Subject:
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Re: Another Technic Creation
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.technic
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Date:
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Thu, 16 Nov 2000 09:36:30 GMT
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Viewed:
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2239 times
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"Jennifer Clark" <jen@vulture.dmem.strath.ac.uk> writes:
> First of all, as Mike points out, not all kids have a problem with
> complex lego kits. Having seen quite a few people assembling
> Technic stuff from instructions, I've come to the conclusion that
> it is nothing really to do with the depth of mechanical
> understanding a person has - after all, they don't have to
> understand how it works to make it. Rather, it has to do with their
> ability to concentrate, keep focus and follow instructions.
Yes, this is indeed quite true. As many people have noted, children
below the quoted age bracket on a set may very well successfully
compile the model. With the introduction of the Expert Builder sets
in the late seventies, I was lucky to get some of the sets at the age
of 6-9, and I can't remember that I had any problems with them. I
probably did get some help on the first ones, though, even if I don't
remember it.
But those sets were more similar to "ordinary" LEGO when it comes to
the building style: They consisted mostly of "studded brick building",
and as such didn't pose the same kind of challenges as a new style
Technic set does to people who are only familiar with the bricks. A
friend of mine got the 8248 Forklift for his son at the age of 6. His
son needed much help to build it, and once built, it only stayed
untouched on the shelf. Not confident that he could rebuild it, his
son didn't dare to take it apart.
> So what am I trying to get at here? I think that basically, if
> someone can follow instructions, they will be able to make
> surprisingly complex models, certainly way above their current
> technical knowledge.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. Take the 8002 Destroyer Droid, as an
example. I myself only barely understand how it works, but I still
managed to build and operate it. But my mind boggles when I think of
the hours (or weeks) I would have to spend to construct something
similar myself. In fact, building the model was disheartening, in
that I would never dare to attempt to build something similar after
seeing the complexity of the design.
> I do think it is important to challenge people's minds - if you are
> always building stuff you understand, at least from my point of
> view, it quickly becomes boring.
Yes, this is a good point. I guess that LEGO make models that are not
too complicated to avoid giving children the disheartening experience
of not being able to build them. This could probably put them off
LEGO building, which would not be good for the economy of TLC.
And besides, if a child is given an introduction to building with LEGO
Technic bricks through a simple model, the child may very well be
encouraged to build models that are in time even more complicated,
which is undoubtedly challenging to it's mind, too. With LEGO toys,
the challenge does not stop after the featured model is built.
In my opinion, there could very well have been room for even more
complicated models. But I suppose that those models would not have
the same bulk of sales. There is the adult marked, of course, but how
many adults buy LEGO sets for the featured models? I normally buy
sets for the parts included, and I don't find it challenging to build
other people's designs. Sometimes I build the featured model to see
if there are some interesting building tricks I can learn from,
though.
> Something I'm going to do in the future is to set myself the
> challenge of building a model within reasonable cost, complexity
> and marketing constraints - a maximum of two motors, one of which
> is preferably a micro motor, which is relatively straightforward
> (although time consuming) to build but difficult to understand once
> you get there. This is the type of model I liked best as a child!
This is where I have ended up too. After my dark ages, I wanted to
build models which were as huge and complicated as possible.
Nowadays, I find it even more challenging to build compact and clever
things.
Fredrik
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Another Technic Creation
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| (...) Sounds like we are of a similar age - I suppose there is a sort of of "Golden Age" type thing when you look back on the models of the late seventies. I think my favourites were the Mobile Crane and the Motorbike, although I remember the fork (...) (24 years ago, 20-Nov-00, to lugnet.technic)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Another Technic Creation
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| There have certainly been some interesting points made here, and I think they are relevant to a greater or lesser extent depending on many things. First of all, as Mike points out, not all kids have a problem with complex lego kits. Having seen (...) (24 years ago, 15-Nov-00, to lugnet.technic)
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