LEGO from 1998-2005
Developed by: The Lego Group
Owned by: Jørgen Vig Knudstorp est. 2004, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen 1979-2004
Console Not Available
(That's right. I'm reviewing a building toy, not a video game.)
Like many millions of people, I played with Lego as a child. Hours and hours of dedication to putting together minuscule pieces of plastic to make fantastic things that only our small minds could fathom, parents tutting it off as child's play. Not so nowandays, people making professions on making giant, fantastic, or highly detailed anything for money. I still play with lego, my collection probably consisting of about 4000 pieces but I don't know for sure, and I plan on buying a new set maybe for Christmas.
I digress.
In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen began making and selling wooden toys from his company he called 'Lego', coming from the Danish words 'leg godt' or 'play well'. In 1934 he switched from making wooden toys to plastic, and in 1940 began making interlocking bricks from the popular plastic toy staple. These became fantastically popular and the rest is history, as they say. As time passed, the bricks began to take on new forms and pieces, to make more complex models. In 1966, Lego began to sell certain sets with Alternating Current motors with batteries, beginning the first Lego theme:
AC 12V Lego Trains. Since, Lego has made an extensive List [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lego_themes] of themes what is becoming quite the repetoire of 'Legos'.
Lego has become the 6th largest Toy Manufacturer in the world [citation [http://www.medibix.com/company.jsp?company_id=10009540]] and the 1st biggest tire manufacturer in the world [Out-producing Michelin and Goodyear combined bey over 300,000,000 a year, laugh-laugh]. The plant in... wherever it is, churns out over 19 Billion elements a year (36,000 every second) and sets are bought all over the world 7 every second. Third and fourth party collector sites like Peeron [http://www.peeron.com/] and InventionDB [http://www.inventiondb.com/browse.php?cubeid=689] allow you to buy mass-numbers of old pieces because since 2006, the Lego Group cancels production of old sets and pieces every year, which is unlike the older days of Lego, when it was run by Kjeld and Godtfred.
As stated in a very comprehensive and useful [http://gizmodo.com/5019797/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-lego] Lego guide thing, the group has to keep up with many of the complex and high standards of modern cut-throat toy industries like Mattel and Hasbro, while still [much to my delight] keeping their insanely high standard of production, safety and quality of sets and pieces. Where Hasbro might use low-grade plastic and churn out a million or more odd water-guns, Lego uses the same durable industrial-grade plastic formula its used since 1958, precision molded to accuracy to 1/1000th of an inch, almost never quavering from classic colours. That I can respect.
[img_inline align="left" height="212" caption="That's right. It's over 10 feet long. And made of LEGO."]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Weebleleezer/Aircraftcarrier/11111111.jpg[/img_inline]
What I find complaint with is that with United States' children becoming an ever-greater audience for the group to direct towards is that things like anime (Exo-Force), Collect-em all Stupid franchises (Bionicle) and already idiotic and protracted company sell-outs (Harry Potter, Star Wars, SpongeBob). I miss the good old days of Blacktron, Aquazone, Jonny Thunder and original Technic. When Lego put out the Star Wars Collectibles series, I though 'Kay'', Bionicle I knew would be idiotic, going to a 'huh', followed by Technic's Mindstorms, taking away the cogs and gears, replacing them with motors. Kids would learn new computer programs instead of gear-tooth speed reduction "fair enough". I gave up when in my newest issue of Lego Catalouge, I saw "Exo Force", "SpongeBob", "Avatar: the Last Airbender", no less than 5 new Bionicle sets even when that line had more than all of Classic Space put together, a shitload of Star Wars and one measly page of old fashioned Technic. The kind that's all beams and axels, no wires or motors or buttons. Like I said about two paragraphs ago, Lego tunes out sets that have been on the shelf for over a year. It used to be that they made all the old sets until the set in question wasn't purchased in over 7 months after 2 years of initial release, or 5 years since initial release, which ever came first. This means I probably won't be able to get my hands on a technically legal set of 8421 Mobile Crane, but it's the company's own loss as I see it.
The degradation of Lego from old styles of Bricks with Studs, Yellow-headed people and only about 9 colours will be missed by me for a while yet, and still thousands of children grow up loving a toy which is and will be one of the best for probably dozens of decades to come.
How is my final response? Not that it matters, Lego Group will still make tonnes of Lego, and tonnes of cash, I'll be at home playing with a classic, and children will learn that Darth Vader dies on the Death Star far before they're old enough to watch Star Wars Episode 6.
I guess all I can do is be all existential and say that nostalgia is awesome and that the younger generation is being corrupted by teenagers want for Anime and uninformed entertainment, but damnit it's just a toy, so enjoy it for what it is. Why the heck am I reveiwing a toy? Man, that was a long lapse.
Developed by: The Lego Group
Owned by: Jørgen Vig Knudstorp est. 2004, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen 1979-2004
Console Not Available
(That's right. I'm reviewing a building toy, not a video game.)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.67522#600389]
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.86412]
Sid Meier's Railroads! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.68483]
Gang Garrison 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.77975]
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of World War II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145860]
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.86412]
Sid Meier's Railroads! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.68483]
Gang Garrison 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.77975]
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of World War II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145860]
Like many millions of people, I played with Lego as a child. Hours and hours of dedication to putting together minuscule pieces of plastic to make fantastic things that only our small minds could fathom, parents tutting it off as child's play. Not so nowandays, people making professions on making giant, fantastic, or highly detailed anything for money. I still play with lego, my collection probably consisting of about 4000 pieces but I don't know for sure, and I plan on buying a new set maybe for Christmas.
I digress.
In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen began making and selling wooden toys from his company he called 'Lego', coming from the Danish words 'leg godt' or 'play well'. In 1934 he switched from making wooden toys to plastic, and in 1940 began making interlocking bricks from the popular plastic toy staple. These became fantastically popular and the rest is history, as they say. As time passed, the bricks began to take on new forms and pieces, to make more complex models. In 1966, Lego began to sell certain sets with Alternating Current motors with batteries, beginning the first Lego theme:
Lego has become the 6th largest Toy Manufacturer in the world [citation [http://www.medibix.com/company.jsp?company_id=10009540]] and the 1st biggest tire manufacturer in the world [Out-producing Michelin and Goodyear combined bey over 300,000,000 a year, laugh-laugh]. The plant in... wherever it is, churns out over 19 Billion elements a year (36,000 every second) and sets are bought all over the world 7 every second. Third and fourth party collector sites like Peeron [http://www.peeron.com/] and InventionDB [http://www.inventiondb.com/browse.php?cubeid=689] allow you to buy mass-numbers of old pieces because since 2006, the Lego Group cancels production of old sets and pieces every year, which is unlike the older days of Lego, when it was run by Kjeld and Godtfred.
As stated in a very comprehensive and useful [http://gizmodo.com/5019797/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-lego] Lego guide thing, the group has to keep up with many of the complex and high standards of modern cut-throat toy industries like Mattel and Hasbro, while still [much to my delight] keeping their insanely high standard of production, safety and quality of sets and pieces. Where Hasbro might use low-grade plastic and churn out a million or more odd water-guns, Lego uses the same durable industrial-grade plastic formula its used since 1958, precision molded to accuracy to 1/1000th of an inch, almost never quavering from classic colours. That I can respect.
[img_inline align="left" height="212" caption="That's right. It's over 10 feet long. And made of LEGO."]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Weebleleezer/Aircraftcarrier/11111111.jpg[/img_inline]
What I find complaint with is that with United States' children becoming an ever-greater audience for the group to direct towards is that things like anime (Exo-Force), Collect-em all Stupid franchises (Bionicle) and already idiotic and protracted company sell-outs (Harry Potter, Star Wars, SpongeBob). I miss the good old days of Blacktron, Aquazone, Jonny Thunder and original Technic. When Lego put out the Star Wars Collectibles series, I though 'Kay'', Bionicle I knew would be idiotic, going to a 'huh', followed by Technic's Mindstorms, taking away the cogs and gears, replacing them with motors. Kids would learn new computer programs instead of gear-tooth speed reduction "fair enough". I gave up when in my newest issue of Lego Catalouge, I saw "Exo Force", "SpongeBob", "Avatar: the Last Airbender", no less than 5 new Bionicle sets even when that line had more than all of Classic Space put together, a shitload of Star Wars and one measly page of old fashioned Technic. The kind that's all beams and axels, no wires or motors or buttons. Like I said about two paragraphs ago, Lego tunes out sets that have been on the shelf for over a year. It used to be that they made all the old sets until the set in question wasn't purchased in over 7 months after 2 years of initial release, or 5 years since initial release, which ever came first. This means I probably won't be able to get my hands on a technically legal set of 8421 Mobile Crane, but it's the company's own loss as I see it.
The degradation of Lego from old styles of Bricks with Studs, Yellow-headed people and only about 9 colours will be missed by me for a while yet, and still thousands of children grow up loving a toy which is and will be one of the best for probably dozens of decades to come.
How is my final response? Not that it matters, Lego Group will still make tonnes of Lego, and tonnes of cash, I'll be at home playing with a classic, and children will learn that Darth Vader dies on the Death Star far before they're old enough to watch Star Wars Episode 6.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I guess all I can do is be all existential and say that nostalgia is awesome and that the younger generation is being corrupted by teenagers want for Anime and uninformed entertainment, but damnit it's just a toy, so enjoy it for what it is. Why the heck am I reveiwing a toy? Man, that was a long lapse.
Leg Godt...................................
Play Well...................................
Play Well...................................
