7 ms·

I sure hope this does not mean a reduction in quality, one of Legos big benefits has been the longevity, lego pieces from the 70s are still in my family's rotat

by jonex 2y ago

I sure hope this does not mean a reduction in quality, one of Legos big benefits has been the longevity, lego pieces from the 70s are still in my family's rotation. Reuse should always come before recycle.

oulipo 2y ago
well, honestly I think it'd be better if lego had a bio-degradable brick
- dijit 2y ago
  why? isn’t it better to keep re-using the brick rather than having something that degrades and can’t be passed along due to shoddy quality?
  - CalRobert 2y ago
    How much lego gets passed down vs vacuumed up or lost? (Honest question)
    - dghlsakjg 2y ago
      Lego very rarely gets wasted. The second hand market is massive even for random mixed bricks. Prices start around $15/lb and go up from there.
    - dijit 2y ago
      Out of every hundred pieces, maybe 4 get lost or go into the vacuum. One need only go to charity shops in the UK to see the absolutely astonishing amounts of lego that managed to leave a family. The “bucket” of lego bricks is a staple in many families with children, with parts coming from other peoples buckets or collations of multiple buckets. All my lego is with my nephew, but before that it was stored with all my other toys, most of which were discarded as they were deemed unfit to continue: not the lego though. It’s hard to get actual data on this, but in my sets I only lost about 4-5% of pieces, which is still many, and I only broke 2 or 3 pieces in my childhood. And I was careless and rowdy, so I’m pretty much worst-case.
    - littlestymaar 2y ago
      I doubt the ratio is below 95% in favor of reuse. You can find second hand Lego everywhere and are kinda expensive even in bulk.
  - BadHumans 2y ago
    Everything heads for the landfill eventually
- jazzyjackson 2y ago
  They did a test run of PLA bricks resembling plants back in 2018 #40320 Plants from Plants https://brickarchitect.com/2018/40320-plants-made-from-plants-lego-sustainability/ https://brickarchitect.com/2018/40320-plants-made-from-plant... Trouble with anything biodegradable is it biodegrades while you're using it, you'd essentially have to keep it in a cool, dry place away from sunlight
  - steve_adams_86 2y ago
    PLA is extremely hydrophilic too, so if some was kept drier than the rest the fit could be terrible.
szastamasta 2y ago
Exactly. The most eco product is the one you don’t produce. Longevity and reuse is what we really should strive for.
candiddevmike 2y ago
Sets I've purchased within the past couple of years have not withstood repeated rebuilds. The pieces become too loose and don't stay together.
skrebbel 2y ago
The entire Lego company is staffed by purists. I think the reason they took so long getting this done (despite being very higher-educated-Danish which means most employees are very environmentally-everything) is that they didn't manage to get it right until now. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be very surprised if the quality is worse from this. EDIT: translating this to finance terms: the Lego Group is still majority-owned by the founder's family. This is not your average public company which has to deal with constant shareholder pressure to make More Profit Right Now at the cost of future growth and sustainability. Lego knows that the only reason parents happily pay their obscene prices is because their minds go "well, ok, it's a fortune, but it's also very high-quality stuff". No other toy brand has this reputation. If they'd burn that, it would be the most stupid move in the company's history.
- dtx1 2y ago
  Legos Quality in the last decade has been on a steady decline to an absurd degree. Most of their sets now are substandard in part count, part quality, full of stickers and it's all star wars and other tie ins while the prices skyrocketed. Meanwhile the Competition has stepped up significantly and there are now multiple manufacturers selling lego compatible pieces and sets of equal or higher quality for significantly less.
  - object-a 2y ago
    Interesting, what's an example of a compatible competitor with equal or higher quality for significantly less?
    - dtx1 2y ago
      https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/ https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/
      - jemmyw 2y ago
        I looked at them awhile ago while lamenting that Lego doesn't do a Star Trek line. But you can't tell me their designs are better. I watched the video of the 2 chaps going through the sets and they're just not things of beauty. Whereas I just put together the Lego Concorde and it looks, as much as possible, like the thing it's supposed to be.

by jonex 2y ago

oulipo 2y ago

well, honestly I think it'd be better if lego had a bio-degradable brick

dijit 2y ago
why? isn’t it better to keep re-using the brick rather than having something that degrades and can’t be passed along due to shoddy quality?
- CalRobert 2y ago
  How much lego gets passed down vs vacuumed up or lost? (Honest question)
  - dghlsakjg 2y ago
    Lego very rarely gets wasted. The second hand market is massive even for random mixed bricks. Prices start around $15/lb and go up from there.
  - dijit 2y ago
    Out of every hundred pieces, maybe 4 get lost or go into the vacuum. One need only go to charity shops in the UK to see the absolutely astonishing amounts of lego that managed to leave a family. The “bucket” of lego bricks is a staple in many families with children, with parts coming from other peoples buckets or collations of multiple buckets. All my lego is with my nephew, but before that it was stored with all my other toys, most of which were discarded as they were deemed unfit to continue: not the lego though. It’s hard to get actual data on this, but in my sets I only lost about 4-5% of pieces, which is still many, and I only broke 2 or 3 pieces in my childhood. And I was careless and rowdy, so I’m pretty much worst-case.
  - littlestymaar 2y ago
    I doubt the ratio is below 95% in favor of reuse. You can find second hand Lego everywhere and are kinda expensive even in bulk.
- BadHumans 2y ago
  Everything heads for the landfill eventually
jazzyjackson 2y ago
They did a test run of PLA bricks resembling plants back in 2018 #40320 Plants from Plants https://brickarchitect.com/2018/40320-plants-made-from-plants-lego-sustainability/ https://brickarchitect.com/2018/40320-plants-made-from-plant... Trouble with anything biodegradable is it biodegrades while you're using it, you'd essentially have to keep it in a cool, dry place away from sunlight
- steve_adams_86 2y ago
  PLA is extremely hydrophilic too, so if some was kept drier than the rest the fit could be terrible.

szastamasta 2y ago

Exactly. The most eco product is the one you don’t produce. Longevity and reuse is what we really should strive for.

candiddevmike 2y ago

Sets I've purchased within the past couple of years have not withstood repeated rebuilds. The pieces become too loose and don't stay together.

skrebbel 2y ago

The entire Lego company is staffed by purists. I think the reason they took so long getting this done (despite being very higher-educated-Danish which means most employees are very environmentally-everything) is that they didn't manage to get it right until now. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be very surprised if the quality is worse from this. EDIT: translating this to finance terms: the Lego Group is still majority-owned by the founder's family. This is not your average public company which has to deal with constant shareholder pressure to make More Profit Right Now at the cost of future growth and sustainability. Lego knows that the only reason parents happily pay their obscene prices is because their minds go "well, ok, it's a fortune, but it's also very high-quality stuff". No other toy brand has this reputation. If they'd burn that, it would be the most stupid move in the company's history.

dtx1 2y ago
Legos Quality in the last decade has been on a steady decline to an absurd degree. Most of their sets now are substandard in part count, part quality, full of stickers and it's all star wars and other tie ins while the prices skyrocketed. Meanwhile the Competition has stepped up significantly and there are now multiple manufacturers selling lego compatible pieces and sets of equal or higher quality for significantly less.
- object-a 2y ago
  Interesting, what's an example of a compatible competitor with equal or higher quality for significantly less?
  - dtx1 2y ago
    https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/ https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/
    - jemmyw 2y ago
      I looked at them awhile ago while lamenting that Lego doesn't do a Star Trek line. But you can't tell me their designs are better. I watched the video of the 2 chaps going through the sets and they're just not things of beauty. Whereas I just put together the Lego Concorde and it looks, as much as possible, like the thing it's supposed to be.