Subject:
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Rant...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Sun, 29 Oct 2000 03:51:58 GMT
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Let me begin by stating that I think Lego is one of the best companies on the
planet. My experience with them is that they make an excellent product which
they stand behind with spectacular customer service. They also usually listen
to customer input. This is not a rant against Lego. It's a rant hoping to
eventually convince Lego to change their policy a little bit. I find myself
somewhat disappointed by the recent changes in the Technic line and I'd like to
know who else out there shares my opinion. Perhaps a letter to TLG may be in
order. (You may skip the next few paragraphs if you aren't interested in a
brief history of the Lego robotics concept.)
I'm a bit nostalgic when it comes to Lego. In my closet rest the boxes of the
best sets produced by Lego. The 8880 Super Car, 8868 Crane Truck, and 8480
Space Shuttle come to mind. Scattered throughout the room are the actual sets,
not to mention the results of too much free time and a whole bunch of spare
parts. 4 years ago, I bought a Control Lab (not to be confused with 8094
Control Center or its sequel) from Lego Dacta. That was the ultimate. The
language was surprisingly nice complete with graphical interface capabilities
and the part assortment was pretty good. The only down side to it was that it
had to be wired to a computer. You could fool around with infrared serial ports
and such, but the model would have to be pretty big to hold the interface. Most
of the time, it was fine wired to the PC and all was good. Unfortunately, the
price of a complete set was about $700 (included the interface, cables,
software, 3 motors, 5 sensors plus 3 more that I bought separately, and a nice
assortment of parts). The price made it rather elite, though it was a
spectacular thing to have. (I should point out that this was not Dacta's first
Lego-computer interface. There had been a previous version that used the old
4.5 volt motors. I got to play with one of those a few years before I decided
to buy the new 9 volt version.)
A few years later, Lego decided they should market a smaller version for the
average user who may or may not know anything about programming. The result was
the RCX (a greatly simplified version of the MIT smart brick) and the whole
Mindstorms series. At first, this seemed like a great idea to me as the masses
discovered the joy of Lego robotics. Naturally, I eventually broke down and
bought one. I had already seen the "language" which was, of course, a bit of a
disappointment, though I was impressed by the fact that Lego actually encouraged
third-party software. However, searching through the box, I discovered the lack
of traditional Technic pieces in the set. There weren't too many gears, for
starters. I was encouraged by the discovery of a differential (perhaps the most
overlooked part in Lego), but discovered that none of the designs in the
instructions used it. Perhaps the best part was the inclusion of the new
high-torque motors. Then I discovered that the high-torque motors were being
used so no gearing at all was necessary. The motor connected to the wheel - one
on each side. That was it. No fancy adder-subtracter tank mechanisms. No
transmissions. Just direct connections. The tremendous oversimplification was,
of course, part of the goal here - simplify the process for the young newbies.
That seemed a decent enough purpose, so I just took out my spare part boxes and
downloaded an NQC compiler.
That was about 2 years ago. What's happened since then? Well, there have been
a couple of expansions for Mindstorms.... none is too great or offers any better
part assortment. There have also been two new versions of the Mindstorms set.
About the most significant change is the inclusion of a slip gear and a couple
of the new parts (more on those later). Meanwhile, Lego has gradually reduced
more sets based on the simplicity concept. The Throwbots and Robo-Riders come
to mind. There are little cars with no gears at all that more closely resemble
the Town cars than even the simple cars one used to build with the Universal
series. Each new catalog contains fewer and fewer of the traditional sets we
all know and love.
Most frightening is the gradual disappearance of the studed brick. These new
parts started off as decorative pieces on a few sets. Then they began to
comprise the whole of sets like the Throwbots. Before long there were all these
little sets built entirely out of the new pieces and the studed brick was no
where to be found. Looking through the new catalog, about the only decent
source of studed bricks are the Silver Champion, and Power Puller. (I don't
have it in front of me, but I don't think the Super Street Sensation is in there
anymore.) Everything else contains few or none. The Super Street Sensation and
Silver Champion don't contain too many studed bricks either. Only the Power
Puller is primarily composed of the good 'ol bricks.
These sets don't have nearly the functionality of the old ones either.
Personally, I don't think the great functionality of the old sets can be
reproduced with these new pieces. They aren't nearly as versatile. The
incredible multitude of uses of a standard studed brick was mind-blowing.
That's gone. The gears are gone too. Some sets have a few, but nothing like
the old days. The Silver Champion is a good example of this problem. The set
looks very nice, but it has virtually no functionality. It steers, the shocks
work, and the hood goes up. That's it. Compare that to the functionality of
the original Super Car. It had 4-wheel steering, 4-wheel independent
suspension, 4-wheel drive, a 4 speed transmission, moveable headlights, and a
working trunk. (I may have missed some). It's kind of disappointing. I think
the vast majority of users would trade good looks for improved functionality.
Even if Lego did want to start producing sets high functionality, I don't think
they could with these new pieces. I've tried. They simply aren't as practical
or versatile for most situations. The Throwbot pieces are the worst, because
most are completely useless (i.e.. ball-and-socket joints are way too stiff to
use for anything). Personally, I hardly ever use them. I just go back to my
part boxes. While they were busy switching to the new pieces, Lego also dumped
some old pieces they figured they had replaced. Notable are the notched 1/2
bushings, and both types of connectors. There exist a number of situations
where these parts are simply more practical than their replacements.
I also noted that Lego still doesn't have bulk Tectonic elements. I wouldn't
hold my breath waiting for that one. I doubt they'd make a bulk studed beam one
anyway. We'll probably see a bulk pack of angle beams first....
I started writing this because I just took a look at the 2001 mini-catalog.
Looking through the Technic section, I see a great deal of space devoted to this
new version of the Throwbots. In fact, this catalog does not show a single set
that would have been classified as a regular set 5 years ago. These are all
just mini-sets. The best things in there are the new C-3PO and Storm Trooper.
Those also seem to lack functionality and also don't look great. I noted that
most of the ages are much lower than usual, as well. A lot of sets are aimed at
children under 10. I suppose they're trying to get the younger, more impatient,
individuals involved in Technic, but this isn't the Technic I grew up with. I
know these mini-catalogs usually leave out the big sets, but one would hope to
see something....
I grew up with Technic. I still consider Technic to be an excellent prototyping
tool and educational toy. But I don't know about this new stuff. It just
doesn't have the versatility. I don't want to see it replace the studed beam.
I like the idea of trying to introduce more young ones to Technic, but it
doesn't have to get this simple. If there are enough people out there who agree
with me, perhaps we should write a petition. Lego listens to their customers.
They've maintained the relations of a family owned business coupled with the
advantages of a global corporation. That is what sets Lego apart. They will
listen. What does everyone else thing of this trend toward the simple and
cosmetic? Respond and let us know. If anyone out there is affiliated with TLG,
it'd be nice to know what the Lego stance on all of this is. Tell me it's just
a phase!
Lego is as good as it gets. Let's hope it doesn't deteriorate.
(Wow, that went quite long. I'm sorry.)
Grant Elliott
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Message has 7 Replies:
 | | Re: Rant...
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| I wholeheartedly agree with you here...the newer Technic lines aren't moving the right direction. I think that the last relatively complex set was the 8446 Crane Truck, which packet a good amount of functions into a medium-sized package. But aside (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| I fully agreed with you. Ofcourse Lego may make such sets but not as a replacement for the "old-style" sets. Maybe they should make every year a model for the "old childs"? (A nice Technic set with a lot of gears and nice mechanism) A few month ago (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| (...) I don't have time to comment on much of your post now, but I just wanted to comment shortly on this passage. I've found the new style Technic parts to be hugely more versatile than the old ones, i.e. the ones we saw up until the middle of the (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| First of all: yes, I totally agree! It's great not to be alone.... I own some early technic sets from when I was 10-14 and some I bought last year. Because the removal company (Maguire in Bray, Ireland, beware!) was particularly careless I lost a (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| (...) THese new junior models are supposed to be designed for kids, correct? They are designed to make building easier for kids, right? Well, I'm a kid. And here is what I say to junior lego, IT SUCKS LIKE CRAP!!!!!!!Why can't lego design their (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| OK, When I went into my dark age (upto 95 or 96) I didn't through away every magazine or manual. About a month ago, I was comparing them to from then to now. Basicly I thought Lego designers are either getting lazier or they think people's IQ is (...) (24 years ago, 29-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: Rant...
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| The angle pieces aren't too bad...but in my opinion there is an excessive use of them in the newer models. BTW how come the 8479 Barcode Multi-Set is available again? Maybe TLC could do this with other models... (...) Heh...actually I guess I'm (...) (24 years ago, 30-Oct-00, to lugnet.technic)
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