Confessions of An Addict; A Lego Mom's Diary
Jul 20 '01
The Bottom Line .
To say that Lego’s are serious business in our household is a gross understatement. I hate to use the words addiction and children in the same sentence but … my children as addicts. I’m not sure if it’s a genetic mutation – since I too am an addict, but they are hard-core block heads that resemble mini-zombies when we roam the aisles at Toys ‘R Us, KB Toys or Toy Mart. Think I am exaggerating? I have seen them turn from mild mannered eggheads [think Dexter’s Laboratory times 4] into frothing at the mouth, slobbering, eyes glazed over mutants. Yes, this is my brood, my offspring, my little Lego maniacs.
My own love of the little overpriced plastic bricks started years ago, when I first spotted a Lego castle in a toy store display. The drawbridge, the knights, the horses – all arranged around a castle adorned with flags, guards and somewhat sterile looking foliage. Yes, I can even recall the crisp snap in the air – a winter morning when I spent close to $80.00 USD on what I ignorantly called a toy. From there is progresses to collecting anything I could get my hands on – soon I found myself in a seedy part of the East End – rummaging through second hand stores, making connections with toy dealers to try and get a cheap fix and sadly I hang my head in shame and admit that I resorted to trading cheap knock off Lego wannabe toys to unsuspecting kids for their real Lego’s.
As the years went on it got harder to hide my ongoing addiction. Friends were less then understanding – they told me to quit but I never listened. Even after sore thumbs, block wrist and broken fingernails [trying to get the blocks apart] I couldn’t kick my habit. I had to hide my secret little world from boyfriends, family members and associates – the ridicule and mockery was sometimes too hard to bear.
When I got married I managed to hide this shameful secret, that is until I started having kids. Then I noticed the same shocking pattern of behavior in my sons. They started stacking and building at early ages – starting with the Mega Blocks then progressing to the Duplo line. It was at this time that I started to break out in cold sweats, realizing that my own collection would soon become fodder for the brood to ravage and pick through. The blocks I so carefully arranged, kept immaculate and stored in airtight containers would soon fall prey to little dirty fingers covered with peanut butter and boogers.
But rather the opposite happened, the brood started to learn about the care and maintenance of the plastic little pieces; how to avoid dirt build-up, proper storage and the most important factors in keeping the sets and booklets separated. As each child hit the magical age of four they were given their own Lego organizer consisting of a Lego travel case, accordion binder for the booklets and their induction into the Lego Kids Club.
Most people might think that it would be an all out war in the play room – fighting over who gets to assemble the new sets, who gets the cool pieces and what sets get stripped for pieces. It’s much like a structured hierarchy, everyone has a specific task but everyone gets their turn to play leader and pick a series to play with. Other parents are amazed that all four of them can sit and play for hours without a single fight starting. It’s all I can do contain myself from running in the room and bursting into tears when I see them building a mile a minute – their imagination running wild as they search for just the perfect piece to complete a new creation.
So you might wonder if the kids have other toys to play with – yes, Toy Story, Power Rangers, Pokeman, Bob The Builder and even Winnie The Pooh – but I would be lying if I didn’t say that the Lego’s get 90% of the attention. Rarely do they ask for anything but Lego’s at the toy store however recently they have been branching out to the different members of the Lego family such as Technics and Mindstorm [advanced Lego’s with a bigger price tag]. I’d go so far to say this – with a straight face as well – if I took all the toys out of the playroom with the exception of Lego’s they probably wouldn’t notice for a few days.
A Bit of History
Before I delve into the history of the company I have to preface this section with one word; family. The Lego Corporation strives and selectively targets families for their products. Through strategic product research and marketing they have managed to tap into almost every corner of the toy market. Think I am kidding? There are basic Lego’s, advanced Lego’s like Mindstorm and Robitica, the new interactive Lego Studio that allows you to make your own movies, clothing, video games, board games, a beta online Lego network and more. It’s rare that a ‘toy’ can touch so many different areas of the market and not get over saturated or burn out.
Maybe this form of marketing is why Forbes Magazine and the British Association of Toy Retailers have awarded the Lego team with a most coveted award; The Toy of the Century. Not a small feat when you consider the number of toys produced every year – upwards of 80,000 new toys enter the market every year, where and already existing 200,000 products are already in motion. This type of success is a direct reflection of the dedication to creating a simple toy that will provide hours – if not years – of enjoyment as well as eye / hand coordination, thought process, directional skills and unbelievable amounts of replay.
The Lego dynasty started out small, Ole Kirk Christiansen started the business in the small town of Billund, Denmark in 1932 – although the modern day version of the Lego came about in the late 1940’s. The term Lego comes from the Danish words ‘play well’, LEg GOdt. To this day, a member of the founding father’s family has sat at the head of the table at Lego headquarters – keeping alive the dream that one man had of creating a toy that was simple, basic and could spark an interest in almost any child.
The Lego Empire may have started out small, but today it is a multi billion-dollar conglomerate. The toys have grown from basic shapes and colors into themes, series and an expanded color scheme. I read on the Lego website that every year children spend 5 billion hours playing with Lego’s – that might sound extreme – unless of course, you have Lego junkies residing in your household. I am going to be extremely generous and say that my kids spend five hours a day constructing, rebuilding and designing Lego’s. That’s 1,825 hours per year … times that by four kids and the mind boggling total is drum roll please 7,300 hours. Sure that doesn’t make a dent in what the Lego site claims but you can sure see where the hours can add up. And that total is just for five hours per day – they are the first things they pick up in the morning and the last thing they put away at night – and even then I find Lego’s everywhere.
Leaps And Bounds
Now, those non-Lego people out there might still be scratching their heads I still don’t get it. What’s the big deal? Lego’s are not just toys, they are fantastic tools that promote so many skills – learning skills – that your child isn’t even aware of. From the basic preschool blocks [Duplo] kids learn colors and shapes [rectangle, square, circle] as well as how to build and stack. Granted some of the creations may look crude and don’t function well – it gives the child a sense of accomplishment. To take a pile of plastic blocks and make something with them – to see their smile – I tell you I was like a tourist in New York City for the first time – snapping away when each of my sons built their first creation.
Now, once they are a little older the smaller pieces can be introduced – but even then you can’t just throw a box on the floor and let them dive in. 99% of the sets contain small pieces – pieces that can be eaten, ingested, shoved in body cavities and left on the floor to be discovered by your foot at 3 am. All joking aside, there are age restrictions on the boxes but don’t let that be your guide. You know your child – check the pieces and weed out the ones that he or she isn’t ready to handle. Now, getting back to throwing a box on the floor and letting them tear into it – the regular Lego sets include instructions that some kids might need help with. If you have seen any of my reviews you know that I loathe the booklets – most have color inaccuracies or don’t give enough detail [when to flip the piece over, left side or right side piece additions etc]. The pieces usually come sealed in plastic bags – scoop those up since smaller kids seem to gravitate towards them – again these are all hazards.
Once your child feels comfortable with building and creating you can introduce the larger sets and let them explore different avenues of play. With the larger sets they can create cities, towns, spaceports or anything their little minds can think up. Which brings up to another amazing thing that Lego’s do – create a thought process, promote organization and help kids with priorities. You can’t build a spaceport and have the buildings larger than the space craft – there is another skill they are learning – structure. Whatever you do, don’t try to sit there and show them how to build a wall. Every one of my kids stacked pieces right on top of one another instead of laying them like you would regular bricks [for support and stability]. This is something they learn from their own mistakes. Sure you can help them but remember – these are their toys and their play time. [OK, so I have my own sets hidden away that I play with .. but they are mine and off limits].
The True Challenge
If you allow your child to cultivate his or her own imagination when it comes to Lego’s you will be shocked to see what they can do. I no longer have to help my youngest build sets – which depresses me to no end. He kindly but firmly tells me that he isn’t a baby anymore and that he can build anything that the other kids can. Seeing him look at the booklet, pick out the right piece for the step then repeat the process never fails to bring a smile to my face.
The true challenge comes when you introduce the more advances sets like Technics. These are by far the most demonic and hellish sets to ever be birthed from the Lego world. For me – personally – I can’t stand them. Rubber bands, gears, non-Lego type pieces – it’s all too much for this brick junkie to handle. But, wanting to be fair, I let the boys make their own decisions about them without even a single word from my mouth [pieces of junk, waste of money, too bloody hard to build etc]. They built a few of the sets, Onyx, Storm and Ice and then they the rest of the containers in the closet. From time to time they venture into the vast void and pull out a few pieces from different containers – but for the most part they shy away from them.
For those that still thirst for the ultimate Lego treat – there is what can only be called the end all, be all of Lego human existence. Mindstorm. Robots, advanced remote controlled sets, computer directed bots and the granddaddy – Robotic Inventions System. All of these take the basic Lego form, put it on steroids and bulk them into titanic proportions. With any of the Mindstorm sets you can create your very own robot, either remote controlled or maneuvered through the use of your computer. The limits of this are endless – however to build the really big monsters you need several sets – several sets with several controllers. At this years ComiCon in San Diego there were several booths that had these advanced creatures handing out flyers, waving and broadcasting prerecorded messages. If that isn’t taking a silly little piece of plastic and blasting it into the future – then I don’t know what is.
Since my kids aren’t showing much of an interest in the one Mindstorm set I bought them {Star Wars of course] I guess this part of the Lego line will have to wait until they are ready for it. Most are for kids over 9 but again, you know your kids better than an age recommendation on a box.
What Can You Expect?
Since there are so many different series in the Lego line, there is probably something for every kid to become attracted to. Lego finally introduced the much anticipated girls line – pink and purple blocks, girls themes and of course a complete line of accessories. The three new girls lines are: Scala which is a fully interactive character on the Lego website – like Barbie but without the attitude. Belville The female version of the Lego Castle series, complete with fairy Godmother. Imagine Wizard of Oz being turns into a community and that’s Belville. Lego Friends is geared towards girls but gets a fair share of play from the boys as well. Right now it’s only available for use on the PC but I am sure this will be out on Playstation before the end of the year. Imagine SimCity or The Sims – only on a kids level.
The advancements of the simple Lego block hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. The newest brainchild is the Bionicle series. This falls under the Technic family and has several sets already on the market – however you would be wise to wait for the larger sets to be released. Now, they aren’t larger in the sense that there are more pieces – but rather bundled sets so instead of paying $8.99 per set you would be paying about $5.99 when you buy 4 sets at once. Amazon.com is taking preorders but as of this morning they don’t have any photos or descriptions on the site yet [and who only knows when they will be added to Epinions – they don’t even have the Lego Life of Mars sets listed yet]. Bionicle has it’s own storyline – one that is extremely detailed and sure to entice anyone that loves the Technic series. The prices are a little high – so be start small – buy one set and try it out – if you like it wait for the bundled packages to save some cash [for more Lego’s of course].
www.lego.com
If you haven’t been there yet – what are you waiting for? The site is so amazing – every set is listed, with full detail as well as online shopping. And before you groan about shipping fees, these are the most modest charges I have ever seen – up to $50.00 is roughly $4.00 depending on where you live. Less than Amazon.com or kbtoys.com- much less. There are interactive games, places to upload photos of your own creations, contests, instructions on how to morph your sets [take sub sets and make newer, larger designs], postcards, wish lists and bundle packs. The site is huge – so be prepared to get lost when you fist visit. You can also take a virtual tour of Lego Land and buy park passes. But that isn’t it – you can play games against other users, create an account to store your wish list, send emails to the designers and access the educational portions of the site.
This is the best way to sample all the sets that Lego currently produces as well as finding older sets that have been taken off the shelves or are being phased out. Just for the sake of being curious I went to EBay and checked on some of the bids for the Flying Ninja Fortress. People were bidding upwards of $150.00 for a set that usually sells for $49.99 [higher in some areas due to limited availability]. If these ‘collectors’ were really serious they would have checked the Lego site first. Now, that’s not to say that you’ll be able to order some of the products – some are sold out and will not be replenished – however – if you check the site often you will find exactly what you are looking for.
The Bottom Line
Lego’s aren’t for all kids. Most will find some enjoyment from them and a small percentage – like my brood – will become hard-core Legoites. They are creative tools that teach hands on skills that can be carried over into school activities, basic physics and technological design applications. Almost from birth there are Lego’s for children to use as discovery vehicles – from the basics of stacking to understanding how robots work – Lego can provide the foundation to a solid, yet fun, learning experience.
If your child expresses an interest in Lego’s start off small and don’t go running down the aisles looking for the biggest sets. Start with the 30 piece sets and work your way up – or better yet opt for a Lego Bucket of 400 pieces and see if there is any interest. I can say this with all honesty, some of the things that my kids make simply take my breath away. They take pride in their creations which gives them confidence and self-esteem as well as a sense of accomplishment. Show me a video game that can do that [OK, with the exception of beating Metal Gear Solid on hard mode].
Now that I have made a complete fool of myself confessing that I still play with Lego’s [although sometimes under the cover of darkness away from the brood] I’ll end this with a huge thank you for stopping by and reading [and enduring]– yet another – long winded Lego review.
^V^ Freak ^V^
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