Lego Brick Separator?!? What?

One of those “You know you’re old when…” moments

I’m the mother of a toddler. I’m also the daughter of an engineer, and the wife of an(other) engineer. Put this together and what have you got? Someone who shops for Duplos.

Duplos, as you probably know, are Legos for the preschool set. They’re bigger, chunkier versions of the same bricks we’ve all grown up with, and they hurt just as much when you step on them barefooted. And for me, they provoke the same addictive frenzy: As soon as you buy one set, you’re scoping out your future purchases.

I was at the Lego shop over the weekend, agonizing over which box to buy. I had an Extremely Helpful Saleswoman who was able to point out the pros and cons of each collection in great detail. So when I finally made it to the checkout, I thought I was completely satisfied. But that’s when I saw the Lego Brick Separator:

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I would have killed for this tool when I was, say, eight years old. How many times did I scrape up my fingertips while trying to pry those thin bricks apart? How many times did I mess up the bricks with bite marks when I resorted to using my teeth? I told Extremely Helpful Saleswoman how much I envied this tool, how much I would have loved it when I was a kid. I almost wanted to buy one now, just to make up for lost time.

And that’s when Extremely Helpful Saleswoman told me that the Lego Brick Separator has been included in every set for at least the past twenty-five years.

Ouch.

12 thoughts on “Lego Brick Separator?!? What?

  • 1/28/2008 at 1:17 pm
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    I don’t know where she gets off saying that the separator was included in sets. I had to order mine direct from Lego.

    I think I had it by the time I was 11.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 1:26 pm
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    Yeah I had to buy mine separately as well, it didn’t come with any kits that I bought

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  • 1/28/2008 at 1:35 pm
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    She’s so wrong, I never had one of those come with any lego set i got.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 1:50 pm
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    Let’s go find Helpful Saleswoman and tell her how wrong she is!!

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  • 1/28/2008 at 2:15 pm
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    As a Lego fanatic when I was a child, I can honestly say I didn’t even know this existed until now. And torn skin around my nails would attest to that. As reprisal against this injustice and to maintain their Danish pride, I demand one of these separators from either Lego Inc. or the helpful saleswomen for my pain and suffering.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 2:26 pm
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    Yeah, that never came with sets and I had a ton as a kid!

    All of my bricks had toothmarks.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 2:31 pm
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    I bet my parents still have mine. Maybe I can get them to send me a picture of it.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 3:06 pm
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    I have like 2 at home, but yes, they never came with kits.

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  • 1/28/2008 at 3:35 pm
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    They did not come with all kits but some of the bigger ones like large Technic sets and the educational sets (DACTA and Mindstorms) have them. I don’t think they have been around for 25 years but for a while at least… Maybe like 20… or more…

    I’m old

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  • 1/28/2008 at 5:26 pm
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    I add my fingers and teeth to the pile. I never had one of these seperators, and I rue its exsitance. This is the reason kids have no work ethic anymore. Stupid tools to seperate their legos. Make everything way to easy for these kids.

    I still prefer erector sets to legos.

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  • 1/29/2008 at 5:08 pm
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    I was a fat kid, and was I the only one who actually ENJOYED chewing on my Legos to get them apart? I think not…

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