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Lego life lessons
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:09am
by Lt. Dan
This is a cool little thing that my mom just showed me. All you Lego lovers will like this.
All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From LEGOs - by Steve Klusmeyer
Hand Me Another Brick
Are you into LEGOs? Our son, Caleb, is. He has been playing with LEGOs
since he was about four years old. He likes to put the kits together --
one time. After that, he uses the pieces to create his own designs. For
the last couple of months, he's been working on Legoville. His layout
features a railroad, streets, vehicles, people, and several buildings.
Oh, did I mention that it covers a third of our family room?
Comprehension, strategy, and ingenuity are just three life-skills being
developed in Caleb by these little bricks.
LEGO Lessons for Life
Life might be less complicated for all of us if we each received our own
LEGO kit at birth. Yes, I realize there is a choking hazard for children
under three. But when you are old enough, you can learn a lot from LEGOs.
I have learned that:
~ Size doesn't matter. When stepped on in the dark, a 2X2 LEGO brick
causes the same amount of pain as a 2X8 brick.
~ All LEGO men are created equal (1.5625 inches tall). What they become
is limited only by imagination.
~ There is strength in numbers. When the bricks stick together, great
things can be accomplished.
~ Playtime is important. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you are
building, as long as you're having fun.
~ Disaster happens. But the pieces can be put back together again.
~ Every brick has a purpose. Some are made for a specific spot - most can
adapt almost anywhere - but every one will fit somewhere.
~ Color doesn't matter. A blue brick will fit in the same space as a red
brick.
~ No one is indispensable. If one brick is unavailable, another can take
its place.
~ It doesn't always turn out as planned. Sometimes it turns out better.
If it doesn't, you can always try again.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:14am
by El Moose Monstero
~ You'd be surprised how many times people heads will provide the top bits for long range missile projectors or catapult ammo
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:14am
by Gandalf
Heh heh heh.
That's surprisingly true.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:19am
by Zaia
Hehehe, cute. I love LEGOs. Used to hog like 95% of the blocks when I'd play with my brothers (claiming eldest sibling rites), and then tell them that since they didn't have enough blocks to build themselves a home, they could live in the mansion I built for my LEGO people, but they'd have to live there as servants. And they always said yes.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:22am
by Lt. Dan
God that's jacked up.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:23am
by El Moose Monstero
I had so much fun with lego, especially when I brought in technic pieces as well so I could start making moving parts and stuff. Castles with traps and swinging walls and raising gate houses, pirate islands, space ships, even a USS Enterprise at one point - which exhausted my entire supply of white bricks.
Tried to introduce my sister to it when she was reaching the lego age, mainly so I could play with it as well and do the same thing that my dad did for me, but she wasnt really into lego. Shame...
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:27am
by neoolong
Gah, Legos are getting way overpriced now.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:28am
by Dorsk 81
My favourite toy as a kid...
As proof of the LEGO fun bit, has anyone got the Monty Python and the Holy Grail DVD? Theres a bit in special features, its the Knights of Camelot song, but done with LEGO!!! It is amazing!
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:45am
by Sarevok
I have a big collection of legos in my home. Most are from the SYSTEM series with lots of cars,planes, buildings, ships etc. Then I have the TECHNIC series which has some very cool cars and a helicopter. My next plan is to buy one of the pneumatic powered TECHNIC units.
Posted: 2003-11-24 01:45am
by Hyperion
I used to have like 3 of those huge plastic folding lid boxes full of them. Now I'm down to about 2/3 of one and a 20-strong fleet of spaceships.
Legos are too much fun, too bad they're so expensive, though there are Mega-Blocks, which are much cheaper, compatible with Lego, and even have some much cooler pieces for spacecraft.
Posted: 2003-11-24 01:49am
by Sarevok
Legos are too much fun, too bad they're so expensive, though there are Mega-Blocks, which are much cheaper, compatible with Lego, and even have some much cooler pieces for spacecraft.
Mega-Blocks are not as good as Legos. Their designs are very mundane and they have only a few brick types. However they are cheaper so I use them as a source of extra bricks.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:00am
by Howedar
Fake Lego is shit. It doesn't hold together at all.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:00am
by neoolong
Lego also has the best licenses.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:04am
by Howedar
Lego doesn't need licenses. The SW Lego is good, by all means, but the best Lego series were original.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:07am
by Crayz9000
Yeah, bring back Blacktron!
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:08am
by Dorsk 81
Crayz9000 wrote:Yeah, bring back Blacktron!
I remember them! *Brings back fond childhood memories*
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:11am
by El Moose Monstero
And those cool medieval phoenix dudes, god, they were cool.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:13am
by Howedar
Crayz9000 wrote:Yeah, bring back Blacktron!
AMEN BROTHER!
Blacktron I, though. II was okay, but I kicked ass. And Space Police I. And M-Tron.
Posted: 2003-11-24 02:42am
by neoolong
Howedar wrote:Lego doesn't need licenses. The SW Lego is good, by all means, but the best Lego series were original.
They do now considering that their original stuff now sucks compared to their stuff in the past.
Posted: 2003-11-24 03:04am
by Hyperion
evilcat4000 wrote:Legos are too much fun, too bad they're so expensive, though there are Mega-Blocks, which are much cheaper, compatible with Lego, and even have some much cooler pieces for spacecraft.
Mega-Blocks are not as good as Legos. Their designs are very mundane and they have only a few brick types. However they are cheaper so I use them as a source of extra bricks.
You have to realize that I don't bother building the sets, I never much cared for the sets, I always made my own designs. (I've lost track of how many of my various ships have had Lego guy heads as engines and the legs as guns...)
As for "fake" Legos not holding together, go get a set of Mega-Blocks, those suckers hold together better than normal Legos, they also join up with Legos without any issues. I ought to know this, my nearly 3 foot star-carrier is built out of a combo and holds together fine, even without a superstructure. The 18" long pirate frigate (think Nebulon-B in general design, just done right) is also built out of a combination, no problems there, both have been carried around to other people's houses for fleet wars (think RPG style games, but using Lego ship models rather than mental models for the vessels in the game)
As for mundane designs, I've never cared for the "OEM" designs from most companies, I think Lego has had like 1 or 2 sets that I actually built because they looked cool, and then they were promptly modified, usually to remove the stupid Lego guys. (I like capital ship scaling btw. Though I did build one shuttle/fighter, and a couple of
Millenium Falcon style fast frieghters with Lego-guy scaling) I must admit though that Mega-Blocks did come out with some sweet designs, like the aircraft carrier, granted that got tweeked real quick into a starship.
Posted: 2003-11-24 12:31pm
by DPDarkPrimus
BLACKTRON/STAR WARS CROSSOVER, BABY!
Posted: 2003-11-24 09:56pm
by Lt. Dan
I have both Legos and mega blocks but I only use the Legos. I just didn't like them as much.
Posted: 2003-11-24 10:00pm
by Crayz9000
DPDarkPrimus wrote:BLACKTRON/STAR WARS CROSSOVER, BABY!
I assembled an X-wing out of a few Blacktron sets and assorted other parts about 3-4 years before Lego released their X-wing sets.
Well, of course, now all those pieces are either in my Lego bin (haven't touched it in a while, too busy with my gf to really do anything) or in my 18-inch-long Corellian Corvette model.
By the way, does anyone here have those old Tyco blocks? They were even more like Legos than Mega-blocks are. The only way you could tell is by how the insides of the blocks were made, plus the fact that they didn't have LEGO written on the top of the bumps.
Posted: 2003-11-24 10:43pm
by KrauserKrauser
Bah FLegos ( I love them but they are sooo expensive)
Construx and Lincoln Logs all the way!
Posted: 2003-11-24 10:55pm
by Psycho Smiley
KrauserKrauser wrote:Construx and Lincoln Logs all the way!
Hell yes! Construx rocked! I only had a couple of sets, one space and two army, so my creations were rather limited. But you should have seen my space-blimp/airship o' doom!
Damn. Most of today's toys just don't have the same "use your fucking imagination, I'm not going to entertain you myself" factor. Too bad.