Mega Bloks Kick Lego’s Ass*

That’s right, I said “Mega Bloks kick Lego’s ass*.” But note the asterisk.

I realize that to some, this statement may represent toy chest blasphemy. If you’re offended or think I’m nuts, you a) don’t have kids, b) you have a baby that’s too young to play with building blocks or c) your kids are older than five. See, Mega Bloks’ superiority is tied to timing.

I grew up on Lego. And clearly, for dexterous, imaginative minds, there’s nothing better. But for little hands just discovering the utility of opposable thumbs, learning how to apply pressure and with imprecise eye/hand coordination, even Lego’s most juvenile offering – Lego Quatro can prove to be frustrating. Mega Bloks on the other hand are all about “margins of error.”

Mega Bloks are “peg-and-hole” style blocks but the pegs are triple the height of Lego. The pegs themselves have a tapered top edge to help compensate for imprecise alignment. You know when you step around the hole in golf to “help” your ball drop if it gets close (no? me either!) – same idea. Mega Bloks’ other construction-aiding feature is that the pegs are placed farther apart. What this allows is for blocks to be placed on top of each other at lateral angles. Connections do not need to be flush or at 90 degree angles.

My son received both a set of Lego Quatro basic blocks and Mega Bloks Building Imagination 80 Piece set for his 1st birthday. My first instinct was to bust open the Lego set. “Mega Bloks?!” I though viewing them and their relationship to Lego the way one would regard GoBots to Transformers…yeah, similar idea but inferior execution.

So my son and I sat down on the floor, spread out the Quatros and prepared for some serious building fun. Only it was fun that never materialized. What did materialize was two minutes of curiosity (30 seconds for the bricks + 90 seconds for the plastic tub they came in) followed by 1 minute of me demonstrating the concept of stacking (using the all-important “hand over hand” teaching method), 23 seconds worth of a solo attempt by my son and then the characteristic “I’m done with this game” departure (throw toy…in this case, a brick, wobble to a stand and toddle away).

Disappointed but desperate for some indoor fun…it was a rainy October Saturday, I tried the Mega Bloks about a half an hour later. And to my delight and surprise (but also to my deep-down disappointment), instant success! He aimed and he connected…brick after brick. Of special interest were the eye shaped pieces…but given some structural tolerances to work with, my son found the whole experience of stacking Mega Bloks to be extremely entertaining.

Since that day, the Mega Bloks have been used almost every day. The Lego Quatros have made for good projectiles. So much so that we’re considering stowing those away until he has a clearer understanding of cause and effect!

True that Mega Bloks creations tend to have a Frank Gehry aesthetic…arching, tumbling, structurally chaotic…but they’re structures none-the-less. What you get is an engaged child constructing a Franken-building vs. a pile of Lego bricks and a kid wandering away to find a more enjoyable toy.

What makes Mega Bloks basic blocks ideal for kids under 2ish is precisely what’s likely to frustrate them much beyond that – they’re boring. That said, Mega Bloks offers a whole line of building toys…with different themes and age-appropriateness…but at that point, it’s time to set the Universe back on it’s proper axis by returning to Lego. Hello Duplo!