Interesting news story

[Lakop]

Below is the link to a BBC news story.

Has the imagination disappeared from Lego?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29992974

I say no.

H

[Blakbird]

This is not a Technic topic. Moving to "General Discussion"....

Several similar articles are already under discussion there.

The guy writing the article doesn't seem to know much. The "expert" quoted who says that Meccano is the only way to experience how things really work has apparently never heard of Technic.

[Saint]

And the fun starts when you breakdown the set and start exploring your own imagination !

grtz Saint

[Dr Leg O Brick]

An Interesting read. Personally, I don't think I can add much more to what people have said many times on this subject, or are no doubt going to add to this topic, or others. My personal view is that large specialised parts are a necessary evil, there's no way at the moment you could get the same desired results using regular parts in most cases without sacrificing look, price, or stability, big things when your target audience are kids.

However, the one thing that nagged me while reading it was, for me, am I not using my imagination when I rethink a large, specialised piece as something else other than the intended purpose?

Edited November 26, 2014 by Dr Leg O Brick

[lightningtiger]

Okay, so some chemistry nerd says Mecanno is better......judging by their product range in recent years is nothing like they were back in the 1950's.

By the looks of our MOC's here on EB, TV and movies give us heaps of inspiration and I've seen what kids can come up with so they have stacks of imagination.

Brick On !

[Sven F]

I keep hearing a lot of this "Lego was more versatile before, now you can only build what's in the manual" etc... and to my observation its usually said by people who know nothing about LEGO. Mostly parents who always think children should have what they had as kids, which is probably wooden blocks and playing cards. I hear them in the shop trying to persuade their child to get the Creator set because he reads on the box that you can build 3 different things. (as if you couldn't otherwise).

The only learning advantage of Meccano over LEGO I can see is that Meccano teaches children that mechanical things don't always fit or work perfectly together, they sometimes need a good bash of a hammer to get all the components to cooperate, whereas LEGO might give them an unrealistic impression that all things in life work so flawlessly.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Sven F

[robuko]

More parts means more ways to combine them and more ways to express imagination. Unfortunately all the imagination left BBC journalism long ago, this kind of nonsense is all too typical.

[Gnac]

Betteridge's Law strikes again!

Also, I know it was a different article, but this very concern was also discussed here.

That article spurred a mini-series of analytical writeups, which I thought were very good reads. So it's a bit irksome to see another piece of clickbait cherrypicking from one such writeup for the sake of supporting the "specialised parts" argument, while showing disregard for the rest of the research.

[rodiziorobs]

"Single-outcome sets encourage preservation rather than destruction, and sadly that makes them less useful, less educational (and, in my opinion, less fun)."

That makes about as much sense as saying that a recipe book eliminates creativity from a kitchen. The recipe book helps people who may not know how to cook, guiding them to an outcome that will be successful, and giving them confidence to someday perhaps stray from the recipe and try their own creation. However, the ingredients remain unchanged regardless of whether they follow the recipe or not, and thus the potential for creativity is always there. What the heck is a "single-outcome set" anyway?

Betteridge's Law strikes again!

Ha! I had never seen this before, thanks!

Edited November 27, 2014 by rodiziorobs

[Steph 104th]

Lego will always remain one of the few toys that you can change, you can do anything you please with it.

For Petes sake with 6 eight studded bricks you can make 915 103 765 differant combinations.

[fred67]

I actually don't find this article "interesting" because people have been whining about it for years, and the whole argument gets shot to hell with five minutes of perusing LEGO Ideas or Rebrick.

[leoparder]

This article is shared the same day Lego posts a new commercial targeting parents/adults and talking about the creativity of Lego bricks and how the children play with them.

Coincidence ?

And I must say, a pretty nice video too !

[Peppermint_M]

It happens all the time at Christmas they need some toy related stories and once we get past the (media says)Must Have Toys!! and the different ways in which these can be looked at/by (Kids, Adults, Students, Old People, Posh People, etc) we start with the "Barbie is bad for body image!!!" "LEGO Isn't six basic bricks in three colours anymore!!!" "I The Journalist Feel Old Because My Rose Tinted Past Is No Longer the Present!!!!!" type stories.

Anyone who knows LEGO products knows there is creativity to be had. It is only limited by the hands the bricks are in.

[Tuinman]

When reading the article I felt like a few grown ups were complaining that back in the ol' days, when they were kids, everything was better.

Creativity is not only building new vehicles/ buildings whatsoever, it's also making up new stories with the things you have.

[AmperZand]

Creativity is... making up new stories

Or for BBC journalists, making up news stories.

[Vindicare]

Some comments, like the ones featured at the bottom of that article really bother me. They're very misleading...saying there's no imagination or creativity. Someone even went as far as to say, "Just a sign of how dumbing down works, were now even Lego now cannot let you think you must build what they say. In my day I had a bucket full and built my own x wing, shuttle, castle or anything I wanted. Now you build what's on the box and don't you dare think for yourself and get creative you might grow up to be a thinker, to many of those and we may have to answer some serious questions". I mean, really? That's about as over dramatic as they come.

I'm guessing that person hasn't bought a single set in a very long time, just past by them in disgust at the store. They definitely have never been to a Con or have browsed here for 5 minutes and seen what real creativity can be achieved.

[alois]

What bothers me in the comments is not all the people who agree that Lego has lost its creativity. There are enough counterexamples in the comments. But many people claim that Lego has become too expensive. Lego is expensive, but not more so than thirty years ago. People tend to forget that they didn't have to pay for their Lego when they were a kid.

[Jared]

I tend to find the people who write these articles don't know much about the hobby. :/

[Derfel]

Apparently there are few bricks to unimaginative reporting 1/ find something people like 2/ say something outrageous to get your click ratio up 3/ Ask one expert (who probably gave you the idea) and hack out a 'better in't old days line!'

This sort of stuff gets my goat - there is nothing stopping anyone from buying a bucket or two of blocks and going for it the old fashioned way. so all we have is a Meccano fan saying he prefers his stuff. Cutting edge.