My mind is BLOWN

[bigguspickus]

I also grew up with the old castle, pirate, and space sets. Back when there were only a hundred or so unique pieces, you would make a blocky submarine or pixelated spaceship and your imagination would smooth out the rest of the shape.

Lego has gotten soft with their newer movie themed kits. On some of the Harry Potter kits I've seen, there are giant smooth pieces that can really only be used for one application. What else can you build with a 1-piece spiral castle roof other than another spiraled castle roof?

That said, I agree with tallman that Lego Mindstorms are great for teaching kids about robotics.

 

[kboman]

I agree to some extent about Lego - but it has gotten a bit better in the last few years. Ten years ago, the situation was worse as far as I could tell. They have new leadership since a couple of years that has really turned the whole company around in a dramatic way. Still too much damn movie tie-ins for my taste though...

 

[Mor Paul]

I actually go to a week link Mindstorms event every year, this year is the last year I'm able to. I generally try to make something destructive (like launchers that ended up going so fast, the tires had pieces of rubber flying off. Very fun) and something impressive that nobody has done before in the camp. I did a bipedal robot before anyone else there, with a smooth walking motion, and last year, I was really close to completing an arm that required to RCXs (control blocks) that would have to communicate using bluetooth. I ran out of time, so I think I'll give it another try this year.

 

[Return of Guitlouie]

Believe it or not, I think Legos have gotten less creative.  This isn't supposed to be a back in my day rant, but the Lego sets i've seen recently have a lot of specialized prefab components that take some of the creativeity out of some of it.  Instead of making a piece that needs what you need it to, Lego has already done it.  I remember I made a 2 speed transmission that had a neutral and reverse mounted in a 4 wheel independent suspension chassis when I was 10.  Now those are just pre-assembled pieces that come with directions.

I thought this, too, untill I watched my kids with them.  My kids will spend no more than half an hour following directions, before they get frustrated and take all those highly specialized parts, and what do you know......make something new out of them.  The kits they (Lego) put together are for weenies who follow directions.  The parts are for people who have yet to find a random piece that they cannot dream up a use for.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Of course you can use the specialized pieces for other things than what the directions say, but someone has already made the piece for you.  Instead of making your own rack and pinion steering, now you simply install the rack and pinion piece, for example.