Lego Finds Discontinued Set For Boy Who Saved Up For 2 Years

I'll downvote you for not linking to your product on Amazon with your referral code! (j/k, :P, etc.)

Based on what I've learned here, it's my understanding that shameless self promotion is a spectacular way for individuals to provide for their own needs and for people important to them. It is foolish to begrudge anyone this when they are contributing value to the conversation.

You make a really cool product I'd never heard about before. Definitely of interest to parents who let their kids play with an ipod touch.

Kudos.

(link for the lazy: http://smallworks.com/ )

I love your slogan: "brick your phone"

I have one of these and it is hands down the most practical smartphone case I have ever had.

Need a stand to watch a movie on a long flight: add some stubby wing pieces from my Y-Wing set.

Need a way to hold the phone on a stand for Facetime between the toddler and Grandma: a few extra pieces of lego and a rubber band.

Need to hold the phone in place on my car's dash: the studs of the not-legally-lego back help hold it in place.

The only real downside is that the shape of the hole in the back for the camera and flash (iPhone 4 model at least) isn't large enough that the flash doesn't kick off a bad reflection across any image you use it with.

I am sure they were extremely easy to work with, since they no longer have a patent on the LEGO brick and thus have no leverage over you:

http://boingboing.net/2011/10/21/expired-patent-of-the-day-l...

FYI, I went to check out your case (which looks cool!) and you have a dead YouTube link on your iPhone page [1]. ("This video is no longer available because the uploader has closed their YouTube account.")

[1] http://www.smallworks.com/iphone.php

I love it. If only there was an option for other phones (Galaxy Nexus here).

Totally agree. I picked up a box of plain Lego blocks for my desk at work a little while back. They start conversations, are great to fidget with while on the phone, and can provide a nice distraction when needed. Definitely a good investment.

I agree. We bought a mindstorms kit for me daughter a year ago (she has engineering aspirations).

I have to confess, I've had as much fun with it as she has.

I'll add something else for balance here: I went to see The Avengers after studiously avoiding any marketing for the film. I wanted my mind free to experience every scene for the very first time, like a pledge-ring wearing co-ed looking forward to her wedding night. I didn't even know that Loki was the villain, that's how innocent I was.

My friends and I arrived at the cinema early, secured great middle seats and sat back to endure endless local commercials (Annie got it done no less than four times.) Then it was time for the very last advert before the trailers started: Lego. A Lego set featuring the Avengers. An animated Lego set where the various characters recapitulated the plot of the film in thirty seconds. Many, many angry voices cried out, to the general tune of, "That better f-ing not be in the movie." It all was.

It tainted our experience pretty badly. Even if the advert had featured a completely different story we'd still have been looking out for similarities. This was a few days after opening weekend, too!

I still love Lego, but she's given me my first disappointment. I guess I'm growing up.

Heh .. good for you! I'm an AFOL (adult fan of lego). For me, it started when I got a Mindstorms set to play with robots. I needed pieces for more sophisticated contraptions and the addiction began.

As with all things, moderation is key. I've got about a dozen high-end technic sets at this point. And I realized I had a problem ... my lego addiction was insatiable. Addictions aren't always bad .. but for me personally ... my lego addiction was bad. I didn't learn anything about building. All I did was follow the instructions to build the model. It was ... as you said .. zen like. But I got no feeling of accomplishment. I'm not an artistic person and have no interest in building MOCs (My Own Creations, in Lego community speak).

Anyways ... I have gone cold turkey. Haven't bought one in 8 months or so. I could crack any day if there are any good holiday sales :-p

Your experience sounds great and something I've been trying to replicate. Building something with your hands and watching it come together provides a different level of satisfaction and enjoyment than hacking on your computer. Recently, I've been trying to come up with ideas of "adult" things I could build in my spare time without taking up too much space in my apartment - such as model vehicles or aircraft. I hadn't even thought to just revert back to Lego, which I enjoyed a lot as a kid. I think I'll give it a try, thanks!

I can really identify with that flow state you describe so well.

I have built 5 or 6 of the larger Technic and buildings (each thousands of parts) over the last year or so.

The structured play (simply follow the directions and you will get to the goal) is a very welcome counterpoint to the somewhat unstructured way in which I spend my days (here's a blank page, describe a complex product in any way that you see fit).

I can feel you there. However, there is a certain zen in the opposite as well. Having a general idea of what to build and a general plan and direction but little else. The specifics are left to between you and the thing you are building as you build it.

And that's what's beautiful about a good general purpose bucket of bricks. It's right brained creativity which complements Lego's instruction-based kits.

I can't believe I forgot about that with LEGO's. I find puzzles are good for that too. I think I'll have to buy myself some kits.

For me, I got really into Minecraft for a while and felt that same magic and wonder that Lego offered as a kid -- Creating mockups and wireframes of things I wanted to create, then building them in the game, was just a ridiculously awesome experience.

Have you never stood on a piece of lego? :)

The latest 'Friends' range targeted at girls has received some bad press. Not much construction to do, all nail bars and shopping sort of sexism. Not the most serious bad press but its something.

I think there was a piece on hacker news attacking them a few months back for a shift in their advertising from being relatively gender balanced in the 80s to being very boyish today.

Other than that though I completely agree with you. They seem like a great company.

Some people [1] have linked the rise of Lego and the decline of Meccano [2] to the decline of manufacturing in the western world, as Lego doesn't teach Meccano's lessons about L section beams, diagonal braces, gantries in tension and compression, and so on.

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1333215/Why-Britain-n... [2] http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8Q-tdV67Suc/TfhcQxf63JI/AAAAAAAAAT...

There has been some criticism over their rather aggressive use of trademark to fake "patent" their designs after their original design patents had expired.

I also heard (so, unverified) that users of 3d-printers has gotten some of that attention.

So, great company to work with, great products, but clearly a bit overreaching in the legal department. How evil that makes them... meh, at least they are not trying to patent something that they themselves never created. Still wrong through.

As a child I was a huge Lego fanatic. I don't have much time for it anymore, but I still make a point to walk through the Lego aisle if I'm ever in a toy store.

One thing that I'm a bit saddened about is how it feels that movie tie-ins have overshadowed the other sets. Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, Avengers, The Hobbit... what I loved as a kid wasn't that I was building a replica of some fictional universe, it was that I could create the universe in my head as I was building it.

And yeah, the Lego Friends thing makes me rather sad. But that's not wholly Lego's fault; parents insist on segregating girls' toys from boys' toys, and Lego reacted to meet that demand. Who knows, with any luck maybe some of the girls who otherwise wouldn't be exposed to Legos at all will get introduced to Mindstorms.

And I still have to give them props for this ad from 1981:

http://cdn.twentytwowords.com/wp-content/uploads/Awesome-198...

I suppose this is the benefit of being a privately held business - you can adhere to your principles and goals without catering or placating the whims of public shareholders obsessed about this quarter's performance.

I was a huge LEGO fan when I was a kid. I didn't have many themed boxes but the basic bricks were more than enough for a kid with a lot of imagination.

As a grown up, seeing all those incredibly detailed scenes and models created by fans pop up every now and then on the net has been fun to watch.

As a father, accompanying my kid through his discovery of LEGO was a treat and a great occasion to get into the "zone" for hours… with him.

I must say that I wasn't convinced by their Hero Factory stuff; thinking it was too inherently violent and left too little room for my kid's imagination. Now that he has 6 or so of those and spends hours combining their parts (adding LEGO elements here and there) into gigantic — and horrific — figures I can say that I misjudged them.

LEGO is just now (in process of) suing Czech Pirate Party on trademark grounds.

We (as in pirate party) made a pretty mediocre (IMO) ad before elections, which used CGI models that bore some resemblance to Lego figures.

They didn't like that. We think we are in the right; however, we don't particularly like LEGO corporation at this moment.

The ad was just on youtube and not in any TV or amything.

Any child who has the willpower to save for over two years would be crushed.

What is this “Asperger's” you speak of? It doesn't seem to be in the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/asperg...

Bah humbug, don't be snobby about these things, it's not as if HN is overrun with them.

Just enjoy it as a break from the norm.

Or maybe most of us who up voted knew it was PR and we want their PR to work?

I guess it's all about having valuable brand, IP and tie in deals with movies etc.

See also Games Workshop.

There is reason for their seemingly high prices it is because of how accurately the bricks are built. They are meant to be a precise size to something like 0.002 mm and you can see it is a quality product compared to Mega Blocks which just feels cheap.

I'd say a normal set goes for about $0.10 a piece, prices will go up if they require a license (Star Wars) or have lots of special abnormal pieces.

Minifigs cost a lot more to make, they are also collectable themselves. I have collected sets since I was three years old and I have only recently discovered how valuable and collectable just the minifigs are to some people.

They've always been absurdly expensive. Maybe you didn't notice it in the US before since the dollar was so strong, but over here in Europe it's always been pricey stuff.

The Ninjago and film tie-in Lego is overpriced, but the Creator range has been good value. These sets cost $5-$25, with 3 "official" ways to build each one and loads of make-your-own possible models thanks to a good mix of regular bricks, plates and fancy pieces.

The problem with the themed stuff is that it isn't really Lego. It's more like any other plastic toy - pre-built (or made from a few big pieces), not much replayability but "looks cool" on the box and in toy catalogs.

On the company - another anecdote - my son lost a piece of one set, I went through the "lost a piece" process on their web-site and to my surprise they sent it us, for free. Although given all I've spent over the years on Lego, I think I was due a 1x2 grey slope with grill :-)

Is it possible that inflation[1] has outpaced your childhood memories? Assuming 1990 is a mid-point for peak LEGO buying among HN readers, here's a couple of basic 'space' sets with comparitive prices:

6923 "Particle Ionizer", a small space ship: $24 in 1990 would be $42.48 in 2012

1616 "Space Combo", couple of minifigs and mini vehicles: $10 in 1990 would be $17.70 in 2012

[1] http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

[2] http://guide.lugnet.com/set/6923

[3] http://guide.lugnet.com/set/1616

Duplo is made by Lego (and Duplo bricks are compatible with Lego bricks).

I promise you, my friend, that any 10 year old with a little imagination can build a thousand treasures with any 100+ piece lego set.

I didn't realize you couldn't reuse the Legos from the specialized kits. I better go tell my kids who have built all kinds of crazy contraptions over the years. Frankly, I think having a bin full of parts that used to be a few different kits makes for a lot more creativity than having a bin full of standard Legos. There are so many more options.

The Lego creator sets are built with the generic bricks and and they reintroduced the City line which also uses far fewer specialized bricks than the licensed sets. The big tub'o'bricks are still on sale as well.

The simplest solution then is to avoid the fancy "sets" and just buy the Lego generic collections. For example, this is what I got for my desk at work - http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Bricks-More-Builders-Tomorrow/dp/... granted I wish they had included fewer small pieces, but it has no specialty parts so your limit is just your imagination.

What makes you think it's viral marketing and not just a company doing a cool thing?

> and the pieces aren't suited to building anything else

You are doing it wrong!

While I can see how LEGO sets have indeed become less imaginative in the box (all these sets that are specific for one use) unlike the creativity that was required when I was a child playing with LEGOs, that does not change the fact that you can use all the pieces in creative ways. Instead of embargoing LEGOs, maybe you should use them to teach your children to be creative in coming up with new ideas. (This is not meant as a commentary at your parenting skills - while typing this I can already see it as potentially coming across like that since I can't convey the proper emotion with text on a screen - just offering it as an alternate viewpoint).

LEGOs gave me the power to use my imagination and creativity to build what I wanted, and this empowered me as a child, and honestly I believe that it also gave me the analytical mindset that has translated over to my programming career.

When I was a kid (many years ago) Lego, surprise surprise, also came in kits usually to build one and only one thing. I'd always build that thing once, maybe twice, and then all those pieces went into the bigger pile. The kits always had the best pieces; it's actually harder, in my opinion, to build cool stuff if you have nothing but regular old bricks.

Lego still sells more 'old school' style sets, along with tubs of generic blocks. The sets also usually include extras of the smallest pieces.

Lemme guess, you've hated Lego since before it was cool to hate Lego?

It's surprising your comment hasn't been down-voted to oblivion. It's so factually incorrect.

You are doing Lego wrong!

When I was a kid (and that was during the horrible late nineties and early 2000s, when Lego was all about cramming as many special pieces into their sets as possible – a trend that has reversed by now) I of course needed generic bricks, but even the horrible sets of that time provided them in large enough numbers. What I also loved was repurposing special parts in novel ways. That was always possible, with every part.

My multifunctional super-car obviously needed all the special computer bricks I could get my hands on!

The only thing I never liked where bricks with stickers. Luckily those were and still are rare.

Did you just refer to the Consumerist as an ad agency?

The 'genius' of Lego is that the pieces from one 'build one thing' set work with the pieces from other 'build one thing' sets. I had a ton of those as a kid and they all ended up just being source material for whatever I was building. As a kid, whenever I saw new sets the things I was most interested in were all of the new custom pieces. "Wow! That set comes with a shark!" instead of "Look I can build some underwater vehicle!" I don't think that I ever rebuilt any of my sets after they were deconstructed back into 'source material.'

As a parent of 3 kids who have more lego than they know what to do with, I disagree. They've got a ton of lego city stuff, a few technics, and a couple of the character/themed ones. That's enough to cover the living room floor about an inch deep, with a few spare pieces to hide near their beds for me to step on at night.

There are special parts, not that many of them really. A lot of them can be worked around with a little builder's ingenuity. The special parts that are the most annoying are the ones where we have one or two, they're small, and they're somewhere. Not where we're looking, or where we've been looking for the last half hour.

My kids build the kit design once. Then the pieces go into the bins. They'll build it again, in motley color schemes, with adaptations. They'll build boats, cars, towers, trucks, and spaceships. And some things that I can't name, but they can tell you exactly what each piece is for.

And in the last year or so, they've started downloading the instructions for sets that they don't have from the lego site, going through them and figuring out what pieces they don't have and need to work around, and deciding if they can build those items. (This is a 5 and an 8 yr old). At 5, the kid is looking through a set of instructions, identifying pieces, remembering if there is one of them in the thousands of pieces we have, and deciding if it's something that can be worked around. That's pretty good training for engineering.

I don't know if you have a Lego Store near you, but you can walk into a Lego store and buy generic Lego bricks in every color. They also have a great website that lets you order 1 of any specialized brick they make or the generic bricks in bulk for pennies each.

Not sure what the problem with that is. And as others have said, after a week all those legos just go into one pot anyways and mix together to make anything.

Yeah it was in the late 90s I believe that they were almost going bankrupt. Part of it too was the number of special pieces they would use for only one set. I have the Lego Book and it's a great read, goes into a lot more detail than that Wikipedia page.

Yeah, I can relate as well. Spending countless, restless hours building small lego-cities. I have no doubt in my mind that that's what got me into an engineering-career. Except now I'm spending countless hours designing complex, high availablity, high scalability, backend systems..

The video mentions that his parents allowed him to buy another set, but he still was sad that he didn't get the set he wanted.

So the $100 was spent on Legos.

Priced $229. Which is more than twice the price he expected. As noted in the article.