Gender specific Legos ,Really?

meghans30

Ughh... I am totally PMSing, so this is probably why I feel the need to vent about this!

Lego's new line of building blocks :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/ref=pe_14950_22324920_pe_ecg/?node=3561624011

Do little girls really need gender specific Legos? Maybe I'm annoyed because a few people on FB were like "Yay!!!  Finally!!!" Were all you moms of little girls not buying legos because the brand did not carry pink blocks?

 

Zenya

my husband read an article in bloomberg business week.  it's actually v. interesting and has to do with how girls play vs boys (getting into the story vs constructing/deconstructing.  naming things vs not etc)/

meghans30

Zenya:

my husband read an article in bloomberg business week.  it's actually v. interesting and has to do with how girls play vs boys (getting into the story vs constructing/deconstructing.  naming things vs not etc)/

Girls and boys do play differently for sure. I know myself am drawn to games where I can build a city, watch a character grow, etc... Very good point.

Like I said, soo PMSing. Thought this could spark some conversation. 

*Lu-Lu*

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

AnnapolisLari

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

meghans30

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

Yup, you are right... I am totally annoyed by something I shouldn't be!  

meghans30

-auntie-:

This isn't the first time they've rolled out pink or princess or dollhouse specific Legos. I recall some about 8-10 years ago- castle themed if I recall correctly.

Of all of my 7 nieces and goddaughter, only one played with Legos. I don't think pink had anything to do with it. The one who did, only played with specific models she built once with glue. She's an odd child.

Didn't know that! Didn't have kids then, so I wouldn't have been paying attention.  

meghans30

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

*Lu-Lu*

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

Yup, you are right... I am totally annoyed by something I shouldn't be!  

I really wasn't trying to be snarky about it in my reply. I just don't understand why this is a big deal. If people don't like it, they shouldn't buy them.

I just don't think it would hurt to have something besides star wars and the like available in their sets.  

*Lu-Lu*

-auntie-:

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

When my DH's oldest godsons and nephews were little, Legos were more open ended rather than themed and marketed as a unisex sort of toy. Ads and artwork on the containers was gender neutral. This was especially true of the older sets DH's SIL's mom had sent as gifts from Europe.

That is interesting. They are definitely not gender-neutral now.   

meghans30

*Lu-Lu*:

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

Yup, you are right... I am totally annoyed by something I shouldn't be!  

I really wasn't trying to be snarky about it in my reply. I just don't understand why this is a big deal. If people don't like it, they shouldn't buy them.

I just don't think it would hurt to have something besides star wars and the like available in their sets.  

But, Legos are open ended. They do make sets to build houses and have the people to go with 

skippy2310

The sets of just blocks are gender neutral, but not much else is with legos. My DD isn't really into dinosaurs, ninjas, star wars or really any of the other sets you can buy. I don't what the big deal with having a few girly sets is.

*Lu-Lu*

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

Yup, you are right... I am totally annoyed by something I shouldn't be!  

I really wasn't trying to be snarky about it in my reply. I just don't understand why this is a big deal. If people don't like it, they shouldn't buy them.

I just don't think it would hurt to have something besides star wars and the like available in their sets.  

But, Legos are open ended. They do make sets to build houses and have the people to go with 

Legos themselves are open-ended, but what about the sets?  They're pretty much themed to a male audience. And before anyone gets their panties bunched, I'm not saying girls can't play with these sets! 

JenniC1135

I just saw a backlash about these somewhere, encouraging Lego to bring back the campaign from the 70s with a little redhead in overalls holding up what she built (in traditional colored, non-kit Legos,) and the caption says something like, "What it is, is beautiful."

 I played Legos for hours as a little kid, but I had two older brothers and was quite the tomboy, and usually I built ramps for my matchbox cars to jump off of.  Both my boys are HUGE into Legos and my oldest, who's 5, can do the 9 yr old kits on his own.  But DD has shown very little interest.  But overall, she plays less with any toy than the boys do.  

meghans30

*Lu-Lu*:

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

meghans30:

*Lu-Lu*:

I really don't see what the big deal is. I mean Legos are pretty specifically targeted toward boys. So what if they come out with a pink version?  I think it's great.  Whatever. 

Yup, you are right... I am totally annoyed by something I shouldn't be!  

I really wasn't trying to be snarky about it in my reply. I just don't understand why this is a big deal. If people don't like it, they shouldn't buy them.

I just don't think it would hurt to have something besides star wars and the like available in their sets.  

But, Legos are open ended. They do make sets to build houses and have the people to go with 

Legos themselves are open-ended, but what about the sets?  They're pretty much themed to a male audience. And before anyone gets their panties bunched, I'm not saying girls can't play with these sets! 

Hmm, true. I also don't have a girl, so I think I might be immune to girl stuff. I see the pink and purple isles and look in the other direction.  

grja

meghans30:

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

They make a princess castle. We got it for dd for christmas since ds has so many that he loves and she always plays with his. They both play with the princess castle

meghans30

grja:

meghans30:

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

They make a princess castle. We got it for dd for christmas since ds has so many that he loves and she always plays with his. They both play with the princess castle

But, it's a princess and knight themed ship! How about a female explorer or even pirate? 

 

hmckeown

We are a HUGE Lego house, including my husband. He gets the technic sets to build with the kids, even though I know they are really for him

They do have a Bellville horse set that has a barn etc. but I think it is great there are a few more sets for girls now. GRace does use princess leia and jessie and a few princesses taht she built at the store but overall all of our sets are very boy oriented. They both love the packs of surprise mini figures since there is such a variety like clowns, princesses, witches and then tons of boys too.

Lari, there is a catwoman And there is a set at Kohls that is made by fisher price that is exactly like imaginext but for girls.

Heather 

meghans30

-auntie-:

This whole thread reminds me of what is considered the worst marketing decision vis a vis gender specific toys ever made-

https://monkeygoggles.com/?p=277

I remember as a kid one of my favoirte games was Battleship. The artwork on my old hand-me-down game featured a father and son playing the game while mother and daughter washed and dried dishes in the background. The first time I noticed was a WTF? moment.

https://www.google.com/imgres?q=vintage+battleship+game+1967&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=568&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=H-_gOwGbyBo3VM:&imgrefurl=https://www.one-leggedsandpiper.com/OLSP/2008/12/Main.htm&docid=clWV4MGEMJ0XrM&imgurl=https://www.one-leggedsandpiper.com/Christmas/Presents/Battleship.jpg&w=640&h=318&ei=JjoGT6neEqWziQKI85gU&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=55&vpy=263&dur=31&hovh=158&hovw=319&tx=187&ty=90&sig=111499465948369516205&page=1&tbnh=76&tbnw=153&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

At least if a girl doesn't want to play with Legos she doesn't get stuck with household chores.

 

 

Great article.  

J&A2008

I loved my legos growing up, and I was an only so it's not like they were my brother's.

AnnapolisLari

grja:

meghans30:

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

They make a princess castle. We got it for dd for christmas since ds has so many that he loves and she always plays with his. They both play with the princess castle

Huh. Where did that come from? I've NEVER seen a castle in any store I've been in.

And I was thinking more along the lines of a female marine biologist on that research ship or a lady paleontologist on dinosaur island or a girl pilot on the aircraft carrier. We have all of those already and I would like to add some figures for DD to play with.

We have loads of pink princess stuff. I don't need another doll house or castle.

*Lu-Lu*

AnnapolisLari:

grja:

meghans30:

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

They make a princess castle. We got it for dd for christmas since ds has so many that he loves and she always plays with his. They both play with the princess castle

Huh. Where did that come from? I've NEVER seen a castle in any store I've been in.

And I was thinking more along the lines of a female marine biologist on that research ship or a lady paleontologist on dinosaur island or a girl pilot on the aircraft carrier. We have all of those already and I would like to add some figures for DD to play with.

We have loads of pink princess stuff. I don't need another doll house or castle.

I do agree with this. I'm not saying I want pink, puffy Lego sets, but including females in their sets would be nice! 

eclaires

As someone who shopped Legos extensively this Christmas season, they are currently really boy-themed b/c of the way they sell things in sets now vs. a ton of bricks.  I had a hard time finding a big box of bricks, and could really only find themed sets, which annoys me.

I think that's the big switch in their marketing from when I was a kid to now, and when they did that, it became more boy dominated.  I saw some of the girl themed sets the other day at Target and they were cute.  Nothing too crazy pink or anything, but some things girls might be more interested in vs. Star Wars or Ninjago.

Lego City is sort of gender neutral, I guess, but it definitely veers boyish from the sets I've seen and bought.   We've gotten a few girls in sets that were more neutral, but the themes of the sets definitely appeal more to boys (like a fire station, for example).

cokt

I think the idea is good actually, but think it is weird the figures are different sizes. My 4 year old is crazy into Legos right now, and most of the themed sets are most definitely geared toward typical "boy" interests. I think it is silly 99% of the mini Lego figures are male. Why can't there be police women or fire women in the Lego City sets? 

grja

AnnapolisLari:

grja:

meghans30:

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

Ha, now that you mention it, there are no female imaginext characters. There should be! I think the pink  

They make a princess castle. We got it for dd for christmas since ds has so many that he loves and she always plays with his. They both play with the princess castle

Huh. Where did that come from? I've NEVER seen a castle in any store I've been in.

And I was thinking more along the lines of a female marine biologist on that research ship or a lady paleontologist on dinosaur island or a girl pilot on the aircraft carrier. We have all of those already and I would like to add some figures for DD to play with.

We have loads of pink princess stuff. I don't need another doll house or castle.

I got it from amazon. My kids take the princess from here and stick her in the batcave or samuri castle or pirate ship with the swords or whatever so it works. And they stick the joker or batman or robin in the princess castle. So it all intermingles. But yes, only one 'princess' to go around with all the other boys.

gracer1294

There should be females in the sets--no arguing that.

My son will put together the sets of legos he receives and then take them apart....they end up in the same bin and look gender nuetral at that point. I loved legos when I was growing up. They market what sells, but this post reminds me of one that was on before Christmas. Someone was upset because the leapsters and leappads came in green and they had to pay more for the pink (or maybe purple) ones. Now that was irritating because they don't even offer the "boy" color blue for me to have the option to buy. So seriously that poster should have felt lucky that they even made a girl color.

buffalo_buckeye

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

ITA with this! 

buffalo_buckeye

cmeon_the_water:

On another note, we got my son a bunch of K'nex Mario Kart tracks for Christmas. There were some horrid reviews of these things on Amazon, parents bitching that they were impossible to put together- w00t for being a nerd! I had a blast. I think they're both getting Legos for their birthdays this year.

We also bought the K'nex Mario Kart tracks and poor dh had to put it together xmas morning.  He is an engineer and it took him about 1hr 1/2, lol. There were like 300 pieces!   It is pretty cool, but it is big.  I'm not sure where to keep it/store it, when not in use.  

AnnapolisLari

grja:

   I got it from amazon. My kids take the princess from here and stick her in the batcave or samuri castle or pirate ship with the swords or whatever so it works. And they stick the joker or batman or robin in the princess castle. So it all intermingles. But yes, only one 'princess' to go around with all the other boys.

I guess that I am choking to death on all the princess crapola. Too many princesses. Ack.

 

lsufan

-auntie-:

This whole thread reminds me of what is considered the worst marketing decision vis a vis gender specific toys ever made-

https://monkeygoggles.com/?p=277

I remember as a kid one of my favoirte games was Battleship. The artwork on my old hand-me-down game featured a father and son playing the game while mother and daughter washed and dried dishes in the background. The first time I noticed was a WTF? moment.

https://www.google.com/imgres?q=vintage+battleship+game+1967&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=568&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=H-_gOwGbyBo3VM:&imgrefurl=https://www.one-leggedsandpiper.com/OLSP/2008/12/Main.htm&docid=clWV4MGEMJ0XrM&imgurl=https://www.one-leggedsandpiper.com/Christmas/Presents/Battleship.jpg&w=640&h=318&ei=JjoGT6neEqWziQKI85gU&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=55&vpy=263&dur=31&hovh=158&hovw=319&tx=187&ty=90&sig=111499465948369516205&page=1&tbnh=76&tbnw=153&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

At least if a girl doesn't want to play with Legos she doesn't get stuck with household chores.

 

 

LOL at the pink Lionel train.  My boys wouldn't touch that, but they did play with the girl trains in the Thomas sets.

And WTF at the Battleship picture.  That's crazy!

 

This whole thread reminds me how much I detest all of the themed Lego sets.  They're great for the whole 5 minutes we're putting them together.  Then the boys try to actually play with them, and tiny, essential pieces start breaking off and finding their way into the great void where toys go and never come back.  I had no trouble finding a big tub of non-themed Legos last year, and that's what DS mostly plays with.

L D

My girls have never been interested in Legos and they have seen Landon play with all of his and watched the commercials.  Never have they cares about them.  We walked down the toy aisle in Target yesterday and saw the Lego friends sets and they wouldn't and haven't stopped asking for them.  I'm thinking they will get a bunch to share and play with together as the city or whatever for their bdays May.   Landon is obsessed with cars so he loves the Disney cats sets.  He got one for cmas and I scored a big $50 set 1/2 off and a aller set 1/2 off as well for his bday.  He is really good at playing really easy with his Legos once built.  His room is done on cars theme (eekk, and even has a lightening McQueen bed we got for free from a friend). He plays with them an then puts them on the shelf to display them.   

KellyD01

These are actually necessary in my house. The only way my girls can play w/ legos is if I can prove to my DS that they aren't his. For whatever reason DS has just gotten extremely picky about his legos. Sissies don't do it right, sissies are messing up what he's doing, those are his... etc etc. I'm hopeful this is a phase... we talk about sharing, etc., but girly colored mega blocks and legos sure are making my life easier!

Hooray2005

I didn't read the other responses, but my 5 y/o son was THRILLED when he saw PINK Legos in the store!

My son LOVES pink - we'll be adding some in just for color variation (not necessarily to be built as a kit).

For those looking just for blocks and not kits, craigslist is a great source for these - nice thing about Legos is even used ones look new once they're dumped in a nice plastic bin

 

Andrewsgal

Dd has had a pink set with a unicorn for a while, and when she saw these in store she was begging for them.

shouldbworkin

AnnapolisLari:

I don't think they need gender-specific Legos, but some female Imaginext characters might be nice. DS plays with that stuff for hours, but DD has noticed that there are no girls anywhere to be found. A chick can work on a research ship, for God's sake.

This. I think a lot of this is in response to backlash for having no female characters in their sets.  I don't think we need gender specific legos, but realistic sets would be nice.  And, not just with princess and crap like that.  A female Ninjago or pirate or even a police officer or firefighter would be pretty cool.  

*Lu-Lu*

If anyone is interested, there is an article about this on the baby cheapskate blog. And discussion on their FB page. I haven't read it yet though. I'm not sure why people are going crazy over this!

DownToEarthGirl

Glossing over the debate that girls don't "like" playing with boy legos...why do the new Lego girls have to be all boobilicious?  Why can't they be girls with those square pants and flat chests like the lego guys?