# Question
Title: LEGO bricks getting brittle, easily breaking. Insight needed
I was disassembling my LEGO set 7674. It is not new but certainly not old. It was built once. Was kept in a sealed box. No direct sunlight. In fact no light at all. Perfect storage conditions. Room temperature and humidity. While disassembling one of the parts broke in my hand twice!!! It fell apart.

First time this happens. I have thousands of sets. Have sets from the 70's and also new ones. Never saw this happen.

Any ideas?

# Answer
For whatever reason, several Lego sets from 2008 are known to have had this issue. The trouble seems to be part specific. For example, the Lego Bionicle Karda Nui set 8686 Lewa Nuva that contained four Technic Beam 5 with Two Ball Sockets in FabuLime (Lego part number 4539223) often cracked upon initial assembly or disassembly. Replacement parts obtained directly from Lego exhibited the same issue.

Because of the consistent high quality of Lego manufacturing, on the rare occasion that we find a bad part, we tend to blame ourselves for the part failure. Logically, if the trouble is exhibited across the entire set (example: brittle parts) then it is probably safe to assume environmental issues like exposure to sunlight or temperature extremes. However, if the problem is only exhibited in a single piece handled with proper care, it is reasonable to assume manufacturing issues.

In my experience, Lego warranty part replacement services will never admit to or discuss known issues with Lego sets or parts. It must be against company policy. However, much to their credit, they will replace any part they have in inventory, no questions asked. So, if you have an issue like this again, contact them immediately. The catch is 'parts they have in inventory'. For older sets they might not have your part, so you would have to use a service like BrickLink.

I have thousands of Lego sets. Rarely, I have found a malformed or missing piece. The odd brittle piece problem seems to be confined to several 2008 sets. Maybe Lego was experimenting with new pigments, ABS formulations, or manufacturing processes that year?
> 4 votes

# Answer
Is it possible that the way you disassembled the set may have been hasty or under-careful? Some pieces are rather easy to snap. Perhaps include the ID of the pieces in your question to confirm this?
> 0 votes

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Tags: piece-information
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# Question
Title: Which buildings in the LEGO Island video game were based on real-world sets?
The Wikipedia article for Lego Island mentions 'Most of these buildings are based on real Lego sets in circulation at the time of release for the game.' I haven't played the game in a long time but the 6350 Pizzeria set reminds me of the Pizzeria in-game.

The jail cell looks like something out of a set whilst the bridge and beach hut don't.

# Answer
While a few are indeed sets there are some I can't recall seeing (such as the Information Center, which was probably too specalised to deserve it's own set).

As already pointed out the Pizzeria set is very similar to the one in-game.

The set "6598 Metro PD Station" was the in-game police station, incuding jail. The helicopter could be build during in a minigame in the police station. Accessories like the box of donuts and flaming pizza were not included in the set.

The set "6334 Wave Jump Racers" was the beach lookout where you could start the jet-ski race around the island.

The Lego race cars in the game were similar to these sets: 1477, 1990, 1517 and 1612. I can't find the racetrack start itself but it was in keeping of the Octan branding that was used.

I thought the ambulance was set 6666 but I was wrong, the one in-game had a much longer sloped roof.

The Bank (which was always closed?) I can't really remember anything along the lines of, and I think the houses up on the hill were just generic lego houses.
> 11 votes

# Answer
Here is the Race Track: Set 6337

The Buggy: Set 6518

The shuttle from Set 6339 is seen ingame (Race, Outro).

Also, the fire engine from Set 6340 is in the game, possible that it looks a bit different.

On this site, people show their own LEGO Island Buildings, many of them are pretty good, like the Information Center: http://www.mocpages.com/group\_mocs.php?id=8611
> 5 votes

# Answer
I assume that the bank building was based on an alternative build of the 6598 metro pd station. It is not exactly the same, but it resembles the bank a lot. By the way, I'm currently working on the information center, but I'll have to order more pieces. My ultimate dream is to build a moc of the entire Lego island, but I'm afraid it'll cost me a lifetime.
> 0 votes

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Tags: set-identification, video-games
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# Question
Title: How do I increase axle speed using gears
How do I increase speed of my output axle 24 times using 8, 16, 32, and 64 tooth gears using LEGO Mindstorms components? I checked Sariel's website but it was no help.

# Answer
> 4 votes
You can't do this with the gears you've listed, but I'm not sure that you've listed the proper gears. I don’t believe that 32 or 64 tooth gears exist. I at least don't have any.

You can do this by combining common 8, 16, and 24 tooth gears. The following gives 3:1 × 2:1 × 2:1 × 2:1 = 24:1.

# Answer
> 0 votes
You cannot increase the output speed by 24 times using a classical gear system, and the gear teeth you specified, because 24 is not a product you can make from 2, 4, 8, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125.

You CAN, however make a CVT, which takes two input speeds and divides them to give an output.

# Answer
> 0 votes
jncration is correct.

Sometimes the gears on axles helps.

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Tags: gears
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title: help identify a LEGO set from bags

text:
# Question
Title: help identify a LEGO set from bags
Please can you help me identify from what LEGO set these parts bags came?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Pretty sure it's the 9450 Epic Dragon Battle.

it has both the Black Bionicle Foot Piraka Clawed in black and the Brick, Round 2 x 2 with Grille in white as well as other notable parts.

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Tags: sets, set-identification
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title: EV3 program refuses to work

text:
# Question
Title: EV3 program refuses to work
I downloaded a 67KB program into my EV3 block. However, the program refuses to work. The EV3 says "Main", the name of my program, but it does not respond otherwise. What is the problem, and how do I fix it?
Thank you.

# Answer
Try adding a wait block in front of the program and at the back. :)
> 1 votes

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Tags: ev3
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title: How do I rename an EV3 project?

text:
# Question
Title: How do I rename an EV3 project?
I can rename the program in the Home Edition software but I just can't rename a project. Please tell me how to do it. Thanks!

# Answer
> 2 votes
As far as I know (I use Education Edition but the menu on the Home Edition looks the same), all you need to do to rename a Project is to go to the File menu and use the "Save As" functionality to save your work under a different name. This will automatically rename the Project (as displayed on the Project tab) on your programming screen.

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Tags: mindstorms, ev3, programming
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title: Toys R Us - Frankenstein (Oct 29, 2016)

text:
# Question
Title: Toys R Us - Frankenstein (Oct 29, 2016)
Anyone have a copy of the instructions for the Toys R Us - Frankenstein figure that they gave away on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016? I attempted to visit the store but the line was wrapped and they ran out. Was hoping to get a copy of the instructions and build requirement to build on my own.

Thanks!

# Answer
Got these from a helpful friend over at BrickPicker.com:
> 2 votes

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Tags: instructions
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title: Are BanBao bricks compatible with Lego?

text:
# Question
Title: Are BanBao bricks compatible with Lego?
Does anyone has experience with BanBao bricks? BanBao World

Are they compatible with Lego bricks? They have basic sets and plates which are at a good price.

# Answer
I have 2 Banbao set from before the lawsuit with Lego (minifig style minifigs) and they are more and less compatible with lego, the pitch between the studs is the same. But there is some remark I noticed within comparing both brands for a few minutes.

* Studs are higher, a Lego plate on a Banbao brick will leave a small gap between both bricks
* Plates are thicker. Lego ~3.2 mm and Banbao 3.6 mm. Bricks -\> 11.4mm instead of ~9.6mm
* Fit between Banbao bricks can be loose.
    + I have a small pull-back car that contains jumper plates that are placed vertical, parts mounted to them will fall off.
    + Bushes just slide over cross axles as there is no friction between both parts
    + Hinges are loose.
    + Usage of large parts, like 24x10 molded piece as a base for a vehicle.

I don't know if the quality of the bricks is better nowadays or they changed the dimension of the bricks. I would say just go to the store and by the cheapest set you can find and look for yourself.
> 14 votes

# Answer
I bought BanBao a few weeks ago in Germany, Kaufland. I bought a green city bus. I was impressed by the quality. The studs connect very well. I also tried on some LEGO bricks. It was no problem to combine the bricks together with the LEGO bricks. Some parts are different but a child will never notice\[?\]
> 3 votes

# Answer
The question is rather old, but I have one thing to add to the other answers.

There is also a Banbao line for younger children (Banbao Young Ones, 3+). There's a review here. It's in Russian but Google translate worked well :)

I have one set. It turned out that it is really compatible with DUPLO, and quality is very good.
> 2 votes

# Answer
The quality of Banbao was really amazing. For some reason one of the minifigures can only sit, other one only stand (for comparison - LEGO minifigs can both sit and stand by default), but both have movable hands (as LEGO minifigures), details and colors are great.

Very good value for less money and really much better than other Chinese products. LEGO and Banbao bricks have slightly different height, Banbao are taller, but are otherwise compatible.
> 1 votes

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Tags: building, compatibility, clone-brands
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# Question
Title: Need help identifying 2011 Lego bag #3, Friends mini-doll legs with dark green pants with brown shoes and dark red bricks?
Trying to figure out what set this bag #3 from a 2011 set is from, unable to upload picture due to size limit. Bag has a figure that is not like traditional LEGO figures, green pants, bends at the legs, brown shoes with feet that look like a real persons legs, then shoes, hair is brown and looks like a hedgehog piece of hair, with pointy ears, body is green with a gold belt and a tattoo on left arm. Several silver pillars and purple and pink in bag.

# Answer
> 7 votes
The minifig is a Friends doll, to be precise, it's Farran Leafshade from the Elves theme.

He appears in two sets in those green pants. Given that you mention the bag you have has #3 printed on it, and the 41076 Farran and the Crystal Hollow set has only 2 bags in it, I believe you have part of set 41075 The Elves' Treetop Hideaway in your possession.

As an FYI: The 2011 printed on the bag indicates the year the bag design was copyrighted - it has no correlation with the year the set was made (which was 2015 for the set in question).

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Tags: set-identification, friends
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title: PC control Ev3 robot

text:
# Question
Title: PC control Ev3 robot
I wanted to see if I could control my robot with a PC and I wanted to know if there was a way to do it. I have already searched for a controller for the PC and didn't find anything.

# Answer
Your EV3 allows to send direct commands from the PC to the robot. It offers three communication protocols: USB (needs a wire), Bluetooth and Wifi (needs a dongle). You can start programs, control motors, read data from the sensors, play sound, change the colors of the LEDs, simulate buttom presses and so on. For file transfer you should use system commands, which have a different structure.

The communication is independent from the programming language, what counts are the sent and received data. If your favorite programming language supports the communication protocol, you can use it. You need not start from scratch, there exists code in different programming languages.

You find detailed information about direct commands in this blog: EV3DirectCommands
> 1 votes

# Answer
Have a look on this project on GitHub https://github.com/BrianPeek/legoev3 It uses .NET libraries writen in C# to control and get status of EV3 robot.

There is a video wich explains step by step how to write your own remote control in C# WPF.
> 1 votes

# Answer
You can write programs with many languages (like Java, C#, Python). Those languages are capable of controlling your EV3 without the need to build and run a program directly on the EV3 brick.

The downside is that you must speak those languages. I'm not aware of independent controllers for the LEGO Mindstorms.

What do you want to achieve? Maybe there's another solution.

**Update:**

I've posted more info on this in this answer: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/8585/7324
> 0 votes

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Tags: ev3, programming, remote-control
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# Question
Title: What set do I have? 2 grey 6x6 circle plates, dark grey, dark red, and dark blue pieces
I found a bag of LEGO pieces without any instructions. I'm trying to find out what set I have.

# Answer
> 8 votes
THese parts are from 76019-1: Starblaster Showdown based on

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Tags: sets, set-identification
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title: EV3, menu with the buttons?

text:
# Question
Title: EV3, menu with the buttons?
I've been trying to make a menu that when you press the `<` button on the block it will start and `>` button to stop.
The menu will also only occur at the start, it will not be ongoing. I've attempted to use the Switch block but it always goes to the default case and I can't make it into 2 options, i.e. "begin" and "stop" the program.

Any help would be much appropriated.

# Answer
> 1 votes
The brick buttons are a bit tricky.

In pseudocode:

* Wait for "\<" button to be pressed and released
* Run a program that leaves the motors running.
* Wait for "\>" button to be pressed
* Stop the motors

The tricky parts:

* which mode of the wait for block
* which button to watch
* button being pressed vs bumped
* ignoring the extra section of the wait for block

And finally there is the possibility that the desire was to provide an option to stop the program at any time while it was running, not just at the end of the program to stop running motors. That is a much different problem for which this example only hints at a solution.

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Tags: ev3, programming
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title: A wired data logging brick

text:
# Question
Title: A wired data logging brick
I need a data logging brick where I can wire an input to the file name. Is this possible? and if so how would I do this?

# Answer
It is possible, but I'm not sure this is the data logging brick you expected.

The File Access Block provides the option to wire the filename. Click on the upper right corner of the block and a dropdown will appear, select "Wired".

For example:
> 2 votes

# Answer
If you really need a data logging block where the file name is determined by the input, I'm afraid that this is not possible.

The normal data logging block has a constant as file name:

Maybe you can use a switch for different file names? But this can get out of hand very quickly for many different file names.

Maybe you can give us some more hints.
> 1 votes

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Tags: ev3, programming
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# Question
Title: How do I find information about discontinued LEGO sets?
I have some older LEGO sets that have been discontinued for a while.

I am trying to find information like # of pieces and some other info.

Looking them up on the LEGO website didn't work. Is there anywhere else that I could find info?

# Answer
Welcome William. Please check out either Brickset or BrickLink to find this information. Both websites have a big database containing tons of information on LEGO sets and LEGO parts. BrickLink is more comprehensive, but a little bit more difficult to navigate.
> 5 votes

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Tags: piece-information, lego-group
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# Question
Title: Which hand is this minifigure extending normally?
I remember more than one argument with a friend over which way LEGO minifigures' hands should be oriented to be correct (with the thumb pointed upward/inward, like a human hand's neutral position).

This gentleman is holding his left hand so the rounded side faces down, and his right hand so the rounded side faces up. Is there an officially correct orientation? The peg connecting the hand angles slightly, so I've used both orientations in different situations to keep hands on steering wheels and control panels. Did I risk aggravating any minifigure's carpal tunnel syndrome in doing so?

# Answer
> 36 votes
I personally consider the left one as up-right ever since I was a kid and that's how Lego place all their hands in their promotional pictures:

# Answer
> 17 votes
Here is another way to consider it:

Make a fist, and don't bend your wrist. The pinky's side of your hand is mostly aligned with the rest of your wrist and forearm. The thumb's side of your hand is not so much aligned with your wrist and forearm. Also notice that the curve of your fingers tapers toward the pinky finger.

Now compare to the minifigure hand. Notice that the wrist is closer to one side of the hand (the left hand in your photo) than the other.

# Answer
> 15 votes
The left one is more natural, because the shortest fingers are on the down side.

# Answer
> 7 votes
The correct way is shown in his left hand based on LEGO Friends. Go have a look at the minidoll, where the arm and hand is one piece and cannot be rotated to another position:

# Answer
> 6 votes
I would generally agree with pcantin's answer, but there are some "official" cases where the right side is correct. Iron Man typically is in the "right hand" configuration, because it attaches translucent light blue circular 1x1 blocks to the bottom for repulsor beams. Also, the Frodo and Bilbo magnets both hold Sting pointed straight up, and do so using the "right hand" configuration, so their hands aren't high up in the air.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Personally, I consider the left hand correct, as you hand place a stud, an ice cream piece, or anything that is to be put on studs on the minifigure's hand.

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Tags: minifigures
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# Question
Title: Significance of the switch from Legoland to Lego System?
In former times, Lego boxes used to feature a diagonal *Legoland* label in one corner. (See, for instance, the box of the Space Police I capital ship, set 6986.)

Later on (if I recall correctly, starting in 1992), the *Legoland* label disappeared, and instead a large *SYSTEM* label appeared on boxes (for instance, on the first Octan gas transit vehicle, set 6594\](http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/6594\_Gas\_Transit)).

In both cases, my *guess* is that Legoland and System denote the "world of minifigs", as opposed to Duplo, Fabuland, or Technic - but I was never sure about this.

Looking at boxes nowadays, such a mark has completely disappeared, and boxes just indicate their theme (such as *City*, as on the prisoner transporter, set 60043).

Hence, my question is: **What was the significance of these labels, was there any difference in scope between *Legoland* and *SYSTEM*, and why were they changed/discontinued?**

# Answer
## LEGOLAND

Presumably the decision to discontinue the 'Legoland' series may have been to avoid confusion with the LEGOLAND theme parks.

The original LEGOLAND in Denmark has been open since 1968 and since the opening of the second park LEGOLAND park in Windsor there have been eight new LEGOLAND parks and many LEGOLAND Discovery Centres.

The planning, design, site preparation and the design and construction of models for LEGOLAND Windsor began in 1992. The same year the LEGO product line disappeared, this however may be a coincidence but it would make sense to avoid confusion between the product line and theme park. The theme parks would also include a product line using the branding 'LEGOLAND' for merchandise such as clothing, books, souvenirs and even some sets based on the parks themselves.

Below you can see two 'LEGOLAND' sets. The set on the left was from the original LEGOLAND series and on the right is a promotional set released for the LEGOLAND parks.

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# LEGO System

*The LEGO® Book*1 refers to the LEGO System theme.

> 1954 was a year in which Godtfred KirkChristiansen (GKC) did a lot of thinking about the future of the LEGO Group. Returning from a toy fair in Britain, he got talking to a colleague who pointed out that there was no *system* in the toy industry. That was all the inspiration GKC needed. He decided to create a structured system of products. Reviewing all the toys made by the company, he saw the LEGO brick was the best choice for this project.

1 Page 18. Lipkowitz, Daniel. The LEGO book. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2012.

The first LEGO System set was actually Town Plan No.
> 2 votes

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Tags: history
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# Question
Title: Average price per weight of new bricks in sets purchased for retail price?
What would be a reasonable estimate for the price per pound of pieces purchased for the retail price in sets? If the weight of a good sample of sets (not including the packaging or instructions) were known then a range of prices could be calculated.

The only number I can come up with now is to take the average price per new brick divided the weight of a brick- if a 2x4 brick were representative (I suspect it weighs more than average), then the price per pound would be around $0.10/2.5g * 453.6 g/lb = $18/lb, or using 2x2 as an average weight maybe around $40 per pound. The numbers are interesting to compare to used bulk prices, or the cost of new bricks from pick-a-brick/brick wall cups (the cost of those is well documented elsewhere).

# Answer
> 6 votes
The short answer is that for retail sets, anything under $20 USD per pound of actual parts is a great value. $50 USD per pound appears to be fairly common overall.

I calculated this based on the actual part weights of all parts in a set. I only explored recent Classic, Creator, and City sets as these tend to be a good value and use System bricks almost exclusively. I used recommended retail price and didn't account for sales or other deals that can be found on retail sets.

Here's a graph of recent Classic, Creator, and City sets showing that $50 USD is a reasonable median price per pound:

The best value are the Classic bulk brick boxes, and the worst value per pound are the City minifig sets.

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Tags: shopping
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title: DIY EV3 from schematics

text:
# Question
Title: DIY EV3 from schematics
LEGO offers schematics for the EV3 brick in their hardware developer kit accessible from the bottom of the EV3 downloads page. (Files 1 and 2 in the zip)

Do these schematics contain enough information to theoretically build an EV3 from scratch?

# Answer
> 6 votes
Yes!

Based on 3 years of extensive study of the internal workings of the EV3 as part of the ev3dev project, I can confidently say that if you build that schematic, you will get something that very closely resembles a mass-produced EV3.

There are some minor differences though. The HW Version Identification shown on page 3 of the schematic (0101 \[binary\] == 5 \[decimal\]) does not match the actual mass-produced hardware (1000 \[binary\] == 8 \[decimal\]), so it leads me to believe that the schematic that LEGO has shared is not the final revision, but rather a slightly older revision.

There is also a PIC microcontroller (U28) and MFi authentication chip (U29) on the actual EV3 that is not on the schematic. The firmware source code seems to indicate that this is used for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Bluetooth mode somehow. So, this feature will be missing from your clone EV3.

I have also just noticed that the "3 SEC delay" circuit on page 3 is not populated on the actual EV3. This is further evidence that the publicly available schematic is not the final revision.

One challenge you will face in building your own EV3 is that there is no PCB layout provided by LEGO, so you will have to do this yourself.

You will also have to find a replacement display. The LCD does not appear to be generally available. (I broke one and looked for a replacement several years ago. I ended up replacing it with a color TFT instead.)

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Also, while we are on the subject, there is a BeagleBone cape called the FatcatLab EVB. There is an open source schematic for this as well. If you are really going to build your own EV3-like circuit board, it may be more appealing to copy this one because it has a faster processor and more memory.

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Tags: ev3
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# Question
Title: How can I find the unique parts in the 71040 Disney Castle?
We've been having fun putting together the 71040 Disney Castle. But we keep wondering: which parts are in this set that haven't been in any other set with these particular colors?

I've seen this information presented in other Designer Videos, but for the Disney Castle Designer Video they're spending their time playing with Mickie and teleporting from Denmark to Anaheim, CA so the unique parts are barely mentioned. For instance, they don't talk about the 19121 Fence which is new to this set in white:

I also have found bricklink's part list for it but I don't see how to filter that down to unique parts. Is there an easy way to cull this from bricklink or another LEGO set database?

# Answer
> 5 votes
According to the review from Rebrickable these are the parts in new colors:

> Aside from the Minifigs, there are no new part designs. There are plenty of parts appearing in new colors though.
>
> * Dark Blue 3943b - Cone 4 x 4 x 2
> * Dark Blue 44375a - Dish 6 x 6 Inverted
> * Dark Blue 3685 - Slope 75° 2 x 2 x 3 Double Convex
> * Dark Blue 98560 - Slope 75° 2 x 2 x 3 - Solid Studs
> * Dark Bluish Gray 99301 - Slope 33° 3 x 3 Double Concave
> * White 18838 - Brick Arch 1 x 12 x 3 Raised Arch with 5 Cross Supports
> * White 20310 - Brick Special 1 x 1 with Scroll with Open Stud
> * White 19121 - Fence Ornamented 1 x 4 x 2 with 4 Studs

# Answer
> 4 votes
I can see two ways of getting this information, depending on your technical skills and programming knowledge:

1. Go item by item in your BL parts list and check in how many sets the item is by clicking on the link for the item. If you want to know not only the uniqueness of an item but also the uniqueness of the item in a specific color, the color drop-down above the image is a great source of info. This will be labor intensive, but you can easily skip many parts as they are very common.
2. Download the inventory as an XML file and write a program which extracts the uniqueness information from Bricklink itself. Bricklink has an API which you can use to get information about a part. Especially interesting is the `superset` request, which is documented here: http://apidev.bricklink.com/redmine/projects/bricklink-api/wiki/CatalogMethod#Get-Supersets.

I think that if you are not planning to reuse this process, you're probably better off with option 1 where you eliminate the items you know for sure are not unique, and then go through the tens of items left that might be unique to verify uniqueness.

Good luck!

# Answer
> 3 votes
Here is another way to get your answer: Brickset.com!

If you go to the product page for set 71040, you can see several tab labels you can click on. One of them is labeled "Parts".

In the Parts screen, Brickset shows all the parts that are in LEGO's official inventory, and cross-checks this with its parts database to tell you, by part, in how many sets each part is.

So to get your answer, just browse this list and find the ones that are unique to this set!

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Tags: part-identification, shopping, set-database, disney
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# Question
Title: Need help identifying a couple of Lego sets, grey tank with 4 short legs, and ship with long wings with lime green tiles
Do you recognize either of the below Lego sets?

We received them as a hand-me-down gift with no instructions.

Thanks for any help!

# Answer
Top set is indeed 75013 as per @lego-related username's answer.

Bottom set is 75024 HH-87 Starhopper.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Top set is number 75013, Umbaran MHC (Mobile Heavy Cannon). I think the previous owner modified the cannon, because the actual set looks vastly different up there. I don't recognize the bottom set, but it looks like some star wars set.
> 3 votes

# Answer
The second set is 75024-1: HH-87 Starhopper
> 2 votes

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Tags: building, set-identification
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# Question
Title: Is there a free ImageSet of the Minifigure Series?
As I wrote an iOS App, which helps you collect the Minifigure Series, that I want to distribute for free and LEGO is not willing to let me use their Minifigure Images, I am looking for the images under a CC or free License.

# Answer
> 1 votes
I don't think that such a set exist. The most complete database are the ones indicated by Guilherme Branco Stracini, BrickLink and BrickSet, but both of them tell in their footer that the content is copyrighter so I am not sure that, especially if you intend to sell your app, any of them will allow you to use their content.

On the other hand, BrickLink provides you with an API that offers a Get-Item-Image so I believe they would allow reusage in some case. You might contact them to get more information, as the API requires a key, they will send one to you or not depending on the expeceted usage.

Last thing and I have never read any clear inforamtion about that, is that Lego and the designers of the company own copyright on the design of the minifigs and that even if the photograph releases a picture under CC license, there are still right that belong to the Lego group so you might not be able to do what you want with these pictures.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Try to look at BrickLink or BrickSet and find those images!

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Tags: collectable-minifigures
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# Question
Title: Missing LEGO instructions for this set from 2015
I have 3 bags of LEGO without any instructions or boxes. The bags all say 2015 on them. I have attached a picture of the first bag. Any help in identifying it would be great!

# Answer
Judging from the beige 8x8 plate at the back it should be one of the ones in this list

http://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-4624223

Without seeing any of the other bags my first guess would be this one

http://brickset.com/sets/41101-1/Heartlake-Grand-Hotel
> 6 votes

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Help identifying Lego bag without instructions, brown, grey, and clear bricks
Can anyone help identify which set this bag comes from?

# Answer
> 5 votes
This is a bag from the Minecraft set First Night (21115):

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Tags: set-identification
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title: EV3 Programme won't load to brick

text:
# Question
Title: EV3 Programme won't load to brick
I have installed EV3 on my PC and am trying to load a program into an NXT 1 Brick. When I click the down load button on the EV3 screen the Brick beeps twice and the program does not load. What am I doing wrong?

# Answer
EV3 software can be used with the NXT brick. It may require a firmware update. I think firmware 1.31 is the minimum.
> 1 votes

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Tags: ev3, programming
---


# Question
Title: Electric, Plug Holder 4.5V/12V what is it for?
I have seen the Electric, Plug Holder 4.5V/12V on bricklink a few times and have often wondered what it is for.

According to Bricklink, it was only ever produced in Light Gray and appeared in 3 sets between 1987 and 1992.

Two of the sets were just Service type sets containing cables and small elements with no instructions or suggestion of usage of the Electric, Plug Holder 4.5V/12V itself.

However, it also appeared in set 9700 Technic Control Center. Unfortunately neither Peeron nor LetsBuildItAgain have a listing for the instructions. So I can't see the step where any of the 5 that were included with this set are used.

# Answer
> 7 votes
While researching information for this question, I stumbled upon the answer but thought I would post anyway to share my findings.

The Bricklink entry for the 9700 Technic Control Center set has a secondary picture which is the front cover of the instruction booklet.

The 5 Electric, Plug Holder 4.5V/12V elements can be seen in use as holders for the shorter wires connecting to the motors that make up the model. Using the holders provides easy access to plug in longer wires from the control center unit. The holders are necessary because, unlike the connections on later 9v wires that can be built into a model like standard pieces, the connections on the older 12v/4.5v wires cannot.

# Answer
> 0 votes
Basically, they're used to hold the wires together but also to hold them when you need to connect 2 wires together.

---
Tags: piece-information, 12v
---


# Question
Title: Looking for instruction manual for brick set #1845 (20th Anniversary Jackpot)
I've done a ton of searching and am unable to find the instructions for lego set #1845 (20th Anniversary Jackpot). I found a ton of sites that list out all of the parts, but none of them seem to have a reference to the actual instructions. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a site that has the manual for this set (for free).

Here are a bunch of links that don't have a link to the manual.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Although the part number on the instruction book is not the same as the one in my question, it appears that the instructions are exactly the same for both sets.

http://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego\_instructions/set/1880/rb

# Answer
> 2 votes
I've looked at letsbuilditagain.com, lego.brickinstructions.com and worldbricks.com (you didn't list these sites) and none of them have this set in their catalog, even though they cover many sets from 1993. Bricklink has these instructions starting at $0.75 plus shipping \- since it's a booklet this shouldn't set you back more than $3-4 to get a copy.

---
Tags: instructions
---


# Question
Title: Are there any LEGO base plates that are compatible with Duplo?
I'm thinking of making a LEGO table but my two children both use different LEGO sizes. My oldest uses normal LEGO and my youngest uses DUPLO. I'm wondering if there is a base plate that both types of LEGO bricks will work on?

# Answer
A regular LEGO base plate will work with DUPLO bricks. As demonstated in this question, the two systems are compatible in a number of ways. Here's an example of System base plates with DUPLO bricks attached:

It should be noted that not all DUPLO bricks will be able to connect to a System baseplate. Some examples of incompatibility are round bricks and some of the minifigs and animals. In order for these to connect you'll need a DUPLO brick or baseplate on top of the System baseplate.
> 25 votes

# Answer
Regular LEGO baseplates can accommodate both LEGO and DUPLO. DUPLO obviously won't stick to regular baseplates as securely as on a DUPLO plate because the studs are much smaller, but they are compatible.

There are some pre-made LEGO tables that already have baseplates (or third-party LEGO compatible baseplates) incorporated in the top surface, or you can make your own table and cover the top with baseplates.

LEGO sells baseplates separately on their website, and they are also available at stores like Toys'R'Us. I have seen the pre-made tables at Toy'R'Us as well, and they are also available on eBay.
> 4 votes

# Answer
What you need is a Nilo brick mat. It's a rubbery mat that has standard (small) lego studs on one side, and dulpo on the other. You can buy them on Amazon, Ebay or straight from Nilo. http://www.nilotoys.com/acc.htm
> 3 votes

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Tags: compatibility, duplo
---


# Question
Title: LEGO item number for white racing wedge with printed #3
What is the LEGO item number for this piece? What sets does it go to?

I'm not having much luck searching for it.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Looks like it's Part 6153, either 6153apb01 or 6153apb05 depending on whether there are stars on the sides. Both seem to originate from different editions of the Water Jet, Set 6517-1.

---
Tags: part-identification
---


# Question
Title: Towards a different sort of set-identification
I thought it might be fun for the holidays to try a different sort of . Even though I know which set this is, it seemed like a pretty random set of bricks so I thought it might provide a brief challenge to the community. Here it is:

If this proves to be an actual challenge I'm happy to add hints later.

# Answer
> 1 votes
# 40205 LEGO Holiday Little Elf Helpers. :)

---
Tags: set-identification
---


title: To sort or not to sort

text:
# Question
Title: To sort or not to sort
My son is 9 and slightly ahead of the Lego curve. We have both a large number of freestyle Legos and sets of various sizes. When we open a new set, I always immediately empty all the pieces and sort by color.

With the last set my son opened, the 824-piece Volcano Exploration Base, he poured all the pieces onto a beige surface, one bag at a time, but we did not sort. Some pieces took him a while to find, but overall it took him about the same amount of time with about the same error rate as a set we sorted of equivalent size.

**So, my question is, moving forward, as we wind up with larger and larger sets, will his method continue to be about the same efficacy, or will he just get overwhelmed?**

What I don't know is if the larger sets also have numbered bags for various portions of the whole such that one could open a few hundred pieces from a single bag which then goes on to make a particular structure.

# Answer
All large sets released in the last few years come in numbered bags. The bags are sorted by logical sections as they appear in the instruction manuals. So for example there will be several bags numbered as #1, several bags numbered as #2, etc.

The intention is that you open all the bags numbered as #1, build that section, then open the bags numbers as #2, etc. This makes building a lot easier, faster, error-free, and a lot less messy.

In very large sets each section usually takes about an hour to build, and the whole set can take 2-5 hours to put together. While some LEGO fans do building marathons and put together sets in one sitting, for most people stretching out the building experience to several days is less stressful and more practical.

Also, note that numbered bags usually allow several people to work simultaneously as, the numbered bags tend to represent chunks of the set that later get assembled. This makes the building process faster. So for example your son would be building the first floor of a structure, while you can work on the second floor.

Another way people work together on large sets is for one person to be the sorter, and the other the assembler. In your case, this may mean that you find the parts for each step of the process, and maybe even build some of the small assemblies, then you hand them to your son who will attach them to the set.

All in all I would say that numbered bags are your friends. The larger the set, the more you will appreciate their practicality. There are still old-school LEGO fans from the pre-sorted bags period, who build differently. They may dump all the pieces from all bags into one pile, or open all the bags and pre-sort pieces by type or color. But for most people, building the way LEGO suggest is the best way to tackle large sets.
> 6 votes

# Answer
Had an argument with my wife the other day about how to sort. My idea was to do it by colour, but then I realized she was right (obviously) and sorting by type is more practical. Windows and doors go together, thin plates, large plates, wheels, etc.

That said, with the kids we never sort a box just opened. As Mr Shiny and New and Bernd Wilke do, we open the bags by numbers and use plastic containers to avoid losses. Sorting everything first would, in my view, take away a lot of the excitement.
> 3 votes

# Answer
For new sets I prefer to open each bag at the time I use it. The bags are small enough to need no further sorting.

In general I like to have my pieces sorted by function and size (no color sorting) as in a pile of red pieces the smaller pieces are more difficult to find than the red pieces in the pile of (equal) small pieces.
> 2 votes

# Answer
I use small square plastic food containers, about 4" sq and 2" deep, one for each plastic bag that comes in the box. If a bag has more bags inside, they each go into a container. If one bag has a lot of large identical pieces, such as doors or door frames, I'll take those out. Otherwise, a bag corresponds to one little tray. If a set has numbered steps, then I only empty the baggies for the current step; the other bags stay sealed until needed.

This gives me a couple advantages:

1. It's quick.
2. Each tray is shallow enough to pick parts
3. The bags in the sets are usually organized so that all or most of a certain kind of piece is in one bag, which makes them easy to find.
4. Pieces don't fall all over the place or get lost.
5. If I need to stop, put the build away, then resume later, it's easy to do so.

I think this minimal system is enough to make any kind of pre-sorting unneeded. Rarely has a kit overwhelmed the little boxes (the huge Ghostbusters HQ set did, but it's an outlier).

I also sort my lego before putting a set away. My collection is sorted into flat art-supply boxes, by colour and type. Pre-sorting to that degree takes quite a bit of time. I don't think that time is well-spent when building the set for the first time, even if the sorting wouldn't need to be as thorough for building as it is for storing.
> 2 votes

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Tags: organisation
---


# Question
Title: Installed EV3 software on Win 8 and it won't load
EV3 software used to work on my laptop. Now it does not load any more. When I double click on the LEGO Mindstorms icon. It starts the procedure of loading the software. Then it stuck there and won't go further. I tried to remove the software and reinstall it. Nothing helps. Has anyone else got into this problem before?

# Answer
A possibility is, that you lack the latest Silverlight update.

I had this problem on some Windows and Mac OS X machines recently.

Maybe you can try to install the latest version: https://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/ I think it's worth a try.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: ev3
---


# Question
Title: Why are the plastic bag designs different? Bag 4 looks normal, but are the rest legitimate LEGO designs?
The LEGO pieces in the bags look legit, but wondered why the bags are different. The box appeared to have been opened when I received. Just want to make sure the bags are official LEGO before I try to sell. The bags have "LEGO Group" written on them, so that's positive.

# Answer
First of all, congratulations on securing a 75054 AT-AT. This is a very desirable set, and costs a pretty penny to purchase now that LEGO has stopped producing the set.

There is nothing wrong with your bags. The bags with the white band are of a newer design than the bag labeled "4". The white-band style was introduced in 2015, whereas the older style was used as of 2011. LEGO is slowly phasing out the older style in favor of the white-band style, working through remaining supplies of the latter until they run out.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: packaging
---


# Question
Title: How do I unlock the surprise for advent calendar?
I bought the Lego Friends 2016 Advent calendar. It says that I can unlock a surprise on 12/4, but I can't find where to unlock it....

# Answer
Found it! Here is the link for the December 4th surprise:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170505135238/https://www.lego.com/en-us/friends/activities/downloads/2017-christmas-bi-1
> 3 votes

---
Tags: advent-calendar
---


# Question
Title: Long train Bridge tension and compression angles (minimum brick count)
Hello master builders.

I'm working on my first large project (and first Lego stack overflow question). I'm making a bridge that needs to be 3 feet long. Unfortunately I don't own tons of Lego bricks.

Working with what I can find, I've built a single supporting brace of #8 rods and #4 angles. (I have the most of these in my bricks tub). Along the top (where the train track sits) are plates. Each platform connecting the plates is a 16 stud gap. The platforms are 4x4 studs.

This doesn't seem to work out the same when trying to pin the connecting beams on the bottom. Below is an early photo, I've reinforced the top to support the weight of my train, but it still bows slightly because the holes in the Technic beams do not seem to line up to the gap length. I think it's off by some percentage of a hole. (That makes me question if the top is actually an even 20 studs between the connectors)

The new design is to have more beams on the bottom and use angled lift arms to shorten the distance by some percentage between the connectors.

The question is, what angle lift arms should I be looking for? And how many variations of lift arms might work. Assume I have enough #4 and #5 rods to pin it all together.

To note, I know that a balance beam for a bridge is probably not a great plan, but I didn't find enough pieces to make two beams across my 3 foot gap. Other suggestions for bridge construction are welcome, but I did search around a bit and either lack the right bricks or am too high off the ground to build support columns (5+ feet high)

Thank you for thinking on this and reading.

# Answer
The compression member in your design looks thin to me, and the tension member oversize (assuming they are the top and bottom respectively). I would use string for tension and the technic beams for compression as the first step.

The low-part-count solution that occurs to me is going to kill the clearance under your bridge, but if that's acceptable a single column down from the centre with string/rope tension members to the end will work. You can use two columns with lateral bracing to get similar strength but better clearance, at the cost of needing more parts.

You miay also be able to do a modern single-pillar suspension design that looks exciting, especially if you're willing to cheat a bit with a non-Lego weight. You may be able to extend your beam and tie to that instead of using a weight, but I suspect you will struggle to get enough strength.

You can buy 100m rolls of string that look a lot like Lego thick string for next to nothing from sewing supply places. I have two, because the waxed string slides more easily over plastic for times when I can't use pulleys or rollers, but it's also less bendy so in low-tension situations often looks bad.
> 8 votes

---
Tags: technic, trains, bridge
---


title: Identify LEGO branded forklift piece

text:
# Question
Title: Identify LEGO branded forklift piece
Can you help me identify this forklift type piece of LEGO branded plastic? I can't really call it a brick, though it does clutch onto two standard studs.

# Answer
> 9 votes
That would be Vehicle, Forklift 2 x 2 Plate and Yellow Fork (Complete Assembly), but it is broken.

For future reference, searching for 'Forklift' in the 'Parts' category on BrickLink gave this result. From there finding the proper part was a matter of looking at the images.

---
Tags: part-identification
---


title: Mindstorms, black orphaned data wires

text:
# Question
Title: Mindstorms, black orphaned data wires
I've just copied a loop element, which had a data wire going into it.

The internal wires (from the old external data wire) are now black, and I cannot delete them, or re-link them to a new external data wire.

They just don't seem to be selectable any more.

Can anybody give me an clues how I can do anything with them?

# Answer
It looks like you have discovered a bug. You should report it using Help \> Give Feedback.

For working around the problem, the only thing I know to do is to cut the blocks with the black wires and then paste them back in. This seems to get rid of the black wires.
> 4 votes

# Answer
I also discovered the cut/ paste works, but sometimes if you disconnect the block from the loop and then put it back in that works too.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: mindstorms, ev3
---


title: Programming Mindstorms on a chromebook

text:
# Question
Title: Programming Mindstorms on a chromebook
I know there is no official way to program NXT/EV3 on a Chromebook.

But a Chromebook can have Ubuntu installed via Crouton in developer mode.

So, is there a relatively painless way to program NXT/EV3 on Ubuntu?

# Answer
> 10 votes
## Update Dec 2016

There is now an app for chromebooks on the chrome store:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lego-mindstorms-education/jhnhfnolmcleankdkhfklakpchnccipg?hl=en-US

I have used it to program EV3 version of the bricks. It connects via bluetooth to the EV3 brick (I don't think USB is even supported). The bluetooth connection can be buggy at times and I've found myself having to re-pair the brick.

The chrome app saves programs in a format (`.ev3m` format) which is not compatible with the Mac/Windows desktop versions of the programming app. Attempts to load programs written on Mac/Windows (`.ev3` format) will not load in the app. Suffice to say transferring programs between a chromebook and the desktop version of the EV3 programming software is difficult and perhaps not possible. There may be a way to download the program from the chrome app onto the brick and then pull the software using the 'Memory Browser' tool into the desktop version but I haven't had time to look into it.

My chromebook has only 2 GB of RAM and the program sometimes struggles to load so I recommend at least 4 GB of RAM in your chromebook.

There is a pretty good Q/A article here:

https://education.lego.com/en-us/middle-school/explore/c/ev3-chromebook-faq

# Answer
> 3 votes
Your best bet1 for EV3 is ev3dev.

For NXT, you should be able to get BricxCC running on Linux.

You can also checkout leJOS and MonoBrick. There is a good change you can get either one of those working on Linux as well.

1: As a core contributor to ev3dev, this may not be entirely objective ;-)

# Answer
> 2 votes
### See https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=33517 for latest instructions.

I recently did some testing to get the EV3 software working on Linux using Wine, and actually got it to work! (The EV3 software can also be used to program the NXT) Here are the instructions:

```
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wine/wine-builds

$ sudo apt-get install --install-recommends winehq-devel winbind libntlm0 ttf-mscorefonts-installer winetricks

```

Make sure the folder `~/.wine32` does not exist.

```
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 WINEARCH=win32 wineboot

```

Choose "No" on any prompts to download gecko or Mono

```
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 winetricks

```

Select the default prefix, and click OK

Select Install a "Windows DLL or Component"

Install all of the vcredist libraries, .NET version 4.0, and IE 8.

Select "Change settings"

Check `ddr=gdi`, and select OK (this fixes sections of the window turning white)

Click "Cancel" twice to exit winetricks

Download "IE8-WindowsXP-KB2936068-x86-ENU.exe" from the Microsoft website

```
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 wine '<location of folder with IE8-WindowsXP-KB2936068-x86-ENU.exe>/IE8-WindowsXP-KB2936068-x86-ENU.exe'

$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 winecfg

```

In the libraries tab, add an override for "`*urlmon.dll`", making sure to include the `*`

Select the override just created, and click "Edit..."

Choose Native, and click OK

Click Apply, then OK

```
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 wine '<location of folder with mindstorms installer>/LMS-EV3-WIN32-ENUS-01-01-01-full-setup.exe' (or whatever the filename of the installer is)

```

Install the software.

Delete the `.lnk` file on the desktop, it is unnecessary and could cause problems

Double-click the launcher on the desktop.

I have not tested downloading to the brick yet, but creating a new project, adding a block, saving it, and reopening it works.

Hope this helps. If you have any problems or questions, let me know.

# Answer
> 0 votes
c4ev3 has an Eclipse CDT Plugin based on GNUARMEclipse so you can do your C/C++ Programming for the EV3 and upload/browse the filesystem without leaving Eclipse.

It works with the stock firmware/OS and comes with an API to access sensors/motors.

You can run it on Windows, Linux and OS X. Also compiles on FreeBSD but didn't test if it actually works.

If you don't want to use Eclipse, you can use the uploader (a simple CLI tool written in C) and the C API separately and integrate them into your build process. The uploader can also generate the menu entries for starting the programs on the EV3 menu, so using another IDE won't keep you from experiencing c4ev3's awesomeness \[1\].

Doesn't support NXT though.

---

\[1\] Might be biased because I wrote part of it.

---
Tags: mindstorms, nxt, ev3
---


# Question
Title: Where can I download the English LEGO Catalog for 2005 to 2014?
I tried Google and found a LEGO catalog that is mostly in German.

May I know where can I download LEGO Catalog (English version) for the year 2005 to 2014, in PDF format?

# Answer
> 4 votes
Brickset.com maintains an archive of all catalogues they can find. Unfortunately it only goes up to 1999 at this time.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Here's a pretty extensive collection of Russian catalogs. It does cover the years you requested. Since the catalogs are mostly images, I imagine that may be sufficient (and the part numbers are there). You can use Google Translate to navigate around the site.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I could mail mine to you, If the catalogue part is what you're looking for.

---
Tags: sets
---


title: Mindstorm 2.0 & Chromebook?

text:
# Question
Title: Mindstorm 2.0 & Chromebook?
We have a Mindstorms 2 (not the new one, last gen) and chromebooks... can we use the current software (EV3?) on our old Mindstorm brick? If not, will the old software run on our chromebooks to program the old boy or will I have to use the old software which is still on my macbook?

# Answer
There's an FAQ that answers questions regarding the NXT \<-\> EV3 compatibility quite well:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/support?ignorereferer=true

The main problem is, that the EV3 software won't run on a chromebook AFAIK. Only Windows and Mac OS are supported. If you have a MacBook you can use the new EV3 software on that one and program the NXT.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: mindstorms, nxt, software
---


# Question
Title: Can a EV3 program run simultaneously with the Running Robot commander app?
Is it possible to run the Robot Commander app and a program on the EV3 brick at the same time?

If so how would it be accomplished?

# Answer
> 5 votes
No, the Robot Commander app downloads and runs a program on your EV3. If you already have a program running, it will be stopped and the program downloaded by the commander app will run instead.

# Answer
> 0 votes
I have been trying for the past couples days to make that work, but I cannot figure it out so I would say no.

---
Tags: ev3, bluetooth, commander
---


title: LEGO bionicle identification

text:
# Question
Title: LEGO bionicle identification
We randomly saw this creature on a Google search for "vahki" creatures. but we can't find it again and we didn't click through and find a number.

Can anyone identify this being?

# Answer
Not an official LEGO set, that's for sure. As far as I can tell, it's an inspirational model for a building contest a few years back, constructed by John Ho.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: set-identification, bionicle
---


# Question
Title: LEGO remote control 8879 for 2016 Winter Train not working
I purchased parts 8879+8884+88000+88002 to power the new Winter Holiday Train. Fresh out of the package the remote controller 8879 does not make contact with the positive end of the battery.

Thanks to this post, I was able to make an adjustment to the controller so that contact could be made saving me a lot of time and headache. Is there an easy way to get the positive contacts to stick out further?

# Answer
I had the same problem, so I looked at the forums, but I couldn't solve it.

In fact it is a problem with the contact, so I put some aluminium foil (the same one from the kitchen) in the positive contacts, and it worked!!! Yeah, I used DuraCell...
> 2 votes

---
Tags: remote-control, battery
---


title: Lego 12v motor axle repair

text:
# Question
Title: Lego 12v motor axle repair
I had recently got my Lego 7730 for past Christmas and wanted to use it. I bought the Lego 7864 and went to test the red motor but all I heard was the motor and it didn't move. I decided to take a look inside to see what was up and found out that when electricity went to the motor, the motor would turn but the axles wouldn't. I looked at the axles and they were bad. Does anyone know how to fix or get new ones, cause I can't run my 7730 with bad axles, as they are stripped. Help me!!!!

# Answer
It's difficult to answer definitively without a photo or video of the issue, but I'm not aware of a way to easily get replacement parts for this.

I'm sure you're already aware that you can buy a replacement motor on Bricklink, but that's going to set you back at least $100.

Internally, this motor drives a pair of gears on the axles using metal worm gears. One of the common issues with this part is that the metal worm gear slowly wears down the other gear until the there is a complete loss of contact and the motor spins freely without driving the train. It sounds like this may be what you are experiencing.

Here's a diagram of the internal components:

I'm not aware of a third party that provides replacement parts for this, and I'm sure that LEGO doesn't provide them anymore. One option could be to buy the somewhat cheaper black version of this motor and swap out the axles from there.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: repair, 12v
---


title: Ambulance LEGO Sets

text:
# Question
Title: Ambulance LEGO Sets
I am looking for an ambulance LEGO set as I have police and fire. Doing some research it looks like LEGO currently provides no ambulance vans/trucks and have only had a few in the past.

Are there ambulances in the LEGO line that are coming in the future or that are out right now? Looking on eBay only returned a few results.

# Answer
> 4 votes
As far as I know, there isn't an ambulance slated for release in 2017, and there hasn't been one available since 4431 in 2012:

This set can be picked up currently for as little as $30 used on Bricklink or eBay.

---
Tags: lego-group, vehicle
---


title: Where can I find instruction booklets?

text:
# Question
Title: Where can I find instruction booklets?
Is there any place where scans or PDFs of instruction booklets can be downloaded?

# Answer
Yes, from themselves, for sets from 2002 onwards.

D-N-D Bricks(archived) use to have a lot of older sets' instructions.
List of archived instructions.
> 27 votes

# Answer
These sites are absolutely marvellous:

(Having just spent some time looking through these, I just don't know why I hadn't tried looking for this stuff before.)
> 18 votes

# Answer
If you have an Android device, the app Lego Scans is also very convenient.

> Ever lost a LEGO® scan or you maybe want to take a trip down memory lane? This app enables you to browse through 4000 LEGO® scans by box number or by theme. You can choose to save the scan image files to your SD card for offline viewing! This also enables you to view the scan in your favorite image app!
> 7 votes

# Answer
The following sites all have instructions:
> 6 votes

# Answer
Peeron also has a bunch of instructions for sets over 5 years old. In addition, it has a parts breakdown of most sets Lego has produced.
> 4 votes

# Answer
Lego.com. Just hope you have the box or some information. Lego.com Support- Set Instructions
> 1 votes

# Answer
Besides being a great LEGO community website, Brickset has even different versions of almost every set imaginable.
> -1 votes

---
Tags: instructions
---


# Question
Title: I have set from Agents theme yet the database doesn't contain my set
I started to sort my LEGO when I realized that I still have most of one of the set I bought so I tried to search the net for the set name. However, the database of LEGO wiki and BrickSet didn't have anything resembling my set. I have come here to get help from any LEGO experts to identify my LEGO set. I am almost 100% sure that it's not a fake LEGO set.

# Answer
> 9 votes
This is part of 8631-1: Jetpack Pursuit

---
Tags: set-identification, theme
---


# Question
Title: 2016: which Power Functions for controllable car?
I want to make a car or truck that can be driven by a controller.

**Q: what Power Functions sets do I need in 2016? Any other suggestions?**

* I have no Technic nor Power Functions
* I'm willing to buy anything
* I am at an Expert level for brick-based construction
* ...but know almost nothing about beam-based construction
* my existing library of beam parts comes from whatever parts happened to come with brick-based sets

References from older questions:

# Answer
If you have no technic and no power functions you will need to get quite a lot. You could buy small technic sets to get enough parts to build the moving parts and you your current collection, or buy a big set and just add power functions to it. The Customized Pickup Truck is a good starter set that has all the right moving parts, but pretty much any Technic truck/car contains steering and a drive chain that you can attach a motor to.

For steering I recommend the servo motor. As a kid I spent a lot of time making cars that would lock left or right but not flick back to exactly straight afterwards.

For propulsion you have a whole array of motor options, the biggest and strongest (but also the slowest) is the XL motor. I've seen the Customized Pickup Truck converted to full RC using two M motors.

One IR receiver can control two wires so if you're only thinking about propulsion and steering one will do.

You'll need a battery pack. I prefer there one that takes AAs because years from now AA battery will still be purchasable and may be even longer lasting, plus you can keep spares near by, as opposed to the Lego rechargeable battery which will wear out over time and not be available forever.

And finally a remote. The speed remote lets you control the speed of the motors, not just forward/backwards at a fixed speed. However you'll need some extra parts to make left/right steering make sense on there. The other option is the basic IR remote. Either one can control two functions.
> 5 votes

---
Tags: power-functions
---


# Question
Title: I'm looking for a good LEGO Modeling Program
I've seen people use those programs that model out your own LEGO design so you and others can see how it would look. Can I get a list of a few? **Free and safe** are preferable. Thanks!

# Answer
The most commonly used one is Lego Digital Designer (often called LDD). This has the advantage of being free and quite easy to use, including automatically snapping connections together. However, it is only available for Windows and Mac. Also, LEGO has discontinued support for it.

There is a system of programs based on LDraw. These programs tend to be harder to use, but much more flexible. Some of them, like LeoCAD, are fairly user-friendly.

A recent arrival is Stud.io. It's in open beta but seems quite user-friendly. It also has the advantage that it integrates with BrickLink. It will tell you how much a certain part (or your whole model) will typically cost on BrickLink, and if a certain part is unavailable in a certain color.

One caveat is that none of the above solutions has all available parts in it. Most common parts are available in all three, but some of the less common or older parts are not. Some parts -- especially the very new, or very specialized parts -- are not available in any of them.
> 9 votes

# Answer
Another program that you can use that runs in the browser and doesn't require any downloading is Build With Chrome. It allows you to use a bunch of bricks to create a model. You can browse other people's models and create your own. You can save your models by signing into it if you have a Google Account.

UPDATE: 8/8/19 Unfortunately the website was removed as of March 2019
> 0 votes

---
Tags: building, software
---


# Question
Title: Is there a website that has close-up pictures of minifigs?
I am looking for pictures of minifigs to use for my profile pictures.

Searching Google turned up lots of results but most have a bunch of minifigs in them which requires extensive Photoshopping. I am just looking for a website with a bunch of pictures of minifigs or maybe a database if there is one!

# Answer
Brickset.com has minifies entries for the majority of sets. here's an example.

http://brickset.com/sets/60120-1

Click on the minifigs tab. Some are on a plain white background, some not.

There's also heaps on BrickLink.com

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogTree.asp?itemType=M
> 3 votes

---
Tags: minifigures, lego-group, set-database
---


title: Advice on where to start

text:
# Question
Title: Advice on where to start
I've seen this (http://petapixel.com/2013/04/12/check-out-this-lego-slr-and-its-lego-camera-strap-and-lego-strobe/) and really want to build it but cannot find instructions anywhere.

I can see the obvious parts but where on earth would I start with the bits that are well hidden away? Has anyone got any ideas of how it could be done? Is it just a case of playing around and seeing or can someone provide elusive instructions that I've not been able to find. Before you ask, yes I have contacted the designer to no avail.

I don't have enough of the right colours to be able to play but guessing software can do that but does that produce a list of bricks I can then buy? Not played with it before.

# Answer
> 4 votes
I do not have much specific advice for the building of the model, but to get the pieces to physically create it, I can help with.

BrickLink will be the superior tool for you to be able to create this model yourself, and then buy the pieces for it. If you don't already have a BrickLink account, you can make one at this link: Bricklink Registration

Stud.io Download Once you have done so, click the above link and download their beta program "stud.io" which is a brick-building software that is very similar to Lego Digital Designer (a program originally released by TLG). It is more compatible with BrickLink than LDD, and you can link your BL account to stud.io.

Once you build a model in stud.io, you can easily upload it as a 'wanted-list' to your BL account that includes all the parts you need for your model that you created in stud.io. You can follow the steps on BL to get your parts in the most convenient fashion. I have found this to be cheaper and quicker than any other alternative (unless, of course, you have a massive collection of Lego pieces).

I hope that helps.

---
Tags: building, part-identification, design
---


# Question
Title: Difference between "Pick a brick" and "Bricks and pieces"
I am confused by the existence of two distinct and official Lego online services for ordering individual Lego parts, Pick a brick and Bricks and pieces.

Why are there two of them? What are the benefits and drawbacks of them, respectively?

# Answer
The Pick-a-Brick selection has the more common pieces that aren't specific to sets whereas on Bricks and Pieces you can get set specific pieces that are more uncommon such as minifigure parts from a (non-licensed) theme. Since the Bricks and Pieces parts are more specialized they are usually more expensive than Pick-a-Brick, so don't get basic bricks from Bricks and Pieces.
> 12 votes

# Answer
Besides the previous answer, I would also add that Bricks-and-Pieces was intended to be a replacement service for missing parts, broken parts, etc. from a set you have bought. While Pick-A-Brick is for buying generic loose pieces. Thus the interface and they way to identify the parts you want, as well as the selection, is very different.

At Bricks-and-Pieces you can get free replacement parts for elements that were missing from your set when you got them. However since some people started to use this service to also get extra special elements that are not available at Pick-A-Brick, LEGO got proactive, and updated their Bricks-and-Pieces website to offer more options.

My guess is that at some point the two services (Pick-A-Brick and Bricks-and-Pieces) may get merged, but right now they are two different services with different intentions that simply got closer together based on how LEGO fans use them.
> 11 votes

# Answer
Adding a few extra observations:

* Purchases from "Pick a brick" are eligible for VIP points, whereas purchases from "Bricks and pieces" are not. VIP points can be redeemed on both Pick A Brick and Bricks & Pieces orders.
* Shipping fees are higher for "Pick a brick" than "Bricks and pieces". Make large purchases from the "Pick a brick" store to bring the shipping cost per brick down to a reasonable level (or make "Pick a brick" orders in conjunction with other Lego Shop purchases).
* You can at most select 100 unique elements from "Bricks and pieces". There seems to be no such limit for "Pick a brick".
> 5 votes

# Answer
Also, delivery time for Bricks and Pieces is faster than for Pick a Brick, at least in USA. One thing to note, though, Bricks and Pieces closes for the Holidays and resumes in February,
> 3 votes

---
Tags: pick-a-brick, bricks-and-pieces
---


# Question
Title: How much would it cost to buy one of every retail LEGO set released in a year?
I'm curious: has anyone done the math to determine how much it would cost to purchase one of every retail Lego set released each year?

Clarifications:

* I don't know if there are sets available in the United States that aren't available in Europe (or vice versa). Assume United States with USD prices.
* I'm asking about sets newly released that year, not sets from previous years that are still being sold.
* Obviously each year will be different. Perhaps consider just 2016 and 2015 (and maybe a sampling of others to see what the trend is like).

# Answer
Brickset allows you to export a search as .CSV and appears to include prices for all regularly available sets - this does exclude promotional sets (i.e. in-store, newspaper vouchers, magazine gifts, partner stores, or VIP/special offers) and educational sets (only available through specialist educational retailers), or pick-a-brick/model options.

Running a quick SUM() over the price columns results in the following totals for 2015 and 2016 as examples - which gives you to total for the sets that were released in those teritories - if you want you can play around with the data yourself to merge the different sets, as well as apply either an average or premium amount (based on the number of bricks) for the promotional sets:

```
| Year | # Sets |    UK £   |    US $   |   CAN $   |   EUR €   |
|------|--------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 2015 |    771 | 12,607.44 | 16,117.06 | 18,364.45 | 14,140.92 |
| 2016 |    828 | 13,531.21 | 16,915.18 | 19,718.39 | 15,886.59 |

```

As you can see the total number of sets is variable (2011 had only 584 sets for example) so the total price will vary each year.
> 19 votes

---
Tags: shopping, set-database
---


# Question
Title: What is the cheapest way to collect clone trooper minifigs?
I'm thinking of building a Star Wars Clone Trooper army and I was wondering what is the cheapest way to do so considering I need a few hundred.

# Answer
> 3 votes
I would say BrickLink... But it depends on how nitpicky you are, and what types of troopers you want. For example, if you're not trying to be ultra-canon with the Star Wars universe, you can just find the cheapest version of the Clone Trooper on BrickLink, and I'm sure you can find a decent price in a large quantity from a store.

Other than that, I would suggest Craigslist. Craigslist can be iffy, but if you live in a well populated area, it can be a great resource (provided you are cautious, of course). If you buy from people who are just trying to 'get rid of all this lego' you can usually get things for cheaper. Try not to buy from people who know what they talking about, because they are collectors and are trying to make a high profit.

To sum things up, your best bet is BrickLink. If you're not a stickler, I'm sure there are some ways to slightly reduce the cost.

Here's a good place to start: 92 New Clone Troopers 3.99 ea Definitely do some poking around, but this is one of the cheapest I could find if you want to buy large quantity of clone troopers. Obviously items that are 'used' will be cheaper, but the older troopers are more expensive, so the majority of cheap clones will be new.

I know this response was a bit rambly, so please let me know if there's anything I can clarify.

---
Tags: minifigures, shopping, star-wars
---


# Question
Title: Help me plan and acquire pieces for my Star Wars MOC?
I wish to build a large LEGO Star Wars MOC. The basic idea I had was a well-fortified Droid factory, protected by a combination of droids, Sith, bounty hunters and Manalorians. And on the **other** side of this battle field: a Republic base built into the cliff side.

My issues are :

* Planning a MOC of the size
* getting hold of enough minifigures in a economic way
* building large amounts of scenery cheaply

Any help will be appreciated greatly.

# Answer
> 3 votes
Here are some good pointers for building large scale projects:

1. Duplo is your friend. If you have duplo, or have the opportunity to buy duplo for cheap, it can be extremely useful. You can use it to easily build up the insides of landscape areas, without making everything obscenely dense. This will help with budget and weight.
2. Build the base nice and strong. Make sure all of your baseplates are attached well to each other, and that you have a permanent building surface. My greatest recommendation would be to buy a sheet of plywood, and build on top of that. This way, if you ever need to move the model, you can pick it up in one piece. You can also make the model so that it splits in certain areas so that it is easy to move around. That is up to you, but make sure you are able to move things around and/or repair things easily.
3. For scenery that you need to replicate, allocate an exact number of parts for each of those pieces of scenery, and simply alter how you build it each time. It will speed up the process of building as well as add variety to the model.
4. Details come last. That being said, have an idea of what details you may want to incorporate as you are building some of the superstructures. This way, you can integrate things better in the future, and the model won't appear so haphazard.
5. Used pieces are an alternative method of coloration. Buying used pieces means that many of them will have slightly different tones of coloration as a result of age. When building in a large scale, this actually adds a really nice touch of realism to a model so that you have a much more diverse gradient of colors.
6. Don't be afraid to use unorthodox building methods. When you're in a large scale, things can look very different since everything will be seen at once. When building, be sure to periodically take a step back from your work to see how a detail actually fits into the scene.

Hopefully this will help get your project off the ground!

---
Tags: shopping, minifigures, star-wars, design, moc
---


# Question
Title: How to clear off oils in a way that will not damage the plastic?
Especially with the pneumatic cylinders, so it has to not make the metal rust too. Also, it is oxidized vegetable that is stuck in there, inside the pneumatic cylinders. And it started to make it all sticky inside. I used some Rem oil, which is a gun-cleaning grease that has Teflon in it, and it didn't really help. It just stayed the same.

# Answer
Your question is general, so I'll try to answer generally, but I'll use the pneumatic cylinder as an example since you mentioned it.

If applicable, the first thing you'll want to do is break down the part(s) as much as possible. Open up the pneumatic cylinder and separate out the parts:

I'd recommend cleaning everything separately, lubricating the necessary parts, then putting everything back together.

For cleaning off oil and oil residue, you'll want some sort of solvent that is safe to use on ABS, such as WD-40. That should break down more viscous oils, gunk, and rust, but will also **remove printing from printed parts.** You can scrub ABS with a soft cloth without causing damage. If that isn't enough, you can get more aggressive and use something like steel wool or sandpaper, but this will cause light scratching. I've successfully use steel wool on the metal portion of pneumatic cylinders to remove rust, and it works nicely.

Once you have all the heavier oil and grime washed away, you'll want to use a common dish washing detergent to remove the remaining oil. I just put a few drops with water in a jar and shake with the parts inside. Rinse everything off, and repeat as needed if there is still any oil left on the parts.

In order to prevent rusting and ensure proper functioning of the parts, once the parts are clean and dry you'll need to now lubricate anything that was lubricated before since we've removed all the oils and lubricants. You can use any oil that is safe on ABS for this. I've use Vaseline on the rubber piece and cylinder shaft before and it has worked well.
> 1 votes

# Answer
Dang, oiling stuff is a problem. Probably your best bet is to try to power-wash it, or apply some sort of oil remover. As for the rust, the oil (how great is this) should keep any from happening, if there's any remnant.
> 0 votes

---
Tags: technic, cleaning, pneumatic
---


title: Value of LEGO bulk

text:
# Question
Title: Value of LEGO bulk
I am interested in purchasing some LEGO from someone who is selling a bulk of 50, 000 bricks weighing about 90lbs. This includes about 150 mini figs, the manuals ( about 100 or so) and some baseplate. The seller is asking for $850 and I am wondering if this sounds like a good price to pay.

# Answer
Bulk unsorted LEGO shouldn't cost more than $5-$6 a pound. (Please note that this is for the US.) This DOES NOT include instructions. If the seller wants more, they will have to sort and categorize the elements and minifigs themselves, so buyers can evaluate them better. NEVER allow a seller to include the instructions in the total weight of bulk lots. They are very heavy, worth practically nothing (except for a few expensive sets) and can make you offer more for the lot than it's actually worth.
> 3 votes

# Answer
Nope. Unless they are very valuable parts. I would not pay more than 600. However, it's important to research what figures and sets/parts are in the bins. It may actually be worth that much, but I would definitely research it first. I once bought just under 80 lb of lego for $230 USD. It took many hours to go through, but once all was said and done, I had pulled out almost $400 worth of Harry Potter figures, 100$ of valuable pieces, and still had about 40 lb left over. This is why it's very important to know what you're buying. It could be worth a lot, or it could be someone trying to rip you off.
> 1 votes

# Answer
That is probably too much, but the value of used LEGO also depends on some things we don't know, like:

* What is the condition of the pieces (many/few scratches)?
* Is (any of) the previous owner(s) smokers?
* What's in the lot? If 80 lbs of it is red 2x4 bricks I wouldn't pay a cent.

(And note that I live in Denmark, not the US, so amounts in $ don't have a precise enough meaning to me, I had to calculate what $850 was before I could say if that was high/low/appropriate).
> 1 votes

---
Tags: shopping
---


# Question
Title: Can I get a JSON value from the internet without flashing a custom FW on EV3?
Got an EV3 for X-Mas. My old NXT brick was broken. So now I have a ton of motors and sensors and all. First project I'd like to create a Bitcoin piggy bank which performs some actions when it gets new funds. I would therefore need to query a JSON value every x seconds.

So is there a way to do this? Is there a way to give EV3 access the internet?

# Answer
> 2 votes
The easiest way to do this is with a 3rd party operating system. On the EV3, these generally run from a microSD card and do not touch the firmware in the flash memory of the EV3, so technically, you are not flashing a custom firmware (think dual-boot). The major 3rd party OSes are ev3dev, leJOS and MonoBrick. All of these have Internet access from the brick itself.

To do this using the official firmware only, you won't be able to access the Internet directly from the brick. So, you will have to have an application on a computer or a smartphone that accesses the Internet and relays information to the EV3 using Bluetooth messaging.

---
Tags: ev3, programming
---


# Question
Title: Does anybody have pictures of a minicon?
I first heard of a **minicon** in this question on LEGO Answers. I have searched in a variety of ways but I can't find any pictures or more than a side-mention of this on the vast Interwebs. There is a sci-fi convention in Minnesota since 1968 (!!) of the same name which adds to the confusion. :)

So:

* does anyone have pictures of the sort of minicon described?
* does anyone have pictures of the specific minicons mentioned in Seattle or Melbourne?
* can you share these pictures with the world?

It'd be great to see what was described and how close I have come through imagination.

# Answer
These three images are from BrickCon 2016. I've rearranged certain portions of this moc to make a 4 foot square section of Emerald City Comic Con 2016. It's on flickrvid ECCC

This image is from BrickCon 2014 and was taken the night before the public viewing... It was almost set up. Once the other builders added their mocs, it was.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: history, micro-scale
---


title: THE LEGO® TECHNIC PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS

text:
# Question
Title: THE LEGO® TECHNIC PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS
Super disappointed in this. Paid £250 for it and I have multiple parts missing, some bags don't even belong in my set! LEGO were having a bad day when my pack got made.. LEGO have told me to fill out the form for missing parts, but there's that many it'll take me ages. I bought it from the shop in London while I was on holiday and don't have a LEGO store near me, so that's not an option to take it back!

# Answer
I would try writing a letter to TLG instead of filling out forms to replace your set. I have read many stories about people having really crazy issues with product quality, and TLG often responds with condolence and free replacement. They're a pretty empathetic company, so I would give that a shot. I'm really sorry that you've had to go through this with such a large and anticipated set.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: packaging
---


title: Where can I find icons of LEGO bricks?

text:
# Question
Title: Where can I find icons of LEGO bricks?
I'm looking for a set of icons - maybe as SVG or something like that - for available bricks to use to label sorting boxes (non-commercial use)

Are the official brick icons used e.g. in build instructions somewhere available from LEGO or are there alternative sets available?

# Answer
## Rebrickable

For non-commercial use, the parts library used by **Rebrickable** is fairly extensive. More importantly the images have a very consistent presentation.

If you already know the part ID you can replace the use the URL below to get a direct link to the image. Just replace the X with your part ID.

```
https://img.rebrickable.com/img/pieces/elements/X.jpg

```

This won't work for parts that have alternative designs and some other exceptions.

---

## LEGO Pick A Brick

LEGO's official **Pick A Brick** service has a relatively small collection of common pieces that are still in production. The images are of a consistently good quality although quite small.
> 6 votes

---
Tags: piece-information, part-database
---


# Question
Title: How to speed up the disassembly of large LEGO technic sets?
Is there any ways to help speed up the disassembly process for big LEGO Technic set such as the 42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs?

# Answer
## "Reverse Construction"

Most Technic models are built in a modular fashion. This particular model (42043 Mercedes-Benz Arocs) is no different, from the instructions you can tell it has been built in the following order: Engine/Chasis, Cab, Wheels, Truck Bed and finally the Crane.

Large sets often use red pins to join together major components. Therefore the best way to deconstruct a Technic set is to do exactly the opposite and work your way back through the instructions or at least the 'major components'.

Major components (for lack of a better term) are usually highlighted in the instructions and typically have their own numbered bags. Below you can see the truck bed.

The truck bed consists of a number of sub-components such as the truck outrigger.

Working backwards through the instructions you can either tackle the disassembly on a piece-by-piece basis or on each sub-component.

## Use a Pin Pusher

Disassembling Technic models has always been a painful experience for me, particularly on my thumbs when removing the many, many pins and axles used.

I like to use a 'Pin Popper' to easily remove most pins. It's essentially a axle (Generally the longer the axle the better). I like to put a few Brick, 'Round 2 x 2 with Axle Hole' at one end to use as a handle and to stop the axle digging into the palm of my hand.

I have also started to use an alternative pin-pusher design to speed up the process.
> 2 votes

# Answer
Maybe you can use some techniques using the LEGO parts to avoid breaking it. You can use pieces to make your own "tools" to make disassembly process faster...

Here's an example of this.
> -3 votes

---
Tags: technic, disassembly
---


# Question
Title: Extract Bricklink or Brickowl parts list from LDD (on OS X)
I've got some models .lxf and I'd like to order the parts. Is there a way to extract that information from LDD on OS X? All the solutions I have seen so far go via a Windows application.

# Answer
## Bricklink Wanted List Uploader

It is very simple to upload a parts list to Bricklink. You can directly upload your LDD file through the Bricklink wanted page uploader.

The wanted list uploader supports the these four file types:

* **LEGO Digital Designer (.lxf)**
* BrickStock/Brickstore (.bsx)
* LDraw (.ldr)
* Stud.io (.io)

---

If the Bricklink uploader doesn't work, you can also use LDD also lets you export a list of parts from within the application.

In LEGO Digital Designer, open your model. Go to File \> Export BOM (Ctrl + B) to save a spreadsheet/zip copy of all the parts used in your model.

The file will include information include part name, ID, colour, quantity as well as a thumbnail photo of each piece.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: ldd, bricklink, replacement-parts, brickowl
---


title: Sets with the most zombies

text:
# Question
Title: Sets with the most zombies
My kids love LEGO or compatible brands sets with zombies (e.g. Monster Fighters from LEGO and Cityville Invasion from Kre-O).

I was wondering which LEGO or compatible brand set has the most zombies included, in the sense of mini-figurines.

For instance, the LEGO 850487-1 set is very cool, but only has one zombie.

# Answer
> 4 votes
Searching Zombies Minifigs on Bricklink I find 22 official Lego zombies, including the Monster Fighters, Minecraft, Scooby Doo, Ghostbusters, Pirates of the Caribbean, and several Mini figures from the collections.

http://www.bricklink.com/v2/search.page?q=zombie#T=M

Most of them are one offs in the set.

The most I found was three zombies in a set. There were two sets:

Pirates of the Caribbean 4195-1 Queen Annes Revenge: Has three zombie pirates and a skeleton which I'm not counting as a zombie:

Monster Fighters 9465-1 The Zombies Set has Three Zombies, a zombie bride, a zombie groom, and a zombie driver:

# Answer
> 4 votes
I would probably suggest the Call of duty zombie sets by Mega BLoks. Most of them include at least 4 figures, although they are highly detailed, so they might be a bit too scary for your kids. For reference, try this site. If you're looking specifically only for the figures themselves, I suggest getting the zombie packs. For example:  or

# Answer
> 3 votes
Please be more specific about parameters of preference. McFarlane Toys released a series of brick-based sets that are high-detail and one-off. I am not 100% sure if they are Lego compatible, and the figures have limited articulation. If you are just looking for minifigs, you are better off searching a site like BrickLink. Anyway, for any given theme that has zombies (in any brand), the 'big' set of that theme is extremely likely to have the most zombie figures.

# Answer
> 1 votes
Maybe the new **The Walking Dead** unofficial sets, they will used for recreate the Negan brutal scene or something

---
Tags: sets, minifigures
---


# Question
Title: How do I connect two models to one PF motor?
Hi there I am trying to see if it is possible to connect the Ferris Wheel AND the Winter Village Carousel to one Power Functions motor.

Is this possible? Does anyone have a link to a video perhaps of someone who has done this? I could not find one on Youtube myself. Or perhaps a schematic?

# Answer
> 7 votes
As an addition to Ambo100's very nicely detailed answer, I'd like to add one more option: If either of the two things you are powering might suffer from friction (or perhaps a child holding it still), the provided solutions result in a lot of torque on the motor and axles, which in turn could lead to damage to those components (although LEGO motors are designed to switch off if put under too much stress). To avoid this, you could use a differential with in the white box in Ambo100's picture, like in this picture:

The motor would connect to the axle in the bottom right (with the big tan gear), and you would connect the Ferris Wheel and the Winter Carrousel to the left and right "output" axles. A differential splits the output power of the motor over the two axles and keeps the summed rotation of both axles constant even if one axle experiences resistance (the other axle would simply start rotating faster).

# Answer
> 6 votes
Regardless of the models, you can always connect a single motor to one or more models by splitting the axle using (for example) angular wheels or bevel gears.

I covered two ways of transmitting horizontal to vertical torque here using worm gears and knob wheels on a previous question about transmitting horizontal torque to vertical.

jncraton also has a good demonstration of using bevel gears to achieve the same thing, which I think would work better in this case, although it really depends what parts you have lying around or are willing to purchase.

The principles also apply here except you need to use three axles/joints instead of two. If your models are further apart you can use extra axles connected to standard Technic axle connectors or u-joints (Universal Joints) which can be used at small angles.

Your transmission might end up looking like this. The red axle provides the drive from the motor and rotates the green and blue axles for your two separate models.

You may also wish to adjust the gear ratios directly at the transmission box or on the models themselves to get the speed more realistic. You may want the Ferris Wheel to rotate slower than the carousal for example.

---
Tags: motor, power-functions
---


# Question
Title: Mindstorms EV3 brick does not play sound file to the end
I have a 16 seconds WAV file and am trying to play it. It plays only the first 8 seconds both on the brick and on the Mindstorms programming software.

# Answer
> 3 votes
It looks like EV3 supports sound files up to maximum 8 seconds. You can split the files with sound editor and play one after each other.

---
Tags: mindstorms
---


# Question
Title: Totally stumped! Part ID - unusual crane part?
Is anyone able to identify this piece? I'm totally stumped in spite of searching through hundreds of vintage sets from the 60s / 70s.

Really appreciate any info, thanks!

# Answer
This is Vehicle, Tractor Chassis Base 11 x 2 x 3
> 8 votes

---
Tags: part-identification, vintage
---


title: What LEGO set are these bags from?

text:
# Question
Title: What LEGO set are these bags from?
I've got tons of partially built sets. I don't know which set these bags belong to. Trying to sort my kids' LEGO bricks. Any tips welcome!

# Answer
> 5 votes
I think you have bags from set 75876-1 Porsche 919 Hybrid and 917K Pit Lane from the Speed Champions line of sets.

The Plate 4x4 Round Corner, in combination with the red and white color scheme, the tires and the transparent yellow 1x2 plates, as well as the fact that there are at least 6 bags (as per the numbers on the bags you have) drive me to this conclusion.

---
Tags: part-identification, set-identification
---


# Question
Title: I need to know every LEGO's part number, name, and a picture of it
(spoilers) I saw The LEGO Movie and when Lucy looked at a Legeo piece she automatically knew it's part number, name, and other information about it. I thought this was really cool, and knew I could do this with a computer program, but how on Earth am I going to find every single LEGO's part number, and name? I have tried websites such as http://brickset.com, and http://bricklink.com, but they organize by category. What I need is a table of all of the LEGO pieces with their part number, and, name. Can anyone help?

# Answer
> 2 votes
There are several places you can go to to download a catalog of LEGO parts. All these catalogs use a different part number scheme than LEGO officially uses (due to the fact that until a few years ago, LEGO part information was a company secret). In no particular order:

* Bricklink. This is the most expansive catalog, and has a dedicated page for creating a customized download of its catalog (the link I just pasted).
* LDraw.org. This focuses more on 3D descriptions of the bricks (which might be useful for your program too) but does contain a basic parts list (part number and name). Again, the link I provided takes you straight to a download page.
* Rebrickable.com. They have several different parts lists, including a list with all parts (direct csv download).

Also note that a similar question has been asked before, and you might get some more info from looking at that question.

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Tags: bricks-and-pieces
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# Question
Title: Please help me ID this...castle and gates
We've been given boxes after boxes of LEGO bricks...trying to piece them all together. It's a blessing but also a great challenge !

# Answer
That would be Attack On Weathertop, from the Lord Of The Rings series. Looks like it's missing a fair few pieces, but it's still mostly intact.

EDIT: Oops, top picture didn't load before I posted. The gate is from Mines Of Moria; the fold-out hill is Attack On Weathertop.
> 6 votes

# Answer
As per Lepidolite Mica's answer, the bottom picture is from 9472 Attack On Weathertop from the Lord Of The Rings Theme.

The top model is from another LOTR set, 9473 Mines Of Moria. Neither of these sets are complete in your picture.
> 2 votes

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Tags: set-identification
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# Question
Title: Can you identify this yellow translucent snake piece and sets it may come from?
Piece shown here a yellow translucent snake found in stacks of Lego. Wondering what it is and what sets it may come from so I can try and locate the rest and build it. Thanks for your help

# Answer
> 7 votes
It is part 98348 Minifig Weapon, Whip Bent with Snake Head and Pin Hole.

On this page you can find more info about this part, what colors it exists in, and all of the sets it appears in.

The part exists in this color in 3 sets: 41518 Glomp, 41519 Glurt, and in 9557 Lizaru Polybag.

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Tags: piece-information, part-identification
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# Question
Title: Are there any reports of fatal or life-threatening incidents with LEGO?
My older kids love LEGO, so my younger kid is also very keen on playing with them, rather than only playing with DUPLO. I am however concerned that it might be risky for him.

Most pieces are either too small or too large to be, at least in my opinion, frankly harmful. It appears that fatal or life-threatening incidents may have occurred with LEGO in the remote or recent past, such as this one: Boy, 5, chokes on Lego block.

Is anybody aware of any other incident?

# Answer
> 7 votes
I'm aware of two serious incidents, but not life-threatening.

One, a young child put a rubber tire on their finger like a ring and went to sleep. This restricted bloodflow and caused swelling. IIRC, an ER visit was necessary but there was no lasting damage.

Another, a child removed a piece using their teeth, and accidentally bit through the element, which stuck to their teeth necessitating oral surgery.

I know multiple children have had bricks stick to their teeth. Always teach your children to use a brick separator or an adult, and **never use their mouth or utensils (knives/forks) to pull pieces apart**.

As for small parts, you should generally be safe if you follow the age guidelines. Sets with choking hazards are labeled as such.

To my knowledge, there have been no reports of fatal incidents involving LEGO toys, nor invasive surgeries.

DUPLO toys meet very high safety standards for younger children, if you're concerned. They're designed to withstand a great deal of force to prevent breakage (you could probably run them over and only get scratches), and are suited for infants and toddlers to generally handle safely.

# Answer
> 6 votes
The vast majority of lego related injuries included some variation of the following:

* Cutting fingers by trying to disassemble Lego
* Stepping on Lego (of course)
* Quick movement of the corner of a piece against the skin, scratching or cutting the skin
* Swallowing and/or choking on pieces (mostly young children, very young)
* Getting pieces stuck in orifices such as the ears or nose

Basically, there is nothing majorly life threatening. I have not read or heard of any accounts of electrically operated Lego hurting people either (i.e. 9v system, PowerFunctions etc). If you would like to read personal accounts of harm from Lego, I would suggest taking a peek at this link.

Long story short, unless your child is prone to do things that are dangerous with small items, they are quite unlikely to be harmed, apart from a small scratch every once in a while. Also, all Lego products are accompanied by an age rating (not the one on the front cover) but near the fine print on boxes and instructions. There are adequate warnings and disclaimers, but of course common sense should prevail. If you know your child may get hurt, don't let that opportunity arise.

I hope that helped and answered your question. Happy building!

# Answer
> 2 votes
At about 9 years old I fell out of bed onto a constructed set. Managed to get into my parents bed and fall asleep. In the morning the pillow was soaked with blood and I got the day off school. As far as I am aware there were no lasting side effects, but ay bleeding to the head is not considered healthy.

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Tags: duplo, safety
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