LEGO Duplo

My past and present with LEGO Duplo

I barely remember the Lego Duplo series from when I was a kid. You see, the reason why I barely remember them is because I never had them. My parents never bought them for me… but I do remember them barely and this is so because I can still hear what my mom and dad used to say whenever I had mentioned the concept of me getting a LEGO Duplo set. I heard it often and it almost became a mantra of sorts: “You don’t need them because You won’t play with them very long”.

That was the core message but there were other variations:
“They’re for babies.”
“You’ll get a better set next year.”
“You’ll get a set for big boys.”
and on and on and on…

To cut things short and move away from my own personal childhood scars (be they material or not… they’re still scars non the less, don’t judge me :D) let’s jump a bit in time to lets say about roughly 5 years ago. I sorta got my wish come true; I got my baby boy a set. It wasn’t anything super big but it was a formidable set non the less. It came in a plastic box, almost all top value block sets come in a plastic box. It’s one of the ways how they get you hooked. They even provide you with a suitable container in which you will be able to store future Lego purchases. The first set he got came in a big box.

The facts and truth

After all of this and days of happy play and long lasting memories I still have to say that sadly, my parents were correct. Now don’t get me wrong, the toys from the lego duplo series are very beautiful and can satisfy almost anyone’s taste. The durability is legendary and rightfully so because it is amazing what a 2-3 year old can come up with. Jumping on them. Squeezing various parts with all their might (this isn’t a laughing matter). Throwing them against the wall, throwing them out of the window and onto the pavement, throwing them at their mom and dad. Biting them (only leaves bite marks, they do not brake). Let’s just say that it is a wonderful thing most children do not learn how to make fire until they’re older than 3 because no one would want to work as a LEGO engineer then as it would truly be an impossible task to make them child proof. The problem with them lies with what my mom and dad told me… you can’t play with them for long. It is a short period of time that children play with LEGO’s. Sure the age rating on the box says 1 – 1/2 but lets be real, you’ll be putting the sets together and your kid will be walking over them at best at the age of one and a half. The play will usually last from the age of around 2 till the age of around 4. After that the interest will deflate rapidly; because at the age of 4 new possibilities emerge in the form of REAL LEGO’S.

I regret nothing! I’d buy some again ????

I do not regret buying my kid Lego Duplo sets and I’d do it again even with knowing what I know now (all though my mom and dad would tell me that I knew it all along :D). But I would only get a single larger set with a plastic box to hold them inside of and that’s it. The green building plate we got we unfortunately used only several times
while the road plates for example my kid got are still being played with. It is also very big… so big indeed that you will not know where to put it… besides the drawer? Under the bed? Use it as roof for a doggie house :D? Jokes aside, it really is durable! I thought my kid would break it eventually but this never happened. I’ve seen this plate fly through the air as well and it is still in one piece. It still endures damage here and there because it always lies around my kids room because I still do not know what to do with it… maybe I’ll make a wall clock out of it or something ????
These are some of the sets we got for our kid so I can give my honest opinion on them.

I have to admit it, I still like looking at them… whether in person or on a photo, they’re one of the cutest toys I’ve seen.