Pleygo Launches Netflix for Legos | Hacker News Reader

Pleygo Launches Netflix for Legos

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31 pointsecopoesis24 comments

Feels like they misunderstand the point of Legos.

The great thing about them that I remember from being a kid was having bins of the things pile up -- each new set I got added to the creative possibilities of the whole. And when I made something extra-cool, that was like an art piece that I'd proudly put up on a shelf or somewhere for months until I got tired of it and recycled it into my next creation.

Great point.

Maybe they can iterate and instead of allowing you to order sets, you can order the number of pieces and which pieces you want out of an online catalog. That would be awesome!

I'd order 3,000 white 4x1 bricks, 500 white 2x1, 100 4x2 bricks, and like 50 windows so I can make that skyscraper I've always wanted to make. When I'm done I can just send them back.

Yes, this would be wonderful. Being able to actually make things that I'd thought up but never been able to do because of a lack of blocks would be awesome.

You can buy bricks from lego, starting at $0.10 per 1x1: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme

But you're likely better off buying bulk from other online retailers, like ebay, where you can buy by the pound (e.g., search ebay for "legos pounds"). See also http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/06/finding-lego-bricks-in-...

Totally agreed. This is neat, but I can't see myself signing up for it.

Inspired by Candy Japan (http://www.candyjapan.com/) I was researching how to do a "Lego of the month club"; a service that would send you a grab-bag of Lego each month, for whatever purpose you wanted. Different price tiers for different part counts, etc. Unfortunately, I could never figure out a good way to do it other than just buying a bunch of sets and randomly picking from it to make bags for people.

On the other hand, building a variety of sets taught me different options and novel or useful ways to build different structures. For example, it was kits that introduced me to the idea of interlocking pieces to increase strength. I immediately saw the value, and it enabled me to do a bunch of other cool stuff. It sounds trivial now, but it was not as obvious to 10-year-old me.

I'd say having bins of more generic pieces to sift through, and also having a stream of new sets available to construct but not keep, would be the best of both worlds. 'Cause let's face it, new lego sets aren't cheap!

From the article:

"Once your kiddo completes the Star Wars X-Wing Fighter, toss the pieces in the prepaid box and send back. They’ll be fully sanitized for other little architects, and your tiny tinkerer will receive the next kit in his queue."

Who uses Lego like that, using the blocks as if they were puzzle pieces for only one particular puzzle?

The magic of Lego is that you can use the blocks to build whatever you can imagine, and you can only really do that once you have enough blocks with enough variety.

I pity the kids whose parents think Pleygo is a good idea. What do the parents do if the kids start building their own ideas? Punish them?

There is a market for used Lego, but I suspect that market is already well-served by the likes of eBay and Lego forums.

When we were really little our mom thought Lego kits were expensive single-use toys. Fortunately she still got us a few kits and once she realized we could build hospitals and football stadiums and booby-trap houses out of the same pieces, she saw the light and started funding a Lego collection that has grown to fill an entire play loft in my brothers' room. It is possible for ignorant parents to become enlightened!

If Pleygo gets Lego pieces into the hands of a child whose parents wouldn't have bought them otherwise because of the expense, I think it's a good thing. Maybe once the kids turn their fort pieces into Trojan horses and their railroads into roller coasters, the parents will realize the power of Lego to accommodate creativity. I doubt it will take long for kids to start nagging parents for multiple kits. At that point, hopefully the parents will wise up and cancel their subscription.

Ideally that's what would happen, but I'd be curious to see what actually takes place.

I do believe you just called your mom 'ignorant'. In which case I'm sure she would not be happy.

Lego's were marketed as build a "fill in the blank with random thing" and that's it. Not a buy 15 bricks for construction of what ever. So it's 100% understandable that she did not truly understand at first.

Ignorant doesn't have to be an insult. It's a perfectly valid way of describing someone who lacks knowledge about a particular topic. In this context it really isn't an insult at all.

Yes that would be a good outcome for kids whose Parents try Pleygo. Not so good for Pleygo.

Um, no. Legos are not about building sets, playing with them, and then disassembling them and not touching them. The important part is when you throw all your pieces in a big pile and start mixing stuff up, making new stuff. How are you going to do that if you have to send back all the right pieces?

Maybe more importantly, how are you going to get back "a set" after it inevitably gets mixed up with others?

Despite the protestations that Lego blocks are just raw materials, a lot of of people do like Legos as a sort of easier scale-model-building hobby. But even they are going to want to collect the end results, not send them back once it is built.

That's very true and it reminds me of our local farm show that awards prizes for the best vegetables, baked goods, and handcrafts. There's a category for Lego models and every year, I see wonderfully inventive creations by kids of all ages, but the prizes always go to the expensive kits that anyone can make just by following instructions. (Sometimes there were duplicate kits and the prize would go to the people who desecrated their models by slathering them with paint!)

We were so enraged by this when we were younger that we wrote a letter to the farm show committee asking them to rethink their judging criteria. It didn't work, sadly, but maybe one day I will be able to volunteer as a judge. I'd look for inventive mechanics, a nice sense of style, and unusual uses for mundane pieces. I'd want to rewrite the admission manual as well, with better categories than "miscellaneous land vehicle" and "diorama."

That does seem silly though. There's no "skill" in building a Lego model faithfully by the instructions. OTOH, you do get into a grey area with customizations... like if someone buys two Fire Brigades, and builds them into a Super Fire Brigade, that's going to be "custom" but a lot easier than starting from a pile of bricks.

I loved legos as a kid and this seems like the stupidest thing I've ever heard, but I also spent a lot of time figuring out how to acquire sets with specific special pieces or pay the lowest cost per basic brick.

I signed up for me, not for a kid. I've had an itch to play with Legos again, but have been resisting the urge to go spend a bunch of money on one of the larger sets for two reasons: price and I don't think I'd get much repeat use out of it.

So, this could be perfect. Unfortunately, they're currently Backordered on every huge set, and all but one of the middle tier. Hopefully that isn't a permanent situation, otherwise the higher tiered plans are a waste of money.

Similar problem Netflix has with New Releases, I'm sure.

Our dining room table has been fully dedicated to Lego projects for years. This to the point of having built a regulation FLL arena on top of it:

http://firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/Challenge/Foo...

The fun and learning in Legos & Mindstorms is multiplied many fold once the kids understand that taking apart their kits or inventions opens the door to more fun.

Just a few days ago we tore apart all assembled contraptions and organized a backyard rubber-powered Lego boat race. We even came up with a makeshift 8 foot long race track by making a frame out of 2 x 4's, draping it with a tarp and filling it with water. The kids are still having fun with the setup and having a blast coming up with new boat designs.

I truly can't think of one scenario that would compel us to want to rent a Lego kit.

I have a feeling the founder doesn't completely understand the "Lego market". Mainly selling sets for retail and missing parts replacement.

"Q: Can I buy the set if my kid wants to keep it?

A: Yes. if your child loves the set and want to keep it, you can easily purchase it in your My Account page. You will be charged the retail price of the set and will get the next set in your queue."[1]

One of the sets available is "Green Grocer" set number: 10185-1. If you head over to Brickpicker the current used value is $544.75. The U.S. retail price was $149.99, if Pleygo charges the retail price these sets yield a huge profit.

A friend that buys/sells used Lego bought a Green Grocer for $150 from a family and it was sold on ebay for ~$500, so the price on Brickpicker is relatively accurate.

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"Q: What happens if my kid loses a piece? A: No worries - we understand that pieces can get lost during play. Our plans include a guarantee so that you will not be charged if normal loss occurs."[1]

I don't know what constitutes "a normal loss" but this could be very costly for Pleygo.

There are certain parts that are set specific and cannot be ordered from Lego (many licensed products Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc). You can buy these pieces on the used market but are very expensive.

The biggest loss would be MiniFigures (the Lego people); there is a huge market for figures and their accessories. Especially for those that come with large sets as there is no other method to acquire them.

The only way to remedy (other than not shipping figures) would be to charge market price for replacement. I think it would be difficult for the company to justify to regular customers that the "Lego guy" they lost would cost $20-$40 to replace. Though for a collector, even paying $10 with free shipping would be great.

I think the idea is great but have a feeling over time will be overrun with collectors looking to replace pieces and buy discontinued sets for original retail.

[1] http://www.pleygo.com/questions/

[2] http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=10185-1

I'm sorry, but it's called LEGO.

I can't quite understand how people in the US continue to get that wrong. There's a comment here that takes the care to capitalise it with an 's', so they have clearly seen logo.

My younger cousin is a Lego fanatic and he essentially plays with the sets as a single use model. I can imagine him liking this service quite a bit.

Losing LEGOS is inevitable. What is their policy on that.

> There’s no extra charge for lost strays (within reason), returned sets are thoroughly checked, and each shipment contains a bag of spares, just in case.

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