Subject:
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Re: Holy Mackerel! LEGO survey...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general, lugnet.lego
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Date:
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Tue, 26 Apr 2005 01:42:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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2280 times
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My first-ever Lugnet post, hoping I do this right:
Jake's questions have been answered with many of my thoughts already so
I'll just add a few tidbits.
> * Would you buy LEGO toys for children 0-11? Y/N
Absolutely. I have kids 8, 10, and 12. All love them.
> * Why / Why not?
Toy of the Century. They teach math and engineering, patience, visual
perspective, 3D conceptualizing, ...
The neighbor kid was over not long ago. We were all in the basement
building fun stuff. "Wow! You guys have family Lego night? That's
really cool! At our house, we just scream at one another."
> * What new products would you launch?
A set of ball contraption units that could be strung together. Based on
the stuff with which I have been tinkering, this could great. While
demoing my ball machine at the Air and Space Museum in Washington last
weekend, I never got a break. Two people deep at the table at all
times. Math teachers loved me because I showed the kids a use for the
Pythagoran theorem. History teachers loved the Archimedian screw. "All
these parts are Lego?" they would ask.
My 12-year-old really loves the stuff that moves and the Rube
Goldberg-ness. This could lead from the toys of the 0-11 crowd to what
us grown-ups do. Might help to quell the dreaded 'dark ages'.
> * What should LEGO be doing that it isn’t now?
1. I know that Lego is international and this makes text difficult but
it might really help to have more text in instructions so kids see *why*
they are doing what they are doing. Things like "This last beam forms a
right triangle with the beam in steps 4 and 6. Note that the distances
are 6 studs, 8 studs, and 10 studs and that 6^2+8^2=10^2. This is the
Pythagoran theorem and guarantees that the plates you add in steps 12
and 13 will be perpendicular." Or something like that.
Explain the geometry to the kids so they understand that the holes or
studs or whatever lining up exactly isn't an accident. That seems to be
the biggest problem with building complicated models for kids; they
don't understand that six studs long equals 5 bricks high and what that
could do for them. Heck, some of them don't understand that 3 plates
equals 1 brick.
A ton of resources are available now via the web but the kid sitting on
the floor in the family room isn't going to do a google search to see
why plates line up. And Mom and Dad might not know so they might not be
able to help either!
2. Open Pick-a-bricks in the Raleigh, NC, Nashville, TN, Overland Park,
KS, and Dayton, OH. (I have my reasons.)
3. Stay focused on it being a *building* toy. Give Mom and Dad a
reason to buy more than one copy of a set. "Buy two; they're small."
4. As AFOLs, we tend to make things with tons of bricks. This is
really cool. But show the people that it is possible to make some
really cool stuff without tons of bricks. Multiple designs with the
same set are great.
5. Add two new greys and a new brown. :-)
Thanks for the opportunity to post.
Rafe
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Holy Mackerel! LEGO survey...
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| All, I know that some of you have attempted to fill out the survey announced yesterday on LEGOfan.org, only to be turned away with a message about the survey being complete. After some late night phone calls and early morning emails, I've been to (...) (20 years ago, 16-Apr-05, to lugnet.general, lugnet.lego) !!
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