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Are you criticizing Lego for producing what sells? Aren’t they producing what our culture wants? Do you think a wokeness set would sell as well as a pirate set?

egypturnash 4y ago
There was a time when Lego was pretty solidly pacifist in what they chose to make. Sure, you could make a gun out of your bricks, but they didn’t make plans for them, or special parts. Over time this has changed. There is an entire page on Wikipedia dedicated to chronicling this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_Lego https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_Lego
- NickNameNick 4y ago
  When was that time? Because classic space had rayguns, and the pirate ships had working cannons.
  - Morgawr 4y ago
    > When was that time? It's literally written in the article that the person you are responding to linked. I'd recommend reading it.
    - Xylakant 4y ago
      The article is about “realistic weapons that kids may recognize from conflict zones.” Everyone I know from the time took the various “antenna” pieces on the space craft as “laser guns.” The space police figures had weird looking pieces that can be interpreted as or such, but they easily serve as futuristic guns as well. I’m observing my kid picking up lego and assembling my old sets and they take that the same way without prompting. Using bricklink as proof that the number of weapons increased is hilarious. Many kits used and still use regular bricks in places where they can clearly be read as weapons. (1) Lego definitely has a trend to make more specialized pieces now, so it’s not surprising at all that more specialized weapons show up. (1) The cannonballs are listed as “Brick Round, 1x1 open stud”, because that’s what they originally are. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3062b&name=Brick,%20Round%201%20x%201%20Open%20Stud&category=%5BBrick,%20Round%5D#T=C https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3062...
    - gattilorenz 4y ago
      > From 1945 onwards, Lego began producing a wooden version of a toy pistol. The company then applied for a patent of the model in 1946. A plastic version of a rapid-firing pistol began to be manufactured in 1949. The first minifigure is from 1978, the first weapon is from the same year.
  - wodenokoto 4y ago
    Yeah, it's pretty weak. According to the article, they made toy guns up till 1962, and then reintroduced weapons in the 1970s, with the caveat that they would not be realistic, current weapons (so space guns and pirate guns are okay. AK47 is not, presumably). But yearning for a 12 year period in the middle of the last century and talking about it as if deviating from it is a recent sign of the company losing its way, is a little odd IMHO.
- mmustapic 4y ago
  Police transitioned from just cops with a police station or a motor cycle directing traffic to police stations with jails and criminals inside.
  - dleslie 4y ago
    I have a Lego City police station from the mid-80s that has a jail cell.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      The very first Lego police station had a jail cell: https://blog.firestartoys.com/evolution-of-the-brick-lego-police-headquarters/ https://blog.firestartoys.com/evolution-of-the-brick-lego-po... but no criminals, I guess you had to supply your own or assume that one of the cops is a dirty rat.
mmustapic 4y ago
I never understand the argument of "what our culture wants". You can still be a critic even if it's the norm. Also, you can cater to a part of what the culture wants, so yeah, you can criticise Lego.
tzmudzin 4y ago
> Are you criticizing Lego for producing what sells? There is demand for all sorts of things the society in general considers harmful. If one chooses to offer it anyway, be prepared for the criticism.
dleslie 4y ago
Well, FWIW it's impossible to find a Pirate set on a brick and mortar shelf, but Lego Friends and similar are still selling reasonably well.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Pirates have never really "come back" as an official theme but pirate-themed sets have appeared on shelves now and then (Creator has one). Part of the problem is that dedicated toy stores are almost dead, so if Walmart or Target's shelf of LEGO doesn't have it, it basically doesn't exist.

egypturnash 4y ago

There was a time when Lego was pretty solidly pacifist in what they chose to make. Sure, you could make a gun out of your bricks, but they didn’t make plans for them, or special parts. Over time this has changed. There is an entire page on Wikipedia dedicated to chronicling this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_Lego https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_Lego

NickNameNick 4y ago
When was that time? Because classic space had rayguns, and the pirate ships had working cannons.
- Morgawr 4y ago
  > When was that time? It's literally written in the article that the person you are responding to linked. I'd recommend reading it.
  - Xylakant 4y ago
    The article is about “realistic weapons that kids may recognize from conflict zones.” Everyone I know from the time took the various “antenna” pieces on the space craft as “laser guns.” The space police figures had weird looking pieces that can be interpreted as or such, but they easily serve as futuristic guns as well. I’m observing my kid picking up lego and assembling my old sets and they take that the same way without prompting. Using bricklink as proof that the number of weapons increased is hilarious. Many kits used and still use regular bricks in places where they can clearly be read as weapons. (1) Lego definitely has a trend to make more specialized pieces now, so it’s not surprising at all that more specialized weapons show up. (1) The cannonballs are listed as “Brick Round, 1x1 open stud”, because that’s what they originally are. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3062b&name=Brick,%20Round%201%20x%201%20Open%20Stud&category=%5BBrick,%20Round%5D#T=C https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3062...
  - gattilorenz 4y ago
    > From 1945 onwards, Lego began producing a wooden version of a toy pistol. The company then applied for a patent of the model in 1946. A plastic version of a rapid-firing pistol began to be manufactured in 1949. The first minifigure is from 1978, the first weapon is from the same year.
- wodenokoto 4y ago
  Yeah, it's pretty weak. According to the article, they made toy guns up till 1962, and then reintroduced weapons in the 1970s, with the caveat that they would not be realistic, current weapons (so space guns and pirate guns are okay. AK47 is not, presumably). But yearning for a 12 year period in the middle of the last century and talking about it as if deviating from it is a recent sign of the company losing its way, is a little odd IMHO.
mmustapic 4y ago
Police transitioned from just cops with a police station or a motor cycle directing traffic to police stations with jails and criminals inside.
- dleslie 4y ago
  I have a Lego City police station from the mid-80s that has a jail cell.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    The very first Lego police station had a jail cell: https://blog.firestartoys.com/evolution-of-the-brick-lego-police-headquarters/ https://blog.firestartoys.com/evolution-of-the-brick-lego-po... but no criminals, I guess you had to supply your own or assume that one of the cops is a dirty rat.

mmustapic 4y ago

I never understand the argument of "what our culture wants". You can still be a critic even if it's the norm. Also, you can cater to a part of what the culture wants, so yeah, you can criticise Lego.

tzmudzin 4y ago

> Are you criticizing Lego for producing what sells? There is demand for all sorts of things the society in general considers harmful. If one chooses to offer it anyway, be prepared for the criticism.

dleslie 4y ago

Well, FWIW it's impossible to find a Pirate set on a brick and mortar shelf, but Lego Friends and similar are still selling reasonably well.

bombcar 4y ago
Pirates have never really "come back" as an official theme but pirate-themed sets have appeared on shelves now and then (Creator has one). Part of the problem is that dedicated toy stores are almost dead, so if Walmart or Target's shelf of LEGO doesn't have it, it basically doesn't exist.