A New Way to Play – BrickStix!

To say my house is full of Lego bricks would be an understatement. Having collected endless sets on every holiday and birthday for almost twenty years, multiplied by four children, it all adds up to a mountain of colorful bricks. My kids have created just about every kind of structure you can imagine, from things that fly to an exact (scaled down) replica of our local Wal-Mart. Sometimes all that building results in something similar to writer’s block. Maybe you could call it “builder’s block.”

It was with great pleasure that I was recently introduced to a product that opened up my kids’ imagination again. They are called BrickStix and they work with any brand of plastic building brick. They aren’t stickers, which is why they’re so smart. They’re vinyl clings, and can be repositioned as many times as you want. Today that red square creation is a billboard, tomorrow it’s a burning building, complete with flames licking at the windows.

Having three sons myself, it only caused my enthusiasm for this product to grow when I found out it was created by a boy about my youngest son’s age. Nine- year-old Greyson got tired of not having details on his Lego creations, yet didn’t like how using real stickers left “ick on his bricks.” Peeling a vinyl cling price tag off a pair of sunglasses made the magic light bulb go off in his head. Why couldn’t you have stickers for Lego bricks made out of the same material, which would make them reusable and easy to remove?

With some help from his supportive family, not long afterward the company BrickStix was born. The product quickly went on to win several new inventors awards, including the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award and the Dr. Toy Best Pick Award. Just weeks ago Greyson and his BrickStix won the TAGIE Award for Young Inventor of the Year. For those of you not in the business, it’s basically the equivalent of the Oscars in the Toy Industry.

Soon Conan O’Brien’s people were knocking on the door.

Just last month Greyson sat on the couch and told his story to the red-headed talk show host. You can see the interview on the Team Coco website. To commemorate the occasion, Greyson himself made a short video with his BrickStix product.

The samples that we received were fascinating to more than just my 11-year-old. His older brothers quickly caught the building bug, especially when they saw the packet that contains zombie details. Turn your boring ole minifig into a gory zombie and let the fun begin! Their dad was just as intrigued by the WWII set, that allowed him to build an army and customize his vehicles.

As they created their first Brickstix prototypes, Greyson and his family realized there were two types of builders – those who like to build then play with their creations for a long time and those who like to build, play, then tear apart on a regular basis. So there are two types of Brickstix, ModStickers and BrickStix. Mod Stickers are for the first type of builder. They have an adhesive, but won’t leave ick on your brick — meaning no residue left behind. So when you decide to build something new, Mod stickers come off clean. The Mod line includes the Zombie themed pack and the WWII pack.

The Brickstix Clings work best for builders who change their mind a lot. They work using static. They have no adhesive on the back, similar to a window cling. They can be used over and over and can be washed if they get dirty. These come in many versatile themes (with new designs coming out next year), including Space, Shops, Metro, Transport, and Splats (which is a great assortment of “messes!”).

Another thing I love about this product is the price. I’ve already bought several sets for Lego-loving nephews and nieces, and having a few extra sets in the birthday gift stash will come in handy as birthday party invitations start dribbling in.  Because the BrickStix are just six bucks for each two sheet set, I can afford to include a small Lego set in the gift box too.

You can purchase any of the BrickStix products on their website and through major retailers like Amazon.com.

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