Children’s Building Toys: Mega Bloks Vs. Lego Quatro

As a stay at home father, I have to get into my kids’ toys and help them to use their imaginations. This means that I want them to play with cool stuff and I want to play with cool stuff too.

About two years ago, my daughter received a bucket of Lego Quatros. It is a large tub with 75 pieces and a green lid that doubles as a base-a poorly functioning base since it is a bit concave and therefore difficult to get pieces onto, but a base nonetheless. Lego Quatros are great. They are large and come in a variety of shapes.

The best aspect of them is their height. They are all uniform, which is something I necessarily wouldn’t have thought much about, but my son just received his first set of Mega Bloks. Let me say that both companies are producing quality items, but Mega Bloks come in a variety of shapes and heights.

Mega Bloks with their differing heights are a great idea for some more sophisticated building projects. But for children under three (both my kids), it can make for some frustrating constructions. The Legos with their uniform height are simply easier to work with. You can build up and connect pieces easily without having to sort through different sizes, something not possible for smaller children.

As a quick aside, let me add that there is something of a Quatro starter set available. It is a few pieces and isn’t meant to build much. I think it just tries to teach a child that things can go together and come apart. I certainly wouldn’t waste my time. A zillion toys could substitute for something as banal as that set.

So the major difference I would highlight about the products is their age appropriateness. Any aged kid can play with and have fun with Mega Bloks. The younger kids will simply be able to figure out more to do with the Lego Quatros and therefore have more fun. Don’t misunderstand me; I recognize that one of the favored games of most kids is merely the act of taking things out of a container and putting them back in. Height differentiation clearly doesn’t matter for this game.

However, when building actually takes place with the younger kids, Lego Quatros are the way to go. Now here is the kicker: If you are convinced, you need to stop reading and quickly start searching your local stores for them. If you don’t have kids yet, then stick them in your closet for a few years.

I went online last night to find the tub for my niece. I thought it strange that they weren’t being carried at Toys R Us (where our tub was purchased) or at Amazon.com. So I called up Lego and learned some disconcerting news. The Lego Quatros are no longer being produced for the United States.

But there is still hope. The very nice lady at Lego informed me about the possible availability at WalMart, Target, and Toys R Us. The tubs of Legos may or may not still be in stock at individual stores. If you want the Lego Quatro, you’re going to have to do a little calling around-and do it quickly.

Why go ahead and buy a discontinued item? Because the different Lego sets are compatible with one another. This is a very nice attribute of the Lego system. There is the standard building block size, the Duplo sets which are twice the size of the standard, and the Quatro which are four times the size of the standard. They all can function together. Great thinking on Lego’s part.

Be warned, the Legos are a bit more expensive than the Mega Bloks. I often take price into consideration, but I would still argue that the Legos are worth the little extra money. Part of the reason is selection. The whole compatibility issue means a great deal when you see the variety of sets offered by Lego as compared to Mega Bloks. Search the Toys R Us site and see.

Let me sum up a bit. The Quatros are more versatile than the Mega Blokks for the younger kids. But add the Duplos to the Quatros when your child gets a little older, and you give your child the ability to build with greater sophistication. That seems to be what the Mega Bloks try to offer from the get go. I simply would disagree that they are as successful for the first few years.