Source: Encyclopædia Britannica
Author’s Note
No, I did not forget my password. (Contrary to popular belief) Though, I understand after such a while, it may seem reasonable to think that. That is why, I wanted to apologize for the extended absence.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
I tend to delve myself into rabbit holes whenever I stumble upon someone that pecks at my curiosity. It is a odd pastime I suppose, if it can be addressed as one. Fortunately, I came across an article from LEGO® that introduced the LEGO® SMART Play™ System.
As a childhood addict for LEGO sets, and still continuing to scan the aisles in Target for them, I decided to read into it.
Yup, I dove into another rabbit hole.
Though, this was not an ordinary one. Reading through this article, I was intrigued with what LEGO designed. “A brick that plays back?” What could that entail? Well, I should have figured they meant that statement quite literally. In a few select LEGO sets, which seems to all be Star Wars themed, a SMART Brick is included, with SMART Tags and SMART Minifigures. The SMART Brick would be activated using the SMART Tags, and when the set is interacted with, the SMART Brick would react accordingly. For instance, if a SMART Tag labeled with a flying sound is placed on a SMART Brick, which is connected to a Star Wars TIE Fighter, the SMART Brick will play TIE Fighter sounds when moved. It is able to detect movement with sensors within the brick. The SMART Minifigures are similar, though they play sounds when interacting with other SMART Minifigures.
Source: Gizmodo
Reading through the rest of this article, the inner child within me was filled with merriness. I couldn’t hold back the zeal on my face. It is always a treat to see innovation for LEGO sets, particularly at this scale. I know if I was a child during this time, I would beg my mother to buy one for me.
However, as I read responses from the public, it wasn’t a positive reception. To start with, the price of these sets was numbing. Reaching up to $60 – $100 dollars for sets that would usually cost $25 – $30. This critique was quite poor in my opinion, as the SMART Play features would undeniably would add to the cost of a set, though I agree that the price was definitely steep for the amount of pieces you received. Yet this was not the criticism that pushed me to write this post. It was the point that SMART Play was hindering the individually and inventiveness of one that plays with a SMART Play LEGO set.
“LEGO®: Where instructions meet inspiration. Start with instructions, then add your unique twist.”
For a moment, I didn’t comprehend what this comment meant, till I sat and thought about it for a couple minutes. Then, it came to me. Though the SMART Bricks, Tags, and Minifigures are immensely innovative from LEGO, they ruin the noteworthy aspect of playing with them, which is for a younger audience to be imaginative with the bricks they are provided with, and to make their own sounds and actions when playing with sets. Recall when you played with LEGO, (I’ll give you a minute…) didn’t you use your imagination when playing with Minifigures? Or within sets as well, you may have formed your own storylines, regardless of what story the set was trying to tell. The implementation of SMART Play from LEGO is instead steering a set to be played with in a specific way, than the child determining themselves.
At the same time, there is nothing stopping a child from simply disregarding the SMART Play feature of a set, but that raises the question, why the need to add SMART Play in the first place? The fundamental idea of building with LEGO is to use your imagination to build anything. One of LEGO’s own slogans was “Just Imagine.” Why take that imagination away?
On the other hand, I stumbled upon a older LEGO IP, which confusingly, were small polybags named LEGO Smart. (Confused? Me too) Though, the difference is that the polybags are actively advocating the builder to discover the set on their own. There are no SMART Bricks and other trinkets, rather simply basic LEGO bricks and a paper containing some guidance for the child to get started with the set.
Source: eBay
Now, you could make the argument that this set is geared towards educating children, but is this set not demonstrating what LEGO is truly about? Using the bricks you have to build something incredible. No forcing a child to build a set in a specific way and interact with it for the sake of activating the SMART Play features, instead, this set allows them pure creative freedom.
Although LEGO lost sight of what it once stood for, the bricks themselves haven’t changed. Regardless of age and gender, LEGO is for anyone. So, whenever you come by some spare time, gather a few pieces and build anything, brick by brick.