fdrinca Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Are these fun to build for a engineering-minded 8-year-old, who enjoys Lego and K'Nex? I'm looking for a stepping stone between Legos and Lego Robotics, which is the long-term (but financially tricky) plan. We're currently doing a lot of experiments with electronics (what you can do without soldering), and we've worked through a few different Snap Circuits kits. My son has also worked through several levels of Code.org. I don't want to invest in a product that won't add much to what he's done already, especially if the EV3-type units are in the future Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 The EV3 set has a lot of Lego Technic parts. However I buy most of my Lego Technic parts used. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 The EV3 set has a lot of Lego Technic parts. However I buy most of my Lego Technic parts used. Where do you find them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 So the Technic bricks would be useful later... Good to know! But I'm still wondering if the kits are *fun* - easy to modify, rebuild, combine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 But I'm still wondering if the kits are *fun* - easy to modify, rebuild, combine? It's all up to your child's imagination what he comes up with :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Where do you find them? We have a local Lego user group that holds a yard sale once or twice a year at where they have their member meetings. Non-members can come to the yard sale. We also go by word of mouth, asking if anyone (neighbors, friends) wants to sell their kids incomplete sets for a decent price. We also bought Technic boxes on sale at Target and at Lego stores. There are three Lego stores we go to and they have clearance prices for different sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Some of the Technic sets are 2-in-1 which means they have directions for two different models that use the same parts. Only one model can be built at a time, but it helps get the child thinking about how the parts can be used in different ways. My son got this book a few months back ( http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Crazy-Action-Contraptions-Stillinger/dp/1591747694/). It comes with some Technic bricks and lots of different projects to do with them. I think that combined with one of the 2-in-1 sets would be a good start. Since the pieces work with the robotics sets, they will remain useful even as you "upgrade." For my son, I think his next step will be a motor and battery pack from the power functions line: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Power-Functions-ByCategory 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Check ebay for the old Lego Dacta simple machine sets (especially 1030 and 1032). The going prices fluctuate quite a bit - I've gotten both for around $50 each. Also search generally for lego dacta. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Thanks for your feedback. I know I'm asking the impossible - "hey, tell me if my kid you don't know will like this thing!" I just don't want his birthday gift to be a dud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 . I know I'm asking the impossible - "hey, tell me if my kid you don't know will like this thing!" I just don't want his birthday gift to be a dud. Which set are you looking at? My 9 year old's current favorite is this set. http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Mini-Backhoe-Loader-42004 The first thing my kids did after building their first technic model was build catapults with the parts. Something like this link http://m.instructables.com/id/lego-catapult-slingshot/ My kids like Technic sets that has wheels and hopefully gears as well. I don't know what's your budget but the below link Simple & Motorized Mechanisms Set from Lego Education is good too https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/en-US/catalog/product.jsp?productId=9686 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Thanks for your feedback. I know I'm asking the impossible - "hey, tell me if my kid you don't know will like this thing!" I just don't want his birthday gift to be a dud. My ds, who likes lego and knex, loves his lego technic as well. In fact, at this point I don't buy regular lego at all and would only buy more technic. The Technic is MUCH more flexible and interesting to an engineering mind. Have you thought about the k'nex roller coaster sets? Not the new ones with fixed track but the older ones. I've been watching videos with him and haven't yet shown him the stuff I collected. Also the knex ball machine is fun. Knex also makes several levels of science kits that are good. They lower ones go on sale 1/2 price on amazon's daily deals sometimes. I got them around Christmas a year ago and they went on sale again. They come with a cd of materials to flesh out the science. So you can do the science of the coasters and then build more coasters bigger and badder with collected kits, kwim? We've been working through the knex bridges kit, building and then reading about them, looking up videos on them, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I LOVED Lego Technic when I was a kid. They didn't really have robotics back then though. I think I got my first Lego Technic set for my 7th birthday and I was like "why didn't you get me this sooner!?" (I had regular Legos before then - the answer btw was that the box said 7+yo). Back then, *every* Lego Technic set had 2-3 models to build. Lego has been on a bit of a downhill slide, imo. But it's still fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 DS loves technic and DH really loves technic and engineer phobic me is starting to get it and it is more satisfying than regular lego. I don't think you could go wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 I'd forgotten about this post - sorry! I went with the Snowmobil kit, but just added the Crazy Contraptions book and kit to my shopping cart, too. He probably would love the K'Nex roller coaster sets, and I appreciate that we can add on our own pieces too. I just wish I could easily buy bulk Technic pieces : :cursing: I don't know enough about how they build to pick up a random assortment on Ebay. Maybe by Christmas we'll know? :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 You can get them in bulk from the Lego Education site. https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/en-US/search/navSearchResults.jsp?typeName=LEGO%20Spare%20Parts%20and%20Accessories&sortType=displayName:ascending 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaChicken Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 We got a big bag of them on ebay and the Unofficial Technics Builders Guide and DS11 has built all sorts of awesome things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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