Fireflyboys
Wednesday, April 16. 2014
As with Gator & Rattler, Firefly had a nearly identical counterpart in the Vor-Tech line. But these two serve as a better example of how the markets changed betweeen 1986 and 1996: Desert Striker is made of much sturdier plastic, with stronger joints and fewer stickers. Gone are the lever-operated clockwork mechanism, the separate bombs, the rubber tires, and the chrome plated engine. Everything has been simplified, from the number of colors to the cockpit detail to the tire treads. The result is a toy that is objectively better (even brand new Fireflys suffered from gapping noses, loose wheels, and breakable/easily lost weapons), but at the expense of that "X Factor" that made the original M.A.S.K. series so awesome.
Crazy Cars III
Wednesday, April 9. 2014
Although most of my early-1990s video game racing time was spent with F-Zero, I recognized Lamborghini American Challenge as the true spiritual descendant of the classic Rad Racer. It was right around then that I started getting into model building, so it seemed only fitting that I would pay tribute to the game with a replica of its ultimate unlockable bonus.
Press Release: The LEGO Foundation Hosts IDEA Conference April 8-10, 2014: Re-Defining Play and Re-Imagining Learning
Tuesday, April 8. 2014
The world's leading voices in the fields of play and learning will gather in Billund, Denmark on April 8-10, for the 8th annual LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference themed "Re-defining play, re-imagining learning" to shine a light on the transformative power of play in learning. Driven by the LEGO Foundation's focus to ensure the value of play is understood, embraced and acted upon, this year's conference will unveil new insights about the power of play and provide a stage for leading academics, authors, researchers and innovators to discuss, debate, and co-create an actionable agenda to change the way the world learns.
"Play is one of the most effective ways in which we learn, and this truth anchors the LEGO® Idea. Play fosters creativity, builds critical thinking, strengthens social skills and empathy, sparks intellectual curiosity, and facilitates learning by fueling intrinsic motivation," said LEGO Foundation CEO, Dr. Randa Grob-Zakhary. "The 2014 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference is designed to bring together some of the world's brightest minds to inspire ways to make quality play a priority in homes, classrooms, workplaces and communities. Through play, we can provide children the opportunities and tools to enhance learning abilities that last a lifetime, and this year's conference will provide a platform to turn ideas into action."
Co-moderated by Joi Ito, Director of MIT's Media Lab, the two-day event will highlight an agenda where play and learning are central themes. Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow, Technology & Entrepreneurship at Harvard University, will discuss how parents, educators and communities can turn play into purpose; David Whitebread, University Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge in Psychology of Education, will host a workshop about cultural views on play and concrete skills needed for development; Jack Shonkoff, Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, will offer ways to translate the science of play into business; Peter Gray, Research Professor at Boston College and author of "Free to Learn", will provide insights into the evolution of play and human instincts; and Deborah Leong, Director & Co-Founder of "Tools of the Mind", will explore the links between play and self-regulation, amongst many others.
Guests are invited to develop actionable models for play-based learning, debate and share new knowledge and research about the future of learning, and become part of a global collective aimed at elevating the critical role of play in everyday lives.
The 2014 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference program kicks off April 9th at 9:00am CET/3:00am EDT and can be joined live via stream at theideaconference.com/#/live-stream. Follow the discussion on Twitter at @LEGOFoundation#IdeaConf14 and on LinkedIn. A full list of speakers and agenda can be found here.
"Play is one of the most effective ways in which we learn, and this truth anchors the LEGO® Idea. Play fosters creativity, builds critical thinking, strengthens social skills and empathy, sparks intellectual curiosity, and facilitates learning by fueling intrinsic motivation," said LEGO Foundation CEO, Dr. Randa Grob-Zakhary. "The 2014 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference is designed to bring together some of the world's brightest minds to inspire ways to make quality play a priority in homes, classrooms, workplaces and communities. Through play, we can provide children the opportunities and tools to enhance learning abilities that last a lifetime, and this year's conference will provide a platform to turn ideas into action."
Co-moderated by Joi Ito, Director of MIT's Media Lab, the two-day event will highlight an agenda where play and learning are central themes. Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow, Technology & Entrepreneurship at Harvard University, will discuss how parents, educators and communities can turn play into purpose; David Whitebread, University Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge in Psychology of Education, will host a workshop about cultural views on play and concrete skills needed for development; Jack Shonkoff, Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, will offer ways to translate the science of play into business; Peter Gray, Research Professor at Boston College and author of "Free to Learn", will provide insights into the evolution of play and human instincts; and Deborah Leong, Director & Co-Founder of "Tools of the Mind", will explore the links between play and self-regulation, amongst many others.
Guests are invited to develop actionable models for play-based learning, debate and share new knowledge and research about the future of learning, and become part of a global collective aimed at elevating the critical role of play in everyday lives.
The 2014 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference program kicks off April 9th at 9:00am CET/3:00am EDT and can be joined live via stream at theideaconference.com/#/live-stream. Follow the discussion on Twitter at @LEGOFoundation#IdeaConf14 and on LinkedIn. A full list of speakers and agenda can be found here.