Heh - so was I wrong to superglue my son's Lego Star Wars B-Wing Fighter together?

[Queasy]

He got it as gift for his birthday from his Grams but he's only 5. She didn't notice the part that said "Ages 7+" in large bold letters right on the front of the box. :laugh: He loves Lego Star Wars so I didn't think it would be a good idea to exchange it.

We spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning putting the 435 pieces together. I'd help him pick out the pieces and show him which part of the instructions to follow. Plus, I'd help him with any of the harder parts. When we got done with it Wednesday morning, I told him to take it upstairs to show his Mom. He folded out the wings and went zooming up the stairs. Then I heard <clunk> and my wife say, "Ohhh nooooo!" He brought it back down in a box. Two wings and the cockpit had exploded after he bumped into a wall and fell down. :laugh:

Seeing that this was going to be a recurring issue...especially with an almost two-year old in the house who is bound to play with it...I set about super gluing all the major joints and the entire cockpit together. The only thing that can come off now is the two wings that fold and unfold. :laugh:

 

[Xavier434]

Very wise

 

[CPA]

Lol, sounds like my kids.

 

[TallBill]

lol, not really wrong.. but cant really build it again or modify it

 

[jrenz]

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: TallBill
lol, not really wrong.. but cant really build it again or modify it

Yeah, it might be disappointing when he gets older and wants to start mixing and matching.

 

[paulxcook]

It'll be annoying when he's 8 and wants to take it apart, but for now, you've done the right thing.

 

[Goosemaster]

so you willingly provided yoru small child with an aerodynamic projectile that they are sure to be chucking around the house....

*thinks about what the drywall will look like in a few week*

*cringes*

 

[So]

Agreed. Bad -- on the grounds that constantly breaking and rebuilding it will teach him a LOT more than running around the house going "zoom, zoom"

And, he'll realize that he can change it -- and it'll spark his imagination to come up with things other than pre-packaged sci-fi.

 

[StartingLine]

yes that will be sad when he gets older and its glued together . I used to be jealous of my friend who had the huge lego pirate ship

 

[txrandom]

I miss the days of my Dad helping me building Lego castles.

Maybe Lego's a good present for his birthday!

 

[dbk]

He'd be like, "Guess I wasn't THAT smart.."

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: So
And, he'll realize that he can change it -- and it'll spark his imagination to come up with things other than pre-packaged sci-fi.

I was actually thinking I'd get him some regular Legos or smaller Star Wars Legos that are more age appropriate. The B-Wing was just such a beast to put together that I really didn't want to go through all of that again.

It is insanely cool though. :laugh:

 

[CPA]

maybe my kids are way different, but none of them have toys for more than a few weeks, let alone 3 to 4 years.

 

[JulesMaximus]

My son got a bunch of those lego sets for Christmas...of course I had to put them all together which took hours I might add. I'm thinking superglue is an excellent idea! :thumbsup:

 

[Martin]

I think a lot of you are missing the point of legos - the whole fun is building your own things, not playing something already built. Legos are pretty much the only toys I had when I was a kid and whenever I'd get a new one I'd put it together, let it stay like that for a day, then take it apart and mix it with all the others I had. Once you have a few sets, you can let your imagination run wild and build all sorts of neat things. Having something glued together completely defeats the experience.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: So
Agreed. Bad -- on the grounds that constantly breaking and rebuilding it will teach him a LOT more than running around the house going "zoom, zoom"

And, he'll realize that he can change it -- and it'll spark his imagination to come up with things other than pre-packaged sci-fi.

Parenting is not about always finding lessons in everything.

 

[LordMorpheus]

never glue legos, you loose the whole point of the toy when you do that.

For a 5 year old, it might be OK, but please refrain from doing it again.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Martin
I think a lot of you are missing the point of legos - the whole fun is building your own things, not playing something already built. Legos are pretty much the only toys I had when I was a kid and whenever I'd get a new one I'd put it together, let it stay like that for a day, then take it apart and mix it with all the others I had. Once you have a few sets, you can let your imagination run wild and build all sorts of neat things. Having something glued together completely defeats the experience.

No, I get the point of Legos. They were my most played with toy growing up. Even moreso than my Star Wars, Transformer, or GI Joe toys.

However, this particular Lego set was not at the right level for my son. Instead of constantly having to rebuild it, I glued it together. My next step is to go get him some age appropriate Lego sets that don't have 435 pieces to put together to build a space ship that's the size of his upper torso.

 

[bwiest1]

YES, it was wrong. Legos are meant to be taken apart!

 

[ITJunkie]

Originally posted by: jrenz
What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

:laugh:

 

[Kelemvor]

Half the fun is taking the stuff apart and building it again or makding your own design for an improved one. It's great that now he can play with it as an actual toy or display it or something but I would probably have just left it along and warned him to be careful because it will break easily.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: jrenz
What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

I...I love you too.

Re: this post...

I probably would have grounded it in the closet for a few years until he was old enough to do it on his own.

 

[sdifox]

Wait, you glued Lego together? Bought the wrong toy dude, the one you want is from Tamiya.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/

 

[Homerboy]

did the same thing to some of the major joints and recurring problem areas on my sons Star Destroyer from Christmas. He's 6 (now) but was getting overly frustrated when trying to play with it and stuff kept falling off (like his sections of the bottom etc). I explained in detail to him that those pats would be stuck together forever if I did it, and it was the better move in the long run.

On the same note, he just got the new Lego Catalog and has now officially circled ~75% of it and written his list to Santa already.