Adult Collecting vs. Play

[Tom Bricks]

I was actually wondering about this earlier. When I restarted collecting Lego a year or so ago (never had a dark ages but just stopped buying sets) I think I figured that I would build a scene and then play in it but I got away from that and I still feel like anything I build is never complete. I guess I kind of lost the ability to play like I used too.

However I recently bought Robo Attack and I surprised myself at how much I played with it. I also play with my younger cousin when he comes over my house and we had a great wild west battle.

It kind of saddens me that I don't play as much as I'd like to as I'm not even a legal adult yet. I feel bad knowing that my younger self would have loved to play with everything I built but that now I am mostly thinking of the next thing I'm going to build. I think these are some of the reasons that people like me don't play as much as they used too:

1.I actually feel like I can play with one small set more than playing with my entire collection. When I was on vacation in March I bought a few sets there and enjoyed playing with them because I felt that there was no more building to do. I didn't go as far as naming the minifigs like I used too but I enjoyed some good pirate vs. knight battles.

2. I also listen to music as I build and I have my computer on so I kind of feel like that doesn't allow me to play. I think that they are too distracting to me to focus on a story or something. Instead I just listen to the music or look at the posts on Eurobricks.

I would certainly like to start playing again and I know this sounds ridiculous but I'm going to try to play tonight!

[Svelte]

I also think there's a tension between the narrative play of a child and the desire by AFOLs for detailed, realistic models. For many AFOLs (and yes, I'm generalising) the pleasure is in design and construction, and the satisfaction gained by producing a complex and beautiful piece of work. Kids want lots of cool functions and details, preferably with weaponry - hence the popularity of flick-fire missiles and Technic shooters, even if AFOLs hate them.

For me, the modular houses line strikes the best balance between beauty and playability, since they are clearly designed to be lived in and inhabited by minifigs and have features like fire escapes, staircases, mailboxes, firepoles and so on. Models like the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Carousel are ultimately less appealing to me as there is little that you can do with them once built.

[Tom Bricks]

Models like the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Carousel are ultimately less appealing to me as there is little that you can do with them once built.

As I don't actually own one and you do you probably know better, but in most cases I would find something with a motor like the Carousel or a train to have more play value instead of less.

[Svelte]

As I don't actually own one and you do you probably know better, but in most cases I would find something with a motor like the Carousel or a train to have more play value instead of less.

Well, it moves, and looks great, so it's better for play than the other 2 I mentioned, but it is still somewhat limited in comparison to the modular houses.

[LEGOMAN132]

I do both all my system sets I build then put them on a shelf. And all of my technic set I will play with.

[WesternOutlaw]

I also play with my younger cousin when he comes over my house and we had a great wild west battle.

Wild West is certainly a fun "play theme".

As I said previously, Weapons Wagon was my last set that I think I actually played with. That was over 10 years ago.

I actually feel like I can play with one small set more than playing with my entire collection. When I was on vacation in March I bought a few sets there and enjoyed playing with them because I felt that there was no more building to do.

Yes, that's a very good point. Sometimes just having a single "stand-alone" set is much more enjoyable than the entire town, display, or tabletop. What often times happens; however, at least for me, is that the one small set inspires me to build or set up a much larger display with the particular theme (Castle, Adventurers, Town/Train, etc.). Then I find myself in the same rut, displaying as opposed to play.

I also listen to music as I build and I have my computer on so I kind of feel like that doesn't allow me to play. I think that they are too distracting to me to focus on a story or something.

I enjoy music while I work on my displays as well - not to "play" though.

Good points - all.

[Big Cam]

The last set I ever built and remember playing with as a child was this badboy. I just barely took it apart a few month ago and cleaned all the pieces one by one.

[WesternOutlaw]

And what a great set to clean! For me, that would have been just as enjoyable. I love these classic town sets! A set like this would make a fantastic "stand-alone set" because it offers so much. From different types of vehicles, a dock, and crane with container to hoist, there's a high level of "playability". These are the elements of sets that can really add interest to play and using the imagination; and it's not tied to any particular licensed theme. Imagination is endless.

[MrTools]

I still "play" with my creation and sets, but im more into just building displaying and collectionc. I play with things that have functions like the thunder driller just without the "Vrooooom!" "Crush" sound effects, well somtimes I usualy jus sit down and push em for a while and come up with ideas to use it in somthing else. Now thith trains, i dont have any official train sets (yet) but love to make them and push them around the track. (i have never taken any pictures of them, ney arent to good)

I also play with my younger cousin when he comes over my house and we had a great wild west battle.

I bring my big MOCs over to my younger cousins house and we have big castle battles all the time its quite fun Edited September 4, 2009 by MrTools

[ziljin]

Well you could always take mass photos of your stuff, and photograph the instructions to recreate it for the future. Then just dismantle it and create more stuff with it for playing. When bored of playing, repeat cycle of taking pics and begin again.

[Buckshot]

I am not sure we lose the ability to play. I think most of us box it up, trivialize it, or deem it improper behavior for an adult to engage in. On top of that we complicate play with knowledge and reality. Children can have a minifigure jump off high castle walls without a scratch. As an adult, I know full well that no man can jump fully armored off a forty foot wall, fifteen feet outward, land on his feet and then expect to do anything other than go to the hospital or morgue. Our perception often limit our ability to play like children.

I also think there's a tension between the narrative play of a child and the desire by AFOLs for detailed, realistic models. For many AFOLs (and yes, I'm generalising) the pleasure is in design and construction, and the satisfaction gained by producing a complex and beautiful piece of work. Kids want lots of cool functions and details, preferably with weaponry - hence the popularity of flick-fire missiles and Technic shooters, even if AFOLs hate them.

Therein lies the problem I have--when I was young, it didn't matter if the castle walls mixed blue and red bricks or if my Lego knights and firemen joined forces to battle the nefarious Playmobil army. Now I can't even use the giant viking swords because they "don't look right" to me.

Yes, I still play with Lego...but now I play more seriously with Lego, if that makes any sense.

One of the things I miss the most about those "good old days" was finding a new set in a store and opening it in the car to get the brochure to see what other new sets were becoming available. Then I'd plan which one was for Christmas, and which one would have to wait until my birthday....

[tedbeard]

...I would rather build something for my enjoyment rather than to "show it off" on the internet or at conventions.

I take pictures and post them for two reasons:

1. I like having a record of what have done since I seldom leave builds together
   
2. To share ideas and techniques. I enjoy seeing what others have done and how so I figure I have an obligation to share.
   

As for displaying @ conventions I do that for many reasons

1. I mostly do that because it gives me a reason and a deadline to build.
   
2. It gives me something to do and/or talk about with other people when I get there and we share with each other (see above)
   
3. I get to share with children and adults who come to see. I see nothing wrong with enjoying the smiles on kids faces when they see and enjoy my creations.
   
4. I get to be a part of a giant city or a castle battle or whatever that I could not build @ home in the space or with the bricks I own personally.
   

Suggesting that those of us who take pictures or display at cons are somehow egotistical, as you have done, I think misses the point of the LEGO community. If we were not sharing our MOCs online or @ events pretty much means we would not need forums like EB. If you are just building for yourself and don't want to see what other people are doing what is the point of being here?

[Big Cam]

And what a great set to clean! For me, that would have been just as enjoyable. I love these classic town sets! A set like this would make a fantastic "stand-alone set" because it offers so much. From different types of vehicles, a dock, and crane with container to hoist, there's a high level of "playability". These are the elements of sets that can really add interest to play and using the imagination; and it's not tied to any particular licensed theme. Imagination is endless.

It was, Sadly I was not prizing my old sets like I do my new Star Wars sets so basically all my old LEGO has gone in one giant nin, so making these sets again will be very possible but time consuming. Thankfully I still have every instruction book from my childhood. One day when there is time, I'll make a bunch of my old favorites.

[snefroe]

When I was a kid, I remember PLAYING for hours with my best friend as we created scenes and action in my Lego Town. I have vivid memories of childhood play, building cars to crash, spaceships to swoosh through the air, and a bright yellow castle to defend. This was real PLAY, so enjoyable and fun.

Now that I am an adult, I have lost the ability to PLAY. It's been replaced by collecting, building to set-up, and displaying Lego. Sure, I still have my imagination which helps me with writing and envisioning my thoughts, but it's so different than the PLAY of a child.

For those of you studying child psychology, why is it that a child can PLAY for hours, yet something inside an adult limits this factor. If you believe that you have not lost the true ability to play, then you feel differently than I. I would be willing to guess that most adults do not PLAY in the same manner as a child. Is it IMAGINATION? I'm not sure, but whatever it is, I can tell the difference.

What are your thoughts in regard to Child's Play as it relates to Lego?

Do you PLAY or do you COLLECT Lego?

Can you still imagine as you did when you were a child or has this changed in some adult evolution/variation?

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

i think it's one of the oldest subjects afls have been talking about and one that always seems to resurface. I think there are several things you should seperate though...

1) what exactly is collecting? to me, collecting Lego sets means you're buying sets in their original state and you try everything possible to keep it that way. In that regard, i can't imagine there were many kids in the passed who were collectors. Kids normally buy/bought sets because the set is a tool of their imagination: they buy the set and they build something with it, it doesn't really matter if the model is a perfect copy of what's been printed om the box. so collecting a toy does not really make sense, the reason why somebody collects Lego sets usually refers to something of the individual: a collector keeps sets because he likes them and is willing to spend money on them; out of nostaligia;... i don't think every collector can explain why he/she collects Lego sets, just as many other collectors can't explain why they're into collecting hats, puppets, ... it's the element of collecting that makes it fun for the collector, not the fact that it's a collection of Lego sets... I'm a collector nowadays... but a very modest one... I have no problem spending 100euro on a set, but not a 1000. So even in collecting there are many nuances... i don't think collecting has anything to do with creativity as such though... another variation, i guess, is buying, building and displaying a set. i don't see that as playing, because you don't add anything to what's given. at best you have a passive creativety here: the set itself is part of a larger context: a sandcrawler on display, for instance, refers to the sw films and you may find it cool to have one in your living room because you like sw. i don't think it has anything to do with playing...

2) as you say, there are different ways of playing. Toys seem to trigger our creativity. I think Lego used to follow the evolution of a child's creativity pretty well: we all started with basic building blocks (duplo), then on to creating stories in "city" or "castle", some of us change their interest in more technical stuff, like trains or lego technic...

essentialy, we're all following the same paterns of playing, one evolves from simple playing to complex playing, we all start with storytelling. one sticks to the oldest foundations of storytelling for the rest of their life, others change their focus to different interest in life. For instance, they focus on solving design challenges of technical problems that need to be solved... after all, a student can be very creative in a subject like "English" but another can easily be just as creative in math... how your playing game evolves is very closely linked to your brain, the world you're living in...

I don't think you've lost the ability to play. anyone can easily create simple stories, but why would you want to? it just not a challenge any more, playing like that is not a necessary step in your evolution, it would be like reliving something of the past and why would you wanna do that? i think you're still using your imagination, it's just evolved in a different process in your mind. It's more focused on what you want as an individual today... and no doubt, you're not as open to new things anymore then when you were a child. You've already tried so many things, closed doors, made decisions that limits the way in which you think too...

[Big Cam]

WOW.

That was deep, and so very true. Kind of sad in the end.

[fallentomato]

Very interesting thread. For me personally, I am in the hobby for the play. (That's not to say that my style of play hasn't changed since I was a kid.) I collect only in order so that I can have more pieces to play with. I'm am sad for everyone who feels they had lost the urge/ability to play. It's not too late! Today can be the day you take those sets of the shelves and make something happen!

For me a lot of my play is very meticulous. I animate, so that's my way of telling stories with my creations these days, I bring them to life. I don't do as much of the battling type play, but even that was a small part of my lego experience as a kid. Building new MOCs is totally play and for me there's no better way to relax after a long day/week at work than to dive into the lego bins and start seeing what pieces/ideas I pull out. I also enjoy posing minifigs and consider that a form of play. My star destroyer is covered with dozens of minifigs in a variety of poses and situations.

The one thing that bums me out is that my friends are not into lego like I am, so I don't have the same sort of communal play that I enjoyed so much as a kid. I occasionally will get them to help me out putting together a new set or in creating minifigs for crowd scenes etc. I had a lego party a little over a year ago that went pretty well. I had a bunch of new sets for people to help put together and I gave everyone who came a tiny set that they could take home. They could also use the pieces to build an alternate model and I gave a prize ( a bigger set) to the model I thought was coolest. It was a great time. I've been thinking about doing another one, but my current apartment does not have as much room for that kind of thing. But yeah, that was a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings and there was some definite play happening there.

[Big Cam]

The one thing that bums me out is that my friends are not into lego like I am, so I don't have the same sort of communal play that I enjoyed so much as a kid. I occasionally will get them to help me out putting together a new set or in creating minifigs for crowd scenes etc. I had a lego party a little over a year ago that went pretty well. I had a bunch of new sets for people to help put together and I gave everyone who came a tiny set that they could take home. They could also use the pieces to build an alternate model and I gave a prize ( a bigger set) to the model I thought was coolest. It was a great time. I've been thinking about doing another one, but my current apartment does not have as much room for that kind of thing. But yeah, that was a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings and there was some definite play happening there.

I have the same problem with my wife, she likes LEGO's too but doesn't like me dropping $100 on a single set, she thinks it's too expensive of a hobby.

[Vladsimpaler]

I have the same problem with my wife, she likes LEGO's too but doesn't like me dropping $100 on a single set, she thinks it's too expensive of a hobby.

LEGO is actually quite cheap when you think about it. You buy the parts (or the set) and essentially you have them with you forever. Then you consider taking time building it and whatnot, and LEGO figures out quite cheaply.

A much cheaper habit/hobby than smoking and drinking. At least you're doing something productive. (Though some would argue. )

In my lifetime I've probably spent a couple thousand, but when I consider the hours I've put in, that couple thousand doesn't seem too bad.

[Rijkvv]

I'm planning a layout and when it's finished, most likely I'm gonna play with it.

But many things are changed. I have a job now, I can buy LEGO much easier. A set like 8880 was too expensive when I was a kid. When I was a teenager it was discontinued and I never thought about buying a new one online (in fact, if you buy a set like that, who wouldn't build it) but two years ago I finally got one. Also the way of building is changed. I only have built one MOC since my dark age, but sometimes I design creations with MLCad. Now I use S.N.O.T. and want to make a nice smooth finish. Dimensions and details are more important.

[Ralph_S]

Yes, that applys to me, as I rarely photograph my creations for two reasons. One, I am a HORRIBLE photographer, and two, I would rather build something for my enjoyment rather than to "show it off" on the internet or at conventions.

I'm not saying sharing your MOCs with others is a bad thing, It's just that I personally prefer to keep them to myself. (And play with them occasionally)

I think 'showing off' has a negative ring to it that you hopefully don't intend. I'm not the world's best photographer, but sharing MOCs through the internet is part of my enjoyment. I'd still be building if there weren't an internet (I was building before there was an internet as such and long before I found out about sites such as brickshelf, eurobricks and mocpages about five years ago), but being part of a LUG and being active on sites such as these has added a social dimension to the hobby that there wasn't before.

Cheers,

Ralph

[The Cobra]

I am a collector.

I remember hours and hours and hours of fun, MOCing when I didn't even know what MOC could be, putting City, Castle and Space bricks together building a stage for a rock band, or just using the minifigs for two soccer teams, and so on.

Now it would be odd to play, and I surely lost some fantasy. I remember buying the 7942 Fire pick-up, opening the bos andthinking: Before I build the real one, I want to try something else, look at all those pieces that didn't exist when I was young. after ten minutes of nothing, I just opened the instructions book and started building.

I don't have a layout but a shelf (see my signatuere), and that's where my LEGO is displayed after building.

[spade450]

I have the same problem with my wife, she likes LEGO's too but doesn't like me dropping $100 on a single set, she thinks it's too expensive of a hobby.

Compared to "adult" hobbies such as golf, skiing and sailing (all of which I dabbled in at one point or another), Lego is a bargain!

I am not a collector. I but what sets I like, mostly town and city themes, keep some as permanent models and part out others for MOCs. I often buy more than one of a given set if I like the parts make-up.

I probably do not "play" with my Lego as defined by the original poster but I do use my Lego in the same manner as I did as a child. I was always interested in building things, plastic models mostly, and perfectly willing to let them sit on the shelf when done. While other boys were having wars with their model soldiers, I was painting mine in great detail and making dioramas with them. I went through a phase of model railroading but was mostly content to build the layout and scenery. I never really cared much about actually running the trains. That's how Lego works for me now. Cafe Corner, Green Grocer, etc., and MOCs of similar scale have really fired up my interest in Lego after about a 10 year layoff. They are perfect for me -- build a complicated city scene that I can add to over time and that is fun to look at. Just like when I was a kid!

[Thee Pirate]

I believe I've fallen into collecting. I'm really not sure when this happened. I came out of my "dark ages" in 2004-5 when I bought #7016

I started buying large quantities of of Lego a year ago, with the release of Lego Indiana Jones.. With the release of the new wave of sets, I only have 3 sets left to buy. I have bought as many as 6 copies of IJ sets when they went on sale, and I've left about half of them sealed for the moment. I always buy onsale, and the only way I buy if it's not on sale is if it's to complete a collection (as is the case with IJ, and Pirates II)

I suppose I've become my own worst critic for MOCing, I rarely do it anymore. I have a few projects that I've started (eg. making over the Modular buildings so I can use them in a Pirate layout, and building a few r/c creations) and a few I've abandoned (r/cing the SW Sandcrawler)

I've grown content to buying sets, putting them together, and leaving them that way, until I need the pieces for a small project.

[desultor]

building a stage for a rock band

Oh man that's great! I had completely forgotten about this, but I did the same thing for my favorite band growing up in the 80s - Silverwind. Just now I found

I played with the lights down, shining a flashlight on my MOC stage as a spotlight. (And this

brought back the huge crush I had on that singer on the swingset! ) You know, I'm glad I don't have pictures of that MOC - as I'm sure its totally more rad in my memory than in real life.

". . . but when I became a man, I put away childish things." - 1 Corinthians 13:11

Out of context that quote is quite ironic on a LEGO fan site! Here's another Bible reference for balance: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" - Matthew 18:1-4

I was chatting recently with a friend about what he's observed in his kids' imaginative tendencies. His older son has a sweeping imagination, preferring to play out self-invented stories with pre-built action figures or models. His younger son likes to build things, without much thought to their place in a story. I wonder if that is because of their temperament, or perhaps just different stages of development.

As a parent, he has developed the opinion that kids would be better off having to exercise their own imagination more. He considers modern kids to be spoiled with the accessibility and ease of stories in movie form, and that movies have stunted their imagination for making their own stories. He dislikes the expressioned heads and movie-scene replication of modern licensed sets. I think he'd prefer corn-cob dolls over realistic action figures for his family. I'm not sure where I stand yet on the realism of toys for my future kids (I have a a feeling that I'll allow LEGO), but I know I'll limit their movie consumption and encourage book reading.

I had to try hard to remember how I played with LEGO as a child. I think I swooshed the most with this awesome set. I don't think I imagined long narrative stories, instead playing out short-term actions. "Ok, the crane picks up some rocks to dump in the chute for the truck... there the truck goes! Better push some more rocks into the box for the crane. Here comes the guy from the office..."

Nowadays I take great joy in building my new and old LEGO sets from the instructions, though sometimes I attempt to recreate the model from only the box photos first, as an added mental challenge. I also enjoy making alts - MOCs built from only the parts in a set, like the pictures they used to put on the back of boxes. Sometimes I find the thousands of de-setted parts in my collection to be intimidating, and my brain likes to work within limits.

So play for me, now, is primarily building. I love that LEGO can be enjoyed by each of us on one or all the different levels we've discussed; action-figure story imagining, model-building by instruction, free-form model building (alts & MOCs), and collection.

[Legoist]

Now that I am an adult, I have lost the ability to PLAY. It's been replaced by collecting, building to set-up, and displaying Lego.

Are you sure that "collecting, building, displaying" isn't in fact just your new way of playing?

And by the way, if you have kids or you're going to have kids, I bet you also "play" in the old fashioned way. I do that with my 2-year old daughter and it's even with Duplo