When I was a kid living in India most of my time spent with Lego was because a generous relative from America gifted me a set with as many blocks as could fit in a standard detergent box. For the better part of a decade I used and abused that set of pieces to create many long forgotten but incredibely fun kiddie constructions. I can't remember Lego sets being all that pervasive as an activity among kids in India.

When I first moved to Prague around 5 years ago I realised Lego was a way bigger deal here. Sure it was probably because Denmark is the birthplace of LEGO and the fact that it was more of luxury in India. LEGO was and continues to remain an expensive adult hobby or kids plaything. But above all else LEGO is a creation so unique that it has continued to endure for generations. Add to that the fact they can license pretty much any intellectual property that has existed and will be created in the future.

The first LEGO set that I bought for my son was when he was around 4. And it was an 1100 piece box easily containing 5 times the number of pieces from my detergent box of LEGOs. It was perhaps the most expensive toy I bought for him at the time as well. It's an investment that has given not just him but us so much back over the years. It is an analog toy bar none. The only thing that keep him away from screens for hours on end. Once he had exhausted the creation of the official constructions he started doing stuff free style. Some of them were so wondrous to behold. Stuff that I could never have come up with.

In the age of AI doomerism anything to do with LEGO still manages to remain incredibely popular. When I visited a LEGO store that opened recently in Prague we had queue up to get in. As good as the product itself the business driving it is something that I think can never be truly replicated. While there are unauthorised toys that may use the same interlocking mechanics of LEGO they lack the visual and tactile polish of the original. The idea may be replicable but not the quality.

As technology marches on over the decades the fundamental idea behind LEGO has never changed. It is one of the few toys that appeals to both adults and kids and the one toy parents don't mind their children engaging with. A few months back I also succumbed to the appeal of LEGO when I bought a massive 3600 piece LEGO T-Rex. Spending those weeks assembling it with my son was one of the most wonderful experiences of play in my adult life.

If I was think what would LEGO mean to my son's and his grandchildren generations from now it would be no different from what it means to millions of people today. A medium of creative expression, everlasting across both space and time.