Check out the new SourceForge HTML5 internet speed test! No Flash necessary and runs on all devices. Also, Slashdot's Facebook page has a chat bot now. Message it for stories and more. Has Lego Sold Out? Hugh Pickens writes "Matt Richtel and Jesse McKinley write in the NY Times that for generations of American children, Legos were the ultimate do-it-yourself plaything. Little plastic bricks, with scant instructions, just add imagination. But today's construction sets are often tied to billion-dollar franchises like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and invite users to follow detailed directions, not construct their own creations from whole brick. It's less open-ended, some parents and researchers say, and more like paint-by-numbers. 'When I was a kid, you got a big box of bricks and that was it,' says Tracy Bagatelle-Black. 'What stinks about Lego sets now is that they're not imaginative at all.' Lego loyalists are quick to defend the company. Josh Wedin, the managing editor of the Brothers Brick, a Lego blog, called complaints that they are less creative 'simply ridiculous,' adding that Legos always included some instructions, though he says he misses the alternative designs that used to be on the back of the box.
But Clifford Nass, a sociology professor at Stanford University who studies how people relate to the physical world versus the virtual world, says some essential qualities were lost when Lego became more like other toys. 'The genius of Lego was, you had to do the work.' Learning about frustration, Nass says, 'is a hugely important thing.'" (And watch soon for a review of The Unofficial Lego Builder's Guide, a book intended to help Lego users escape the tyranny of block-by-number instructions.)After pressure from parents group, Let Toys Be Toys, Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the UK will stop gender-specific marketing to kids. Take a second to realize how cool this is before you freak out about how your little girls are allowed to love pink and your little boys are allowed to love Star Wars. The organization has lobbied retailers, marketers and advertisers across the U.K. to raise awareness of gender-stereotyped toys. Let Toys Be Toys has made agreements with popular British chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, The Entertainer and TK Maxx to alter the way they market toys.
Toys R Us’ pact with Let Toys Be Toys will apply only to the retail giant’s U.K. stores, but a spokesperson for the company said it does not have gender-based sections in any of its U.S. stores. Instead, its stores are organized by product type. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see an end to “girls” sections and “boys” sections. Ultimately, it is about giving kids more choices – not pigeon-holing them into choosing toys that are “gender appropriate.” Every time I write about scaling back gender-specific marketing, there are always a ton of people that say things like this:I really feel that all of this PC bull has gone too far. I actually love the idea of my daughter thinking she is a princess, but she also considers herself strong and powerful. Can’t she be all of these things?So they advertise traditional gender roles. Five-year-old kids are not going to get upset because a girl is wearing princess shoes and a boy is in Star Wars. It’s the parents that create this strife, this struggle.
If a girl wants Star Wars shoes, then she’ll pick them out. If a boy wants princess shoes, then that’s what he’ll choose. It doesn’t matter what they play with or what they wear… I don’t feel that it’s the responsibility of a major corporation to make my child feel comfortable in what he chooses to wear or play with. I’m so tired of this argument. Girls ARE princesses, Boys ARE super heroes or whatever. Perhaps if we’d move back to those ideas, we wouldn’t have so many people out there confused about their gender. I’m not denying that some girls love pink and some boys love Darth Vader, but I think marketing specifically to genders and making separate sections for girls and boys in toy stores is tantamount to shaping a child’s interests for them. How comfortable will a young boy be wandering down the “girl toy” aisle? Same question for a little girl? Why are we imposing these restrictions and parameters at a corporate level? No one’s saying “stop making pink toys.”
We’re just asking, “do they all have to be pink?” In the seventies, when we played with Legos and Lincoln Logs and Play Doh, there was no separate marketing for girls and boys; Legos and Play Doh were primary colors and Lincoln Logs were brown. Even my Holly Hobby EZ Bake Oven was blue. Somewhere along the line, marketing for kids when way over the gender-specific top. All moms like me are saying is – let’s reel that in a little. Toys "R" Us is one of Australia's largest retailers of toys, games and other products for kids. You can find all of Toys "R" Us' latest offers and catalogues in the one place on Lasoo. The first Toys "R" Us store opened in Australia in 1993 and since then has expanded to boast more than 30 stores around the country. Current catalogues from Toys "R" Us are available here. Check back often for the latest catalogues. To read Toys R Us reviews check out the Lasoo blogs for daily professional and consumer Australian product reviews.
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