Don’t Be Ashamed: Adults Playing With Toys is Nothing New

Clearly an adult sitcom from 25 years ago is of zero interest to children, this set is for adults to either build and display, or play with, perhaps concocting elaborate alternate Seinfeld episodes in which, say, Jerry starts dating Itchy the homicidal cartoon mouse.

Or where Bossk, Dengar, and IG-88 all compete in a masturbation contest.

It’s not just that some LEGO products are tailored towards adults, it’s that a whole lot of LEGO’s customers seem to be actual adults, which is something the company is now actively courting. The company recently launched a new catalog specifically for adults under the banner “adults welcome.”

LEGO embracing the slogan of Hedonism II in order to satiate their more mature clientele may not seem all that surprising now, but, in retrospect, their attitude has shifted dramatically in recent years. In the early 2000s, adult LEGO fans were reportedly seen as “a source of irritation” by the company. And in 2013, LEGO made headlines after turning away a senior citizen and his adult daughter who had travelled 3 hours just to visit the Canadian Legoland Discovery Centre outside of Toronto. Despite the fact that this guest was a fan of the company who had spent his free time building LEGO sets while recuperating from heart surgery and a battle with cancer, the Legoland staff didn’t let him through the front door. Why? Because policy dictated that adults could not enter without a child in order to “protect the families and children that visit.” 

Seemingly in response to this incident, Legoland started holding some “Adult Only Nights” — which likely sounded way more debaucherous than they intended. But still, confusion persisted and there were yet more news stories of childless tourists being denied entry and left “embarrassed and humiliated” by the whole thing. So LEGO using the phrase “adults welcome” is a pretty big change considering that not that long ago it was more like: “adults are only welcome if they’re bringing along small children, otherwise stay the hell away, creeps.”