Thursday, June 12, 2008

Welcome to the Club

My first issue of LEGO Club magazine arrived in the mail today. Based on the content, I can assume that I have raised the average age of their subscriber significantly. It's tied to the release of the LEGO Indiana Jones video game, which looks pretty fantastic.

It reminds me of the old Nintendo Power magazine- which was designed to complement the original 8-bit Nintendo. The LEGO Club magazine is a mix of product announcements, sneak previews, contests, and a delightful comic where the cartoons have been given blocky, LEGO-esque features.

There are a number of creations built by kids and this calls to mind the dispiriting effect of returning to the ski slopes later in life. Like there, it would appear that children are whizzing by me effortlessly, while I'm just trying to stay on my feet and not hurt myself in the process.

There's also a look at the LEGO Batman and Speed Racer sets. The photos make me realize that LEGO automobiles are difficult to build. That, and everyone needs a monocled minifig at the helm of a penguin-inspired boat.

2 comments:

Brian Jay Jones said...

The Batman sets kick ass! My only real complaint with Lego sets (since my late 1970s/early 1980s days of the Lego Space series) is that there are waaaaaaay too many specialized pieces. It used to be Lego was clever about making things work with their limited palatte of pieces; now they just invent a new piece.

I know, I know -- progress, right? Still, it makes the sets a little less cool, IMHO. (look, kids, I used Intertubes lingo!)

Jonathan Bender said...

You're a purist, you can help it. But as a novice builder, I'll take every advantage I can get. Plus, if man can build a 1x1 clear brick with sloped sides, don't we owe it to our fellow man to offer that piece for purchase?