Can the Hogwarts Express train be motorised? Can a Power Functions motor be fitted into the LEGO "Hogwarts Express" train? I have a spare motor and battery box and would like to fit them into this train.

I'll assume you mean the most recent Hogwards express but this applies to most trains:

The simplest way to motorize most Lego steam engine sets that weren't made for motorization is to rebuild the coal car to sit on the train motor and contain the battery box. This typically results in a somewhat oversized coal car, but it's not ridiculously sized. If you are using the new Powered Up components, you don't need an IR sensor and you're done with just the battery box and motor. If you're using the older IR Power Functions you need to place the IR sensor somewhere: this typically involves rebuilding part of the locomotive. If you have the Power Functions train motor, but don't want to use the IR sensor, you can use the rechargeable battery box which has a built-in speed control switch. The downside is you have to catch the moving train to turn it off.

Building a powered self-contained locomotive is challenging as most steam locomotives are not wide enough to conceal a battery box, and the train motor isn't well suited to the typical spacing of the steam engine train wheels. Not to mention that its speed assumes small train wheels, so the larger wheels will spin as fast, but because of the larger diamter, the train will be faster. It's possible, but tricky, to build a steam engine where the front wheels use the train motor: I did it, but there are serious technical challenges to making it run reliably. I ended up having to switch the large wheels from a "flange, no-flange, flange" driver configuration to a "no-flange, flange, no-flange" configuration, so that the locomotive could go around corners.


Building a 45 degree brace I'm trying to reproduce my own house in Lego, and attached is a photo of the porch above my front door that is supported by a 45 degree wooden brace:

At my current scale, the vertical white wood with the '71' on it is one brick wide. What technique can I use to build the 45 degree wooden brace? I guess it doesn't have to be exactly 45 degrees, but my attempts in LDD never join correctly with a horizontal piece to form the roof of the porch (although it's not obvious from this screenshot, I can't extend the horizontal plate to join the brace as the studs don't line up).

Any help much appreciated!

Since no one has answered this, I'll reproduce my comment as an answer:

  If you are just going for something aesthetically close, and not load bearing, why do you need the hinge piece on the top? Just push the long hinge plate up in to the "awning" and then your problems are solved.


What is this LEGO minifigure with huge teeth? Does anyone know what minifigure this is?

This minifigure is Atlantis Hammerhead Warrior.

However it is missing its headgear - Minifigure, Headgear Head Cover, Hammerhead Shark with Eyes and Light Bluish Gray Lines Pattern pictured here:


Is there a place where you can buy single pieces of LEGO-compatible systems? I've acquired a set of MegaBloks and was amazed at the slopes with studs on top.
Unfortunately the set is $15 and there's only 6 pieces I need.

So I wanted to ask, are there any sites like Bricklink that sell MegaBloks?
(Note: I'm talking about dozens of a single piece. No mixed bags, no used sets)

Market places for MegaBlocks include:

The Bloks Forum
eBay


What software should I install for NXT on OSX El 10.11.2 Capitan? Sorry, I am brand new to Mindstorms and a bit overwhelmed. I bought an NXT robot over Christmas and am confused what software I should install. I installed the EV3 software. The bluetooth doesn't work, but the USB does. The sound sensor and object sensor don't appear. Also it says I have to do a firmware update, but it says I can't do it with the EV3 software.

Is the open source software better?

You can try installing the NXT 2.0 software. (See this question)

Here is a working link for the software: http://service.lego.com/en-us/HelpTopics/default.aspx?questionID=2655. Look for "How can I get a replacement for the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT software for set 8547?"

It says that it will not install on OS X 10.10, however, I did successfully install it on 10.10 anyway. I have not tried installing it or running it on OS X 10.11 though.

There are open source alternatives, but the ones I have seen haven't been updated for a long time, so they may have problems running on newer versions of OS X as well.


How does the 8365 Tuneable Racer work? The set 8365 Tuneable Racer has tunability as its main feature, meaning the motor's parameters can be changed by adding, removing or swapping certain additional elements. However, these parts seem to be purely cosmetic, and not in any way mechanically or electronically relevant.
The instructions illustrate their intended functionality:

And similarly with the B-Model:

Based on these images, the functionality of the individual parts seem to vary in different combinations, as the last two setups for the A model hint on

having better performance than

but the B model seemingly has it inverted.
So how does this set work? My current best theory is that there are buttons inside the technic holes used to connect these parts and their states affect the motor's characteristics somehow, but I'd like to know if someone has better insights into its workings.

The first two images for the B model suggest different capabilities for the same setup, which must be an error on TLG's side, or is there something I have missed?

Edit:
This Polish forum has a review of the set with an image depicting the switches inside the Technic holes:

The text states (as translated by Google):

it can be seen that in the places where the pipes are to be finally inserted, there are buttons that control the engine's operation.

can be tuned using regular pins, using them as jumpers

This eliminates the "rotating pins providing resistance" theory, but I'm still looking for any experimental results, authoritative information or preferably a full analysis of the different combinations regarding speed and torque.

I do not own this item, but observing the pictures leads to a logical inference.
The pins are in different locations.
If you look at parts, you will see that they are 5 pins wide.  One part has pins in positions 1 and 5, the other has pins in positions 2 and 3.
You then connect the parts to the motor.  With switches inside the motor, it can detect which holes have pins in.  This is similar to how the LEGO Super Mario figure knows which Power Up is attached - a simple way to test would be to attach normal pins in those locations, rather than the special parts that came with it.
This may not even be electronic, the pins may be physically changing the gear ratio inside the motor.  Which answers the last part of your question:  why do the performances appear to be reversed?
Because a high gear means lots of speed, but no torque (power), and a low gear means low speed, but lots of torque (power).  You can test this yourself on a bicycle.  On a flat path, a high gear will let you go really fast, while a low gear will mean you are slow.  But, going up a hill, a low gear will let you easily climb steeper hills, and a high gear will leave you stuck, exhausted, at the bottom!  So, the "high gear" item gives better performance on the "speed"/"racing" model, but the "low gear" item gives better performance on the "power"/"steep ramp" model


What is the name of the Technic pieces that snap together to make a track? We have these little black Technic pieces that connect together; they make a track that fits over the gears (sort of like wheeled-belt-track on excavators or tank track).

Can you tell me the name of these pieces? The kids love them, I'm hoping to buy more in the Pick a Brick.

There are three types of chain/track that are similar to what you describe, none of which are currently available through the official Pick A Brick, though all are fairly common on BrickLink.

The smallest is the Technic, Link Chain
The medium sized is the Technic, Link Tread
The largest is the Technic, Link Tread Wide with Two Pin Holes

There are also several belt styled tracks that might fit your description, but it sounded more like you were referring to the modular parts.


Which of the LEGO Mindstorms 9797 (NXT Education base set) Software is compatible with Windows 10 I have LEGO Mindstorms NXT 9797 and downloaded the following Windows PC Versions:

NXT Edu 2.1F6 PC App ---Education Version
NXT Ret 2.0F5 PC App ---Home Version

Which one of these are compatible with Windows 10 home version 64bit?

Is EV3 software a better choice for this one?

Your guidance is highly appreciated.

You're in luck; All versions of the NXT software, including drivers, is compatible with 64-bit Windows 10. While in my experience it wasn't necessary, you can preemptively avoid installation problems by right-clicking "Setup.exe" and clicking Properties -> Compatibility -> Run in compatibility mode for: -> Windows XP SP3 . In the same panel you should select "Run as Administrator" to avoid permission problems.

While the EV3 software is backward-compatible with the NXT, the NXT software is a much better option. Certain NXT options are not available using the EV3 software (like bluetooth support). And in my experience, the NXT software is just more stable anyway.


Old sets, new bricks Are there sellers out there that compile old discontinued Lego sets with new bricks? In other words they source new bricks and instructions to put together old discontinued sets. Thanks

I am not aware of any sellers that do this, but if you like to assemble discontinued sets, bricklink
has a feature that allows you to do this using bricklink seller inventories. Just look up the set on bricklink, add the Inventory to your wishlist and review which sellers have the pieces you need, then order them.

Go to the "Wanted" tab on Bricklink: http://www.bricklink.com/wantedAdd.asp
Then select the "Part Set" tab and fill out the item number of the set you are looking for (you might need to do a Catalog search to find out this number). Pick the options you want, check the "Set Minimum Qty" option, and "Submit for Edit". You will now have a broken down list of parts that you can edit (for example, replace original parts with proposed substitutions, this is useful when your set is really old and the original part is difficult to get, but a more current part exists that likely has better availability). Add this to your Wanted List and you're ready to go.

Alternatively, many old, discontinued sets can be bought, in box, on ebay and bricklink, but depending on the rarity and popularity of the set you might be paying a significant premium.


What is the best way to get in contact with a Lego expert? Catawiki is looking to hire a Lego expert to estimate the value of offered sets and arrange its weekly Lego auction. Where and how could we find people who might be interested in such a position?

An effective way of contacting LEGO hobbyist is either by..

Contacting Local LEGO User Groups or similar hobbyist associations

Many countries and areas have their local associations. For a map of regional associations, see LEGO Ambassador Network's LUG map. By contacting representatives of association, you can easily contact local help.

Requesting help from online LEGO forums

Another option is to post a message at online LEGO forums. There are many forums as some are theme-specific and some are area- or language-specific and thus it is hard to pinpoint exactly which forum one should try; it depends on the case. Safe bet would be to post in few of the global online forums, such as Eurobricks.

Contacting individual hobbyist via site/blog/email

If one wishes to contact particular hobbyist, a good way is see if that particular hobbyist has own blog or similar page. Even gallery services such as Flickr often contain email which can be used to contact the hobbyist.

For this particular case, I would advice posting a message at Eurobricks since it has particularly large amount of readers.


Identify Lego set from a partly-built object with a handle and colored yellow, white, and black I found this partly-built object in a box of jumbled LEGO.

What set did it come from?

This is the incomplete lawn mower from

3315-1: Olivia's House


Are miniature blocks (like Wise Hawk or lno) legal to buy online in Europe (Hungary)? I bought some Wise Hawk mini blocks (about 100 pieces) for me and my family in Hungary online from China. But the customs office has seized it, saying it is an unlicensed copy of LEGO and I committed a crime. I asked my supplier from Alibaba, who told me these pieces are of a smaller size than LEGO and thus need no licence. But LEGO wants to sue me and want to destroy my stuff at the customs. Is that true, did I commit a crime when I ordered this toy online?

AFAIK you did not commit any crimes, as buying conterfeit products is not considered a crime - even if your wares were counterfeit, but they are probably not, since the basic brick design is not patented anymore and these blocks are decidedly made different and incompatible.

Can you post the original message you received from the Hungarian customs agency? I happen to know Hungarian, and others might too. Maybe they are misinterpreting something.

Anyways, I'd answer the customs agency by telling them about the intentional design differences, the expired patent of the studs-and-tubes brick design and attaching the answer you have received from your Alibaba seller. The surefire way would be to acquire the assistance of a local lawyer, but cost-wise that would probably not be worth it.


"File error!" appears on NXT, but why? I tried to upload this program to my NXT, but for some reason I am not able to run it properly as it is always terminated with the message File error!. No idea why.

I am trying to read a .txt file into a char road[][]. I think it is where I insert the value into my 2d array where things go wrong.

#import "road.txt"

task main()
{
    FileOpenType road_txt;
    file.Filename = "road.txt";
    SysFileOpenRead(road_txt);
    char road[][];
    while(road_txt.Result == NO_ERR)
    {
       for( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
       {

         for(int j = 0 ; j < 09 ; j++)
         {
            char temps = fgetc(road_txt.FileHandle);
            if(temps != '\n')
            {
                road[i][j] = temps;

            }
         }

       }

    }

}

Most probably the problem is that the array is declared, but not initialized. The program does not know how much memory to allocate for this specific array and therefore there is no available storage in RAM for it.

To solve this, try initializing your array. You can either provide the starting dimensions during declaration, like in the last example here.
Which in your case would look like this:

char road[10][9];

And it will result in an array the given size, filled with zeroes.

Or use a function call to do the same if you have specific (not 0) initial values: http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nbc/nxcdoc/nxcapi/group___array_functions_ga49d48de55d817e96ed132eadc21260eb.html


What internal electronics do Spike Prime and Mindstorms Robot Inventor use? What electronics live inside the SPIKE Prime hub? How powerful is the hardware?

If we open the hub we can take a look at the main PCB inside. There's just one PCB in addition to a small speaker and the replaceable lithium ion battery. Here's the top of the PCB:

And the bottom:

We see that the main CPU is an STM32F413. It includes 1M of flash and 320k of RAM and the ARM Cortex M4 core can be clocked up to 100MHz.
In addition to the 1M of embedded flash, there's a Winbond W25Q256JV providing an additional 32MB for program and data storage.
Bluetooth connectivity is provided by the TI CC2564C.
The 25 LED grid is driven by a TI TLC5955 (48 channel PWM LED driver). This part also drives the other 4 surface mount LEDs on the board.
The 6 motor outputs are driven by a trio of LB1836 dual motor drivers.
There's also an MPS 2639A to manage the lithium ion battery.
There are many other supporting components on the board, but that covers the majority of it.
Overall, this is similar in architecture (ARM-based, identical output drivers, etc) to the other Powered Up hubs. It is significantly more powerful in terms of horsepower and storage thanks to the 32MB flash chip and higher clock frequency (100MHz here vs 48MHz for Boost for example).


How do I make use of the full SD-card after installing ev3dev After writing the image to the 8G microSD-card, initial setup of network and installation of git (with apt-get) I could not install anything else since I was out of diskspace. This confused me. But df -h shows me that /dev/mmcblk0 has a size of just under 1G. /dev/mmcblk0p1 has a size of 40M.

So I got a card with roughly 7G unused and unaccessible. How do I get hold of it?

When I insert the card in my laptop (Ubuntu) it does no longer automount itself and when I try to get some info about it I get this with parted and lsblk:

$ sudo parted -l /dev/mmcblk0p1
Model: ATA HTS721080G9SA00 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  76.8GB  76.8GB  primary   ext4            boot
 2      76.8GB  80.0GB  3219MB  extended
 5      76.8GB  80.0GB  3219MB  logical   linux-swap(v1)

Error: /dev/mmcblk0: unrecognised disk label

$ sudo lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda           8:0    0  74.5G  0 disk
├─sda1        8:1    0  71.5G  0 part /
├─sda2        8:2    0     1K  0 part
└─sda5        8:5    0     3G  0 part [SWAP]
sr0          11:0    1  1024M  0 rom
mmcblk0     179:0    0   7.4G  0 disk
└─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   7.4G  0 part

What can I do:

Could I resize the disk in the current installation?
Could I do a new installation an during the installation procedure set the size of the final result?
Could I create new partitions in the unpartitioned area and move the OS to that partition?

If you install ev3dev with an image file dated 1 May, 2015 or later, it should automatically expand the root partition to fill the space available on the SD card. Older releases are no longer supported.

If it does not do this, you should report a bug a https://github.com/ev3dev/ev3dev/issues. Be sure to read http://www.ev3dev.org/support/#github-issues first.


What is this cylinder like part? I found a pair of these among some parts I bought.  It looks like some sort of cylinder, which could hold an axle for a piston.

Is that correct, and how would I use it then?

This is one half of a "hydraulic" cylinder used like in the bucket of 7685-1: Dozer.

This element is Fric. Element, Cylinder and used often used in combination with Stick 6M W/Flange


What is the difference between these hole shapes? I purchased an assorted bag of LEGO Technic pieces. There are pieces with axle holes, but what puzzles me is that the holes are different from what I am familiar with.

There's a piece with an hourglass-shaped hole (center of photo). What is the purpose of this shape?
There's a piece with an hourglass-shaped hole, but with two thin tabs (left in photo). What is the purpose of this shape?

I'm familiar with the normal round hole, in which an axle can rotate freely, and the "plus" shaped hole, found in cogs etc., that grip an axle so the piece doesn't slide along the axle. But these two are new to me, and their purpose isn't obvious.

These are 3 different versions one the same shape / function that fit over axle.

The right one is the oldest from the 80
The left one came next
The middle one came after that.
To make it more confusing, lego is now back producing the right shape again

What I can remember had the original one a lot of clutch power and was hard to be removed.

Personal I think the left one had some problems with manufacturing, due to the small tabs.

I believe the middle one broke easily.


Can I change the Bluetooth identifier for an EV3 brick? I'm coaching a number of FIRST Lego League teams and wish to set up our lab so that each computer could potentially be paired with each brick, but I want to uniquely identify the bricks (EV3-Team1, EV3-Team2, etc). Is there a way to change the brick's Bluetooth name?

I'm teaching an after school robotics program and the kids are using the LEGO MindStorms Education Core Set #45544. I was dealing with the same situation when I had to connect 10 EV3s to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and I couldn't distinguish from one EV3 to the next.  Anyhow, I figured out how easy it was to give each brick it's own unique identifying name. You want to make sure that the EV3 is connected to the computers via USB cable and that the LEGO MindStorms program is opened. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll see the hardware page. Click on the brick info and then just change the name.  See image below.


Can the DUPLO My First Number Train fit on DUPLO tracks? I have the My First Number Train set, pictured here. This set did not come with track. Other sets, such as My First Train set, pictured here, do come with track, but the wheels look different. Can this kind of track fit the My First Number Train set? Or is there a different kind of track that can be used with the My First Number Train set?

Not really - the wheels on "My First Number Train" are the DUPLO car wheels, so they will just about fit on straight and curved track, but they won't work on the points and bridge sections.

There isn't any track designed for the wheels in "My First Number Train", that's just designed to pulled around on the floor.

You can just about see a chassis in this picture - they are about to crash at the points:


Multiple Powered Up trains on 1 Bluetooth controller? My daughter got a Passenger Train for Christmas and I converted one of my old 9v trains to run using the powered up system. Is it possible to run the 2 trains independently or concurrently (preferably independently) on the one remote?

I’ve tried all sorts and have struggled to find anything that helps me.

Each train needs the following two components:

Hub
Train motor

I'll assume you purchased a second set of these to convert your 9V train with, since you're asking how to control both trains using the same remote.
The LEGO Powered Up team has provided an FAQ for Powered Up which contains instructions for how to pair multiple Powered Up Smarthubs with one remote, on either the same channel or different channels:

How can one single BT remote be used to control multiple receivers or switch among them? Will this be possible in the app?
You can link up to 5 devices (Smart Hubs or Smart Controllers) together.
To create a network you first need to connect a Samrt Hub [sic] and a Smart Controller.
First Hub connection
Turn Hub and Controller ON by pressing their green buttons and they will link. The LED will blink white and then shift to same channel color e.g. blue. You can now change the channel color by pressing the green button on the hub and toggle through the 5 channel colors. When turning OFF the Hub or Controller the last connection is remembered and re-established when turning both ON.
Adding Hub to network
With the first Hub and the Controller ON and connected you can add extra Hubs to the network by turning the new Hub ON and then press both green buttons simultaneously on the new Hub and one of the components in the network (Hub or Controller). The new Hub is now added to the network with the same channel color as the currently selected channel. Again toggle to another channel by pressing the green button on the Hub. When more Hubs on different channels are added to the network you toggle between the different channels by pressing the green button on the Controller.
Note: The current Powered UP app supports control of a single train.

Note that when you have two Smarthubs paired with the remote on the same channel, when you press a speed control button on the left side of the remote, both Smarthubs will respond. This is shown in a video by HispaBrick Magazine. This means you'll start both trains concurrently with a single button press. To avoid this:

Change the channel on one of the hubs by pressing the green button once. You can then switch to this channel on the remote by pressing the green button on the remote, and cycle through all 5 channels back to the other hub to control that other hub again.

Or if you want to be able to control each hub independently using each side of the remote without having to change channels on the controller, simply switch the plug on one of the hubs to the other port while both are still paired on the same channel.
The second port is typically used with a different device such as a Powered Up LED Light which you can install into your Passenger Train and you'd control the train motor and the LED light independently; however, it's not possible to have both motor and light controls and control two independent trains all on the same channel.


What can I do to repair my minifigures loose neck/head joint? I have a number of loose neck joints on my minifigures. How can I repair them? Any suggestions?

In the old days, minifigures had a dab of paint on the neck. I don't know if it was for this purpose but it would wear off over time.  You can paint some nail polish or acrylic on the neck to strengthen that connection. Thin the acrylic (use water based) before applying.


Will my mighty white rocket yellow in direct sunlight? I recently bought the Saturn V and placed it on my windowsill where the rocket is exposed to the direct impact of sunbeams every day. Having encountered several yellowing effects on older white parts I wonder if this will speed up this unwanted process of discoloring?

Absolutely it will. The yellowing is caused by exposure to UV light, which it will get more of with direct sunlight shining on it. If it has to be in the window you could look at some glass coverings that block some of the UV, or find a home for it else where under electric light.


What Lego set does this belong to? I want to find which LEGO set this unusual piece belongs to. I have 10? I have a few sets from the late 1980's and the rest are from the 1990's.  I have looked and looked. Hope you can help!

It looks like a 1 x 1 square brick with six studs extended 1/4". The studs have a square lip around it. The brick base has two studs and then there is a square with four studs that fits around it to make six!

The color seems to be closest to Medium Blue or Medium Azure

That isn't Lego, it's Construx by Fisher-Price. I had some of those :)

http://www.thisoldtoy.com/fisher-price/dept-7-playsets/f-construx/nuts.html


How should I create a Heroica scale graveyard or crypt room? I've recently started playing Heroica with my sons, and we want to take this further, so I'm looking for some suggestions on modelling a graveyard or crypt room.

As an example, here's a model of the official "study" element on a 6x6 plate:

In general, each room is designed to sit on a 6x6 or 8x8 plate, and will have path elements on it for the characters and treasure to be placed.

Crypts don't offer a lot of color possibilities, I think, so I'd try to take an approach using texture. Replacing bricks with plates, and then some of the plates with 1x1 round plates or empty space gives a "broken stone" feel.

Obviously, crypts also need coffins. You can use a 1x2 plate with a 1x2 tile on top for a closed one, or a 1x1 tile and 1x1 plate and put a slightly angled 1x2 tile on top to give the impression it's been opened.

You can try making a few "entrances" as a stone roof supported on pillars. Again, there are some 1x1 round plates to give a hint of a carved relief along the top.

Another common bit of crypt imagery is a catacomb with endless recesses carved into the wall for bodies. A 2x1 plate sandwiched between two 2x2 plates gives a similar effect, and there are several options for what to put in the blank space - or just leave it empty.

For the end I'd imagine a fancy raised altar where the necromancer / lich / mummy / etc. is. Some bright colors here will really stand out even if the build is simple.

For a graveyard outside the crypt, I'd use a combination of the same arches, some simple gravestones, and some of the tall, thin trees from Fortaan. Using some 1x2s with 1 stud you can get a good gravestone layout.


Can anyone identify these Bionicle sets? Can anyone identify these Lego pieces? They were given to us in a bin of toys, and we cannot identify them. We know they're Lego, and have a 2002 date on them.

Those appear to be Bionicle figures, a theme that was active from 2001 to 2009 (and making a comeback in 2015, I hear). The line focused on buildable "action figures" (aka "constraction figures").

See here: http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Bionicle


Which computer games came in jewel cases with LEGO studs? Two LEGO computer games I've owned since the late 90s or early 2000s, LEGO Rock Raiders and LEGO Creator Knights' Kingdom, came in big boxes like most other PC games at the time. In the boxes were these CD jewel cases lined with 14 studs along their spines:

Of course, these studs are compatible with any LEGO SYSTEM bricks and minifigures. You can also stack these jewel cases on top of one another, as there are tubes along the respective side on the bottom of each case.

Which other computer games came in these special LEGO jewel cases, or at least which era were they from? I think LEGO designated categories for these video games too, but I can't really remember.

Wow, I remember these. Certainly takes me back! These versions of the cases I believe were used right back in about 1997-1999 when Lego first started releasing PC games. Exact information is hard to come by, but I personally still have (in a box in my cupboard) the cases for Lego Chess, Creator, Racers, and Loco, some of the first PC games released, all with the studded case.

My brother's later version of Creator: Harry Potter (2001) came in the much less exciting standard cases:

A lot of the early early games came in a chunky box that had a compartment for the game, as well as a small section for a lego toy.

I know this was the case for Loco, and I believe (if memory serves) was the same for Creator.

Ahh, I remember stacking the studded cases in different ways while I waited for the games to load...


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

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

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

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


Lego Mindstorm NXT cannot connect via bluetooth I have an NXT mindstorm brick, running RobotC firmware. I am trying to connect to it, via bluetooth. At first, the problem was that I had the motorola drivers instead of ones from microsoft. Even after uninstalling he motorolla drivers and replacing them with stack microsoft drivers, the NXT cannot be found by the PC. Is there a way to fix this ?

I assume you've tried this, but hopefully it will help someone. Make sure that your computer has been added to the brick's trusted devices and your brick has been added to your computer's trusted devices. I haven't got the link to work with "anonymous" devices before; you need to go through the process of entering the PIN.


Making a relaxing LEGO tub I'd like to make a few tubs with an ornate gold-trimmed look.  I'd like to get atleast a somewhat curved feel to them, not just the blocky square ones you see on the youtube tutorials.  Here's a few of the pieces I'm considering:

shorts for the bathers

bare chest, or similar for the bathers

inverted arch  for the curved base of the tub
or
double concave brick  and other 33-Degree bricks for the base of the tub
or
Tall inverted arch  for the curved base. (I like this one because it comes in orange which is closer to the pearl gold pieces)

2x2 macaroni
and
macaroni tile to top it off with a nice pearl gold finish.

mirror on the wall for a decorative finish

faucet

My concern is that It's not going to quite have the 'rounded' look that I want, particularly on the outside.  Do you folks have any suggestions for improving this design?

Both of these designs use the same faucet piece and legs can be easily attached beneath, the issue with most of these designs is that parts are mostly in white as those parts are more common than gold. If you are set on the colour you will be fairly limited in terms of pieces but there are some ways to change the colour of bricks with some limitations.
This design by Elspeth De Montes uses the (Studs not on top) techniques to get that smooth look without any exposed studs on the top. It uses a 1 x 2 x 5 brick

This design by Ryan Smith has a similar shape but with studs on top.

You might find more relevant designs by searching on Flickr rather Google images for example.


Does Powered Up provide a rechargable battery box? The older Power Functions electrical system includes the option to purchase a lithium ion rechargeable battery box. Is something like this available for the newer Powered Up system?

This isn't currently available.

The Powered Up team responded to a question about this in May 2019. The gist is that they were able to say that the removable battery holder in the hub was designed with a future rechargeable battery in mind. This can also be inferred directly from the design:

They cited several reasons that this isn't yet available, including TLG's strong commitment to product quality and safety, particularly in a product like this that would involve a direct interface to mains power for recharging. The challenges of localizing the charging adapter to all markets was also mentioned.

The team didn't provide a release date, but there was a sense that this would be coming at some point.


Is there a slotted yoke piece? I need it for mechanisms such as the Scotch yoke, but I only see workarounds, like this one, where the slot is made with several other pieces.

I don't believe there is a single piece that exists. It's certainly possible to create a mechanism much smaller than the one shown as well as one with fewer pieces.

In theory a single piece would not be possible, the mechanism consists of a minimum of two pieces for it to be possible: a rotating drive and a sliding yoke (as well as several additional pieces to keep everything in place).

Rotational Drive

There are many ways to create a rotation drive, they all consist of an axle (of any length) and can use pulleys/gears, and liftarms cranks.

1 + 2

For the first two examples I've used a Technic, Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Towball (6628) but you can just as easily use a standard pin (2780) as it's much more common.

2

A similar setup to 1 but with two  Technic Cam (6575) pieces.

3

The third example with two pieces is probably the simplest and most compact, it uses the Technic, Liftarm 1 x 3 with 2 Axle Holes and Pin / Crank
(33299). This setup is limited to movement between five studs (up/down, left/right).

Sliding Yoke

Here are two examples I've made of a sliding yoke. They are identical apart from the beams used. The first one can move five studs and the second can move three studs (possibly the smallest combination). You can of course use any length of beam to create larger yokes.

The beams are connected with a Technic, Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Lengthwise (6558) and a Technic, Pin Connector Round 1L (18654) or you can replace both pieces with a Technic, Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Center Pin Hole (87082)

There are twelve pieces in both builds. You can reduce this to 10 if you remove the black standard pin, red connector and black axle with a Technix Axle with a stopper such as this piece and a Technic bush (3713).

This build can be reduced to 8 pieces if you make the substitutions shown above.


Build Instructions for Brown Fedora Hat at LEGOLAND Florida Resort Hotel When visiting LEGOLAND Florida, I fell in love with this brown Fedora hat that was in the bathroom of our suite at the resort.

I am not familiar with the custom LEGO building community and don't even know where to look for build instructions for something like this, or how to begin figuring out how to build it.

Might someone here be able go get me started?

Hey Victor, I bring gifts!

This LEGO Digital Draw file should get you started, as you've asked.

Please consider this a rough draft of your Brown Fedora.  I'm calling it rough, because at this early stage, it was just made to look as close to the actual picture with no care for a sensible design flow.

For example, the file may have three stacked 1x4 plates, where there should be a 1x4 brick or corner piece there instead. The abundant plates were used to  guesstimate height levels, and left in place because due to the lack of reference material, every level may not be correct.

So, with the LDD program, it is possible to generate build instructions, but again, the design flow will not make sense until more data is collected from the field.

What You're Getting:

A link to my Google Drive folder that contains the LDD file (*.lxf), and all my collected reference material of pictures and videos.  Anyone is welcome to add their two brick clicks to this build.

Notes and Issues:

From What I Understand: LEGOLAND Resort is a hotel, outside but within some walking distance to an actual LEGOLAND theme park.  So, no one is actually squatting inside the park;).

Hotel guests spend the night in a LEGO themed hotel room.  The 5
Themes if available at a particular hotel are: Ninjago, Pirate, LEGO
Friends, Kingdom, and Adventure.

Field Research / Resort Locations: There are multiple LEGOLAND resorts, and it seems like I've traveled the world to find videos and
shots of this hat.

So far, only hotels Florida and Malaysia have our brown hat, all
other resorts I've searched, California, Windsor, UK, Germany, Japan,
and Dubai, all have a gray hat with a totally different design (and clearer pictures).
Build Discrepancies Between Images: Reference images for the top of the hat seems to be missing pieces, or pieces seem to be shifted between images/rooms. One reason I could come up with to explain the discrepancy is a hotel guest pawing the hats, and oops a piece comes off, then it gets reassemble wrong.
Lucky Mirror Shortcuting: We lucked out with the hat being symmetrical (*Sort of), which means we got away with building half, and just mirrored out the rest. Less work, Yay!
(*Sort of) Symmetry Explained. You'll notice in some images and shots that the left side of the tan band of the hat lumps out for no
apparent reason.

So,I google imaged Fedora hats, and you'll see some of them sport overlapping material pinned down with a swanky feather.

So, I think the designer built the staging for a type of hat
accessory.
Need more data (01). I have no great shots of how the hat connects to the tan mounting block, the actual size of the mounting block, nor how flush the entire piece hugs up on the wall.
Need more data (02). I have no idea if the designer scooped out the underside of the hat that no guest would ever see, unless some crazy curious guest pulled it off the wall to properly check underneath.

What Next?

So, basically the next step to finalizing some great build instructions is to collect more field material.

TO ALL FUTURE HOTEL GUESTS OF ANY LEGOLAND THEMED RESORT HOTEL.

Hey, please share your family's visit to any of these hotels.  We'd like to experience through you, the fun times in your room at a LEGOLAND Resort.

It would be great if we knew:

Which Country?:
What City?:
Which room theme you picked?:
What suite number You stayed in?:(Room comparison to control for build discrepancies.)
Name of the sculptured object you plan to share with the community?.

We can near replicate anything you've seen, but the level of replication depends on how detailed your pictures/videos are.

Hold your camera horizontal please (for the rest of my cough forsaken cough life);).
A non shaky, slow paced 360 closeup video of any design would be
ideal.
If you happen to have a loose off colored brick on hand, stick that
on it too. Doing so would help out when determining level height.


Connecting EV3 with older motors using conversion cable I'd like to use an EV3 brick to power an old 9V motor (74569). To do so I'm going to get one of these conversion cables (x1676) but I'm not 100% sure if it's possible to control the speed of the motor with it. I'm aware of the limitations of these cables but RPM control is crucial to my project. These cables became quite expensive nowadays so I don't want to waste money on them.

You'll be able to control the 9V motor as an unregulated motor with the similar named motor block, you'll be able to set the speed approximately, but any accurate RPM control is out of the question as there is no feedback pulse signal from the motor to the EV3 telling it how fast it is going.
Also there are some programming quirks with this cable and an EV3, like having to specify two motor blocks as the first one is ignored, but I don't recall the specifics.


I need an NXT motor adapter I'm trying to get an NXT motor adapter to this that I'm getting:

If you don't recognize this, the parameters said :
80mm

2000 ±10% RPM 28.89 CFM

Rifle

20.9 dBA

Please tell me what this is called so I can look for it.

The adapter itself is generally called a "Molex" adapter. The one you have pictured looks similar to their Mini-Latch style.

I would recommend an adapter like this. The pin spacing should be the same even if it is not made specifically for that connector.

The red wire connects to pin 1 and the black wire connects to pin 2. The yellow wire is for speed feedback, but it won't do any good unless you modify the NXT firmware, so I would leave it detached.

Alternately, you could cut a NXT cable and solder it directly to the fan wires.

Also, you didn't say, but the fan is probably 12V and the NXT can only supply battery voltage, which is only at most 9V with fully charged batteries, so it will run slower than it does when connected to a 12V power supply.


What is the name and part number of this round decorative gold part? What is the name or part# of this round piece? Thanks.

It looks like a Wheel Wagon - Ornate Huge.

You can tell from the link, but as you explicitly ask, I guess I should say that the part number is 15744.


On what plane is 7292 Propellor Adventures based? The set 7292, Propeller Adventures, features a twin engine airplane. It looks a bit like the de Havilland Mosquito, but not quite.

On what plane, if any, is it based?

It looks like a pretty generic twin engin-ed WWII bomber.  Maybe like this Mosquito bomber?


Why does the pin recess on the Technic turntable continue to the edge of the part? Here's the part in question (2955):

While Technic parts typically have a recess to allow the ends of pins to be flush with the surface, this part (and perhaps others) carry this recess all the way to the edge of the part in a U shape.

I looked through instructions from a few sets to see if I could figure out if there was any utility to this, but I wasn't able to find anything. Here's an example of the part used in the Mobile Crane (8460):

Is the some purpose to this design, or is this just a quirk of this part?

As suggested by bumbumfish, it is indeed required by the molding process to be able to remove the part from the mold. This does exist in many other parts, such as Technic frames:

The alternative is a mold with moving parts, but this is more expensive, and can't be used anyway where there is not enough room for the mechanism (e.g. inside frames).


Connect 39k3 powerpack to 417j3 motor I'm new to lego.  Trying to connect the powerpack 39k3 from 42009 Crane to a 417j3 motor.  Is a 8528 Converter Cables for Mindstorms NXT the right cable?

Is there a way to hack a phone connector onto a power cable?  Where would I find the wiring diagram?

Many thanks,

Joe

You can accomplish this with these two parts:

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Converter-Cables-for-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-8528
http://powerfunctions.lego.com/en-us/Products/Default.aspx#8886


Identify pieces for this Griffin I'd like to make just the top part of this griffin
Can you help me identify the eye, ears, beak and that weird curvy white part on top? I think I can find the rest.

The builder used Set #70124 - Chima Eagle Legend Beast as a template.

To see the online instructions for this set watch this HERE. The bird's head construction is on page 14 at 53 seconds in.

For a list and description of all parts used look HERE.

For further inspiration, check out creator Markus Buhler's alternate Griffen build plus his tutorial HERE.


AA Battery Packs 54950c01 vs 59510c01 What is the difference between these two battery boxes, 54950c01:

and 59510c01:

except for the on/off button?

Which electrical connectors are compatible with each of those?

Is there a counterpart for the 54950c01 button to make it similar to the 59510c01 one?

Are these interchangeable in order to connect them to a buggy motor 5292?

The main functional difference between these is the electrical connector. The one with the red switch uses the old style 9V connection, while the one with the orange switch uses the newer Power Functions connector.

These are both the same voltage (9V), and you can mix the two systems using the Power Functions Extension Wire (8886).

Here's an example showing a PF battery box powering buggy motors:


Tips for getting enough bricks to make a MOC with unified style In the past, I made MOC's out of my LEGO Star Wars sets.  At this point in my life, I don't really want to take those apart for pieces and I'd much rather have them on display.  Recently, I have been buying sets on-sale at Walmart that from the City and Creator lines, (sets which I won't have the urge to assemble and display like Star Wars).

Now, I have a decent pile of pieces, but I'm having trouble making anything with a unified color palette and style.  I would like to make detailed real life buildings and buildings/scenes from Star Wars, but I can't seem to find sets that are not overly expensive and aren't Star Wars that contain pieces (mainly bricks) that I need.  I'm a bit apprehensive of buying LEGO lots online because the sellers rarely show what you'll actually be receiving, and the thrift store near me hardly has any toys, let alone LEGO.

Are there any sets that have a good price per piece or any other suggestions to help fill out my brick selection? (I've looked at BrickLink, but I don't want to buy individual bricks since I don't know what I am building)

This is what I have gotten so far:

10698 LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box
10696 LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box
10692 LEGO Classic Creative Bricks
60047 LEGO City Police Station Building Set
60117 LEGO City Van & Caravan
60081 LEGO City Pickup Tow Truck
60107 LEGO City Fire Fire Ladder Truck
60118 LEGO City Garbage Truck
60119 LEGO City Ferry

Edit: I'm not really asking how to get bricks cheaply, more or less I was trying to see how I could get pieces that matched a specific style. I feel like the answers both do a good job giving both shopping and building tips for this problem.

Buying random LEGO sets hoping that it will have parts that will fit with what you want to build is an expensive process that can leave you with a huge number of unwanted pieces, and still not have what you want.

Having said that, it is still a good idea to buy some sets that have a good number of pieces and/or building styles that you like and fit your project. For example, if you are planning to build a Star Wars scene, narrow down what scene you would like to build, and see if LEGO has already done any sets from that setting.

LEGO actually considers all their sets as "seeds" that will hopefully inspire LEGO fans to expand on further. So, you buy that Star Wars set that fits your idea, then you start to expand on it. LEGO designers probably already worked out some of the most iconic features of that setting, so all you need to do is expand on them.

If you have a good number of parts, but they are in a rainbow of colors, you can still work on the project you want, but focus on the shapes and techniques rather than the colors. Once you are happy with the design, you can swap out the wrong colored pieces with the correct ones by purchasing them on BrickLink or at LEGO's Pick-A-Brick section.

It is sometimes difficult however to ignore a bunch of bright colors when all you want to build is a mostly gray space-station. So you can combine building with the bricks you have, and virtual building in LEGO Digital Designer. Once you are done, you can count exactly how many bricks you need to buy in which color.

In general I found that even if you are on a smaller budget or lacking space, it is a good idea to have a fairly large stack of bricks in one neutral color (grays, tans and white are the best in my experience), so you can model pretty much anything without being distracted by a rainbow of colors. This way you can work out the shape, size and design of pretty much anything, and then later switch out the pieces with the correct colors. This technique also significantly reduces the cost of projects, because you don't end up buying sets and pieces you don't want.

However if you are completely against shopping on BrickLink or at Pick-A-Brick, there are some sets that might work with your Star Wars project. I'm particularly thinking of the LEGO Minecraft sets because they contain large quantities of basic pieces in earth-tone colors (tans, browns, greens, grays, blues, white and black). They are pretty much the same as the LEGO Classic Brick Boxes that you purchased already, but with earthy tones. They are very useful for creating more realistic landscapes, buildings, etc.


Why are the new Star Wars busts 18+? My new Boba Fett set 75277 arrived this morning, and the first thing that struck me was the 18+ classification. Am I right in thinking this is purely there because the set is intended for a more mature builder?

Product description (cannot embed URL for description, so you have to click on "DESCRIPTION" tab) explains why adults are a target audience. (emphasis is mine)

  It’s a super LEGO Star Wars™ gift idea for adult fans and offers a
  testing challenge for experienced LEGO builders, with the familiar
  shape and authentic details of the helmet beautifully recreated using
  LEGO bricks.

  Pay homage to one of the most fearsome bounty hunters in the Star
  Wars™ universe and challenge your LEGO® building skills to construct
  this awesome Boba Fett Helmet (75277) memorabilia model for display.

  The authentic details of the Boba Fett Helmet are beautifully
  reproduced with LEGO® bricks. Displayed on its base with nameplate,
  this model will spark memories of thrilling Star Wars™ scenes.

  This Boba Fett Helmet is part of a range of collectible LEGO® Star
  Wars™ build-and-display models – also watch out for the Stormtrooper
  Helmet (75276).

  The best birthday gift, Christmas present or special surprise for Star
  Wars™ fans aged 18+ and any experienced LEGO® builder, this 625-piece
  Star Wars Boba Fett Helmet offers a challenging construction project.

  This LEGO® Star Wars™ Boba Fett Helmet measures 8.5” (21cm) high, 4.5”
  (11cm) wide and 4.5” (11cm) deep – it doesn’t take up lot of space,
  but its striking details are sure to delight any Star Wars fan.

  This cool, battery-free construction set for creative adults offers a
  stress-relieving, relaxing build. So, take time out, find your
  building Zen and construct a fantastic Star Wars™ character
  build-and-display model!

  Thinking of buying this Boba Fett memorabilia for a Star Wars™ fan new
  to LEGO® sets? No worries. It comes with clear, step-by-step
  instructions so they can take on this complex building challenge with
  confidence.

  LEGO® Star Wars™ construction sets are great for kids and adult fans
  to build and display the models, recreate classic Star Wars movie
  scenes and create their own exciting stories. There’s something for
  everyone!

  No need to use the Force to connect or pull apart LEGO® bricks! They
  meet the highest industry standards to ensure consistency and a
  perfect, easy connection.

  LEGO® bricks and pieces are dropped, heated, crushed, twisted and
  analyzed to ensure that this LEGO Star Wars™ set meets the highest
  safety standards on Earth (and in galaxies far, far away!).

Basically a little more challenging build and not intended for play are the main reasons, I suppose.

Although I'm not sure why they both mention "+18", "adults" as well kids in the same description, like here:

  LEGO® Star Wars™ construction sets are great for kids and adult fans
  to build and display the models, recreate classic Star Wars movie
  scenes and create their own exciting stories. There’s something for
  everyone!

EDIT. LEGO has released new 10273 Haunted House set with a press release explaining why some new sets have "18+" marking.

  Addressing the new packaging, Senior Marketing Manager Anders Hellegaard Iversen said: “So many of our older builders love the Creator Expert products, as they allow them to show off their passion for the bricks. Whether it’s their favourite film moments, sport icons, travel destinations, buildings, fairgrounds or vehicles, LEGO sets help to bring these to life in brick form. That’s also why we have decided to stop using the Creator Expert branding and, instead, use the new adult-focused packaging design to make it clearer which hobbies or brand products they can relate to. We hope this will make it easier for fans to track down models they would be proud to display once completed. Of course, our product range will continue to include the same advanced-build, collectible products that guarantee hours of building enjoyment for fans.”


Existence of a Technic 1M Half Beam I am building a fidget spinner out of LEGOs and need two parts to help it spin better while not being extremely loose. The only part I can think of that would work would be a Technic 1M Half Beam, but I don't know if it exists. Does that piece exist? If so, where can I buy it from? If not, do you know of any piece that would work just as well?
Here is a picture of my WIP:

You can see in the middle where there are two spaces that I would like to be filled. Something the height of a tile would fit.

If I understand your question, you are seeking a spacer that can spin freely on a Technic axle. Essentially, you want a 1/2 bush that has a round hole rather than an axle hole. I don't believe that this piece exists in Technic.

The old Technic Hub/Handle (424) may do what you want, but it is thicker than a 1/2 bush:

Failing that, a minifig ring may work for what you need if you have one handy:

Feel free to post pictures of your WIP and we may be able to provide better suggestions if those don't work.

Edit:

Now that you've posted a photo, I wonder if a 1/2 Bush might just work:

Edit2:

I've now had a chance to play around with some alternate designs, and the one that I like best simply replaces the 2x2 plate and 2x2 tile with this wheel hub (3482):

This is solid and has a nice feel in the hand. It gives you the flexibility to have this rotate as tightly or loosely as you'd like.

Some others like to just use an additional 2x2 round plate:


Can anyone identify this white air/spacecraft please? Can anyone help me identify this air/spacecraft please?

This is part of the Justice League Javelin
from 76028-1: Darkseid Invasion


Which 3307 Arch 1 x 6 x 2 is correct for 10225 R2D2 Set? "Thick Top with Reinforced Underside" or "Thin Top without Reinforced Underside" BrickLink shows that the 10225 R2 D2 set contains 3307 Arch 1 x 6 x 2 "Thick Top With Reinforced Underside", but I purchased that set and mine contains the newer "12939" variation which is described as "Thin Top without Reinforced Underside". Does anyone know which is the correct ORIGINAL arch variation contained in this set? And when did the change take place?

I cannot give you the definite answer, but LEGO changed the design of the "Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2" two times over the last 6 years. The original version is 3307 which was in production/circulation until 2014. It then produced 12939 which entered production/circulation in 2010 and is still out there in new sets, however, in 2014 LEGO started producing yet another design numbered 15254.

Since 10225 R2D2 was produced for about 2.5 years from 2012 to 2014, it fell right smack in the middle of the change-over between these 3 molds. So per set it really depended on what mold had been printed and was sitting in the supply for the given production facility - some sets will have gotten 3307, other sets 12939 and even some late sets will have gotten 15254. For LEGO there is no difference in these parts and they will have been substituted.

Bricklink indeed mentions 3307, but has 12939 listed as alternate, so it recognizes both came in this set. Brickset has both 12929 and 15254 as parts for this set, and Rebrickable has 3307. Finally, BrickOwl is missing this piece from its inventory altogether.


What does SNIR stand for? I know that SNOT means "Studs Not On Top", but I've also seen "SNIR" used, often in the same context as SNOT, but clearly different - what does it mean?

SNIR is the abbreviation for "Studs Not In a Row" - almost self-explaining, but for more information, take a look at this small article.

[...] very useful on walls and other things. In Lego, studs (nubs, dots, etc.) are in a row, and a straight one. Using SNIR  makes studs be in zigzags or diagonal lines. [...]


How do you sell Lego on Brickowl? I was trying to start a store on Brickowl, but I noticed that, unlike Bricklink, it did not contain a sell button that was in plain sight. I searched around for it, but could not find it. If somebody could help me, That would be great.

"Creating a Store" article, found on BrickOwl's Help section, explains pretty much the entire process in details.


What's the name of the set including this piece? Red Technic and system pincer? This piece is a pair of claws/tweezers the I don't know the name of, it's part of the set and might help.

Looks like that's Exo-Force set 7701-1, Grand Titan.


How do I make Victorian looking minifigures? I want to do a Victorian style station to go with my steam trains. I've got some great ideas for the building and accessories, but I'm not sure about the people. How can I make Victorian-looking minifigures?

BTW: I don't want to permanently modify bricks, but would consider the use of stickers.

Ideas I already have:

Headgear:

Top hats
Deerstalker
Peaked cap for railway workers

Sadly, the Lego bowlers are either blue with a flower or grey with a question mark - not really suitable.

Head:

For males, any that have weird facial hair (there are surprisingly many) and/or round glasses

Torso:

Smart suits. I've read that shirtsleeves were considered unseemly.

Any other ideas?

--- Edit ---

As an example of what I have in mind, here's a railway worker I made from parts I got from PAB. Of course, I'll need passangers and other staff, too. And I'm more than happy to order individual parts from bricklink (as long as my wife agrees!).

A number of the minifigs from the Adventures theme would fit the bill in terms of round glasses and facial hair, especially the Dr Kilroy character:

They also have versions with suits, etc.

There's also a "Detective" figure in the Minifigures Series 5 with the classic Deer Stalker hat that resembles the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

There are also top hats available in Series 1 with the Magician and Ringmaster.


What are the inspirational resources for building with Duplo? I am interested in knowing what are the inspirational resources for building with Duplo, so I can spend more quality time with them.

For example have Lego ever released Duplo building instructions similar to Mini Builds? Or what can be good web sites to check, follow?

LEGO does have some interesting and inspirational videos and ideas on their DUPLO website: http://duplo.lego.com/en-us/videos/

One issue with DUPLO is that it is mainly considered as LEGO for babies so all the ideas you will get on LEGO's website will be geared towards small children. However there are adult LEGO fans who also use DUPLO in their creations. Some simply incorporate DUPLO as a support-system for larger LEGO dioramas (like for building up a hill) - a method also used by LEGO's own model builders.

There are also a few adult LEGO fans who use DUPLO for building wonderful creations. One of my favorites is this LEGO DUPLO castle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joachim_s_mueller/350719605/
Based on it, I also built a DUPLO castle myself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akunthita/sets/72157617926473583/

In general, flickr.com is a good place to look for DUPLO creations, but again; remember that most will be geared towards small children, so you will have to comb through a lot of rainbow colored towers before you find a really good LEGO DUPLO creation.

Here is an article on how DUPLO and LEGO are compatible and can be used together: http://thebrickblogger.com/2010/12/lego-duplo/


LEGO Torsos cracking I have just recently acquired the new crossbones' hazardous heist, and suprisingly, not even a week went by and my really sweet Black widow figure already has a small crack in her side. Will This damage the whole side? I'm really worried, does anyone else have this problem? How can I fix it?

I would go ahead and contact LEGO customer service and tell them about this. They will want to know as they have high quality standards and this might indicate a defect bigger than just your copy. Also, they are more than likely to offer you a free replacement figure - keep that one safe and disassembled until the one you have is too damaged.


Re-building sets - paid services? My son has A LOT of LEGO sets, which have sadly broken down into many, many millions of pieces. Does anyone know of any paid services that might help re-build his sets.

I know this sounds like it goes against the principles of LEGO, but really it's just too daunting, and he's lost interest because of it.

With “services”, do you mean someone who would come out to your house and rebuild the sets for you? As intriguing as that sounds, I do not believe something like that exists. Your best bet is to grab an instruction manual and start rebuilding from the pieces. Once you have a few sets built this way, it’ll become easier to rebuild the remaining sets. For sets that you know he has but you cannot find a manual, go to lego.com to download the instructions. Then, once it’s down to a few unknown sets, make pictures of the unusual pieces and post them here - we can help you identify the set(s).


EV3 brick not turning on, nothing on display? Ev3 brick not turning on, nothing on display, just red leds are on, tried 3 buttons not working.

Each time I experienced what you are describing, replacing the batteries with fully charged ones addressed the issue...


Can you identify this piece of non-LEGO submarine from a sketch? This is from a submarine set I bought on aliexpress. It's not LEGO but usually the pieces are the same. I'm missing this piece and cannot identify it.  Can you guys help me?

If you are looking for the LEGO equivalent of it, it's a Slope, Curved 2 x 2 No Studs, 3 Side Ports Recessed: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=44675#T=P


Getting a PC to recognize Lego Mindstorms as Controller Input It is quite obvious that you can make a controller out of Lego Mindstorms, but I am curious as to how you can go about connecting this controller to your PC, and getting it to recognize it as controller input.

You will not be able to do this with the official LEGO firmware, but it will be possible with ev3dev or possibly another 3rd-party OS for EV3.

Search the web for "linux bluetooth hid emulation". There are plenty of examples. I haven't tried any of them, so I can't recommend any specific one here.

I can recommend using the python programming language with ev3dev though, as it is the easiest way to get started if you are not an experienced programmer. Searching for "linux bluetooth hid emulation gamepad python" turned up this python program, which looks promising.


Extra pieces in 76112 Batmobile I've been building the new app-controlled Batmobile. As far as I can tell, step 34 shows many more elements in the parts list than are actually used in the build. What is going on here?

They are in a perforated bag and the entire contents of the bag is listed. You only need some of them in this step and in a few steps later on. I think such bag is called an "accessory" bag and it is common to have the instructions like this for such bag. The first set that comes to mind that did the same was the
Big Ben 10253 where on step 269 on page 187 the entire contents of the bag with minifig tools is listed while you only need 4 times 2 pieces to build the clock arrows.


Is it possible to use Bluetooth to connect two EV3 bricks using RobotC? For example to send a numeric value from one to the other?

According to the online documentation, Bluetooth commands are supported for NXT but not for EV3.

On the other hand RobotC is supporting Bluetooth upload/debugging.  This means that it is accessible.  My first instinct would be to look at how RobotC did it (if the code is available).  My second instinct would be to find if somebody already hacked the EV3 brick using C code.


Rearing off to the left without telling it to I've started to build a robot, but when it drives it veers off to the left even though I'm just telling it to go straight. I think I need to do something to the motors but I don't know what or how. I'm programming an NXT block.

Veering off a little bit is normal.  Can it be reduced?  Yes.  There are several possibilities to consider, one of which is the programming.  Put a pin in the hub of each wheel to serve as a marker, spin the wheels so the in the same position.  Write a program to go straight for 20 revolutions.  Hold the robot in the air, run the program, and examine the location of the pins.  The should match.  Differences can be programming issues, but more likely the position sensors in the motors.  Try switching swapping one motor and retrying the test.

More likely, putting the robot on the ground and running the program will show the pins match, but the robot veered.  Again, several possible causes, one likely cause is the friction on one side of the robot is greater.  Changing to a caster will reduce the friction and might help.  Another possibility is that the motors are a bit wobbly and allow the axles to bend so they do not match.  This can often be helped by adding a skirt on the outside of the robot to support the axles from the outside.


How can I add additional detail to large walls? I've seen some rather impressive castle builds over the years, and with the release of Helm's Deep I'm clearly going to be building a few myself now.

As this set uses the LEGO sticker sheet to add some detail to otherwise flat walls, I'd like to modify these builds to include some better "brick based" details - but I'm not sure where to start.

Ideally I'd like to create some additional depth, and perhaps add some vines or ivy up the walls, that sort of thing.

Unlike previous questions I have a fair selection of bricks, including various SNOT elements.

Classic-Castle.com has a guide for making castle walls more visually appealing. Key points:

Different colours, shades and textures of bricks add subtle imperfections.
Break up the monotony with windows, doors, arrow slits, balconies and other structural features.
Use timber (brown/tan) as well as stone (grey) bricks and try out adding different materials.


Where to get 3D files for LEGO bricks? I am constantly in search for a particular rare brick from the 1990's which is ridiculously expensive on BrickLink and also hard to get. So I am thinking about printing it on a 3D printer to be able to finish projects. I understand, a blasphemous behaviour. Please let me know where to get the needed 3D file.

The canonical location for 3D models of LEGO bricks would be LDraw, with its huge catalogue of official parts.

Another resource specifically catered to the 3D printing community is PrintABrick. Their library is not as big as LDraw's, but they offer ready-to-print STL files.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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!

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.


Is LEGO Junior compatible with regular LEGO? Does LEGO Junior fit with regular LEGO? Say for 8-12 year olds? I want to make sure it is not obsolete and can be used as the child grows alongside the LEGO collection.

Yes. These sets are fully compatible with other LEGO sets.

LEGO Junior is simply a theme within the LEGO System (just like City or Star Wars). It uses exactly the same bricks as regular LEGO. The models in Juniors sets tend to be simpler and use more basic bricks, but the bricks are all compatible.

The main "incompatibility" within the LEGO System is from DUPLO to regular LEGO, but there is even quite a lot of interoperability between these as shown here:

Are DUPLO blocks compatible with LEGO blocks in any way?


Wonder Woman Hair Vs Angel Wings Will this wonder woman hairpiece work with a transparent neck bracket , some clip plates, and white feathered wings ?
I have the longer version and I've verified that they won't fit together, but I'm wondering if the shorter hairpiece can work.

No.
The hairpiece you link appears to be the same mould as the standard non-movie Wonder Woman figure. The hair falls quite close to the back of the minifigure torso, so there's no room for a neck bracket.

If you're looking to add wings to your Wonder Woman, it might be worth investing in a helmet or hairpiece that doesn't cover the back of the torso.


Waterproofing LEGO bricks I have a LEGO ship that I want to photograph as it's sailing along in a pool. Of course the LEGO bricks have cracks in between them so water will leak through.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to waterproof the hull? Something that won't harm the bricks that can be easily removed. Also I don't want whatever the material is to be visible in a photo.

I would try liquid latex (liquid frisket) which you can buy in most art supply store.

This will not damage the bricks and is easy to peel off. You can apply it using a cheap throwaway brush, either in between the bricks (like a cement wall) or as a thin transparent layer on the whole hull. I recommend the second method because it's fast, straight forward and the easiest one to clean up.

I use this stuff for all kind of painting and molding jobs. It's a great material.


70915 Two-Face Double Demolition excavator gun won't load I just finished putting together Two-Face Double Demolition and I went to load the gun on the excavator but part #6097090 six shooter trigger is too tall for the bullets to be loaded.  Any idea how I can load the "bullets" when they don't fit?

The picture on the box of the trigger shows just the trigger point and  not that big circle where the bullets fit

It appears that you don't have the white round piece pushed in far enough. It should be sitting further in, so you can load the 1x1 round plates (bullets) over it.


What is a color sensor and where do you get it? I have an NXT but I don’t know how to make it detect colors, all it does is say “wait”. My set includes a light sensor but I heard some YouTube videos say there was a lego “color” sensor. Does LEGO sell this? Can some one tell me how to get it please?

The Original Mindstorms NXT only came with the NXT Light Sensor. The NXT Light Sensor cannot detect colors, so this is most likely what you have. You can currently purchase the NXT Color Sensor from Bricklink.com for under $30.


Help identifying giant blue LEGO Bionicle set I have what appears to be a giant Bionicle. The head is the size of a small human head almost the size of a mask.

It is blue in colour and in 5 bags. It looks like more than 100 pieces. The instructions and box are lost. No idea what it is.

Any ideas? Can post pics if needed.

Gadunka (8922) came somewhere around 2007, and was part of the underwater themed bionicle sets. When assembled it is quite big. Maybe this is set you were looking for?


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

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

I wasn't able to find anything like this, so I contacted the admins of the sites that I mentioned in the question. Rebrickable was kind enough to send me a dump of their set inventories under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-SA license, which basically means that you can do whatever you want with the data as long as Rebrickable is acknowledged as the source and you share any updates that you make.
I've created an archive which contains a spreadsheet for each set that was in the dump that I received. Hopefully this is useful to someone else.
Lego Set Inventories as of March 2014
Update:
The raw data that I used to create these spreadsheets is now available directly from Rebrickable and is updated monthly there. I also maintain software to build an SQLite database from these dumps.


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

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

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

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

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

This means your train needs room for

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

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

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

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


Can I get LEGO compatible wheels 3cm in diameter or bigger? I want to make a formula one car at least 30 cm in length out of standard LEGO parts. None of the LEGO wheels I have are big enough for this scale. Where can I get some big wheels that would look ok? The big tires here are too big. I looked on BrickLink, but just got confused.

Wheel 30.4 x 14 VR with the tire is ~3 cm (the 30.4 and 14 is mm). It also looks good for sports cars.


What is this silver and transparent green electronic piece for / from I found this Lego in a box with other old Lego parts and I have no idea what it is for. It has a 'Lego' logo with a code 5202 but I can not find anything online.

Could someone please give me more info on this?

This is a Spybotics Module from set 3809-1 Technojaw T55.


Pick A Brick delivery times I am about to order some bricks using the online Pick A Brick service. Unfortunately, its delivery time information is confusing. In the right column of the checkout page, it says:

  Your item will be delivered in up to 5 business days.

However, in the left column, it says:

  Please allow up to 15 business days (Monday through Friday excluding
  holidays) for delivery time.

So, which one is correct? What's your experience?

Pick-A-Brick orders are shipped from Denmark so they take longer, and they also need more processing time. In my experience they take 2 weeks to arrive. I'm in the USA. Hope this helps.


Turn a tank a specific number of degrees I don't have a gyro sensor so that's not a possible solution (until I purchase one). I figured I'd just do the math on this one. What I'd really like to know are:

The circumference of the caterpillar track that comes in the Ev3 set. (I was hoping it would be etched into it, but I didn't see anything besides 1-01 in the rubber on the inner part of the belt).
The circumference of the rims that come in the Ev3 set.
The driving "gear" for this is the rim attached to the large motor(s), there are two followers that support the belt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only two things I should be factoring into the math are the rim driving the belt and the belt itself correct?

EDIT (answered parts):

If this is correct the length is 14cm.
If this is correct, the circumference is 3cm.

The math you're suggesting may work for going straight forward or backward where slipping is limited.  For a turn, it will not come close.  Even getting the center of rotation of the turning robot will be difficult.  The tracks will have to slip.  A tracked robot can not turn without those tracks slipping.  Differences in friction will alter the turn. More weight on the left or right, front or back of the robot will alter the turn.

Even abandoning the tracks for wheels is not guarantee that the math of how much the robot should turn will match reality.  This is not to say abandon the math, just a hint that it will only give an approximation.


Which current wave (2018 onwards) Harry Potter set should I buy to make 12 Grimmauld Place? I would really want LEGO to make an official model of 12 Grimmauld Place, the magical house in London used by the Order of the Phoenix.

As this building is rather dim and uninteresting from the outside, I doubt it will ever be released as a set by LEGO. There hasn’t been a set depicting any scene from inside or outside of Grimmauld Place in any of the Harry Potter waves according to Brickset.
My question is, if I really want to make 12 Grimmauld Place, which single current wave set can I buy to get as close as possible? Are there any websites that show alternative versions of LEGO models?

Indeed, there haven’t been any models of 12 Grimmauld Place as of yet, and even though the house features in a number of memorable scenes in the movies, even those scenes have never been depicted in an official LEGO model since the inception of the theme 20 years ago. I am still keeping my hopes up this will be a set, perhaps even including the folding motion to make it appear magically! One can only hope ....
It is actually quite common to turn official LEGO models into alternate builds, even if the set is not an official 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 model. This is called a MOD (covered in this question here on this site). A famous one in the AFOL world is the MOD that turns 10214 Tower Bridge into a proper Modular Building.
There are several websites that feature MOD designs. The best known one is Rebrickable, where AFOLs can upload designs for any set (including MODs) and allow people to match up the pieces in their collection to the design, sell the instructions etc.
Another well-known site is Eurobricks, where scattered throughout the vast amount of forums and threads you can search for [MOD] in a posting title and find a lot of examples of MODs.
Back to the question: To make 12 Grimmauld place you need a set with lots of windows, 1xN bricks and a door. Looking at what sets are currently available, I think set 75980: Attack on the Burrow is a good candidate.

As you can see, it has lots of bricks including masonry profile bricks, as well as windows and a door.
I went ahead and tried to build 12 Grimmauld Place. Here is what I built using only pieces from 75980. Did I come close enough?


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!

Got these from a helpful friend over at BrickPicker.com:


What would be the origin of these 1x1 bricks with the top part and stud having a different color? Last weekend while visiting Legoland Germany, we found the following pieces in the discount crates:

They are white 1x1 bricks, with the top part (and stud) in light bluish gray.

What would be the origin of these pieces? How are they produced?

Looks like they may be spray-painted? Perhaps for a store display or mosaic? – TheBrickBlogger Jul 14 at 0:40

I agree with this hypothesis. In particular, the pieces would have been assembled and then spray painted. This accounts for the faint tinge of gray on the top edge of the sides of the pieces (paint in the gap between adjacent bricks), and why some of the pieces (right side of the photo) have gray sides.

The tops of the studs look slightly less sharp than LEGO plastic molding usually is, which would be due to the paint slightly rounding everything over.

It is also unlikely that this effect would have been produced by regular injection molding, because the plastic does not enter the mold in neat flat layers so you can't do this by just putting two different colors in. "Overmolding" can create an object with two plastics stuck together, but they would have a crisp edge usually with a detectable seam, not the faintly fuzzy one here. In any case, some very unusual process would have been used, and I doubt that TLG would have gone to the trouble.

It's paint.


Serra's Sanctum and magical mirrors I am in the initial planning stages for a LEGO build of Serra's Sanctum from Magic, The Gathering. Part of the description states:

Serra's Sanctum was a notable landmark of the plane, suspended somewhere in its infinite sky. The Sanctum was the dwelling place of the famed planeswalker herself. It was massive, taller than most structures on other planes. Powerful artifacts run through white mana and having white-related functions, such as the Cocoon, could be found here. At the top of the Sanctum was the aviary, where Serra could see the entire plane through many powerful lenses that kept an eye on her world. Only planeswalkers could comprehend all these images simultaneously. Leading down from the aviary through the rest of the Sanctum was a spiral staircase that ended at the base of the building. It was here that the main plaza was presumably located. The plaza contained a water fountain that reached five stories high, carved with skillfully rendered angelic effigies. On the fountain were also the words art, discourse, freedom, peace. These are the ideals that Serra herself sought after and wished to center her world around.

It's the 'powerful lenses' part that I could use a little help with.  My current idea is to use Plate, Round 4 x 4 with 2 x 2 Hole  with some transparent-clear plates backing it to make a mirror/lens look.  Do you folks have any better ideas?

I like your idea. I know very little about the MtG universe, so I'm not sure what might be most helpful here. Some ideas that come to mind:
The 2x2 boat stud elements are available in trans-clear and might provide the sort of look that you are hoping for.

There is a mirror element (20193) available. This could potentially be used in a lens apparatus of some sort.

The 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, and 6x6 dish elements are all available in trans-clear, and they could be useful for designing a lens system.

There's also a variant of the 6x6 dish with a handle on the side instead of the studs in the center that might work better for your application.

As zovits pointed out, the 6x6 also comes in a half-sphere variant:

There are also many printed transparent dish elements that might provide the sort of look that you are looking for, such as something like this:


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

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

Is there an easy way to do this?

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

You could also search through the Minifig category on Bricklink.

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

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


Can anyone help id this partial build/set? I found this partial set bagged at Savers, looked interesting. But searching thru peeron, I cannot figure out what set this might belong to. Is anybody familiar with what set this might be associated with ? Back and front designations are really just arbitrary, as I don't exactly know what I have here. The black bricks hanging out on the top of the "back" side view are technic bricks 1x16 with holes. The sides of the base, if you will, are composed of 6 technic bricks 1x14 with holes, 3 on each side.


Homemade methods for interfacing a Servo with LEGO bricks I'm looking for non-destructive way to structurally attach a standard servo with LEGO bricks.  I'm interested in answers for either Large, Medium or Small size servos.

I'm using LEGO Mindstorm/Technic bricks to prototype all kind of robotic projects and I often use non-LEGO parts for the electronics (e.g. Arduino, Servos, LEDs, ...).  I'm always trying to find better ways to integrate those non-LEGO parts without damaging the LEGO bricks.

I'm aware that there are some commercial adaptors available on the market but I'm interested in creative homemade solutions (low-cost to no-cost).

For example: here is one way to attach a medium size servo to a LEGO Technic beam:

The best solution is to create custom LEGO-compatible bricks that your servos (or other parts) fit into. This can be done by:

modding existing bricks with knives, glue and other tools
building bricks from other material (wooden LEGO, formed with Fimo/Sculpey...)
building bricks with a 3D-printer (for instance see the LEGO category on thingiverse). There are online services to print your designs if you don't have a 3D printer (yet ;-)

Each strategy is worth another question here at bricks.SE.


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

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

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

This same question goes for the identification of brick colors.

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

Parts have a design ID, and an element ID.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope this helps answer your question.


What is the white building pictured in the San Francisco (21043) set? Can someone help identify what the red-circled building is (not the cylindrical Coit Tower) in this set?  The others are obvious, but this one does not seem to be identified in any of the official literature.

I believe it is 50 Fremont Center/Salesforce West Tower (it's right in front of/besides Salesforce Tower);

I acknowledge that the scale seems off. I'm guessing it is the Fremont Center based on it's location, appearance, and that Lego didn't bother labeling it, as if Salesforce West is part of Salesforce Tower. Also, if you were to look at Salesforce Tower from Coit Tower, the white buildings position is pretty much right on (if other buildings weren't blocking your view).
  Additionally, none of the landmarks or their proximity to each other are really on scale in this Lego set.  I feel like it's more of a representation than a model.


Please help identify this Ausini piece The one that looks like a rocket head or a projectile tip. I hoped there was a corresponding LEGO piece. There is no inventory on the instructions.

Even though there's no corresponding LEGO piece, you could get away with this substitution:

Part #89522 - Horn (Unicorn).

This is how it would look with the pieces you have, and color wise the Horn comes in metallic silver too.


I have two unopened bags of LEGO, I can’t figure out what set they're from Two bags from Goodwill, bags are marked 2017, number 135149 (which I’ve heard is not useful information anyway)... The QR code unfortunately would not work on the LEGO app.

These are parts from
31091: Shuttle Transporter

Keyparts

Wedge, Plate 6 x 6 Cut Corner
Tile, Modified 2 x 3 with 2 Open O Clips


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

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

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


How to connect two LEGO Bricks EV3 by USB using python For some project, I have to use 7 motors with ev3 bricks.
So I would like to connect 2 bricks using USB-USB link, and make them communicate, in python.

But I don't know how to do that, I've tried some stuff using serial module, but without any result.

You can create a network connection between two EV3s using USB + ev3dev. Just enable tethering (the "Gadget" checkbox) on one of the EV3s. Connect the USB cable to the USB peripheral port on that brick (the small port next to the output ports) and the host port on the other EV3 (the USB port on the side of the brick).

Then, you could use something like RPyC to remotely control one of the EV3s. Here is an example that explains how to do this from a computer: https://sites.google.com/site/ev3python/learn_ev3_python/rpyc. So just substitute one of the EV3 bricks for the computer.


EV3 IR, ultrasonic senosor datasheets I want to connect EV3 IR and ultrasonic sensors to my Arduino.
Unfortunately could not find any good documents describing how to use/control them.

Could you please help?

Thank you very much.

LEGO has released the source code for the EV3, so you can see how it works. Look for the "EV3 Firmware Source Code" at http://www.lego.com/en-gb/mindstorms/downloads.

You can also find the documentation generated from this source code at http://ev3.fantastic.computer/doxygen/index.html. In particular, these sensors are documented at http://ev3.fantastic.computer/doxygen/UartProtocol.html. But beware! The documentation on the UART sensors is not 100% correct. When in doubt, trust the actual code and not the comments.

And finally, don't forget to search for existing Arduino libraries for these sensors. Unless you want to implement your own library just for the sake of doing it yourself, you can save yourself some work. For example, you can find a library at https://github.com/lawrie/EV3_Dexter_Industries_Sensors/tree/master/EV3_arduino from one of the leJOS core contributors.


Technic Firetruck 8289 with different wheels? I am a bit confused with the Technic firetruck set 8289. The photo on its box:

clearly shows it has the wheels 56145c02:

however, according to this photo from BrickLink

it has 6595c01:

In the parts inventory both wheels are listed, but the parts of 56145c02 are also shown as alternate parts.

My questions: Does this set have a "facelifted" variant? Is there an alternate box showing the set with the other wheels, or LEGO simply changed the content without changing the box?

The instructions show and Brickset lists 4496197: Rim Wide W.Cross 30/20 as the wheel rim of choice, which fits with the release year of the Fire Truck (2006) and the manufacturing dates of the rims (2006-2013).

BrickLink's "preferred" rim was only manufactured up to 2006, which might explain why it lists the pictured rim as an Alternative part - as that would have been included in later runs of the set.


Looking for instructions to Mega Bloks “Blok Bots” 9356 set I need instructions for Mega Bloks "Blok Bots" set 9356.
Can't find it on https://support.megabrands.com/en-us/instructions

I found this thread on Reddit:
(https://www.reddit.com/r/buildingblocks/comments/2t9xew/archive_of_old_mega_bloks_instructions/ )
It has a link to a zip file with instructions from the old mega bloks site.
It contains instructions for 9356 and 9528.