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Magnetic Blocks Make Building Art Easy

Don't worry, LEGO, they'll probably still suck to step on

By Kat Bauman - May 11, 2017

in Toy | Product Design | Crowdfunding

Does making snappy construction blocks lo-fi give them an advantage? The hecka successful Pixio Magnetic Blocks over on Kickstarter think an easier connection might make blocky creativity even better.

The blocks' design hinges on cubes of ABS plastic, each face fitted with four neodymium magnets (N52), arranged to make assembly as easy as putting a magnet on your fridge.

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At first glance, the Pixio project seems too pared down to offer obvious benefit over familiar block brands, but like pixel art itself, there are unexpected charms to the clunky shapes. The range of colors and small size (8mm dia.) make them good for figurative and artistic work where other blocks falter.

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The team is also putting together a cool app for design recipes and how-tos, with exploded diagrams that are incredibly satisfying to look at even without fun haptic toys in hand.

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Not into nostalgic art for its own sake? Same here, so I got a bit more interested when they spelled out all the other uses that set a magnetic set apart. Use as magnets is a visual update on fridge poetry or a 3D way to personalize office equipment. The possibilities for animation and other minimal character design are open.

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The kid appeal is also real. While creative games like Minecraft support spacial thinking in players of all ages, getting time for hands-on tinkering is crucial for young brains. These might increase the choking hazard, but you shouldn't leave your baby near your block bin now either.

Even if you have few block based interests, Pixio's success is a nice reminder that stripping out functionality is sometimes good—or just a good way to reconsider what your product really does.

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ThirtySomething Nerd

7 years ago

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Comparing your product to LEGO seems a bad idea initially, because LEGO bricks are produced in a single injection mold using only ABS plastic.

Having multiple parts in your production means there are that many more ways for the design to need tweaks and corrections.

Also, this feels rather misleading, as the designers talk to the camera as animated voxel models. This seems disingenuous, as the models produced from these sets will likely have a weakness in one or two axis of connection, as the magnets will have to be fairly simple in order to keep down cost. This is more likely a desk toy to be put on display, not for active play.

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- ThirtySomething Nerd
  
  ThirtySomething Nerd
  
  7 years ago
  
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  "six super strong magnets"
  
  I was wrong. Stronger connection, but higher unit cost and complexity.
  
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  - Jamie Bresner
    
    ThirtySomething Nerd
    
    a year ago
    
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    Any idea what type of plastic they use?
    
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Marc B

7 years ago

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good thing they waited till obama was out office, or they might have suffered the same regulatory fate as buckyballs, which had similar square magnets - but cpsc shut them down.

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- Eric Ludlum
  
  Marc B
  
  7 years ago
  
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- Max Z
  
  Marc B
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Really? I didn't know that the president sat on the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  
  Strong neodymium magnets that are swallowed are really harmful. When they get to the intestines they may stick together on either sides of intestinal walls and might have to be surgically removed or in extreme cases lead to death.
  
  So any toys with strong magents inside and small enough for kids to eat should at least come with the appropriate warning labels so that parents know to keep them away or be played with under supervision. Because it doesn't seem to be common knowledge that magnets and intestines don't mix.
  
  As for the comparison to Lego? Well, if you just want to build static voxel sculptures, sure, but then you are comparing Pixio Magnetic Blocks with the Lego of the '70s, not the Lego of today (and even they had wheels and figures). So more complex/non-compact models are out.
  
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