I’m informed by Luis Pena, who’s trying to get Lego to adopt an HMS Beagle kit, complete with Darwin, Fitzroy, and other stuff, that he has taken my suggestion and added an opened-up cabin showing Darwin arranging his specimens. (There was previously only an open-up version of the splenetic Fitzroy’s cabin.)
Here’s the new addition from Pena’s Flickr page (sadly, Darwin would not have been examining a living finch as he shot stuff, but a dead bird might traumatize the kids!):
I was sad to hear that we boosted the votes only by 300 yesterday, and they need 10,000 to get Lego to even consider marketing the kit (they’re at 1399 now and have a year for the remaining 8600 votes).
Now you know I don’t ask you folks for much, so I beseech thee that if you want to spread the message of evolution to the children, get over to Pena’s page and vote for the Beagle. It takes only two minutes to register, and there are no strings. (Just hit the blue “support” button at the upper right.)
I tried yesterday but the drop down menus to enter my birthday wouldn’t work on my phone. I’ll give it a try on my computer when I get home tonight.
Registered and voted. S’easy!
I voted it up yesterday. I think the reason the voting is “slow” is that they make you jump through registration hoops in order to do so. So you need to be mildly committed to get through the hoops.
Exactly … and then there is the prospect of getting spammed by Lego forever.
You can always opt out of notices if any come, but I think there’s a box to check IF you want Lego notices.
Think of the children!
ImnsHdo, Think of the GIRLS!!!!
Legos is known for excluding girls from their most impressive sets.
I refuse to support this company in any way.
I agree with GB & Timothy. I went through the process disgruntledly and did vote, but it made me mad at Lego for so blatantly seeking customer data, which I don’t like spread across the internet.
Now voted … I have interweb access only at work these days! Leaves more time to do things like read 🙂
I confess I have never had any Lego. It was not that popular in the UK I think until the 1970s. My little brother had some.
I voted and linked to my Facebook page as well. I would really enjoy building this project and I might even share with the granbabies.
Voted-was a little unsure what the answers were to the cost and audience questions were, but otherwise very easy to vote. Neat to see that Darwin will take more of a leading role.
I voted. I would love to see lego produce an entire line of scientists and explorers, with different sized models. Think what they could do with Turring, Curie, and Edison and Apollo 11 and Shackleton. There is life beyond Harry Potter and Stat Wars.
Excellent idea.
There is a scientist series up for voting that includes Curie and Turing, plus a number of Apollo mission models and other space stuff. I spent some time yesterday looking around and voting for some of them after I voted for the Beagle.
Supported. Not too bad using Lego’s site, but it did take me a few minutes to figure out how to even get started. But, I’m a little slow this morning. Came down with a touch of the crud.
A little annoyed with that. Haven’t had so much as a cold in about 2 years, after years of getting something every other month once kids started going to school, and I was getting used to it.
I supported it and will buy if it comes out. Definitely a good edition to their sets, which are good, but the direction pieces like the Beagle could take Lego will help them in the long run.
I’ve voted…only because you asked, Jerry. As a father, uncle and grandfather, I’ve been a LEGO consumer for decades. I like LEGO, but I’m not sold on the large theme sets like this for kids. The beauty of legos is watching a little one making something out of an amorphous lump, sometimes another amorphous lump.
As far as teaching about evolution, my hypothesis is that parents are going to get the biggest lesson when they see the speed at which HMS Beagle evolves into a pirate ship.
I agree about theme sets of Legos. In this case, I assume the educational value would mostly come from parents interacting with kids about the subject, and from the parents themselves having reason to think and talk about it with kids. And from the marketing too, I suppose. In my own vast experience, once a “theme” set of Legos is built, it is finished, an admirable product of following the instructions. But the beauty of Legos as a toy, begins when the theme set is dismantled. Legos inspire creativity and imagination when one does not follow instructions. Legos and good old fashioned wooden blocks are wonderful toys.
I think the Lego character chosen has a bit more hair than CD had even in his mid-20’s on the Beagle. And he’s missing something:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxNDc3/z/26gAAMXQNo5TYmut/$_35.JPG
With all due respect to Jerry, I bet Richard Dawkins and his hordes of Twitter followers could really help out with the voting in almost no time.
I smell a contest…
Will vote tonight. Had to set up an account.
1) Everyone should have a gmail or the like reserved for these sorts of tasks. My real mail gets next to no spam.
2) I got to shed 30 years AND walk on the wild side with a gender reassignment when filling out the profile. Bonus. Doo, do doo, doo, do doo, do doo…
I changed gender too. 😀
It really only takes about three minutes to register, and you can opt out of any marketing from Lego – so let’s get this project up to the top of the table!
Voted last night.
Done!
Just voted. I have a nephew for whom this would be awesome….
b&
Seriously… there were NO women involved in the lives of these men that made supportive and inclusive contributions to be included?
I am no fan of the new “girl” stylized Lego sets myself.
These men represented in the HMS Beagle all had at least their mother in their lives.
None of their mothers inspired them?
Hey Ben Goren, do you have any nieces “for whom this would be awesome”?
Erm…no clue where this is coming from, but of my nephews and nieces, only one is of an age to be into Legos, and he happens to be into them in a big way. The others are either in their twenties or still in diapers — and the ones in diapers I’ve never met.
Am I somehow to be faulted for my siblings and cousins to have failed to produce a female child of the right age?
I’m not aware of any women who sailed on the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s wife and daughter were extremely important to him personally, but I’m not aware that they contributed at all to his scientific studies. Were this a toy, say, celebrating the work of Antoine Lavoisier, I could see upset at a failure to include Marie…but your feminist outrage seems misplaced with respect to this particular episode in history.
b&
As an authority by virtue of having raised both a boy and a girl in the age of Lego, I can say this much…
This would be an awesome set. I would have purchased this for either or them, or both, were it available at the time. Charles Darwin is an admirable figure in history for any gender of child. If it becomes available I may still get one for each of them despite their being adult millennials.
Indeed!
My daughter’s bf showcases his completed Lego sets in their apartment and they are quite frankly impressive and fun to admire.
I never grow tired of them.
So do my adult son & his girlfriend! He’s into the LOTR sets, she the Harry Potter.
(When I visit I think, how on earth does one dust all that?)
Dragoness, I agree with your main sentiment about females being generally under-represented, but I think adding one or more to this set would just look like the PC gesture it is.
From what you say about new “girl stylized” legos, I hope I never see any! Both my children (a boy & a girl) grew up before their advent, thank goodness.
Registered and voted.