We all have favorite childhood toys that we miss. I still regret giving all of my G.I. Joes to charity, even though that was almost a decade ago. I know I wouldn't play with them, but sometimes I think I'd like to have one or two just for nostalgia's sake.
But even more than G.I. Joes, I miss Legos. I've often thought about buying some, but I've come to discover something sad: they don't make cool Legos anymore. It's all Bionicle and other crap. What happened to all the cool space Legos like Space Police and Blacktron and Ice Planet? Why don't they make anything like that anymore? Do kids nowadays don't like that sort of stuff? Or did Lego mistakenly think that they like Bionicle crap more?
Maybe I can find some good stuff on eBay. . . .
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*pat pat* You're just getting old...
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I love the old legos too.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Let's see . . . pining for days of yore . . . complaining about new generation . . . *gasp!* You're right! I am getting old!
Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :
I saw a legos Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle during Christmas.
Posted by karen.elizabeth (Member # 6345) on :
They don't make Legos anymore?! About five years ago, I got a big bucket (you know, the bucket) of them! That's terrible! Thank goodness that I still have a huge(hugehugehuge) box of Legos in the attic.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Jon, I'm with you. What I can't stand the most is those sets they give you. With preplanned structures! Wheres the creativity!? The only thing you can do with the parts they give you, is build what they want you to.
Just give me a guy, a couple of assorted legos, a few trees, and a lego table, that I can stick them on and I'm good.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I still have some of my old sets. ok so one of them is the complete insectoids set. that was a fun one.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Karen, they still make Legos, but they mostly suck. I loved all the cool old space sets, but they don't make anything like that anymore.
Posted by Zanemon (Member # 5838) on :
quote: What happened to all the cool space Legos like Space Police and Blacktron and Ice Planet?
Those are only old legos to you youngsters. The legos I grew up with did not have smiley little heads and arms and trees and stuff. All we had were little rectangular shapes that fit together. The wheels were about as complicated as it got.
I use to make trucks out of legos and push them down the stairs.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Jon Boy, did you know that you can buy directly from the company? They have a lot more than just the Bionical crap on their website. Legos homepage Posted by Julian Delphiki (Member # 2015) on :
What are you talking about, "they don't make cool legos anymore"?! I bought a racecar set recently that has one of those nifty pull-back motors. They still have the space sets out there to my suprise, because i had one when i was like ten. They have a set that comes with an RC motor and a remote control, so you can build a vehicle of some sort and then actually drive it around. I've even seen Transformer sets, where you build The Transformers and they actually transform. Sure a lot of sets might as well come preassembled, but there are still a bunch of cool ones out there.
Posted by matt (Member # 236) on :
Yeah, they still make plenty of cool Legos, too.
(My little bro is just hoarding them all in his toy chest...) Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Will you people stop ruining my nostalgic rant? I'm mourning the loss of the Legos that I love. I don't want race cars or Transformers or Star Wars or Harry Potter or plain bricks.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Forget you all with your non purist brick only ways! Brick only is the only TRUE legos!
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Are you calling me a Lego heretic?
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
If I did, would it lower your self esteem and convince you that you are wrong and I am right?
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
No.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
The Robotics were just K'nex rip-offs.
I never dug the sets. I thought they defeated the purpose of Legos, just like cooking instructions defeat the purpose of cooking (as opposed to buying something pre-made).
I just want a big box or bucket full of random blocks and little dudes. And I mean pieces that don't smell like urine, unlike every second-hand bucket I've ever seen.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Ok, forget it then, and burn in the Lego Outter Darkness. S'all good.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
So long as there are cool space Legos in Lego Outer Darkness, I'm fine with it.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
Actually, I understand Lego makes a fine robotics kit to connect your motorized creations to your PC.
(But yeah, what's with all the specialized pieces? Isn't imagination the point of Legos?)
I only gave up Legos reluctantly when I was eighteen.
Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
Wow I buy legos for my little brother and I used to buy them for my ex all the time. There are some great lego kits out there. I highly recommend this one:
It has cool pieces and lots of ways to combine them.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"I loved all the cool old space sets, but they don't make anything like that anymore."
I am reading this thinking, what is this guy even TALKING about? Cool "OLD" space sets? My heavens but you are a young 'un. 'Twas brick only in my day.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
I'm 18 and I thrived off brick only. And the guys, and little trees... oh and the wheels. But that was it.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
So if it's from ten years ago, it isn't old? What is it, then?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Jon Boy, I refuse to answer that question. I am pleading the fifth decade.
Posted by skrika03 (Member # 5930) on :
I thought I saw a sign for a lego happy meal last night.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh dear, I don't even think we HAD the little trees.
Bob, did we have the little trees?
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
My mom kept all our legos.
And our play food, My Little Ponies, Barbies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and pretty much anything that she figured would not be available now.
Posted by Scythrop (Member # 5731) on :
This Thread should help restore a few people's faith.....
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
In the late '70s, Lego definitely had little trees, as well as the beginnings of some of the tricked-out custom "blocks" you see today -- like plug-in see-through cockpits and trap doors and the like.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
In the late 70s my cousin made a death star out of Legos. It was the size of a basketball. Very cool.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
When I was a kid we had a couple of buckets worth of plain brick Legos, but I also had a whole bunch of sets, mostly space ones. I almost never actually built the stuff in the sets and if I did it didn't stay that way for long. And, of course, everything got thrown back into the same huge Rubbermaid containers in which all of my Legos lived in harmony.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Also: I never thought that I'd see the adjective "tricked-out" applied to Lego blocks.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
For those who eventually have kids, Legos will return.
But large size, growing smaller. We started Tristan with Primos, then Duplos, now he gets the good stuff.
<--Can't wait to go home and play with his son's legos.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
I think that kids must be getting less creative ... the newer Lego sets have been making it harder and harder to build anything besides the thing on the cover of the box. More specialized pieces, fewer generic pieces, and fewer pieces in general. My first spaceship, from when I was four years old, was heavy as a brick, solid with pieces that I could use in millions of ways. Newer spaceships are skeletal things built almost entirely of bits that are so specialized, they look like broken-off pieces of ready-built toys.
[ March 25, 2004, 08:02 PM: Message edited by: A Rat Named Dog ]
Posted by Trogdor the Burninator (Member # 4894) on :
I'm happy to proclaim that legos are alive and well.
My son loves them. We've purchased the millenium falcon and most of the Harry Potter Legos.
What happens is that first they make the things they're intended for, then their creativity takes off from there. As a parent, it bothered me at first that he wasn't sticking to the directions, but it wasn't long until he was spending hours putting together cool spaceships, and other stuff. Now, they're all in a huge tub which he gets out once a month or so and plays with.
It's pretty cool stuff. And they have a video game, and a better than normal video.
Edit to change the fact that while I know my son loves me, the intent was to say that he in fact loves legos, too.
[ March 25, 2004, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: Trogdor the Burninator ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
You can still get boxes of plain Legos, though.
I live near the Lego factory. A guy who does the children's moment at church wheeled in a life-size Lego Mark Twain he had built. It was wicked cool. In fact, I think it is part of his job to make giant Lego things.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I WANT THAT JOB.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
There is a difference from what Lego used to be like and how it is now. Now, a lot more of the sets are large 'walls' instead of single bricks. I always merely wanted masses and masses of ordinary plain bricks, but, even at legoland, they're almost impossible to get!
Perhaps you have to buy them in bulk from factories?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Hmmm. We have become Ebay addicts. That might be the best bet.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Hey, Elizabeth, that's a really good idea! Hmmm...
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Or, just get on Ebay and type "Classic Legos" in the search bar.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Tried to make a T-rex. Ran out of bricks. Started making planes instead. Still have them some where.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
My boys love legos! Robert and Liam are also nuts for the Bionicles. About every year they come out with entirely new sets of them, which is kind of cynical. But at least I know there is something out there I can get them that they will like.
And, yeah, they make the thing first, then they make new things. Robert made this cool spaceship out of legos and Bionicle pieces... It has this scorpion-like tail and he even made it so it moves and stuff. His father's son, in so many ways...
BTW, my mother-in-law has huge tubs full of the legos her sons played with growing up. The boys go wild with them when we visit. She has the little spaceman suits and the 'lunar surface' base and all that. Liam likes to put the medieval guys in spaceships with swords and ... this holy Grail looking thing.
Question: Do any other parents on this board find that their kids will tussle over (or hoard) particular legos? My kids are wonky about the clear ones that are shaped like gems, the Pirate sets and the undersea octopus-riding skeleton seadiver guy. They do weird things with the character guys, too. Like putting Qui-Gon's hair on Spider-man or a Jedi cape on a snow monster. It's a hoot.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:I almost never actually built the stuff in the sets and if I did it didn't stay that way for long.
quote:I think that kids must be getting less creative ... the newer Lego sets have been making it harder and harder to build anything besides the thing on the cover of the box. More specialized pieces, fewer generic pieces, and fewer pieces in general. My first spaceship, from when I was four years old, was heavy as a brick, solid with pieces that I could use in millions of ways. Newer spaceships are skeletal things built almost entirely of bits that are so specialized, they look like broken-off pieces of ready-built toys.
These two quotes sum up my feelings pretty well. I want enough cool pieces that I can build some really cool things, but not so many that I can't build anything else. What else can you make with Bionicle stuff? More Bionicle stuff? At least the Star Wars stuff still allows you to build a wide variety of things.
[ March 25, 2004, 09:28 PM: Message edited by: Jon Boy ]
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
The pieces are Bionicle stuff, so no matter how you put them together, I guess they are still "Bionicle stuff". However, you can make some really neat things with Bionicles and regular legos. Yeah, they have specialized pieces, but you can do some wicked cool stuff with 'em anyway. Promise. Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:What happens is that first they make the things they're intended for, then their creativity takes off from there. As a parent, it bothered me at first that he wasn't sticking to the directions, but it wasn't long until he was spending hours putting together cool spaceships, and other stuff. Now, they're all in a huge tub which he gets out once a month or so and plays with.
I was going to say something like that, too, Pat. Shlomo has a huge bin of legos, he used to play with them constantly. First he would follow the directions to make the set, then he would branch out and make his own creations. He also used Legos to make a couple pretty cool school projects.
There used to be a Lego fan magazine. One of the features was photos that children of all ages sent in displaying their original Lego creations. Don't know if the mag still exists, though.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I agree that massive amounts of pieces are way cooler than custom sets. But Mindstorms is just cool. Good way to teach programming to kids, too.
Dagonee
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
The legos site has the classic sets!
I can FINALLY get the castle sets I've wanted and asked for every christmas since I was small!
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
And we FINALLY know what to send Jamie in bulk.
Posted by skrika03 (Member # 5930) on :
So is there a Legos Legolas?
Posted by Trogdor the Burninator (Member # 4894) on :
I love the Bionicles.
They are seriously a kick in the pants. Dallin gets all of them, but I can honestly say that none of them are in their original form -- he destroys two to make one bigger one, then takes that one apart to make 3-4 others. And they look cool. And they have a pretty fun storyline.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
[ March 25, 2004, 10:54 PM: Message edited by: Trogdor the Burninator ]
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
::winks at Trog::
Sorry, but Lalo has already claimed me, if you're looking.
I better tell my bishop right away.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Hey, remember Playmobils? You know, those cool things that mom would buy at the little independent toy store that didn't carry Barbie? Not only are they still around, but I found a set that is a hazmat crew!
Posted by Trogdor the Burninator (Member # 4894) on :
**gives T-Smith a noogie for taking the joke in the right way**
Now run along, Sport.
Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :
My first Legos was a set of red bricks, with a little window, and a door. And that was back when all the people had the same face.
I loved the space police! My brothers and I would build bases (unfortunately mine looked all blocky and stupid), and little ships, and attack each other (and my brothers always won )...it was so cool!
quote: Actually, I understand Lego makes a fine robotics kit to connect your motorized creations to your PC.
There were pics attached to the second article when I read it last week, mysteriously removed now. Strange happenings are afoot in LegoLand....
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Playmobils? *shudders* The hazmat crew is hilarious, though.
And now I'm having entirely too much fun browsing around on Bricklink.com.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Playmobil rocks! I got them for my kids when they were little, and kept adding to the sets. The pirate ship is so cool. I am still collecting them myself now.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
Feyd introduced me to the Escher lego structures a while back. Those are so cool.
Hey, Trogdor, would you be interested in a Bionicle board game? I might have one collecting dust.
Has anyone else seen the Lego Room episode of while you were out?
quote:Beth's love of the small modular plastic toy has, to put it mildly, taken over her home. Apart from the couches, most of her living room furniture is made out of Lego, including a grandfather clock that took over two years to assemble.
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
)...it was so cool! ![[Cool]](cool.gif)