Let's talk Legos!

[ajfries]

DS has 4 or 5 lego sets & they tend to get a ton of use for the first little while, but then pieces inevitably get lost & then the whole set gets to be obsolete. I'd really like to wean DS off the sets and move on to creative building of his own. I was thinking about getting him the Creative Brick Box and maybe adding to it over time.

 

Are there any books or websites that have instructions for various...I don't even know what they would be called...builds? I'm a list & instruction kind of person so the thought of "free imaginative play" seems foreign to me...but I have a feeling that DS will do fine with it.

[mom2att]

My sons have really enjoyed the first two books on this Amazon page--The Lego Ideas Book and the Lego Play Book.

 

But I wouldn't give up on sets entirely--sometimes the sets are the only place to find really neat, unique to the set pieces. Once the set has been built and enjoyed, adding the pieces to the overall Lego collection makes for a better Lego collection, IMO.

 

The Brick Bible has also been much loved, if you like that sort of thing. Not necessarily for building ideas, just for inspiring awe at the ideas of others and where a little imagination and a lot of Lego bricks can take one :-)

 

 

[gardenmom5]

speaking of lego - there is a great short lego documentary on Netflix.  it is still a family owned company.

[Dmmetler]

Rebrickable has instructions for basically every set that has ever been made. The Monthly model builds are good, small build sets that are usually standard bricks. Older sets also will tend to be more standard bricks, so those instructions are a good place to start.

 

I will say that I don't understand the mindset that once a set is missing a piece or two it's useless. We buy a lot of sets here, simply because in many cases, it's a cheaper way of getting building elements. A majority are built once, and then never used as a set again, but the pieces are built, and rebuilt, and built some more. I would say maybe 10% of our sets are ever used as sets. If you go to a brickfair or other AFOL (adult fan of lego) building event, you'll see a lot of speciality parts used in ways way, way out from what they were used in a set (one of my daughter's favorites was the clown hair being used as clusters of berries in a medieval-themed build).  And a lot of the interesting colors are only available as a set (or individually on bricklink or pick a brick)

 

The other thing I'd check is to see if there is a bricks and minifigs store near you. These are third party non-lego group owned stores and they sell a lot of used sets and bulk bricks. You can go, buy a bag, and pick and choose what you want-or build a creation and then buy it, if you're like my husband :).

 

 

[Sherry in OH]

How does a LEGO set become obsolete?   Older sets are retired from production meaning you can no longer buy those sets, but that does not affect already purchased sets.   At our house, new sets are built once and then displayed until the owner dismantles it.  The pieces then become part of the general collection.  They are used again and again.  

 

The LEGO Ideals Book is a good starting point.  Master Builder Sean Kenney's books are good for beginners.  Your public library may have a selection of these. 

[ajfries]

By obsolete, I mean DS doesn't build the set as it was originally designed any more (or at all, in one case). He keeps all his sets separate; at this point he only uses them to build what they were originally intended to be. In some cases, if you're missing a critical piece, you can't build it the way it was designed.  This is exactly what I'm trying to change. I'm not saying the pieces are useless. I'm saying that DS USES them in a way that doesn't utilize the pieces individually.

 

As I said, I'm trying to get him out of this mentality.

[solascriptura]

Just keep all the pieces together in a bin and then let them go at it. You can get some books for inspiration too. My kids have built and entire world that kept them busy for weeks.

[Dmmetler]

If you can get him to a Lego event, like Brickfair, or one of the Lego discovery centers that have a miniland, or even a lego store (since they usually have builds on display that are not sets) that will help. Lego stores also have a monthly lego club where, for a small charge, the kids come in and do a free build related to a theme (for example, the one for the Superheroes sets involved the kids building their idea of the ideal jail to hold the villains, for a City or friends, it might involve building different parts of a city) an hour before the store opens to the general public. There are usually enough freebies to more than cover the cost (T-shirt, often $5 off coupons for the store, and lego sets/items-I would say it's usually close to a $50 value in my experience).

 

Or, just come over and visit my house :).

[RKWAcademy]

I have a Lego obsessed DS.  It took me awhile to give up the idea that a set must be built and remain as that set.  My son has other ideas.  He usually builds the set as intended.  And then the set is torn apart and reworked into many different designs - mostly a battleship or gun or cannon or other weapon.  The really expensive Star Wars sets remain together and up on a shelf (particularly if it is a retired set I had to pay more $ for because it is only available secondhand).  Everything else becomes random building blocks (ALL OVER THE HOUSE).  I think I've finally accepted that it is a good thing that he's using his imagination.  He really does build unique creations.  I don't know how to answer your question because my son has no qualms with mixing and tearing apart sets.  Maybe just buy one of the books mentioned above and tell him to use his existing pieces for something new?

 

I also have to be careful with letting my son know certain sets exist!  He's only almost 6, so not yet into Harry Potter.  But my nephew is into HP but the sets were all released many years ago and are retired.  Same with some good Star Wars sets, which my son is VERY MUCH into.

[gardenmom5]

if you know the piece number - you can replace a broken or missing piece.  from lego - or even ebay.  (I've done playmobil pieces off ebay)

[ajfries]

I also have to be careful with letting my son know certain sets exist!  He's only almost 6, so not yet into Harry Potter.  But my nephew is into HP but the sets were all released many years ago and are retired.  Same with some good Star Wars sets, which my son is VERY MUCH into.

 

Tooootally. What started this whole thing (me thinking we need to start mixing sets) is that my dad got DS a castle lego set. Of course, on the instructions to that are the picture of the massive $175! castle set which DS is just dying to have. Let me tell you, I nearly choked when I saw the price of it...I had no idea that price range even existed in legos (and then some more shopping opened my eyes of course) :D

[ElizabethB]

You can buy the missing pieces at lego.com. If you buy a bunch at once, it can be cost effective. My son has all his legos in sveral big bins and a lego mat. We got instructions for an expensive set he really wanted to build and found that he had almost all the pieces and ordered the missing ones from lego.com. Since the main cost is processing and shipping, I also bought a few specialty technic pieces he really wanted. They take a few weeks to come, it is not as fast as a regular order.

[RKWAcademy]

Tooootally. What started this whole thing (me thinking we need to start mixing sets) is that my dad got DS a castle lego set. Of course, on the instructions to that are the picture of the massive $175! castle set which DS is just dying to have. Let me tell you, I nearly choked when I saw the price of it...I had no idea that price range even existed in legos (and then some more shopping opened my eyes of course) :D

 

Keep him away from Star Wars, then.  They can be $400 easily.  Of course, my son and I are getting the Ewok Village next Christmas together!  We've been talking about it since last Christmas.  We both can't wait. :drool5: .  But Santa has to save up for that one.  His obsessions are probably all my fault.  I encourage the behavior.  I guess I didn't get Lego when I was a kid.  I enjoy "helping" him.  Maybe that's why it's so hard for me to see him tear a set apart.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Currclick.com has a free Lego club that releases a "class" once a week, completely FREE. We've enjoyed some of them better than others, but lots of them are top-notch. They have a downloadable "instructions" page of pieces for the kid to collect, and then it's an online class (recorded so can be taken asynchronously). We've really enjoyed them over the years.

[happypamama]

Amazon has a couple of idea books based on simple machines and such.

 

My kids build the sets, and then they take them apart and turn them into other things. If pieces are lost, it's very easy to get new ones. The only thing LEGO told me they can't sell are the specific character pieces from LOTR, Star Wars, etc. they will replace them for free once as a courtesy but can't sell them (but other sites may have them). But they sell replacement pieces for many sets, and in my experience, if it's only a piece or two per set, they're also really awesome about replacing them for free. They have the best customer service.

[Loowit]

My boys have multiple bins to keep legos. Sets have their own and then they have one big bin of non-set legos. I bought them by the pound off ebay. Some had a few parts from Star Wars but were mostly random parts. My oldest likes to do his own thing with them and has gotten very creative making his own designs.

[Aspasia]

Same thing happens at our house, but ds then moves on to building different things with the pieces we do have. Building the things the instructions are for helps him get an idea of what the pieces can do, and that just opens the door to more possibilities. From there, the sky is the limit. I used to be opposed to sets, thinking they boxed kids in, but I have done a complete 180 on that position. I think sets are the BEST! Like others have said, the sets are where the awesome pieces come from.

 

As for ideas, ds found a Lego book at the library a couple months ago and carried it everywhere for several weeks. Adorable.

[knoxinsox]

My 9 year old figured out that he could download directions from the Lego website for sets he doesn't own and build them himself with the Legos he already has. He also buys sets just for the special pieces.

 

He is surprisingly organized with it all. He now has my dining room table, my craft bin organizer and all of my Rubbermaid leftover containers in his room.  I refused to organize for him. At least they are not all over the floor. 

[Ausmumof3]

There are apps with Lego instructions and some are free. Like others we do the sets and when they are missing bits they go in the general box for free creation. IMO the most benefit for Lego comes from figuring it out yourself not following sets of rules.

[J-rap]

Unrelated to the question, but it reminded me of this fun story about Legos washing up on a beach in Great Britain...

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28582621