>>8026554Just a personal opinion but to me those boxes are really good entry-level kits, especially for kids past the Duplo age. My very first Lego was pic related (545) and I credit it immensely with the passion for MOCs I have today. The booklet included instructions for a simple airplane that I got hooked on, partly due to having seen The Battle of Midway for the first time not long after. Had a nice little fleet of aircraft based on that one design, with considerable variation as I tinkered with differences between torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighters. When I started getting themed sets like Ice Planet 2002, Pirates and Castle, there was very little straying from their intended builds, not until I "outgrew" everything for a while and it all got broken apart and mixed together. Eventually I rebuilt some of those sets; they aren't strictly the same as originally designed, but the overall layout is there.
Getting back to the subject of the bricks boxes, I look at them today in store and just never feel like they're much use to me, even at deep discount. I've already had my early tinkering and development phase, which has gradually brought me to my preferred MOC themes. Through yard sale finds, Bricklink, PaB cups and the odd set I'm not hurting for parts, and desu I find these newer boxes are a little too colorful, particularly compared to my old 545.
tl;dr it depends on where you're at with Lego I guess. Apologies for the rambling blogpost, and again this is just my own experience (did get a couple small bricks boxes once since they were on clearance and had some more unique and interesting parts than usual).
