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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Micah J. Mabelitini
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 9:09 PM
> To: lego-robotics@crynwr.com
> Subject: Re: Ideas for new sets?
>
> John Barnes wrote:
> >
> > I have a very basic question, on the subject of new sets and
> > themes and so on;
> >
> > If technic "was" a viable medium for kids with latent engineering
> > skills to learn with, why are those kinds of sets not still • available?
> >
> > If Lego were selling to the same customer base, they would have
> > to continually renew their offerings, but they're not. • They're have a
> > never ending supply of new customers all the time!
> >
> > So if "we", the ones who have been lucky enough to have gained
> > the benefits of some very creative set design in the past, maintain
> > an interest in the product because of its earlier appeal, who of the
> > new generation of bionicle builders will be wistfully • thinking of how
> > wonderfully rich and functional those sets had been?
> >
> > I guess what I'm asking is; why isn't the technic concept of a
> > highly flexible mechnical building toy still valid?
> >
> > JB
>
> Basically what you're asking is, "Why has LEGO completely lost their
> mind?". I think the "Technic concept" is still valid. I think
> it's just
> being re-marketed under the Mindstorms product line. Who
> knows what LEGO
> was thinking when they came up with Bionicle or Throwbots or any of
> those other small worthless Technic sets. It probably just follows
> LEGO's juniorization trend, a trend which Mindstorms has been
> immune to
> thus far. There's also the Dacta product line, which IMO is
> the closest
> thing there still is to "real" LEGO. Of course the problem with Dacta
> is, it's not available in toy/department stores for your
> average parent
> to buy, and therefore is less likely to have an impact on a child's
> perception of LEGO.
>
> Regards
> Micah J. Mabelitini - LUGNET #918
Hi :)
I'm very sorry to cross post this (see below) "Ideas for new sets?"
lugnet.robotics thread (I think it should've originally been posted to
lugnet.technic) *but* I think it's the kind of threads that become more and
more frequent nowadays both online and offline too, between friends and
fellow lego users.
I agree with what is said about the lack of really interesting TECHNIC sets
in current catalogs. I find myself looking for older sets instead of newer
ones...
I can't understand why is the Bionicle stuff in the Technic range.
What's TECHNIC about them ?!?!
...is it because it can use *some* standard Technic pieces ?!
I don't think that's a good reason to spoil the original Technic idea:
(IMHO) Sets to technical inclined kids (and adults), with lots of
interactive mechanical challenges/solutions.
I'm now a father of two children and I'm very saddened by the idea of LEGO
not giving me the opportunity to give them the equivalent of some sets I had
when I was a boy.
One quality of older Town sets (for instance) was the fact that one could
buy newer sets and continually add them to a growing home made Legoland.
The very good thing about LEGO was the possible unlimited *expansion* one
could have. The more sets you had, the more complex, fun and challenging
things could be made out of *bricks*. There was a sense of tight
compatibility both in physical and in design/looks.
Today's sets have so many macro-bricks, so many specialized pieces that it's
almost impossible to do interesting alternative models.
When I was a kid, I used LEGO to build simple/complex houses, big/small
warehouses, various types of shops, hotels, cinemas, theaters, bus stations,
train stations, airports, sea ports, cars, trucks, buses, boats, plains,
helicopters, etc...
For me, the Town theme was *THE* LEGO theme. The Boat sets, the street
workers sets, the little racer sets, the airport sets, even the pirate sets
all fitted very well in a growing Legoland.
Then, came the Space Theme. Ok, no problem, just added a space port to my
Legoland, and started to build a minor Spaceland on the "moon". Started
making some spaceships, some motherships with some light spacefighters (to
play my version of Space 1999 or Galactica episodes)
The basic 2x4, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 bricks taught me to build walls and houses
I think I even can "blame" LEGO for my programming skills, because with LEGO
I started to think in modules and the idea of "big things are done with many
little things"
It's easier to a kid to understand the atom notion if in practice he sees
that he can make something big with many small and *basic* pieces.
I'm afraid I can't give my kids these notions, this kind of experience... at
least not with the actual LEGO sets.
Town theme should always be the main one with sub Themes to add some sparkle
and diversity to "standard" Legoland.
Today, a city made with available LEGO sets looks like a Zoo or a Hollywood
Studio set, with some many different kinds of minifigs, Ninjas, Castle,
RockRaiders, Adventurers, TimeTravellers, etc.... Where are the *normal*
LEGO "citizens" ?
Then, don't blame a kid for wanting to be a Stuntman, or a Ninja, or a Test
Pilot or something...
Ok, we need stuntmen and test pilots, but someone's got to be a Police, a
Fireman, an Engineer, a Shop clerk, a Doctor, a Nurse, etc...
I don't see *many* of those in current LEGO sets.
Let's hope that LEGO sees this and starts to have more sets of a good theme
with a longer lifespan instead of so many themes with such a short lifespan
and with so little sets of each.
phew... sorry for this long msg
mc.
PS: I agree with the LEGO Software (I don't like it, I don't use it, but I
agree with the LEGO move)
PSS: I'm now converted to Mindstorms of course, but I just wanted my kids to
have the same opportunity to deal with the basics of LEGO before going to
Technic/Mindstorms sets.
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