LEGO just got smarter–this week marks the release of the new LEGO SMART Play sets.
If you’ve been following along, then you may be familiar with the new electronic bricks that LEGO is introducing. They weren’t exaggerating when they claimed it as their biggest innovation yet. But more than marking a LEGO milestone, the question must also be asked if SMART Play marks a shift in the industry itself.
Release of LEGO SMART Play
The LEGO SMART Play sets are officially available for online purchase. So, what exactly are they? The brand is reinventing themselves with electronic LEGO sets, including SMART bricks, tags, and minifigures. These pieces have built-in speakers, lights, and sensors that change based on how you play with them. By using a tag to identify your creation as a plane, your SMART brick and minifigure will react accordingly. SMART pieces will respond to twists and turns based on how you move your build, using a wide variety of sound effects and light sequences. Importantly, the new bricks will still work with the old. LEGO stated that the goal is to inspire kids with even greater imagination and innovation through more interactive play.
The first electronic LEGO sets to showcase the new tech will be none other than the beloved Star Wars series, including a Millennium Falcon set. This seems a fitting, futuristic host for these futuristic upgrades. (As both a lifelong LEGO and Star Wars fan, I can’t say I’m not excited.)
Implications of LEGO SMART Play upgrade
But at the same time, an established toy giant like LEGO releasing electronic bricks could be speaking to a larger change and marking a cultural shift. Are normal bricks not enough anymore? Or like everything else, do toys need to become more advanced and modernized to capture kids’ attention?
One reason why LEGO is so loved is because they really draw on the creativity of children. Of course, the sets come with instructions, but all the Frankenstein-creations that follow are kid (or parent) originals–some which probably would make Victor Frankenstein shudder (while others prove more promising). This has remained a breath of fresh air in kids’ entertainment, as the industry becomes more and more electronics based. But LEGO SMART Play seems to feed into that; did LEGO have to evolve to survive an industry where the competition is becoming more advanced?
Or perhaps SMART Play isn’t such a big shift for LEGO after all. For years LEGO products have extended far beyond just bricks, as shown by their video game and movie successes. They have also capitalized on media and franchise opportunities. Historically, they’ve kept up with modern times and popular interest. Maybe LEGO SMART Play just makes the changes more obvious, but a closer look shows they’ve been there all along.
LEGO brings innovation into the future
Whether or not LEGO SMART Play marks beginning of the end for traditional kids’ toys, LEGO has proven once again that they can evolve. And if LEGO sets and toys in general are becoming more modernized, at their core they are more or less the same. SMART PLAY will still inspire kids to build and create, just in a way that’s even more engaging than before. The new sets do look exciting, and they keep kids off of a screen.
In the past, LEGO sets have been powered on nothing but bricks and the desire to create. No matter how complex the design, the basis has always been simple. While these new sets may now be powered on something a little more, the product still calls to a child’s ingenuity. LEGO SMART Play is reinforcing this value and carrying it into the future, fueling the next generation’s creativity brick by brick.