in there that I would be unable to use in another build. The problem is that the ratio of specialty pieces to generic pieces is too high; you would need a lot of generic rectangular bricks to build anything substantially different from what's in the picture. I wonder how much the ratio of specialty to generic pieces differs between the lego junior sets like the one you linked vs sets intended for older children.
shagmin 5y ago
I believe it's true for some sets more than others. In my experience any sets with Disney on them or sets based on partnerships with other brands are the worst for this however.
OskarS 5y ago
I just bought and built the relatively recent Lego typewriter set [1], and I had this exact same question: how much of it was going to be purpose built, and how much would be just generic pieces. The answer is: almost all pieces are just regular Lego pieces. A small number of components (the curved edge just above the keyboard, for instance, or the roller handle) seemed purpose-made for this model, but, like 99% of the pieces were totally generic. And this is in a set with more than 2000 pieces with lots of very intricate mechanics (there's a roller, a carriage, air pistons, and a ratchet/escapement mechanism that moves the carriage), but virtually all of it was made up of standard bricks, rods, connectors and generic components. I was super impressed. Even the keys are just Lego disks with stickers on them. The spacebar is just regular Lego with a smooth surface. I feel like people have been making this complaint against Lego forever, and it's always "when I was kid, we just got a box of bricks and let our creativity take over!". The harsh truth is that Lego didn't change. We just grew up. [1]: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/typewriter-21327 https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/typewriter-21327

robbyking 5y ago

Absolutely! I wasn't into building with Lego growing up, but my 5yo is and we often go to an aftermarket Lego store to buy bricks in bulk that aren't part of a specific kit.

jerrysievert 5y ago

> Lego abhors creating unique blocks unless they can be used in other sets. true for the most part, but there was a time where that was not true, we had part of the 90's where unique pieces ran wild. thankfully, they've moved back to more generic pieces, but the bioncle years were crazy.