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Original poster

Lego - how depressing

217 replies

EverybodysSnowyEyed · 05/01/2012 23:53

I've always loved Lego as a 'genderless' toy

And now they have launched Lego friends - aimed at the little ladies in your life. And guess what, there's a beauty parlour!

Even DH finds this depressing! Are we alone in this?

I thought toy manufacturers might be starting to realise how bad this all looks!

OP posts:
GrimmaTheNome · 06/01/2012 22:27

However, it still doesn't have the pieces I want (eg a base plate that is the same thickness as the bricks and about 10x20 or bigger

true - DH complained about there only being flimsy baseplates e.g it still doesn't have the pieces I want (eg [[http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/X-Large-Gray-Baseplate-628 this is one he got - its a good size but not rigid enough, has to be put on a tray or suchlike if you want to move it.

I really don't think Lego can be blamed too much for the focus on character sets. They invented a practically indistructible general-purpose toy which can be handed between siblings and generations and nowadays to anyone on Ebay - of course they've got to try to develop other (more obsolescent!) markets.

Original poster
EverybodysSnowyEyed · 06/01/2012 22:34

yes that's true - I can't fault the quality

I am going to have to buy a brick separator though before DS breaks his teeth!

(And I want a baseplate that has the holes in the bottom so it can be the first floor etc - not just one to build on!)

OP posts:
crunchbag · 06/01/2012 23:09

We have a few older base plates that are the same thickness as a brick but they are hollow inside so most are cracked or broken in half.

Everybodys be creative and build your own floor plate like a parquet :)

Himalaya · 07/01/2012 01:22

Grimma - yes I think that's the thing about Lego - the bucket of bricks is a brilliant toy, but a terrible businss model.... It's a bit like mooncups in that respect -they have to build the brand and then they only get to sell you one Grin

I suppose the way Lego has gone has been somewhat inevitable, a combination of people getting richer and toy manufacturing getting cheaper - to pick up this opportunity/fend off the competition they had to make it into an obsessional/identity kind of ongoing purchase rather than a once a generation one.

... I can't think of any toy that has won that Market without going down boy/girl route -can you? Non-gendered toys tend to be either one off heirloom purchases or generic items without a brand loyalty advantage.

On that basis girls Lego is not so bad I guess, it just depends how well Lego deliver a decent, exciting, imaginative, creative, technical product for girls.

GrimmaTheNome · 07/01/2012 21:46

it just depends how well Lego deliver a decent, exciting, imaginative, creative, technical product for girls.

I really don't see why they need this 'for girls'. They can do 'boy stuff', 'girl stuff' and then creative technical stuff for everyone can't they? My DD has loads of 'technical' toys and kits (lego and otherwise) which I really don't see as being 'gendered'.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 07/01/2012 22:50

When I was a child, lego only came in a few colours, but that didn't stop my parents buying it for dsis and me, nor did it stop us from playing with it and having endless hours of fun - and yes, because I wanted to be a nurse, I built hospitals out of my lego, but I still had to work out how to make what I wanted out of the far smaller range of bricks available then - and I think that that was part of lego's value. And it is this that the new range loses - if what I read in the Times this morning is right, the new lego for girls doesn't need much in the way of assembly, certainly when compared to the other lego kits, and that is appalling.

By all means have lots of different characters and colours, and a wide range of kits, but it is unacceptable to suggest that the girls are not just as capable of constructing and enjoying a complicated kit as the girls. After all, it was me, not dh, who constructed the three big Harry Potter lego kits we bought for the dses one christmas. Though I have to confess that the instructions were not as helpful as they could have been, and it was only thanks to god's precious gift of alchohol that I got through Dumbledore's fecking office without killing someone. Blush

Himalaya · 08/01/2012 01:10

...yes I agree Grimma - I guess by technical I meant that there should be enough flexibility in the 'for girls' kits so that they are still true to lego's construct/build/design core (even by stealth) not just role play dolls with some bricks to support up their accessories - like some kind of plastic Bratz, that just happen to be made by lego IYSWIM.

And then that they are compatible with the rest of the lego range.

Lego builds from duplo up to Teknics so that kids are playing with quite advanced technical gear but building on skills and modules they have picked up along the way.

Will girls who play with Lego friends get to know what a 2 by 2 flat and a 2 by 3 backwards slopey (as they are known in my house) are, or will the bricks just be part of the scenery?

tallwivglasses · 08/01/2012 01:35

Lego advert, 1981

Now that's more like it!

GrimmaTheNome · 09/01/2012 08:50

Right, see what you mean Himalaya.

Molehillmountain · 09/01/2012 10:08

I played with Lego all through the eighties. I remember a hairdressers set and hospital, but mostly just bricks. Apparently Legos patent runs out soon or had run out (haven't checked that) hence the move to lots of themed sets. But we've bought a couple of big boxes of generic blocks and mixed them with our old Lego. Gender less and very popular in our house.

GrimmaTheNome · 09/01/2012 21:29

Lego's patent ran out years ago... I remember getting some non-Lego blocks for one of my nephews some time before DD was born and she's 12.

PosieParker · 09/01/2012 23:50

We have bought some for dd, the pet shop thing. As all Lego sets are about men doing male driven character crap.....star wars, Harry potter etc. I think Lego started to fail when it produced so many merchandise like sets, it then became a gender based toy.

GrimmaTheNome · 10/01/2012 08:32

all Lego sets are about men doing male driven character crap.

not all, even before the 'friends' stuff - one of DDs favourite sets was for building minibeasts; another was a stable; then there was a set with wheels and cogs etc. If you look beyond the most obvious Toys R Us displays there's good sets too.

PosieParker · 10/01/2012 10:14

Well most of our lego is given by others, we bought standard sets.

PeppermintPasty · 10/01/2012 10:41

Another bizarre thing I noticed in my DS' box of "community figures" is that all the male lego heads are smiling or looking fairly neutral, yet every single one of the female heads (identified by the helpful full red lips on each one, presumably representing make up) are cross or angry! I thought I was seeing things but no, having spent an unhappy 15 minutes sorting through them, they are all like this.

Mind you, having seen this, I am now wearing the same expression, sans the make up, so perhaps it's Lego's big joke on us.

Sydney that picture is so wonderful and so sad at the same time.

PeppermintPasty · 10/01/2012 10:45

And I had to look very hard for some genderless duplo for my 20 month old girl this Christmas (mainly because I just automatically baulk at the pink and purple sets), and I could only find the zoo set, which she loves.

suzi2 · 10/01/2012 14:23

We love lego in this house. Whilst I'm a bit Hmm at the lego Friends, I can see DD (almost 5) wanting some. I do think it's a bit off that they're making the 'girls' lego about beauty parlours and cafes, however I also think that's what is going to grab the girl market. Which is unfortunate. Lego have their 'Belville' range which was targetted at girls with pink lego and puppies, but it wasn't a huge success. So I think the 'girls' lego is having a shot at a tricky market.

Lego city has lots of girl minifigs. I can't think what sets we don't have, but there are definitely a lot of girl minifigs. Though both DS and DD get excited when they get a female minifig in the series bags as they're harder to come by. I also think the lego on the shop shelves isn't really representative of what lego sell as a whole on their website. There are plenty bricks only, starter sets, and things like Kingdoms etc which have plenty girls (princesses though lol).

I don't think the introduction of sets really changes the way lego is played with. My DS and DD were first introduced to all our 1970s/80s lego so built their own creations to start with. Now they build the box sets, play with them for 10 mins, then make them into something different. It drives me mad when they muddle sets, but I think all kids I know do this.

Worth noting that I think a lot of the gender appeal thing is down to parenting. I have bought DD lego and encouraged it, as it's a toy I like and think is good for them. Many of my friends have labelled it as a boys toy so won't buy it for their DDs. My own DD got lego Ninjago for xmas (and not even a girly Nia set) as that's what she wanted. She lets Rapunzel and Snow White play in the blacksmiths shop and gives them weapons. Kai (I think?) the ninja is often playing with the lego puppies she has.

entropyglitter · 10/01/2012 22:55

I think it's hideous. I think the sooner we can convince either toy makers or failing that the ASA that pushing gender stereotypes is harming our children the better.

As ever I suspect the boys come off the worse. Afterall many people have said they have bought space/pirates for girls but who is stepping up to the plate to buy the beauty parlour for their DS?

If you think this is a non-issue and that people just buy what their kids want then you should have seen the thread a few months back when a mum was asking if it was okay to buy her son the pram he had requested for his birthday.

The responses were about 50:50. So apparently half of the people expressing an opinion dont think its okay to buy your child the toy they want and instead think you should buy them only the toys decreed by toy makers to be 'suitable' for their gender.

OddBoots · 11/01/2012 10:35

Lego have sent my dc a club magazine each, that the one addressed to dd (8) has "girls" plastered in big letters on the front. I really don't see why they need to do that, dd has enjoyed Lego club for years without needing pink hearts and butterflies and dolls with breasts on the cover.

It says on the back sleeve "P.S. If you would prefer to still receive your regular LEGO Club magazine instead of the Girls issue then please call the telephone number above!" (0845 60 60 668)

steviesmith · 11/01/2012 10:42

Just to add to the lego complaints. My son has just been given the lego city sticker book. Nearly all the characters are men: doctors, police, pilots etc. There are a few lucky women who get to be pizza chefs or onlookers. It is so depressing.

GrimmaTheNome · 11/01/2012 11:17

Oldboots...so, the non-girls mag is 'regular'? Hmm OK, Lego has failed basic sexism test.

OddBoots · 11/01/2012 11:20

That was an exact quote from them, including the exclamation mark, so yes, they have.

Bucharest · 11/01/2012 14:01

Apparently, you can get the "regular" magazine sent to girls, but should they contribute (with photos and suchlike) they will feature in the girls' mag.

Have hunted out this thread specifically to see if anyone has mentioned this already as a friend of mine is fighting the mighty lego on behalf of her daughter as we speak!

HuffyTheSamphireSlayer · 11/01/2012 14:07

I was looking for Meccano online yesterday. I was extremely depressed to see "girl's Meccano" in a pink tool box. With lots of nice, glittery pink and purple Meccano.

HuffyTheSamphireSlayer · 11/01/2012 14:08

That "nice" was sarcastic, in case anyone didn't realise.