I was a LEGO fanatic as a kid, always wanting more of the little coloured blocks and building everything my imagination could desire, from spaceports to castles, dinosaurs or anything in between. My enormous LEGO collection was passed onto my half-brothers and has dispersed from there to other kids.
Having kids myself means I get to re-visit my childhood and re-enter the world of LEGO, this time with a more discriminating eye and the aim of getting the best value for my kids that I can.
Things are certainly different from when I was a kid, and yet the basics are the same. There is a greater selection of bricks/parts than ever before, and even small models come with unique parts that offer interesting re-build possibilities. The basic streams of city, space and castle LEGO are still there, but there are new lines that target specific media licenses (such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Speed Racer, etc.). There is a far greater prevalence of friction and pull-back motors that give kids all sorts of vehicle possibilities, but there are less lights and battery operated pieces than when I was a kid. Technics is still around, but there is also MindStorms, the robot building kits.
Being a one-time LEGO junkie there is nothing better than sitting with my kids and helping them build an X-Wing launcher, monster truck or other fun toy. In fact there are still a good number of adults that still build LEGO models, it's just that they are either aiming to look more like models than toys (e.g. see the spacecraft below) or they use them for other purposes like wargaming or roleplaying games. There is even LEGOuniverse, the upcoming massively multiplayer online game from LEGO.
With the newer editions of D&D emphasising the use of square map grids for combat maps, the LEGO world starts to make some sense, particularly given the additional minifig personalisation options now that we have aliens from Star Wars, Dwarves and Trolls (OK, Ogres and Orcs) in the LEGO range. Unfortunately by the time you collect enough bricks and minifigs you might as well have spent the cash for good old fashioned wargame miniatures, especially if you are just a player who wants a single (if highly customised) minifig.
Fortunately it turns out that the bricks aren't the only thing that's changed in the last 20 years. You can now find sites online where you can buy single bricks/parts and get hard to find items that might not even be in production any more (can anyone say Pirate LEGO?). There are even sites where people make custom parts compatible with LEGO, for example farm animals, wizard's capes, etc. In fact there is a plethora of sites out there, many of which are just copies of each other.
Here is a short list of the sites I've been most impressed with:
- Bricks to the World
First up, an Aussie company that gives you access to the whole LEGO range, including some kits that are no longer available elsewhere. - FindMyBrick.com is a great site to go to find individual bricks/parts. The ability to buy individual parts (usually for less than a US dollar) makes it easy to build a minifig to match your elven fighter-mage. They also have some modified bricks.
- Official LEGO Store
Of course there is an official online store, but prices may not differ much from your local toy store (and with shipping are usually more). However there are pieces for sale there that are not available elsewhere, such as this huge LEGO chess set. - BrickQuest
In the spirit of HeroQuest comes BrickQuest, a fantasy boardgame that uses LEGO pieces and settings. There are even fan sites with ideas for monsters. - MOCpages
This site gives LEGO enthusiasts a place to showcase their models. I particularly like DARKspawn's range of historical building models. - Brickshelf
Like MOCpages this gives the enthusiast somewhere to show off their latest models. - Minifig.co.uk
This is not an eCommerce site, but it has a nice selection of custom models for the Viking and Castle ranges. - The Brick Testament
This is a fun retelling of the Bible using LEGO bricks and minifigs.
Enjoy LEGOing and let me know if you find any other good sites out there!
