Legos are a Great Toy

Lego blocks were one of my favorite toys when I was a kid. We had a big bucket full of them, though they were often spread out on the floor. My parents were always finding the odd piece after my brothers and I "cleaned up." We had lots of sets (Space, Town, Technic and Blacktron spring to mind) along with a lot of odds and ends from... somewhere. Probably a garage sale or something.

I still think Legos are a cool toy. In fact, the bucket of them is in our apartment now. Once or twice a year I pull them out to play. Sherree's even given me small Lego sets at Christmas a few times.

When I was younger, I think I enjoyed the more advanced Technic sets most. I had a hydraulic forklift set; the hydraulic components powered lots of the things I built. I still like the advanced sets most: Technic, Racers, and especially MindStorms.

When I was younger, I was very interested in a career in robotics. The problem-solving aspect of designing a robot to complete a task really appealed to me. That's probably why I always look at the MindStorms set when we're in a toy store that has them. (The MindStorms sets--also known as the Robotics Invention System is a computer programmable module with a great variety of sensors, motors, and related pieces for you to build an autonomous robot to do whatever you like.) Every once in a while I poke around teh MindStorms Community to see what's new: they have photos and descriptions of other's creations, tutorials, and "missions." A Mission is an objective for you to overcome with a robot.

And now, to top off all the cool stuff at Lego, there's the Lego Factory. With the Lego Factory you can design a model and order a set of blocks to build it. Way cool.