I concur with the opinion that specialized bricks should be limited. But having a six-year-old of my own and a whole new lease on lego life, I must say that my son (and I) are playing with lego far more than I did in my childhood. That's due to certain "new" (at least to me) kinds of pieces: the long black "struts", the ball-in-socket joints, the gears, the "Toa" bodies and appendages... Pretty much the kinds that come with Bionicle characters. Granted, they aren't just bricks, but they allow for the creation of all kinds of nifty creatures. Which after all, is the point: going beyond the picture on the box with our own creativity. For example, we created a little car made mostly out of the strut pieces, with a 3 volt motor, an on/off switch, and battery. The axle was connected to the motor through the gears in within a Toa body. Easy enough for a young'un to get, but challenging. So this Toa-car is whipping around in the kitchen. Fantastic! So I say: keep those next generation pieces coming, but deliver them in sets that encourage a whole series of models and ideas. Provide 5 or 10 nifty plans per box, and never just one!
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I concur with the opinion that specialized bricks should be limited. But having a six-year-old of my own and a whole new lease on lego life, I must say that my son (and I) are playing with lego far more than I did in my childhood. That's due to certain "new" (at least to me) kinds of pieces: the long black "struts", the ball-in-socket joints, the gears, the "Toa" bodies and appendages... Pretty much the kinds that come with Bionicle characters. Granted, they aren't just bricks, but they allow for the creation of all kinds of nifty creatures. Which after all, is the point: going beyond the picture on the box with our own creativity. For example, we created a little car made mostly out of the strut pieces, with a 3 volt motor, an on/off switch, and battery. The axle was connected to the motor through the gears in within a Toa body. Easy enough for a young'un to get, but challenging. So this Toa-car is whipping around in the kitchen. Fantastic! So I say: keep those next generation pieces coming, but deliver them in sets that encourage a whole series of models and ideas. Provide 5 or 10 nifty plans per box, and never just one!