Do you 'rent/loan' your Legos to someone else?

[The_YongGrand]

Hello there,

I made a mistake when me and my brother were younger - loaning the Legos to someone else.

Once back in the early 90s, my brother got a really cool Lego spaceship for his birthday (or so it seemed, I don't remember). Then a few months later he lend it to some dude younger than him a few doors away from us. Result: only 1/4 of the spaceship left. My brother was ultimately annoyed by that kind and he regretted lending it to someone else.

For me, I lend some of the cars to my aunt's toddler son (also my cousin) because my mother pressured to share the toys with others, and the result was the same: it was wrecked. Needless to say, a toddler doesn't know how to even play this and I would have a trouble if he choked on that little piece!

Years later, another cousin who was younger, borrowed another one of my brother's fire-engines. The result wasn't any better. Not one of my cousins ever took care of these!

Up until now, my cousins were all grown up, but most of them were spoiled and problematic. They either flunked too much in school, or slacked off in their colleges. Please note that I did not have a grudge on them - they were spoiled already. I still treat them neutrally. When they were at my home back then (they were only less than 9 yrs), they were lacking of dicipline and restraint. They touched the things at my home where it shouldn't be touched, even the refrigerator wasn't spared. Cannot touch my things? They would lie down on the floor, hitting the floor and kicking the air and cried their lungs out. I could not imagine my punishment if I touched other people's stuff at home. My parents would ground me after a lecture, or worse, a hard smack on the bottom. Currently, parents in my place were cutting their kids too much slack.

Oh dear. Nowadays, my parents told me to keep those things carefully. I would still share my Lego sets with my brother (he's now 28) and I trusted him. But, with the other young kids, uh, I'll think about that.

How do you cope with someone else 'intruding' with your most precious Lego sets?

P.S: I knew a guy who got pissed at his cousin because he destroyed his expensive Lego set. It's not just me.

Edited August 25, 2011 by The_YongGrand

[Zeon]

I think it's alright to play with our Lego (well, my 4 y.o. doesn't have come-over-and-play-friends), and if it would be needed, I would teach them how to play and not to wreck the parts. (A few accidental broken parts goes to the BL wishlist).

Lending your lego and not getting it back is a whole different story. If this was the case with my son*, I would ask the other parents to pay for the lost/broken parts and settle this with their child. (Even if it will result in some do not borrow toys policy for them.)

And that goes for all the toys we have around, not just lego.

Edit: * And of course it is all natural to me to try and compensate for the toys my son breaks

Edited August 25, 2011 by Zeon

[The_YongGrand]

I think it's alright to play with our Lego (well, my 4 y.o. doesn't have come-over-and-play-friends), and if it would be needed, I would teach them how to play and not to wreck the parts. (A few accidental broken parts goes to the BL wishlist).

Lending your lego and not getting it back is a whole different story. If this was the case with my son*, I would ask the other parents to pay for the lost/broken parts and settle this with their child. (Even if it will result in some do not borrow toys policy for them.)

And that goes for all the toys we have around, not just lego.

Edit: * And of course it is all natural to me to try and compensate for the toys my son breaks

I see.

I do not have much "come-over-and-play" friends, only some of my closest school friend, who actually were very careful about the Lego sets when we played together. That is when we actually played them together. They did not attempt to loan or something else in this process.

Unfortunately my other relatives weren't actually understanding. Most of the time, sharing them would be a pain, as they were too young to play those stuff. Maybe Duplos served them better.

[Zeon]

I do not have much "come-over-and-play" friends, only some of my closest school friend, who actually were very careful about the Lego sets when we played together. That is when we actually played them together. They did not attempt to loan or something else in this process.

Well, if you still do have school friends that comes over to play some lego, that's a whole different case :)

[Calanon]

No, never. When I was younger I used to hate people touching my LEGO in case they broke it. Now I'm more trusting and I'll let people handle larger things as long as I'm there.

[sharky]

Lending any kind of toy to a kid is a recipe for disaster.

[Eilif]

I'll lend LEGO within reason. I run a LEGO club for inner-city third graders for which I raise funds. One year we had a large funding gap, and I agreed to lend about 1/3 of my collection (probably 30,000 to 40,000 bricks sorted by type and color) to a donor's child for a school project in exchange for covering our funding gap.

It was an excellent arrangement. The young man was carefull with the brick, returned it in good condition and gave a very nice presentation to my students.

I've also lent out baseplates and bricks to members of my the AFOL LUG that I am a part of. Lastly, I've put out a tarp on the street with a tub of mixed LEGO on it during a block party. I'm sure a few LEGOs walked away, but that's just the way it is.

My LEGO don't leave the house much besides that, but I have no problem with guests of any ages using my LEGO. It helps that I'm not a set collector. Particularly valuable pieces or favorite sets get put up on shelves and everything else is fair game. Life's too short to worry about lost pieces.

[The_YongGrand]

Well, if you still do have school friends that comes over to play some lego, that's a whole different case :)

Yeah. I have close friends who are trustable, and playing with them is a joy. I wish I could call them up again, despite being young adults. :)

No, never. When I was younger I used to hate people touching my LEGO in case they broke it. Now I'm more trusting and I'll let people handle larger things as long as I'm there.

Lending any kind of toy to a kid is a recipe for disaster.

I was speaking to my close friend about his toys - he shelved them in a wooden shelf with glass doors.

He was very much a 'no' person when comes to lending his stuff (Gundam and some collectibles) to younger relatives. He even said, "If the glass breaks, you know that you shouldn't touch it".

[Brainbox]

I remember someone managed to chew one of my minifig heads beyond recognition once, when I was little. I seem to remember not being too pleased...

I'm not the sort of person who lends things very easily, I have issues with other people handling my things. But I am more than happy for close friends to have a bit of a potter with my Lego, as they have on occasion. Just because they're mature twenty year olds doesn't mean they aren't secretly children! Although I do tend to stand over them while they do it, just to be sure...

[dr_spock]

I loaned some of my bricks to my son's school's Lego Club. As expected I didn't get all my pieces back at the end of the school year. They weren't pieces I would cry over.

[horizon]

Lending toys is a big no-no, I don't see a reason why to do so.

Eilif has a good post but that is very different scope then just lending toys.

Especially lego is fragile to lending due all the small bricks. Even in your own house it isn't unlikely to have a brick go into the vacuum cleaner (yes I get it back out.... ieee).

Other kids can play with our kids lego when they come over but never take it home with them.

[Shadows]

LEGO isn't intended for children.

What kind of question is this?

[The_YongGrand]

LEGO isn't intended for children.

What kind of question is this?

Lol, but the boxes in main Lego sets suggest 5-12 yrs old!

[Rook]

Worst idea ever. That ranks right up there next to loaning spouses out.

[Masked Builder]

I'll lend them out to a friend who I know will take care of them. Other than that, they stay put away from the little kiddos that come over.

Worst idea ever. That ranks right up there next to loaning spouses out.

[The Blue Brick]

I never let children come into my room of lego. Onetime when i was little, my neighbor came over and got mad at me for beating him in a board game. Guess what he did. He through the board at my tabletown and slid the whole thing off the table. I was in tears for a week, because it was the most precious thing to me. Nowadays, I hate pets when it comes to lego. My dog has chewed on so many minifigures, bricks, and plates. Its ridiculous.

[K-Nut]

Legos are made for keeping to yourself and not sharing.

[Vindice]

My LEGO don't leave the house much besides that, but I have no problem with guests of any ages using my LEGO. It helps that I'm not a set collector. Particularly valuable pieces or favorite sets get put up on shelves and everything else is fair game. Life's too short to worry about lost pieces.

You are way too balanced to be an AFOL!!

Nice sentiments and it's very commendable what you do but my boy is almost 5 now and some of his friends have started coming over. I'm in a quandary about what to do regarding the LEGO sets. There are some nice big displays in my sons room that i would hate to see torn apart.

My wife asked me once if I would give some lego to a relative (his parents have more money than us but don't have my lego addiciton), I flatly refused.

[Si-MOCs]

If it was family with kids, I'd probably let them play with it - I'd probably play with them, so worse they can do is break it - and I can rebuild. And I'm sure if they wanted 'borrow' lego, I'd just give them something since it'll never come back the same way it left.

In terms of AFOLs I lend brick out to a few choice people, I know where they live

Though I haven't really seen any returned... yet

[Jargo]

When I was a wee lad I didn't let anyone but my two brothers touch my Lego and I kept a record of every piece they borrowed making sure to get it back. My mother would have crucified us for taking it out of the house. Even now I don't like to let people near my Lego. My partner likes to build houses but I can't help but hover around making sure no parts get lost or misused. Even my puppy knows not to go near my Lego. He's sniffed lots of it but after he tried walking off with a trans yellow 1x2 brick he quickly learned that it wasn't his to play with. I'm very selfish and protective of it all as a result of that early parental strictness. A I get older and older I find I can live without many things but I can't bear to be parted from my Lego. I even sleep in my Lego room. Just me a bed and all my Lego.

[Eilif]

You are way too balanced to be an AFOL!!

Thanks, I think...

Nice sentiments and it's very commendable what you do but my boy is almost 5 now and some of his friends have started coming over. I'm in a quandary about what to do regarding the LEGO sets. There are some nice big displays in my sons room that i would hate to see torn apart.

Bah, LEGO's are made for destroying and rebuilding into something else. When my son is old enough, I will talk with him about which sets he really, really wants to keep together, and probably only have him tear apart a few at a time.

Either way I veiw tearing apart sets as a learning experience. If they get destroyed and they have fun building something new, then that's a good thing. If they get destroyed and he regrets letting them be torn apart and he learns for next time.

That said, there will be no lending of LEGO to his friends, it's just too hard to make sure that it comes back into the house and if the option is there, there are too many kids who would likely take advantage of it.

If you're still having qualms about the sets, perhaps suggesting that they use thier play brick to add-to the existing sets rather than just tearing them apart right away. As a kid, most of my sets got added to and "improved" for a while before they were finally torn apart.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Noooooooo!!!!! My precious...

Seriously, I consider all my Lego stuff as a big collection. I don't share my personal collections, since they're personal. Perhaps some day I might get rid of some small sets that I'm not too fond of, but that's it. I don't even think that I would share my stuff if I had small kids. I would when they got older (12 maybe). But heck... if I've have accidents with my own stuff, somebody who's not careful enough could have a lot of them!

And I know I may seem obsessive, but it's just one of those things that I like to be just mine. I think that it is very likely that the only way someone is getting one of my big Lego sets is through my will after I die.

Edited September 3, 2011 by johnnyvgoode