> I have noticed that the self-directed part has been deemphasized in favor of selling to adults (with more money than they'd spend on plastic toys for kids),

LEGO has over 500 sets available every year. It's a crazy number, coming from someone who grew up reading every LEGO catalog I could find.

You're probably only seeing those few flagship sets because they get advertised and shared on social media. There are literally hundreds of small sets out there now.

For the adults here, the number of LEGO sets available to us as kids was a fraction of what's available today. The number of sets out there is staggering.

On the plus side, there are so many sets that it's now easier to find sales. As a kid saving up money it felt like sales never happened. Now I grab small sets on sale for 30-40% off all the time to keep as easy gifts or for my own kids.