I rediscovered legos after more than 30 years, when my son got big enough to use them. Soon I was having more fun than he, creating vehicles (see <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilamont/4298420256/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilamont/4298420256/</a>) and other objects.<p>Lego knows that their customer base includes adults. Besides expositions and clubs that get some support from the company, you sometimes see Lego sets with a photo on the front of the box featuring an adult male instead of little kids!<p>Another thing I've noticed about Legos since rediscovering them a few years back: They have a really sophisticated retail operation that's not unlike what Apple does with the Apple Store. They're well designed, have very knowledgeable staff, and feature lots of goodies that you won't see in mass market retail outlets, including high-end sets and even a 3D animation/"augmented reality" that is activated when you hold certain boxes in front of an in-store camera (see <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20003273-1.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20003273-1.html</a>)
Why are creative Lego sets a minority?<p>I think you can draw an analogy with wikipedia. Most people just read, and don't contribute. But what makes wikipedia what it is, is the ability of others to put their ideas into it. So we have the _potential_ to create and customize, and a minority of people taking full advantage of that, but the end result is interesting to many more people than contributors. Similarly, I'm guessing most Lego sets are bought _because_ of the appeal of Lego's pre-baked designs -- along with the potential to customize. Users want more power and potential than they actually use, and some power users make the community more involved, and aware of the potential.<p>Or at least that's my guess as to Lego marketing's thoughts. As a kid, I definitely preferred to make my own things. I'd be curious to know if that's the standard use case for most kids today or not (making their own vs just following the instructions).
I would love to find a book that has plans to buiid various things/designs using plain lego sets. Any suggestions?<p>My son loves to build complex sets, but I hate investing in the one time use, specialized sets, and the fancy specialized sets always gets him (and my wife) more excited than just opening a box of generic legos and building.
LEGO used to make kits like this called Creator, but they got lamer over the years. Now they seem to be pushing more and more the sets that are just 30 pieces, playmobile style.