Lego: how do they make it SO well?

[Zak33]

Last weekend I was out to buy my lad a present. He's been very good for weeks, and I just got paid a bonus so I thought it was time Daddy bought him something to build......

I didn't go to BUY Lego, cos he has duplo and he's only 3 1/2 but the stuff I thought I wanted... didn't call to my heart.
But a £26 box of Lego, to make a set of different "log cabins" was calling me

7 Years and over....

sod it.. I'll be doing it with him.

He was so excited I thought he'd explode...I've been worknig every hour for 3 weeks solid so we've only been together for period when I was... stressed or concentrating on otherr stuff. So ... "quality time " time.

We, (Sair, I and Zak Jr) spent 3 hours building a tiny little lego cabin.. and it was astonishingly detailed. For the un initiated, you have no words in the instruction.. just 3d drawings, with a list of components needed on that page. No words.. so for a kid who can't read yet.. genius. He was counting the blobs on top of the picures, working out which piece he needed.. and if it said 2x or 3x he knew how many he needed.

His 3d ability to read a diagram improved vastly... and we finished it.... and the roof comes off, it has an external BBQ, sloped roof etc.. amazing,.

But it's the qaulity of the Lego that astounds.. the grip of the pieces.. the sharp edges of the building corners.. the strength of the structure...

it must be one of THE items that has not deterioriated over the last 30 years since I used it (not this kit.. but Lego in general). Amazing

But better was to come.

The day after, I was back at work.. but Sair and Zak Jr built the next one in the book... intermediate. So the first has to be taken apart brick by brick... and then they began.

The result is a 2 part house with a set of hinges that, when the house is closed... act as a chimney breast, and when it's open... allow the two sides to be so accurately folded that they must be within a thou of an inch.. it's astonishing.

little pieces of pastic for kids.. in a kids toy.. built with no tools... fits within a fraction of a fraction of an inch.

Lego..... it's the DADDY

[Tumble]

Wait until he's a bit older and you start building working gearboxes out of Technic with him You're in for such a treat

[Zak33]

Wait until he's a bit older and you start building working gearboxes out of Technic with him You're in for such a treat

I am SO in for that

SO ... bring it ON

[Zak33]

we got this
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...s|14417829.htm

though it makes 3 versions.. this is but one of them

[santa claus]

Will Zak jr be having a Scalextric or a train set or hasn't it been decided what you..er...he wants yet ?

[Zhaoman]

I am still a sucker for Lego, and I have an 8 year old brother too so I have the perfect excuse to indulge in my childhood toy fantasies (I'm still waiting for a bath full of bubble wrap but it will happen one day...). He also has more toys than I would ever have dreamed of at his age and sometimes I could spend hours playing knex or lego with him. It's fantastic and it feels great to achieve something together.

Also I'd say they have some pretty darn good quality control at the Lego factory!

[Barry]

my 9 year old is epic with Lego, he has a crane, HGV, plane, train sets ect, he can pull it all apart and rebuild it from memory

[jim]

Knex was my big thing as a kid. Used to make all sorts of models for the most preposterous of reasons, hardly ever used instructions. Cars, lifts, ski lifts, ferris wheels, loads more I can't remember. Not to mention a disastrous attempt to build a chair ops:

There's so much more mileage in something like Lego or Knex than the far more expensive toys that most kids want at Christmas, then never touch again after January.

[Lucio]

Lego is definitely one of the best toy ideas on the market, though sometimes woefully under appreciated by teenagers. Personally I loved seeing what I could make out of the kit that wasn't intended.

Hmmm maybe with my first larger paycheck I'll treat myself to that Lego stardestoryer I always wanted

[LWA]

Am I the only one that asked for some (and received) for Christmas from the girlfriend even though I'm 27?

[danroyle]

i started buying lego for my son when he was two he's now six and has a massive box he's got so much stuff he loves it. All he ever wants is for us to build stuff. It is good fun though

[Tumble]

Am I the only one that asked for some (and received) for Christmas from the girlfriend even though I'm 27?

No, you're not alone

[g8ina]

Managed to grab 3 kg of Lego at a car boot sale end of last year for a fiver Step-Grandkids were as chuffed as I'd ever seen em

[BeeP]

Lucky you

My 3yr old absolutely loves lego, I'm really starting to hate it as anyone who has stumbled downstairs in the morning only to step on a pile of it will know.

He mainly plays with the larger stuff, I think it's duplo or something. great stuff & we pass many hours making garages etc for his cars lol.

[TheAnimus]

Lego is just brilliant, I used to get paid to play with it and teach kids how to make things with Mindstorms (the technic lego with a little microcontroller brick).

My only complaint is that all too often now they are making a set that builds one or two things. Back 15 years ago you had a set that built hundreds of things.

[pauldarkside]

Lego: the ultimate in backwards compatibility and future proofing, and probably the best toy available for fuelling the imagination

I'll be fulfilling a lifelong ambition this year by going to the original Legoland. Taking my nephew too, he can't wait either