This part is doubly illegitimate.

At least that is the verdict of a valued colleague, also a writer, which should not go unmentioned on this subject.

The subject of the omission: Lego launched a mechanical typewriter.

The unlego thing about it: It's once again a kit for adults, not a children's toy.

And it's, well, a typewriter.

No Porsche 911, no Empire State Building, no police station, Christ, not even a Death Star.

It's a writing instrument that has died out in cultural history.

That, actually perfectly clear, is probably bypassing the target group of the Danish brick empire.

Anna-Lena Niemann

Editor in business.

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If it weren't for this Zeitgeist thing. The old triumphs everywhere. And the old, it is suggested, is actually the real thing. Real music lovers are listening to vinyl records again, real coffee lovers are brewing by hand, and real authors first channel thoughts through their hands, whether with a pen or against the resistant touch of a mechanical key.

Lego is of course aware of this sweet nostalgia. You probably know about a clientele who want to smell books, hear records crackle and press keys. As a result, they gratefully accepted the design proposal from Lego fan Steve Guinness. Guinness tinkered with his first draft for two weeks. He got an old machine as a model for seven more designs before finally presenting his idea to the Danes. What the development team made of it in the end is an homage to the fifties in mint green. The portable typewriter from the Swiss company Paillard-Bolex, which bears the really enchanting name "Hermes Baby", was chosen as the model. She already had enthusiastic followers in her day, Ernest Hemingway, Frederike Mayröcker, John Steinbeck.Fine company - toys and bricks or not.

The roller jumps button by button from right to left

Every Lego kit begins with a pile of bricks. There are 2079 parts here for a proud 199 euros. Given this amount, they are packed in pre-sorted bags. The 259-page manual clearly guides you through the construction. But it starts with something that feels quite unromantic like assembly line work before it goes to the architecture of the body. The 32 levers that later allow the buttons to be pressed must first be assembled from tubes, cylinders, pins and unnamed special parts. That is to say, this model cannot write. It is and will remain a toy, and to that extent it is more of a typing machine in the cloak of a typewriter.The push of a button actually lets the moving roller jump from right to left bit by bit via a mechanism with ten gears and a relaxing spring. In contrast to the original, however, it does not matter whether a U or an X is pressed - there is only one type lever that strikes in the center.