What is your favorite DUPLO set?

legogal

LEGO has introduced over 429 sets according to Bricklink. AWESOME! 

Which one is your favorite DUPLO set?

Of course my favorite one is hard to find as it seems it was not sold in the US. Being a gardener, I am thrilled to own several lovely greenhouses in my Growing Garden (3088) collection. The flowers and plants are always changing inside the greenhouses and in the garden, which is surrounded by trees. I'm using it to pass on this tradition to my grandchild, who loves gardening. 

Russell844

My favorites were the Batman sets until they released the first winter set with Santa. :D

M1J0E

Our granddaughter’s favorite is Doc McStuffins so we have those 3 sets.  I want to add the new Santa set to our Christmas decor.  Overall though, I wish they did more sets like 10566 (picnic) & 6785 (cakes).  Both granddaughter & grandson like play kitchens & play food, so why not have sets like that where they can build their food & then use it for other play?

namekuji

OMG! I’m so saying Goozle

https://brickset.com/sets/3263-1/Goozle

Toc13

There's some favourite bits that get played with a lot- the crocodile from Pete Pan's Visit & an aeroplane that turned up from somewhere- but I'm going to go with the new Santa set (which is wrapped up & ready to go under the tree in a couple of weeks)

tsi

Hi,

I love the greenhouse-sets too. I even created a normal LEGO-Moc by using that one:



Greetings
ThomaS


Edit: Here you can see the front side of the building.

akunthita

I love the DUPLO Castle sets and have all of them. This is my more permanent shelf setup, but I would love to build a whole medieval town one day. You can see all the sets here: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Duplo/subtheme-Castle

bok2

My favourite Duplo set is by far “4785 Black Castle”. I have two, one boxed.

And what a box, it’s bigger by volume than the box for the original 10179 Falcon.

Duplo started out as baby stuff and grew more and more advanced.

Technically the epitome was with the  “Intelligent Train” system (e.g. 3325) from 2002 and theme-wise the epitome was with Castle from 2004-05 and 2008: a realistic design similar to System with angry warriors and lots of weapons.

The top-of-the-line was the 380 piece almost all-black Black Castle of gigantic size. With the bricks you could also build a tower almost 2 meters high.

Oh, those were the days!

Since then both Train and Duplo in general have returned to near-baby stuff.

M1J0E

While there have been later castles, there certainly hasn’t been anything like those duplo castles since!  I wonder why?  Is it owing to a younger target market for duplo, with few sales of larger sets?  Maybe it’s due to the decline of castle/pirate themes in general?  Or something else?  

Brixfan02

tsi said:

Hi,

I love the greenhouse-sets too. I even created a normal LEGO-Moc by using that one:



Greetings
ThomaS


Edit: Here you can see the front side of the building.

That moc is incredible! great job! 

legogal

tsi said:

Hi,

I love the greenhouse-sets too. I even created a normal LEGO-Moc by using that one:



Greetings
ThomaS


Edit: Here you can see the front side of the building.

What a brilliant use of the greenhouse! And a lovely creation. So much going on, and gorgeous flowers. You just raised the bar for incorporating the greenhouse. Thanks!

legogal

akunthita said:

I love the DUPLO Castle sets and have all of them. This is my more permanent shelf setup, but I would love to build a whole medieval town one day. You can see all the sets here: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Duplo/subtheme-Castle

This is even better the second or third time I look at it! I have never owned or played with the DUPLO castle sets, but if my second grandchild happens to be male, you are going to get some phone calls from me! And I am certain that my granddaughter would LOVE to play with this castle even if she remains a single child. Who wouldn't?

M1J0E

Agreed!  THat greenhouse just works perfectly with all this.  You never see Duplo incorporated into MOC’s, yet with this one, it looks like it completely belongs there.  

bookmum

As I have only just become a bit obsessed with Duplo I haven't got a favourite yet. I got the Santa set for myself for Christmas which I just love. The christmas tree in it is just brilliant. 

bookmum

I just looked on the main site at some of next years sets and I think I have found my favourite. My First Emotions. Brilliant and hilarious at the same time!! 

akunthita

bok2 said:

The top-of-the-line was the 380 piece almost all-black Black Castle of gigantic size. With the bricks you could also build a tower almost 2 meters high.

Oh, those were the days!

Since then both Train and Duplo in general have returned to near-baby stuff.

Yeah, the Black Castle tower alternate is insanely good! All the alternate models in those sets are awesome. I talked with the designer some years back, but he no longer works for LEGO. 

akunthita

legogal said:

This is even better the second or third time I look at it! I have never owned or played with the DUPLO castle sets, but if my second grandchild happens to be male, you are going to get some phone calls from me! And I am certain that my granddaughter would LOVE to play with this castle even if she remains a single child. Who wouldn't?

Yeah, I never get tired of DUPLO Castle either. There are just so many great details. It is super easy to build big and impressive castles with the included pieces. Like, no matter which way you put them together the castle will look awesome. And of course, you can also expand on them by adding more people, animals, houses, etc. Boy or girl, they will enjoy it.

Interestingly, I read that the line was discontinued because parents felt the colors were too dark and the DUPLO figures too scary for little kids. I actually do think that they weren't really appropriate for 3-year-olds, but for older kids who preferred to build big and impressive Castles fast, it was a great system.

LEGO wants to transition children from DUPLO to regular LEGO as early as possible, but there is no reason why DUPLO can't continue to grow with kids. DUPLO is awesome, and some kids prefer big pieces. PlayMobil is a testimony to this.

M1J0E

akunthita said:

legogal said:

This is even better the second or third time I look at it! I have never owned or played with the DUPLO castle sets, but if my second grandchild happens to be male, you are going to get some phone calls from me! And I am certain that my granddaughter would LOVE to play with this castle even if she remains a single child. Who wouldn't?

Yeah, I never get tired of DUPLO Castle either. There are just so many great details. It is super easy to build big and impressive castles with the included pieces. Like, no matter which way you put them together the castle will look awesome. And of course, you can also expand on them by adding more people, animals, houses, etc. Boy or girl, they will enjoy it.

Interestingly, I read that the line was discontinued because parents felt the colors were too dark and the DUPLO figures too scary for little kids. I actually do think that they weren't really appropriate for 3-year-olds, but for older kids who preferred to build big and impressive Castles fast, it was a great system.

LEGO wants to transition children from DUPLO to regular LEGO as early as possible, but there is no reason why DUPLO can't continue to grow with kids. DUPLO is awesome, and some kids prefer big pieces. PlayMobil is a testimony to this.

Parents/grandparents/whoever buying the sets for children as well are often part of the transition as well I think.  Who hasn’t looked at a 6yo playing with duplo, then next trip to the store bought them a set for ages 9-14, with the reasoning that my child is smart, they’ll be able to handle it.  

legogal

I agree that there is no reason to rush a child from DUPLO into regular LEGO (called System.) Especially when there are younger children who may choke on regular LEGO. Or grandparents who prefer DUPLO because it is much easier to build with and MUCH, MUCH easier to pick up off the living room floor every night.

My granddaughter can continue to build with DUPLO forever if she wants because I still will be playing with it in ten years because it is fun. I am giving her DUPLO, not LEGO, for the holidays this month because I prefer building with DUPLO and she still enjoys it very much.

Folks who have not built with DUPLO do not understand how easy and quick it is to build a decent sized structure and how this makes the pleasure that comes with it even better. It can take days or weeks to build with System, and still not be pleased with the outcome. With DUPLO, builders can end up happy in a short period of time if that is what they want. Or they can spend parts of several weeks and end up with a huge masterpiece. Either way it can be overwhelmingly FUN!

SirBen

#5609 Deluxe Train Set - I may have ‘accidentally’ purchased 2 of them 

Charmiefcb

The old Duplo houses. The ones with the sliding doors. Were great when I had mice growing up being able to seperate them by closing the doors if need be.

mak0137

#10559, since its a favorite of my daughter's and now my son's. They both love the dragon and so much so that 3 of the 5 bricks cracked, also I replaced them and they got hairline cracks as well (1x2x2 tower pieces developed cracks as well). Still if it gets put together and broken apart almost everyday for 4 years then that should be somewhat expected.

legogal

mak0137 said:

#10559, since its a favorite of my daughter's and now my son's. They both love the dragon and so much so that 3 of the 5 bricks cracked, also I replaced them and they got hairline cracks as well (1x2x2 tower pieces developed cracks as well). Still if it gets put together and broken apart almost everyday for 4 years then that should be somewhat expected.

Wow! Sounds like you got your moneys worth if it was used for 4 years! Duplo are just so much darn fun!

legogal

I build a wide variety of trees, bushes, flowers, etc., with DUPLO, and it always is fun. This requires not one set, but hundreds of pieces. It is a challenge to see how many different types of trees can be made of DUPLO. And then you can put flowers and animals in those trees, and you have a real forest. It is more fun doing this with DUPLO than with System because you can see enormous results very quickly, and who doesn't like that? And you can make those trees and plants in any color because they exist in real life somewhere and definitely in the imagination. Building a huge park with a pool, playground, greenhouses, garden, and lots of seating is a hoot. (Much easier than gardening on our steep hill, especially on a freezing day like today.) The more plants you build, the more plants you want to build because it is easy to come up with new DUPLO ideas. And building with DUPLO makes everyone smile. What are you waiting for? 

M1J0E

legogal said:

I build a wide variety of trees, bushes, flowers, etc., with DUPLO, and it always is fun. This requires not one set, but hundreds of pieces. It is a challenge to see how many different types of trees can be made of DUPLO. And then you can put flowers and animals in those trees, and you have a real forest. It is more fun doing this with DUPLO than with System because you can see enormous results very quickly, and who doesn't like that? And you can make those trees and plants in any color because they exist in real life somewhere and definitely in the imagination. Building a huge park with a pool, playground, greenhouses, garden, and lots of seating is a hoot. (Much easier than gardening on our steep hill, especially on a freezing day like today.) The more plants you build, the more plants you want to build because it is easy to come up with new DUPLO ideas. And building with DUPLO makes everyone smile. What are you waiting for? 

Do you have any pics you’re willing to share?  Sounds like some great MOC work!

legogal

I do have some photos of DUPLO builds and will try to post a few. (My batting average is quite low when it comes to posting photos.)