Bootlegs Part 8
Anyone catch the most recent Simpsons episode, entitled “The D’oh-cial Network”? There was a pretty sharp dig at LEGO, in which Lisa goes into a mall-based “Blocko” store and can’t find plain old bricks. Blocko only sells precisely-designed sets in which the imagining is already done for their customers. (There was even a set that resembled the new Jabba’s Palace that is coming out in 2012!)
There is of course some truth to this sentiment. The LEGO Group has sold sets with specific themes for decades, but it’s only in more recent years that they’ve licensed properties like Star Wars and Harry Potter. LEGO’s original themes like Town, Castle and Space have always offered kids a very basic play-pattern that allows plenty of room for their imaginations to fill in the rest. (Just like I do with this comic!) Licensed themes of course come with a lot more established fictional baggage.
I could say it’s too bad that LEGO has focused on so many licensed themes, but it’s not like they abandoned their more basic original themes. We’re practically in a golden age for LEGO, where toy store shelves are filled with a multitude of options. You can still buy your kids all of the basic-style sets you had when you were little, or you can have a LEGO universe filled (officially) with the likes of the Batcave, the Death Star and the Black Pearl.
There are ways to just get quantities of parts, too. Maybe that’s more like what The Simpsons was referring to, but I couldn’t tell you when the majority of LEGO in stores was just buckets of bricks. How out of touch are the show’s writers? LOL
So, Simpsons, the references were cool if a bit uninformed and unfair. And no matter what LEGO set you pick, you can still use those bricks to build whatever you imagine!
– This is not an official LEGO comic. This is a tribute.
—–
WWW.SPACETHECOMIC.COM
Follow Space: The Comic on TWITTER and FACEBOOK .
I’ve been snatching up tons of half-price Legos since the post-Christmas toy dump started (including the entire Pharaoh’s Quest line). Prior to this, the last Lego sets I had bought were from the Ice Planet theme. (Yeah THAT long ago!) I’ve been amazed with every one of them I’ve opened. When I was a kid, hinges were in pretty short supply and I was always thinking “If only I had a bendy piece to fit here.” or “If only I had a joint to set this piece perpendicular to the hull.” or “If only I had this, but in gray.” Tearing into these new sets, I was like “Wow! A new kinda hinge!”, “Neat! Ball-and-socket joints!”, “HOLY CRAP! TANK TREADS!!!” There has been a ton of innovation in Lego’s moving parts and joints over the last 2 decades, and I can now achieve things with these new Legos I could only dream of as a kid (particularly building transformable mecha).
The Simpsons’ commentary does have a bit of a validity though, in that the more specialized pieces they make, the more difficult it can be to find alternative uses for them (particularly in the licensed sets). There is always a trade-off giving up versatility for specialization. For instance, I’ve found tons of Harry Potter Quidditch Match sets on super-clearance, but since I mostly build mecha and vehicles, there’s very little in the set of use to me so I didn’t bother to pick any up. On the other hand, I am so inspired by the tank treads from the half-track from the Scorpion Pyramid and the ball joints on the Cursed Cobra, I’m thinking about picking up some extras.
You’re right that the Simpsons’ writers must be out of touch to have not noticed that not only are the buckets of bricks still available, they come in more varieties, sizes, and price points than ever! Big blue bucket, big pink bucket, little blue bucket, little pink bucket, and the Bricks & More building sets… if you can’t find bricks (and to fit your budget), you’re not trying.
While I mostly create my own original designs, I do enjoy some of the licensed themes too (particularly Star Wars). If I have a complaint about the licensed themes, it’s the switch to the pinky flesh-tone Lego mini-figures. YELLOW PRIDE!
Excellent point – While there are MANY more pieces to choose from, some are perhaps a bit too specialized to be of much use outside of their intended sets.
The flesh-colored minifigs make me uncomfortable, too. It makes the yellow minifigs seem Caucasian when I always thought they were intended to represent anyone of any flesh tone – everyone united in the color yellow!
Not only can you still get some buckets of parts, the LEGO stores themselves have Pick-a-Brick walls where you can scoop out tons of pieces and mix-and-match whatever parts you want. I thought that was the most glaring omission from the “Blocko” store.
I’m gonna have to make it a point to quest for one of these fabled Lego Stores on my vacation. There are none here in Tennessee, but shockingly 3 adjacent states have them. There’s 3 roughly equidistant from me – about 300 miles away! So probably more than you envy our 24-hour Wal-marts, I envy your Lego Store access.
Is Galanos saying the username/password or typing it in? Cause Schwartz strikes me as at least computer-savvy enough to make it “V4nill4Snowb4ll” to make it harder to guess (if he’s typing it).
My concept of Schwartz is that while he would be savvy enough to know what makes a good password, he’d also be lazy enough to pick something easiest to remember and not worry too much about security.
I think he’s saying the username/password while typing it in.
Correct.
Schwartz is a dead man…