
Lego Is the Perfect Toy - wallflower
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/12/lego-is-the-perfect-toy.html
======
agumonkey
I especially love the algebraic nature of LEGOs. Something the designers took
care to respect over the years. Many things combine mathematically with so
many other parts[1]. Sometimes in twisted ways, sometimes in absurd ways.

\- [http://www.htxt.co.za/2016/08/08/local-master-builder-
shows-...](http://www.htxt.co.za/2016/08/08/local-master-builder-shows-off-
the-beautiful-geometry-of-lego/)

\- [http://www.themarysue.com/bendable-lego-
geometry/](http://www.themarysue.com/bendable-lego-geometry/) (tolerance based
curvature?)

\- [http://brickset.com/article/23288/the-geometry-of-the-
new-11...](http://brickset.com/article/23288/the-geometry-of-the-
new-11x11-circle-gear-rack)

There are a few pdfs listing the linear and angular ratios, can't find them
right now. Enjoy your google fu.

ps: for the sheer epicness of it
[https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/4gmsfp/finished_my_gi...](https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/4gmsfp/finished_my_giant_imperial_star_destroyer_moc/)

[1] and as programmers I'm sure you enjoy that ;)

~~~
Waterluvian
I loved that Lego was even units so you could end up having two things half
way across your universe pretty much line up perfectly, or require just a few
adjustments.

But the fact that THREE flat pieces equaled a standard height piece drove me
nuts as a kid. WHY NOT TWO OR FOUR?

~~~
brandmeyer
> I loved that Lego was even units so you could end up having two things half
> way across your universe pretty much line up perfectly, or require just a
> few adjustments.

This fact is extremely under-appreciated: the Lego system works the way it
does because they have attained truly astounding tolerance control in a cheap
injection-molding process. I remember a couple of years ago when a small
startup promised a Lego-like replacement, but themed for girls. The hype got
them plenty of sales, but the poor fit of the pieces meant lots of
disappointed customers.

~~~
agumonkey
Build quality was part of the thing. As a kid you felt it a little bit. As an
adult it makes them a value item. It's not just toy to pretend, it's deeper.

------
6stringmerc
Nice long-form overview and, from what I can tell, well-balanced trying to
deal with legacy / reputation as a "smart toy" and somewhat inconclusive
research on the whole. Intuition is a good "out" in this case, because not
every toy works for every learning style for every child, etc. One thing I did
see:

> _Marvin Minsky, the MIT scientist who helped pioneer artificial
> intelligence, has even said that “the decline of American inventiveness” can
> be traced to the rise of Lego, arguing that by becoming the most common
> construction toy, it’s pushed out construction toys like Tinker Toys and
> Erector sets that can get kids building simple machines._

Whoa, those are some names I haven't seen in a while but did grow up playing
with. Tinker Toys in particular. To me, the criticism isn't fair - those were
toys and learning tools from a prior generation. I'm pretty sure the only
reason I grew up with Tinker Toys was because I had a Grandmother who grew up
during the Great Depression and was of the generation that enjoyed them. My
Parents much more embraced Legos, and, quite simply, getting bags or bins full
of used, miscellaneous bricks at garage sales was a huge creativity boost.
Then, later, turn around and sell or donate them. Rarely did I see Tinker Toys
or Erector sets around. Technics seemed to bridge the gap between Legos and
higher-level engineering / complexity / use of motors.

What does feel important about Legos & playtime, to me, is the manipulation of
3D space, coordination, and dexterity training. There is no such replacement
via a 2D screen, and 3D / VR or AR aren't even close. The ROI on play time,
age appropriate, with Lego-type hands-on exploration is worth keeping in mind.
No batteries. Easy to clean. Hard to break. An Occam's Razor of developmental
toys.

~~~
kbouck
Observing my 7yo son's open-ended play with modern-era LEGOs, I must disagree
with Minsky. Perhaps the LEGO sets have changed since this this comment was
made. I find the current LEGO Technic pieces to be the perfect tool for open-
ended exploration, and for building of simple machines. While the sets do come
with prescriptive instructions to build something specific out of that set -
you aren't forced to follow them. Those instructions are more of a demo of
what you can do with the pieces.

The pieces are almost all generic, and closely model their real-world
mechanical equivalents -- beams, pins, gears, axels, motors, linear actuators,
switches, battery power supplies. There a great book exploring all the technic
fundamentals: "Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide" [1]. It covers
concepts like leverage, torque, gears, gear ratios, differentials,
suspensions, transmissions, etc.

Throw in the fact that technic electronic components (motors, lights, sensors)
can be driven by code (eg. scratch on a rapsberry pi), and I can't imagine a
better learning toy which is initially so approachable, and yet has such a
high ceiling for advanced learning.

If you want to see what incredible creations are possible in the hands of the
masters, check out "Incredible LEGO Technic" [2].

[1]
[https://www.nostarch.com/technicbuilder2](https://www.nostarch.com/technicbuilder2)

[2]
[https://www.nostarch.com/incredibletechnic](https://www.nostarch.com/incredibletechnic)

~~~
agumonkey
The generic was part of the appeal. It seems to have peaked in the 90s, now
LEGO is milking dedicated shapes. Expected, that's how "progress" evolve. Even
my father complains.

~~~
mcphage
> now LEGO is milking dedicated shapes. Expected, that's how "progress"
> evolve. Even my father complains

I think most of the people who make these complaints simply haven't shopped
for Lego in a while and so are operating on a lot of feeling but not much
data. Stroll down the Lego aisle(s) at Target, you'll see plenty of free-form
sets and traditional pieces like these entire product lines:
[https://www.lego.com/en-
us/classic?icmp=COUSFRClassic](https://www.lego.com/en-
us/classic?icmp=COUSFRClassic) and [https://www.lego.com/en-
us/creator?icmp=COUSFRCreator](https://www.lego.com/en-
us/creator?icmp=COUSFRCreator)

~~~
agumonkey
It's indeed a reflex based on the new sets I saw since a few years (lots of
franchise). I still feel something missing from how sets were designed in the
80s-00s era. Something of that period I miss, half nostalgia, but not only. A
balance between surface and simplicity. Kinda like pixel art.

~~~
mcphage
> A balance between surface and simplicity. Kinda like pixel art.

Check out the architecture series: [https://www.lego.com/en-
us/architecture](https://www.lego.com/en-us/architecture)

They use mostly basic shapes, and not many colors, but I think have found a
nice balance between representation & abstraction for the buildings they
model.

Another thing going on is, I think their model designers have gotten a lot
more skilled at using pieces in novel ways in their models. They've gotten
better at representing details, so more details show up.

~~~
agumonkey
Good point, they have part of what I mentionned, but these are restricted less
playful sets.

~~~
mcphage
They're not playful, I agree, but they're not restricted. They're made up of
primarily generic pieces.

------
sampl

      there was value to the building experience, the sense of accomplishment, the spatial reading
    

Toys like this are always so much more memorable--and meaningful.

I made a list of gifts that help people build, hack, create, explore etc [1],
would love feedback from HN.

[1] [http://wanderkind.org/](http://wanderkind.org/)

------
erickhill
My son has a ridiculous bucket of Legos - more than I ever could have dreamed
of as a child. I used to spend obscene amounts of money on branded Lego sets
when a birthday approached. I soon realized that, while a Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtle van was really cool (seriously, it was), it only lasted about a day or
two before it was reduced to pile of brick rubble and scooped back into the
mega-bin. At that stage, the possibility of it ever being reassembled was
virtually impossible for a 1st grader to figure out.

The generic pieces were the way to go.

Then, after what seemed like about a year, he started playing with them again.
He showed me his long, snake-like sumbaraine with parts of dragon bits here
and there which he'd found somewhere in that bin. It was awesome. It was
unscripted and creative. It came from his mind, not some 30-paged instruction
booklet.

I was more excited to see that kind of creativity than I was the original
dragon (which I was made to assemble eons ago). I recently felt a bit jaded
about Legos. But my son brought me back.

------
dwe3000
I still look at most of the modern, themed Lego sets with a sense of sadness.
They seem to inspire the "you have to follow the instructions" mentality so
apply demonstrated in the father in the Lego movie. The older sets did include
instructions, but the older blocks seemed more generic to building a wide
variety of things, versus the "this is a piece for the Batmobile engine."

~~~
Yen
How modern is 'modern'?

When I was a child, the sets I received usually had some sort of theme, even
if it wasn't a branded theme. Pirates, space, race cars, whatever. Also, as
other articles have pointed out, the majority of the specialized-looking
pieces in modern, branded models, are actually creative re-uses of pre-
existing pieces. Re-contextualization.

One thing I remember distinctly is that my sets always came with two sets of
instructions - one would build the model featured on the box, the other would
use a subset of the same parts to build something related but different.
Personally, I would usually build the intended model, play with it a bit, then
disassemble it for the alternate model. Eventually that would get disassembled
as well, added to the big box of unsorted Lego, and would be fodder for
modeling some other random idea.

That said, I think I did more experimentation with the Technic line of Lego,
which is more like a plastic erector set, than I did with the regular bricks.
At least, I remember more of the experimentation with those, probably because
it was at a later point in my childhood.

~~~
animal531
I'd do roughly the same. I would build and play with the main model, perhaps
the secondary designs if they looked like fun. Then I'd break it down and use
the pieces for whatever I felt like at the time.

But then roughly once a year I would break down everything I'd built and sort
every piece. Then I'd rebuild all the original models.

Funnily I have trouble swallowing medication, but I once put a flat 1x4 piece
in my mouth for storage, but accidentally swallowed it. After that I'd always
be bummed out when building my fire truck because it would be missing a piece.
Back then in the 80's you couldn't get replacement pieces (at least where I
lived).

------
jdcarter
Perfect toy indeed, and I'm glad to see how they've captured the girl's market
with the Friends and related series. Lego had attempted to market to girls
several times before 2012 but failed. I appreciate how this interview spoke to
the specific outcome of their market research, i.e. the larger, more detailed
figures. It must have been crazy to suggest to Lego that they abandon the
"minifig" format for a major new product line, but it turns out that's exactly
what they needed to do.

My own family experience is reflective: my daughter enjoyed building Lego sets
(and got quite good at it) but didn't really engage with _playing_ with them
until the Friends sets came out. With Friends she can spend hours creating a
huge narrative about their adventures. Now you can't find a coffee table in
our house that doesn't have a couple Lego sets on it. And when other girls
come over to play, they're drawn like magnets straight to the Legos.

~~~
6stringmerc
Very interesting to get your perspective, re: what they studied, deployed, and
you observed. Nice to hear success stories. Habits and 'tradition' can be
tough to adjust or break, but when it works, quite cool. The "creating a
narrative" is awesome, as in a lot of development research I reviewed for some
studies, because that's how 'play' and development seem to grow naturally.
Acting out. Imagining stories. Not the end-all be-all of things - but a
noteworthy component.

~~~
secabeen
Yep, Friends is an example of the success of research, product development,
and commitment over status quo. LEGO's research showed them that many girls
wanted characters with names (Sophia, Emily, Sherrie, etc.) not mini-figures
with roles (firefighter, policewoman, robber). Friends gives them that.

------
notindexed
Just some x y work but i think some here might enjoy the nostalgia

400k+ 2x2 Lego bricks pixel wall
[http://imgur.com/a/X5fHS](http://imgur.com/a/X5fHS)

~~~
euyyn
Wow, where is that?

~~~
notindexed
In a 36m x 2,75m hallway [http://www.alr.lu/](http://www.alr.lu/)

------
gene-h
One thing that really annoys me about lego, is that lego mindstorms kits are
still relatively expensive despite tech improving. It is hard for most parents
to justify this costs on a toy. In fact, the price has gone up with time
rather than decreasing as would be expect. The newer kits are more expensive
than the older kits by about $40 when adjusted for inflation.[0][1] Sure, the
new kits feature an arm processor that runs linux and has bluetooth, but these
things have gotten cheap.

I am somewhat surprised the chinese haven't started making counterfeit smart
bricks with the same capability.

[0][http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/9747_Robotics_Invention_System](http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/9747_Robotics_Invention_System)
[1][http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/31313_Mindstorms_EV3](http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/31313_Mindstorms_EV3)

------
mzzingtime
The lament over price and overly specialized parts is misplaced. Price per
piece has not changed much, and there have always been specialized pieces in
sets.

While I've seen the trend of more kids just following the instructions (vs
free-building from their imagination), the pieces still provide a lot of
opportunity for creativity.

Even better, Lego released their free Lego Digital Designer (LDD) software,
which is a CAD-like program where you can build in 3d using the entire catalog
of Lego pieces. It opens up many more creative possibilities.

For example, using LDD, I was able to design my own take on the A-Team van.

[https://ideas.lego.com/projects/160590](https://ideas.lego.com/projects/160590)

On the Lego Ideas website, customers can submit designs, and the Lego company
will consider making them into official sets... Yet another way to stimulate
creativity.

------
wolfgang42
My parents like to tell the story of when I got my first Lego set--the first
thing I did was pull out the instruction booklet (with all the diagrams of
'models you can make') and put it in the trash, with the explanation "I don't
need instructions." Most of what I wound up building with them was 'world of
the Future' models, which demonstrated some vision of an ideal society. For
example, I had a model street with some storefronts, and overhead wiring to
support small single-person electric scooters which would run on the sidewalk
alongside the pedestrians, and would be docked at special stations for the
next person who needed them. (I struggled with designing an automated system
to automatically redistribute them as necessary, using only relay logic which
is what I understood at the time.) Another model was what I now recognize as a
'smart home', which featured occupancy detection, a (wired) telephone
remarkably similar to Apple's 1983 concept phone[1] based on the Macs we had
in our house at the time and an Apple Newton I had seen, and various other
concepts (again, all based on relay logic and desktop computers!)

Bear in mind that I was doing all of this when I was 10. Clearly this was not
normal play amongst my peers, and I would not expect Lego to provoke this sort
of thing in most people. However, it was for me a valuable tool in building a
worldview which I still strive for today.

My point in mentioning all this is that the great virtue of Lego is that it
can be used for pretty much anything. Even if you get a set which is intended
for "conflict play," it can be repurposed by the recipient to match whatever
it is they're most interested in. (It's sort of like an inverse of the short
story _The Toys of Peace_ [2] in that regard.)

[1]: [http://www.mactrast.com/2011/12/apples-was-working-on-a-
touc...](http://www.mactrast.com/2011/12/apples-was-working-on-a-touchscreen-
phone-prototype-25-years-before-the-iphone/)

[2]: [http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-
stories/UBooks/ToysPeac.sh...](http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-
stories/UBooks/ToysPeac.shtml)

------
radicalbyte
Perfect timing, I've just ordered the three big Technics sets from 2016.

Technics is brilliant, even if my enjoyment with it is currently limited to
following the instructions. I hope that it'll teach my kids a lot about
engineering. The gear boxes in the big sets for example are genius.

~~~
artursapek
For xmas I asked my mom to mail me my old Mindstorms sets (original yellow
brick version). I want to share them with my 2 year old, who is already into
Legos. I absolutely loved those things.

~~~
Yen
I have a fun memory of the yellow Mindstorms set.

Apparently, the visual programming environment was just a thin wrapper on top
of C, and people quickly came out with simple IDEs that let you program the
brick in C.

I tried to program a musical sequence, and was mystified when programs
involving simple decimals didn't work. I didn't understand at the time, but
the Yellow Brick didn't have any floating-point support! I eventually just
faked it with a good-enough approximation of using integers to emulate fixed-
point arithmetic.

------
sixdrum
Tell that to my feet when my kids leave them in the middle of the family room
at night!

Legos are amazing and are definitely the focal point of my kids (age 5 and 9)
creative play.

------
galfarragem
During my childhood (80s) I only cared about 3 toys: lego, playmobil and zx
spectrum. All the rest was crap.

------
billforsternz
I often try to explain the appeal of programming to the uninitiated by saying
it's a bit like building Lego models but you have an almost infinite supply of
blocks.

------
PhasmaFelis
From the article: "What he noticed was that they now play with physical Legos
as if they were the video game, reenacting their races with the plastic
pieces. This isn’t to say that Legos aren’t still good toys, or that there’s
anything necessarily wrong with imaginary play mimicking the experience of a
video game, but it’s certainly different from what most parents imagine
they’re buying in a box of Legos. The question is whether that difference
matters."

Not only does the difference not matter, I'm not sure I believe that there
_is_ a difference. When kids play, they're acting out variations on stories
they've encountered. I don't see a real difference between performing scenes
from a video game and performing scenes from a book, movie, TV show, or real
life.

------
lordnacho
Worth mentioning the CEO credited with the turnaround announced his retirement
(to the board) this week.

~~~
gpderetta
As far as I understand, a Lego parent company is getting set up (Lego Brand
Group) and Knudstorp will be head of that company, while Lego itself will
switch focus on just the brick themselves (a bit like the recent
Google->Alphabet restructuring).

Source: [http://www.brothers-brick.com/2016/12/06/lego-names-new-
ceo-...](http://www.brothers-brick.com/2016/12/06/lego-names-new-ceo-and-
creates-lego-brand-group-news/)

------
problems
Try stepping on it and you'll quickly discover its flaw.

------
tmaly
I remember playing with a really old version of Technic as a kid. This was
probably one of my favorite toys. I would build all sorts of interesting
machines with the gears.

I saw another mention of a raspberry pi driving Technic on here. Has any tried
this?

~~~
kbouck
Yes. Raspbian comes with a version of Scratch which has out-of-box support for
LEGO WeDo/PowerFunctions.

If you get the Lego USB hub part (9581), you can attach Power Functions v1.0
components to your raspberry pi via the hub. Works right away. The USB hub has
two channels, so you can use it to control 2 motors, 1 motor + 1 sensor, or 2
sensors.

The LEGO extension to Scratch has controls like:

\- Set Motor (A or B or both) to speed 0-100

\- Turn Motor (A or B or both) on for x seconds

\- Stop Motor ...

\- Reverse Motor Direction

\- Read tilt/distance sensor value

I've also worked out the IR codes (with the help of others' work) so if you
hookup an infrared led to your pi and install LIRC you can imitate the Power
Functions remote controls.

------
partycoder
One of the best toys I've seen are "snap circuits", which are basically one of
those simple electronic lab kit "toys" only that they do not use cables.
Instead you snap blocks together like legos.

~~~
kbouck
Lego power functions is exactly this (but for very limited circuits). There
are battery boxes for power, switches (both mechanical, and remote-
controlled), lights, motors, etc.

The power functions pieces have special bricks which embed electrical
endpoints which click together when the bricks are connected. The system is
basically 4 wires - 2 which propagate the power rails to downstream pieces,
and 2 more wires which are for PWM controlling of motor spin rate.

I would love it if they added more electronic components to this set (eg.
timers, sounds, more sensors, etc). If you like to tinker, you can cut apart
these wires and hook up the control wires to an raspberrypi-controlled
circuit.

There's probably even more circuits possible with Mindstorms components, but
I'm not familiar enough w/ Mindstorms to comment.

------
talmand
Lego is a near-perfect toy. Anyone who claims it is perfect has not stepped on
one barefoot in the dark.

After a few times you consider crawling across the floor probing the floor
before you as if you were Rambo in a minefield.

------
notadoc
Agreed, Lego is fantastic, and timeless.

------
glaberficken
I have 6yo and 1yo daughters and one thing that strikes me with the current
Lego range Vs the sets I had as a kid is the amount of rubbish decorative tiny
parts that the most recent sets include.

(I know you can still buy the basic box full of bricks, but these are
sometimes hard to find)

------
facepalm
The only thing that is sad is superhero themes. There are much better stories
out there.

------
johnhenry
Yup, perfect toy:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXgB3lIvPHI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXgB3lIvPHI)

------
billpollock
We have a few LEGO books that make people think.

~~~
j_s
[https://www.nostarch.com/lego](https://www.nostarch.com/lego)

------
jayajay
Legos are dope as fuck.

------
frakr
Isn't this just an ad?

------
douche
I wish they would bring back some of the classic themes. There is kind of a
hole right now, as there isn't a real Castle theme, a real Pirate theme, and
Space has been subsumed into the Star Wars licensing for almost two decades.

One thing I've always really wanted was a modular castle line, akin to the
modular town building series, e.g. [https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pet-
Shop-10218](https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pet-Shop-10218)

~~~
DanBC
Holy crap "modular castles" would be ideal for the Lego Ideas website.

~~~
douche
It's nuts that they haven't done it already. The late 80s, early 90s
crusaders/falcon knights/black knights sets _could_ be put together in
something approaching what I'm envisioning, but it was underdeveloped. The
Medieval Market Village and Kingdoms Joust sets were natural jumping-off
points for a modular castle system.

------
anentropic
Yes

