Alright, so my four year old wants to start playing with "big boy LEGOs" and I got him the "My first LEGO set" construction site set and a big grey play base. I want to start him out on these but what do you guys think are some good, simple sets for a four year old?
I must admit, I've been away from Lego for a long time and when my boy started to get interested I started getting excited. We don't have a ton of disposable income right now, so I'm starting small and slow, but this could be great for both of us.
I first discovered he wanted to get into sets when he would build something with his Duplos and NEVER want to take them apart. He has some older friends which are pretty wealthy and they're always building new sets that they leave together. He was imitating them. It's time he gets some of his own.
Also, how do you guys keep these things clean? Just dusting with a cloth would seem like you would get dust that would stick in between studs. A wipe down and compressed air?
Based on my experience with my 5-year old nephew, he shouldn't have any trouble putting together any of the City sets.
As for cleaning, i don't think you really need to worry about that. I got my Legos back from my parents after 10 years in storage and they're pretty much fine, beyond some discoloration from aging.
I've found most of my Lego animals going through the collection. Sharks, Alligators, monkey and Polar Bear have all been sighted, but the parrots have not surfaced yet. My pirates will be sad.
Keep an eye on Craigslist or EBay for collection only lots and you can kick start his collection with a clearance job lot for relatively cheap. As a bonus, because it's all mixed up sets, probably without instructions, it encourages more creative building.
I'd suggest the Lego creator kits (IE: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Power-Mech-31007).
They generally have a pretty good selection of pieces, and price per piece tends to be on the low end (especially compared with some of the IP based sets).
The biggest benefit is that since they have instructions to build 3 models, but not enough parts to do all three at the same time, it may help break him of that nasty "Don't break the Lego set" habit that before it gets too ingrained.
As for keeping them clean, I generally just keep them in a covered container. Doesn't have to be air tight or anything, just something to prevent the dust from settling on the blocks. If they do get dusty, then compressed air should work to clean it up.
Yeah, 4 is when my son really went Lego crazy. Check out the Creator ets. Most of the pieces are generic bricks/plates, not really specific ones. His first one was a little ~60 piece airplane/boat/jet set in a plastic box. It was small enough to hold his attention, and before long he had graduated to the ~150 range Creator sets. Now that he's almost 6, he can do big 400 or 500 sets with almost no guidance. The Creator sets are great for teaching kids the basics (following directions, manipulating the model in 3D, etc.).
Finally that random alcove in the living room gains a purpose!
If I ever do fill it up then the next alcove over is two and half times as tall. As an adult with disposable income I have the wisdom to realise that while I could just EBay full sets of figures, the joy would then be very would be short lived. Hell, half the fun is the anticipation of opening the random bag! One figure a week as a small self reward if I get my exercise done will do me.
Finally that random alcove in the living room gains a purpose!
If I ever do fill it up then the next one over is two and half times as tall. As an adult with disposable income I have the wisdom to realise that while I could just EBay full sets of figures, the joy would then be very would be short lived. Hell, half the fun is the anticipation of opening the random bag! One figure a week as a small self reward if I get my exercise done will do me.
Curse you King Triton and your unwieldy tail!
Hey, what series is he from?
The second guy, the swamp monster, is actually from one of the small Monster Hunter sets. I bought 3 of them, just for that minifigure, as it was just so great.
Nice setup, by the way. I'm thinking of doing something similar for my minifigures sometime soon. I have a load of 4x10 baseplates, but need to come up with a solution for the vertical bits.
I know where he's from :P I was just being silly because I know he isn't a real collectable minifig. He really should be though as he rules. Put the swamp boat set on my Christmas list just for him and then bricklinked him a trident and base plate so he could take his rightful place. Who gives a fishman a spear for a weapon? Really?
I know where he's from :P I was just being silly because I know he isn't a real collectable minifig. He really should be though as he rules. Put the swamp boat set on my Christmas list just for him and then bricklinked him a trident and base plate so he could take his rightful place. Who gives a fishman a spear for a weapon? Really?
I assume its for fighting underwater ?
I gave one of mine a gun, as I have plenty of spares.
I bought of the giant lego heads, to store my minifigures, and immediately filled it. I have a lot of minifigures...
0
Options
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
Spoiled for large pictures.
Seen on the roofrops and streets below are the remains of the beleaguered Alien Defense Unit (ADU) and regular Army infantry setting up their last stand behind makeshift barricades of destroyed civilian and military vehicles.
The defenders had just been reinforced by a squad of heavily armed Galaxy Marines and regular Galaxy soldiers from Green, Orange, and Blue squads. The squad leader from Green Squad can be seen atop the roof of a police car giving a rousing speech moments before the attack.
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
edited January 2013
Side note. The Mech from the Vermin Vaporizer can be articulated so that it looks like it is taking cover behind a build and blind-firing one of its guns around the corner.
What the fuck are those things and where can I buy them?
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Had a copy of the Nick Fury/Venom/Spider-Man set in my Amazon cart and saw it was 3 copies left and by the time I got to checkout it was one copy left, so I jumped on the order I had queued up. Now Amazon is saying it's just regular in-stock.
<groundskeeperwillie>YA YOOSED ME SKINNER! YA YOOSED ME!!!</>
Undead Scottsman on
+3
Options
spacekungfumanPoor and minority-filledRegistered User, __BANNED USERSregular
Captain America's bike was so lame. Basically two pieces
Captain America's bike was so lame. Basically two pieces
Lies
Some of the other bikes they have had over the years were far lamer
I just wish that the cowl had been multipart. I understand that the bike frame has to be one piece. The main build in that set was the glider for a henchman, and while it was pretty cool, it's just a henchman. By contrast, spider man's bike was tons of fun to build.
I think I may have had my first missing piece in a lego set.
I'm building the Haunted House and I'm on bag 4 (labeled as such, technically bag 15ish) and I have an extra corner slope instead of a normal slope. (Not sure what the official name is).
Still building this Haunted House makes me want to buy some of the modular buildings and toss them together. What street is complete without the creepy rundown house that all the neighborhood kids are terrified of?
You have to wonder about the lego company financials. I have a giant sack full of legos (I mean a sack the size of something Santa might be carrying around) and we have passed them down to my nephews...Lego's last pretty much forever, dont really break, so how many more generations before its like 'what? buy more legos? we got a zillion of them from when i was a kid...no need to buy new ones).
You have to wonder about the lego company financials. I have a giant sack full of legos (I mean a sack the size of something Santa might be carrying around) and we have passed them down to my nephews...Lego's last pretty much forever, dont really break, so how many more generations before its like 'what? buy more legos? we got a zillion of them from when i was a kid...no need to buy new ones).
This is likely a part of the push towards sets as opposed to the old fashioned buckets. The effect of this is likely more pronounced with girls currently as the introduction of the Friends theme targets them with something besides the brick collections their parents may have had. Likewise the original IP themes aimed at kids have started adding some sort of physical game since Ninjago so the new themes have more of an identity as opposed to just being more Lego.
Captain America's bike was so lame. Basically two pieces
This makes me sad because I really want that Captain America minifig.
The minifig is outstanding. Cap, Dead Pool and Magneto are my favorites. I also love the iron man minifig. And of course, Spiderman is not web crawling his way up my second monitor to try and read the gun fighter. What great desk toys. I have Deadpool on spiderman's bike, which actually looks really good (why would spiderman have a flying motorcycle? He doesn't even have a driver's liscense!)
0
Options
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
Captain America's bike was so lame. Basically two pieces
This makes me sad because I really want that Captain America minifig.
The minifig is outstanding. Cap, Dead Pool and Magneto are my favorites. I also love the iron man minifig. And of course, Spiderman is not web crawling his way up my second monitor to try and read the gun fighter. What great desk toys. I have Deadpool on spiderman's bike, which actually looks really good (why would spiderman have a flying motorcycle? He doesn't even have a driver's liscense!)
Apparently he does have a hover bike in some newer cartoon. It actually looks a bit like the Lego. I was surprised.
In other news, I cleaned up the war zone and reset it to a nice peaceful street then showed my 10 month old nephew the buildings. I was super vigilant to make sure he didn't try to eat anything. All he did was stand there staring at them then picked up the fire engine and ran it back an forth across the floor I front of him over and over with this super serious look on his face. Then he picked up a lady lego, showed her to me, and placed her on the back of the fire engine.
Saw the Umbaran MHC at Target today and fell in love. The SNOT construction of the body's sides is really nice. Plenty of rounded slopes and a blue dome are some choice pieces as are the Umbaran mini-figs (cool outifits and helmets). One of the coolest looking multi-legged mechs to date and I would have picked up if we weren't due for some TRU coupons to arrive soon from our points. At TRU, I picked up the Technic Quad Bike and saw that with every purchase of $20, a small Chima set was free, so I ended up with one those. There's something about this goofy thing that I find charming... Now I need to get a couple more Chima sets... Oof.
Guys, I'm sorry, but these Chima sets all look so stupid...
The builds are all just a hodge podge with no real sense of style or shape It looks like lego just trying to cash in on Skylanders(which is a great idea to do) with a bunch of spare parts from their ninjago/indiana jones sets.
Well you're in luck squire because those 2 are super easy to feel for. Go for the bulkiest packets and feel around to rule out the 2 female characters dress pieces, and the mermaid's tail. The remaining bulky packets should be the Battle Mech and Space Avenger. My current dot code advice is to feel out the one you're looking for then making a note of it's code, as it's turned out in the past that folk in different regions get wildly different codes and thus the online guides ain't much of a help.
I'm putting more serious thought into building my RCPD!
Gonna do like a slice - a regular Modular building size section around the main entrance, including the one round window on the roof, but not the clock off to the left. The roof will also include the helipad from off to the right, as I've wanted a helipad on top of a modular for a while. :P
Trying to consider which rooms are most iconic and should be included? I'm kinda picturing the bottom floor being mostly the main hall we all know n' love, with rooms off to the one side and a staircase to the second floor on the other. The second floor needs to include a STARS office, obviously, but what else? Maybe the interrogation room that dang Licker appeared in? The third floor would be maybe a few rooms and the window/clock thing from the front of the building but mainly an exterior as like foundations for the helipad.
The thing I most need advice on is colour! If I was being true to it's actual design the thing'd be mostly light bluish grey, and that'd suck. The roof I'm gonna try and stick some dark green into it. What do you guy's reckon I should use as main colour for the walls? Maybe a dark blue? It hasn't been used much for Modulars so far.
...also really hoping after I do this the next official Modular after the Cinema isn't a police station. :P
Guys, I'm sorry, but these Chima sets all look so stupid...
The builds are all just a hodge podge with no real sense of style or shape It looks like lego just trying to cash in on Skylanders(which is a great idea to do) with a bunch of spare parts from their ninjago/indiana jones sets.
I disagree. While most Chima stuff looks wacky, the Eris Interceptor is a pretty solid design.
That's a pretty nice design from front to back with good style, and color cohesion. The stylistic elements are tied nicely, and really don't look like a hodge-podge to me.
Equila's Ultra Striker is also pretty well-done, overall. Take away the feathers and talons and that's a pretty nice, sleek tank.
It kinda reminds me of something you'd see in a Power Rangers show-- like it's supposed to combine with other stuff to make a super mech. The Dancouga Eagle was like that too, but a different design. But yeah, aside from the two above, the rest of the Chima stuff is kinda lame... Or they could be something with a ton of modification-- the lion head on Laval's Royal Fighter would be awesome as a Voltron-type thing. But unfortunately, it's just tacked on a body with tracks. lol
Somebody get that head on a four-legged mech body STAT!
Well you're in luck squire because those 2 are super easy to feel for. Go for the bulkiest packets and feel around to rule out the 2 female characters dress pieces, and the mermaid's tail. The remaining bulky packets should be the Battle Mech and Space Avenger. My current dot code advice is to feel out the one you're looking for then making a note of it's code, as it's turned out in the past that folk in different regions get wildly different codes and thus the online guides ain't much of a help.
Thanks! I just gotta take my time I guess and really look hard.
Posts
Based on my experience with my 5-year old nephew, he shouldn't have any trouble putting together any of the City sets.
As for cleaning, i don't think you really need to worry about that. I got my Legos back from my parents after 10 years in storage and they're pretty much fine, beyond some discoloration from aging.
They generally have a pretty good selection of pieces, and price per piece tends to be on the low end (especially compared with some of the IP based sets).
The biggest benefit is that since they have instructions to build 3 models, but not enough parts to do all three at the same time, it may help break him of that nasty "Don't break the Lego set" habit that before it gets too ingrained.
As for keeping them clean, I generally just keep them in a covered container. Doesn't have to be air tight or anything, just something to prevent the dust from settling on the blocks. If they do get dusty, then compressed air should work to clean it up.
Really good deal if anyone is interested in picking it up.
If I ever do fill it up then the next alcove over is two and half times as tall. As an adult with disposable income I have the wisdom to realise that while I could just EBay full sets of figures, the joy would then be very would be short lived. Hell, half the fun is the anticipation of opening the random bag! One figure a week as a small self reward if I get my exercise done will do me.
Hey, what series is he from?
The second guy, the swamp monster, is actually from one of the small Monster Hunter sets. I bought 3 of them, just for that minifigure, as it was just so great.
Nice setup, by the way. I'm thinking of doing something similar for my minifigures sometime soon. I have a load of 4x10 baseplates, but need to come up with a solution for the vertical bits.
I assume its for fighting underwater ?
I gave one of mine a gun, as I have plenty of spares.
I bought of the giant lego heads, to store my minifigures, and immediately filled it. I have a lot of minifigures...
The defenders had just been reinforced by a squad of heavily armed Galaxy Marines and regular Galaxy soldiers from Green, Orange, and Blue squads. The squad leader from Green Squad can be seen atop the roof of a police car giving a rousing speech moments before the attack.
It did not go well...
No one messes with Green Bot.
3DS: 4184-2362-9697
PSN: Skywarrd
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.
What the fuck are those things and where can I buy them?
<groundskeeperwillie>YA YOOSED ME SKINNER! YA YOOSED ME!!!</>
The Space Orks? One of the latest series (9) of the blind bag collectible mini figs.
Lies
Some of the other bikes they have had over the years were far lamer
I just wish that the cowl had been multipart. I understand that the bike frame has to be one piece. The main build in that set was the glider for a henchman, and while it was pretty cool, it's just a henchman. By contrast, spider man's bike was tons of fun to build.
I'm building the Haunted House and I'm on bag 4 (labeled as such, technically bag 15ish) and I have an extra corner slope instead of a normal slope. (Not sure what the official name is).
Still building this Haunted House makes me want to buy some of the modular buildings and toss them together. What street is complete without the creepy rundown house that all the neighborhood kids are terrified of?
I almost wasn't going to order this right now, but 'dumpster features catapult action' pretty much sold me.
Plus, now my Brikwars army can be lead by Dr Doom and the Joker. Heros beware!
This is likely a part of the push towards sets as opposed to the old fashioned buckets. The effect of this is likely more pronounced with girls currently as the introduction of the Friends theme targets them with something besides the brick collections their parents may have had. Likewise the original IP themes aimed at kids have started adding some sort of physical game since Ninjago so the new themes have more of an identity as opposed to just being more Lego.
Steam Profile
3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
This makes me sad because I really want that Captain America minifig.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
The minifig is outstanding. Cap, Dead Pool and Magneto are my favorites. I also love the iron man minifig. And of course, Spiderman is not web crawling his way up my second monitor to try and read the gun fighter. What great desk toys. I have Deadpool on spiderman's bike, which actually looks really good (why would spiderman have a flying motorcycle? He doesn't even have a driver's liscense!)
Apparently he does have a hover bike in some newer cartoon. It actually looks a bit like the Lego. I was surprised.
In other news, I cleaned up the war zone and reset it to a nice peaceful street then showed my 10 month old nephew the buildings. I was super vigilant to make sure he didn't try to eat anything. All he did was stand there staring at them then picked up the fire engine and ran it back an forth across the floor I front of him over and over with this super serious look on his face. Then he picked up a lady lego, showed her to me, and placed her on the back of the fire engine.
I want to find a Battle Mech and Space Avenger.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
The builds are all just a hodge podge with no real sense of style or shape
Steam ID: Obos Vent: Obos
Well you're in luck squire because those 2 are super easy to feel for. Go for the bulkiest packets and feel around to rule out the 2 female characters dress pieces, and the mermaid's tail. The remaining bulky packets should be the Battle Mech and Space Avenger. My current dot code advice is to feel out the one you're looking for then making a note of it's code, as it's turned out in the past that folk in different regions get wildly different codes and thus the online guides ain't much of a help.
I'm putting more serious thought into building my RCPD!
Gonna do like a slice - a regular Modular building size section around the main entrance, including the one round window on the roof, but not the clock off to the left. The roof will also include the helipad from off to the right, as I've wanted a helipad on top of a modular for a while. :P
Trying to consider which rooms are most iconic and should be included? I'm kinda picturing the bottom floor being mostly the main hall we all know n' love, with rooms off to the one side and a staircase to the second floor on the other. The second floor needs to include a STARS office, obviously, but what else? Maybe the interrogation room that dang Licker appeared in? The third floor would be maybe a few rooms and the window/clock thing from the front of the building but mainly an exterior as like foundations for the helipad.
The thing I most need advice on is colour! If I was being true to it's actual design the thing'd be mostly light bluish grey, and that'd suck. The roof I'm gonna try and stick some dark green into it. What do you guy's reckon I should use as main colour for the walls? Maybe a dark blue? It hasn't been used much for Modulars so far.
...also really hoping after I do this the next official Modular after the Cinema isn't a police station. :P
I disagree. While most Chima stuff looks wacky, the Eris Interceptor is a pretty solid design.
That's a pretty nice design from front to back with good style, and color cohesion. The stylistic elements are tied nicely, and really don't look like a hodge-podge to me.
Equila's Ultra Striker is also pretty well-done, overall. Take away the feathers and talons and that's a pretty nice, sleek tank.
Steam ID: Obos Vent: Obos
Somebody get that head on a four-legged mech body STAT!
Thanks! I just gotta take my time I guess and really look hard.
With my hands.
3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
And now I suddenly need to buy the Werewolf set. And figure out if I can dress him up as Grandma!