I understand and agree with your sentiment, but just don't buy the uni-tasker type lego. They make plenty of sets where most if not all of the parts are general and can be used for undirected play.
You can repurpose a lot of the space and themed bits, and some of them are truly wonderful, the ones which functionally allow bump-to-bump placement.
And for lego fanatics you can buy specified unit-sizes in specified colours, so there is that.
We got a lot of themed play stuff, fences, trees, animals. I do recognize how much kids love themed play too.
Back in the 60s/70s I had the trainset, which included a "one noise forward two noise stop three noise backward" controller. There were two or more generations of the train motor: the one with rubber anti-slip on the wheels and the one without. depending on how much you enjoy crashes, either were useful...
And for lego fanatics you can buy specified unit-sizes in specified colours, so there is that.
We got a lot of themed play stuff, fences, trees, animals. I do recognize how much kids love themed play too.
Back in the 60s/70s I had the trainset, which included a "one noise forward two noise stop three noise backward" controller. There were two or more generations of the train motor: the one with rubber anti-slip on the wheels and the one without. depending on how much you enjoy crashes, either were useful...