Why LEGOs Are A Timeless Toy for Everyone

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Brian McIver, GoLocalPDX Contributor

This weekend marks the beginning of the 2015 Bricks Cascade LEGO convention at the Oregon Convention Center. That being said on this week’s nerd blog we’ll be covering the ins and outs of Socioeconomics during the 17th century and it’s impact on present day Ukraine…oh and LEGO. In fact just LEGO and builders and all the fun they are for people of all ages.

LEGO, as you might already know, is a toy manufacturing company out of Denmark. LEGO, derived from the phrase let god or “play well” began in 1932 with wooden toys made by Ole Kirk Christiansen, but didn’t become the now famous interlocking bricks we know and love today until 1947.

One of the reasons LEGO has become the power house that it is today is quality. The company motto translated to English is "the best is never too good." This philosophy has made LEGO, until recently, the only interlocking brick toy of any significance.

LEGO wasn’t always at the top of their game however. Through a good portion of the ‘90s they had lost their focus, and were struggling with too many designs and pieces, and admittedly lame products.

Starting in 2004, however LEGO had gotten the message and started bringing things back inline. By 2008 LEGO was on top again with the help of huge licenses from Star Wars, better more efficient design, and a renewed focus on playability. Today LEGO is one of the biggest companies in the world with not just toys, but with Oscar nominated movies, quality video games, clothing, cartoons, and the list goes on.

This popularity has spawned a Resonance of LEGO creativity that goes far beyond simple children’s toys. While Adult Fans of LEGO (AFoL) have been around since the early days of LEGO, the scene as truly expanded and has become a fountain of amazing builds that rival many pieces of fine art.

"Yellow" by Nathan Sawaya

Nathan Sawaya, famous for his piece Yellow, is an internationally know LEGO sculptor creating entire shows of museum quality works called “The Art of the Brick.”

Marco Sodano re-creates some of the masterworks of art like the Mona Lisa and American Gothic using LEGO.

And where do you think all those amazing models that you buy in the store come from? LEGO has what are called LEGO Master Builders. These specially trained LEGO masters create all of the LEGO sets, all of the giant promotional sculptures i.e. giant X-Wing, and all of models you see at LEGO Land parks.

Ask any fan of LEGOs why the love a little plastic brick and many will tell you that building with LEGO is peaceful. It takes out of the larger world of bills, and work, stress, and allows you to focus on creating this one thing. Weather your making a custom build, or building a kit from the store, you have to focus on what brick goes where and how. As you see your model begin to take shape it gives you a sense of joy that you’re making this happen, and it’s all coming together now.

Playing with your kids, while always enjoyable because they are your kids, can be a tad tedious at times. Teatime with Mr. Sprinkles or pretending to be dinosaurs can get old fast, but like Homer Simpson comes to discover in Brick Like Me, LEGOs are fun for both children and adults. Some great bonding takes place when you and your child sit down to build a set together, and you may find yourself building sets together for many years down the road.

A big benefit of long years of LEGO builds is that LEGO does not depreciate. Even if you don’t save the boxes and instructions (and you should) LEGOs have a huge aftermarket value that is evident in the online markets like bricklink.com and Ebay, and the local brick and mortar stores like Brick and Minifigs. Some sets like the Ultimate Collectors Series (UCS) Millennium Falcon that originally sold for $499 now can fetch upwards of $3 grand. So something that you buy for you kids early on could help pay for their college when the time comes.

LEGO has become a part of the world culture. It spans generations. It bridges gender and race gaps. It enriches our lives and sparks our imagination. It is a cultural phenomenon like few others. Try it for yourself if you doubt. Go out and buy a small set and see if you don’t love it, and check out these links for some great LEGO related stuff.