The 'Golden Age' of Lego, is it now?

[Demetreous]

You might have to hurry, Demetreous, POTC is basically done, at least where I live.

D:

Yeah, but I wonder if it is actually worth the money... The big ships aren't very classy, so all I want is the minifig parts... particularly, their sheaths! Anyone know if those sheaths will be in any other set?

[Lyichir]

I am 24, but I am not an AFOL and would never consider myself to be one. I never had a childhood so I'm still a child at heart which mean I would play with these toys instead of putting them on model for display.

I want to add in my perspective of what Lego is now versus back during my childhood in the early and late 90's. You can't expect kids nowadays to build and rebuild their Lego set because Lego set now aren't the same as during my childhood. Most Lego sets back then had different build you can do with instruction, nowadays unless it modular, friends, and creator, it more like one build and your done. How can kids be excited about their Lego when TLG doesn't seem to even give a dam about a kid imagination? I never care for ninjago as a kid, I would take adventure and Indiana Jone any day of the week. Ninjago is crap in my opinion because it doesn't add anything to a kid imagination. It all action theme nowadays without much thoughts for creativity put in. In fact I don't really see any different between Lego action theme versus non-Lego toys?

Like people have said what happen to those hidden treasure and dagger falling down, etc... mechanics that made the set fun? Now it all just look with no play. I still think that the monster fighter castle is lame compare to old castle and Atlantis playset.

Also Star wars is awesome but it not really Lego because how on earth can one play with a spaceship?

I'd argue that the lack of builds on the back of the box in no way prevents kids from coming up with their own designs (and in fact, they can be more creative with those designs without fearing that they're cribbing from the designs on the back of the box).

I feel that story-driven themes like Ninjago are excellent for creative play. In particular, invented worlds like the one in Ninjago divorce kids of the notion that what they build has to resemble something real or make sense in the real world, so that they can truly open their minds to more fantastic ideas.

I can't believe you're arguing that action features have gotten worse over time. Agents was one of my favorite themes in recent years due in large part to its creative functions like alarmed gates, concealed weapons, etc. In themes like Adventurers, Ninja, and others from that era, you often saw the same features (trapdoor, spinning wall, etc.) repeated endlessly, often using the same specialized parts to do so! As for the Monster Fighters Castle, I was extremely tempted to get the set due to the magnificent looking functions, which called to mind Fright Knights as well as video games like Castlevania.

And I don't even know what point you were trying to make regarding Star Wars. Kids have been playing with spaceships since before real spaceships existed.

[Chri5kng]

I'd argue that the lack of builds on the back of the box in no way prevents kids from coming up with their own designs (and in fact, they can be more creative with those designs without fearing that they're cribbing from the designs on the back of the box).

I feel that story-driven themes like Ninjago are excellent for creative play. In particular, invented worlds like the one in Ninjago divorce kids of the notion that what they build has to resemble something real or make sense in the real world, so that they can truly open their minds to more fantastic ideas.

I can't believe you're arguing that action features have gotten worse over time. Agents was one of my favorite themes in recent years due in large part to its creative functions like alarmed gates, concealed weapons, etc. In themes like Adventurers, Ninja, and others from that era, you often saw the same features (trapdoor, spinning wall, etc.) repeated endlessly, often using the same specialized parts to do so! As for the Monster Fighters Castle, I was extremely tempted to get the set due to the magnificent looking functions, which called to mind Fright Knights as well as video games like Castlevania.

And I don't even know what point you were trying to make regarding Star Wars. Kids have been playing with spaceships since before real spaceships existed.

Let me rephrase since you misunderstood me. I'm talking about the current crop of Lego theme. I consider Agents, adventurers, ninja, castle as the old theme (the ones I like).

[Lyichir]

Let me rephrase since you misunderstood me. I'm talking about the current crop of Lego theme. I consider Agents, adventurers, ninja, castle as the old theme (the ones I like).

I think you're the one who misunderstood me. My point was that I think newer themes (like Agents, Power Miners, Monster Fighters and Ninjago) were just better than old themes like Adventurers and Ninja, especially in terms of play features. I loved sets like Flying Ninja Fortress, Night Lord's Castle, and The Temple of Anubis (and believe me, I had all three). But their features (many of which were used in all three sets, like the rotating wall and trapdoor) just don't match up to amazing features like the splitting apart of the Fire Temple, the flapping wings and swinging tail of the Ultra Dragon, the plethora of hidden weapons in the Turbocar Chase, the crystal conveyor of the Underground Mining Station, and other unique and original set features in the modern era. And these modern features don't rely on overly-specialized parts like the rotating wall piece, but instead use unique building methods to achieve even better results. And if anything promotes creative play, it's seeing fantastic functions like these come together from ordinary parts.

[Chri5kng]

I think you're the one who misunderstood me. My point was that I think newer themes (like Agents, Power Miners, Monster Fighters and Ninjago) were just better than old themes like Adventurers and Ninja, especially in terms of play features. I loved sets like Flying Ninja Fortress, Night Lord's Castle, and The Temple of Anubis (and believe me, I had all three). But their features (many of which were used in all three sets, like the rotating wall and trapdoor) just don't match up to amazing features like the splitting apart of the Fire Temple, the flapping wings and swinging tail of the Ultra Dragon, the plethora of hidden weapons in the Turbocar Chase, the crystal conveyor of the Underground Mining Station, and other unique and original set features in the modern era. And these modern features don't rely on overly-specialized parts like the rotating wall piece, but instead use unique building methods to achieve even better results. And if anything promotes creative play, it's seeing fantastic functions like these come together from ordinary parts.

I am not 100% sure if it could be nausea from the past, but those Lego commercials from the past look awesome. Of course they don't really have much Lego commercials now or toys commercial like in the past so it hard for me to judge since I don't own any of those theme or set you listed.

[Lyichir]

I am not 100% sure if it could be nausea from the past, but those Lego commercials from the past look awesome. Of course they don't really have much Lego commercials now or toys commercial like in the past so it hard for me to judge since I don't own any of those theme or set you listed.

I believe you mean "nostalgia".

Anyway, yeah, functions are hard to judge without seeing them in action. But particularly in the case of the Epic Dragon Battle and Fire Temple, seeing videos of them in action at Toy Fair was enough to turn them into must-have sets in my eyes.

[LEGO Historian]

It could depend on which commercial.... maybe "nausea" wasn't far from the truth....

Back when I was a kid...back when you had to walk to school barefoot in the snow.... uphill... both ways.....

...you had very few specialty parts... and REALLY had to use your imagination to build LEGO creations.... such as this mislabeled 1961-62 commercial...

Today you youngsters have it so easy....

Edited November 29, 2012 by LEGO Historian

[Front]

It is all very simple. The golden age of LEGO is right now.

The products produced today, are much more targeted directly at the consumer which are likely to buy the product. The range of products is wider and better than ever. The design of the products and the instructions makes it much more likely that the kid will have a successful building experience. The amount of bricks put on the market each month, exceeds what was put on the market in one year some decades ago.

A lot of AFOL glorify sets of the past. Put them together with similar sets of today, build and play, and see for yourself.

Please take the modular buildings, the newest train sets, the top Technic sets of the last years, the Friends line, the Creator houses, and compare them with sets of decades long gone. You are absolutely not faithful to yourself, if you thing the golden age of LEGO is not now.

Erland

Part Design

[TheLegoDr]

I agree that the part list and colors available and themes are much more diverse now and that brings on a whole laundry list of goodies for consumers to eat up now. I do agree that comparing an older set with a newer set may show how dated the older set is, but that is also part of the charm. I would assume people who don't like any of the past sets probably are also inclined to not like anything historic or antique. Our house is filled with antiques. They add a certain aesthetic to the room whereas a newer "insert item here" wouldn't. As far as LEGO goes, I love the newer possibilities and being an AFOL I am more capable of seeing these positive aspects of today's LEGO, but I still can't help but love the LEGO of my day. I will forever believe Black Knight's Castle is my most favorite castle, no matter how nice some of the newer castles look. I will always love the original Pirates line, even though the most recent Pirates line was a step in the right direction (I missed out on that due to Dark Ages though). I think everyone will have their own Golden Age. Even though there is a lot of great LEGO related items now, my Golden Age will always be when I was within that target audience and everything was new and exciting.

[Grimmbeard]

I agree that the part list and colors available and themes are much more diverse now and that brings on a whole laundry list of goodies for consumers to eat up now. I do agree that comparing an older set with a newer set may show how dated the older set is, but that is also part of the charm. I would assume people who don't like any of the past sets probably are also inclined to not like anything historic or antique. Our house is filled with antiques. They add a certain aesthetic to the room whereas a newer "insert item here" wouldn't. As far as LEGO goes, I love the newer possibilities and being an AFOL I am more capable of seeing these positive aspects of today's LEGO, but I still can't help but love the LEGO of my day. I will forever believe Black Knight's Castle is my most favorite castle, no matter how nice some of the newer castles look. I will always love the original Pirates line, even though the most recent Pirates line was a step in the right direction (I missed out on that due to Dark Ages though). I think everyone will have their own Golden Age. Even though there is a lot of great LEGO related items now, my Golden Age will always be when I was within that target audience and everything was new and exciting.

I can agree with this. No matter how many new parts and sets are made, the Lego of our childhood will always be our favorite and our Golden age.

[Lego Junkie]

Looking back on TLC in past years, it seems to me like everybody loves the sets that came out in the 90's.

While that may have been a horrible time for LEGO as a company, I think some of the most lovable sets came from that era.

Getting to the topic you posted here, is it a "Golden Age" for LEGO?

Quite possibly.

The quality of the sets that have been coming out recently has really gotten me interested in buying kits for the model itself, not just for a glorified parts pack and some minifigures.

[Hey Joe]

It could depend on which commercial.... maybe "nausea" wasn't far from the truth....

Back when I was a kid...back when you had to walk to school barefoot in the snow.... uphill... both ways.....

Today you youngsters have it so easy....

Reminds me of that Monty Python skit, how did it go?

"We had to wake up at 4 in the morning, half-an-hour before we went to bed, crawl to the mill on our hands and knees to pay the mill owner to work there"

Great stuff!

Anyway, nostalgia does seem to be a major factor in many of the replies to this thread, which is totally understandable. Personally, I wasn't into Lego when the classic space, pirates, etc, was coming out so I feel that now is the best time however, I just put together a knock off of an old Lego pirate ship and if I had been of the proper age when that baby first hit the stores I would - without a doubt - say that that was definitely a golden time.

So for me, this really seems like Lego's peak. I just wish I could afford to buy more of it!

Edited December 1, 2012 by bjtpro

[Chri5kng]

I think the golden age of Lego started in 2005, so if this thread is implying that this decade is the golden age, then I would agree, however if it mean NOW as in 2012, then I would have to disagree.

[Haltiamieli]

I think the golden age of Lego started in 2005, so if this thread is implying that this decade is the golden age, then I would agree, however if it mean NOW as in 2012, then I would have to disagree.

Didn't this decade start in 2010 (or 2011, depending on definition)?

Personally I wouldn't necessarily call nowadays the golden age of Lego, but I could call it a golden age, certainly. For me as a Castle fan the turning point would be the launch of Fantasy Era after the not-so-good times of early noughties and late nineties. There are certain things and aspects from late eighties-early nineties Lego that I would like to see return, but as a whole I don't think those were necessarily much better times. But simpler they were, in both the good and the bad meanings of the word.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Haltiamieli

[Aanchir]

Didn't this decade start in 2010 (or 2011, depending on definition)?

Personally I wouldn't necessarily call nowadays the golden age of Lego, but I could call it a golden age, certainly. For me as a Castle fan the turning point would be the launch of Fantasy Era after the not-so-good times of early noughties and late nineties. There are certain things and aspects from late eighties-early nineties Lego that I would like to see return, but as a whole I don't think those were necessarily much better times. But simpler they were, in both the good and the bad meanings of the word.

I think he means this decade as in the most recent ten years, not the decade as in beginning and ending with a zero. A decade can be any ten-year interval in those terms, it doesn't have to start and end at a predetermined date. So if you were saying the Kingdom of Forthesakeofargumentia has had "a century of peace", you wouldn't be talking about peace since the last year ending in 00 or 01, you'd mean a century starting a hundred or so years before you make that statement.

[Algernon]

The problem here is that LEGO means something slightly different to everyone, especially us aficionados. Your age group, your specific LEGO interests, and your spending habits have a tremendous effect on what you might call LEGO's "golden years".

For example, I'm a Space fan at heart, and Spacers usually define the "golden age" of LEGO Space as 1990-1996. That's when Space Police, Blacktron, Futuron, M-Tron, Spyrius, and Ice Planet 2002 hit store shelves. Nowadays, Space fans are more divided, because even with great themes like Alien Conquest or Space Police 3, there's a lot of fuss about whether these are "true" Space themes and there is a lot of nostalgia for the early 90s.

But what if you're only really interested in collecting minifigs? Well then, the CMF series is a boon, and the last four years are probably the golden age for you. What if you're a Star Wars fan? Then your "golden age" for LEGO is probably right now.

My point is this is all completely subjective. The only thing that we CAN stipulate is that LEGO's profitability seems to have risen in recent years. Smash hit themes like NinjaGo and Star Wars are reaping profits while LEGO continues to deliver reasonably high-quality sets and D2C models that us AFOLs simply drool over. As a company, LEGO might very well be in the "golden ages", but that might not mean much to you or me.

Just to drive home how subjective these things are, my "golden age" is actually the early 2000s. Life On Mars, one of the most despised Space themes of all time, is actually one of my most cherished. And that's only because of nostalgia.

"Golden ages" are pretty ambiguous. Can we really define them at all?

Edited December 4, 2012 by Algernon