Lego Duplo Bricks

I used to enjoy playing with Lego as a child, and now that I have a little boy of my own, who's almost two and is getting into more constructive (as opposed to distructive!) play, I was quite excited to start him on Lego, only to find out that Lego is not recommended for under 5's. Then I found the perfect solution: Duplo!

Duplo is twice the size of Lego (twice the width, length and depth), but if you look at the overall volume, it's actually 8 times bigger, so safe for a young child to play with and the chunky bits are easier for them to handle as well. A 4-spot brick measures just over 1 inch square in size. Best of all, Duplo bricks are compatible with the regular sized Lego bricks, so you can build on your existing Duplo collection once your child is old enough to start using Legos.

I have only just started our Duplo collection, and if I would have any criticism it is that individual bricks are not available in a pick & mix format: you always have to buy a set. I started out by purchasing a tub of Duplos containing 140 basic bricks (product code: 5352) for £9.99 (originally £19.99) on sale from an online retailer and despite the additional £5.00 postage I found it was pretty good value. Good starting point but not enough bricks!

After looking around online and in regular shops, I've concluded that the best thing to do is to top up my collection from Ebay. There are hundreds of duplo listing at any given time on Ebay, mostly from people selling off their own collections and if you're lucky, you can grab a real bargain! And because Duplos are so well-made and durable, it doesn't really matter if they're used - they're just as good as new. They might be a bit grubby and less shiny, but it's very easy to clean them with warm, soapy water. The most expensive part of your Ebay purchases will probably be the postage, as these bricks are quite bulky. Do look around in the shops too, and compare prices. My feeling is that shops tend to sell the overpriced themed sets which include some figures, buildings or vehicles but not many bricks, which are the heart and soul of Duplo.

The most basic Duplo shapes are the 4-spot square and the 8-spot rectangular bricks. Bucket and tub collections contain mainly these two types of bricks. They might also contain one or two long, curved and sloped bricks, wheel-bases, doors, windows and other special bricks. If you need more of these unusual or special bricks, try Ebay, as otherwise they're not available separately. My own tub collection (5352), for example, included only one window (essential for building houses!), but I was able to purchase 12 used windows on Ebay for just 99p + postage.

Be warned though - duplos are quite addictive! The more you have the more you want! I'm not sure if at this point it is me or my little boy who wants them more. It's probably me!