They aren't. Lego kits are packaged to appeal to on the basis of an objective model building experience and with the subtext of collectability. These days Lego uses cross branding to leverage this packaging in order to appeal more directly to emotions which spark the impulse to buy.
But subjectively, everyone understands that the bulldozer kit is just a big box of parts - and part of the appeal of those well defined projects is the anticipation of the ways in which the unusual pieces the kit contains can be used to make other stuff.
The typical sequence of a "non-creative" Lego set starts with an adult seeing it in the store and thinking it is pretty cool and reasonably priced. My son got a LEGO® City Passenger Plane 7893 a few years ago well after they were out of production, when his grand parents picked it up for $25 at Costco as a Christmas present - they actually purchased three; one for each of the grandsons.
Next, the kid builds it per the directions with or without adult participation depending on age, complexity, and mutual interest. Then they display it.
At this point, everyone understands that it can be disassembled and repurposed. This creates a tension between the adult impulse toward collecting (to which the packaging was intended to appeal) and the joy of destruction - strongly encouraged by the fact that Lego models are designed for destruction -unlike a plastic or balsa model.
So the airplane sits at the suggestion of the adult (either a real adult or the child's own adult impulse), while the kid watches for the adult to lose interest and imagines all the amazing ways those four jet engines can be combined with the pieces from the long disassembled Ferrari F1 and various Starwars spacecraft.
And then one day it happens. There is a car with three jet engines on top; a space craft reminiscent of the Galileo shuttle craft; and a flying wing with an open cockpit in the center and sails from the pirate ship where turbines once sat..plus many more pieces added to the proverbial giant box of Legos.
The only real hint of the original out of the box design which remains is the instructions - which will only be saved at the insistence of the adult - and even then, they are likely to to wind up on the curb due to the friction of their irrelevance.
In other words, there are no uncreative Lego sets - and I have never seen a kid who would willingly be uncreative with the parts. And I've never seen an adult who was successful at enforcing the plastic model mentality over a prolonged period of time...which are very good things indeed.
They aren't. Lego kits are packaged to appeal to on the basis of an objective model building experience and with the subtext of collectability. These days Lego uses cross branding to leverage this packaging in order to appeal more directly to emotions which spark the impulse to buy.
But subjectively, everyone understands that the bulldozer kit is just a big box of parts - and part of the appeal of those well defined projects is the anticipation of the ways in which the unusual pieces the kit contains can be used to make other stuff.
The typical sequence of a "non-creative" Lego set starts with an adult seeing it in the store and thinking it is pretty cool and reasonably priced. My son got a LEGO® City Passenger Plane 7893 a few years ago well after they were out of production, when his grand parents picked it up for $25 at Costco as a Christmas present - they actually purchased three; one for each of the grandsons.
[http://www.amazon.com/Lego-City-Passenger-Plane-7893/dp/B000...]
Yes, Grandpa thought it was cool.
Next, the kid builds it per the directions with or without adult participation depending on age, complexity, and mutual interest. Then they display it.
At this point, everyone understands that it can be disassembled and repurposed. This creates a tension between the adult impulse toward collecting (to which the packaging was intended to appeal) and the joy of destruction - strongly encouraged by the fact that Lego models are designed for destruction -unlike a plastic or balsa model.
So the airplane sits at the suggestion of the adult (either a real adult or the child's own adult impulse), while the kid watches for the adult to lose interest and imagines all the amazing ways those four jet engines can be combined with the pieces from the long disassembled Ferrari F1 and various Starwars spacecraft.
And then one day it happens. There is a car with three jet engines on top; a space craft reminiscent of the Galileo shuttle craft; and a flying wing with an open cockpit in the center and sails from the pirate ship where turbines once sat..plus many more pieces added to the proverbial giant box of Legos.
The only real hint of the original out of the box design which remains is the instructions - which will only be saved at the insistence of the adult - and even then, they are likely to to wind up on the curb due to the friction of their irrelevance.
In other words, there are no uncreative Lego sets - and I have never seen a kid who would willingly be uncreative with the parts. And I've never seen an adult who was successful at enforcing the plastic model mentality over a prolonged period of time...which are very good things indeed.