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How Lego builds a new Lego set
- tapland 3y agoFun, but I really wish I could keep reading without having to scroll through unknown amounts of pictures horizontally.
- cezart 3y agoespecially because on a Mac scrolling horizontally coincides with the back/fwd gestures. I never even realised this until this article...
- ensocode 3y agoThanks. Came here to comment exactly this. Not very UX interested but are there more people who are annoyed by this horizontal scrolling image galleries? Same with the movie streaming websites... For me it seems to be counter intuitive to go horizontally while navigating vertically.
- silverwind 3y agoRule #1 of web development: Don't mess with scroll.
- eagleusr 3y agoProduct pages that require 50 revolutions of the mouse wheel to reach the spec sheet due to some embedded animation is the most frustrating web experience.
- ryanjshaw 3y agoThe scrolling makes me feel uneasy; in my head the columns are all offset by the scroll amount and I'm reading some weird zig-zag layout.
- nicklecompte 3y agoNews organizations across the board have gotten into this bizarre arms race with "interactive" multimedia... and I genuinely have no idea why they think readers want it! The Verge in particular always has dozens of comments complaining about how distracting and unreadable some of their UI choices are. I suspect part of the answer is similar to Facebook's "pivot to video" - some unscrupulous company has gaslit news executives into thinking that "interactive content" is the future of journalism, and are selling frameworks / consulting services / etc. (Though part of the problem with The Verge is Nilay Patel himself. Nilay seems like a good egg, but he has been obstinate and arrogant about The Verge's UI changes. Can't argue with taste...)
- boesboes 3y agoAh, there was more to the article? I gave up after a few photo's..
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- crazygringo 3y agoSeriously. I probably in the HN minority in that I don't mind when vertical scroll results in animations that break up the text (e.g. Apple product pages or fancy NYT articles)... ...but when the animations turn into horizontal scrolling while I'm moving my fingers vertically on my trackpad, I hate it. It breaks my brain and makes me angry at the designer.
- bluetomcat 3y agoHow Lego went from designing playthemes for creative play and building in adventurous imaginary worlds, to replicating real-world 1:1 objects like cameras, typewriters and vintage game consoles as collectible plastic pieces sitting on the shelves of bored adults...
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]
- jacquesm 3y agoFortunately they also still sell the creative play and building blocks and not all kids built canned sets. The problem is that Lego somehow had to survive and they had some pretty tough times, this was their solution. On the one hand I'm disappointed, just like you. On the other I see my kids make the most fantastic stuff with regular bricks so I'll forgive them.
- otabdeveloper4 3y agoBionicle/Hero Factory was by far the best they had for creative play. They cancelled it many moons ago, and now we have to buy 'em used for our kids. On the whole it's a disappointing downward trajectory.
- jacquesm 3y agoFunny, you couldn't pay my kids to play with those! But they never seem to have enough 2x4s...
- otabdeveloper4 3y agoEmphasis on "creative". Bionicle was was their product line that was simple enough for a child to have a complete mental model of it, and at the same time complex enough that they could build their own "real" adult sets, something that isn't obviously a throwaway pile of bricks.
- 3y ago
- dakial1 3y agoI wonder when are we going to see a LLM to build Lego Sets out of a prompt. Maybe is already out there?
- codegladiator 3y agollm to 3d printer ?
- WillAdams 3y agoPerhaps using something like: http://flatfab.com http://flatfab.com
- andrewfromx 3y agosurely you've seen all the LLM generated fake lego images? https://www.core77.com/posts/126450/People-Easily-Fooled-by-AI-Generated-Fake-Lego-Sets-with-Manufacturing-Themes https://www.core77.com/posts/126450/People-Easily-Fooled-by-... https://www.instagram.com/lego_rick_/reel/C0HaaoRLNG9/ https://www.instagram.com/lego_rick_/reel/C0HaaoRLNG9/
- krisoft 3y agoquote from the instagram you linked: "I had a LEGO employee tell me that they had 10 customers ask about “upcoming” LEGO sets that ended up being AI." Sounds like an excellent way to validate demand then?
- Feathercrown 3y agoI would totally buy that metal press
- dakial1 3y agoOh nice, I didn't see that. But we are in the right way. We just need someone from HN to create this LLM.
- ensocode 3y agoNot quite there but close :-D -> ChatGPT 3.5 Promt give me instructions on how to build an iPhone 15 Pro out of lego bricks
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- _giorgio_ 3y agoI've purchased a lot of Lego Duplo for my nephew, really fun sets. Duplo come from the latin word "duplus", which means double. Duplo bricks are double the size of lego bricks. This make the sets compatible. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fgldbk0bl3h8z.jpg https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fg... https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/6m4wsm/mind_blown_30_years_with_lego_and_i_just_realized/ https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/6m4wsm/mind_blown_30_...
- jgtrosh 3y agoObligatory quatro is twice bigger yet (and all are compatible together!) Also Wikipedia mentions duplex and not duplus, but whatever
- bendoidic 3y agoAnd the short-lived LEGO Quatro brick was...you guessed it...four times larger than a regular LEGO brick. Still compatible with both other sets. https://en.brickimedia.org/wiki/QUATRO https://en.brickimedia.org/wiki/QUATRO
- 123pie123 3y agoI think these are biggest ones you can buy (or used to) not sure on the size comparison - at a guess x8 to x10 45003: Soft Starter Set https://www.rapidonline.com/45003-lego-soft-starter-set-70-1342 https://www.rapidonline.com/45003-lego-soft-starter-set-70-1... I had loads of fun playing with these in the lego centre (forget the kids!)
- loudmax 3y agoThat softness is critical. Not for the kids, but for the adults who have to clean up after them. Stepping barefoot onto a Lego brick hurts, but stepping barefoot onto a Duplo brick is much worse. Those things look innocent enough, but in the dark they turn into veritable caltrops!
- 3y ago
- ryukoposting 3y ago> offering both fame and a small fortune — 1 percent of net sales — to anyone who can convince 10,000 peers and The Lego Group that their set deserves to exist This isn't entirely true. Plenty of LEGO Ideas designs get to the 10k threshold, then LEGO vetoes them for one reason or another. The decision process is completely opaque; more often than not, they basically just say "the design didn't pass internal review." Never mind that most Ideas sets get a significant design overhaul before reaching production anyway.
- bombcar 3y agoThat’s why it says “and the Lego Group” - you have to do the 10k and pass internal design review.
- nicklecompte 3y ago"Lego is 'proud' to announce Lego McLegoface Mark XVI. Apparently you guys still think this joke is funny."
- ryukoposting 3y ago"Convincing" the Lego Group implies that there's dialogue.
- eloisant 3y agoBut then the 10k is meaningless. "Anyone who can convince the Lego Group", that could be said of any product/company! It's like saying "anyone who can convince Netflix can launch a new TV Show".
- stefantalpalaru 3y ago[dead]
- jesperlang 3y agoWhy aren't we building "products" from lego rather than seeing them as toys? The promise of 3D-printers haven't really played out, but it would be interesting if we had a material like lego to build some of the things we need. Lego is infinitely customizable and each brick would be potentially useful in any product that you would build. Of course there are some obvious downsides but I think the idea of an ecosystem of standardized, "open" and adaptable materials is super interesting.
- cush 3y agoLego is heavy, bulky, expensive, and falls apart when you move it. What are you thinking we’d manufacture from it?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- AmosLightnin 3y agoMe too! There have been a few experiments in this but none have caught on. Here's a nice article that explores the idea: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2012/12/how-to-make-everything-ourselves-open-modular-hardware/ https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2012/12/how-to-make-everyt...
- jesperlang 3y agoThanks, this was exactly what I was looking for!
- spockz 3y agoThe concrete walls of my house already resemble a 4x2 block, although slightly higher in the body relative to the “pins” on top. Or are you referring to something else? Lego is plastic. Houses need wood or concrete and all kinds of isolation etc.
- ryukoposting 3y ago
- notjes 3y agoThe article is fine, but the image implementation on this website did dampen the experience somewhat.
- datadrivenangel 3y agoThe scroll-jacking images are disorienting. Kind of reminds me of some of the more egregious scrolly-telling visualizations.
- mkoryak 3y agoI couldnt figure out how to scroll them the first time around
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- snoutie 3y agoI am confused by the statement about "frames", where each design team gets a limited amount of "new" bricks they are able to introduce. Yet all of the internaly come in all colors available. This, the colourful internals, are what defines lego for me nowadays. I wonder: had they kept the system of gray and black axels, one for even length unit one for odd, and the standardized blue and black pins while keeping every other part the default black, would they have more frames available for "custom" parts? In my mind having two blue bricks where there should only be one is unacceptable for the price that lego is inevitably going to charge.
- mcphage 3y ago> Yet all of the internaly come in all colors available Since those already exist, they probably don't count as new frames. It seems like you "spend" frames on new pieces you want to introduce, but there's a large stock of evergreen pieces you can pick from.
- flutas 3y agoYeah, I think the best way to think about the frames is "do we already have a mold for this piece / have we done the engineering for it" if so then it's not new, just a new colorway.
- CrazyStat 3y agoAccording to the article, a new color requires spending a frame: > Want a part in a different color? That costs designers a frame. A new piece? Spend some frames. Bring back an old out-of-print piece? That’s a frame, too. This makes sense, since a new color requires dedicated storage space (which frames are intended to control).
- genocidicbunny 3y ago> I am confused by the statement about "frames", where each design team gets a limited amount of "new" bricks they are able to introduce. Yet all of the internaly come in all colors available. LEGO has a large part catalog -- a lot of different molds that define the shapes. They also have each part available in some selection of colors. If you need an existing part in a new color, it's not terribly expensive to spin up a production line for it because the molds are ready. There may need to be adjustments to the color chemistry for the specific part (some colors are more brittle/fragile, others may require different processes -- transparent parts for example.) If you need to spin up a new mold, that's where it gets complicated and expensive. As for the internals, they largely come from the existing part:existing color matrix. Over the years LEGO has created a lot of colors, but in reality not every part is available in every color, and if you buy enough LEGO sets you notice that a lot of the internals tend to actually use similar color schemes. Technic axles and pins are now even largely standardized to specific colors. High friction 2x pins are always black, low friction 2x pins are beige..etc. > In my mind having two blue bricks where there should only be one is unacceptable for the price that lego is inevitably going to charge. LEGO used to do a lot more custom one-off pieces for sets in the 90's and early 2000's, and it was one of the factors in them nearly being bankrupted. Reducing their part catalog and going to using more small pieces to build up assemblies instead of just molding them as a single piece helped them get out of that predicament. And as an AFOL, I prefer that they use more pieces to 'brick build' things -- not only do you see some really cool building techniques, but there's also so much more that you could possibly use them for. There's also a large spectrum of complexity in the sets. Smaller sets for younger children will use larger simpler parts and less complicated building techniques. The sets that really go all out on details with tiny pieces are usually designed for adults (and a few very lucky kids.) > This, the colourful internals, are what defines lego for me nowadays The internals used to be much more monochrome, but one of the things LEGO tries to improve is the build experience. It's much easier to tell which pieces is supposed to go exactly where when they're all different sizes and colors. Heck, it's still a problem sometimes with sets that heavily use a single color, like some of the batman ones in recent years. There are places in the instructions manual where it's almost impossible to tell the placement of pieces because it's just one big nearly-black mass of bricks both on the table in front of you, and in the pictures in the instructions.
- SillyUsername 3y agoLego have stated that they have to keep using oil based plastic (ABS) because their attempt at "sustainable" plastics has failed. Specifically they've said they need Lego to "last generations". That sentence should set off alarm bells for environmentalists, it's not recycling if Lego is mostly dumped after a kid grows up. Lasting generations sounds like BS to me given the arguments against fossil fuel plastic production, banning forever plastics from the environment, and sea and environmental pollution caused by items like bricks or bags. Why should Lego last generations? A PLA type plastic would be non toxic, break down easier and importantly for Lego, also encourage replacement purchases. Lego that lasts 10-15 years, with a discount replacement programme, to my mind, is better than 100+ year old Lego killing animals that eat it, or taking up space in landfills. Anecdotally, most kids don't want old Lego, (just look online at the moms selling old unwanted Lego cheap without instructions or boxes) they want the latest sets, so the justification isn't there either.
- altairTF 3y agoBecause they build a reputation of good quality plastic pieces that fit very snug together for, like they said, generations. New type os plastic seens to not be like that and the final product was not really good. If its really true or not, i don't know, but that was their justification.
- diffeomorphism 3y agoFurther context: https://www.ft.com/content/6cad1883-f87a-471d-9688-c1a3c5a0b7dc https://www.ft.com/content/6cad1883-f87a-471d-9688-c1a3c5a0b... The footprint over the lifetime is higher. Seems like an entirely reasonable decision.
- marvinblum 3y agoBricks also do get worse with time. I remember getting some old Lego as a child and finding the pieces barely stuck together. Having old bricks mixed with new ones, my designs would often "fail" at older pieces first.
- avalys 3y agoLego is basically irrelevant when it comes to fossil fuel consumption or environmental plastic pollution. I’m glad they decided not to make their product worse for no point. I wish “environmentalists” would keep their focus on things that will actually make a difference, as opposed to insisting on these performative sacrifices that make our world poorer, duller or less capable without meaningfully helping the environment.
- gaogao 3y agoI remembering learning about Polaroids from Lego Magazine's "no Polaroid pictures" for submissions back in the day, so really neat to see it as a set now.
- dhosek 3y agoThis is so odd to me as someone who grew up in what was perhaps peak Polaroid era. I remember house-shopping in the early 90s and taking a Polaroid camera with me to take pictures of the houses I saw. The other place it was really wonderful was when I traveled to Chiapas and Guatemala at about that same time with a Polaroid and was able to give family pictures to Guatemalan refugees on the spot as a way of providing some small joy for them.
- nimajneb 3y agoInteresting read. I guess I'm out $90 Jan 1st, lol. This set is amazing.
- CodeNest 3y agoVerge article on Lego Polaroid stuff? Yeah, it's got details but kinda skips the tough bits. Marc, the dude who made it, got lots of no before this one clicked. They ain't show much how tough it is to kick off your Lego idea. Sort a paints a wonky picture for peeps thinkin' 'bout jumping into Lego design.
- Waterluvian 3y agoThe use of colourful bricks in areas that won't be seen is an amazing improvement I discovered when my kids began getting Lego. Last week I rebuilt two of my most cherished childhood sets[1] and oh my goodness how did I ever do this as an 8-year-old? Every step in the booklet is a minigame of "figure out what changed" and then an eye exam of determining precisely where each piece went. [1]: https://imgur.com/v0fL4Xz https://imgur.com/v0fL4Xz
- andruby 3y agoOh my. I remember those sets! They were glorious indeed. Do you have the lego number of those sets? Or the name? Ps: I’m now taking a picture of every lego box I buy for my kids. That way I have an archive with all the numbers. That way we can always download the booklets years later, or catalogue the collection with rebrickable
- Waterluvian 3y agoBehold in all their glory: https://www.toysperiod.com/lego-set-reference/space/ice-planet-2002/ https://www.toysperiod.com/lego-set-reference/space/ice-plan... And: https://www.toysperiod.com/lego-set-reference/space/space-police-2/ https://www.toysperiod.com/lego-set-reference/space/space-po...
- cide1 3y agoI agree, the instructions have improved greatly over the years. I just rebuilt some of my childhood sets from the late 80's and early 90's (mostly Town theme) and I was struggling at times. My 6 year old son does well with pretty much all the modern instructions regardless of the age (City, Batman, Speed, Technic, Jurassic Park themes).
- monknomo 3y agolove the snow space lego sets, I had that one too
- hansoolo 3y agoHa! This is really cool! I found some of my old pieces a while ago and tried to remember where the reddish neon stuff was from... :)
- andersrs 3y agoI detest what Lego has become. I cringe when I see most of the sets are a movie themed fad which won't fit well with the rest of your Lego. It's very clear Lego profits more when the planet is filled up with more plastic crap. So I stick to the classic ones which are timeless and versatile. I guess the themed sets are designed for man-children collectors.
- philips 3y agoHave you seen the “space” theme for next year? It is the closest thing to a return to form I have seen in recent years with focus on play features and story telling without media tie in. https://ramblingbrick.com/2023/12/03/there-is-space-for-everyone-in-2024s-lego-catalogue/ https://ramblingbrick.com/2023/12/03/there-is-space-for-ever...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- grammers 3y agoLego is so simple, and yet so genius.
- bathtub365 3y agoAll of this research and they spell it “Lego” instead of the correct “LEGO”
- bigstrat2003 3y agoOnly extreme pedants (and Lego's employees, cause the company has obvious incentives to be pedantic about this) care about that distinction. It's not a big deal.