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Ah, fidget spinners. Following in the same steps as POGs, Pokemon Cards, snap bracelets, Neopets, Silly Bandz, Furbies, Rainbow Looms, Beanie Babies, and countless blind bags as the latest toy fad that serves little/no purpose and becomes dated very quickly, yet everyone and their dog and their dog's chew toy* wants a dozen of them.
*Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if dog chew toys become the next fad.
Look, here's one I have right now! And it's in the shape of one of Batman's batarangs! ...It's a super cheap, barely functional version I got for my sister for her birthday for a cosplay, but I guess I can still say I jumped on the bandwagon. ...Besides, I'm not paying $8 for a glorified spinning top. I'll wait until the fad dies, go to my local thrift store, and buy brand new spinner overstock for a quarter apiece. ...If I still care about it then, which I probably won't.
It's interesting how fidget spinners have apparently been around for years, yet they've only just this year become a "thing." I've heard that they serve more use than other "things" as they're claimed to aid with reflexes, focusing, stress, and even autism and ADHD, but I'll just wait for some written evidence of said positives. Some clay or a Chinese finger trap would probably serve the same purpose.
And just like other "things", the craze seems to be dying out and we'll all go back to planking or twerking or having our presidents say incredibly stupid, bigoted things on Twitter or whatever we were doing before. ...Or more likely, we'll find something else to go gaga over and buy at hideously overinflated prices and then wonder why three months down the road... We can only hope!
Still, I'm not one to willingly skip out on cashing in on a fad, so while it still contains a grain of relevancy, let's take a look at a bunch of brick fidget spinners I've gathered! And since I doubt anyone would be interested in reading about these spinners even a year from now, I'm going to look at them ALL!
...Well ok, I'm going to split them up into their own separate posts and talk about each line individually, both so it will be much easier for people to locate the reviews... And so I can earn a bit more money off ad revenue. ...I gotta eat, you know... Still, it would be time consuming for me and annoying for everyone else if I made a separate video for each, so I'll just include everything in the construction video. And while I'll also make a video of me showing each of them off, it won't be a Brick Miser skit, since there aren't enough hours in the month to make a stop motion animation featuring each one and somehow make it interesting.
BM gets a vacation this week.
Alright, I've just been informed that I've exceeded my sarcastic cynicism quota for the week, so let's move swiftly on to our first item of interest(and the only "official" fidget spinner set): The Lego fidget spinner!
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Name: Lego Fidget Spinner
Distributor: Lego
Model: N/A
Pcs: 19
Yes, back in May, when the craze was just starting to get off the ground, Lego threw their hat in the ring and printed their own official instructions for creating brick fidget spinners, with not just one, but TWO ways to develop your own spinning toy!
Heck, why stop there? Lego has since given us three other ways to build fidget spinners using their more advanced Technic pieces, so if you ever find yourself with a box of Lego you bought at a yard sale that only has half the pieces in it*, now you can put them all to use!
*Guilty
Though technically, and this is something I probably should have pointed out earlier, I don't know if I can even classify these as fidget spinners. As suggested by the very name "fidget spinner"(and as I briefly demonstrate here with the batarang), the spinners spin through a combination of ball bearings and inertia, which allow them to spin for long periods of time and fight against the friction caused by shifting them around that eventually slows them down. Obviously, brick models can't implement ball bearings into their bricks(unless it's some tricked-out custom job), so they don't operate on the same principles as the fidget spinners we're accustomed to. So I guess they're less "fidget spinners" and more "spinny things."
For that reason, it's really not that hard to make your own brick spinner. All you need is something that can spin and a brick on top or underneath it. Heck, here's one I LITERALLY built with bricks I found scattered around my room!
And despite the cynicism I displayed earlier toward these, I admit that spinning this thing is a really good stress reliever and gives my hands something to do when I just want to do something monotonous and calm down from work. ...I don't think it's going to cure my Asperger's anytime soon, but it's a fun little time waster.
But we're off track, since we're talking about Lego's fidget spinner, not mine. I went with the second variation, mostly because I had to buy this off of eBay due to not having the right parts to build my own and this was the only one I found actively being produced.
I prefer the first one with the spinning platforms as opposed to the stick in the middle, but I don't have the pieces needed to alter it, so I'm working with what I can here.
So let's put this thing together(as well as all the others in one fell swoop), and see just how a spinning Lego brick compares to a regular fidget spinner.
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Here's the official Lego spinner! And, as to be expected from Lego, it has a really good design and a great choice of parts to maximize its spinning potential.
There's a very slick and almost cosmic design to this one, smooth and sleek like something from the 90s.
Comparisons could be made to the Sega Genesis console shell, which gives it a "cool" edge, like sunglasses or one of those Midnight Nissans*, just something you'd want to pick up for a shade of "mystery."
*Advertising dollars please!
The white underneath serves as a great accent to the sleek black body*, making it stand out more and keeping it from blending into the black background I use for these reviews.
*See? I can direct porn just as well as the next guy!
But how does it spin? VERY well! When I tried it out, it was not only able to spin for several seconds, but I could fidget it around with minimal friction and slowdown.
I credit it to how sleek the body is, as well as the hollow "rocket tubes" on the sides, letting air pass through and over and cutting air resistance as much as it can while still having a solid body.
Speaking of which, the design is very solid, staying together even as you spin it as fast as possible. It helps that this is high Lego brick quality and the spinning portions are secured by two studs on the top and bottom, so there's no risk of them sliding off.
However, the nubs on either side can be a little hard to hold onto, especially if you have relatively large hands as I do.When I was trying this out, it continually slipped between my fingers, with very little friction between the surfaces of the nubs and my skin. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to get the other model, but whatcha gonna do?
Still, for a fidget spinner made entirely out of bricks that are meant to be taken apart and aren't usually associated with wind resistance, this is a solidly put together and versatile example. A+ Lego! Let's hope other sets can make something resembling your quality.
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Quality: Hopefully you know my stance on Lego quality at this point(unless this is the first review of mine you've some across, in which case, WELCOME and please stick around!) It's the sturdy, custom, nice-feeling stuff I hold everything else to. No complaints.
Design: The design is very fitting for a fidget spinner. There's something to spin it in the middle, the outside "tubes" are hollow and allow for air flow, and it's very sleek and wind resistant. The nubs in the middle are a little too small for larger hands and I wish I had the other version to compare, but for a fidget spinner made out of standard parts, you can't do much better than this.
Creativity: It's very sleek and almost solid black, but I feel that it was designed mainly for practicality and any "coolness" points are just a side bonus. I do like the contrasting white and black bricks to keep it from just appearing as a solid black mass, but there's not much in the way of actual creativity here. It needed some stickers or various colors or something to make it more appealing. Still, I guess if actual fidget spinners are mostly just a hunk of plastic, there was no real reason to spruce it up.
Readability: Again, Lego. Good quality and easy to follow.
Packaging: None.
Compatibility: It's Lego
Overall:
This is a very solid fidget spinner that almost perfectly mimics a real one. It needs some sort of painted design to make it stand out and more appealing, but as is, it's a fun toy and a good way to build your own fidget spinner rather than going out and buying one. ...Provided you have the pieces on you already...
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