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LEGO Brick 50th Anniversary

Posted by CmdrTaco on Mon Jan 28, 2008 08:18 AM
from the can't-wait-for-them-not-to-be-a-choking-hazard dept.
Toys
An anonymous reader writes "'The LEGO brick turns 50 at exactly 1:58pm today. This cool timeline shows these fifty years of building frenzy by happy kids and kids-at-heart, all the milestones from the Legoland themed sets to Technic and Mindstorms NXT, as well as all kind of weird curiosities about the most famous stud-and-tube couple system in the world.'" Of course, it all peaked in 1979 with the space set. These kids these days with their bionacle. bah.
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[+] How They Make LEGO Bricks 327 comments
harajukboy writes "Businessweek.com shows us how the famous LEGO bricks are made. Among the new facts I picked up was that LEGO is the largest tire manufacturer in the world, and that the process is so air tight that only 18 of 1 million pieces are considered defective." I knew I was getting old when I first realized that these kids today with their modern legos have it too easy, what with all those crazy custom pieces. Why, when I was a kid, we had to use our imagination to build stuff.
Submission: LEGO Brick 50th Anniversary Timeline by Anonymous Coward
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  • too many custom parts. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by oliverthered (187439) <olivertheredNO@SPAMhotmail.com> on Monday January 28 2008, @08:21AM (#22207076)
    Lego now has far too many custom parts, it's a bit more like building some flat pack furniture that a chance to be creative.
    • But you still able to buy some pack with just regular (oldies) parts. I wonder how many of slashdotter had played with Lego.... 100% ?

    • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:5, Funny)

      by kryten_nl (863119) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:32AM (#22207176)
      "LEGO, training future IKEA customers since somewhere-in-the-eighties."

      • "LEGO, training future IKEA customers since somewhere-in-the-eighties."
        It's been a while since I've been to school, but being the 50th anniversary, I would suggest that we would looking somewhere in the late 50s.

    • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by CheeseTroll (696413) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:33AM (#22207180)
      Having watched my two boys assemble half a dozen new Lego sets since Christmas (Mars Mission & Aqua Raiders sets, IIRC), my first instinct was to agree with you. But after a few weeks, they're finding ways to build some very interesting custom space ships, towers - you name it. I'm sure that as they get older and no longer care about how much work it took to create the original designs, they'll have even fewer qualms about tearing them apart completely to build more new stuff.

      • Custom parts expand creativity (Score:5, Interesting)

        by lag00natic (982784) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:33AM (#22207718)
        With every new Lego set my son gets we first build the kit as per the directions. However, a few weeks later he's ripped it apart and built some completely original piece. The important thing as a parent is to encourage your child to experiment and mix-match pieces. I know some people that build the kits and then put them on a shelf - what a waste - where's the fun in that? Some of the stuff my son builds is some abstract I don't even know what it is, but so long as he's having fun and being challenged and creative - that's all that matters.

      • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by mlush (620447) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:34AM (#22207738)

        Having watched my two boys assemble half a dozen new Lego sets since Christmas (Mars Mission & Aqua Raiders sets, IIRC), my first instinct was to agree with you. But after a few weeks, they're finding ways to build some very interesting custom space ships, towers - you name it. I'm sure that as they get older and no longer care about how much work it took to create the original designs, they'll have even fewer qualms about tearing them apart completely to build more new stuff.

        I can't help but feel that people who claim 'Specialist parts have destroyed LEGO' have not watched any children actually playing with them. When my son is choosing a new set one of the key points he looks at are specialized parts as they allow him to build with far greater detail and/or on a far smaller scale then before (He has a very fine collection of minifig scale robots, aliens and monsters)

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by The Queen (56621)
          I can't help but feel that people who claim 'Specialist parts have destroyed LEGO' have not watched any children actually playing with them.

          I'll step up to that...

          My boyfriend's 8-year-old got the Mars Mission set this xmas, and the three of us built it together. I would start rearranging things and goofing off and she would get very upset and tell me I was "playing with it wrong" - her goal was to get everything precisely assembled, and then give the astronauts names and complex social hierarchies (this gu

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Zagadka (6641)
            This reminds me of a study I'd read about a few years ago that found that children fell into two different groups based on their behavior when playing with building blocks:
            1. build something and then preserve it
            2. build something, wait a while, destroy it, and repeat

            I suspect that your experience has nothing to do with how specialized the pieces were, but rather the fact that your boyfriend's 8-year-old falls into the first camp: once something is built it is preserved. An interesting experiment would be to get

      • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Viceroy Potatohead (954845) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:57AM (#22207938) Homepage
        A couple of years ago, I was playing with a friend's kid and wanted to change the directional plane of what I was building, so I took a "plate" type piece (the 1/3 thickness ones, or skinny ones or whatever) and stuck it edgewise on the face of what I had already built. (I'm not sure that I've explained very well, but I'm sure most people used to do this). The kid was pretty excited to use this new trick, and started to incorporate it into what he was doing.

        The kid never needed to figure out how to change the building plane because of all the L-brackets, hinges etc that exist in modern Lego. There is still plenty of creativity and problem-solving possible, for sure, but it's now rarer for a kid to have to figure out fundamental solutions with limited materials. IMO, that's what earlier Lego taught kids: fundamental problem solving. Mix that 'teaching' with a kid's creativity, and interesting creations are bound to happen. It's an important skill to be able to create something with the wrong tools, or no tools at all.

        It reminds me of a bit in Zen In the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The main character wants to fix a loose throttle with a shim made from an aluminum can, and his friend wants to use factory shims, which would be basically the same thing, but not currently available and costly. There's no basic understanding of the problem, and the solution is to buy some product to correct it. IMO, too many 'ideal' Lego pieces promote the same mindset.
        • I remember learning that trick from seeing a few Megablock sets. Let me tell you, that's the only good to have ever come out of Megablocks. Even their own pieces didn't fit together correctly, let alone when mixed with LEGOs. Furthermore, they were cheap and broke easily. Eventually my brother and I went through our entire block collection (about ten of those big plastic storage tubs you'd get at Wal-Mart) and purged it of Megablocks. That era was henceforth known as the Block Inquisition throughout our bed
    • I think the worst case was that UFO set of (1996?) the ships had these huge spheric parts that would only allow you to make flying saucers, after that it began to improve again. I think though that there are still sets advertised for younger kids that just come with a lot of blocks and wheels, if you really want to force creativity and not just plain sci-fi fun I would recommend those.

    • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:4, Informative)

      by sarabob (544622) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:29AM (#22207688)
      Sorry, but I call bullshit on that one.

      There's been something of a renaissance in the last few years, what with the modular Cafe Corner [lego.com] (which has a whole blog [blogspot.com] devoted to it) and the creator houses [lego.com]. Not to mention lego's official 3d modeller which links in to their ordering system - design a model and they'll ship you all the parts for it in a custom box with a picture of your model on the front.

    • Re:too many custom parts. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Chelloveck (14643) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:52AM (#22207898) Homepage

      Lego now has far too many custom parts, it's a bit more like building some flat pack furniture that a chance to be creative.

      You know, I had the same thought... My son, now 10yo, has been into Bionicle from pretty much the time they were introduced. Yeah, he essentially went from Duplo straight to Bionicle. In his mind, Bionicle is what LEGO is all about, though he does sometimes break out some of the other sets. And he has my whole collection of bricks from the '70s too, so it's not like he has a lack of standard bricks to play with. He prefers the Bionicle parts.

      But you know, it's amazing what he comes up with with those "limited" custom parts. When he gets a new Bionicle set he first builds it according to the directions, and plays with it for half an hour or so. Then he rips it apart, adds it to the rest of the parts, and starts building new things. I don't think all the custom parts are hampering his creativity in any way. No, it's not the same as when we were kids, but it's still LEGO and it's still fun for kids to build new things.

      (BTW, I was entering high school when the Space series was released, and I disdained it even then because it had way too many custom parts compared with the regular sets. So, all you young punks who think the Space series was the pinnacle of LEGO... Get off my lawn!)

  • This was my story. Stupid slashdot.
  • I guess it was a time when the space race was still on, and space exploration was the cool thing in the hearts and minds of the public. Oh those lovely space sets...

    I wish they still made 'em like they used to. I still have my all my old Lego, and I wish I had more parts from the Space set. I seem to have an overabundance of red bricks (I wonder if that's common for everyone?).

    • Yeah that Galaxy Explorer set was definitely my favorite. I got it for Chrismas in 1980... I can remember being so excited and putting the thing together that morning.

      I probably still have it (or at least my parents probably do) in a box in their storage unit. One of these days I'll have to have them ship them to me and put it together in time for a 30th anniversary of the kit.

      (Holy crap, 30th anniversary? I'm soooo old.)
      • Oh yeah, I got the Galaxy Explorer [lugnet.com] too -- maybe even for the same Christmas! Probably the awesomest present I've ever received.

      • Re:The space set was awesome! (Score:5, Interesting)

        by cvd6262 (180823) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:05AM (#22207466)
        I probably still have it (or at least my parents probably do) in a box in their storage unit.

        I was at my parents' house for the holidays and my son (6) got some new Lego sets for Christmas. As he was putting them together he commented, "Dad, I'm better at building Legos than you are."

        Now, I've heard some pretty insulting things in my time, but this one cut straight to the bone.

        So, I walked (as calmly as I could) down to my parents' basement, found the two HUGE bins labeled "Lego," and dragged them up the stairs. I put down a blanket (so they'd be easy to spread out and clean up) and DUMPED out 15 years of disassembled creativity.

        My son just stood there gawking for a few seconds. Yes, words can fail even a six-year-old. "I... I... I don't even know where to start!"

  • Before the idiotic "legos" starts appearing... (Score:5, Informative)

    by ratbag (65209) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:24AM (#22207112) Homepage
    See Question 18 of http://ericharshbarger.org/lego/faq.html [ericharshbarger.org]. A pre-emptive strike.
    • Actually the fact is wrong: You see, it's just like the bricks. You can use the name in many different ways...

      You can use LEGO to refer to a single piece, or as a reference to the entire system.

      You can also use LEGOS. Which represents a contraction of "LEGO Bricks" simply shortened to LEGOS Some will object to this use. They just failed to understand the spirit of LEGO and are failing to play well.

      Just, whatever you do, don't Eggo your LEGO... ;-)

      All other questions should be referred to Zack the Lego Mani

  • Technic's! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by afidel (530433) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:24AM (#22207114)
    The height was Technics, just enough customization to build useful real world stuff without being so specific that it hamstringed you into just one thing.

    • Re:Technic's! (Score:4, Informative)

      by hcdejong (561314) <{ln.tensmx} {ta} {emca}> on Monday January 28 2008, @08:43AM (#22207262)
      The Technic range is still going strong, with (still) a good mixture of custom elements and lots of generic bricks and beams.
      • I had read that they were discontinued. Reading through wikipedia it appears it might have been TechPlay a subline of Technics, not the entire range.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by sk8king (573108)
          The local toy store carries several sets worth > $100 from the 2007 lineup...all Technic. Heck, I purchased the big yellow mobile crane myself. I do not believe Technic is discontinued.
    • I remember being around 10 years old, and, out of sheer boredom, built a guitar, with the neck being mostly made out of technic holed beams. I used rubber bands for strings. Later revisions came with whammy bars(that only worked on one string). I took earplug(like earbud on an ipod), and taped it to the body-ends of the strings. Instant pickups. Sounded like crap, but was fun for a kid.

      Then moved onto hardcore Technic projects. Helicopter innards, airplanes with working controls(one even had pitch trim usin

  • Lego is for kids. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ihlosi (895663) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:28AM (#22207142)
    Real geeks use Fischer-Technik. They had a full array of boolean logic blocks (at truly outrageous prices) in the early 80's, and robot kits, pneumatics, remote control, etc, long before Lego ever got around to doing such stuff. And who needs colors, anyway ? Grey and red is colorful enough.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by xaxa (988988)
      I remember when my dad brought back all the Fischertechnik models his school owned and asked me to assemble them all to check they were complete (beats loading the dishwasher!) -- I think we realised the Fischertechnik was worth more than the car he'd brought it back in...

      You could make an optical drive from Fischertechnik using a light sensor and a piece of paper with black and white squares on it and a suitable turntable and motor arrangement, including a disc head that moved in and out. Great stuff!

  • It's spelled "bionicle [lego.com]". Not Bionacle.

    I think you're getting Lego confused with Tentacle pr0n somehow.

  • innovation? assembly? (Score:5, Funny)

    by apodyopsis (1048476) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:52AM (#22207348)
    by selling a set with a plan to building the shape/figure on the front surely they are removing the element of innovation.

    we used to get it by the box and be forced to think from day one about what we could build with it.

    my civil engineering degree started with a room full of teenage would be engineers faced with huge amounts of Lego and a semi-serious challenge. whoever could build the lightest bridge out of the least bricks that would allow a 2kg train roll over it won the box of chocolates for their team. it broke the ice and got everybody talking to each other, lots of bridges collapsed in the testing zone that day.

    and it got to engineers used to a career of sitting at a desk thinking about consuming chocolate.

    • by selling a set with a plan to building the shape/figure on the front surely they are removing the element of innovation.

      Not sure how you leap to that conclusion... It's not like you're obliged in any way to only build what's on the box. You can build that, then build something else, or never build it at all. It's a supplement to innovation, not a limitation.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Smidge204 (605297)
      I don't agree with that. Especially with the more advanced kits which have more unique parts.

      When I got LEGO sets, I usually spent time building the models from the included instructions... which not only was awesome because the models were great, but it also helped me understand how any new parts worked.

      For example, one of the most advanced sets I ever got was a moderately large rescue helicopter model (alternate was a hovercraft/swamp boat thing... not quite as cool). New parts for me in this set included

  • Timeline is wrong! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cvd6262 (180823) on Monday January 28 2008, @08:55AM (#22207362)
    The gray castle pictured as the first (1984) castle set is incorrect.

    It should be this yellow one: http://guide.lugnet.com/set/375_2 [lugnet.com]

    Why do I remember this? Because I was so green with jealously as I watched my older brother assesemble the one he got for his birthday. Oooo, how I hated that castle.
  • Although some of us played the not-as-expensive Tente [wikipedia.org] alternative. It was really cool. I think that it is still possible to buy generic sets of Tente for a quite affordable price these days :)

    Of course, the quality of Tente made me maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, because each time you sticked one piece, another would drop at the other side of your creation. grrrr

  • I agree, the space sets were fantastic. You can still buy them on BrickLink [bricklink.com]. New in their box those sets sell for thousand of dollars.
  • Did you know the company actually doesn't want you to call them Legos? I think they prefer something like 'Lego bricks'. They get all uppity when it comes to trademark names. Anyway, I had a pretty good stash of Legos when I was younger. Currently my sister and I are both in our mid-thirties with two kids each, and our Legos were sitting alone in some boxes in our parent's basement. One day my dad decided that those Legos should be in the hands of his grandchildren, so he set to work. He could have ju

  • News for Nerds! I say NOT today (Score:3, Insightful)

    by way2trivial (601132) on Monday January 28 2008, @09:31AM (#22207698) Homepage Journal
    1:58 PM- in what time zone? sheesh.. how can I have a momment of silence, if I don't know when!
  • My xmas present from my mom was the 8880 super car. The be-all-end-all of realistic cars at the time from Technic. 4 wheel steering, 4 speed tranny, all wheel drive. She hid it from me in the coat closet(I never found it).

    The embarassing thing about it: I was 18.

  • Specialized Pieces not the Problem (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Ohio Calvinist (895750) on Monday January 28 2008, @12:41PM (#22209812)
    I've read a lot of posts by other /.ers say that highly specialized pieces limit the creativity of Legos. While it has been a while since I played with it, I was always excited to get a "new" kind of piece that let me do something that was hard, inefficent or ghetto rigged before. (Kind of like this, I can do it in assembly, but you get a little stoked when you get a really nice, efficient, fast new API) What comes to mind was the piece that allowed you to make 45deg. roofs. It origninally came in a castle set, but I found myself re-using it in space applications.

    I feel like the problem with Legos today is all the commercial tie ins, like StarWars and Spiderman. One of the greatest strengths, I feel, of the older Legos were that they were a set genre, but the unverse' story was largely untold. It was up to me, and my imagination to decide "why" the diffrent castle factions were at war. I got to experience the Galaxy exploders discover a medival civilization. I built a tyranical dragon lord who was defeated by the black knight using a futuristic laser gun found from the wreckage of a lost spacecraft.

    I feel like the commercial ties "lock-in" a number of kids into highly-commercialized, pre-digested stories, where they are tempted to simply play out what they saw on TV rather than write new ones for themselves.

    My wife is a teacher (first grade) and is disturbed (as am I) at how many students can't write or tell a story that doesn't include cartoon characters, and that it takes significant work to do something that we both feel came so naturally to both of us. How she does it, is that kids are not allowed to write about-or read books that feature TV or video game characters, or books made from TV/movies, in class.

    I believe it is the creative play as a child that has done more for my career and personal development than anything else in my life.
    • My parents still have the roughtly 1.5 cubic meters of lego my brother and me used to play with. As soon as we have kids that are old enough, they're going to have the most awesome collection of lego known to mankind (or atleast compared to their friends, for the first few years). It's just a sin to sell it off, especially with the two-piece kits they sell in stores nowadays; a "robot body" piece and "robot head" piece does not a kit make.
    • Did you really have to put a link to google? I guess most slashdotters here know how to get there, and are acquainted with the company itself...

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