# Question
Title: Alternative (back of box) builds of 7822 Railway Station - is there an 'official' configuration where the track terminates at the station?
I am looking for a scan or photo of the back of the box of the 7822 Railway Station

**Background:**

As is common with Lego sets, there are a number of alternative builds pictured on the back of the set box and sometimes in the instructions themselves.

Some time ago I found a website with a picture of an alternative build of the 7822 set that was described as an 'alternative build'. Sadly I can't find the picture again but the configuration of the station was such that the train line servicing the station terminated at the platform, and did not continue on though as it does in the main build. It is this configuration in particular that I am interested in.

**Known alternative builds:**

There are various depictions of other alternative builds available on the internet, one such that shows two different configurations in the same picture is this scene from the back page of the 7834 Level Crossing <sup>(Note: The version in the middle of the page on the right may be the one I am interested in, but I can't see the position of the track in that picture.)</sup>

The YouTube video 'LEGO 12V Train Dream Layout' shows the alternative build from the top of the 7834 instruction scan at around the 0:20 position in the video opposite another set in the main build configuration.

**Answering this question:**

I am very happy to receive answers on any of the possible alternative builds for the 7822 Railway Station and make this question a resource for anyone interested in different configurations, but the accepted answer will be for a clear scan or photo of the back of the 7822 box. (It may or may not show the configuration I am thinking of as the mysterious picture on the internet that I am thinking of may or may not have been an 'official Lego created' alternative build).

# Answer
Here you go: http://goichot.free.fr/lego/7822/8.JPG

Have been looking myself for hours as I have two 7822 sets but no box...
> 9 votes

# Answer
While it's not the "official" answer you're looking for, you could add the a bumper just outside the station, like this guy has:

http://www.freelug.org/spip.php?article558
> 3 votes

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Tags: trains, instructions, vintage
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# Question
Title: When was the first official use of the term 'minifigure' or 'minifig'?
When did The LEGO Group first use the term minifigure? Have they been called that since their introduction in 1978?

Similar to this question: Why are they called "minifigs"?

# Answer
I kept searching and found out for myself :). The US magazine from 1979 calls them Mini-Figures, even the version without arms.

http://www.peeron.com/catalogs/1979/medium/6/?id=97 http://www.peeron.com/catalogs/1979/medium/10/?id=97
> 4 votes

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Tags: minifigures, lego-group
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# Question
Title: Who built the LEGO structures for the film "Elf"?
My daughter greatly enjoyed the look on my face when the guy destroyed Buddy's LEGO models in the film *Elf*. She wishes she had a picture of me.

The question is: Does anybody know who built the LEGO models for the film? Was it a LUG?

# Answer
According to an interview with Elf director Jon Favreau, the Lego City set was built in-house by the Rusty Smith's art department.

The IMDB page for the movie thanks The LEGO Group for the permission to use the LEGO logo and trademarks but has no mention of any further involvement in set design.
> 10 votes

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Tags: popular-culture
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# Question
Title: Why does LEGO sell minifigures randomly?
I often want to buy only some minifigures in each series and might want to buy more than one of a given minifigure but LEGO doesn't allow it. You know, it wants to give you a nice surprise in each minifigure bag :). I can guess that the reason is LEGO simply doesn't want people to be able to buy some minifigures and ignore others, and it can affect their manufacturing plan.

Is there any other reason? BTW, I can still buy exactly what minifigure I want at local LEGO shops.

# Answer
I'm fairly confident that your guess is the correct one: manufacturing issues.

If each minifigure of a series were to be produced separately, they would be considered as 16 different sets for all production and inventory purposes. As a box, they are considered as only one set, which suits LEGO better as there is less overhead.

Logistically, it makes sense too. If the retailers needed to buy individual minifigs, they might not want to bother (especially if they still have to buy boxes of 60, for example), whereas buying a few boxes of random minifigs isn't usually a problem.

You'll find a similar example with train track: when LEGO introduced RC (plastic) track, they decided to sell straight and curved track pieces together in a box. That decision makes absolutely no sense at all, except to reduce the number of boxes in production. They managed to correct this a little by replacing the curved tracks with flex-track in recent boxes (curves aren't sold separately anymore, which is just fine); but they still have only one box of supplemental track (points nonwithstanding).

That said, this reasoning doesn't actually fully hold. The content of minifig boxes appears to be fixed (which makes sense for production purposes), so nothing prevents them from marking which minifig is in which bag, and it wouldn't make much difference for retailers.

But LEGO doesn't do that. In fact, they even actively stopped doing it, as the first two series were easily identifiable through a barcode. When LEGO noticed fans had discovered this, they resorted to other, more hidden methods. Which proves they **want** it to be random, and we still have to find out why.

Again, production issues can help explain this: if custoemrs can pick their minifigs, retailers left with leftovers of unwanted minifigs may not be as keen to buy more boxes of the next series.

But to be honest, I think LEGO really wanted the randomness to be there to start with, simply because they want children (their target demographic, let's not forget this) have the fun of discovering what they got, and try to get them all one way or the other.
> 10 votes

# Answer
The minifigs are what is known in the retail trade as 'blind-packed collectables'.

They're sold at 'pocket money' prices in newsagents and bookshops at aisle ends or counter-tops. The idea is to encourage people (mainly children but adults too) to try and 'collect' a complete set. The opaque bags encourage this by making this goal harder to reach, and therefore more of an achievement - revealing the contents would take away a lot of the fun.

The sealed bags also lead buyers to end up with 'doubles'. If you keep these, then the Lego company gets that extra revenue - whereas if you try and swap them, then that helps to spread the word about the product and gives you an incentive to encourage your friends to start collecting them too.

The minifigs are also produced in un-even amounts. This makes it even harder to collect a complete set - and also means that Lego can save money by making less of the more expensive to manufacture minifigs.

So - whilst you might find the random element frustrating, you can see how it makes financial sense to Lego. And if you stop and think about it, would simply being able to pick-and-choose which minifigs you buy be quite so much fun?
> 12 votes

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Tags: minifigures
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# Question
Title: How is the corner on Azuma Makoto's LEGO bonsai tree done?
I'm looking at doing my own version of Azuma Makoto's bonsai. I know it will probably not be a 100th as good, but I want to try anyway. The first step is obviously building a similar base but I'm having trouble figuring out how he built his. The photos don't make it clear. I've tried just staggering them as they go up but that doesn't give the same effect. Here is an album for more reference.

# Answer
The two corners of the bonsai tray shown in this image appear to be built differently... I've chosen to do the technique shown on the left.

The best I could do was use various lengths of two-wide bricks and staggered them in a upside-down pyramid shape with 2x2 bricks in the corner.

I was trying to re-create the model from memory, and I forgot to add another row of staggered plates.
> 8 votes

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Tags: building
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# Question
Title: Can't open the page to enter my LEGO Advent Calendar code
I'm on a Mac and have been using the link provided in other posts to try to enter my Advent Calendar code. But the page doesn't work for me. This is the link I'm using:

http://starwars.lego.com/en-us/advent/Default.aspx

When the pop up finally opens it is just a blank page.

# Answer
> 3 votes
> Thanks for getting in touch with us.
>
> We're sorry about the frustration you must be feeling. Unfortunately there was a misprint on the packaging. The real website to enter the codes is www.starwars.lego.com.
>
> When you get to the site in the middle of the page is a place for you to enter in the codes. I hope this helped.
>
> Thanks again for getting in touch. We're always pleased to receive feedback from LEGO fans! If you could take a moment to complete a four question survey by going to the link below, it will help us make sure we are providing the best customer service to you.
>
> http://www.econsumeraffairs.com/lsi/ensurvey.html?F1=032315854A
>
> Please let us know if you need anything else.
>
> Happy building!
>
> Arianne K LEGO Consumer Services

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Tags: star-wars, advent-calendar
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# Question
Title: Why do the tubes in the Seattle Space Needle Architecture set need to be cut?
I just received the Seattle Space Needle from the Architecture series. There are tubes that the builder is required to cut to a certain length for the model. This is the first time I've encountered tubes in a LEGO model. Are the tubes made only one size making it normal to have to cut them to use them? I was wondering why the tubes were not manufactured to the correct size instead of having the builder cut them.

# Answer
> 10 votes
This happens in Technic models as well, at least for pneumatics tubes. I would tend to assume it's a simple production issue or simplification - as this requires less work from LEGO.

That way, they only need one length of tube per model, instead of having one part ID for each of length of tube. Considering LEGO wants to control its number of elements currently in production (it's not infinite), this makes sense.

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Tags: piece-information, architecture
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# Question
Title: Why is there such a small supply of dark red 1x4 bricks?
I've recently been thinking of building in dark red because it looks so nice, but as I've been looking at how much it would cost to get the bricks, I found that 1x4 dark red bricks are almost non-existent.

I was considering buying a big set to get the parts, and the most obvious choice seems to be 10197 Fire Brigade. Unfortunately, while this set has a good number of dark red bricks, it is awkwardly missing the 1x4. It has 15 1x1, 42 1x2, 34 1x6, but not a single 1x4 brick. It seems like the designers would have had to go to extra effort to *not* use any 1x4 bricks.

I checked bricklink to see if I could get these bricks there, but at the time of writing this, there are fewer than 100 total 1x4 dark red bricks listed on Bricklink. Looking at the part info on peeron, it seems that this part in this color was only used in a few sets that were produced back in 2005.

So, why are there so few of this part? It seems like with large sets like 10197 making heavy use of dark red it would be worthwhile to produce this part, but it appears that TLG thinks differently.

# Answer
> 6 votes
Kramii's analysis is quite interesting and it's certain that some colors are more popular than others - as you point out yourself, you find dark red to be more suitable for some buildings, and you're definitely not alone.

I do disagree however on the fact that LEGO has a strategic position with regards to certain bricks or colors, or that they find that a product with 1x4 dark red bricks would disinterest children.

I do believe this is more a manufacturing issue. Keep in mind the number of elements (that is, one specific shape in one specific color) in production at a current time is limited (by the number of machines), and those are the elements that are available to designers. As you remark, the 1x4 dark red brick was last seen is sets from 2005, so we can safely say that it's not currently in the palette of elements in production.

This doesn't mean that designers may not use it, however; if that was so we'd never have new elements, or new colors, and that wouldn't make sense. But they aren't free to use it at will either. All elements in production have a production cost which is taken into account during the design phase, as a designer has a specific "budget" to work with. I think the costs implied here are not actual costs, but I don't know the exact details.

But new elements do have a higher cost, depending on a lot of various factors. In this specific case, there is no new mould involved, so that doesn't account for much, but the price is definitely higher than if the part was currently in production. So, most of the time, it's the designer who will try to assess if the extra cost is worth reintroducing the part. It could very well be that using 2 1x2 bricks is cheaper (again, in terms of design cost) than asking for a 1x4; more so if they already use some in the set (there is also a cost for just having a part in the set, which is why some firefighter stations have 1x2 bricks and use 1x2 bricks with groove instead - as they already had to use them for doors).

All in all, while I don't know the exact details, I know that the design process has to take the cost of parts into account, and that parts not currently in production cost more. What I don't know is, if a designer asks for a 1x4 dark red brick, whether it's automatically accepted or not, or if he has to defend the case or something, but I believe even that is mostly reflected in the part cost.

The good news is that more and more designers are either from a strong AFOL background, or at the very least are very aware of what the AFOLs want or not. That's why we see more of dark red, dark green, dark blue, or other nice colors nowadays - the designers know we like them, and they like them too.

# Answer
> 9 votes
I don't know if there are any particular issues with *manufacturing* 1 x 4 bricks in Dark Red, but I suspect not. Instead, to understand why dark red 1 x 4s are relatively rare, it is interesting to consider why other colours might be relatively *popular*.

### Popular Colours

Younger children like strong primary colours + black and white. At the same time, older children rarely object to primary colours. For this reason, there is a bias in LEGO's colour selection towards the primary colours. For this reason, **Red**, **Yellow**, **Blue**, **White** and **Black** have been part of the LEGO spectrum for a long time. This means that there is already a large number of bricks in these colours in circulation. Indeed (at the time of writing) there are well over 1,000 1x4s in each of these colours available on BrickLink. **Green** bricks have not been around quite as long, but you would expect them to be popular with children for a similar reason. Indeed, there are a good number of these available, too (over 700 lots today).

Space, Star Wars, castle etc. have required lots of **Greys**, so these are available in larger quantities. As you would expect, these are also available in larger quantities (over 700 lots each for the modern greys, around 300 - 400 lots for the older greys).

You would expect newer, bright colours to be popular with children. In addition, Lego aimed at girls has resulted in increased quantities of pinks, purples and pastel shades. This would account for why **Orange** (600+ lots), Lime (500+), **Dark Purple** (250+), **Bright Pink** (250+), **Medium Blue** (250+), **Dark Pink** (100+) and **Purple** (50+) are relatively popular, but less common than the primaries and the greys.

**Transparent** 1x4s used to be used as windscreens etc. in older models, so there are quite a few of these in circulation (200+ lots on Bricklink).

### Less Common Colours

Earthy colours - browns, tans and - have been required for a variety of models, typically representing desert or other natural phenomena. Tan, for example, has been a feature of Pharoah's Quest, various Star Wars sets, etc. This is why there are relatively large quantities of **Tan** (600+), **Reddish Brown** (600+), **Dark Green** (200+), **Brown** (100+) and **Dark Tan** (50+) lots available.

The quantity of **Maersk Blue** (100+ lots) is a special case, in that the licensed models that require this colour also require 1x4s in larger quantities.

### Rare Colours

Then there are the rarer colours for 1 x 4s, where there are less than 50 lots of each colour available on BrickLink at the moment. These include **Light Yellow**, Medium Orange, Light Purple, Pink and our friend **Dark Red** (+ a few others). I suspect that there are so few of these simply because TLG have had not identified a market for models that contain 1 x 4s in these colours.

### Ultra-Rare Colours

For completeness, it is interesting that there are a few colours that are ultra-rare (\<10 lots available) in 1 x 4 brick format: **Magenta**, **Transparent Green** and **Chrome Gold**, for example. Sometimes these ultra-rare bricks exist because they were used in a small number of sets that are themselves very rare, or because they were prototype bricks, because they were used in "special" models like the ones in theme-parks, or because the person listing them on BrickLink has misidentified their colour.

(The astute reader will notice that I've omitted **Dark Blue**, **Sand Green** and **Sand Blue** from this analysis, each of which has 200+ lots of 1 x 4s listed on BrickLink as of today. To be honest, I have not yet investigated their relative popularity compared to Dark Red. Suggestions would therefore be welcome.)

### Conclusion

In conclusion, I suggest that the relative scarcity of Dark Red 1 x 4 bricks can be explained in terms of TLG's marketing strategy, both current and historic. TLG has always sold bricks in sets that are designed to appeal to children, and its marketing people appear to think that children are disinterested in a product that contains large numbers of Dark Red 1 x 4 bricks.

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Tags: manufacturing
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# Question
Title: Exact dimensions of studless Technic beams
I'm looking for the exact dimensions of the studless Technic beams. I found a number of answers for studded beams but there are some more aspects for the studless beams which are not covered.

I'm especially interested in these parts:

# Answer
> 5 votes
Liftarms are 1 stud wide (8 mm) and 7 mm high so they have a 7:8 aspect ratio. (width is the direction parallel to they axis of rotation of the peg holes).

As pictured in the link, the 1x9 liftarm has the hole orientated vertically. So the height is 8mm. The width is 7mm and the length is 9 x 8 mm = 72mm.

Similarly, the 5x7 open center thick has height=8mm width=5 x 8mm=40mm length = 7 x 8mm= 56mm opening width=3x8mm=24mm opening length= 5x8mm=40mm

# Answer
> 6 votes
**Technic, Liftarm 5 x 7 Open Center Thick**

* Height = 7.86mm
* Width = 39.80mm
* Length = 55.85mm
* Opening width = 24.08mm
* Opening length = 40.20mm

**Technic, Liftarm 1 x 9 Thick** (oriented as shown on Bricklink image):

* Height = 7.86mm
* Width = 7.44mm
* Length = 71.36mm

(measured with digital caliper, precision +/-0.05mm)

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Tags: technic
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# Question
Title: What is new about the IR receiver in the 4x4 Crawler 9398?
Reading a review of the 4x4 it seems the IR receiver is different from what is included with the trains. From the review all the information we got was "improved CMOS motor driver with lower power loss". Can someone expand on that?

# Answer
> 6 votes
I have done an extensive review of both receivers, see it **here**. This **other page** shows the performance of various motors connected to both receivers. Note that because of a problem in Power Functions M-motor, the new receiver is not suitable for driving several of them on the same output. See this **LEGO official notice**.

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Tags: power-functions
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# Question
Title: Why does this program work in LabView when targeted to computer but not to NXT?
I have a program written in Labview for my LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0. When the target is set to the computer, the program works just fine. However, when I set the target to the NXT, the program doesn't work the same as when targeted to the computer.

The program makes the robot go forward until it is 30 centimetres away from an object, which is detected by the NXT's ultrasonic sensor. Then the robot will stop. If the object is moved and there is no object within 30 centimeters of the NXT's ultrasonic sensor, the robot will go forward again until it is 30 centimeters away from an object again. Then, it will stop.

This works when the target is set to computer in Labview, but not when set to NXT. When set to NXT, once the first object is detected, it will stop. But, if the object is removed and there is no longer any object within 30 centimetres of the ultrasonic sensor, the robot will remain stationary and not move forward.

Here is a screenshot of the block diagram:

Here is a link to the source code for the program.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

# Answer
> 2 votes
I would recommend you post this question to the National Instruments Discussion Forums. We have a dedicated board for supporting the LabVIEW for Mindstorms software. Since you are using LabVIEW, you can post the question there and NI support engineers are guaranteed to help you. http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-for-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-and/bd-p/460

# Answer
> 0 votes
Remove the waveform chart and change the stop bottom to constant 'F' and try it. When you target to NXT, the programm can not compile the waveform charts and many other things to NXT.

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Tags: mindstorms, nxt, programming, labview
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# Question
Title: How do I build a paper feeder with LEGO to transfer a single sheet of paper from a deck robustly?
I want to create an apparatus (which might be called a paper feeder) to take a still image for each paper taken from a deck of 500 sheets robustly. Robustly means that the apparatus must guarantee all sheets of paper get captured by the still camera.

I am new to LEGO but I think creating the apparatus with LEGO can reduce the cost. I will use for processing more than 2 million pieces of paper.

My questions are

What peripherals are needed to pick exactly one piece of paper (from a deck of 500) for a single camera shot?

In essence I want to replace this scanner job.

# Answer
> 9 votes
There are many ways you can approach this problem using LEGO. I would recommend the 8547 Mindstorms NXT 2.0 set, as it includes the software required to program a basic paper feeder including a microprocessor (NXT Brick), three motors, four sensors (ultrasonic, two touch and a colour sensor) as well as plenty of other parts which you can use to construct the paper feed.

Set 8547 also comes with four wheels with rubber tyres which can be powered by the motors to feed paper. These tyres will have more enough traction to pull without damaging the paper.

A colour sensor can be used at a fixed point to detect the start of a new page or a motor can be calibrated to perform an X amount of rotations required to feed one sheet of paper. However if you wish to feed the paper, you need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the method used as well as when and where it is likely to fail.

> I am new to LEGO but I think creating the apparatus with LEGO can reduce the cost.

You may be able to reduce the costs by purchasing the essential parts from Bricklink. Although it can't be guaranteed that you'll be able to get all the parts in one purchase and it may be more expensive to buy the parts separately.

> I will use for processing more than 2 million pieces of paper.

If you're looking for something reliable that can scan that many sheets of paper, you may find it more economical to have find a professional archival company that can process your documents/images.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Picking paper sheets from a stack shouldn't be too much of an issue with rubber wheels.

However, One of the problems you may encounter is that multiple sheets stick together. To avoid this, you'll first need to shuffle your stack a little (I only know the french word for this process: **déramer**, sorry.), but even then it can happen.

I've worked with an offset printing machine when I was a student, and the thing had a tendency to pick two sheets instead of one once in a while. There was a mechanism that would discard such sheets, and the way it worked was based on the thickness of a sheet: as the sheet was conveyed on a flat surface, if it was too thick, it triggered a small kind of lever which was finely tuned to rest just above the thickness of one sheet. It was very sensible, too; if there was one sheet it wouldn't budge, but two or more would make it move, and it would activate a trap to receive the offending sheets instead of feeding them to the machine.

To be honest, picking two sheets instead of one was the machine's less problematic behavior, and we were lucky if that's the only thing it did. Which means you'll have to be careful too, so that there is no way for a sheet to be somehow eaten - possibly irrecoverably - by the mechanism.

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Tags: robotic
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# Question
Title: Is there a list of colours currently in production?
Is there a list anywhere of colours currently being used by Lego for new sets? There seem to be lots of comprehensive lists of all colours released ever, but few that relate to in-use colours, for instance only including the new blue-greys rather than the old greys.

I'd also be interested to know if any colours are limited to certain themes only (e.g. Friends) - or whether all colours are open to designers of all themes.

# Answer
As I answered on another question, LEGO officially released its internal palette in 2010. It showed 51 colours in use, although their company profile spoke about 58.

This is the Palette LEGO used in 2010, meaning that only these colours were in production then. Unfortunately, LEGO doesn't release this info on a regular basis (I'm frankly quite surprised they did in the first place), and I don't know if it has been updated since. On the other hand, LEGO has learned not to change their palette too often, so it's likely there hasn't been much change since then.

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Edit: I was optimistic in thinking there would be little change in two years time. As you ask, there are two Friends colours "Medium Azur" and "Medium Lavender" which new for 2012 and are thus not present on the list.

The list of colours on BrickLink has date information which you'll certainly find useful; for example "Olive Green" is of course new too (and is bound to become extremely popular), "Spring Yellowish Green" and "Light Glow" are also new; and "Aqua" ("Light Aqua" on BrickLink) , "Dark Azur" and "Lavender" all appear to have been introduced in 2011.

You could also try to see which colours have been phased out, but since the BrickLink list appears to be based on the year in which a set is first introduced, it's probably not too reliable. For example, the "Light Stone Grey" used in mindstorms (or "Very light Bluish Grey" on BrickLink) is stated as last seen in 2010, but since the NXT 2.0 kit is still sold, it's possible it's still produced. So trying to know whether a colour is out or not is at this stage a guess, although I would at least venture to guess that "Phosph.Green" is out - since there's a new "glow in the dark" effect.

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As for availability to designers, I don't see why some colours would be limited to specific themes, even though of course specific themes are designed around specific main colours. So Friends sets may have more purple and pink, but that doesn't mean they can't use other colours, or that other sets can't use purple and pink.

Now that you mention it, it would make sense however to lower the entry cost for specific colours in specific themes to make sure designers aren't penalized. What I mean is, if a Friends designer needs a specific part in pink, there's less reason to deny it to him than there would be for, say, a Technic Designer. Usually producing an existing part in a new colour bears a cost for the set designer, but there could be different rules depending on the theme. It's pure speculation, though; and it's as likely that the theme doesn't do any difference at all.

In any case, once production has been decided for a specific part in a specific colour, it's certainly available for all other designers. The only exception would be part-specific (for example, a city designer is probably not allowed to use a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet), but I see no reason for having such restrictions on specific colours.
> 8 votes

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Tags: piece-information, colour
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# Question
Title: Is there a way to remotely operate the push-button light brick?
The push-button light brick seems to be popular with Lego at the moment, and included in quite a few sets.

I'd like to find a way of being able to operate it remotely, so that I can include the lights within a Cityscape and switch them all on and off easily.

The button obviously can be connected to a technic axle, but is there a simple way of motorising an on/off push?

(I know I could alternatively use the PF lights, but they don't always seem to be as easy to use in place)

# Answer
Yes, the easiest way would be to get the following: a powerfunctions remote control, battery box, moter, ir reciever, and z-motor. The total cost is $36 and you can get all this on LEGO.com except for the z-motor, that part you have to get in a LEGO set as the following: 8052. 8053, 8110, and the LEGO Technic yellow actuator which I can't find the set number of right now. get a 1x4 axle (usually black) put it at the far end of the z-motor and into the light brick. Get another 1x4 axle and put in the other end of the z-motor and into the regular motor, hook the regular motor into the receiver, and the receiver into the battery box. Make sure the remote control and the receiver are in channel 1. Make sure the green light is on, on the battery box. The battery box could stay on for about a week without needing new batteries. flick both of the levers on the remote and the light should turn on. You could also get the rechargeable battery box where it plugs into an outlet and never needs batteries. You could run 32 lights on 1 remote.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I would tend to ignore the fact that there is a Technic cross hole in the light switch. I guess it may be handy in some cases, but frankly it seems easier to me to just push the button with a lever or cam.

To do that, the best part is probably the Technic Cam, possibly two of them side by side. Don't drive it through the center hole but through the one just next to it, that is, the middle one of the three adjacent ones.

Positioning it so that it pushes the switch shouldn't be an issue, but of course you'll also have to motorize it somehow. I guess the easiest would be the new servo motor but you'll need to wait for it to be available separately (should happen during 2013), and of course it takes some space. (If you want to be creative with precision positioning, you could use an old 12v train switch remote too, I guess).

Of course, any motor will probably do, but then you'll have to make sure it doesn't turn too fast or it's going to be tricky to hope it stops in the desired position.

Another wacky idea would involve a wormscrew right on a rack, which would slide in or out of position, but I'm not sure it would be that easy. And if you're willing to go that route, a simple actuator is probably easier.
> 3 votes

# Answer
I see that you considered the use of PF Lights, but discounted them as they were difficult to integrate into your models. Maybe you could use the older style 'Electric, Light Brick 1 x 2 with Single Side Light'

This has the obvious advantage of being based on the standard 1 x 2 Brick for ease of integration but is also smaller than the push-button light brick (2 x 3 x 1 1/3) it would replace, and therefore hopefully be easier to fit into the available space in your models. It can be connected using 9v Wires and/or Electric Plates that are available in 1 x 2, 2 x 4 and 2 x 8 sizes. You could then use any of the 9v battery packs or power supplies to control the light.

The link you specified is to the light brick with a yellow light but they are also available in other colours. So for like-for-like replacements you could use a single 'Electric, Light Bulb Cover (Colored Globe)' to tint the light to match the light brick you replace.
> 2 votes

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Tags: technic, power-functions
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title: List of prototype or unreleased themes

text:
# Question
Title: List of prototype or unreleased themes
I recently discovered the unreleased "Seatron" theme as I was looking around for building ideas. After some searching, I also found the unreleased Europa theme which seems to be set in the 1700s and has elements of both Castle and Pirates.

Are there other unreleased or prototype themes and sets?

# Answer
> 13 votes
Brickipedia (A.K.A. lego.wikia.com) list unreleased sets and themes in the form of an article and category of articles. It does mention CYBOTS and Europa in addition to Seatron, although there is no guarantee that the list is complete.

**CYBOTS**

> Contained action figures using both System and the first TECHNIC ball joint parts. Several prototype models were created but final versions were not made. This theme was made mainly to test the first LEGO ball joints, which would be later used three years later on the Slizer theme.

**Europa**

> Set in the 18th century. The most likely reason that the theme wasn't released is that it was too close to both Castle and Pirates, both very similar themes.

**Seatron**

> The theme would have been set on an alien planet, with underwater astronauts. Many new monorail parts and colours were made for this theme, but when Futuron's monorail failed to make money, development of Seatron stopped.

**Unnamed prototypes**

Here's a space theme using purple and trans neon green from 1989:

And another 1989 space prototype with a distinctive color scheme using both light and dark gray with trans-red elements (dark gray would have been a new color at the time):

Brickipedia has a similar list for prototype sets and themes.

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Tags: history, theme
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# Question
Title: Is the visual.ly infographic information about the minifigure reliable?
Visual.ly just release this awesome infographic about the LEGO minifigure.

It this all correct information?

# Answer
> 10 votes
Please forgive the length of this but I was careful to check all the facts from the graphic and include source information.

All information in this infographic, except for those that follow below, can be confirmed from the Wikipedia.org page devoted to minifigs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego\_minifigure. I would not deny that Wikipedia can contain errors, however, knowing the importance that the LEGO group puts on its reputation as a company, it would make sense that they had at least checked the page for blatant errors. I'm only guessing of course, but as Wikipedia is a crowd sourced tool, well monitored, it can be reasonably relied on for good information.

The following points had to be confirmed through other quoted sources or other articles on Wikipedia.

According to this thread: http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/911/production-oddities user davee123 indicates he learned in a meeting at LEGO, by an exec, that the heads were given holes as a safety measure against choking. Now they have changed that policy in order to accommodate putting the LEGO logo inside the recessed stud. They apparently felt the hole for not choking had not provided any true safety advantage.

The claim that the Police is the first minifig to have been released is difficult to positvely confirm. In the Wikipedia page it is noted that the first minifigs were “police officers, astronauts and pirates”. Hispa Brick Magazine: http://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/en/content/hbm003-lego%C2%AE-minifig-or-life-doesn%C2%B4t-end-30 in its article on the history of minifigs notes that the Police were released in conjunction with “a fire man, a street worker, space figures, knights...”. The first female minifig nurse is noted to have been released two months after that of the above listed. This article also confirms that the police officer is to date the most popular and that there are indeed 41 different variations of them. The article also states the number of minifigs sold per year to be 122 million in accordance with the graphic as well as the claim that with the number of parts there are a possible 8 quadrillion combinations.

This LEGO wiki site: http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Indian gives information on Native American minifigs being first to have distinct 'racial features', however the drawing on of the nose I was not able to find definitive confirmation of through reliable sources.

The Wikipedia page concerning LEGO video games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Lego\_video\_games lists 43 different games, not 42 though this could be due to a new release after the making of the infographic. Most release dates for games licensed to non-LEGO media checked out except for the LEGO Indiana Jones which is here dated 2008 instead of 2007.

According to this article at Gizmodo which claims it was created in collaboration with the LEGO Group: http://gizmodo.com/5070884/exclusive-the-lego-minifig-timeline, the 1990 appearance of the ghost is correct with its specialized appearance. This article also confirms that licensed minifigs began with Star Wars and the character Luke Skywalker, though the infographic merely states “a Star Wars character”.

According to the LEGO Professionals: http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/lego-group/the\_lego\_history/ , the Indiana Jones line license was signed in 2007, though the sets are noted as being released in 2008. The release of Prince of Persia is also noted as being one year later (2010) than the infographic though does not note the time of contract which may be 2009. As for the Batman series, I found a website called Brick Superheroes: http://www.bricksuperheroes.com/lego-batman-minifigs.asp which delineates the different Batman minifigs and states the first release to be 2006 as indicated in the graphic.

This article by Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing http://boingboing.net/2012/05/15/history-of-gendering-in-lego.html gives his personal count of gender ratio which he shows in pie graph and states that for the five years he studied he came up with an overall ratio of 3.74:1 but he notes that the first year he took account for, 1989, had its own ratio of 13.5:1. He does say, “The imbalanced ratio of masculine to feminine minifigs persists today, though it has lessened over time. I have seen several different numbers for this ratio, so I decided to do my own count” which would indicate the ratio shown in the graphic would be difficult to confirm or deny. I was unable to find definitive proof either way myself.

Wikipedia has this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego\_Homemaker for the Homemaker line which confirms the dates of those sets.

This Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego\_timeline confirms the Paradisa dates, but lists the first release date of the Scala line as 1979 not 1997, however, the LEGO wikia page on Scala: http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Scala indicates it was first released from 1979 to 1980 and then it was re-released again from 1997 to 2001.

The Wikipedia page devoted to LEGO Belville confirms the release year as 1994: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belville\_(Lego).

Wikipedia also has an article devoted to the LEGO Friends line which confirms not only the date but most of the information on the graphic about 'mini dolls' vs. Minifigs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego\_Friends whereas this article: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=2110 at the Brickset site confirms that according to the fact sheet for Friends, the size difference is 5 millimeters.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I'd be mostly sceptical about the sources listed at the bottom of the infographic that apparently come from Wikipedia, Wikia, various blogging networks, and in particular this article published in 2008 from a entertainment site named 'retardzone' which includes no references.

# Answer
> 4 votes
The infographic is visually stunning, and many of the statements are quite correct.

However, there are a few errors.

For example, the following statements are inaccurate:

**Minifigs don't have ears**

Some do, for example:

* Dobby from the Harry Potter theme
* Yoda
* Jar Jar Binks
* The Lord of the Rings elves

**They have a hole \[in the top of their heads\]**

Many modern minifigs don't have this. Some have a recessed stud instead:

**1989 Eyelashes... added**

It is true that variety was introduced to minifig's faces was added in 1989, specifically in the pirate sets. However, none of these figs appears to have anything that resembles eyelashes.

**122 Million minifigs are sold per year**

This may have been accurate when the infographic was produced. However, according to TLG, 340 million minifigs were planned for production in 2012. It seems likely that the number of figs sold should approximate the number manufactured, which suggests that considerably more than 122 million are now sold annually.

**There have been 42 video game(s) based on LEGO sets**

Of course, this has been true *at some point*, since there are now more than 42 video games based on LEGO sets. However, when the infographic was produced, 42 may not have been the correct number, as the Wikipedia article referenced by the infographic (which almost certainly contained a list of 42 games at the time) is *incomplete*. For example, it misses out:

---

During my research, I did discover something that really surprised me. According to the infographic, **a police man was the first minifig, released in 1978**. Now, in 1978 several sets were released which included minifigures for the first time, and amongst these was a policeman. This let me to believe that the policeman was just *one* of the first, rather than specifically *the* first. However, in 2003 TLG published an article entitled "LEGO minifigure turns 25". Now, although this article is no longer available at the LEGO website, it *is* available at web.archive.org, and one of the images on this article was captioned, "Here is the first LEGO minifigure from 1978... ". Unfortunately, the actual image is missing from the archive... but the image is still present on the LEGO web site \- a policeman from the 1978 set number 600. So, according to TLG, the first LEGO minifig was, indeed, the policeman! I'm still not sure what this actually means: was he the first designed, moulded, prototyped or... what? Whatever it means, it turns out that the information in the infographic is well sourced.

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Tags: minifigures, history
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# Question
Title: How to improve the range of an IR receiver?
I am creating a new Truck which contains two IR receivers in the front hood.

With my testing I get a range of about 6 feet (I have also noticed the small Technic motors on the IR receiver are slow when as the distance from the remote increases) until the receiver losses connection.

Is there a way to improve the connection and make the range bigger so my truck can go further than 6 feet?

# Answer
> 7 votes
The best options to improve IR reception is to actually modify both the receiver and the remote (though the remote is more important to upgrade than the receiver).

Common modifications include replacing the transmitter/receiver element with higher range/power components (this may be at the cost of space), or adding reflectors behind the elements to better send/capture the IR signal (aluminum foil works as a great DIY reflector for closed spaces.

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Tags: technic, power-functions
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# Question
Title: Bluetooth pairing successful in OSX but Mindstorms NXT software still can't connect
I'm using OS X Mountain Lion. I've installed the Mindstorms NXT software successfully using the NXT Script.rb script from Lego's web site, which is supposed to tweak the install so that it is compatible with Mountain Lion.

I'm trying to use the remote control tool to control the NXT unit via Bluetooth. I can do it with USB. I'm able to pair the NXT with my computer, but it appears disconnected and doesn't show up in the available devices. However, if I go to Bluetooth preferences, highlight the disconnected NTX device, and then click the gear and choose "Edit serial ports...", it shows a green status and says it's connected. Soon after exiting this dialog, it says it's disconnected again.

I have also tried to scan for the device in the Mindstorms NXT software after pairing but it doesn't find anything. Has anyone succeeded in doing this? Do you have any advice for me?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Carl,

I have the same problem with Mountain Lion and Mindstorms that I bought for Christmas. I have discovered the following so far:

1. This is a known problem that Legos has not taken any action on. I believe it is related to two things: different bluetooth chips and Lion / Mountain Lion OS changes.
2. The Macs with Broadcom Bluetooth chips supposedly will not work. However, the Cambridge Silicon chips supposedly will. You can check this out under the About Apple on your Mac (more information button). My MacBook Pro has the Broadcom chip.
3. Some people have had success pre Lion with bluetooth. And there appears to be Leopard / Snow Leopard patches on the Legos web site. The lack of success for some must still be related to the Broadcom chips which are in the newer Macs.
4. Some have had success with using Windows with Parallels. Usually they are using an external bluetooth dongle and there is some fiddling that needs to be done to override the internal bluetooth by using bluetooth explorer. It is not clear if using Windows through Parallels works with the internal broadcom chip.

Net, here are the approaches I have come up with to try: 1. Try my wife's MacBook with Cambridge Silicon chips and Snow Leopard to confirm it works 2. Create an external boot drive for Snow Leopard plus Mindstorms and see if that works on my MacBook Pro. However, I think the Broadcom chips may prevent it from working. 3. Buy a bluetooth dongle (not clear which ones work and which ones do not) and try it on Snow Leopard external boot drive and then Mountain Lion. 4. Set up parallels and add Win XP to my Mac and see if it works with the internal bluetooth and if not, try the external bluetooth.

The biggest cost for me will be #4 since it will require buying the Parallels upgrade and maybe Windows 7 if I can not get XP to work. I do not like doing this since I have had Parallels and it is "clunky" and at times conflicted with Mac OS and drive storage. I am hoping a Snow Leopard external drive maybe with a cheap bluetooth dongle will solve it.

I am also going to complain to Legos about supporting the Lion / Mountain Lion OS upgrade. However, I do not expect a positive response since they will probably stop supporting NXT 2 in favor of their new system.

\**Successful Update!!!!!:

1. I have successfully run Mindstorms using a MacBook with Snow Leopard plus the Cambridge Silicon Bluetooth chips. Plus, the flash player is version 11.1.102.55. I created a simple program and downloaded it to the NXT brick using bluetooth. I shut down the NXT and Mac several times downloading new programs to the NXT brick using bluetooth. Each time you restart the brick or the NXT program, you must pair bluetooth via the NXT window button in the controller of the NXT program. Once set up it will run as long as you maintain the link and keep the NXT program and NXT brick on.
2. I made an external Snow Leopard Boot disk to run off my MacBook Pro with the Broadcom Bluetooth chips. I updated it with current Apple updates through the internet to make sure it is current. I loaded the Adobe Flash player version 11.1.102.55 to be consistent with the MacBook setup. (There has been some indication that the current Flash version creates problems so I took that out of the mix...I will explore this later). I added the Mindstorms NXT 2 program. I connected with the NXT brick via bluetooth; created a program and downloaded it successfully. Net, it appears to work!!!!

I now believe that the issues with Mountain Lion are related to 64 bit versus 32 bit on Snow Leopard. My understanding is that NXT 2 is a 32 bit program. Plus, you will notice that Mindstorms NXT 2 runs better in Rosetta mode which Mountain Lion does not support (Notice the watch comes up when you double click to start the NXT program...it means Rosetta). Net, it appears to work.

For your information: Full Snow Leopard installation and NXT takes up 15.74 GB. I added iWorks 9 so I would have a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation capability which would drive it to 16.7 GB. Thus, you could easily fit the whole works on a 32 GB thumb drive and have about 15 GB of space for data. This would make the whole arrangement very compact for travel with a MacBook Pro.

Anyway, I got it to work to my satisfaction and I am off to learn how to make robots!!\**

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Tags: mindstorms, nxt, software, bluetooth
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# Question
Title: A piece with no place in Heartlake Stables
I recently bought this set for my niece for her birthday, when we were finished setting it up we noticed a larger orange piece that we couldn't find a place for but was in the set and in the back of the book where it outline what pieces there/how many of them. I just wondering for sure what the piece goes to?

# Answer
That part is the new Brick Separator which LEGO includes in most bigger sets:

It's not part of the construction itself, but is a tool to allow you to easily disassemble constructions. You can compare it with the older version in this question on how to separate 1x2 plates.
> 20 votes

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Tags: sets, friends
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title: What does EV3 stand for?

text:
# Question
Title: What does EV3 stand for?
I am wondering what the official reason behind the name of LEGO's latest MINDSTORMS robotics platform is. What does "EV3" stand for?

# Answer
From the official EV3 FAQ:

> ### What does EV3 stand for?
>
> This is the third generation of the LEGO MINDSTORMS platform and the "EV" stands for evolution, hence EV3.

The first two generations referred to here are LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX and NXT, respectively.
> 13 votes

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Tags: mindstorms, terminology, ev3
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# Question
Title: What are the known software tools for the EV3?
The EV3 is coming in Fall/Summer of 2013 and we tons of unknowns that will come in EV3. I am curious what software EV3 will run and will older generation software run on EV3 (NXT 1.0). And my final Question EV3 will work with Apple and Android devices, so that would mean iOS and Android developers could make application for EV3 or will only Lego make apps for EV3.

# Answer
> 6 votes
As you say, there are still tons of unknown at this point, so asking the question is way premature.

However, considering the software is said to be based on the same technology as the one in the NXT, it's likely it won't be too different, and that's why that software will be able to control NXT bricks. However, I also doubt you'll be able to control EV3 bricks with NXT software.

That software is going to work on Mac OS and Windows (not 8 or 8.1 rt); it's likely the apps for Android will not be a full-blown development environment (although, it's just a guess, it would be way cool if it was).

As for third-parties, LEGO has been very very open about its software in the past, and they will be this time too - opening the door for a plethora of applications/firmwares/whatever on several platforms.

# Answer
> 7 votes
The graphical software that ships with the EV3 set can program both EV3 bricks and older generation bricks. We assume that this means NXT 1.0 and 2.0 bricks. However, it is unlikely that NXT-G will work with EV3 bricks as EV3 bricks run a custom build of Linux, whereas older bricks run a custom firmware.

LEGO will create an offical app for both Apple and Android devices, but other app developers will be able to use the API to interface with the EV3. There will most likely be some documentation available (as it was for the NXT), and perhaps a SDK available for download.

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Tags: software, robotic, ev3
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# Question
Title: List of Helpful Websites for Beginning Collectors
I recently wandered into my father's basement where my brother and I used to have our "game room" setup. I stumbled across a massive amount of LEGO that we had collected over the years. Since then, I've had the urge to get back into LEGO, taking a more adult approach at collecting them.

I was wondering if there were additional sites besides the one's I've found that may shed some light for a beginning collector. Also, feel free to include any tips that you think may be beneficial in this quest! Here are the list of sites I've come across:

# Answer
> 6 votes
On top of the already mentioned:

1. http://www.lugnet.com/
2. http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/LEGO\_Wiki
3. http://www.brickset.com/
4. http://www.peeron.com \- Large set database and instruction scan library
5. http://www.bricklink.com \- Lego marketplace selling millions of used and new parts and sets. This is also a nice reference for information and inventories related to old sets.

I personnally use the following ones as well:

1. http://www.brickfactory.info/ \- Online collection of Lego Sets instructions
2. http://rebrickable.com/ \- Site allowing you to see what other Lego set you can build from your existing collection

After that, it all comes down to forums and more specialized websites that directly depend on your area of interest (sci-fi, military, castle...), your language, and your location.

# Answer
> 3 votes
On top of the resources that you listed, I have found these two sites to be incredibly useful:

1. peeron.com \- Large set database and instruction scan library
2. bricklink.com \- Lego marketplace selling millions of used and new parts and sets. This is also a nice reference for information and inventories related to old sets.

It's not a site, but if you don't mind books, I would recommend The Cult of Lego by John Baichtal.

You also might be interested in finding a LUG (Lego users group) near you. Here's a map.

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Tags: shopping
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# Question
Title: Is there a reliable way to determine what minifigure is in a LEGO Minifigures series package?
I would love to have one of each minifigure from the various LEGO Minifigure series. Unfortunately, as you receive a random minifigure in each package, this is more difficult than it should be. I either have to purchase a lot of extra packages and hope that I eventually span the entire set, or I have to pay exorbitant amounts on the Internet for the minifigures I need to complete my collection.

Is there a simple and reliable way, when I am in the store, to determine what minifigure is in the package?

# Answer
It can be done, but you need to be able to handle the packages. Different minifigure series may require different approaches, from barcodes to patterns of dots or dimples to feeling for certain characteristic parts in the bags. Those approaches have been documented in a number of places:

Also, since every box has a set quantity of each minifig, if you buy a full unopened box of 60, you will get a full set of the minifigs. (More than one set in fact, but you'd have to look at the per-box quantities to see if it's 2 or 3.)
> 18 votes

# Answer
I managed to get the five minifigures I wanted, right every time by feeling the bags. It takes patience and a good understanding of how different bricks feel. There are some guides online that show you which individual pieces to look for.

Use the process of elimination. If you're looking for the Witch minifig, look for a bag with slope instead of legs. The Witch is the only minifig in it's series that has no legs piece.

Working in a store that sold collectible minifigures, I can tell you that you cannot differ each minifigure by barcode.

* The individual bags are packaged randomly inside a box of 60.
* There is an uneven quantity of minifigures so some are rarer then others, the quantity of each minifig is the same for each box.

In the end, nothing's more reliable then your own X-ray machine...
> 6 votes

# Answer
My boys and I purchased a precision scale for nine dollars from Harbor Freight and set it to grams. We purchased ten Lego minifigures series nine. We measured the ten empty packages for a weight of 19.8333 grams and divided by 10 to get an average wieght of 1.983 grams, or rounded to 2 grams. We then weighed the ten inserts showing the 16 numbered, named and pictured figurines, they weighed 28.8333 grams and divided by 10 to get an average weight of 2.833 grams, or rounded to 3 grams. We then made a list from 1 to 16 and named each number with its respective figurine and weighed each to get the following and adding the weight of the insert plus the package for a total package weight of:

Lego Minifigures Series 9
Number, Figure Name, Figure Weight in grams, Figure + P&I weight for total weight

-1 Waiter 0.0

-2 Cyclops 0.0

-3 Starlett 0.0

-4 Knight 6.8 11.7

-5 Cesar 5.3 10.2

-6 Cop 5.4 10.3

-7 Chicken 0.0

-8 Skater 0.0

-9 Cleo 7.0 11.9

-10 Judge 5.9 10.8

-11 Alien 7.3 12.2

-12 Mermaid 7.6 12.5

-13 Spaceman 6.2 11.1

-14 Jekle/Hide 5.4 10.3

-15 She Shield 7.5 12.4

-16 Plumber 0.0

```
Insert  2.9g           Total wt. 28.8333g
Package 2.0g           Total wt. 19.8333g
P&I 4.9 grams (this will be added to each individual figurine weight)

```

Note that the missing weights are the figurines we still lack. We got 3 repeats and their weight varied by less than 0.01 gram. So, what we did next was to go on our hunt and stealthly enter the toy stores, break out the digital scale, zero it out and weigh the package. We made the list from heaviest to lightest and what we are going to do is to purchase just those weights that we do not have. Following is said list:

Number, Figure Name, Weight in grams, Figure + P&I weight for total weight,

1. Mermaid 7.6 12.5
2. Maiden 7.5 12.4
3. Alien 7.3 12.2
4. Cleo? 7.0 11.9
5. Knight 6.8 11.7
6. Spaceman 6.2 11.1
7. Judge 5.9 10.8
8. Cop 5.4 10.3
9. Good/Bad 5.4 10.3
10. Cesar 5.3 10.2
11. Waiter missing 0.0
12. Cyclops missing 0.0
13. Starlett missing 0.0
14. Chicken missing 0.0
15. Skater missing 0.0
16. Plumber missing 0.0

As we find the new weights I'll try to repost and upgrade the new information. If someone has the figures we don't have and could post just their figure weight, we would greatly appreciate it.

Lastly, the insert weights were right on the money and exact to each other, but the packages did vary above and below the average by around 0.15 grams. What would have been more scientifically significanly would have been if we had weighed each bag that came with each unique figure, but we were so much in a hurry to battle that we lost focus. I think the varience in the package bag weight has to do with sloppy manufacturing than stratigic engineering to confuse us.

@3F's
> 6 votes

# Answer
The cheapest approach is to buy a box online, keep the figures you want, and sell the rest.

The most hassle-free approach is to buy the figures you want online. Either individually or as a set.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Another option to help finish off your collections is BrickLink, sort of the eBay of LEGO. There are plenty of sellers in the US with a large amount of reputation

Here is a link to BrickLink with a listing of the Collectible Minifigs:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catID=746

Be sure to buy the 'complete set' figs otherwise you will probably not get the accessories.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Theoretically, it shoud be possible to tell the minifigures apart by weight, but you would need highly precise scales to do so.
> 2 votes

# Answer
i find it rather easy to feel for the minifigures. All you have to do, is identify a uncommon trait that only that minifigure has, and then feel for that. for example, the conquistador has a breastplate. just feel for something bendy, hollow on 2 sides. its not that hard.
> 1 votes

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Tags: minifigures, shopping, collectable-minifigures
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# Question
Title: does Lego make bricks with a stone, brick or concrete block design?
Does Lego make the bricks with a stone, brick or concrete block finish on the sides? I would like to use these for walls and buildings on a train layout. Thanks!

# Answer
> 10 votes
As usual with LEGO, the best solution is often to make your own.

You can make quite impressive brick walls using tiles, like this (image from Brickshelf):

There is a tutorial for something similar here.

A range of other techniques can be found in an article called Avoiding the "Big Gray Wall" Syndrome at Classic-Castle.com. In fact, Google LEGO castles for a great source of inspiration for stonework of all kinds. For example, check this and this out.

# Answer
> 8 votes
There's this part, which has a brick pattern molded into the side:

http://brickset.com/parts/?part=4646577

# Answer
> 6 votes
In short: Yes.

There are actually quite a lot varying in base colour and stone/brick design. As mentioned by another poster, many are from the castle theme, but there are also interesting ones from Duplo which may help with your layout if you are trying to cover a large area as the Duplo blocks are larger.

Some examples are below, but for lots more take a look through these items on Bricklink.

Brick 1 x 6 x 5 with Stone Wall Pattern

Panel 2 x 5 x 6 Wall with Red Bricks Scattered Pattern

Panel 2 x 5 x 6 Wall with Scattered Stones Dark Gray Pattern

Panel 3 x 3 x 6 Corner Wall with Scattered Stones Light Gray Pattern

Duplo, Brick 2 x 2 with Stone Wall Pattern

Duplo Building Wall 1 x 8 x 8 with Window Opening - Castle

# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm pretty sure some of the Castle series have tall pieces with some brick outlines...

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Tags: piece-information
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# Question
Title: Can we program Nxt2 in C++ under Visual studio 2010?
I'd like to know if it is possible to develop C++ software for NXT2 using Visual Studio 2010 as IDE. I know there are small online projects for NXT but I can't find nothing about NXT2.... Any suggestions would be more than welcomed about libraries, software and firmware that is required to achieve this goal: C++ and Visual Studio for NXT2.

# Answer
I think that all you might need is the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. The examples that I could find all refer to C#, VB.Net, or the included VPL languages but there isn't any reason you wouldn't be able to reference the same objects from managed C++.

It does look like there might not be a full set of services for all of the more recent parts judging from some of the comments in one of the examples that I saw, but the author of that article does have a few other notes elsewhere.

After installing and playing around with it a bit myself, I did find a link to the MSDN documentation for using NXT with MRDS that you can look through before you get started. (I wasn't able to give much of it a try yet because I'm out of batteries with my NXT brick.)

Beyond that a Google search for "mrds nxt" found the following likely useful items:
> 7 votes

# Answer
There are some answers to this on Stack Overflow: C++ OOP Library for Programming the Lego NXT

NXT++ is the best choice with dual USB/Bluetooth support. The C++ communication library has more features, but it's Bluetooth-only.
> 2 votes

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Tags: nxt, mindstorms, programming
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title: I need help with a broken LEGO motor

text:
# Question
Title: I need help with a broken LEGO motor
I have a LEGO motor and it broke but I didn't know why so I took apart the LEGO motor to see if the wires were the problem. I tested the wires to see if they were working but they weren't and I can't find where they are broken so any advice on what I should do?

# Answer
The easiest solution, provided that motor is still in production, is to contact the LEGO customer service using the "broken part" button, or via telephone directly which might be easier for a part such as a motor.

They'll usually provide a replacement without problem, but be advised that by opening the motor yourself, you probably voided any sort of warranty and may need to pay for a replacement.
> 5 votes

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Tags: motor, repair
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# Question
Title: What colors does the NXT Color Sensor support?
Quick question, what colors does the NXT color sensor support? Is it the entire rainbow or only specific colors?

# Answer
It depends on which version you're talking about.

**NXT 1.0 Light Sensor:** This sensor should detect up to 100 shades from white(100) to black(0).

**NXT compatible Hitechnic Color Sensor:** This sensor will detect 17 colors including white(17) and black(0) or 100 shades from white(100) to black(0).

**NXT 2.0 Color Sensor:** This sensor can detect 6 colors including white(6) and black(1).

To complete the list (even though it is not backward compatible with NXT) - **EV3 Color Sensor:** This sensor can detect 7 colors which are the same as the NXT 2.0 sensor plus “No Color”? Yes, according to LEGO's website, this new sensor can detect when there's no color. Does this means white or that the detector is not sensing a color? This needs to be validated too.

This is one area where, as new versions are coming out, the possibilities of the sensors are diminishing.
> 4 votes

# Answer
The NXT 2.0 Colour Sensor can detect black, blue, green, yellow, red and white but cannot distinguish between different shades of colours (for example, different shades of green).
> 2 votes

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Tags: nxt, sensor-colour
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# Question
Title: Mindstorms NXT Bluetooth Slow Connecting
I have just bought a NXT 2.0 and have installed the software on my laptop, and after some trouble getting it to connect I now have it connected any working using bluetooth. However it takes an age to connect, and I wondered if anybody knew why and how to sort it out.

I am running Win7 32-bit, and to get the software running I first had to set it to run as administrator and using XP SP2 compatibility settings, and had to change the bluetooth driver to use the generic MS stack rather than the installed for from the manufacturer. I found these tips on various sites around the web.

Once I had done this I managed to get it working, but now on opening the software and scanning for devices, it takes somewhere in the region of 4-5 minutes to find the device (while it is sat next to the laptop), and then another 2-3 minutes to connect, and then even more annoyingly another 2 minutes when I click close on the devices window. Once this has completed, it works fine and uploads and downloads with no problems, but it just seems really slow getting there.

Any ideas?

# Answer
> 3 votes
I have got that problem too. And this is a bug in the NXT 2.0 system, So there are two solutions:

1- Using the USB Cable instead of Bluetooth as it give no errors and it is faster also it keeps your battery life for longer time.

2-Update your NXT Firmware frequently as the LEGO may be fixed the problem.

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Tags: mindstorms, bluetooth
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title: Mindstorms start block is missing

text:
# Question
Title: Mindstorms start block is missing
the start block is missing on my mindstorms NXT 2.0 programming space. i cannot run any program without it.

i have tried, restarting the programming window, placing a block and even just undoing to the point that it dissappeared.

So far nothing has worked

# Answer
> 2 votes
Try uninstalling the software and installing the latest version (if you weren't installed it)

# Answer
> 2 votes
First try to reinstall NXT 2.0. This should help you.

What's your OS ? Can you give screenshot ?

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Tags: nxt, mindstorms, programming
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# Question
Title: What are the possible differences between LEGO elements?
I'm in a technical school in the Netherlands and we received the following questions for an assignment:

1. What are the other possible differences between LEGO elements?
2. What are the different forms of LEGO elements?
3. In which different colours can the LEGO elements exist?
4. In what packaging form can the elements be found?

Where can I find information on these various questions?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Really 4 questions in one.

To try to address question 3,

> In which different colours can the LEGO elements exist?

these links to other similar questions may help:

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Tags: technic
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# Question
Title: How does the cost of a LEGO railroad compare to a traditional scale railroad layout?
How do the costs compare between a railroad layout constructed with LEGO trains and a nearly identical layout using traditional scale models, such as HO?

# Answer
> 11 votes
I'd say that an initial HO scale set was probably cheaper than a LEGO version, although a direct comparison isn't easy, and it can rapidly get out of hand once you start adding more elements in.

## Initial Purchases

The closest I can find is probably comparing 7939 LEGO Cargo Train, which is currently selling in the LEGO shop for £130:

With something like the GWR Passenger Freight from Hornby, which is selling for £80:

I chose that one as it has the basic oval plus "Track Pack A", giving some additional track including points.

Add a TrackMat accessory pack for £30 for some buildings or platforms and you're still cheaper than LEGO set.

An entry-level set from Hornby with just the basic oval of track retails at around £70, compared with £102 for the Passenger Train set:

However, once you venture out of the initial sets, go for the digital options, or move out of the "RailRoad" brand, the cost goes up to the point where you're paying £200-300 for an engine, up to the giddy heights of "Live Steam".

## Extending your track

The comparison becomes even harder now, however this is where LEGO wins on price, if not on range.

The LEGO shop lists a Switching Tracks set with a pair of points (left and right) and 4 curved rails for £16, compared with Hornby's price of £12 for **each** point - or £29 for a pack with a pair of points, 2 curves and 2 points.

HO Scale will offer you more options in general however: Hornby for example have 4 different radii of curves, a number of different lengths of straight tracks, 4 different styles of points (Standard, curved, express and Y), crossings, and two flexibilities of "flexible" track (about £4/m compared with LEGO's £12/m), as well as a much larger range of locomotives and rolling stock.

# Answer
> 11 votes
I say this as having been a model railroader (http://zoorail.wordpress.com) for more than 10 years. You will never get the level of detail, scale or even perhaps value with Lego railroad sets as compared to normal model railroading but I just bought two Lego Train sets 7939 and 3677 and was blown away by the care that has not only gone into how they look but also how they operate. Out of the box, you are not only given a full train set and track; but the controller also allows you to independently operate up to 8 functions i.e. trains / lights etc. This IS possible with model railroading but it certainly isn't as straightforward or even if it is, if you have young children (like me) the marriage of ease of operations with child-proof playability makes this something you may want to consider.

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Tags: shopping, trains
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# Question
Title: What is the best-practice for circular lego staircase construction?
Aside from using the grey key-hole shapes, I'm looking for a Lego-standard or best-practice method for building a circular Lego staircase?

Requirements:

* 6-8 studs "wide" (from the center to outer edge)
* Sturdy, play-able construction
* Connects at either 90 or 180 degrees to a floor.

# Answer
There's a brick-built spiral staircase in the Pet Shop:

That's definitely the most common way to do it. You just build up around a central point. This can be expanded to use longer or wider steps:

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/267772

You can also use 2x2 turntables if you need more strength and/or larger stairs:

http://www.popscreen.com/v/6UIWz/Tutorial-Lego-Spiral-Staircase
> 14 votes

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Tags: building, piece-usage
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# Question
Title: Why do official Lego sets sometimes use 1 large part when several would work just as well?
One of the things that makes Lego so great is the ability to rebuild sets into something new and different. However, I know that sometimes TLG uses large pieces to lower costs and/or build complexity. Some examples:

It seems to me that some part choices are quite strange. For example, 7346 - Seaside House contains 2 1x2x2 bricks and 28 regular 1x2 bricks in medium blue. It doesn't seem like the double height bricks provide a much simpler or sturdier build, and the part is less reusable. I would have rather seen 1x2 bricks used throughout, especially since this is a Creator set, which focuses on being rebuildable.

I also found it strange that they chose to use 1x2x2 bricks in two places, but kept 1x1 bricks stacked 5+ high in others. It seems that if the goal is to create a sturdier model, replacing these stacks with 1x1x5 bricks would have been a good place to start.

So, I guess my question is: what goes into the decision of which specific parts to use in a production Lego model?

# Answer
> 13 votes
Some of the reasons (including some you've mentioned):

* To make building easier / sturdier, so that the set is more suitable for its intended age range
* The larger pieces are sometimes cheaper than the component pieces would be
* The component parts may not be part of the current inventory of parts available to designers
* To make the build interesting
* To provide an interesting variety of parts

In the case of the set you mention (and this is pure speculation) it is possible that 1x1x5 bricks are more expensive to make or that they were unavailable in the right colour at the time the set was designed. At the same time, the designers might have felt that the 1x2x2 bricks reduced the part count to the extent that the set was viable for the intended market.

# Answer
> 6 votes
One aspect could be to make the models more interesting to build.

As far as I can see, Lego is at it's core a kid's product.No offense. I love it too and last time I check I didn't qualify as a kid.

And a varied set of bricks seems to me more appealing to "the kid" than a uniform engineering-streamlined set of bricks.

Then, I don't know the design process for Lego models, but maybe the designers just pick and choose what they feel like. (Essentially following what I described above.)

Disclaimer: Of course, pure speculation on my part.

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Tags: sets
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# Question
Title: Is there a freely downloadable LEGO set and part dataset?
I'm working on a project that will require a list of all sets including all of the parts they contain. I'm aware of at least three sites which have this information (Peeron, BrickLink, and Rebrickable), but I haven't been able to find a way to download all of this data easily.

The closest thing I have been able to find so far is the Brickset API, but Brickset only has a limited amount of set metadata (year, theme, part count, etc) and does not seem to have a full listing of parts contained in each set.

# Answer
> 22 votes
I wasn't able to find anything like this, so I contacted the admins of the sites that I mentioned in the question. Rebrickable was kind enough to send me a dump of their set inventories under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-SA license, which basically means that you can do whatever you want with the data as long as Rebrickable is acknowledged as the source and you share any updates that you make.

I've created an archive which contains a spreadsheet for each set that was in the dump that I received. Hopefully this is useful to someone else.

Lego Set Inventories as of March 2014

Update:

The raw data that I used to create these spreadsheets is now available directly from Rebrickable and is updated monthly there. I also maintain software to build an SQLite database from these dumps.

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Tags: set-database
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# Question
Title: What are the angles used in angle connectors and liftarms?
LEGO makes Technic Angle Connectors, like these:

(Here are names and part numbers).

They also make angular liftarms, like these:

(part 32348).

That last part has an angle of 53.5 degrees. What are the angles of the angle connectors, and why were these angles chosen? (I'd understand angles like 45, 60, and 72 degrees, but 53.5?!)

# Answer
The regular connector have simple angles which are multiples of 22.5°. #4 is 45°, #3 is 22.5° and #5 is 67.5°. That's pretty boring stuff, but there you go.

The 53.5 angle isn't as bizarre as you would think and there's a very good reason for it (and less boring to me, but YMMV).

That reason is that it forms a Pythagorean triangle, and specifically the best known 3:4:5 one, meaning these liftarms can be used together with regular right-angle frames to make sturdy constructions.

The one you chose isn't the best example as the beam doesn't extend to the full hypotenuse (the connection points need to be 5 studs apart), but the longer one is perfect for that. If the small side is attached to a beam, the cross at the end of the long side will be perfectly aligned on a beam that would be 4 studs higher.

LEGO uses that to connect beams 4 studs apart in a very solid way, for example in 8435 - 4WD (the blue beam behind the front wheel) or in the more recent 8053 - Mobile Crane (left of the linear actuator)

And for the record, the angle in degrees is weirder that just 53.5°; it's actually 53.130102...°, or the invert cosine of 3/5. So if you thought Pythagoras and trigonometry wouldn't come and annoy you in your play, you're oh so wrong.
> 22 votes

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Tags: technic, piece-information
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# Question
Title: Is the PWM on the PF Servo motor different than the PWM from an Arduino?
I have a Arduino motor shield connected to XL, L and M motors and can control the speed with PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). I made my own connector by cutting a Lego PF connector in half and wiring up the two inner connectors to "pins" that are easy to connect to a breadboard.

When I connect those two pins to the PF Servo Motor that comes with the Crawler, well, nothing happens no matter what pulse I send (Arduino handles the pulses . . I just set a "direction" pin and a value between 0 and 255 . . . and PWM or not the net effect is that with a voltmeter you see voltages between about -9 Volts and 9 volts, same as when you measure from the IR receiver).

Anyway, what am I missing? What is different about PWM on a servo motor?

# Answer
> 5 votes
According to Philo's detailed analysis of the servomotor, it takes its commands from the C lines but needs to be powered as well:

> Being a Power Functions range member, it is fully integrated with this system, and receives its commended position through C1/C2 lines, and its power from supply lines. On a normal motor, C1/C2 duty cycle directly control motor speed, here they set the angular position of the shaft.

This makes sense since there's electronics involved and these need to be powered by a regular, reliable power supply which is exactly the purpose of the +9V and Ground wires. The same holds for the IR receiver (although that one ignores the C1/C2 lines completely).

For more information on the PF wiring, you should also check Philo's presentation of the Power Functions system.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Turns out the problem is that Servo motors need at least THREE wires. Two for the PWM and one for full power. I made a new connector (and I can attach a picture if anyone is interested . . . just don't have one handy right now) that had all four of the wires from the Lego brick connected to breadboarding pins and then I wired the two new wires to +9 and ground. That did the trick! As soon as it powered up I could hear the servo motor moving to center. Then, I sent pulses with the Arduino and I once again had control of the steering!

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Tags: motor, electronics, arduino
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# Question
Title: Why does LEGO state the number of parts on US boxes, but not in Europe?
I was reading Huw Millington's review of set 70700 Space Swarmer on brickset, in which he states:

> The box is almost square and this being from the USA, like all US boxes but unlike European ones, it states the number of pieces on the front. I'm guessing that it's some sort of requirement to do so in the USA, but I wonder why LEGO don't print it on European boxes. It's useful information for the consumer, after all.

Which I think is a very valid question.

Are there indeed such requirements in the USA? Are there other countries with similar requirements?

And I guess this will be harder to answer, but why doesn't LEGO just state it on all boxes anyway?

# Answer
> 17 votes
There is indeed a requirement that packaged products sold in the US must indicate the weight, volume or quantity plainly on the package. This is regulated by the FTC, which says in its requirements,

> The net quantity of contents (in terms of weight or mass, measure, or numerical count) shall be separately and accurately stated...

Canada has a similar law that says the net quantity of packaged products must be on the label.

The European Union's product labeling requirements do not appear to make the quantity a mandatory part of the product label. I do not think it actually prohibits putting the number of pieces on the packages, so it may not explain why The LEGO Company leaves that information off their European packages.

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Tags: packaging
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# Question
Title: How do I remove orange (rust?) stains from white elements?
I'm building with some yard sale Lego, and have several elements that have orange stains on them. If I had to guess, I'd say something seeped onto the bricks while they were in storage. At this point I'll probably bury them inside my MOC, but I'm curious to know if there is a method to unblemish white Lego elements?

# Answer
> 2 votes
Maybe you can try with toothpaste and a toothbrush as toothpaste is one of the mildest polishers.

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Tags: cleaning
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# Question
Title: Why did LEGO create different canister for the Visorak?
I have the six original Visorak (Sets 8742, 8743, 8744, 8745, 8746 and 8747) with different canisters (or boxes).

For example, my Suukorak (8747) has a white canister, and my friend's has a black one.

Here's a picture showing the canisters:

Some canisters are colored the same as their lid while others are black.

Why?

# Answer
I heard a similar question about old cars and how one owner had a hood made of steel and another . . . same make, same model, same year . . . had an aluminum hood. The answer as to why was simple . . . it's the metal the manufacturer had at the time. My guess is once the molding machines are loaded with a color they keep using it until it runs out. Some of the colors were versatile and looked good on multiple sets so they could make more of those before switching colors.
> 4 votes

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Tags: bionicle
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title: How can I build a human-scale Lego gun?

text:
# Question
Title: How can I build a human-scale Lego gun?
I would like to build Lego projectile weapons. Are there any designs available? Can one make an amunition magazine and self-reloading mechanism? Should I use rubberbands as ammunition or are there designs that fire Lego bricks?

# Answer
> 14 votes
There are some Books available that include building-instructions (i don't own one of these, but i would choose the most current):

to answer your question about magazines/reloading mechanisms: see this youtube-video that shows such a mechanism in detail (although it's a bit hard to perceive details).

in addition the book about LEGO Technic Simple Mechanics might also be interesting for you, if you want to try building a own gun instead of just "copying" from a detailed instruction.

# Answer
> 6 votes
The book "Forbidden LEGO" has some, and you may also want to check YouTube on the subject

# Answer
> 6 votes
There is a book called "LEGO Heavy Weapons" by Jack Streat which is published by No Starch Press and can be bought for about £15 on Amazon.

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Tags: design
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# Question
Title: Why are new LEGO bricks softer than old ones?
The older bricks that were made back in the day, "pre-2K", seem to be made out of a harder and more durable brick that would hurt your feet when you walked on them. Now it appears that since the other brother of the LEGO family took over, things have changed and you are seeing tons of themed sets coming out, (which is awesome), but at the same time they seem to have changed to a softer mixture of plastic.

Some AFOL's think that this is due to the fact that the bricks are now being made in China; they used to be made in Mexico.

If you compare a sword piece made in 1995 and compared it to the new stuff, you'll notice that even the color is different. The old Medieval swords were bright and shiny and hard as a rock. The old pirate swords you could be used like a tooth pick. Now they both seem to be made out of an entirely different plastic and bend with no effort.

I personally have not spent more than $200 in this last year down from $2000 the prior year for this reason. The only reason I bought anything at all was the new Friends sets. I loved LEGO until they took out the main reason I was buying their toys; their durability aspect. It was one of the only toys on the market that didn't turn towards profit and become mass produced in China, now I will have to start buying Playmobil.

# Answer
> 13 votes
Some of it may be your own perception changing, such as a room you remember being big when you were a kid, but which you find small as an adult. So when you perceive bricks as being softer, it could actually be that they aren't, but that your perception changed. (If you were to walk barefoot on LEGO bricks for one hour per day, your feet would eventually harden enough that you wouldn't feel it anymore.)

However, some may actually hold true, especially for weapons. Swords that are produced nowadays are indeed not as hard as they were back then, and that is simply for safety reasons, as safety controls put in place become harder with times. In extreme cases, they'll even use rubber, for example for the tip of the big spike introduced with exo-force. Another more subtle example is the circular saw blade: ever thought how dumb it was that they didn't use a cross axle hole in that? Wonder no more: it's just so that kids wouldn't put it on a motor (I know I would have as a kid).

As for the perceived quality changes, well, it's a bit of the same, there's a lot of it which is just that, perception; but there are of course real quality issues that pop up from time to time, which LEGO usually assesses the best they can. One key factor here is that there's a huge stock in their factories, so any changes they make can take a while before they appear in released sets. For example, they have switched at some point from buying precolored plastic granulate to adding the color themselves to white granulate, but at some point they didn't add enough color, resulting in translucent and more fragile bricks. They fixed that, but a lot of the already produced bricks made it into sets.

Also, LEGO can only learn about quality issue when customers actually complain about them, so when facing a real quality issue, it's always best to contact the customer service and explain the problem. Not only will they usually be able to provide replacements for you, but this will eventually reach the production quality assurance.

# Answer
> 10 votes
Plastic pieces will become harder over time. Not sure why, but I think it is that the substance that were added to make the plastic a little softer evaporates over time.

I have been told that the people designing sets for LEGO never use pieces older than 2 years. This is because harder pieces will have more clutch power than softer pieces and because of that, they might accidentally design a set that will fall to pieces when built with only new pieces.

# Answer
> 10 votes
I can't definitively answer, but I can say that this has been a common observation around the late 1990's and early 2000's-- nothing to do with Chinese manufacturing.

I personally made the observation when comparing construction in large-scale creations in 1999/2000 and later in 2005. The large scale creation in 1999/2000 was a very large building, commissioned for a music school, and used elements that were likely molded in the 1996-1999 timeframe (they were brick and plate accessory packs). In 2005, we worked on the LEGO Millyard, producing similarly large buildings using very similar techniques for roofs.

Each project used stacks of large plates (black in 1999 and dark stone in 2005) for the roofs, and the behavior of the elements was distinctly different. In 2005, the plates had a tendency to "moosh" their way apart unless connected fully (and even then sometimes worked their way apart as the sections were handled), whereas in 1999, I didn't have that experience.

Around that time (2000 or so), hobbyists were commenting on the fact that it seemed like newer molded elements were softer, and didn't have a tendency to "click" together quite as much as they had in the past. And again, this is prior to Chinese manufacturing or dye-injected coloring changes.

The theory had by some was that this was a conscious change on LEGO's part to make the elements easier to use for younger children. Around that time (1997), LEGO was attempting to lower the age range on Town sets to bridge the gap between Duplo and System, and such a change may have been a part of that effort. According to one account by an AFOL that was involved in plastics manufacturing, this is often achieved in ABS plastic by adding more vinyl to the ABS mixture, giving it a more spongey quality.

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Tags: piece-information, design, vintage, afol
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# Question
Title: What is the easiest technique for large builds?
I recently acquired the Space Shuttle set, #10231, and find that it isn't a staged build--one with sequential bags. This leaves me at a bit of a loss over how to organize and search through 1200+ pieces while putting it together. What technique will allow me to more easily find the needed part during construction?

# Answer
> 15 votes
I recommend getting 15-20 small-medium tupperware containers (you can get them pretty cheap now). Separate the pieces in a way that makes sense to you. Tupperware has flexible sizing and they are transparent, making it easier to identify pieces from the side of the container.

You don't have to completely put each individual piece in its own bin. But, for example, you could put 1x1's of all colors in one tiny bin, all transparent pieces in another, etc.

The important points on choosing your bin contents is:

1. Make it so you know exactly which bin to reach for when you need a certain piece. The bin should have a clear theme in your mind.
2. Ensure that you don't put difficult to tell apart pieces in the same bin; they should be easy to differentiate even when only seeing half of a part.

The first rule and the second are often conflicting. One thing I recommend is to keep even-length and odd-length pieces separate. Don't put 3 and 4 longs (of the same color and type) in the same bucket, but 2 and 4 is fine.

Half an hour sorting the pieces at the start can save much more than half an hour in the build, as well as making the build more pleasant and fun.

# Answer
> 3 votes
You'll just need to separate all the types of pieces so that you can easily access any piece you need. I believe this will work just the same for the 'jumbled up' case as well ;)

# Answer
> 2 votes
What I did for the Death Star minifigure set (that has no numbered bags in it at all!) was to make long chains of identical bricks regardless of colour, (a system based on shape not size). Although I do put similar shaped pieces of different sizes together especially with LEGO Technic pieces, just overlap them slightly to make it easier to break up for use and one can stack them in a box for storage.

Again it's easier if one sorts out the bricks before a long and massive build as it saves time hunting down that elusive part and getting "brick blindness" in low light levels.

Building by day light is essential if the plans are bricks are hard to see. To avoid cramp, try to build on a table and not on the floor or on a bed as this can slow down the build.

Take short breaks between completed sections or take it day-by-day or one can be up for ages. Also as an experienced builder, I find one can get quite cold sitting in one position for a long period of time, so hot drinks and the central heating on full can help with concentration that and the phone off the hook helps too...

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Tags: building
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# Question
Title: What is the official term used for building MOC models?
I know that MOC means "my own creation" as noted here. What I would like to know is do you call the actual act of creating a MOC, "MOC building", or is there another official term? I wanted to build with my son and called it 'free building' as I did not know any official term, and only just learned the acronym MOC. I would like to know how to properly say, "Let's go \___________" (build without a plan).

edit: I think where I was confused came from the fact that I've read here and other places that using the term LEGOs is incorrect, that you are supposed to use LEGO bricks and I found that awkward to say so I thought maybe there was also a special term for building official sets versus building a MOC.

# Answer
By considering a "somehow usual amongst fans" instead of "official" position (see my comment), I have heard some fans who simply "verbed" the acronym MOC, as in, "I MOC'ed for 3 hours straight yesterday". You could probably do the same with LEGO itself, but that would be frowned upon as LEGO is supposed to be used as an adjective and so on. (When I was a child, my father used "legoter" in French, which was quite clear as to what it meant. I guess you could be "legoing" in English as well).

I'm not saying I do think it's a very good idea, and I haven't even heard that much anyway; so I would tend to agree with Grandpappy and go for a simple "build" (maybe "build something" to imply it's not a set) or even "play" (or more precisely "play with LEGO" if your son happens to sometimes play with something else (I can't fathom why, though)).

So, in short, no real "official" saying, and not even an usual one - especially considering that fans amongst themselves always use LEGO anyway, which means "what did you build recently" is always understood.
> 7 votes

# Answer
I just use "Build". As in: "I'm going to go build"

I'm unaware of any official term. Even "MOC" isn't official in any way other than just a term a lot of people use.
> 5 votes

# Answer
If its a "my own creation" then if one is still building it or it is still unfinished then one simply refers to it as "work in progress" or a WIP and thats how fans post photos on fansites let others know hows its is going... although i have never seen it used with offical lego sets...there are other loose terms floating about i think they where listed on the brickset fansite quite a while ago- i think you would have to do a search for the article- but i was amazed by how many there are...again its not an offical language used by fans but its the most common form of expression.
> 1 votes

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Tags: building, terminology, moc
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# Question
Title: How do I get started with Mindstorms NXT 2.0?
I need help programming a NXT 2.0 Lego Mindstorms. I want to make the robot turn, stop, go back, etc. when the color sensors see certain colors. For example when the robot sees red it stops then turns. Please help me I am new to Mindstorms and programming.

# Answer
As was pointed out, this question is not specific in nature, so it's hard to give a definitive answer. If you haven't already done so, it would probably be helpful head over to Lego.com and grab get the NXT 2.0 User Guide and perhaps begin looking through the sample programs.

This book may also be helpful to you:

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 Discovery Book: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Programming Robots

If you run into specific problems as you are getting started, feel free to create a new question, and we'll try to help you out.
> 5 votes

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Tags: mindstorms, programming, robotic
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# Question
Title: How much usage can a LEGO piece take before it loses its 'clutch power'?
In this article it's mentioned that one very important feature of the LEGO bricks are their 'clutch power' which is "the ability of its bricks to snap together tightly while also being easy to separate, thereby readily allowing for de- and reconstruction"

Since a LEGO brick is ABS plastic and will wear with use, I wonder how many times you can assemble and dis-assemble two pieces before they no longer stay together.

# Answer
> 270 votes
# 37,112 times

Well I did it. I built a machine to test this. It took 10 days until the LEGO at the bottom couldn't stay on anymore.

\>\>\> Check my blog for more details

# Answer
> 20 votes
The optimal clutch power is attained after 8 to 10 couplings(search for "clutch"); that is, before that, the bricks will sometimes cling a little too much on each other.

However, I don't think anyone ever actually stated when clutch power would start to deteriorate. I'd tend to assume that once the optimal clutch is reached, there is just enough plastic at the coupling to make it work, but not enough that it would wear of.

Of course, as you said, I suppose there is still a little that wears off, but I'd wager it isn't that much, and it's probably negligible with regards to the manufacturing tolerance of the bricks. In other words, you're more likely to find two bricks which come loose too easily because they're at the limit of the tolerance, each at a different extreme; than to take two bricks with normal clutch power and try to wear them off so that they too come loose easily.

Then again, I don't think it's ever been extensively tested. We'd need two bricks, and a robot that assembles/disassemble them a great many times. (Unless you want to do it manually)

# Answer
> 12 votes
I'm not sure there's any official answer for this, however I can answer with an anecdote.

There have been a few times where I've come across old bricks that have been assembled together for a very long time (ie many years). When prised apart, I've spotted that the studs have actually made an indentation on the sides of the tubes.

Based on this, I wonder whether there's more danger of bricks losing their clutch power from being assembled (which means they're in compression) for a long time, rather than being repeatedly assembled and dis-assembled?

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Tags: plastics, durability
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