This Lego tool is amazing!

First off, semi-related, but if you’re doubtful about having kids or thinking they seem like too much hassle, which sometimes they are, just remember that there’s an age when they get Lego!

We have loads now (top tip: buy random bags of it on eBay which is cheaper and way more fun), and not only are there more pieces than when we were younger (assuming you’re roughly older than 30 if you’re reading this) but there are also these amazing tools: 

Curious? I was too, thinking it was an odd building brick at first, but it’s actually a tool for helping you dismantle stuck-together pieces, the sort that your nails get hurt trying to pick at, and that you’re told not to take apart with your teeth because it’s a choking hazard (and because no one wants to build with bricks with bite marks). 

It’s the kind of innovation that always amazes me, in that, ‘how did they not invent this 40 or 50 years ago’ kind of way. Makes you excited to imagine what other innovations are lurking in decades old industries and sectors. 

All this said, there’s a tiny flip side, in that I still impatiently use my teeth when building with the kids… Bad dad, yes, setting a poor example, but while the tool is brilliant and far smarter than using your teeth, it’s not quite as fast. Maybe that’s a product of having grown up using my teeth. Or just a sign that I’m still too impatient and overexcited about playing with Lego. Either way, it’s a clever tool. 

Just did a search and found on the Lego history Wikipedia page that the first version came out in 1989. 

Also, it’s Lego. Never, ever Legos.