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I see this tub with the rest of the Legos at Target, and I get why a little girl might want pink and purple Legos. But Lego has come out with their "Belville" line, which looks a lot like Polly Pocket sets.
Anne, the writer of The Modern Mrs. Darcy, disapproves. She says that the Belville sets lack versatility, and I agree with that. Then again, any Lego set not sold in a tub or as a building assortment lacks a certain amount of versatility. My dad complains about modern Legos because he says kids get a set, look at the directions, put it together exactly as written, and then play with the toy exactly as shown. He thinks that stifles creativity. My son does like to put the toys together as directed, but then he takes them apart and makes new things, and we never see the original item again. The newer Legos are so innovative with new shapes and ways of putting things together that he is frequently inspired to solve new building issues. He uses bricks in ways I would not have thought of, that's for sure.
Anyway, what do you think of the Belville sets from Lego? Do they stereotype girls or pigeonhole play? Do they overexaggerate girliness? Or are they no different from Polly Pocket or Littlest Pet Shop, and Belville is just a harmless hanger-on trying to get in on the action?
Other than the totally absurd prices.... I like it! Lego's really gave my son a foundation for engineering and robotics... and it all started from those little race car kits or the airport kits. My girls just were never into cars or airplanes, so it didn't intrest them.... they never got into the robotics. These would have intrested them, and maybe opened the doors to other things.
I agree with you that it's no different then any other toy that is marketed more towards boys or girls such as Polly pockets, barbies, or GI Joel. My dd would LOVE these! Thanks for the great Christmas gift idea.
My daughter loved legos! She had some of those kits w/ the dogs and loved it! It's no different than following a puzzle. She could put it together by the directions, or just put it together how she wanted to. I don't see the big deal about the lego kits.
I don't think they are any different than any other play set made in pink/purple or geared directly towards girls. It's the counterpoint to the original set geared towards boys and that happens across the board. Creepy Crawler maker is the counter to Easy Bake Oven after all....lol
Before my younger two came along, my older two (both girls) loved playing with legos and we had several 'sets' and a large amount of general legos. They loved building both by directions and by free choice.
Many years ago when the first legos came out that were geared towards girls I bought a couple of sets. One in particular was a park playground type with swing, slide and various other park pieces. They were very excited more because it was a park setting instead of pirates or horses etc than they were that it was pink/purple. They did like having 'girl' legos though. Ironically while the girls had zero problems playing with all the legos some of the boys refused to play with the pink/purple ones when they were mixed together.
My younger two, 1 girl - 1 boy, both play with all the legos and do far more creative building than directed building. I've got a train/lego table that one half is filled with all the general legos and most of the sets bought over the years. My almost 14 yr old has a large set with dragons that is put together as directed and always sits on top of her dresser. lol
If they were into horses or dogs I'd not hesitate to buy the new lego sets.
Just to clarify, in case somebody does not read the blog, the author does not have a problem with the pink tub of Legos. She says there is the issue of whether saying that the pink tub is for girls implies that the blue tub (or everything else) is for boys. She also says that her two girls have pink tubs, her son has the blue tub, and everyone mixes everything together, so it's OK. The toys she doesn't like, and which I am undecided about, are the specific Belville sets:
This is a Lego dollhouse. If you look at the additional photos, you can see there is almost nothing to build. The extent of the "Lego-ness" (fitting pieces together) seems to be arranging where the furniture will go on the floor and fixing lamps and other items to tabletops. I don't know if anything about this set will inspire a girl to build things with Legos. However, simultaneously:
1. Is that so wrong? Are dollhouses wrong? I had a dollhouse, a great big one that my grandfather designed and built for me when I was eight. I still have it. None of my children are interested in it. Maybe the grandkids ...
2. I have a dollhouse, but I also love Legos. I love small, precise things, and I like to make things with my hands. Yesterday I put my son's Ninjago motorcycle together with him because it got too complicated for him. Who doesn't like Legos? I feel like if you give them, they will build.
That brings me back full circle, though. You can't build much with the Lego dollhouse. (But is that wrong? See, around it goes.) I think I do have some feelings of Oh Lego, I expected more from you.
I disagree more with having pink tubs of Legos. I've never viewed Legos as a boys only toy. That they made a pink version of the tub is sad just as making pink toolbelts and pink handled screwdrivers for women. Bleh.
I don't have a problem with doll houses (my dad built a giant one for my sister and I and the grandkids play with it now), and although I am a proponent of gender-neutral toys, my first thought with this set wasn't about gender but "$190!!! For what?" If I want to buy a doll house, this is not the one I'd go with and if I want to buy a Lego set, this is not the one I'd go with. I think my reaction is more "product fail" than anything else.
The pink tubs include Legos that are hot pink, purple, aqua, and lime green, which are popular colors among girls. I think that it's OK to be girly or like things that boys frequently do not like. (Conversely, I think it's OK to not like things that are stereotypically boyish like bugs, robots, cars, etc. And it's OK for boys and girls to like girlish and boyish things, respectively.) It would be nice if they made a tub that included those colors along with the red, orange, blue, green, yellow, black, etc. All colors. But some people don't want that either (somebody somewhere is thinking up an anti-PC rant as we speak). Can't make everybody happy, I suppose.
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