
50 Lego Designs with 50 Pieces - jeanhsu
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108419179389291163454/posts/brkw1ZPjrzj
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ilamont
I rediscovered legos after more than 30 years, when my son got big enough to
use them. Soon I was having more fun than he, creating vehicles (see
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilamont/4298420256/>) and other objects.

Lego knows that their customer base includes adults. Besides expositions and
clubs that get some support from the company, you sometimes see Lego sets with
a photo on the front of the box featuring an adult male instead of little
kids!

Another thing I've noticed about Legos since rediscovering them a few years
back: They have a really sophisticated retail operation that's not unlike what
Apple does with the Apple Store. They're well designed, have very
knowledgeable staff, and feature lots of goodies that you won't see in mass
market retail outlets, including high-end sets and even a 3D
animation/"augmented reality" that is activated when you hold certain boxes in
front of an in-store camera (see
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20003273-1.html>)

~~~
eru
Do you have some examples of Lego boxes that show adults on the box? I tried a
quick search on Google images, but only found some jubilee sets (like
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/3687795718/>) featuring an adult.

~~~
ilamont
The one that I saw in the local Lego Store in Natick, Mass., was a midsized
set (typically sell for $50-$80) that shows the finished set and a smiling,
40ish man with glasses looking at it at eye level. I don't remember what the
set was (and it may no longer be produced, as the turnover seems to be very
rapid), but Lego.com has more than 400 sets aimed at people over the age of 12
(the boxes aren't shown online). One of the latest things I've seen in the
Lego Store are the stark architecture sets (<http://architecture.lego.com/en-
us/Products/Default.aspx>), which seem more oriented toward adults than kids.

Some other resources to check out:

[http://www.quora.com/LEGO/What-percentage-of-LEGO-fans-
are-a...](http://www.quora.com/LEGO/What-percentage-of-LEGO-fans-are-adults-
versus-children)

[http://gizmodo.com/5019797/everything-you-always-wanted-
to-k...](http://gizmodo.com/5019797/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-
about-lego)

 _"When we design sets, we take both children and adults into consideration.
Children are our primary audience, especially as it relates to the core play
theme sets; however, much of what appeals to children in today's Lego sets has
strong appeal among adult fans as well. With Lego Star Wars, adults are
equally considered. In designing any set, it's about the balance between the
building experience and the play experience. We do also leverage our direct to
consumer channels to provide ultimate collectors sets, special exclusives,
sculptures and models that are designed with skilled builders and adult fans
in mind. We sometimes even invite our adult fans to help us design new sets."_

~~~
jamesbkel
It was a few years ago so I forget the exact kit, but I too was at that store
and pleasantly surprised to see an adult having fun with legos on the box.
Especially since there were plenty of adults, myself included, having fun in
the store.

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tylerneylon
Why are creative Lego sets a minority?

I think you can draw an analogy with wikipedia. Most people just read, and
don't contribute. But what makes wikipedia what it is, is the ability of
others to put their ideas into it. So we have the _potential_ to create and
customize, and a minority of people taking full advantage of that, but the end
result is interesting to many more people than contributors. Similarly, I'm
guessing most Lego sets are bought _because_ of the appeal of Lego's pre-baked
designs -- along with the potential to customize. Users want more power and
potential than they actually use, and some power users make the community more
involved, and aware of the potential.

Or at least that's my guess as to Lego marketing's thoughts. As a kid, I
definitely preferred to make my own things. I'd be curious to know if that's
the standard use case for most kids today or not (making their own vs just
following the instructions).

~~~
sliverstorm
I did both, myself. Following the instructions, you could build really cool
things you couldn't design yourself with a 10 year old brain. Not following
the instructions, you got to endeavor in trial and error, and critical
thinking, etc. Both had their merits.

~~~
jamesbkel
Same here. I had another Lego enthusiast friend as a kid. Every time one of us
got a new set we would do it individually then either trade sets or just let
the other borrow it to do the same. Then it got thrown into the GIANT bucket
of old Legos we used for our creative projects which we would work on
together.

A couple of our creative projects were even put on display at some local
libraries. That was a really satisfying experience as an 8-12 year old.

------
jarin
This is why I get mad when I see all those super custom pieces in the new
sets!

~~~
kleiba
Couldn't agree more! A few years ago I saw a fairly new model of a Lego
sportscar, and stuff like the doors were just single custom pieces. Lame...
:-)

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docgnome
Crap. Now I need to go buy some legos and relive my childhood.

~~~
brianobush
Kids are a great excuse! We are even going to Legoland in CA. Its for the
kids, honey!

~~~
tomjen3
As someone who spend plenty of days in the original Legoland as a child, I
still have fond memories.

That said, I hope they have cloned all the lego buildings and structures too.

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ryanhuff
I would love to find a book that has plans to buiid various things/designs
using plain lego sets. Any suggestions?

My son loves to build complex sets, but I hate investing in the one time use,
specialized sets, and the fancy specialized sets always gets him (and my wife)
more excited than just opening a box of generic legos and building.

~~~
seclorum
I recently got these books:

<http://nostarch.com/technic_set.htm>

Lego Technic Idea Book Set

My son (4 year old) and I have an absolute blast with these books, our box
full of Technics parts, and a quiet afternoon in the sunshine .. we've built
all kinds of crazy things that started off as a simple "lets build this thing
from the book and see what it does" project and rapidly evolved into devices
that threaten to consume all our joy! :)

I can't recommend these books highly enough - they are a joy to use, to have,
and to apply to a box of parts. Note that there are no words in these books -
just pictures of the different things you can build - and it really, really
inspires creativity to do some of the most basic things. I absolutely love
them and can't wait for more projects from the author, who also has a
fascinating youtube channel here:

<http://www.youtube.com/user/ISOGAWAYoshihito>

Have fun, let us know if you build anything monstrous!

------
cdcarter
LEGO used to make kits like this called Creator, but they got lamer over the
years. Now they seem to be pushing more and more the sets that are just 30
pieces, playmobile style.

~~~
cubicle67
Lego still make creator sets, and I'd say they're better now than ever
(although the price seems to be always increasing)

Here's some creator sets I've bought for my kids that I'd recommend

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/4993_Cool_Convertible>

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/5763_Buggy>

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/5892_Sonic_Boom>

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/6753_Highway_Transport>

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/6752_Fire_Rescue>

<http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/5762_Mini_Plane> (the orange/white kit the article
is based on)

