The Toy You Never Outgrow--LEGO
Chances are there are some in your house. They might be scattered about a kid’s room, or in a storage tub (or three) in the basement, not having seen the light of day since the last youngling moved out. We can still feel the sharp pain in the soft bottom of our feet from stepping on one hidden in the carpet. It’s LEGO!
Started as a wooden toy company in 1932, LEGO (taken from the Danish “leg godt” meaning “play well”) switched to plastic in 1947. Last year LEGO marked the 60th anniversary of the ubiquitous plastic brick’s patent. Originally a handful of colors, the range of hues (including chrome, metallic, and translucent varieties) has increased and decreased over the years, and currently stands at around 63 colors. It’s not only the billions of bricks manufactured over the years--LEGO also is the world’s biggest tire manufacturer, by sheer number of tires produced!
The great variety begins for young children, with DUPLO (a general parts box lists “age 1 & ½ - 5”) through to popular sets like City, Friends, and Star Wars. The oldest age suggestion simply is “16+” for the advanced sets such as Creator Expert (buildings and large car models) and Technic, where projects look like advanced engineering. There’s also a wide variety of themes, including ninjas (Ninjago), super heroes (both DC and Marvel), auto racing (Speed Champions), as well as tie-ins to the movies (Star Wars, The Lego Movie and its sequel, etc.). Builders of all ages, kids to AFoLs (Adult Fans of LEGO), can submit their own projects to LEGO’s Ideas website. If a submission reaches 10,000 supporters, it moves on to a quarterly review by the company itself. So far, 25 have made it through the review and become actual sets!
There’s plenty for teens and adults to build, too - not that there’s anything “wrong” about anyone buying the “6-12” type sets. Monuments and city skylines like San Francisco are in the Architecture line, and those of a programming and robotics bent can build and program things via Mindstorms.
The brand and themes have also moved beyond the brick, to books for young readers, TV series like Ninjago (available on DVD at the library), video games for various platforms such as consoles and handhelds, and apps for your smartphone or tablet. They’ve also reached the silver screen with four movies released. The most recent, just out on DVD and Blu-Ray, is the peculiarly-named The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Computer animation turns everything in the films to bricks, including the sea and clouds! There are “real world” bits in some of the films too, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing.
Searching for LEGO books and DVDs on the library catalog? Make sure to use the filter on the left sidebar to limit your results—simply typing in “LEGO” and clicking the search button will pull up a massive number of hits! Of course, our staff can point you in the right direction, too. Here’s a few to start, some of which were consulted as research, with links to our catalog:
The LEGO Book, new edition, by Daniel Lipkowitz.
LEGO Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life, also by Daniel Lipkowitz
Both are put out by DK Publishing, who has many more titles for all ages.
The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide, 2nd Edition by Allan Bedford. Basic and advanced building techniques, including an excellent section about “the geometry of the brick” and the many different ways they connect (you’ll be surprised!).
Building Amazing Creations by Sean Kenney. An artist who works exclusively in LEGO, some of his constructions are so big they need rebar support inside! Plenty stand well enough on their own, too.
Online there are many great resources, such as the database brickset.com; the independent marketplace for single bricks (and sets too) - bricklink.com; showcases of ingenious builds on brothers-brick.com and newelementary.com. Have fun, pull out those old sets, and let your imagination go wild. The brick’s the only limit!
Started as a wooden toy company in 1932, LEGO (taken from the Danish “leg godt” meaning “play well”) switched to plastic in 1947. Last year LEGO marked the 60th anniversary of the ubiquitous plastic brick’s patent. Originally a handful of colors, the range of hues (including chrome, metallic, and translucent varieties) has increased and decreased over the years, and currently stands at around 63 colors. It’s not only the billions of bricks manufactured over the years--LEGO also is the world’s biggest tire manufacturer, by sheer number of tires produced!
There’s plenty for teens and adults to build, too - not that there’s anything “wrong” about anyone buying the “6-12” type sets. Monuments and city skylines like San Francisco are in the Architecture line, and those of a programming and robotics bent can build and program things via Mindstorms.
The brand and themes have also moved beyond the brick, to books for young readers, TV series like Ninjago (available on DVD at the library), video games for various platforms such as consoles and handhelds, and apps for your smartphone or tablet. They’ve also reached the silver screen with four movies released. The most recent, just out on DVD and Blu-Ray, is the peculiarly-named The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Computer animation turns everything in the films to bricks, including the sea and clouds! There are “real world” bits in some of the films too, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing.
Searching for LEGO books and DVDs on the library catalog? Make sure to use the filter on the left sidebar to limit your results—simply typing in “LEGO” and clicking the search button will pull up a massive number of hits! Of course, our staff can point you in the right direction, too. Here’s a few to start, some of which were consulted as research, with links to our catalog:The LEGO Book, new edition, by Daniel Lipkowitz.
LEGO Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life, also by Daniel Lipkowitz
Both are put out by DK Publishing, who has many more titles for all ages.
The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide, 2nd Edition by Allan Bedford. Basic and advanced building techniques, including an excellent section about “the geometry of the brick” and the many different ways they connect (you’ll be surprised!).
Building Amazing Creations by Sean Kenney. An artist who works exclusively in LEGO, some of his constructions are so big they need rebar support inside! Plenty stand well enough on their own, too.
Online there are many great resources, such as the database brickset.com; the independent marketplace for single bricks (and sets too) - bricklink.com; showcases of ingenious builds on brothers-brick.com and newelementary.com. Have fun, pull out those old sets, and let your imagination go wild. The brick’s the only limit!
- Dennis B., West Windsor Branch
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