LEGO revealed their new LEGO SMART System, which includes a brick, a mini figure, and a tag, is set to be released March 1. Only included in the Star Wars sets, the community has been split in their criticisms. 

The SMART System is basically a chip inside the LEGO brick or mini figure that lights up and makes sounds when put together. These sounds vary from car engines to swords clashing or different mini figures having different moods.  

Right now the LEGO SMART System is mainly being put into Star Wars sets, including Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter and Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing. The SMART System will be included on certain expansion sets (like the Millenium Falcon or Yoda’s Hut), but the SMART Brick, the key to the SMART System, will need to be purchased separately. 

LEGO claims they chose Star Wars because “kids don’t need an introduction to Star Wars” and that giving kids this start-up would be easier for them to get used to the new SMART System.

The community seems split, with mainly negative thoughts. The main thing being said is that the SMART Brick is going to kill imagination. Others are already complaining that the SMART System is making LEGO sets outrageously more expensive than they already are. 

Many big LEGO YouTubers are open about disliking the SMART Brick and the set’s prices, calling the idea dumb. JANGBRiCKS, a popular LEGO YouTuber, said, “I think the tech is fundamentally cool. The fact there is no app gets two thumbs up, the price gets at least one thumb down and maybe a thumb in a half. Sound quality, embarrassing. Design of the actual sets, embarrassing.”

Many other YouTubers say that the SMART System was made with kids in mind, not grown adults. 

“I think the idea is cool. I like the idea of the way that technology is evolving [with LEGO],” Highline student Kabira Prim said. “I know pretty much people of all ages build [LEGO sets] and play with legos.” 

This could be a decent decision by LEGO since the SMART Brick is just the same concept as the LEGO Mario sets, but added into newer licenses, meaning it’s technically not new. A con from this decision is how it is going to make LEGO sets more expensive than they already are, but it makes sense why. It would only be worse if the SMART System gets added to every set in the future.

There are also going to be sets without the SMART Brick that still include the SMART System with tags and mini-figures, but are still going to be expensive. It’s fair that LEGO wants to make a profit out of it, given the time and money invested.