Something I hadn't thought about before now

[BreadMan]

Ok, I am of course about to beat a dead horse here, but this weekend I had a personal experience that made me realize something.

People are always complaining about the "good old days" and how they want nothing but for lego to rewind time to 20 years ago. Usually when I read these I don't give them much thought because, while I agree that stuff in the past was great, I know that at least for me part of that is just because of nostalgia. And while, for instance, I'd love to see something like pirates or forestmen come back, I can understand that there's only so many times you can redo the black seas baracuda before you're just repeating yourself, and lego likes to have a certain level of originality.

This perception changed this weekend when I went to a Sacramento Brick Builders meeting, however. I was going in the hopes of finding fellow AFOLs, but it turns out the club was all kids who get together to play brickwars. Anyway, I had some BPB stuff in the car, and also the Drake, so I got it out and set up on a table in the back. All the kids took a break from their game to come over to oggle and go "coooool!" and ask me questions. Then one kid pointed to the masts on the Drake and said "where'd you get these long black tubes?" For a second I was confused. Then it dawned on me that none of them had ever seen an actual lego pirate ship. They were just as amazed by the working compass as they were by the size and construction of the ship. And while they were able to point out the minifig parts from KK2 and some KK1, none of them had ever seen the majority of the helmets and weapons carried by the onboard troops.

Anyway, its all been said before I know, but I just wanted to share the realization that there's more than just nostalgia as a reason for bringing stuff back. Kids are missing out on stuff that I just take for granted because I was able to get it back in the day. I don't want lego to just start re-producing old stuff, but I'd like to see more throwbacks to the old stuff in the new stuff they do produce.

[HenrytheV]

I agree whole-heartedly with Breadman. Most of Lego is old stuff, pieces that I can only get from Ebay and other second hand dealers. If Lego would bring back some of the old stuff, most of my money would go to TLC. The kids of this era are missing out on great things.

[Formendacil]

Well, I would agree with your suggestion that LEGO needs to return to Pirate ships and realistic Castle. I support that wholeheartedly.

But to use a term like "bring back the old days" can mean some VERY different things on this forum, and you are either a very brave or very foolish man to use such a term.

[TheOrk]

I agree entirely. My megablox supporting friends where shocked to the core of their beings when I showed them some early 90's minifigs.

TLG says they're doing it for the kids, maybe I'm also beating up a dead horse, but I would really like to the kids who inspired this.

Last year, I brought in an old pirate ship for a project at school and all the guys in my class wanted to know if "some guy" made that on ebay or something...

[BreadMan]

LEGO needs to return to Pirate ships and realistic Castle. I support that wholeheartedly.

Precisely what I meant.

I don't want lego to just start re-producing old stuff, but I'd like to see more throwbacks

And yeah, I don't know why I bothered bringing it up since this has been rehashed and rehashed again and again, but, well, I was bored . And talking with the kids just sparked something that I wanted to share. Anyway, hey, lets talk about how much bley sucks compared to old grey! (I kid, I kid...) Somebody can lock/delete this thread if they want.

[Formendacil]

No need to delete/lock it. YET.

So far, you have made an interesting observation, and we could all have an intelligent conversation regarding its implications. I was just questioning the choice of words (and with the EDIT button on the upper right hand corner of your post, you CAN go back in and edit), since they seemed a little risky.

However, if this DOES degenerate into a bley vs. grey whinefest, there will be no hesitation in its closure.

~Michael A. Joosten - Moderator~

[BreadMan]

Mm, ok I see what you mean about the wording. Understood, my bad, changes have been made. Better now?

[Formendacil]

Mm, ok I see what you mean about the wording. Understood, my bad, changes have been made. Better now?

Definitely a lot safer!

[Sir Kohran]

Kids are missing out on stuff that I just take for granted because I was able to get it back in the day. I don't want lego to just start re-producing old stuff, but I'd like to see more throwbacks to the old stuff in the new stuff they do produce.

Okay, whilst I get your point here, I do think Lego is at least trying to address our concerns, with stuff like this. Sure, it's not really a great way to tell kids about the great older castle sets, but it's a start.

[Tristram]

Hey BreadMan, how did you find out about the SACBB meeting? I was on their site and it hasn't been uppdated since May. Oh wait, if you're a member, you probably got an email, right?

I suppose I'd better join, huh? Sounds like they could use some more adult members!

[Blueandwhite]

Well, I would agree with your suggestion that LEGO needs to return to Pirate ships and realistic Castle. I support that wholeheartedly.

But to use a term like "bring back the old days" can mean some VERY different things on this forum, and you are either a very brave or very foolish man to use such a term.

Indeed.

That being said, I yearn for the "good old days"!

Today's sets have too many specialized pieces, and simply lack the necessary basic bricks to build anything of real value. Certainly, some of the sets look quite nice. That isn't enough! LEGO sets used to come with a wide assortment of plates, tiles and bricks, making it easy to build an infinite number of interesting MOCs. Today's sets are still far too simple! Most pieces are function-specific, making it difficult to truly create your own MOC.

Now perhaps this is indicitive of what kids want. It certainly isn't what I want as a builder. Huge sets built entirely from pre-fab pieces simply do not appeal to me. I want a building toy, not a snap-together model kit. Fortunately, LEGO has some sets that harken back to the glory days (notably the City and Viking lines, but also Star Wars). Hopefully other lines will follow suit.

Heck, for a long time most LEGO models were colour-coded to make building easier. This isn't the sort of thing I want from the world's best toymaker. I can only speak for myself, but I truly hope LEGO returns to form in the next few years.

Later.

[stawastawa]

a real life story for the real world

[Bruce N H]

I don't really understand the need for originality. Given that LEGO's core audience covers at most a ten year range, they could re-introduce the same or very similar sets every ten years and those sets would be new to the average 8 year old. Sure, there is the lucky kid here and there whose older sibling has old sets, but that's pretty rare. And those of us old fogeys who remember the originals would probably be thrilled to get some rereleased sets from favorite lines.

I'm not saying they should stop designing new things, but they could mix in say 10% of reworked older sets, and it would be a great thing.

Bruce

[stawastawa]

though perhapsa bit better reworked than then new version of 6090

[Lonan]

they could re-introduce the same or very similar sets every ten years and those sets would be new to the average 8 year old. Sure, there is the lucky kid here and there whose older sibling has old sets, but that's pretty rare. And those of us old fogeys who remember the originals would probably be thrilled to get some rereleased sets from favorite lines.

I think that's an excellent idea, Bruce. They kind of went in that direction with the legends, but they're too few and far between. If they'd give us 2-3 re-released sets a year, I think it would make everybody happy. I mean, what 10 year old wouldn't think Forestman's River Fortress is cool, even today? I'm all for bringing back some of the classics.