Ruined seems like very strong phrasing when nothing important has been ruined.

They sell new Lego sets in stores every day. They might seem expensive for a few bags of plastic bits and some instructions, but then: They've never been cheap.

A kid can still grow up playing with Lego today, just as they've always been able to.

I still remember building my first new Lego widget. Set 918. It was just a small basic spaceship and no real accessories but a little Lego space dude. I'd already scattered the pieces around and stuck them together in strange ways when I noticed that there was an instruction book so I could assemble it the "right" way. That may have been the first instruction book I'd ever followed; I remember the sense of wonderment as I learned the value of it. That model didn't last long before I tore it apart and went back to sticking the pieces together in strange ways. :)

Anyway, it seems like it would have been about $6.50 back then, or about $31 in today's money.

That's not so different from today's prices -- in fact, it looks things may have actually gotten a bit less expensive since then for a given amount of complexity.

That's not ruination; it's the opposite of it. The kids are fine. Lego is fine.

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I do see that someone on eBay that someone hopes to get over $2,000 for a new, sealed copy of set 918. That's a about sixteen more fuckton more than $31.

And I can't justify spending that kind of money on some Lego.

But I don't have to spend that kind of money. If I have a Lego itch that I want to scratch, then I'm a grown-ass adult. I can just go to the store or some online seller or whatever, and buy a new set that I like, and put it together.

I don't need to spend $2k to pretend relive a part of my childhood. I already experienced it once, and I remember that part very fondly.

Nothing here is ruined.

They ruined Pokemon too, not that it was any good to begin with but these scalping chuds took it subterranean.

and Disney

Star Wars LEGO seems to be the worst. I went to the Bellevue, WA store a few years ago before Christmas. I have no interest in SW or SW LEGO (I'm much more into the Architecture series).

I was walking around though, and an associate came up to me and pointed out that the Death Star (IIRC) was about to stop being sold so if I wanted one I should grab it... "... and that we have several of it, so if you want allll of them."

I despise scalping, though, but perhaps I should.