It's interesting how strongly Lego has been able to move into selling what I'd call collectable sets. There's little notion that a set like the camera is a children's toy (or even that you'd build something else with it).
I grew up building random stuff using a hodgepodge of incomplete Lego sets that my parents got from car boot sales. Later they bought me some new sets as well, but sooner or later all the pieces ended up in the big box anyway.
I don't think I would have become a programmer, if not for those weekends when I would sit in front of a desk-sized box of bricks with no instructions and imagine what I could build.
35 years later, I still browse the local Lego store from time to time. But most of the sets I find nowadays are only intended for a single configuration, usually associated with a specific IP like Star Wars or Harry Potter. Too fragile, too many stickers and custom pieces. I'm glad that the proceeds from these collectible sets help Lego stay profitable in the smartphone age, but God I miss those random Lego weekends. Brb, gotta ask my dad whether he still has that box of old bricks in his attic.
I've purposefully bought a lot of the old lego technic universal building sets second hand for my son. They come with multiple ideas and the type of design is less finished and more prone to modifications.
I want my son to play with legos by creating his own designs, not by following a set and then shelving it
They still sell large boxes of general-purpose bricks at toy and grocery retailers around the United States. They likely don’t sell nearly as well, but every time I’ve gone to buy legos there has been one “plastic tote” box of legos for sale, no instructions just bricks.
Adults and collectors can pay more and "nerdy" or "childlike" subcultures are viewed as mainstream.
Both of these are symptoms of the fact that societies are growing older - the median age of the US was 35 in 2000 and is around 40 in 2025. Similarly in the EU the median age was around 38 in 2000 and is around 44-45 in 2025.
Additionally, tastes change and childhoods change. For the younger generation, Minecraft and Roblox is their Legos, and for the generation before the "Lego" generation it was Erector and Mecano sets.
The norms and tastes of a boomer who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s is somewhat out of touch with younger generations, just like how someone who grew up in the 1920s or 30s was out of touch with someone growing up int he 1970s or 80s.
In 2026, the 1980s is as far back in history as WW2 was in the 1980s. Legos weren't a defining part of most childhoods globally, and there's no reason to assume they still would be.
Younger generations will wax nostalgically about Minecraft or Roblox in 20-40 years as well.
Lego reminds me of Wikipedia, they lost the focus on their main goal
Wikimedia will claim they need more money to finance Wikipedia, but the reality is they use only minority of their income to actually run same manage the website everyone is interested unlike their other expenses
Lego is similar, they get into so many areas besides building blocks for kids to support their creativity and increase prices so much under pretense reasons, while you can buy same/better compatible bricks in China for 1/10th of the price, so it's clearly only the marketing, heck they don't need even to develop anything, people with alternate builds do it for them
18 comments
I don't think I would have become a programmer, if not for those weekends when I would sit in front of a desk-sized box of bricks with no instructions and imagine what I could build.
35 years later, I still browse the local Lego store from time to time. But most of the sets I find nowadays are only intended for a single configuration, usually associated with a specific IP like Star Wars or Harry Potter. Too fragile, too many stickers and custom pieces. I'm glad that the proceeds from these collectible sets help Lego stay profitable in the smartphone age, but God I miss those random Lego weekends. Brb, gotta ask my dad whether he still has that box of old bricks in his attic.
> children's toy
Adults and collectors can pay more and "nerdy" or "childlike" subcultures are viewed as mainstream.
Both of these are symptoms of the fact that societies are growing older - the median age of the US was 35 in 2000 and is around 40 in 2025. Similarly in the EU the median age was around 38 in 2000 and is around 44-45 in 2025.
Additionally, tastes change and childhoods change. For the younger generation, Minecraft and Roblox is their Legos, and for the generation before the "Lego" generation it was Erector and Mecano sets.
The norms and tastes of a boomer who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s is somewhat out of touch with younger generations, just like how someone who grew up in the 1920s or 30s was out of touch with someone growing up int he 1970s or 80s.
In 2026, the 1980s is as far back in history as WW2 was in the 1980s. Legos weren't a defining part of most childhoods globally, and there's no reason to assume they still would be.
Younger generations will wax nostalgically about Minecraft or Roblox in 20-40 years as well.
Wikimedia will claim they need more money to finance Wikipedia, but the reality is they use only minority of their income to actually run same manage the website everyone is interested unlike their other expenses
Lego is similar, they get into so many areas besides building blocks for kids to support their creativity and increase prices so much under pretense reasons, while you can buy same/better compatible bricks in China for 1/10th of the price, so it's clearly only the marketing, heck they don't need even to develop anything, people with alternate builds do it for them
related video from Fern - Why everyone hates Lego now https://youtube.com/watch?v=dSgwNvydXhI
Some more discussion then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38653456
ETA: I know how hard that would be with bricks -- would need a custom piece for a light enclosure.