Lego Ideas Typewriter

[sharkweek]

A lot of people in this thread are forgetting that it’s not necessarily about the actual completed object but more the process of putting it together that often brings the most joy with LEGO.

I don’t think I’m more at peace than the few times a year I sit down with a new LEGO kit and build it. It’s a delightfully enjoyable break from just about everything else that keeps my mind busy and is such a calming activity.

[cainxinth]

This is my problem. I very badly want to build some of these (particularly the Saturn V and some of those huge Technic supercar models), but I really don't need another tchotchke collecting dust on a shelf.

[organsnyder]

My wife gave me the LEGO grand piano this past Christmas. It was an absolute joy putting it together, seeing how the designer made everything work.

[spoonjim]

To me, the greatest joy of LEGO sets is seeing brilliant engineering up close. There's brilliant engineering inside an iPhone, but I can't see it. It's all locked inside a boring looking little 1cmx1cm gray chip.

When you assemble something like a working pneumatic articulated motorized digger, 99% made out of the same basic 200 interchangeable parts, it's incredible.

[ziml77]

I'm confused by the hate too. Like I wouldn't care to have yet another thing on a shelf that's just more plastic waste, but I don't have an issue with people enjoying this. It's not like something that takes a bit of effort to put together and then is just an art piece is anything new.

[criddell]

I believe a lot of people who buy one are mostly thinking of how hot this is going to be on eBay.

[samizdis]

That's a lovely piece of kit, and I am sorely tempted to put in an order, but LEGO's promotional video and associated text descriptions seem to be a little deceptive.

As far as I can tell, the model - which has a "LEGO first" - Black and red ink spool ribbon is a new fabric element. - and each key has a letter, and the carriage moves, etc ... doesn't actually type.

[scoopertrooper]

This may shock you, but none of those lego ships are sea worthy either.

[mattashii]

It has one (singular) typing element that moves and hits the 'tape', which you might consider as typing. But, it indeed is not functional for the whole alphabet, nor does it have functional shift keys to shift cases.

[jan_Inkepa]

Oh yeah good catch; they should probably add a disclaimer that it's not functional.

[ElijahLynn]

Same. The video shows a typed letter in the machine too, leading me to believe it actually worked. But further digging reveals this is not the case. A ton of people are going to actually buy this thinking it works, and it won't and they will be pissed.

[MiscIdeaMaker99]

I think you'd have to be a little gullible to think it's a real typewriter, especially if you've ever used a real one.

[robg]

I’m struck by the post-modern, non-working reflection that costs significantly more than the functional object that’s still readily available. LEGO has truly crossed into the art world. Like a painting of a soup can.

[nindalf]

When wasn’t Lego art? I display my Lego dinosaurs next to my TV. I think they look cool. They weren’t meant to be functional dinosaurs.

[jmrm]

A pastel green Olivetti Lettera 32 cost about 100€ used, so that's totally true

[shoto_io]

They are definitely not “solving a problem”. That’s for sure.

Instead, Legos is obviously fulfilling/creating a need.

[golergka]

It's a different object with different functionality. You can't use it to actually type, but you can use it to easily and conveniently create something unique to your liking, mixing and matching pieces from any LEGO set in the company's history.

[em-bee]

if you think the typewriter is bad, have you seen the new lego adidas shoe?

[snypher]

Are you saying I can buy a $200 typewriter somewhere?

[twic]

We have reached Baudrillard Condition 3.

[abruzzi]

This is really the opposite of what I always loved about Legos as a kid. All these complex kits seem more like jigsaw puzzles--only one way to go together. What I loved about Legos as a kid was making my own creations.

[lkramer]

You can still buy those sets: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/themes/classic

The highly detailed sets really takes nothing away from those.

It is also my understanding that those free play sets sells well, so they really are complimentary.

[riffraff]

I see your point but even when I was a kid 30 years ago Lego had specialized kits (castle with horses, space modules, car races) and even today they sell "just bricks" boxes.

There's certainly been a shift in marketing (e.g. Ninjago) but if you want the raw build your own experience it's still there, the offer has just expanded.

[slightwinder]

This set is from Lego Ideas, a site where people can add their own ideas and vote for them. The sets coming from there are usualy for adults, collectors, fans. They had single set from franchises like Voltron, WALL-E, Doctor Who, Mickey Mouse. But also have Artful sets like a Piano, this typewriter. Or even sets of real space-stuff like Saturn V-Rocket, ISS or Apollo Moonlander.

For kids they still have their regular simple or mildly complex sets, depending on age and franchise.

[genocidicbunny]

So don't follow the instructions and just make your own.

I don't know when you were a kid, but when I was a kid Lego sets _were_ like jigsaw puzzles. Lots of big single-use pieces that were hard to adapt into something new.

Modern Lego sets may look like they can only go together one way, but they are made of a bunch of smaller general-purpose pieces. There is much more room for reusing those for your own creations than there used to be.

[jacquesm]

Nothing stops you from doing that today. Your best bet for buying bricks is ebay, $9 / Kg or so is pretty good pricing for heirlooms ;)

[Tomte]

At least the keys are printed. Those would have been a nightmare to center. Only two stickers in the set.

(You can't take that for granted, even the 700 Euro set #75252 comes with a sticker)

[wongarsu]

All printed keys, and a new fabric element. I couldn't believe today's Lego would splurge like this, until I got to the "Includes Note from Chairman Thomas Kristiansen, based on the typewriter of founder Ole Kristiansen". I guess the executive still gets nice models without stickers.

[ecesena]

Omg now I wish they’d do an enigma machine!

[g105b]

Ooh, how long until someone inserts a Teensy microchip and a USB cable to make this a functional computer keyboard?

Either way I really want one!

[adolph]

Or just take those keycaps for a lego-compatible switches:

https://hackaday.com/2017/12/12/connecting-cherry-mx-key-swi...

[colejohnson66]

Retro Recipies / Perifractic did that with a C64, sortove: https://youtu.be/1Fb0Kn2bVtM

[jalk]

Does anybody know if the creator of a "Lego Idea" gets royalties if their kit ends up in stores?

[dacur]

per wikipedia, 1% royalties

[karmakaze]

It took me a long while to see the LEGO-ness in it. It's so well finished that you can't tell it's LEGO. Certainly you know because you assembled it. But then again the pieces are so specialized that you lose a lot of the creativity that LEGO inspires.

[leemailll]

Interesting. Just watched this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs5TEuZPQl8)

[grammarprofess]

Dang that's wild

[nindalf]

I wonder if the moderator of HN gets a ping every time his name is mentioned like this. “Why did someone summon me on a Lego thread? Oh ok, just an exclamation.”

[jccc]

Um, if I click "Continue" am I agreeing to their cookie policy?

Is this popup a GDPR notice?

For anyone who doesn't see it: There's a giant blue box on the left that just says continue to lego.com, and then a giant yellow box on the right for going to their "Play Zone" for kids I guess.

Then in microscopic text underneath they only describe their cookie policy but say nothing about what you're agreeing to.

[EDIT] Okay, it seems there is a cookie-control thing underneath after you click. Only discovered it by meddling with the Inspector. But that whole first thing just really looks like a dark pattern.

[thrower123]

I'm somewhat depressed by how explicitly Lego is marketing towards 30-something man-children who build things to put them on the shelf.

The worst part is that this model-kit design style is spilling over and infecting their actual toy themes. It's harder for kids to repurpose a set that's built 40% out of small tiles and cheese wedges and little greebly bits.

[jbrnh]

My dad complained about modern specialized lego bricks 30 years ago. I got some of his old bricks from the 50's. They got some weird shapes too. Nothing changed.

[skipnup]

There still are lots of classic boxes of "normal" pieces:

– https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/bricks-bricks-bricks-1071...

– https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/classic

[lawn]

Plenty of Lego sets for the kids as well. Just avoid these sets if it's something you worry about.

[Tomte]

Buy Lego Minecraft. Lots and lots of 2x2, 2x4 and 2x8 bricks in sensible colors.

[ht_th]

My mother, who is in her 70s, loves to build these new sets! She also loved to build all the old Lego sets from her children again for her grand children. Just to see if all the pieces were still there, she said :-)

I like living in a society where playtime isn't just for kids!

[bombcar]

I still remember as a child loving the “customized” pieces - printed, rare - much more important that the normal bricks

[elliekelly]

They still make the “classic” sets of just basic bricks in assorted colors. Around the holidays you can get a giant box at Costco for $20 and I think Ikea might have a classic set even cheaper. The classic bricks come in bright yellow boxes while the dedicated builds are usually in blue boxes and the duplo sets (classic brick sets for toddlers with extra large pieces) are in green boxes. I think it’s sometimes easy to miss the yellow boxes in the lego aisle when you’re so focused on the blue boxes.

[estaseuropano]

The kids spilled over their Lego box a few days ago - so many unusable and pointless 1x1 round pieces, special weird shapes, etc. Its all the sets which are fun to build but seem more like a puzzle than a Lego set which you can really reuse, rebuild, etc. I'm not normally nostalgic, but my box as a child used to be all real blocks and I could build great stuff. Now its more marketing to sell more and more branded sets. Worst is the Lego city stuff though.