[HN Gopher] Lego Ideas Typewriter
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Lego Ideas Typewriter
        
       Author : orjan
       Score  : 119 points
       Date   : 2021-06-16 11:30 UTC (11 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.lego.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.lego.com)
        
       | karmakaze wrote:
       | It took me a long while to see the LEGO-ness in it. It's so well
       | finished that you can't tell it's LEGO. Certainly you know
       | because you assembled it. But then again the pieces are so
       | specialized that you lose a lot of the creativity that LEGO
       | inspires.
        
       | leemailll wrote:
       | Interesting. Just watched this
       | (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs5TEuZPQl8)
        
       | grammarprofess wrote:
       | Dang that's wild
        
         | nindalf wrote:
         | I wonder if the moderator of HN gets a ping every time his name
         | is mentioned like this. "Why did someone summon me on a Lego
         | thread? Oh ok, just an exclamation."
        
       | g105b wrote:
       | Ooh, how long until someone inserts a Teensy microchip and a USB
       | cable to make this a functional computer keyboard?
       | 
       | Either way I really want one!
        
         | adolph wrote:
         | Or just take those keycaps for a lego-compatible switches:
         | 
         | https://hackaday.com/2017/12/12/connecting-cherry-mx-key-swi...
        
         | colejohnson66 wrote:
         | Retro Recipies / Perifractic did that with a C64, sortove:
         | https://youtu.be/1Fb0Kn2bVtM
        
           | lnyng wrote:
           | Opening this link with my Firefox iOS 34 crashes the browser
           | reliably. Anyone else seeing this issue?
        
             | colejohnson66 wrote:
             | That's odd as I posted it using Firefox on iOS (version 34)
             | as well). Clicking it works for me.
             | 
             | I don't develop for iOS, so I'm speculating here, but could
             | it be a URL handler for YouTube URLs exists and you don't
             | have the app it's set to? (As in, iOS says YouTube urls get
             | opened in the app, but you don't have the app?)
        
       | jalk wrote:
       | Does anybody know if the creator of a "Lego Idea" gets royalties
       | if their kit ends up in stores?
        
         | dacur wrote:
         | per wikipedia, 1% royalties
        
       | robg wrote:
       | I'm struck by the post-modern, non-working reflection that costs
       | significantly more than the functional object that's still
       | readily available. LEGO has truly crossed into the art world.
       | Like a painting of a soup can.
        
         | twic wrote:
         | We have reached Baudrillard Condition 3.
        
         | em-bee wrote:
         | if you think the typewriter is bad, have you seen the new lego
         | adidas shoe?
        
         | nindalf wrote:
         | When wasn't Lego art? I display my Lego dinosaurs next to my
         | TV. I think they look cool. They weren't meant to be functional
         | dinosaurs.
        
           | bluetomcat wrote:
           | The "conventional" Lego builds are meant to be a non-
           | functional miniature of a real-world or a fictional object,
           | with some playing features. This creation crosses this
           | boundary because it tries to replicate a real-world object in
           | its original scale, with its inner mechanisms, and yet it
           | doesn't achieve the purpose of the original object. Seems
           | somewhat wasteful, cynical and purposeless.
        
             | nindalf wrote:
             | Only as wasteful, cynical and purposeless as my dinosaurs.
             | I look at them and feel happy. That's pretty much it. If I
             | assembled this typewriter, I'd look at it and feel happy.
        
             | walugipnts wrote:
             | people have been making models for centuries, the only
             | cynical thing here is your opinion
        
             | cephalization wrote:
             | Yeah but I get to build this typewriter... I derive value
             | from the act of building and replicating the inner
             | mechanisms of a typewriter that I could not build before.
             | Isn't all entertainment somewhat 'wasteful' or
             | 'purposeless' beyond enjoyment?
        
               | bluetomcat wrote:
               | I'm 35 and am a keen collector of 1:18 scale diecast
               | model cars. The sense of enjoyment for me comes from
               | seeing their intricate details exactly replicated, from
               | putting models from a similar age/brand/model next to one
               | another and comparing them, from knowing that they can
               | endure a long time without degrading and I can pass them
               | to my son.
               | 
               | I fail to understand the appeal of "adult non-toy" Lego
               | sets like these, however. It's impossible to replicate
               | real-world stuff at any serious level of detail (the
               | smallest brick is far too large), as mechanical devices
               | they are flimsy (no greasing, no bearings, clumsily-
               | weighed movements), separate sets do not stand well next
               | to one another due to different scales and wildly varying
               | subject matters. I do know that it is fun to build a
               | Technic race car with steering, suspension, differentials
               | and pistons, but such model-like stuff doesn't bring much
               | value, IMO.
        
               | antiterra wrote:
               | I got a sense of enjoyment from diecast model cars
               | because I could open up the doors and pretend they
               | transformed into airplanes. I also hated them because any
               | steering or suspension components were generally plastic
               | and flimsy by toy standards. I didn't see the appeal to
               | these things you couldn't really play with.
               | 
               | People like different things for different reasons.
               | Guitar Hero is not the same as playing a guitar, and
               | comparing the two with the expectation that they will
               | offer the same rewards will lead to disappointment. But,
               | some people like both.
        
               | allturtles wrote:
               | No, Legos don't and can't exactly replicate all the real
               | world details of the things they model. It's no surprise
               | that different hobbies have different pleasures. But
               | surely you see that you have a niche hobby that to many
               | (most?) people would superficially appear to not "bring
               | much value"?
               | 
               | The joy of Lego is taking generic bricks and figuring out
               | how to represent the thing you want to build out of them.
               | With pre-designed kits like this, many people find
               | pleasure in seeing how the designer figured out how to
               | use piece X to represent object Y, or used a particular
               | building technique to create a particular effect. e.g.
               | the Lego Empire State Building uses the generic grille to
               | great effect to render the windows of the building, and
               | generic yellow tiles to make convincing little taxis, and
               | some neat building tricks to create the setbacks in the
               | tower without making it look 'lego-like' (with abrupt,
               | brick-size shifts).
        
           | robg wrote:
           | Seems different in kind, not degree. A 3 year old plays with
           | Duplo to make planes and rockets. Yes, art in the sense that
           | drawing on paper is a form of art. But a close to realistic
           | rendering of a soup can that now sells for $millions is / was
           | reflecting back a reductive sense of nostalgia for a premium.
           | Kudos to LEGO for capitalizing for a premium, just a
           | different product for a different consumer that could buy and
           | appreciate an actual typewriter. This consumer centric
           | version of art forms is perhaps the same reflection by which
           | Warhol was dismissed by some early critics. Just not the
           | version of LEGO that reflects the endless design iterations
           | in any one box.
        
         | snypher wrote:
         | Are you saying I can buy a $200 typewriter somewhere?
        
           | thih9 wrote:
           | Yes, there are a lot of used typewriters for sale. I just did
           | a search for "typewriter working" on ebay.com, narrowed it
           | down to offers below $70 and got multiple pages of results.
        
         | jmrm wrote:
         | A pastel green Olivetti Lettera 32 cost about 100EUR used, so
         | that's totally true
        
           | riffraff wrote:
           | Ah I'm not the only one who sees that as a Lettera 32! (which
           | I own, and is still awesome)
        
         | shoto_io wrote:
         | They are definitely not "solving a problem". That's for sure.
         | 
         | Instead, Legos is obviously fulfilling/creating a need.
        
           | usrusr wrote:
           | What they are creating is a market for a third party innards
           | substitute that replaces the mechanism for driving the page
           | carrier with something that speaks BLE HID. A toy collectible
           | that you can nondestructively convert into something you can
           | actually use on your job and back? They can run a victory lap
           | before even starting!
        
           | TchoBeer wrote:
           | I don't know, they're fun. Why is there so much hate for such
           | a simple enjoyment in the comments?
        
             | shoto_io wrote:
             | I don't hate them! I love LEGO, played a lot as kid.
        
         | golergka wrote:
         | It's a different object with different functionality. You can't
         | use it to actually type, but you can use it to easily and
         | conveniently create something unique to your liking, mixing and
         | matching pieces from any LEGO set in the company's history.
        
       | Tomte wrote:
       | At least the keys are printed. Those would have been a nightmare
       | to center. Only two stickers in the set.
       | 
       | (You can't take that for granted, even the 700 Euro set #75252
       | comes with a sticker)
        
         | wongarsu wrote:
         | All printed keys, and a new fabric element. I couldn't believe
         | today's Lego would splurge like this, until I got to the
         | "Includes Note from Chairman Thomas Kristiansen, based on the
         | typewriter of founder Ole Kristiansen". I guess the executive
         | still gets nice models without stickers.
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | Printing LEGO is one of the modern improvements that they've
           | implemented - it is _substantially_ easier and cheaper to
           | print an element than it was twenty years ago.
        
             | wongarsu wrote:
             | I should probably clarify that I meant "splurge" as in
             | "spending where they normally don't", not as in "spend
             | beyond a reasonable amount"
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | Yeah - just pointing out that in general LEGO has been
               | printing prices that would have been stickers 20 years
               | ago.
               | 
               | Part of is also that they did a study and realized that
               | stickers piss kids off because they're hard to apply
               | correctly.
        
               | aidenn0 wrote:
               | As a kid, stickers were the bane of my existence for
               | everything; Legos, Transformers, etc.
               | 
               | I had to decide between doing it myself and having it
               | look like crap, or getting my parents to do it and
               | feeling embarrassed that I didn't do it myself.
        
       | sharkweek wrote:
       | A lot of people in this thread are forgetting that it's not
       | necessarily about the actual completed object but more the
       | process of putting it together that often brings the most joy
       | with LEGO.
       | 
       | I don't think I'm more at peace than the few times a year I sit
       | down with a new LEGO kit and build it. It's a delightfully
       | enjoyable break from just about everything else that keeps my
       | mind busy and is such a calming activity.
        
         | organsnyder wrote:
         | My wife gave me the LEGO grand piano this past Christmas. It
         | was an absolute joy putting it together, seeing how the
         | designer made everything work.
        
           | gpspake wrote:
           | That Piano was awesome. Everyone's amazed when they see it.
           | There have been so many great "Ideas" kits.
        
         | spoonjim wrote:
         | To me, the greatest joy of LEGO sets is seeing brilliant
         | engineering up close. There's brilliant engineering inside an
         | iPhone, but I can't see it. It's all locked inside a boring
         | looking little 1cmx1cm gray chip.
         | 
         | When you assemble something like a working pneumatic
         | articulated motorized digger, 99% made out of the same basic
         | 200 interchangeable parts, it's incredible.
        
           | Fricken wrote:
           | It really becomes apparent when you attempt to build your own
           | creation to the same standards of some of the sets geared to
           | older builders.
        
         | ziml77 wrote:
         | I'm confused by the hate too. Like I wouldn't care to have yet
         | another thing on a shelf that's just more plastic waste, but I
         | don't have an issue with people enjoying this. It's not like
         | something that takes a bit of effort to put together and then
         | is just an art piece is anything new.
        
         | cainxinth wrote:
         | This is my problem. I very badly want to build some of these
         | (particularly the Saturn V and some of those huge Technic
         | supercar models), but I really don't need another tchotchke
         | collecting dust on a shelf.
        
           | slowmovintarget wrote:
           | Have children. Then you get to buy as many Lego sets as you
           | want, but they're really for them... honest.
           | 
           | The Saturn V set is excellent, BTW.
        
             | Tomte wrote:
             | I has nice building techniques, but unfortunately, it's all
             | hidden behind a rather sparse exterior and doesn't look
             | very exciting at first glance.
             | 
             | The playing features are cool (several stages that can be
             | separated and put back together), but way too fragile to
             | actually have children play with it.
             | 
             | It's a very fine display model, though. I've put it on a
             | bureau right when you enter my apartment.
             | 
             | The ISS is superb, too (and rather cheap), but the new
             | Space Shuttle was where I eventually drew the line. My
             | pocketbook is very thankful for that.
        
               | slowmovintarget wrote:
               | I just ordered the Space Shuttle (with model Hubble
               | telescope). It's totally for my kid... really.
        
             | sharkweek wrote:
             | My oldest, 3.5ish, is just starting to get into the little
             | LEGO sets. To say I'm not beyond excited to uh... buy more
             | kits for "him" would be a huge lie.
        
           | Fricken wrote:
           | Any kid I'm sure will gladly accept a pre-built Lego set once
           | you're tired of looking at it. Many adults would too.
        
           | mtmail wrote:
           | In Germany we have two companies that will send you a set (or
           | 3, depending on plan) every month. It's like the old Netflix
           | DVD model. Each sets gets washed, they added extra pieces and
           | there's insurance for loosing pieces.
           | (https://www.bauduu.de/)
        
             | pininja wrote:
             | That's a brilliant idea! Is there something like this in
             | the US? How has your experience been using it?
        
               | spoonjim wrote:
               | LEGO is vastly more popular in Europe than in the US.
        
               | mtnGoat wrote:
               | I believe there was a US based company doing it at one
               | point but they went out of business.
        
               | ElijahLynn wrote:
               | There are a few US offerings:
               | https://www.verywellfamily.com/best-lego-subscription-
               | boxes-...
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | Buy - build - sell.
           | 
           | Used in box sells quite well - especially if you sell after
           | they've gone from store shelves. eBay or BrickLink.
        
             | JohnWhigham wrote:
             | What do people usually do, just break it down and put all
             | the bricks in one bag? I feel like it'd take even longer to
             | do that than put it together...and then to put it back
             | together when you have to sort through thousands of pieces?
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | Usually, yes. Most people just dump all the pieces out
               | anyway when building.
               | 
               | It's actually not as bad as it seems especially if you
               | have space to spread out and roughly sort while working
               | (special memory works well).
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | I believe a lot of people who buy one are mostly thinking of
         | how hot this is going to be on eBay.
        
       | ecesena wrote:
       | Omg now I wish they'd do an enigma machine!
        
       | samizdis wrote:
       | That's a lovely piece of kit, and I am sorely tempted to put in
       | an order, but LEGO's promotional video and associated text
       | descriptions seem to be a little deceptive.
       | 
       | As far as I can tell, the model - which has a "LEGO first" -
       | _Black and red ink spool ribbon is a new fabric element._ - and
       | each key has a letter, and the carriage moves, etc ... doesn 't
       | actually type.
        
         | jan_Inkepa wrote:
         | Oh yeah good catch; they should probably add a disclaimer that
         | it's not functional.
        
         | mattashii wrote:
         | It has one (singular) typing element that moves and hits the
         | 'tape', which you might consider as typing. But, it indeed is
         | not functional for the whole alphabet, nor does it have
         | functional shift keys to shift cases.
        
         | ElijahLynn wrote:
         | Same. The video shows a typed letter in the machine too,
         | leading me to believe it actually worked. But further digging
         | reveals this is not the case. A ton of people are going to
         | actually buy this thinking it works, and it won't and they will
         | be pissed.
        
         | scoopertrooper wrote:
         | This may shock you, but none of those lego ships are sea worthy
         | either.
        
           | seattle_spring wrote:
           | WHAT. this changes everything, as I was planning on taking
           | the summer off to take my Saturn V into orbit.
        
           | spoonjim wrote:
           | The Lego Pop-up book does pop up though.
        
           | bmitc wrote:
           | Some of them are. I had one as a kid. The base allowed the
           | boat to float in water.
        
             | lb1lf wrote:
             | -Then you misplaced the keel and suddenly had an enforced
             | lesson in vessel stability in the comfort of your
             | bathtub...
             | 
             | Good times.
        
               | bombcar wrote:
               | The Germans had access to a motor - always described in
               | the manual but not available to the US.
        
         | MiscIdeaMaker99 wrote:
         | I think you'd have to be a little gullible to think it's a real
         | typewriter, especially if you've ever used a real one.
        
       | abruzzi wrote:
       | This is really the opposite of what I always loved about Legos as
       | a kid. All these complex kits seem more like jigsaw puzzles--only
       | one way to go together. What I loved about Legos as a kid was
       | making my own creations.
        
         | riffraff wrote:
         | I see your point but even when I was a kid 30 years ago Lego
         | had specialized kits (castle with horses, space modules, car
         | races) and even today they sell "just bricks" boxes.
         | 
         | There's certainly been a shift in marketing (e.g. Ninjago) but
         | if you want the raw build your own experience it's still there,
         | the offer has just expanded.
        
           | handrous wrote:
           | Most (not all!) new kits, even the ones that are marketed at
           | kids (not the obviously-intended-for-adults ones) try hard to
           | minimize exposed nubs, and use _tons_ of itty bitty bricks in
           | ways that feel like they fell out of some kind of automated
           | CAD process.
           | 
           | The result is smallish, expensive, huge-brick-count sets
           | that're cramped (hard even for kid-hands to play in), hard to
           | non-destructively add on to (you have to rip bricks off to
           | find nubs to attach to, sometimes doing a _lot_ of damage
           | before you 've got much useful nub-area exposed), and really
           | hard to repair without the manual and a ton of time if part
           | of it gets smashed.
           | 
           | Some of my older castle sets have a brick count similar to
           | modern structures (again, ones aimed at kids, not
           | architectural models or whatever) but are over twice the size
           | and came with like a dozen minifies and horses. The per-piece
           | price may not be much different on modern sets, but there's
           | been some serious size deflation.
           | 
           | The new ones look better (I'm guessing they sell better, too,
           | for that reason, especially to adults making the buying
           | decisions). The old ones were much better LEGO.
        
           | TedDoesntTalk wrote:
           | Just fyi, there was a time when lego kits and minifigs did
           | not exist... just lego blocks. More than 30 years ago, so
           | before your time.
        
         | lkramer wrote:
         | You can still buy those sets: https://www.lego.com/en-
         | gb/themes/classic
         | 
         | The highly detailed sets really takes nothing away from those.
         | 
         | It is also my understanding that those free play sets sells
         | well, so they really are complimentary.
        
         | slightwinder wrote:
         | This set is from Lego Ideas, a site where people can add their
         | own ideas and vote for them. The sets coming from there are
         | usualy for adults, collectors, fans. They had single set from
         | franchises like Voltron, WALL-E, Doctor Who, Mickey Mouse. But
         | also have Artful sets like a Piano, this typewriter. Or even
         | sets of real space-stuff like Saturn V-Rocket, ISS or Apollo
         | Moonlander.
         | 
         | For kids they still have their regular simple or mildly complex
         | sets, depending on age and franchise.
        
         | genocidicbunny wrote:
         | So don't follow the instructions and just make your own.
         | 
         | I don't know when you were a kid, but when I was a kid Lego
         | sets _were_ like jigsaw puzzles. Lots of big single-use pieces
         | that were hard to adapt into something new.
         | 
         | Modern Lego sets may look like they can only go together one
         | way, but they are made of a bunch of smaller general-purpose
         | pieces. There is much more room for reusing those for your own
         | creations than there used to be.
        
         | jacquesm wrote:
         | Nothing stops you from doing that today. Your best bet for
         | buying bricks is ebay, $9 / Kg or so is pretty good pricing for
         | heirlooms ;)
        
       | thrower123 wrote:
       | I'm somewhat depressed by how explicitly Lego is marketing
       | towards 30-something man-children who build things to put them on
       | the shelf.
       | 
       | The worst part is that this model-kit design style is spilling
       | over and infecting their actual toy themes. It's harder for kids
       | to repurpose a set that's built 40% out of small tiles and cheese
       | wedges and little greebly bits.
        
         | Tomte wrote:
         | Buy Lego Minecraft. Lots and lots of 2x2, 2x4 and 2x8 bricks in
         | sensible colors.
        
           | thrower123 wrote:
           | Might have to look at this. The Classic boxes don't actually
           | have the classic colors in much sufficiency, and are likewise
           | full of tiny 1x1 and 1x2s to bulk up the part count
           | 
           | e.g. https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/creative-building-
           | bricks-...
           | 
           | It's a less than useful selection of pastel colors to really
           | do anything with.
        
         | lawn wrote:
         | Plenty of Lego sets for the kids as well. Just avoid these sets
         | if it's something you worry about.
        
         | estaseuropano wrote:
         | The kids spilled over their Lego box a few days ago - so many
         | unusable and pointless 1x1 round pieces, special weird shapes,
         | etc. Its all the sets which are fun to build but seem more like
         | a puzzle than a Lego set which you can really reuse, rebuild,
         | etc. I'm not normally nostalgic, but my box as a child used to
         | be all real blocks and I could build great stuff. Now its more
         | marketing to sell more and more branded sets. Worst is the Lego
         | city stuff though.
        
           | lucideer wrote:
           | If you think a 1x1 round piece is unusable/pointless, you are
           | truly lacking in imagination.
           | 
           | Even the varied array of "one-off" weirdly specific pieces
           | always find an unexpected application in a pinch somewhere.
           | I've been recently quite entertained by the creative work of
           | a Dublin lego-er making pubs (with many many small 1x1 round
           | pieces, and a selection of weird one-offs for signage/etc.)
           | https://snapwidget.com/embed/927292
        
             | handrous wrote:
             | > If you think a 1x1 round piece is unusable/pointless, you
             | are truly lacking in imagination.
             | 
             | I think you're underestimating the percentage of bricks in
             | modern sets that can be described like this. They're very
             | hard to mash up (e.g. "I'm going to use these two castle
             | sets to build a totally different GIANT castle!" or "Now
             | this pirate base is an oceanographic research center!"), to
             | add on to, and to repair if damaged. Plus they're just damn
             | _tiny_ for the part count.
             | 
             | They do sell the buckets still, which is always the retort
             | to complaints about modern sets, but it makes me sad that
             | the _entire_ way I played with LEGO sets when I was growing
             | up is nearly impossible with (most) modern sets (the ones
             | intended for kids, I mean--I don 't care if the ones
             | plainly marketed to adults aren't good for those things, of
             | course).
        
         | bombcar wrote:
         | I still remember as a child loving the "customized" pieces -
         | printed, rare - much more important that the normal bricks
        
         | ht_th wrote:
         | My mother, who is in her 70s, loves to build these new sets!
         | She also loved to build all the old Lego sets from her children
         | again for her grand children. Just to see if all the pieces
         | were still there, she said :-)
         | 
         | I like living in a society where playtime isn't just for kids!
        
         | skipnup wrote:
         | There still are lots of classic boxes of "normal" pieces:
         | 
         | - https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/bricks-bricks-
         | bricks-1071...
         | 
         | - https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/classic
        
           | hinoki wrote:
           | It's even better now than it was, since now you can get those
           | basic bricks from IKEA for cheap:
           | https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/bygglek-201-piece-lego-r-
           | brick-...
        
             | jacquesm wrote:
             | That's not cheap. Ebay bulk buys are cheap. And they come
             | with the free surprise factor too. Why not recycle?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | jbrnh wrote:
         | My dad complained about modern specialized lego bricks 30 years
         | ago. I got some of his old bricks from the 50's. They got some
         | weird shapes too. Nothing changed.
        
           | jacquesm wrote:
           | Fun fact: some of the oldest plastic Lego is H0 scale
           | vehicles. I have a bunch of these they are ridiculously
           | valuable today.
        
           | loudmax wrote:
           | Totally agreed. I have several single function pieces from
           | sets from the late 70s and early 80s:                 -
           | spring actuated forklift loaders       - boat hulls that
           | actually float in water       - airplane/helicopter rotors
           | (incompatible with technics because they predate it)
           | 
           | Not to mention all the doors, windows, trees, wheel axles and
           | pulleys that can really only do one thing.
           | 
           | There was a period in the late 90s/early aughts when Lego
           | really went adrift with the single function pieces. I got my
           | kids a Lego airplane set from that era that consists
           | basically of plane parts. No matter what you do with those
           | pieces they look like they're parts of an airplane. It's
           | pretty sad.
           | 
           | Fortunately, Lego corrected course. They still make
           | specialized pieces, particularly the minifigs. When you're
           | working at that scale, nearly all the minifig tools are going
           | to consist of a single piece. But most of the sets now
           | consist of largely of pieces that are flexible enough to be
           | assembled into anything. Sets from the Creator line come with
           | a booklet to assemble whatever is on the box (eg. a robot or
           | a dinosaur), but none of the pieces are so specialized that
           | they can only be used for one thing.
        
             | thrower123 wrote:
             | This argument is about a decade out of date, and I'm
             | completely uncomprehending how someone could not come up
             | with a way to repurpose doors and windows and wheel
             | axles...
             | 
             | There was a terrible period in the late 90s/early 2000s
             | when they did make a bunch of really chunky large pieces
             | that were impossible to do much with. Now the pendulum has
             | swung to the other extreme, and designs are littered with a
             | ridiculous number of miniscule pieces, which do little but
             | bulk up the part count and add baroque detailing.
             | 
             | A terrible example of this style of design is the most
             | recent X-Wing (https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/luke-
             | skywalker-s-x-wing-f...). Clearly a model marketed at
             | children. But the whole thing is incredibly fragile, made
             | up of fiddly bits, with a couple spring-loaded shooter
             | thingies tacked on to give it a modicum of play features.
             | The entire segment aft of the cockpit is a complicated mass
             | of technic beams and pins with a facade over the top, to
             | make the wings fold open, except that the wings don't
             | actually lock open. It looks really pretty, but as a Lego
             | set, it's a big failure.
        
             | jbrnh wrote:
             | Yes, and it almost killed the company. I read an article a
             | while back how they had no accounting from the designers to
             | production, and literately had 8 different chef minifigs
             | (also, making star wars sets helped them out as well)
        
           | seppel wrote:
           | This is true, but what changed is that Lego is now filling
           | the inside of their models with ugly colored bricks, which
           | makes changing the models much harder than in the past.
        
           | handrous wrote:
           | The trouble with the modern sets isn't specialized bricks,
           | it's that 3/4 of the brick count is short 1x1s and tiny flat
           | cladding pieces used to cover all the nubs. They're worse for
           | play than the old ones with more large pieces (so, a chance
           | of actually repairing the damn thing from memory if part
           | broke) and exposed nubs to add on to. Older sets also had way
           | more interior space or surface area for a similar brick
           | count, for ones where that mattered (buildings, vehicles).
        
         | elliekelly wrote:
         | They still make the "classic" sets of just basic bricks in
         | assorted colors. Around the holidays you can get a giant box at
         | Costco for $20 and I think Ikea might have a classic set even
         | cheaper. The classic bricks come in bright yellow boxes while
         | the dedicated builds are usually in blue boxes and the duplo
         | sets (classic brick sets for toddlers with extra large pieces)
         | are in green boxes. I think it's sometimes easy to miss the
         | yellow boxes in the lego aisle when you're so focused on the
         | blue boxes.
        
       | jccc wrote:
       | Um, if I click "Continue" am I agreeing to their cookie policy?
       | 
       | Is this popup a GDPR notice?
       | 
       | For anyone who doesn't see it: There's a giant blue box on the
       | left that just says continue to lego.com, and then a giant yellow
       | box on the right for going to their "Play Zone" for kids I guess.
       | 
       | Then in microscopic text underneath they only describe their
       | cookie policy but say nothing about what you're agreeing to.
       | 
       | [EDIT] Okay, it seems there is a cookie-control thing underneath
       | after you click. Only discovered it by meddling with the
       | Inspector. But that whole first thing just really looks like a
       | dark pattern.
        
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