What's with this plethora of tiny parts?

[DrJB]

This is not new but, over the past several years there are tons of tiny pieces now in most Lego Sets, be it the lipstick for the friends' girls or other obvious examples.

The other very annoying aspect about this is, if you have 'manly' hands, working with such tiny pieces is ludicrous, and such part get lost so easily.

I've been buying legos for 20+ years and not sure I like this 'make it smaller' trend.

Any other opinions out there?

[Vorkosigan]

Generally this is how you make things more detailed, the same size model out of more smaller pieces. Minifig accessories are also popular so there are more of them especially for girls sets. I'm ok with it, there are many cool uses for what seem like very specialized pieces.

[dr_spock]

Tweezers are your Friends. I don't think it is any different than tiny parts packs sold for superdetailing scale model trains like HO or N.

[pinioncorp]

If it's too small, try Duplo.

There's always been small parts and will no doubt continue to. They make a build more detailed and intricate. Considering the huge size some AFOLs build with their tiny parts, I can't imagine the hobby being very accessible with larger parts.

[rainey06au]

This is interesting. I tend to put all the accessories that come for the Lego Friends sets (bows and crowns for the princesses/animals) away in a container and never touch them again. My daughter struggles with these pieces and I just find them hidden in the carpet if I don't put them away. So I agree that they're a bit silly. Also the Lego Friends hairpieces never stay on the damn heads of the girls! My daughter gets so frustrated with this when she's trying to pose them and their hair falls off!