What to do with Lego (LEGO (R)) Toy Kits

[sirach2v4]

I have been the donor of expensive lego toy kits to a young relative of mine. What I find is that he is addicted to putting these together.

But, as time goes by, his attachment to the toy wanes, and I’ve discovered that he dismantles the toys and had the 6 inch deep drawer filled with non-descript lego pieces.

What aggravates the issue, is that by a rational choice the boy and his mom discard the little books of instructions on how to assemble the toys, and they also discard the box.

I have decided to stop giving these expensive gifts unless a couple conditions are met.

1. save the instruction books and original box
2. take apart the toys and re-package them in plastic bags with the instruction books.
3. donate the toy to another child who will be thrilled to put the snazzy kit together.

I have a friend who casually mentioned that a storage building on his property was filled with lego toys.

There’s got to be a better way to spend this money, up to $125 a kit (or much more as you know).

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

But, maybe this will help somebody out there who has the same situation.

 

[TxGodfollower]

I have been the donor of expensive lego toy kits to a young relative of mine. What I find is that he is addicted to putting these together.

But, as time goes by, his attachment to the toy wanes, and I’ve discovered that he dismantles the toys and had the 6 inch deep drawer filled with non-descript lego pieces.

What aggravates the issue, is that by a rational choice the boy and his mom discard the little books of instructions on how to assemble the toys, and they also discard the box.

I have decided to stop giving these expensive gifts unless a couple conditions are met.

1. save the instruction books and original box
2. take apart the toys and re-package them in plastic bags with the instruction books.
3. donate the toy to another child who will be thrilled to put the snazzy kit together.

I have a friend who casually mentioned that a storage building on his property was filled with lego toys.

There’s got to be a better way to spend this money, up to $125 a kit (or much more as you know).

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

But, maybe this will help somebody out there who has the same situation.

Once you give someone a gift, you can’t control what they do with it. But if you don’t think they are treating the Legos appropriately, you don’t have to give them any more. Also, you can get the instructions from here: service.lego.com/en-us/buildinginstructions/ if you know either the set #, a keyword, or year it was made.

Maybe you could just get him one of those buckets of assorted Legos if he likes building, or if he likes designing things he might like their digital designer ldd.lego.com/en-us/ [and its free ]

 

[Allegra]

Seems reasonable. Why waste an expensive toy creating something outside of the instructions? We wouldn’t want children mixing up their lego sets to build something creative now would we?

 

[Razanir]

Seems reasonable. Why waste an expensive toy creating something outside of the instructions? We wouldn’t want children mixing up their lego sets to build something creative now would we?

It’s almost as if there was an entire movie with that moral…

 

[GEddie]

I had Lego’s as a child and loved them.

Most of the time, though, I did not spend the time rebuilding the original sets, but combining pieces to make new shapes. Creativity is what Lego’s are all about.

This being the late 1900s, too, I doubt any of the sets cost anywhere near US$125!

IMNAAHO, that is far too much to spend on a toy!

ICXC NIKA.

 

[Irishmom2]

Seems reasonable. Why waste an expensive toy creating something outside of the instructions? We wouldn’t want children mixing up their lego sets to build something creative now would we?

Well, the alternative is to create Lego sculptures and place them all around the house. A closet (or a room) can be designated to store all of the boxes and booklets. Someday, they will be worth a lot of money because they are so one of a kind and original. Their parents will be able to sell them off and pay for college.

Oh, wait a minute, no, they won’t.

Sometimes, the grown ups just have to realize when to stop. If you want the list of “rules” followed, perhaps you should keep them for yourself. Once you give a gift, you have no right to attach rules for how to play with things.

And that is why somewhere, a collectible Christmas Barbie is now wearing a bathing suit and her hair was cut shorter.

 

[triumphguy]

I have been the donor of expensive lego toy kits to a young relative of mine. What I find is that he is addicted to putting these together.

But, as time goes by, his attachment to the toy wanes, and I’ve discovered that he dismantles the toys and had the 6 inch deep drawer filled with non-descript lego pieces.

What aggravates the issue, is that by a rational choice the boy and his mom discard the little books of instructions on how to assemble the toys, and they also discard the box.

I have decided to stop giving these expensive gifts unless a couple conditions are met.

1. save the instruction books and original box
2. take apart the toys and re-package them in plastic bags with the instruction books.
3. donate the toy to another child who will be thrilled to put the snazzy kit together.

I have a friend who casually mentioned that a storage building on his property was filled with lego toys.

There’s got to be a better way to spend this money, up to $125 a kit (or much more as you know).

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

But, maybe this will help somebody out there who has the same situation.

Once you’ve built what was depicted on the box it’s of absolutley NO interest to kids (or their dads ) to build it again. It’s much more interesting to throw away the instructions and build manned T-Rex/spaceship that can go underwater.

Maybe spend time building crazy lego things with your young relatives.

 

[savedbygrace71]

So are you saying, OP, that you would only buy the big set again if the child agreed to neatly save the box and instructions and make the same exact item over and over again? That isn’t going to happen. And, it’s not what Legos are for. We have dozens and dozens of sets of Legos. in fact, we just had a Lego party for my son where Bricks for Kidz came to our house and the second grade was here putting together models and minifigs and did free play. We have a big book called The Idea Book full of great, creative unusual builds that others have made. Not with instructions step by step, just great images for kids and adults to get a jump start using the pieces they already have.

Take some time to watch The Lego Movie, Lord Business. Lego is about fun and creativity!

 

[truetofaith]

Are you wondering, sirach, if it’s a sin for the child to discard the instructions or are you committing a sin by spending a lot of money on these lego sets?

I guess your confessor will have the answer.

 

[pensmama87]

I will admit that I had a tendency (and still have, actually, now that my kids have a few of the Duplo sets) to build the same things over and over. I would build houses and towns and choose people to live in them. That’s not a “wrong” way to play with Legos, either. I also liked the instruction booklets because they could give me ideas on how to put pieces together that I may not have thought of, otherwise.

(By the way, this style of play also showed up when I would play computer games like The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Age of Empires…I basically played the same way every time. I found it soothing to build a civilization the exact way I thought it should be, with no little brothers and sisters to mess it all up! )

Still, though, it’s really, really poor manners to direct a person how they are to use a gift. If you don’t like how they use it, use that information to determine if you would like to select an alternative gift or not buy them a gift at all in the future. What you’re describing is pretty much how any kid responds to any toy. You give a gift to make a person happy and show them that you care, not so you can micromanage playtime.

 

[Anglewannabe]

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

I agree that have good shoes is more important than buying legos for a kid who is not your own. However, I don’t think you can take out your anger on the boy and his mom for not using the gift the way you expected them to.

It sounds like this kid is displaying normal kid behaviour (all kids get bored with toys that are over 1 month old) and the mom. Who really has space for boxes and instruction pamphlets that aren’t used.

I think you need to look further into your soul as to why you are so mad

 

[ClearWater]

I have been the donor of expensive lego toy kits to a young relative of mine. **What I find is that he is addicted to putting these together.

But, as time goes by, his attachment to the toy wanes**, and I’ve discovered that he dismantles the toys and had the 6 inch deep drawer filled with non-descript lego pieces.

What aggravates the issue, is that by a rational choice the boy and his mom discard the little books of instructions on how to assemble the toys, and they also discard the box.

I have decided to stop giving these expensive gifts unless a couple conditions are met.

1. save the instruction books and original box
2. take apart the toys and re-package them in plastic bags with the instruction books.
3. donate the toy to another child who will be thrilled to put the snazzy kit together.

I have a friend who casually mentioned that a storage building on his property was filled with lego toys.

There’s got to be a better way to spend this money, up to $125 a kit (or much more as you know).

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

But, maybe this will help somebody out there who has the same situation.

Once one uses the toys enough, it gets old, no matter how good the toy is. At that point where we began to lose interest, she’d pack the toys up, bring them out at another time, and it would be like a new toy.

I also prefer to see toys, and other things, used, not just kept.

Although, it’s good he used them, was like “addicted” to them.

I wish people would give their old toys to someone or Goodwill, to be sold at a cheap price to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford a toy like that, appreciate it. The money goes for a good cause, for people with disabilities and other, educational and other programs.

Just give this to people who will meet these conditions, then, next time.

Even without the instruction books, someone else could still use them, but if they can keep everything together, even better.

I once saw out on the curb for the garbage these really nice toys! I don’t even have children. They were beautiful doll house and toys! I guess someone was moving, didn’t want to be bothered.

I scooped that all up, washed it up, donated it to Goodwill.

Well, when you move, keep Goodwill and the Salvation Army in mind. These wonderful toys, clothes and things don’t need to go into the garbage. It’s wasteful.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well last year I decided to give my grandsons something educational.

So, I gave them a mircroscope kit.

Their parents gave them tablets.

Guess which one is used and the other collects dust ?

Jim

 

[John_Lazarus]

Well, when you move, keep Goodwill and the Salvation Army in mind. These wonderful toys, clothes and things don’t need to go into the garbage. It’s wasteful.

And St Vincent de Paul, and shelters for women & children.

 

[cjd]

Why don’t you just buy him loose Legos to play with? You can usually buy Legos by the pound on Craigslist/Ebay/etc. ($6-12/lb)

Then you don’t have to feel bad about spending so much money for the fancy set and the instructions that will be shortly discarded, and the child gets a gift in the form that he/she actually prefers.

 

[bolinstephen]

Part of the fun of legos is that one can create a variety of things using legos— not just what is on the box— especially if one mixes and matches sets.

However— if the recipient of your gifts don’t care at all about the original design of these expensive sets, perhaps you can get him some second hand legos to play with, or some not so expensive sets so the recipient can do what he pleases with his gift, without disrespecting your pocket book.

God too, created the world according to his blueprint. And God is recreating the world constantly using the same building blocks.

 

[Sunbreak]

Well, once you give the gift you have no right to control how it is used. So what if the original box and instructions aren’t saved? If the kid gets enjoyment in playing with the legos even without following the original instructions, that’s the kid’s choice.

 

[Randy_Carson]

I have been the donor of expensive lego toy kits to a young relative of mine. What I find is that he is addicted to putting these together.

But, as time goes by, his attachment to the toy wanes, and I’ve discovered that he dismantles the toys and had the 6 inch deep drawer filled with non-descript lego pieces.

What aggravates the issue, is that by a rational choice the boy and his mom discard the little books of instructions on how to assemble the toys, and they also discard the box.

I have decided to stop giving these expensive gifts unless a couple conditions are met.

1. save the instruction books and original box
2. take apart the toys and re-package them in plastic bags with the instruction books.
3. donate the toy to another child who will be thrilled to put the snazzy kit together.

I have a friend who casually mentioned that a storage building on his property was filled with lego toys.

There’s got to be a better way to spend this money, up to $125 a kit (or much more as you know).

I bought two kits for birthday/Christmas this year, and I deferred getting a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that fell apart while I was walking in them. My priorities are out of whack, too; the things we do for kids.

But, maybe this will help somebody out there who has the same situation.

I actually read an article a couple of years ago in which the author described three styles of play with Legos:

1. Follow the directions and build the thing pictured on the box one time and never take it apart. These kids have completed models on shelves in their rooms.
2. Follow the directions and build the thing one time. Then take it apart and start using the pieces to be creative.
3. Never build the thing on the cover and just play creatively.

You want your relative to be a #1 type because that’s YOUR style of play.

My kids were #2. I also own a maid service, and we see a lot of legos in big buckets, so there must be very few #1 style kids out there.

Are you actually suggesting that there is a WRONG way to play???