title: Angular resolution of NXT motor

text:
# Question
Title: Angular resolution of NXT motor
I am sure that I read somewhere that the resolution of the motor sensor was 2 degrees, but I can find no mention of this in the NXT Help file. What's more, the motor control block allows the Duration to be set to an odd number of degrees. Can anyone please clarify this for me?

# Answer
> 1 votes
I found the resolution of the EV3 motors by attaching a 90° connection to the motor, and a long axle with a pointer at the end so I could see changes in small angles. By running a loop a large number of times with settings of 360°, then with 360.5°, then 360.75°, and watching for when the changes trigger actual accumulation of ending point, I found that there was no difference between a rotation of 360° and 360.75°, but at 361° the difference appeared.

I'll try the same setup with an NXT motor and let you know the results.

So it's like a step function with an interval of 1°.

I have building instructions and the program that I'll but on Rebrickable sometime this week.

Hope this helps.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I found a partial answer myself in the Mindstorm Education NXT User Guide, page 31.

It says the rotation sensor has an accuracy of +/- 1 degree. Not quite the same thing, but good enough to work with. If it turns out that I don't get the results I'm looking for, I will have to use some gear wheels.

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Tags: mindstorms, nxt, nxt-g, motor
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# Question
Title: Is there any way to buy specific duplo blocks from Lego (pick-a-brick style and/or in bulk)?
Background: I've gotten into Duplo blocks for building unique and constantly evolving creations for my sugar gliders to play with. Part of owning gliders is accepting that they'll inevitably use their toys as toilets, and with building blocks that means pee is going to end up in the crevices between blocks. This necessitates completely disassembling my creations at least 1-2x a week, thoroughly washing/sanitizing all the blocks and starting over from scratch. Between that and the size of adult gliders (approx 6'' body + 5-6'' tail), I just can't commit to the tedium that would be involved in using regular Legos - Duplo blocks fit my needs infinitely better.

I've managed to amass a fairly impressive collection of Duplo blocks by scouring e-bay for good deals, but this has led to me having an unpleasant ratio of 2x2s to everything else. I'd really love to be able to pick and choose extra of certain unusually-shaped duplo blocks and extra of the smallish baseplates (2x8 and 4x8 in particular) to use for roofs and such... even moreso, I'd love to be able to buy large amounts of specific bricks (I'd settle for 2x4 but would *love* extra 2x6 or 2x8 blocks).

Through browsing others' questions on this site yesterday, I learned of the "pick a brick" wall at Lego stores and the possibility of even being able to get cases of one specific brick through the stores. I got so excited over the potential solution to my issues that I suffered the ordeal of going to the mall (ugh!!) and dodged annoying underfoot children to get to the helpful salespeople in the back of the store... only to find out that the "pick a brick" wall is Lego only - no Duplo. Furthermore, they said they can't request specific cases (they can only sell what they happen to get) and the cases they get are never Duplo blocks. They also didn't sell any baseplates or baseplate-only packs containing anything smaller than 8x8 (5'' square) plates, at least not for Duplos.

Is there a way I've missed to buy specific and/or bulk Duplo bricks directly from Lego (or "unofficial" Lego sites)? Scouring Ebay only seems to produce large mixed lots or people who charge absurd prices for very small quantities of specific larger bricks.

As a note, my first attempt at buying building blocks to create toys for my gliders was a Mega Bloks purchase... and I'm sure anyone who's ever tried that brand knows *exactly* why I returned them to the store after 10-15 minutes of absurd frustration. While I'm a natural skeptic when it comes to name-brand loyalty, I'm 100% sold on Lego Duplos. If what I want isn't possible with Duplos, I'll be happy with that answer and continue making do with what I've got - I'm not willing to try another knock-off brand.

One other question regarding base-plates - I purchased two of the Green LEGO® DUPLO® Baseplates (Item: 2304, 15'' x 15'') and noticed they're made with a very thin plastic (like the large baseplates for the "normal" sized Legos) rather than the very thick plastic of smaller Duplo plates (like the 5'' square/5''x10'' rectangle plates). The thinner plastic immediately made me think of my dremel's cutting wheel... has anyone here tried cutting those into smaller sizes, and if so, did it work out ok? I've got no problem ghetto-rigging smaller plates to suit my needs if that's a viable option!

Edit: just to clarify, since I don't have enough reputation yet to comment on responses, I live in Houston, TX... are there still local groups I could look into? Also, the closest full-fledged Lego store here apologetically informed me that they couldn't actually order a specific case of anything, let alone Duplo blocks. I was also unable to find a way to order specific Duplo blocks from Lego.com (though I found lots of options for regular Legos)... have I overlooked something?

# Answer
> 9 votes
Very short and simple: http://www.bricklink.com Shiny!!

edit: Local group: TexLUG! There is texlug.org and a host of google groups (https://groups.google.com)

# Answer
> 7 votes
In addition to pick a brick, lego offers the service "bricks and pieces", which includes Duplo parts: https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/replacementparts This gives you new parts directly from lego.

However with roughly $1 per 2x4 brick, this option is quite expensive. The design number for 2x4 bricks is 3011.

# Answer
> 6 votes
If you haven't already look for a local Lego User's Group. There's one in Brisbane, plus Sydney and Melbourne. Even if you are not local it might be worth going into the city to meet up with them and join their email list, because there are people in those groups who regularly tour second hand shops and auctions. If they know you want cheap Duplo then when they find it they're likely to either buy it on your behalf or put you in touch with the seller.

BrickLink is the other obvious choice. You will rarely find exceptional deals, but you will easily be able to pick out the bricks you want. I suggest making a watch list with the larger bricks on it, and using the "show stores with the most items" link to sort it. Postage can be a killer in Australia, so you'll need to work out for each purchase how much the postage is and whether its worth while.

http://www.bricklink.com/browseList.asp?itemType=P&catString=417

In the USA and Europe the Lego shops sell parts to order, and often BrickLink sellers are just marking up what Lego sell them the parts for. So if you are buying new bricks it's worth finding one seller who is cheap and asking whether they can get you everything you want in one order.

Another, more difficult option, is to contact The Lego Group directly and see if you can buy a box of bricks. That will take a long time and a lot of effort, but they might eventually be willing to sponsor you.

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Tags: shopping, duplo
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# Question
Title: The center button does not work on EV3 brick
My son has the Lego Mindstorms EV3 brick. The brick turns on when he pushes the center button, but he can't use it in the menu. What's the problem?

# Answer
> 4 votes
It is somewhat common for the buttons on the EV3 to stop working. This is usually caused by the failure of the adhesive that holds the metal part of the button in place.

You can always contact LEGO customer support to see if they can help.

For the do-it-yourself person, it can be fixed fairly easily though. This is how I do it...

First, you will need to remove the cover from your EV3. This requires a Phillips screwdriver. Remove the 4 screws in the battery compartment and gently pull the top half of the plastic housing off.

The image below shows a couple buttons that I have already fixed and one button (the right button) where the adhesive has failed. You can see that the plastic covering is coming loose.

Use a sharp knife to cut away the plastic that has come loose. Since the adhesive is no longer sticky, it is not doing any good.

Use clear tape to fix the button back into place.

Then reassemble the EV3.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try to restart the brick by keeping the center button and the exit(return) button pressed at the same time for about 5 seconds.

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Tags: ev3, mindstorms
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# Question
Title: EV3 touch sensor specs relevant for a brick-built MOC
I want to integrate the following EV3 touch sensors (45507) into a MOC:

For aesthetic reasons, I want the MOC to be mainly built out of system bricks and plates, with only some internal stuff in Technic (basically just connectors and beams to hold the EV3 parts).

I'd like to know what offset in plate height or stud width I'm looking at when the button is pressed or not pressed.

Also I'd like to know how much weight there can be on the button before the EV3 will consider it pressed or bumped.

# Answer
Not sure how accurate my rig is, but I get something like 2 millimeters of travel before the touch sensor is "pressed". The HiTechnic Force sensor doesn't seem to give an accurate measurement, but according to my kitchen scales, it takes about 80g force (0.8N) to trigger the sensor.
> 2 votes

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Tags: ev3, piece-information
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# Question
Title: EV3 Unregulated Motor - different plus/minus power behavior
I'm helping some fellow Bay Area LEGO User Group builders who want to use an EV3 to power a 9V train. I'm using the NXT to 9V conversion cable (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=x1676) with the old 9V metal train track connectors (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=5306c01&C=0#T=C&C=0) and the Unregulated Motor (UM) block in EV3=G.

My first test was to have the train travel one second in one direction then one second in the opposite direction in an infinite loop. The results were fine with the train going in the direction that used a negative power in the UM block, but either no motion or shaky motion in the direction that used positive power values.

I tested the track with a multi-meter and verified that the power was only consistent and steady when using the negative power.

On this site I found an interesting answer describing what is probably happening: Using the unregulated motor block and conversion cable to light LEDs But that answer is only partly applicable -- I found that if I put a one second Wait block between power changes, then the power is consistent. But different!

So a power setting of +40% for one second moves the train one track segment, while a power setting of -40% for one second moves the train three track segments. It looks like I can generate a workable program, but I'm curious about why this behavior is happening, and if there will be other surprises.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The answer is basically the same as the LED question that you linked. On the EV3 output ports, pin 2 is internally connected to pin 6. So, when you tell a motor to go in reverse (negative power value), pin 2 is powered, which in turn raises the voltage on pin 6. Both pins 5 and 6 are used for automatically detecting when a motor is connected.

So, when you use a negative power setting, most of the time (but not 100% of the time), it it will trick the EV3 into thinking there is a motor connected and the motor will stay powered. However, when you use a positive power setting, pin 1 is powered instead of pin 2, so the EV3 thinks that there is no motor connected (because nothing happens to pin 5 or pin 6). So, in this case, the device connection manager in the EV3 software takes over and resets the motor port, which causes it to stop sending power to the motor.

I attached an oscilloscope to pins 1 and 2, to see what is going on.

As you can see, the output is only turned on for 380ms, then it turns itself off. The motor was instructed to run indefinitely, but in reality, this is not what happens.

Since your test involved running the motor for 1s but it really only runs for 380ms, one would expect the car to run 38% of the distance as in the reverse case. You observation was 33% (one track length vs. 3), so that is quite close to what is expected.

As a workaround, you can Use the Unregulated motor block in a loop like this...

It is important to use two different "power" values. Each time you change the value, it turns on the output port again. If you use the same value, the software won't update the motor port and the device connection manager will take over and turn off the output.

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Tags: mindstorms, trains, ev3-g, motor
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# Question
Title: What is this orange winged thing without studs?
It looks like some really old flying thing.

# Answer
> 8 votes
That piece is often used as a caterpillar track, or conveyor belt

It's hard to tell the colour in your photograph but it might be Medium Dark Flesh (a.k.a. medium nougat)

At the bottom of this page there are three sets which use this piece in that colour.

If you look carefully you should see the number "57518" shaped into the piece. Almost all Lego pieces have that a code on them that you can use to find them on sites like BrickSet or BrickLink.

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Tags: part-identification
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# Question
Title: What do the 'X' and 'K' codes mean for rubber bands?
I see that LEGO rubber bands/gaskets are often associated with a number preceded by an 'x,' such as 'x71' for the small/18 mm bands. A few bands also have a 'K' prefix, such as 'K4' for the large/30 mm units. This latter item is also known as and 'x89' rubber band.

I'd like to know what these prefixes mean and where they came from. Likewise, I'm curious what the actual numbers refer to.

# Answer
> 4 votes
The prefix 'x' means that the element design-ID used by LEGO is not known or was not known at the time it was entered into the Peeron database (www.Peeron.com). If a design-ID is known, the people who maintain Peeron use that to identify the piece. Otherwise you get 'x' with some number... This is indeed often the case with strings, rubber bands, gaskets as there is no room to print the design ID on the element.

I have no idea about your 'K' prefix, could you give a reference where 'x89' is refered to as K4 ?

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Tags: piece-information, rubber-bands
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title: Is there a rock wall generator?

text:
# Question
Title: Is there a rock wall generator?
In Lego store, and on many photos on the Internet, I've seen vertical "rocky" walls made of slopes and simple 2x1 bricks. For example this one.

Is there a software that would take wall length and generate a semi-random rocky-looking wall? Something similar to sphere generators we all know and love?

Designing such wall by hand in LDD is a time consuming and not really funny task, and I'd like to avoid it, if possible.

Note: I tried dropping models from Thingiverse to Brickify, but Brickify does not use slopes and there is problem with scale.

# Answer
> 8 votes
I was able to integrate this into a research project applying context free grammars:

This is not a polished software package, and the design is a bit esoteric given that I started with the goal of applying context free grammars to a practical problem. Hopefully there's something in there that may be useful to someone. :)

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Tags: software, design
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# Question
Title: Is there a good place to find upcoming LEGO conventions?
Is there a continually-updated site that tracks LEGO conventions/gatherings around the country (USA) or world? Ideally there'd be a way to filter them by date/type/location.

# Answer
There is the LEGO ambassadors network calendar:

https://lan.lego.com/calendar

This contains all events organized by RLUGS (LEGO communities recognized by LEGO), which are the largest events generally.

However, where I live, all sorts of communities and individuals organize events, it is quite a challenge to keep track of all of them.
> 2 votes

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Tags: events
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# Question
Title: What is the male:female ratio of gendered minifigures?
For many years now, Lego has provided more detail on the face and bodies of minifigures. One of the effects of this is that the usually visually gender-neutral minifigures of my childhood (with the rare exception of a sloped piece as a dress) have been replaced by clear male and female faces and body shapes.

But in packing away my Atlantis sets to make room for my wife's new Super Star Destroyer, I've noticed that there's only one woman. And yet, oceanography and marine biology have some of the highest ratios of female graduates and employees in scientific fields, approaching 50%.

So of all the minifigures who are gendered (either explicitly by Lego in character biographies, or via secondary sexual traits like facial hair, or via cultural traits like wearing a dress or lipstick), what's the ratio of male to female minifigures? How does it break down year-over-year, theme-by-theme, and by recommended age group?

(As you might guess, there's an ideological agenda behind this question, and yes it's inspired by the ridiculous new "Lego Friends" line of figures. But what I'm most interested in right now is hard facts.)

# Answer
I found this interesting comment by J on a blog post about LEGO female oriented sets.

> I did a count of male and female mini-figures by theme in the 2011 releases for which we have visual evidence. The modular house line always tends to be more balanced so there’s still potential there but the City theme is particularly bad this year. Here’s the results (aliens/creatures are excluded except where male-female differentiation exists:
>
> Alien Abduction: 9 male, 1 female
>
> Atlantis: 7 male, 1 female
>
> Castle: 15 male, 1 female
>
> City: 59 male, 5 female
>
> Collectible Mini-Figures: 37 male, 10 female (omit 1 alien)
>
> Creator: 2 male, 0 female
>
> Dacta: 33 male, 19 female
>
> Duplo: 16 male, 4 female
>
> Harry Potter: 20 male, 3 female
>
> Ninjago: 30 male, 3 female
>
> Pharaoh’s Quest: 9 male, 1 female
>
> Pirates of the Caribbean: 32 male, 4 female
>
> Star Wars: 43 male, 7 female
>
> Trains: 3 male, 0 female
>
> **TOTAL SYSTEM:** 299 male, 55 female
>
> **TOTAL DUPLO:** 16 male, 4 female
>
> **TOTAL:** 315 male, 59 female
>
> That’s greater than a 5:1 ratio and if you remove the Dacta and Collectible Mini-figure sets from the equation, you get a pathetic 8:1 ratio (245 male, 30 female). I’ll say it again. If Lego wants girls to take interest in their products, they should make a better effort to include figures through which girls can identify.

The survey only takes into account 374 minifigures of the last year. It would be interesting to compare this data to minifigures released, 10, 20 and 30 years back to see how the gender ratio has changed.

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## Collectable Minifigures Series 1-9 & Team GB

I've performed my own test, this time with Collectable Minifigures. (Feel free to correct me on any of the ambiguous minifigures.)

> Series 1: 10 male, 2 female, 4 ambiguous (Tribal Hunter, Circus Clown, Robot, Demolition Dummy)
>
> Series 2: 12 males, 3 females, 1 ambiguous (Mime)
>
> Series 3: 11 male, 3 female, 2 ambiguous (Mummy, Space Alien)
>
> Series 4: 13 male, 3 female
>
> Series 5: 11 male, 4 female, 1 ambiguous (Small Clown)
>
> Series 6: 9 male, 5 female, 2 ambiguous (Classic Alien, Clockwork Robot)
>
> Series 7: 11 male, 5 female
>
> Series 8: 10 male, 5 female, 1 ambiguous (Evil Robot)
>
> Series 9: 10 male, 5 female, 1 ambiguous (Battle Mech)
>
> Team GB: 6 male, 3 female
>
> **TOTAL:** 91 male, 30 female, 11 ambiguous
>
> The ratio can roughly be simplified as 9:3:1 (m/f/a)

**Download .CSV \[?\]**

## Collectable Minifigures REVISITED (December 2014)

All the genders of ambiguous minifigures have been confirmed using the gender pronouns used on the official LEGO Minifigure minisite character page.

> Series 1: 14 male, 2 female
>
> Series 2: 13 males, 3 females
>
> Series 3: 11 male, 3 female, 2 ambiguous (Mummy, Space Alien)
>
> Series 4: 13 male, 3 female
>
> Series 5: 12 male, 4 female
>
> Series 6: 11 male, 5 female
>
> Series 7: 11 male, 5 female
>
> Series 8: 10 male, 5 female, 1 ambiguous (Evil Robot)
>
> Series 9: 10 male, 5 female, 1 ambiguous (Battle Mech)
>
> Series 10: 11 male, 5 female
>
> Series 11: 10 male, 5 female, ambiguous (Evil Mech)
>
> Series 12: 11 male, 5 female
>
> Team GB: 6 male, 3 female
>
> The Simpsons: 13 male, 3 female
>
> The LEGO Movie: 10 male, 6 female
>
> **TOTAL:** 166 male, 22 female, 5 ambiguous

The share of unique female Collectable Minifigure from the main series have improved from 1/8 in Series 1 up to ~1/3 in Series 12. Collectable Minifigure that are not part of the standard series (Team GB, The Simpsons and The LEGO Movie) tend to vary.

**Download .CSV \[?\]**
> 24 votes

# Answer
My guess would be that only LEGO has the answer, and I'm sure they'd never tell. But for what it's worth, looking at the BrickLink.com stock, I came up with a ratio of 4:2:1 for male:neutral:female heads.

I looked at heads because I feel like many figs aren't so cut-and-dried with respect to gender (or could be considered both/either), while it's pretty clear with heads where you stand. This doesn't take into account multiple copies of the same fig in sets, but it does take into account older minifig designs, which had a tendency to be less gender specific.

Anyway, in case anyone's interested, here's a post with more details on my findings, including my sources and methods, as well as further musings on the gender-LEGO issue:
> 5 votes

# Answer
This ratio has improved significantly in recent years, moving from 10% female mini figures in 2011. In 2017, almost 40% of figures in the City and Creative Expert ranges display female traits.

While there are many female figures in LEGO Friends, If you don't count duplicate character names, there were around 38% male characters in 2017

A review of 2011-2016 can be found here A summary of 2017 can be found here
> 3 votes

# Answer
Based on this great info-graphic data, the male to female ratio is at **18:1**
> 1 votes

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Tags: minifigures, history
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# Question
Title: Help with Multiple Motors/Intelligent Bricks and coding/ programming/ daisy chaining
I have built the accompanying robot earlier in the week. I have a challenge where the robot needs to find white/black bricks then store them on a tray and then travel over to another robot and transfer the bricks from the tray. I am an absolute novice with coding and I'm not sure where to start.

I have access to multiple EV3/NXT units. I'm thinking I might need 3? Any Help on programming, advice, hints and tips would be greatly appreciated.

# Answer
Daisy chaining is straightforward. In your EV3 project, you click the little wrench in the topleft to open the project properties and enable the option "Daisy-chain mode" below the project picture. The EV3 bricks themselves need to be connected with the USB to mini-usb cables that are normally used to connect them to your computer. After enabling the modes, the port selectors in your blocks will have layers, first layer being the EV3-brick immediately connected to your computer. 2nd layer the EV3-brick connected to that EV3 and so on up to 4 layers (4 bricks).

However, for the project you are describing, perhaps you could do with less motors and one brick would suffice:

* grabbing and lifting can be done with one motor as is is for example done in the gripp3r standard model included with the software.
* The double articulation of your claw arm might also not be necessary
* Perhaps the arm does not need to be able to rotate if the vehicle itself is maneuverable enough
> 1 votes

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Tags: ev3, nxt, motor
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# Question
Title: Best way to match minifigs and tell what set they are from?
What is the best way to match minifig torsos, legs, heads? Is there a listing of all LEGO minifigures? I have a lot of minifigs with torsos and legs but have no idea which head goes with it.

Sometimes I can't even match torsos with legs :).

Is there an easy way to do this?

# Answer
> 4 votes
One way to do this would be to look through the Bricklink categories for minifig torso assemblies and minifig leg assemblies. There are a lot of them, but once you find the part you are looking for, you can then learn what set it came from which should lead you to a couple of complete minifigs (click the part id then click the "View" link under "This Part Appears In" on the right).

You could also search through the Minifig category on Bricklink.

You can go through those categories by year if you know approximately how old the parts that you have are.

If you get stuck on something, feel free to post the picture in a new question here. I'm sure that someone will recognize it. :)

# Answer
> 3 votes
Another useful tool is goatleg.com which allows you to select torso and face characteristics to identify a minifigure e.g. torso color and print. Face: glasses, facial hair, lipstick etc.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I almost left a comment like "why hasn't someone written an app for that?"

But then I googled and found there is an app for that (Android, iOS) and the folks who put it together have books and they developed a decent taxonomy for sifting minifigs. The app, lets you search by part and then find the minifigs that include that part. If you're not happy poking around BrickLink give this app a try.

I also tried the Minifigs Collector for LEGO® app. If your goal was to get all of the minifigs in the various Series, Simpsons, etc. this would be great. But it doesn't seem to let you search by parts and find which minifig that belongs to.

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Tags: minifigures, organisation
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title: Where is this piece in LDD?

text:
# Question
Title: Where is this piece in LDD?
I'm looking for a certain piece for building my set in LDD. I've already looked through the extend theme, but I can't find it. If anyone knows where to find it, it would be super cool.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I assume you are talking about Lego Digital Designer since you mention "extend theme". Also assuming the design ID is correct (6163991) according to your screenshot and also the brickset database, searching for it in LDD in the search bar with updated bricks database and indeed in extended mode does not produce any results. I think it safe to conclude that the element is not present in the LDD bricks database. This happens, perhaps this will be corrected in a following database update but those only happen very sporadically anymore. Could be that the design ID is incorrect, which could be figured out by using the "Replace parts" service of lego, but this service isn't available this time of the year.

# Answer
> 0 votes
This piece is available in the 4.3.11th version of LDD in 10th set category

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Tags: piece-information, ldd
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# Question
Title: Advanced LEGO set for my 5 yr 2 months old child
My Son is considerably talented in LEGO building. Till now, he has completed over 30 LEGO sets all by himself which includes this year completion sets - 42054, 42064, 42072, 42073, 31010, 3367 And 70625. His very first LEGO set was built when he was three years old - 40220.

Now looking for more challenging sets for him. Any suggestions?

# Answer
> 4 votes
As far as building experience, LEGO Technic sets are considered the most challenging. Looking at your list, it appears that your son already built some pretty large LEGO Technic sets, so if he enjoys the challenge, you can purchase him more of the larger Technic sets. Also, note that most large LEGO Technic sets will have alternate instructions, or the models can be combined with other sets. Additional instructions are available on the LEGO Technic website.

Compared to LEGO Technic, pretty much all other sets are going to be simpler, however some of the larger regular sets can still provide a good challenge. I would suggest browsing the paper catalog or LEGO's online shop together, and see what strikes his fancy. He might be into a particular theme to not just build but also play out stories. Or he may like vehicles, trains, motorized sets, or robotics.

Also, encourage him to free-build. There are alternate instructions available for many LEGO sets both online and in book form, or he can just build from his own imagination. That's really the next level for a talented LEGO fan; designing and building their own models.

You might also want to check if there is a LEGO club near you for young LEGO fans. They are usually well structured and focus on robotics and other educational aspects of LEGO, which may be a good fit for your child.

# Answer
> 2 votes
My daughter is also voracious with lego. I like to just let her decide what she wants to build, within reason. I think the Technic sets are the most challenging for her but at 8 she is doing sets labeled for teens, she has needed help occasionally. I also like to make up challenges for her, "That is a great car you built, can you add the pull-back motor to it?".

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Tags: shopping, advanced-models
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# Question
Title: When did LEGO Minifigure Leg mold designs change?
I am trying to identify the changeover dates for different minifigure leg molds. e.g. a figure from 1978 has no visible seams on the legs figures from the late 1980s have visible seams, but it might be earlier a figure from 2018 has visible seams on the outside of each leg the leg, and ©LEGO imprinted under the toe. It sees to have happened after 2012

The legs with seams have a marginally larger hole in the base for studs, and so are easier to attach/remove to/from an attached plate than the older ones.

Does anyone know when these molds changed over more accurately ?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Further investigation reveals that 2013 was when the word '©LEGO' started to appear under the minifigure 'toes' I am still unsure about the first appearance of seams in the leg molds

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Tags: minifigures, history
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title: Source of LDD models

text:
# Question
Title: Source of LDD models
I have just begun using LDD and want to teach my grandchild. Is there a community inventory of some kind of LDD models that people share?

# Answer
> 5 votes
Eurobricks has a very large list of official LEGO sets recreated in LDD by community members. I found it extremely useful. Look through the list and search for sets by set number and/or name: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/41226-key-topic-official-lego-sets-made-in-ldd/

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Tags: ldd, advanced-models
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# Question
Title: Where can I find this piece in LDD V4.3.11?
I am building a mech in LDD V4.3.11 and I need this piece for the head sculpt of the mech. I can't find it anywhere in the toolbox, with and without using the search box above. Where can I find this piece (Part No. 14704)?

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14704#T=C

# Answer
> 3 votes
I tried in version 4.3.10. The element is present both in standard and extended mode. I updated to version 4.3.11, had to update anyway as 4.3.10 apparently wasn't supported anymore and only worked offline. In the standard mode, I can confirm element 14704 is not present. However, if you switch to extended mode (Main menu -\> View -\> New themes -\> extended), it's present. Unfortunately the extended mode let's you build in colors that might not exist... I hope this gets addressed in a next update as to me this seems a standard element.

---
Tags: piece-information, ldd
---


# Question
Title: Problem assembling wings as shown for LEGO Air Race Jet (Technic 42066)
On Page 158 (Step #231) of the assembly instructions for the Air Race Jet, two red rivet bricks are shown being inserted into a wing. But the pieces in question will simply fall through the holes in the wing, which appear to be larger than they should be.

Either this is a LEGO error, or else I am missing something obvious. Does anyone have an answer?

# Answer
The "rivet" bricks are length 2 axles (cross shaped diameter). Beneath the wings, there should be L-shaped 2x4 lift arms. These end in axle holes (also cross shaped) so the axle should fit tight in those, not fall through. Perhaps you have positioned something erroneously, or you have skipped a step somewhere?
> 4 votes

---
Tags: technic, building
---


# Question
Title: What does taking Raw value for EV3 Colour sensor do?
I participate in Robotics competitions like the WRO and I want to know if using EV3 colour sensor raw values helps in line follow.

# Answer
When you take a Raw value from any sensor, the EV3 brick passes on the reading as reported directly from the sensor, without doing any processing. Especially for the color sensor, where you have several modes such as Reflection and Color Number, the EV3 brain does do post-processing on the input value to make the output easier to understand and/or use. By getting the raw value you are likely get a higher resolution signal than in any of the other modes, at the expense of potential error correction.
> 5 votes

# Answer
It will from 1 to 255. Now I try to measure color via RGB value to make the rank higher than using color sensor value block.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: ev3, sensor-colour
---


# Question
Title: Can I convert my train 9V 4563 to the Power Functions motor?
The motor of my locomotive is dead.

I have two choices : repurchase it or buy a Power Functions replacement.

1. It is possible of customize my train 4563 to use the Power Functions motor?
2. If yes, what set to buy ? (88002, 8879, 8878 another?)

# Answer
> 3 votes
To expand on Michael's link-only answer: Older train motors were powered by the track and the speed of the train is controlled by a track-side switch.

Newer PF trains are powered by the battery box on the train and controlled by the remote which sends IR signals to the IR receiver.

This means your train needs room for

* the wire from the motor to the IR sensor,
* the IR sensor and its wire to the battery box, and
* the battery box

Fitting these into an older train or a modern train not designed for PF (such as the Constitution Train Chase) requires some rebuilding and some compromises. For the Constitution Train Chase I had to modify the coal tender to hold the battery box and the motor, and I had to put the IR sensor in the cab of the locomotive. This means unsightly wires slung between cars. However, when the train is in motion you don't really see that.

For a locomotive that already is designed to accommodate the old motor, there may be room inside it to fit the battery box and the IR sensor. You will have to sacrifice some of the interior.

Note that for summer 2018 there is a new train Power Functions system coming out, which is going to use a different system: a new motor connection, a new battery box, a new remote. The battery box will have Bluetooth or some other radio-frequency controller in it and thus you won't need the IR sensor anymore. This will save a lot of room in builds and eliminate the need for line of sight.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Here's LEGO's official answer to this:

> ### Motorizing older trains using Power Functions
>
> We introduced LEGO® Power Functions in 2009 as the new electric building system to replace the 9V, 12V and RC systems. What’s great about Power Functions is that they can still power your favorite trains from years ago!
>
> You might have to make some slight changes to the design to fit the Power Functions elements, but here’s what you’ll need to get you trains updated:
>
> * Either 88000 LEGO® Power Functions AAA Battery Box or 8878 LEGO® Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box and 45517 Transformer 10V DC
> * 8884 LEGO® Power Functions IR Receiver
> * 8879 LEGO® Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control
> * 88002 LEGO® Power Functions Train Motor with 8886 LEGO® Power Functions Extension Wire

Perhaps you'll need an extra wagon to hold the battery box.

---
Tags: trains, power-functions, customization, motor
---


# Question
Title: Is it acceptable practice to finish an incomplete set and sell it as complete?
I found a vintage LEGO set from the early 1980s, with box. It is missing 25% of the pieces. If I purchase the rest of the pieces separately, is it acceptable practice to sell that as a "complete set"?

# Answer
New bricks of the same kind often comes from a slightly different mold. And pieces from different year will look different, especially white ones. So there is a high chance that difference will be seen.

Most ethical thing to do is to sell it as complete set, but in description **clearly state what bricks was replaced**.
> 10 votes

---
Tags: shopping
---


# Question
Title: Why do LEGO bricks keep their value even though they are still being produced?
I am curious why prices of individual bricks do not decrease because of increasing number of bricks produced. As an analogy to currency, when some government is printing money, their value gets lower. But this does not apply for bricks.

I don't think that bricks around the world are utilized in the same rate they are produced. Most of people know the value of that "toy" and don't simply throw them out when children don't play with them.

# Answer
Banknotes and coins tend to have very little physical value relative to their face value. LEGO bricks usually are valued more for their function rather than the material value. In most cases it would not be cost effective to buy LEGO bricks just for the material itself.

Well treated bricks can be handed down, generation to generation. A 2x4 brick made 30 years ago is virtually identical compared to one made today. A lot of construction toy brands hold their value over time.

Traditional toys lose their value as they no are longer fashionable or they wear out. A broken doll house might not be worth keeping but a LEGO set with a few missing pieces can still be built with spare parts or re-built into something else.

Individual bricks *do actually* decrease in value relative to the increased production, particularly soon after a new part has been released as LEGO introduce the part to more and more sets in different colours. This piece released last year is worth about 1/5th of what it once was when it was only available in two high priced sets.

Certain parts also experience a large increase in price after they are discontinued as they consequently become harder to find. Some parts (rubber, electronics, cloth) deteriorate faster than plastic bricks.
> 8 votes

# Answer
I feel it necessary to point out that I think the durability of LEGO is a bit romanticized. When coming out of my dark ages, there was very little I could do with my old LEGO, the pieces were scratched, had teeth marks, were yellowed... I haven't thrown this LEGO away, but it's stored and not used, hence not in circulation and hence has no economic value. I think there is definitely a constant need for new and shiny bricks, unlike currency where newly printed money has exactly the same value as old. Also I'd like to point out that selling individual pieces is not the main activity of LEGO, they mainly sell entire sets. Deriving brick prices from set prices is a bit pointless as its hard to factor in the value of the set (the box, the instructions, licensing,...) I think the main market place for buying and selling individual pieces is bricklink, and there you definetely see the economic principle of supply and demand in action, as already pointed out in the previous answer.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: value
---


# Question
Title: Are there any African American LEGO minifigures besides the ones from the "Sports" basketball series?
I was wondering if there were any African American LEGO minifigures besides the ones from the sports basketball series... I got a brown head from a LEGO Stormtrooper set instead of a black one. I then painted it. Do any other sets have them?

# Answer
There are a few on Bricklink, if you search by part colour:

3626bpb212

3626bpb159

3626bpb749

3626bpb424

3626bpb214

3626bpb573

3626cpb1088

3626cpb1124

3626cpb1067

3626cpb0906

And the standard smiley is also available.

If you search for the older Brown colour (instead of the current Reddish Brown) you find that there are basically only the very rare Lando head, as well as the old NBA heads.
> 18 votes

# Answer
Minifigs from licensed sets are made to look like their license counterparts, so there are some there, most notably Star Wars Mace Windu and Lando Calrissian which have both been made in 4 different versions.

There's also one in Prince of Persia: Seso, and maybe you can count the gunner zombie from Pirates of the Carribean.

As for non-licensed sets, I don't see any other than the NBA ones.
> 9 votes

# Answer
2018 and still no better in the African American minifig or any kind of diversity. I need more diversity for my Brick Films. Although we did get Mae Jamison in the new Women of NASA set:
> 1 votes

---
Tags: minifigures
---


# Question
Title: EV3 does not react to Bluetooth commands after 1.7 seconds
**Short description**:

I want to send commands via Bluetooth to an EV3 brick from a Linux computer. I use python to send bytecodes via Bluetooth and not any EV3-specific software Pairing the device was successful. If i send a "beep" command directly after establishing a connection, i can hear a beep from the brick. However, if i wait longer before i send the command, e.g. 2 seconds, then i can hear no beep. Any ideas how i could fix this behavior and be able to send commands many seconds after i established a connection?

**Longer description**:

Assuming the devices are already paired and Bluetooth enabled on the EV3 brick, i use the following setup:

To create /dev/rfcomm0, run

```
sudo rfcomm bind 0 <MAC-adress of the EV3>

```

Then, execute the following python script as root:

```
import time
beep_code=[0x0f,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x80,0x00,0x00,0x94,0x01,0x81,0x1,0x82,0x0b,0x02,0x82,0xf4,0x01]
# beep with 1% at 500 hz for .5 seconds
b=bytearray(beepcode)
f=open("/dev/rfcomm0","w+b",0)
f.write(b)
f.flush()
time.sleep(1.7)
f.write(b)
f.flush()

```

I got the bytecode for the command from here. The result is that i can hear only one beep, instead of the expected two beeps. If i make the waiting time shorter, e.g. 1 second, i can hear two beeps.

I use a computer running Kubuntu (Linux kernel 4.4). The firmware version of the brick is V1.09H, the hardware version is V0.60

Maybe i did something wrong with my Bluetooth setup on Linux, but the Bluetooth connection was successful for

Some comments and observations:

* very similar behavior can be observed when connecting using the Matlab support package for EV3 and Bluetooth
* similar behavior can be observed when using a motor (using Matlab)
* sometimes it works (i.e. i hear two beeps) with a waiting time of 1.7 seconds, sometimes it fails for a shorter time (e.g. 1.5 seconds), so it is not completely deterministic
* starting the connection with `open()` takes a few seconds, so it would not be possible to re-open /dev/rfcomm0 for every command
* i cannot circumvent the problem by sending a command every 0.5 seconds. In this case, the brick still does not produce beep tones after roughly 1.7 seconds (starting from when the fopen() command finished). So it is not just a simple timeout if there is no data.
* on the EV3 brick the Bluetooth connection is marked as "connected" until f.close() is executed or the python script has completed. The same connection status can be observed using bluetoothctl on Linux.

# Answer
`rfcomm` is an old and deprecated tool, so I'm not going to try to figure out what exactly is going on. I suspect that it has to do with the fact that it treats the connection as a TTY and it is sending extra characters to the EV3 that messes up the communication protocol. I tried adding:

```
import tty

...

tty.setraw(f.fileno())

```

to the program to fix this, but it does not seem to work.

Instead, I would recommend just using Bluetooth sockets in your python program instead of using the `rfcomm` command line tool. Here is a working example:

```
#!/usr/bin/env python3

import time

import bluetooth

# change to *your* EV3 Bluetooth address
BDADDR = "00:16:53:00:00:00"
PORT = 1

# beep with 1% volume at 500 hz for .5 seconds
BEEP_CODE = b'\x0f\x00\x00\x00\x80\x00\x00\x94\x01\x81\x01\x82\x0b\x02\x82\xf4\x01'

sock = bluetooth.BluetoothSocket(bluetooth.RFCOMM)
sock.connect((BDADDR, PORT))
sock.send(BEEP_CODE)
time.sleep(1.7)
sock.send(BEEP_CODE)
sock.close()

```
> 1 votes

---
Tags: ev3, mindstorms, programming, bluetooth, remote-control
---


# Question
Title: Do LEGO prototypes have production numbers on them?
Basically I've found a rare prototype piece for sale, one of the red Vader helmets, and I want to make sure it s real. The description says that it has no production number printed, which makes sense because I'm not sure why a prototype would have a production number.

I've seen another for sale in the past that said it had a production number printed, and that it was number 1. So I'm not sure which one is real.

# Answer
I have encountered a few prototypes over the years and none had any production numbers. Just the word LEGO and the year. So it probably is a genuine LEGO piece.
> 1 votes

# Answer
I've never found one like that, and I'm a master builder, so no, probably not.
> -2 votes

---
Tags: piece-information, star-wars, manufacturing
---


# Question
Title: Can anyone identify these two Lego parts? White ramp and yellow door
Bought a big bundle of parts recently, two of which I'm struggling to identify and load onto Rebrickable.

Can anybody assist?

# Answer
> 5 votes
I don't know what the yellow piece is, but the big plate is an old 1955-69 garage floor plate, with the rectangular holes.

Garage Floor Plate (Old style)

# Answer
> 3 votes
The yellow part looks like the hatch door of an older Siku Truck like this one in eBay

---
Tags: piece-information, part-identification
---


# Question
Title: Why did lego stop the Ninjago Spinjitzu Flyer and switch to the Ninjago Spinjitzu Spinner?
A while ago Lego ran a Ninjago Flyer line of products:

Now there seems to be a 'dumbed down' version of this that doesn't fly, it just spins along the ground.

It seems like maybe there was an Health and Safety issue with the flying ones, or maybe kids were getting them lost on the roof or in the next door neighbor's yards or something. But surely that's part of what makes them so fun!

My question is: **Why did Lego stop the Ninjago Spinjitzu Flyer and switch to the Ninjago Spinjitzu Spinner?**

# Answer
> 4 votes
The flyers were released in 2015, 2 years is an average production run for LEGO sets. Note that spinners have been released before, in 2011 and 2012 with expansion packs like cards and weapons.

I think the most likely reason that the flyers were discontinued is that LEGO did not see enough marketing potential in a second wave.

As to being more "fun", that is entirely subjective. These flying plastic rings were around in my childhood as well and I hated them. To me they seem now old fashioned compared to the myriads of flying drone toys that are available today.

**Update:** Apparently, it was a bit premature to state that the flyers line of ninjago had ended: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Ninjago/subtheme-Dragon-Masters

# Answer
> 2 votes
My local retailer mentioned issues with flyers getting lost as they flew away... a little too well

---
Tags: ninjago
---


# Question
Title: Can anyone identify this Lego piece? Clear red Bionicle head with clip?
I got this in a big box of LEGO from my cousin and this was in there. When I asked him he said he didn't know anything about it. I also couldn't find anything on the Internet about it. It has no identification number or any other marking except Lego 2003. I was wondering if this was a prototype. If anyone can identify it I will be very happy.

# Answer
> 16 votes
It's from a tooth brush. It is the thing that covers the brush itself. Here is a better picture of the green one.

Another picture :

---
Tags: part-identification, bionicle
---


# Question
Title: Duplo Activity table to Lego System Table
We purchased a table with Duplo baseplates on top (activity table) for my son when he was 1 year old. He's now turning six and we would like to convert the Duplo top to the regular LEGO System top. is there a baseplate that has Duplo studs on the bottom (so it sticks and essentially covers the Duplo spaces) and regular LEGO System studs on the top (so that the table can be used with the regular LEGO System pieces. It seems like a shame to chuck the table.

# Answer
To answer your question, no there is no such plate with DUPLO tubes on the bottom and LEGO studs on top. HOWEVER regular LEGO and DUPLO are completely compatible - as long as the regular LEGO bricks are at least 2x2 studs. Just cover the DUPLO table with regular LEGO bricks and you are done...(c;

You could actually use regular LEGO plates too, however the connection won't be as secure as with regular LEGO bricks as plates are much thinner so won't go all the way down to cover the LEGO studs. But they do fit, and their benefit is that they cover a much larger area so you would need less.

Here is an article and some visual examples of how LEGO and DUPLO fits together very nicely: http://thebrickblogger.com/2010/12/lego-duplo/
> 7 votes

# Answer
Unfortunatly this is problematic.

Duplo baseplates generally have flat-topped studs, these studs are incompatible with lego. Furthermore thin lego plates don't have enough depth to take up a duplo stud.

So you are looking at at least two layers for the conversion each at least one full leog brick thic. The lower layer would be duplo plates (one lego brick high) followed by a layer of regular lego bricks. You can get oversized lego bricks which would probablly help in making it less likely for your conversion layers to come apart.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: compatibility, duplo
---


# Question
Title: Can anyone identify this dark grey remote control and receiver with yellow and orange buttons?
Does anybody have an idea where this remote control and receiver are originally from:

# Answer
> 3 votes
Bionicle manas set 8539. Top part from your foto. Bottom one.

---
Tags: part-identification, remote-control, battery
---


# Question
Title: Lego mindstorms ev3 spinner factory problem
I hope you can help me with this. I'm on an education where we practice all stuff about IT. I'm currently working on the Spinner Factory project in the EV3. However, when i looked through the program description, I stumbled upon this picture

I have no idea what the grey block before start block means. I've tried a lot of googling, but can't find a solution. I don't know how to implement it either,.

# Answer
> 0 votes
My Blocks can have input and output parameters.

What you're seeing is an input parameter.

This particular My Block has as input parameter the color the factory bridge needs to drive to.

If you create a My Block from a selection of blocks and there are already data wires going in or out of the selection, input and output parameters are created automatically.

You can also add or edit input or output parameters in the My Block Builder dialog.

Perhaps this tutorial helps: http://stemrobotics.cs.pdx.edu/sites/default/files/MyBlocks%20%281%29.pdf

---
Tags: ev3
---


# Question
Title: Looking for ideas to make wire connectors compatible with Lego Functions
I like to make custom battery packs for Lego Power Functions. Is there any simple way to make wire connectors?

The only option that comes to my mind is to buy LEGO Power Functions Extension Wire # 8886, cut the wire, and connect it to my custom battery pack. Would that work? Is there a better idea?

# Answer
> The only option comes to my mind is to buy LEGO Power Functions Extension Wire # 8886, cut the wire, and connect it to my custom battery pack. Would that work?

Yes it would work, and people have done it.

Here's a YouTube video someone has made on their own custom Power Functions batteries.

> Is there a better idea?

I don't think it would really be possible to produce a Power Functions compatible connector for less that the $3 LEGO charges for their cable at a small scale, so that's probably your cheapest option.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Yes, I have done so. Wanted to motorize the Wall-E set. Initially did so with a AAA lego battery box in his belly, but with the wires and everything, not really enough room.

So I indeed cut up an 8886 extension wire and connected the wires to a clip you can get in any electronics store on which fits a 9V block battery.

When powering an SBrick or IR-receiver, only the outer wires need to be connected to the clip. When connecting immediately to motor or PF switch, only the inner wires need to be connected.
> 4 votes

# Answer
I made a battery holder following these instructions:

www.instructables.com/id/Lego-AA-Battery-Holder

It works great even without glue. It requires only Lego and 4 clips.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: power-functions
---


# Question
Title: EV3 isn't showing up in programming software after pairing on Windows XP
Running Windows XP x32.

I've connected, paired, connected, paired, paired, and connected, but I just can't get the EV3 software to recognize my EV3!

I've used this EV3 before on a different PC over bluetooth (and it worked), my drivers aren't screwed up, etc.

When I go to the software and try to connect to it, it doesn't show. I've refreshed about 50 times.

My EV3 Brick is running firmware `V1.09H` and is a model from Chrismas 2015, shown as Hardware version `V0.60` in the settings panel.

# Answer
> 0 votes
The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 software uses Bluetooth functions that were introduced in Windows Vista SP2. Quoting the linked article, "Windows Vista with SP2 and Windows 7 also support the user-mode RFComm and Bluetooth APIs." (The EV3 uses RFCOMM to communicate via Bluetooth.)

So, EV3 Bluetooth will not work on earlier versions of Windows.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The key is to make sure the driver works with MS's bluetooth stack, and doesn't just use it's own stack.

Press Win+R, type `bthprops.cpl` (or maybe `irprops.cpl`, it's been a while), hit enter. Check the `Hardware` tab to make sure your device actually shows up. If not, try different drivers/manually installing the driver using the "Have disk" method. 3rd party bluetooth stacks may disable the MS one seeing the device, even if the device/driver supports the MS stack.

---
Tags: ev3, bluetooth
---


title: How to get the Millennium Falcon 75192

text:
# Question
Title: How to get the Millennium Falcon 75192
Just like everybody else, I'd like to get the new 75192 set. Unfortunately, information about that is rather spotty. The lego shop website used to write "soon", currently it writes "unavailable". The lego shop hotline says you *may* get it in a shop. When you call the shop, they don't have it. They *sometimes* get sets, but they are sold out in seconds. The online shop used to take reservations, even prepayment, but they stopped, the shops seemed to have done the same, but they stopped too.

So my question: What do I have to do, to get the 75192 *before* christmas?

Does somebody here have it? How did you get it?

# Answer
If you absolutly want the Falcon before christmas and if money is not a factor you can try 3rd party sellers like Bricklink or Ebay

It will cost you more than the offical price and there will be shipping costs (it weighs 13150 gr.)
> 3 votes

# Answer
At my store, they said that it would be in stock in February. I think current inventory is going to a wait list of VIP members who were in the store on launch day. They also said that LEGO didn’t intend for it to be exclusive and that everyone should be able to get one. They were just surprised about interest!
> 3 votes

# Answer
It was in a status of "global shortage" as the demand is way ahead of supply - some official channels have a waiting list of hundreds to be filled as new stock trickles in. However, Lego has appeared to ramp up their supply, and it is available in major online channels as of May 2018 (https://www.zoolert.com/toys/lego/star-wars//millennium-falcon-75192/), this might have something to do with 4th of May.

This should last until 2019/2020 as the model stays under official production.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: shopping
---


# Question
Title: How are LEGO Bricks and colors numbered/identified
I'm wondering how bricks are uniquely identified.

In the back of instruction booklets, the set parts are listed and the numbers match the numbers on the LEGO.com website. Each number seems to identify a part in a specific color. The design number listed on the website seems to identify the brick separate from color.

I guess my question is, are these numbers available for all bricks or did this only start later?

This same question goes for the identification of brick colors.

If there are any other ideas on how parts can or should be numbered/identified I would really like to know.

# Answer
Parts have a design ID, and an element ID.

The design ID applies to the part - eg 1x6 brick

Similar parts, with different colors have different ELEMENT ID’s. Before -1998 these were in the form of designID+colorID. Now the design ID is not easily related to element ID

Occasionally, after a period of absence, a piece may be re-released in a color. Eg sand green 1x6 was element 4155053 from 2000-2012 eg monster fighters haunted house and then reappeared as 6177081 in 2017 eg Minecraft ocean monument.

The design ID of the first version of an element tends be be used by bricklink, whereas LEGO will normally change the design ID if there is a significant change to the mold. Eg the thickness/shape of clips.

Brickset.com lists parts by both element and design ID when you look at inventories for a given set.

Colour IDs can also be found at Brickset, who also refer to Ryan Howerter’s website as a resource

I hope this helps answer your question.
> 5 votes

# Answer
Haven't been enjoying my lego hobby long enough to have experienced it first hand. However, from some researching (read googling), it appears that design ID's and element ID's were starting to be published around 2006.

I assume these ID's are either published through the lego replacement parts service (or similar services as PAB) or in the inventories at the back of instruction booklets.

It appears that for elements that haven't been available through the replacement parts service or in sets more recent or as recent than 2006, these ID's were not published but for most elements, the design ID or element ID is printed on the element. However, this is certainly not the case for all elements.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: part-identification
---


# Question
Title: Mindstorms EV3 Spinner factory complete code problem
I recently posted a question about the creation of My Block. Now I have another problem. I have written the code as described in the program description, and double checked it, but it still doesn't work. I'm sorry for the way that I've visualised the program, but it seemed the easiest way:

Spinner Factory

# Answer
> 1 votes
Currently, the EV3 education software can be downloaded for free

https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/mindstorms-ev3/software

It includes the program for the spinner factory, perhaps you can study that program and compare it with your own implementation to find the problem

Alternatively and probably much more instructive, you could learn how to debug programs. For EV3 this is easiest with inserting sound alert or displaying values on the EV3 screen (with a wait block) during the steps of your program, you can find hints on how to debug a program here:

http://stemrobotics.cs.pdx.edu/sites/default/files/debug.pdf

---
Tags: ev3
---


# Question
Title: Is there a difference in the part number for those pieces?
The bottom tube of one of the bricks is hollow and the other one isn't. How do I know which version was used when I want to rebuild a set with "original" pieces?

Is there a part number difference?

I also have the same question for plates.

# Answer
> 5 votes
LEGO has changed their moulds, first they added that hole, then they removed it again, and they haven't changed design id, or even (as far as I remember) the element id. Knowing when those changes happened, gives some information (see later).

If you buy bricks on bricklink you can try to ask the seller, but you should be prepared that most sellers will probably answer that the variants are mixed in their stock and that they won't spend time sorting through it to sell you something specific. - I know a guy who was in a similar situation, caring about a(nother) detail that LEGO hadn't changed ids for, who ended up changing the colour of (parts of) his MOC because the period in which the part was made in the "new" colour meant he could be sure that only the good (for his usage) variant had been produced.

So if you care about that hole I think you're pretty much out of luck, but I believe the same set have been sold with both variants in many cases, in some cases you can probably even find single copies that have contained both variants, so I wouldn't care.

# Answer
> 1 votes
For plates (and other less than brick sized elements), it seems that LEGO hasn't switched back yet to solid tubes, I checked several recent sets I have built here...

Same story as for the bricks though, neither LEGO nor bricklink identify the elements as different, except that it will be harder to find plates with solid tubes as the molds where switched out during the 90's.

Also, I recall having read somewhere that LEGO didn't replace all the molds in one go during the 90's. LEGO kept using the old molds until they were worn out. This meant that both solid and hollow tube bricks and plates were present in sets during that time, sometimes even in the same set.

---
Tags: piece-information, part-identification
---


title: Identify set(s) based on open bags

text:
# Question
Title: Identify set(s) based on open bags
How can we identify these Lego bags?

It has 2017 year on the bags. Also, there are five random pieces of bags. Most of those pieces yellow and orange colors

# Answer
> 3 votes
Since at least some of these bags have been opened, their contents no longer help us in determining which set(s) they were from. At this point, they are just random plastic bags. You have combinations of elements in these bags that do not exist as combinations of pieces within one single set, for example in the top-left bag (with #2 on it) you have both a 2x8 Brick in Dark Bluish Gray as well as a 6x5 Girder in Yellow. Those pieces have never been in a set together (the Brick in Dark Bluish Gray only ever came in 2 sets).

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Tags: set-identification
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title: How can I access the brick id in ev3-g?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I access the brick id in ev3-g?
How can I access the brick ID ( or brick information) in ev3-g?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Only thing I can think of is to write the ID in a text file manually and use the file block to read the ID. To do that: Use an application like notepad++ to create the text file. Make sure the line endings are just a newline character, not the carriage return. Save the file with .rtf as extension. Use the memory browser in the EV3 software to upload the file to the brick in the project folder of your program... Alternatively, modify your program temporarily to write the ID first to file (manually select the value in a File block...), don't forget to close the file (second file block).

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Tags: ev3, ev3-g
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# Question
Title: What LEGO clone brand are these with 4-peg studs?
I think this was a present in the mid-late 80s.

Very sophisticated building blocks for top-view apartment-room design. They also had furniture and appliances. Can anyone tell me the brand etc?

# Answer
They look similar to Arckit, but the "stud" placement is different. Perhaps you have a picture of an earlier design?

https://www.dezeen.com/2015/05/24/architect-modelling-system-arckit-posh-lego-damien-murtagh/ https://us.arckit.com/
> 2 votes

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Tags: part-identification, clone-brands
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# Question
Title: Please help identify this 1980's, very odd, Non-Lego brick!
I have one more mystery brick to share, and it is a strange one. This brick is FIVE studs long, and the width is comparable to a regular 2x4 Lego brick. The inner tubes are also comparable, but because of the slope, the brick's length is five studs.

This brick was included in a large lot of early 1980's bricks. It doesn't have the Lego name anywhere that I can see. Could it be possibly a Tyco part?

# Answer
Had to tell for sure, but it looks like it came from the red car in this Mega Bloks set:

http://blokcity.com/wiki/9801\_Build\_%26\_Race\_Speedway

Here's an image including that part from this set:
> 8 votes

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Tags: part-identification, clone-brands
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# Question
Title: What is the largest jump in LEGO instructions?
What is the largest gap in LEGO instructions in terms of build time needed to complete a step? For example, Skyline (5526) includes this step:

That is quite a leap between steps 14 and 15. I'm curious to know if any sets leave more up to the builder than this.

I saw this over on Reddit and thought it might be interesting to get answers over here.

# Answer
Car Chassis 8860 gets my vote for complexity of a single step.

The instructions are laid out so that you have two pages like this on top of each other. I was building this model with my 11 year old son recently, and at almost every step on the last couple of pages we found we had missed something from the previous step.
> 7 votes

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Tags: building, instructions
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# Question
Title: Can I import existing Lego kits into LEGO Digital Designer?
Is there any way to import existing LEGO kits into LDD (LEGO Digital Designer)?

For example, I like to have this set in the LDD and https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Compact-Tracked-Loader-42032

I know I can download the PDF instructions, and I like to have the model in LDD or any other LEGO 3D designing tool.

# Answer
The only way to achieve that is to manually build the set in LDD. If you don't want to do it yourself, check the Eurobricks library for sets built in LDD by the LEGO fan community. You can find virtually any set released within the last several years: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/41226-key-topic-official-lego-sets-made-in-ldd/

The set you mentioned is on the list, so all you have to do is download the LDD file. :)
> 5 votes

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Tags: ldd
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title: Which set is this bag 3 from?

text:
# Question
Title: Which set is this bag 3 from?
This is the bag. Please help me identify and find instructions.

# Answer
THe appearance of part 973pb2859c01 - Torso Scuba Vest with Utility Belt with Pouches and Lavender Tentacles Pattern / Yellow Arms / Black Hands means this is from one of these 3 The Lego Ninjago Movie sets.

The dominance of Red and Black bricks, combined with the presence of part 78c02 - Flat Silver Hose, Ribbed 7mm D. 2L narrows it down to set 70615 - Fire Mech.
> 4 votes

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Is there any software for designing and testing Technic mechanisms?
I'm finding Technic parts can be challenging sometimes, and the costs can be high.

Is there any 3d design software that can help with designing before I decide to buy the parts?

# Answer
> 0 votes
I searched for more than a month and I found Lego Digital Designer (LDD) is the balance between simplicity and functionality.

You can learn LDD in a few hours. Very good videos available on youtube

LDD is not just 3d rendering tool. It understands the connectivity between technic beams and pegs. Very impressive.

The most impressive feature in LDD is that it can simulate the technic gears. Take a look at this video and see it for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13wietMv0g8

These two videos will save lots of time:

Lego Digital Designer Tips and Tricks - 1/2

Lego Digital Designer Tips and Tricks - 2/2

Update:

This post helped me to import so many existing Lego lits in LDD. I learned a lot form existing designs. Also, I can find the part numbers that I am looking for, or just copy them from the model.

Can I import existing Lego kits into Lego Digital Designer?

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Tags: technic, software
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# Question
Title: Is the app to print LEGO storage labels from www.bricklabels.com still available somewhere?
It seemed like the perfect solution, so that I am not printing labels that I don't need. However, the domain is for sale, and I am not well-versed in github so I don't know how to get the application from there.

# Answer
> 2 votes
Do you mean http://www.legolabels.com? That site still seems accessible.

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Tags: storage, organisation
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# Question
Title: Which set is this bag 2 from? White airplane pieces?
Which set is it from? Can I build anything with it on its own? It says 2007 on the bag.

# Answer
> 3 votes
3367 space shuttle seems to match, although it is a 2011 set

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=3367-1

The tail piece does not appear in older sets in white according to bricklink...

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Tags: part-identification, set-identification
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title: LEGO Digital Designer Part Numbers

text:
# Question
Title: LEGO Digital Designer Part Numbers
When I go through these LEGO kit instructions (as an example)

https://shop.lego.com/en-CA/Telehandler-42061

I get the list of all parts and part numbers at the end of the PDF pages:

None of the part numbers in the above list are recognised by the LDD. LDD had different part numbers. Why is that?

Is there any easy way to convert part numbers mentioned in the instruction PDFs to the LDD part numbers? Or is there any easy way to have LDD recognize the part numbers in the instruction PDFs?

**Update 1:**

All of the parts in the 42061 kit are available in LDD, with different part#. You can see for yourself by taking a look at its LXF file available for download here:

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/41226-key-topic-official-lego-sets-made-in-ldd/&page=189

# Answer
The two different number systems are:

* Element ID: 6-7 digits, uniquely identifies a piece by shape and color
* Part number: usually 4-5 digits, uniquely identifies a piece shape, stamped on many bricks

(Unfortunately an element ID is not simply a few numbers added onto a part number)

In LDD regular mode (not extended mode), you can search by both numbers. I was able to find the 3L blue pins by searching both element ID `4514553` and part number `6558`. When in extended mode however you can only search by part number (many of those pieces listed are only in extended mode).

Generally, you can also search for an element ID on BrickLink and find the part number. Not sure about going the other way.
> 8 votes

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Tags: part-identification, ldd, part-database
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# Question
Title: Why do hidden Lego pieces have different colours?
I noticed recently that hidden Lego pieces in many sets (I did not check them all of course) have completely different colours than those are visible. They usually differ from not only the colour of the visible parts but they seem to be somewhat randomly coloured. Why aren't they coloured the same as the other pieces? Is it cheaper to use base colours?

Example: The statue of liberty set (21042) practically has two colours visible (green and sand), however inside there are red, yellow, blue and black pieces as well.

# Answer
Using different colors on the inside makes the instructions easier to follow. For example, in the case of the Statue of Liberty that you mentioned, if the entire model was sand-green, it would be easier to make mistakes in 1.) following the printed instructions, 2.) finding the pieces in the pile of loose elements, and 3.) attaching the pieces to the model under construction.

Remember that LEGO sets are primarily designed for children, so LEGO puts a lot of testing and effort into making the instructions frustration-free. Using different colors is beneficial even for older LEGO fans who may start to have failing eyesight and would have difficulty finding pieces and seeing the instructions clearly.

As far as which colors are chosen for the interior, they are something that contrast with the main colors of the model, easy to see in the instructions booklet, and easy to find in the pile of loose elements. Another thing that may be taken into consideration is that if the set has instructions for alternate models and what colors those alternate models would need (i.e. LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets).
> 6 votes

# Answer
* Easier building: If all bricks where the same color you would have a harder time to see where one brick ends and another starts.
* Availability: In some cases parts are only available in specific colors. LEGO could produce them in new colors, but for inside parts that is not needed so they reuse the existing color(s).
> 3 votes

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Tags: colour
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# Question
Title: EV3 brick not turning on, nothing on display?
Ev3 brick not turning on, nothing on display, just red leds are on, tried 3 buttons not working.

# Answer
Each time I experienced what you are describing, replacing the batteries with fully charged ones addressed the issue...
> 2 votes

# Answer
Try pressing the 'return' button along with the center button for about 5 seconds
> 0 votes

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Tags: ev3, repair
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# Question
Title: Help identifying a bag containing many white plates
I have a bag with number 135149. Can anyone help identify the set it comes from?

# Answer
> 5 votes
This bag is from 75053-1: The Ghost

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: What part(s) can I use to connect technic liftarms with modules?
I have the following setup:

How can I connect the liftarm to the stacked bricks? The holes have different distances, so I can't just use black pins. Any suggestions?

# Answer
Put two plates between each layer of Technic bricks and the holes will align.

This technique was used commonly in studded Technic sets. Here's a page from the instructions for 8042 where you can see this used in several different places:
> 17 votes

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Tags: technic, connections
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title: Was the LEGO flower petal redesigned?

text:
# Question
Title: Was the LEGO flower petal redesigned?
I noticed part 24866 in one of our sets from TLG:

This looks a bit different to me. Has this part been redesigned?

# Answer
After a bit of research, it looks like this is a new part for 2018.

The part that it is likely replacing is the old flower petal with stud connections:

Old: New:

The new part has 5 petals instead of 4, and they are shorter so that they don't collide with neighboring parts at any angle. New Elementary did a writeup on the new flower parts that includes an image to highlight this:

Both parts include the interior flower stem connector so that they can be used with either the new or recently redesigned flower stem.
> 8 votes

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Tags: piece-information, annual-support
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# Question
Title: Can I use two remote-controlled LEGO Tracked Racers 42065 simultaneously?
I want to buy two sets of the LEGO Tracked Racer 42065 so that my children can play together. I can't tell if they would be able to use the racers simultaneously.

Are the IR receivers multi-channel? Can the sets be raced simultaneously?

# Answer
Yes, LEGO's Power Function IR elements have 4 different channels you can switch between with an orange slider on the receivers and remotes, so you can run up to 4 at a time.
> 7 votes

# Answer
Another friend in our LUG uses 4 models at a time. Two for each of her sons, one for their uncle and one for herself...

She redid the models in splendid new color schemes:
> 4 votes

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Tags: power-functions, remote-control
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# Question
Title: NXT motors spin when in air but stop on ground
I have a car that I made with 2 motors in the back and one motor in the front. The motors spin fine in the air but when I put it on the ground to test my program the motors stop. The robot itself isn't very heavy so I don't think that is the issue.

# Answer
> 2 votes
NXT and EV3 motors don't slip unless set to coasting. This means that any external means to speed up or slow down the motor will be counteracted by the motor control. I believe basically one or more of your motors is acting as a brake for the others because the controllers believe that they should act that way to obtain the desired speeds you programmed them. Even if all things are equal (desired motor speed, direction and wheel diameter), other minor variations within the motors can cause variations in the total speed that are counterproductive...

I once created a sumo bot having three motors, the intention being two motors for tank steering and an additional motor to provide extra power. I think this is similar as to what you are trying to achieve. My solution was to combine the motor speeds with differentials (as present in several technic vehicle sets)...

# Answer
> 2 votes
Can you post a picture of your car? Is it possible that the gearing is different, or wheel size is different, between the front & back? Maybe that would cause the gearing to bind up. Maybe try letting the front wheel free-spin (no motor) to see if the rear wheels will propel the car by themselves. If that works, switch it around, and let the rear wheels free-spin and see if the front motor can propel the car on its own. If so, note the speed of the car with the rear wheels motorized, and compare it to the speed of the car with the front wheel motorized. If it's different, then gear binding might be the issue.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Sounds/looks like a software issue. My first guess was that the program is jumping straight into a line following algorithm and that program is stopping as soon as it detects the table top. But, that would be fairly easy to test by approaching the table from the edge of the table, so the light sensor would stop the motors before the back wheels got close to the table.

Second guess. The line following algorithm starts up in a mode that runs the motors at a low power setting (less than 5), which works when suspended in air, but it not enough power to turn the wheels when on the table because there is some resistance (either the front wheels or ?). The line following is waiting for some rotation distance before moving to the next step and it waits forever.

Probably best to copy/paste sections of the program. Throw out half until something works.

Of course, a screenshot of the program would help.

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Tags: nxt, motor
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# Question
Title: App (Win/Android) for managing and cataloging Lego sets
I'm looking for an app to keep track of my Lego sets. For my DVDs/BRs I'm using DVD Profiler:

* Desktop application (Win 7+)
* Android/iOS app
* They sync by using a single account
* But you can use all the apps offline as well

I don't need "fancy" functions like seeing what other sets I would be able to build with the bricks I own, I just want to add new sets on my PC (Win 7), then see which sets I own on my PC and an Android phone (offline as well!).

If I can set the purchase price and date (and maybe when I first/last built the set), that would be a huge plus but I can live without functions like that.

Is there anything like that?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Brickset allows you to do all of the things you mentioned. It's very simple to use, but it also has some optional advanced features. You can read more about keeping track of your collection on Brickset here: https://brickset.com/mycollection

There are some Brickset based apps providing options for Android and Windows 8+, although I'm not familiar enough with them to be able to recommend one that would work for you.

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Tags: shopping, software, set-database
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# Question
Title: How can I motorize 42077 Technic Rally Car with LEGO Power Functions?
The new 42077 Technic Rally Car set looks really nice, and even has a built-in steering system which can be controlled by a gear on the top. There's also a fair bit of extra room inside, is there a way to add Power Functions elements to make it remote controlled?

# Answer
> 17 votes
With some Power Functions elements and a few extra pieces, it's pretty easy to turn the Rally Car into an RC car.

Here's a quick demo video of my design in action.

And here are the instructions I made for it.

# Required extra pieces

First you are going to need some extra pieces:

In addition to that, you will need a Power Functions remote, and possibly some extra pieces to build the remote. If you don't have a remote already, there are instructions for one at the end.

# Disassembly

To add power functions, you will need to disassembly it a bit to remove the engine block and manual steering system.

1. Remove doors.

2. Remove roof sides.

3. Remove roof gear and pull the blue pins out one step.

4. Take the center of the roof off with the front window frame.

5. Detach the trunk.

6. Detach the hood.

7. Remove seats.

8. Remove fire extinguisher.

# Remove manual steering.

Removing the steering system is a little tricky, but doable.

1. Locate the place where it attaches to the back.

2. Push up on the grey piece to detach it from the small black pieces, so you can slide it back and remove all the yellow pieces.

All of these pieces should be removed.

Also remove the black and blue pieces that hold it.

After they are removed, the engine block will be easier to remove.

# Removing engine block

1. On the back, locate this area.

2. Partially detach it temporarily.

3. Remove the gear and axles.

4. Reattach the section.

5. From the underside, locate where the engine block attaches at the back.

6. Push up to detach the engine block and the white pieces and pins that attached it.

# Check alignment

At this point, you going to want to make sure the front gear attached to the gear rack for steering is perfectly vertically aligned like so. If not, slide the pin out and adjust it. It needs to be vertical for the servo motor to attach to it.

# Locate pieces

In these sections you removed, you will find some other pieces you will need.

Disassemble them to find these pieces.

# Add drive motor

1. Build this.

2. From the underside, position it to slide in the back into the differential area.

In this area, you are going to need to add the black gear.

3. Hold a black gear in place, then slice the axle and motor into the holes.

# Add steering motor

1. In the front, flip up this white panel.

2. Slide the dark grey in the gear out one stud.

3. Build this bracket.

4. Insert it here, then slide the red pins out one stud.

5. Through the seating area, insert the servo motor into the bracket and push the red pins back in.

6. Now if the axle is correctly aligned, you can just slide the axle into the motor.

7. Flip the panel back down.

# Adding Battery Box

1. Build the following.

2. Slide the batter box into the back here.

3. On the sides, attach it with the pieces you just built.

# Re-assembly

1. Reattach seats.

2. Reattach hood.

3. Reattach roof center, and slide the blue pins back in.

4. Reattach the trunk to the blue pins.

5. Hold the trunk in the up position, and reattach the roof sides.

6. Reattach the doors.

# IR Receiver

1. Attach black pins to the receiver, and attach it to the spoiler.

2. It's tricky, but run the wire through the crack down to the batter box.

3. Now run the wires from the motors up through that crack, and attach to the IR receiver, servo to blue, engine to red.

# Turning the car on.

Turning the car on/off is as simple as opening the hood and switching the orange switch on the battery box.

# Remote

You can build the following remote with a few extra pieces.

2. Attach sticks.

3. Build arm.

4. Attach arm.

5. Attach wheel.

Happy building!

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Tags: technic, power-functions, annual-support, alternate-model
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# Question
Title: Red 2x3 plate with triangle post part number?
2x3 plate with a triangular post. Found 2 in a bin with a1 and a2 on the bottom

# Answer
> 2 votes
These are train direction toggle posts from the old 4.5V train system. Part 3218 Train Direction Switch - 4.5V 2 x 3.

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Tags: part-identification
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# Question
Title: What LEGO set is this thrift store find from, dark red and dark grey?
The part from a thrift store box of LEGO parts:

# Answer
> 9 votes
It appears to be the main model from Ronin R.E.X. (70735-1):

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Tags: set-identification
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title: 9398 reduction change

text:
# Question
Title: 9398 reduction change
I am studying implementation of 9398 crawler reduction. Here is the stripped part, in order to see the gears and their relation - the image is made with the excellent tool which is LDCad.

My idea is to use this Lego design for other model and I need to know how would I calculate the effect of changing it a bit. My intention is to replace the two 16 teeth gears 94925:

with a pair of 12 and 20 teeth (32270 and 32269):

and to remove the last reduction pairs, the ones in portal axle:

so it would be as follows:

Would this become faster/less powerful or slower/more powerful? My aim would be to keep it pretty close to how it performs now.

Also, is there a way to combine gears in order to add a distance of half of a stud between the motor axle and the next or the second one? In the image below, I have moved the parts and created a gap between the gears, in order to point what I intend to move, but the contact must be assured by some gears, obviously by replacing the existing ones. Would be there possible?

# Answer
> 1 votes
This modification won't change the rate of reduction.

You can calculate the ratio of the angular velocities of two adjacent gearwheels as

i12 = w2/w1 = n1/n2

where w is the angular velocity and n is the number of teeth of the gears. Hence the original reduction reads as:

i12\*i23\*i34\*i45\*i56 = 12/20 * 16/16 * 20/28 * 12/20 * 12/20 = 27/175 = 0.1543

while the modified is:

i12\*i23\*i34\*i45 = 12/20 * 12/20 * 20/28 * 12/20 = 27/175 = 0.1543

What you did is you simply removed the 16/16 and replaced the 12/20 gears, which results in the same reduction because the order of the multiplication is arbitrary.

To the second question:

You can change the 12-20 gears to 16-24 ones to fit the increased distance. In this case, the new reduction is

i12\*i23\*i34\*i45 = 16/24 * 12/20 * 20/28 * 12/20 = 6/35 = 0.1714

Note that the new gears may intersect parts not shown in the figures.

# Answer
> 1 votes
If the only change is replacing the two 16-tooth gears with a 12-tooth gear and a 20-tooth gear, then you will **reduce speed** by a factor 12/20 and **increase torque** by the same factor.

If you want to increase the distance between gears by 1/2 stud, then you can experiment with using bigger gears and offsetting the motor sideways so the gears don't touch vertically. This may induce some play in the gears.

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Tags: gears
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title: Lego Part identification needed (x4)

text:
# Question
Title: Lego Part identification needed (x4)
Four different parts that I'm struggling to load onto Rebrickable. Any help gratefully received.

Part A is a 1x1 round plate with a open stud and a horizontal bar. I'm not convinced that it is actual Lego, but would be happy to be proven wrong.

Part B is a 1x2 brick with no studs as it is split into two hollow channels that work as stud holders from either side. Again, probably not Lego I'm guessing.

Part C is a 2x2 cone (1 brick tall) with an open stud and four oval mouldings on the side.

Part D is a pylon of sorts. It sits on a 2x2 base and is 3 bricks tall and is slightly swept back, rather than being completely vertical. The top stud is open, but the 2 studs on the 'branches' are hollow with the Lego logo in each of them. However, the underside of the base doesn't look like what you would usually expect Lego to look like from that angle.

# Answer
The last part is 4289 Boat Mast 2 x 2 x 3 Inclined with Stud on Top and Two Sides:

I believe you are correct that the others are not LEGO elements.
> 5 votes

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Tags: part-identification
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# Question
Title: Why are my pieces breaking? "3612 Arm piece straight with 2 and 3 fingers"
I've dug up my old LEGO (from 1990's) and most bricks are simply scratched and dirty.

However, the arm pieces 3612 break on touch!

Are they simply a bad, too thin, design, or is there something more to this abnormal degradation?

I don't suppose there is anything to be done to fix the bricks now?

# Answer
During the 90's I was gifted older LEGO bricks from a friend of my parents that were about 30 years old. Many were discolored, warped and specifically the blue and gray pieces would break if flexed.

30 years forward and some of pieces from my 90's mix are discolored specifically gray, blue, white, yellow, brown. I think there is shelf life of about 30 years with certain color blends. Note that pieces that have sat in sunlight have been affected more. Maybe the sun's UV rays are not so good for certain color blends.

A few suggestions:

(1) Buy new. Head over to Bricklink and buy new pieces. Unfortunately, I've never seen this piece in Green and the site is saying that this is somewhat rare. (Site wise only two exist! Sold by a store in Belgium at $2.16 each. Ouch!).

Record keeping purposes. After breaking out my pieces from the 90's, I have creations and designs that once disassembled would be lost. I don't want to lose these old drafts, or the build knowledge gleaned from them that I could use in future creations. Things can get more exasperated if these pieces are breaking due to time.

(2a) Get a virtual LEGO program (I still use the discontinued LEGO Digital Designer) and preserve your builds digitally. Label them correctly and store them indefinitely in The Cloud.

(2b) For me, I can look at a model and figure out how it was made, so it might be faster to use your phone and make a short video of your creation from all angles, and upload that for preservation to The Cloud.

And finally, those pieces I have that are at least 60 years old, a few blue pieces can be crumpled in one hand...
> 4 votes

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Tags: repair, vintage, preservation
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# Question
Title: How to visually search for specific parts in a 3D model?
For a missed/loose piece that needs to be reattached, I plan to check all the steps where the piece was used. If I can also get an overview of the possible piece locations from the existing 3D models, that should speed things up as well. However, I don't see any option to filter/show by piece in Mecabricks or LDD. Is there any other way?

# Answer
Okay Bro, here we go. I still use LEGO Digital Designer. Open it, and you'll be using a combination of a few tools to filter out the exact piece locations in your model's 3 dimensional space.

Below we'll use pictures of Bowser as an example for a few selections.

The "Selection" tool sub tools:

1. Single Selection: Pick one piece you want to move.
2. Multiple Selection: Pick multiple pieces you want to move. Shortcut Key: Hold down control button to to select multiple pieces.
3. Connected Selection: Move the pieces that interlock in a continuous cluster. (VERY USEFUL FOR ME!)
4. Color: Pick a specific color.
5. Shape: Pick a specific shape REGARDLESS of color.
6. Color and Shape: Pick a specific shape and color.

A combination of two other tools that will bring it all together is the "Invert" Selection Tool and the "Hide" Section tool.

Connected + Hide Example:

In this example of "Connected" Selection, look at Bowser's toes. They're not highlighted, which means they are not connected, but after we hit the "Hide" button we see a green piece of Bowser's chest just a floatin' too.  Connected.

Hidden.

Multiple Shape + Invert + Hide + Shape and Color Example:

I buy my models on Bricklink.com but have to upload them through Stud.io, but Stud.io doesn't recognize which 1x1 tiles LEGO Digital Designer is using. So, I have to filter them out regardless of color, and figure out how many of each color I need to manually add them to my purchase later.  Selection of 1x1 tile regardless of color.

Invert Selection.

Hide non 1x1 tiles.

Specific Color and Shape for PINK. Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

Specific Color and Shape for GREEN. Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

Specific Color and Shape for TAN. Lower left corner tells me exact amount I need in this color.

With these combinations you should be able quickly see and fix your shit! Good luck and Later!
> 7 votes

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Tags: building, software, tools
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# Question
Title: How to cross reference a part to all instruction guide pages
Built my new Millenium Falcon and took it into the office before someone managed to knock it off my desk and onto the floor. It blew up.

Having managed to rebuild it, there are a few pieces left over that I can't figure out where they originally went.

Is there a way for a given piece to find out all the pages in the instruction manual where it is used?

# Answer
I'm using the discontinued program *LEGO Digital Designer* where what you want to do can be done with the program's *Selection Tools*.

**BIG NOTE:** The only thing you'll have to do is to search for your model in *LDD* format. I'll give you a leg up and *schmooogle a search string query* for you. You'll just have to sift through and find that file. Good luck!

Okay, Friend, shall we diiiiive in?! RIGHT! LET'S GO!!

I'm gonna step through the motions using a model comparable to the size of your busted up Falcon.

*Schmooogle* says there are 7,541 pieces in *MF*, so we have to go big with *Super Mario Bros. End Stage Castle* which pieces out at 7,994 bricks.

1) First let's imagine it was knocked off it's perch:(

2) Painstakingly rebuild what we can, but... huh, we got extras?... F\***!!

3) We got 5 stragglers in hand...err empty blue glove:

* a red inverted slope,
* a 1x1 white brick with a hole in it,
* a yellow 1x1 tile stuck to a yellow 1x1 plate,
* and finally a 2x3 brown brick.

4) Open your model in LDD.

5) Use the menu and place a digital copy of each extra real-life piece at the bottom of your model all in a nice neat little row.

6) Okay, zoom out a little. One at a time using the "Shape and Color" Selection Tool, click on each extra piece to highlight all bricks in your model that has that same shape and color.

7) To see those pieces visually unhindered by other bricks, click "Invert" selection to highlight everything that wasn't originally highlighted.

8) Then hide those obstructing bricks by clicking the "Hide" selection tool.

9) For remaining bricks:

Lather,

Rinse,

and Repeat.

Whoa! That's a lot of 2x3 bricks!. In cases like this you might have to practice up , and do some old school find the difference picture comparisons, and get yourself geared up to find that missing hole in your model. Good luck!

Here! Enjoy a troll fish...lol! Peace!
> 9 votes

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Tags: part-identification, instructions
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# Question
Title: How can you pin the Penguin Suit Guy down?
I like penguins and so I was really amazed to find the Penguin Suit Guy in Collectible Minifigures Series 16:

But despite coming with the 88646 tile he won't stick to it because of the skates:

There's no place to receive studs or anything else on the back of the legs. So how can I keep the Penguin Suit Guy from bouncing around in his display case for ever more? Is there a way to easily attach to the skates and not break too many LEGO best practices?

# Answer
I was really stumped on this when I posted the question because there didn't seem to be any place to attach to. But then I realized the neck could be a starting place. I tried some things with hinges and plates, but decided to simplify and I ended up with:

With only 4 pieces I was able to get this to work out pretty nicely. From neck to plate there are:

1. 42446 "Minifig, Neck Bracket with Back Stud" - above in Brown
2. 30241 "Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical" - above in Blue
3. 4599b the common Tap - the only Black part added above
4. 3005 Brick 1x1 - above in Lime

Looking at it from the front you can't see the additional parts much at all:

You can barely see some of the lime between his legs. Switching to black bricks there's no chance of even that shining through:

I'm happy now that he won't be rattling around in his case forever. And I hope folks are relieved to see his skates are going the right direction today. I'm sure that made the skating easier until I pinned him down. :-)
> 5 votes

# Answer
For any CMF's with skates, I put the figure on the stand with no footwear, and attach the footwear to the holes behind their legs. That way their accessories are there, and stuck to the figure, but the figure is on its stand!
> 4 votes

# Answer
Spring-boarding off your nice work-around, I would suggest a further aesthetic tweak with the symmetrical re-positioning of the support shaft, and as a bonus, eliminating the 88646 tile all together, if it's not being used.

I don't have penguin accessories in my parts library, but here are some pics to help visualize my techno babble;)

While looking up the series, I noticed many of them come with the studs-down-the-middle 88646 tile, given that this is the standard baseplate for all of them, this work-around still mimics the same footprint this baseplate uses, and in conjunction with your tweak, pins down Penguin Suit mini-fig dead center.

R.I.P. Loki...
> 1 votes

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Tags: building, storage, collectable-minifigures
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# Question
Title: Help needed on identifying parts and assemblies, yellow Technic pieces and teal lobster?
I have the following pieces and sub-assemblies and would like some help determining what sets they are from. The green/turquoise crab has a 993-1 mark on it, but have not been able to find anything about it.

# Answer
> 4 votes
The right assembly is from set 8225 - Road Rally V from 1995.

The middle assembly is likely a MOC, there is no set that I can find which includes this build with the 2 1x4x2 Fence pieces with only 2 studs in either Dark Gray or Dark Bluish Gray.

The crab-like item on the left is from set 8268 - Scorpion Attack, also from 1995.

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Tags: part-identification
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