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does Lego make bricks with a stone, brick or concrete block design?
Does Lego make the bricks with a stone, brick or concrete block finish on the sides?  I would like to use these for walls and buildings on a train layout. Thanks!

As usual with LEGO, the best solution is often to make your own.
You can make quite impressive brick walls using tiles, like this (image from Brickshelf):

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

Even when simply placed next to another, tiles give a great effect, thanks to the bezel. Check this house for a basic example

The gaping and color of the "Bricks" give a good allusion that its looks like a Brick Wall.

Related: How can I add additional detail to large walls?

That looks like the pieces that have knobs on the sides are used for the walls, then flat plates are placed on the knobs.

There's this part, which has a brick pattern molded into the side:

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

Since the brick was produced (some time last year) it can be found almost everywhere, it's already appeared in many official LEGO sets and MOC's and it's getting cheaper over time

In short: Yes.
There are actually quite a lot varying in base colour and stone/brick design.
As mentioned by another poster, many are from the castle theme, but there are also interesting ones from Duplo which may help with your layout if you are trying to cover a large area as the Duplo blocks are larger.
Some examples are below, but for lots more take a look through these items on Bricklink.

Brick 1 x 6 x 5 with Stone Wall Pattern

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

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

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

Duplo, Brick 2 x 2 with Stone Wall Pattern

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

I'm pretty sure some of the Castle series have tall pieces with some brick outlines...


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What is the rarest LEGO production element (colour/shape combination)?
What is the rarest LEGO element according to the following criteria:

Genuine LEGO elements, not those available through third party vendors or otherwise modified elements. (So nothing from Brickarms.com, ChromeBricks.com, etc.)
Not prototype elements such as the Red Ghost, Yellow or Red Train Rails, etc.
The same element of a different colour counts as a different element,
(so the rarest colour/element combination)
No special production elements such as the 14k Solid Gold LEGO Employee Brick 2x4 Brick in Display Box or Gold C-3P0.
No elements that were only part of sets produced not to be sold, such as the unique Sticker for Set 4000001 which is part of set LEGO Inside Tour (LIT) Exclusive 2011 Edition - Moulding Machines or the Green BURP from the Wind Turbine - Vestas promotional set.

Agood example of "part of sets produced not to be sold" would be the green BURP, as it's only been used in that one set which was only given to Vestas employees (not that some didn't make it to the market, of course, and I've seen the green BURP in bulk actions in some rare instances). Barring that, I believe that at some point LEGOland parks did have access to more elements in alternate colours, but that probably doesn't count either since these weren't supposed to be released to the public.

@Joubarc Nice example, I have updated the question to include it. (Now I want to go and buy some Green BURPs!)

I would tend to say that any part produced for only one set would qualify, especially if said set is priced high. Looking at the inventory of 10179 Millenium Falcon UCS for example, the following candidates come to mind:

Light Bluish Gray Boat Mast Rigging Long 28 x 4
Dish 10 x 10 Inverted (Radar) with Radiating Spokes Pattern on Concave Side although it's printed so I'm not sure you're willing to accept it. I would have mentionned minifigs as well, but only Obi-Wan Kenobi (Old, Light Flesh) is exclusive to the set and its individual parts are used in other sets.

Considering the price the set goes for nowadays, and the fact that most people who buy it will probably build it once and leave it so (that is, if they open the box at all), I think the grey boat mast rigging is a very good candidate. There are four people selling some on BrickLink as of february 2013, but a glance at the prices asked comforts me in my reasoning. Even the printed radar dish is cheaper.

Agreed, I think the mast rigging is a good candidate. I think printed elements are acceptable but since both the radar and the mast rigging are both from the same set, I suppose it doesn't make any difference. Interesting point on the minifig - I would say that since it is made up of parts, then I would say the minifig as a whole doesn't count even though it is only used in that one set.

I'm not sure whether to consider these real Lego parts or not, but many of the old HO scale vehicles and greenery are incredibly rare. For example, the Jaguar is quite rare in any color, but especially in red and black.

@jncranton I never thought of the old HO scale vehicles. I suppose we should also consider the Pull-Along Duck from 1935, there can't be many of those still around.

+1 for this - although I feel the question is a bit vague in this respect in that @mcqwerty didn't actually specify what "element" meant ;)

712pb01 Plate, Round Curved 4 x 8 Left with Red Line on Curved Edge Pattern
To be honest, I don't know if this is especially rare. I do know, however, that to find the rarest part we'll need to factor in:
1. Parts that appear in small numbers in very few sets
For example:

"White Minifig, Headgear Hair Female Pigtails" piece only appeared in a few sets.
The parts unique to the 10179 Millennium Falcon UCS.

Often, rare parts have an unusual design or colour.
2. Of those, sets that had a limited production run
Sets with a limited run might include:

Promotional sets (although these rarely have unique parts)
Sets that are limited to a single locality

The Millennium Falcon might be a candidate here.
3. Of those, parts that are unlikely to have survived the ravages of time
This might include:

Old sets - anything from the 1950s, for example
Sets designed for community play, e.g. Educational establishments

All things considered, I imagine that the rarest piece of proper LEGO is from one of the oldest sets: which is why I suggest something like, "712pb01 Plate, Round Curved 4 x 8 Left with Red Line on Curved Edge Pattern" that appeared in a single set in 1958.
Alternatively, (if you care to count them as part of the system) many of the parts from the 1940s Automatic Binding Bricks era will be quite rare by now.

How could I forget about the white minifig female hair... (although in all fairness I've seen some sold at auctions a few years ago, and these were even provided by LEGO itself)

I was just reading about the 8485 Technic Control Center II, where you can make a dinosaur, helicopter, or hovercraft controlled by a big panel, and which I have on hand. According to a reviewer (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=75864) there are a few rare pieces that were included with this set, which retailed for $219 in 1995. The price of the set and quickly-outdated electronics probably could imply that the set is relatively rare. Some of the parts are pictured here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mostlytechnic/8158411568/
Red wing plates (x2 Left, x2 Right) that were used in the helicopter build, and one other set.
Little white coils for bundling wires together, only used in an earlier Multi Control set and educational sets (probably quickly lost).
And a black steering yoke used in the dinosaur build - only ever included in this set. It was released in white in a 1980s car set.
This might be one of the rarest individual parts that's not from a promotional or movie-themed set.

None of these seem to fetch too high a price - admittedly, that's not necessarily an indication of their rarity, but since the demand isn't particularly high it's still possible to get some relatively easily. Good find, though - and welcome to bricks.se!

It's impossible to provide an accurate answer without accurate information to base it off of.  Without knowing production quantities on every set, it is impossible to know if there's a part that only comes one per copy of a set that sold 10 million units, or if there's another part that only comes ten copies of a set that sold 10,000 units.  Age of sets can also affect the answer because parts that have not been made in decades will exist in much smaller numbers now than when they were brand-new, due to all the various ways that a LEGO part could be destroyed over the years.  Some sets have been recalled and changed, which may have allowed a small number of a rare element to make it out into the wild, after which the supply was cut off.  And some elements have been retired almost immediately after they were first put into production.  Assuming stuff like SDCC minifigs are excluded (not meant to be sold), I have to put my vote on 8-spoked wheel #51377.  In 2005, they first introduced this wheel in metallic-silver for a Designer set and a Tiny Turbos set.  In 2006, they produced it in pearl-gold for the first Batmobile and the Catwoman/Dragster set.  Before those two Batman sets went out of production, they had introduced the reversible wheel #55981 with six spokes on one side and bolts on the other.  In the two Batman sets, they replaced the 8-spoke wheel with the new reversible one, which means they made the 8-spoke wheel in pearl-gold for only a few months before the mold was permanently retired.  I bought one copy of each Batman set at release, and a second copy soon after, and only got the 8-spoke wheel in the first copies I bought.  And that's too bad, because it's a really cool looking wheel.

Perhaps the Chrome Green Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 5 Point?
It is the only chrome green part.

Based on the conversation in this thread, the 2x4 brick in trans-neon-green is also quite rare. Last selling price on Bricklink was from Oct 2014 and was set to $75.

As that part was never in any set (the linked thread says so), it probably is a prototype element or something and thus fails some of the OP's criteria.

How about a surprisingly rare part: the Lime Green 1x1 plate. Only produced in one set in 2005.
Edit: Re-issued in 2014,so for 9 years, it was rare.

Oh? Bricklink says it was in three sets.
granted, one of those sets is a monthly mini model build.
OTOH, Bricklink says 6 different colors of 1x1 plate came in only one set each. Of those, the Maersk blue only had two in a set from 1980.

I didn't realize they re-released it! Brickset still lists it as only coming in the one set from 10 years ago, and when I went looking to buy some last year, they were $1+ each on Bricklink.
Anyway, I think a much more interesting answer to this question than a rare one-off piece for a licensed set is a common color and common part that in combination are rare.

At this point, I'd be interested to see what mcqwerty has to say, what with all this new activity and STILL without a chosen answer.

@gev I am here, watching and enjoying the conversation. I'm not sure there is a 'correct' answer since it depends on even more factors than listed in my original question.

Antannae piece from the 70s. The ones nowadays are almost all broken, so these are rare. Also Chrome Gold 2x2

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Can you keep blocks clutched together in big chunks? Will blocks loose their "clutch power" after years of that kind of keeping?
I keep my blocks of same type in big assembled chunks, for easy building and finding bricks, but I am worried, is it safe for them or will they tend to lose strength in some time (years maybe)?

How did I miss that duplicate?! Sorry.

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How to build bridge using 4.5/12v train rails from 1969 Lego brochure
I am interested in building a bridge for my layout and stumbled upon this forum post in which user 'Istokg' posted a picture of a train bridge made from the blue rails used in the pre-1980s train sets.

This is from a 1969 Lego publication which has been scanned and uploaded to brickfetish.com and can be found here.
Obviously this could be built with either the blue rails as shown or even the newer grey rails.
My question is: can anyone provide insight, (or even better, building instructions), on how it is constructed. Even the larger picture in the scan is still too small to see exactly how the rails are fixed to the main structure.
--------- Edit ---------
I finally have all of my Lego spares in one place and have had time to try a prototype build of the bridge using @62Bricks' LDraw file, but I have hit upon a problem:
The angles of the vertical rails where they connect to the plates at the top are such that it is not possible to attach the curved outside rails. This is best illustrated by the picture below:

As you can see, there is no way to attach the upper rail as the vertical rails attached to the studs on the lower row of the plates almost touch the studs on the upper row.
I thought at first this was due to my using 'Gray-era' rails rather than the 'Blue-era' rails used in the 1969 bridge and in @62Bricks' LDraw file but as far as I can see there is no difference between the two that would affect the outcome here. (I don't have any blue rails to test though).
Further supporting evidence is that at high magnification in LDraw, the stud on the plate can be seen protruding through the end of the rail, which is impossible in practice.

I do happen to have a straight rail where the end cap is broken off, I tried this with the approximate angle of the curved rail and was able to achieve something that looked about right:

I don't want to have to break the ends off my rails to make them fit and also the grip of the broken rail on the stud was much reduced, so I doubt a bridge made with this method would hold up well with the vibration of trains rumbling across it.
I am, therefore, stuck. I have my prototype bridge part built but I can go no further. I would love to hear any suggestions on how to proceed as well as any theories as to how Lego made the bridge in the picture work.
--------- Edit 2 ---------
After much experimenting with jumper plates and studying of the original picture, the solution was actually quite simple. (And identical to that suggested by @jcranton in the comments of the accepted answer):
By adding 1x1 plates under the connections to the vertical rails, the collision is avoided. (@jcranton's suggestion to use round plates I think is better than the square plates I have used).

The method above also means there is no need for double stacking the plates as shown in the LDraw from @62Bricks.
So my prototype is taking shape:

I have made a few other modifications, most notably dropping the level of the deck to accommodate the height of the trains I intend to run on it. I have also added reinforcement plates to the back of the sides to add rigidity as I intend to make the bridge wide enough for two tracks.

It's very difficult tell without getting a closer look at the set but it looks like they may be using curved track parts to build the bridge (I also thought these could be straight bricks under stress). As it's a Samsonite set it may be connected with specially designed pieces.

Are you mainly interested in reconstructing the bridge exactly as it was in the photo, or constructing one that looks like it using the old rail pieces? Based on the parts available at the time (at least to the public) it does not appear the bridge in the photo is fully connected. Instead, it seems the "supports" are fitted around the railbed as decoration. Using modern pieces, though, it would not be hard to duplicate the appearance of the bridge and also make it structurally sound.

@62Bricks - It doesn't have to be exact. I am interesting in understanding how it is constructed using the pieces from the time, even if the rail pieces are just decoration. But for my build I can use any pieces available pre-1994. (This is a self-imposed limit on my classic town layout). As Ambo100 pointed out, the bridge in the photo may be using specially designed pieces and I'm particularly interested in discovering what they may be.

I don't believe there are any special pieces used. I think the rails are simply attached by the ends on plates. The structure has been built "sideways" and then placed on top of the simple bridge made with bricks and plates connected by the tracks on which the train runs. This is a technique you can see in other photographs from the same era.

Wat ontzettend leuk, toevallig zocht ik naar zo'n soort brug om te bouwen. Van technisch lego had ik wel iets gevonden, maar ik vind dit veel leuker. Bedankt voor deze site.

Google translate renders this as "How great fun, I happened to be looking for such a bridge to build. I would have found something from technical Lego, but I like this much more." But this seems more like a comment to me than an actual answer.

I found same problem using blue rails at the time, can't be done. I've picture here, leaflet for rails,  yes the rails going up are in front of the rails across, so plate under.

Here is an approximation of the bridge that appears on the cover of the catalog pictured above. Unlike the version in the picture, this model uses bracket pieces to attach the arched section to the rail bed. All the pieces in this build were available prior to 1994.
The arches are decorative and do not really contribute to the strength of the bridge. This is completely computer-generated and may not be very sturdy in real life. It would not be difficult to adapt the rail bed to give it more strength, however.
I put together an LDraw file with steps for building this bridge. The file can be downloaded from my MOCpage.

@62Bricks - I have updated my question with info about the problems I faced trying to build the bridge. I think LDraw may have allowed some impossible connections.

It's difficult to tell how this was done in the original picture, but it looks like you might be able to work around the issue by adding a 1x1 round plate under one of the rails that are colliding.

@jncraton - I came to a very similar conclusion and saw your comment when I came back to update my question. I have credited you in my second edit. Thanks!

Ah - one of the pitfalls of virtual building. I recall messing with that angle a long time trying to get things to look right and I missed that collision. Sounds like the round plate fix will work.

Mocpages.com is down, probably forever. Anyway we can get a mirror for the LDraw file? Tried https://web.archive.org/web/20130503123257/http://mocpages.com/user_images/14152/1341434995m.ldr but no luck

I just built the bridge yesterday. I didn't have all the parts so had to be creative at some points.
I'll improve some joints once I picked up more of my Lego at my dads' place.
Very funny project!
Pictures:

Now all you need is instructions for the rest of us (just kidding)!

Thanks for your help with this construction. I have made a faithful copy of this 1968 catalog bridge, pics:-

Also a list of components.

Hope that's helpful. I have a 12 image photo diary of the build too. If you would like it message me through Flickr.

Nice result. I took mine apart a while ago.

I took a close look at the Chris Bull's Flickr photos posted above which are magnificent. When trying to build my own bridge, I ended with a slightly different parts list which I am trying to reconcile. I can't figure out where additional white 2x4 plates and blue 1x2 plates should go. The Flickr album indicates 10 white 2x4 plates, and I ended up only using 4 of those, and 8 blue 1x2 plates and I couldn't figure out where to place any of those.


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Alternative (back of box) builds of 7822 Railway Station - is there an 'official' configuration where the track terminates at the station?
I am looking for a scan or photo of the back of the box of the 7822 Railway Station
Background:
As is common with Lego sets, there are a number of alternative builds pictured on the back of the set box and sometimes in the instructions themselves.
Some time ago I found a website with a picture of an alternative build of the 7822 set that was described as an 'alternative build'. Sadly I can't find the picture again but the configuration of the station was such that the train line servicing the station terminated at the platform, and did not continue on though as it does in the main build. It is this configuration in particular that I am interested in.
Known alternative builds:
There are various depictions of other alternative builds available on the internet, one such that shows two different configurations in the same picture is this scene from the back page of the 7834 Level Crossing (Note: The version in the middle of the page on the right may be the one I am interested in, but I can't see the position of the track in that picture.)
The YouTube video 'LEGO 12V Train Dream Layout' shows the alternative build from the top of the 7834 instruction scan at around the 0:20 position in the video opposite another set in the main build configuration.
Answering this question:
I am very happy to receive answers on any of the possible alternative builds for the 7822 Railway Station and make this question a resource for anyone interested in different configurations, but the accepted answer will be for a clear scan or photo of the back of the 7822 box. (It may or may not show the configuration I am thinking of as the mysterious picture on the internet that I am thinking of may or may not have been an 'official Lego created' alternative build).

If no one comes up with anything here, you could write an email to LEGO directly and ask for the images. They might be able to help you: http://service.lego.com/en-us/contactus/

I contacted LEGO customer service and got this reply: "We wish we could provide pictures of your older LEGO® train set but unfortunately, they aren't available through us. There is hope though, Peeron.com is website run by a group of LEGO fans that contains information on LEGO sets, replacement parts, building instructions and more. It’s not affiliated with the LEGO Group but we know from other fans that it has a good collection of older building instructions to download, discontinued pieces to purchase, and great set information.". Of course I had already checked Peeron.

Here you go: http://goichot.free.fr/lego/7822/8.JPG
Have been looking myself for hours as I have two 7822 sets but no box...

With the way I run my trains, there's no way I'd allow any minifig to sit on the yellow seats. Wait, yes I would :-/

While it's not the "official" answer you're looking for, you could add the a bumper just outside the station, like this guy has:
http://www.freelug.org/spip.php?article558

Thanks for the interesting link but I'm not sure it really answers the question. However I think the buffer designs will be useful for other projects.

I thought the question, as you asked it, was how to get an end-of-the-line at the train station. My suggestion, then, was to simply add a buffer right outside, and call it a day. Was that not the question you wanted answered? (I know it wasn't the answer you were expecting but I figured it could be a useful stop-gap.)

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Is it possible to build a full-size house with Lego bricks?
I want to build something big.
Should* I build a complete house (interior and everything) with lego bricks?
* By "should" I mean, will it be safe? How big can I go? How much do you think it will cost?

I've always wondered.

James May built a full-sized LEGO house for his TV show James May's Toy Stories on the BBC back in 2009 using around 3,500,000 bricks. Whether you'd actually want to do this yourself...
During the episode they spent some time with engineering students working out the most load bearing configurations of bricks especially for the upper floor, as well as working on the general structure.
To get around the insurance requirements, in the end they resorted to building the house around a wooden frame including floors - and although they did continue working on the beams, and James did stand (rather nervously) on the final designs, they don't appear to have been released.
With regards to the rest of the house (i.e. fixtures and fittings) there were some issues as I recall:

Comfort - obviously lying or sitting on LEGO bricks without any covering is uncomfortable.
Water Proofing - at one point in the show James shares a LEGO "glass" of wine with Oz Clarke - only to have most of the wine leak out of the glass. Without some sort of sealant, or multiple offset layers the gaps between the bricks aren't water-tight.
Clutch Power - LEGO bricks are held together by friction (Technic pins not withstanding), and tend to break apart under incorrectly placed loads quite easily. This may be an issue when it comes to chairs, doors, etc.

Wikipedia article
Show on YouTube (part 1/5)

After seeing that, I think I'll prefer not to push my luck in this one (I mean seriously! look at the cracks!). +1 +V, well done!

Did they ever publish the structural designs for the upper floor joist? Would be interesting to see how they made the structure strong enough.

Not sure, I'll have a look around.

If you want to know how many bricks you'd need, there is some site to help you calculate it.


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Remote Control option NXT Mindstorms
I bought the NXT Mindstorms education software v2.1 along with a Mindstorms kit (which I don't know the version of).
I am trying to remote control a robot I made using bluetooth between my mac and brick. So far, I have connected both devices with bluetooth successfully. I have watched a couple of videos of people remote controlling their Mindstorms bricks and they show the whole process of them connecting the devices and everything (which I have already done), but the last step of remote control process is selecting the option of "remote control" in the top left corner in the "tools" tab in the menu bar.
I do not have that option in the menu. Instead, when I open up the tools tab, a drop down menu opens giving only the options of Calibrate sensors, Update NXT firmware, Block import and export wizard. There was no "remote control" option and I am trying find out where that option is so I can finally start working on controlling my robot.
I am not sure if it is because I need to have the 2.0 software instead of the 2.1 software. If this is the case, I just want to confirm this before I buy something that I might not need.

Hi, welcome to LEGO Answers :) This site often works best when you're asking a single answerable question - and you appear to have 2 or 3 questions in here: "Why can't I remote control my NXT?", "How should I programme the robot for simple motion over Remote Control?" and "What does the Action button do in the Remote Control panel?". Please feel free to ask them separately :)

Would you please provide a link to one of the videos?

We had the same problem.  The current version of the Kit ships with version 2.1 of the software which does not have the "remote control" item on the Tools menu.
We uninstalled this version, downloaded version 2.0 from the below link... and bam...  the "remote control" option is there and it even works great through our laptop's Bluetooth connection.
Where can I download the LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 IDE?

All of the commands for controlling the robot are documented on Lego's website here: http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/support/files/default.aspx
You can write your own custom remote control software in most programming languages, but this is generally difficult on a Mac. Windows and Linux computers are easier to program for, Windows being the easiest. This tutorial ( http://www.extremenxt.com/vbfront.htm ) will get you started programming your own remote controller for Windows using Visual Basic. For a Mac, I would recommend using Python to write your programs. No tutorials exist for doing this in Python to my knowledge, but I can give you code samples if you are interested.


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How to simulate Lego Mindstorms programs written in C#?
I am going to do some programming for Lego Mindstorms in C# using
http://www.mindsqualls.net/
and have a question. Is there any good simulator to see result of my program without uploading the code to the robot?

I'm not sure a simulator would be able to properly mimic the physical aspects of a robot; but it's an intriguing idea. Sadly, I don't know if anyone has ever done this.

I think you might be able to do something like this with Microsoft Robotics Studio. Here is a video that appears to do what you want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcETVcobqfc

Unfortunately, there are no simulators for Lego Mindstorms in C# that fit your requirements. As Sebastian Wahl mentioned, Microsoft Robotics Studio is probably your best bet. Hopefully there will be a tool like this in the future :)


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Lego with hollow posts underneath - dates?
When did TLG change the small posts on the underside of the modern bricks and plates , eg 1x6 and 1x4, to hollow ones?

As an aside, this change is probably still ongoing. New molds will be done that way (I assume to save on plastic), but replacing existing molds which still function perfectly just for this would be too expensive, so you'll still find both types in recent sets. No idea when it began, though.

In my 2012 star wars sets 9492, 9493 and 9495, the plates have hollow "posts" and the bricks have all solid posts, so I guess basically I have 2 questions, 1: when did they start to introduce the hollow posts? and- 2: did they stop using hollow posts for bricks or are they still phasing solid posts out?

Pictures? Not sure what you mean.

Basically I was answering 2. : still phasing out. But they probably won't force it, so it can take an awful lot of time. Also, while we AFOLs make a distinction between both versions, LEGO doesn't internally - as long as two parts have the same functionality, they're treated as identical.

Here's a pic of 1x6 plates as an example:- http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6226/dsc01854il.jpg

I can confirm that some bricks have hollow posts.  I ran across this in attempting to answer a "how much does a brick weigh" question.  What I thought was a homogenous batch of bricks turned out to have a few with hollow posts.  The bricks were all purchased new in the last three years.
From a "material cost productivity" standpoint, it will be in TLG's best interest to migrate to the hollow posts since parts from these molds will require less material to serve the same function (but not immediately).  An expedient time to do this would be when a mold is at end of life requires replacement.  So, I would expect to see significant variation continue for years to come.  The balance point is the cost of replacing a single mold with the reduction in processed material costs over the expected remaining life of the mold.  So the older the mold is the less cost effective it is to replace prematurely, but the newer one represents less time in service to amortize the mold over fewer piece parts... both of these things mean that the replacement will likely be when the mold normally reaches end of life.  Since the useful life is very long, it is more likely that we are seeing parts from line or factory expansions.

I would tend to agree with all of this, and we've established that non-hollow tubes still exist as of today for various manufacturing reasons - but we still don't know when they started using hollow ones, which was the original question.

I was answering question #2 (ref comments).  If we are going to have more questions like this, it would be helpful to get some current or former employees to join the group and respond.  The original question will not have a simple answer.  As a manufacturing process that would have needed to be developed, the TLG likely "used" solid posts long before they started shipping solid posts.  Additionally there would have been a lag between shipping and customers seeing them.

I believe that hollow studs likely appeared long before hollow posts and the manufacturing process development required to achieve the hollow stud, led to the further improvements required to implement the hollow post.  So what the original poster seems to really want for question #1 is a history with milestone dates for some indeterminate purpose.  I'm better with the "why" on this than the "when".

Answering the question tl:dr style: Around the 90's.
Long story, quote from another user:

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

This is an example of the main difference between plates:

.

What I would like to find out was an article/video of someone who have actually found those different molds on the same set, but no luck for now.

i have an original 8440 from 1995. It has still solid studs on the 1x4 and 1x6 but hollow studs on 1x2 en 1x8 plates. Quote found on social media

I’m going through a Lego lot from the '90s (around '91 to '95) and there are some pieces that have a hollow bottom and some that have a solid bottom. On the other hand, I think the solid bottom was around in the early 2000s too. It just really comes down to the fact that there are many different Lego factories and they needed to make another mould of the exact same piece at different times because it’s being used more frequently. After they update the piece, in this case to having a hollow bottom, but sometimes they keep the old mould because it still works. I have gotten these sets and some colours had solid bottom and some didn’t in different colours so I imagine that in that factory one machine with the newer mould was making that piece in that one colour and the older mould was making it in the different colour. Even more annoying in that sealed set that I mentioned, there was even one colour with some pieces with hollow bottom and solid bottom but the set that I’m talking about is from 2003 and it’s not plates that I’m talking about but bricks. But if the solid bottom did not make it to the early 2000s then I would say the hollow bottom came out around maybe '94-'95 and probably did not retire the old mould until they needed to replace it with the updated version. But also one other thing too is if the piece was around early 2000s they might’ve kept the old mould in storage instead of destroying it in case they needed it if, I don’t know, it was busier that year, and they needed to take it out of storage or the other mould was down but it’s best to check if you see anyone opening a sealed set of the set that you’re getting pieces to it and see what mould variation is shown in the video on the set.

Hi Billy and welcome to Bricks.SE! Thank you for your contribution - I took the liberty to edit it a bit in order to improve readability by correcting typoes and breaing up run-on sentences, but feel free to edit anything I might have gotten wrong. Meanwhile you're cordially invited to take the [tour] and read the [help] pages to learn more about this community and how it operates. Play well!


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How do I unlock the sunday surprise on the 2013 Star Wars Advent Calendar?
I'm trying to enter the code on the back of door number 1 into the Lego Star Wars site but it doesn't work.  Does anyone know how / where to input the code?

This question is a little ambiguous, there's almost 2 questions being asked here, 1) how do I get the instructions, 2) how do I use the code. I believe the OP thinks that they're the same question. The gev answer below is the simple answer to the question #1, question #2 is what the duplicate says it is. I'm going  to edit the question to make it actually the question I have, and the duplicate question has, namely #1

I just found this website:
http://www.lego.com/en-us/starwars/games/web-games/advent-calendar
it has special stuff each day, the place you enter the code is the image of jango fett in the bottom middle.

The instructions to build it are on the back of the flap and to enter the code go to lego.com/starwars and go to fun and games or something. It mentions games. Anyways, there is a game called "Advent Calendar" and you click on a button torwards the bottom of the game screen (which you can make fullscreen) and enter the codes. They just unlock minifigures that you can be while playing the game.

By "the build instructions" you mean how to assemble the day one model? It's right there on the flap. I doubt there's anything more to be had.

Well, now that the original post has been modified to hell and back, my 'Answer' makes no sense at all. :P


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Which was the first set / minifig with two faces to choose from?
Some of my minifigs (like Iron Man, and Bilbo Baggins, and Harry Potter) have two different faces to show different emotions (usually something happy and something unhappy or upset or angry). How long have they been doing that? What was the first minifig to have 2 different faces to choose from?

A quick search on Bricklink gives the following results:
Catalog: Parts: Minifig, Head: Search Results for dual sided

Unknown year (41)
2001 (1)
2002 (10)
2005 (4)
2006 (7)
2007 (4)
2008 (4)
2009 (18)
2010 (27)
2011 (43)
2012 (86)
2013 (90)
335 Total Parts (View All)

This search was caried out at http://www.bricklink.com
Assuming that the Bricklink data are complete and correct, there are 41 double sided heads without a known release date, and the trend seems to have started in 2001 with this one:

Minifig, Head Dual Sided HP Quirrell / Voldemort Pattern

Except that even that head was included in sets as early as 1993 according to bricklink...

@gev - fixed the link.

+1, but I'm going to say (arbitrarily perhaps) that Quirrell / Voldemort doesn't count, because it's not two different faces / emotions of the same person, it's a head that actually has two faces (canonically even). I'll update my question to make this more clear.

I have reviewed the answers given, and have looked at Bricklink again to check every set that every yellow-skinned minifigure head came in.

I have reviewed the answers given, and have looked at Bricklink again to check every set that every yellow-skinned double-sided minifigure head came in.  (I ignored all non-yellow as they must have been made later.)   The earliest if could find (and that I can remember buying) that match the emotions criterion are: 3626bpx116 and 3626bpx117 from 'Spiderman' and 'Studios' 2002/2003

I was a child with wealthy parents during the early 90's and thus own almost every set released during that period. apart from the harry potter one mentioned, the first that showed the same face with different emotion I remember getting was a small set that included a new skeleton face as well as a mummy. This Mummy was double sided with one face asleep, and one face awake.


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How do I build a paper feeder with LEGO to transfer a single sheet of paper from a deck robustly?
I want to create an apparatus (which might be called a paper feeder) to take a still image for each paper taken from a deck of 500 sheets robustly. Robustly means that the apparatus must guarantee all sheets of paper get captured by the still camera.
I am new to LEGO but I think creating the apparatus with LEGO can reduce the cost. I will use for processing more than 2 million pieces of paper.
My questions are
What peripherals are needed to pick exactly one piece of paper (from a deck of 500) for a single camera shot?
In essence I want to replace this scanner job.

I think only you can answer your second question, since you're the one building it.

Don't current photocopiers do that kind of job easily? If your company doesn't have one handy, you can probably ask for another company to do the job. I think it's a very interesting question, but since it appears to be for a professional environment, I have some doubts as to the feasibility of it with LEGO - at least with the reliability required.

I am also with the same idea... but not with LEGO.. Did you complete the project? If we can discuss it will be good..

There are many ways you can approach this problem using LEGO. I would recommend the 8547 Mindstorms NXT 2.0 set, as it includes the software required to program a basic paper feeder including a microprocessor (NXT Brick), three motors, four sensors (ultrasonic, two touch and a colour sensor) as well as plenty of other parts which you can use to construct the paper feed.
Set 8547 also comes with four wheels with rubber tyres which can be powered by the motors to feed paper. These tyres will have more enough traction to pull without damaging the paper.
A colour sensor can be used at a fixed point to detect the start of a new page or a motor can be calibrated to perform an X amount of rotations required to feed one sheet of paper. However if you wish to feed the paper, you need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the method used as well as when and where it is likely to fail.

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

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

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

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

Thank you very very very very much for your answer. It is very useful as the starting point to go.

Picking paper sheets from a stack shouldn't be too much of an issue with rubber wheels.
However, One of the problems you may encounter is that multiple sheets stick together. To avoid this, you'll first need to shuffle your stack a little (I only know the french word for this process: déramer, sorry.), but even then it can happen.
I've worked with an offset printing machine when I was a student, and the thing had a tendency to pick two sheets instead of one once in a while. There was a mechanism that would discard such sheets, and the way it worked was based on the thickness of a sheet: as the sheet was conveyed on a flat surface, if it was too thick, it triggered a small kind of lever which was finely tuned to rest just above the thickness of one sheet. It was very sensible, too; if there was one sheet it wouldn't budge, but two or more would make it move, and it would activate a trap to receive the offending sheets instead of feeding them to the machine.
To be honest, picking two sheets instead of one was the machine's less  problematic behavior, and we were lucky if that's the only thing it did. Which means you'll have to be careful too, so that there is no way for a sheet to be somehow eaten - possibly irrecoverably - by the mechanism.


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How to make a conveyor belt with LEGO parts?
I am making a small robot with an Arduino and Technic LEGO powered by stepper motors. I am planning on moving small rocks throughout my machine. Does anyone have an idea of what kind of Technic LEGO parts I can buy to make a variable length conveyor belt? I have a lot of gears so it's the underlay that's my problem. Does some kind of elastic LEGO parts exist that I can use for this? Chain-like or rubber or hard plastic. IT Would be best if I could make it as long connected as I want.
Maximum size of the small rocks is about the same size as an 1x1 LEGO brick, so the conveyor does not need to have a width of more than 2 cm.

Rough dimensions would be useful here. How big are your "small rocks", for example?

@Kramii Thanks for the comment, i've tried to clarify the size now

Or, you could use rubber bands.

You will need to decide between 3711 Technic Chain Link and 3873 Technic Chain Tread, or possibly use them together.
Each link of chain is about 1 cm long and 0.8 cm wide

 and you can get them in packs of 108 (Chain Link Set Product Code: 2000645)

The Chain Tread are wider,

but seem to be available only in smaller packs, such as
Set # 9938-1: Conveyor Belt Links (Nominally 36 links)
Set # 1149-2: Bulldozer Chainlinks  (nominally 52 links)

Thanks for the reply. Do you know what gears fit to those smallest chain links you posted?

To my knowledge, all LEGO gear teeth are the same size (regardless of the overall size of the piece) and they fit that chain.

You are correct that the teeth on all of the non-bevel gears will work, but the small 8 tooth gear doesn't work well on the ends due to the minimum radius of the chain.

In this great GBC machine built akiyuki, you can see 2 types of conveyor belts.  The first one is made of the small tread links  (3873). The second and third ones are made with the large tread links (57518)

He provides many videos and pictures through his blog and YouTube channel.

Dropping stones onto your LEGO doesn't sound like a kind way to treat your expensive Technic parts; I imagine that small bits of stone and dirt will fall through a belt of Technic Chain Link  or Technic Chain Tread , what with them being a chain rather than a belt. This will then lead to other bits of your contraption becoming polluted with abrasive gunk.
Akiyuki also built a brick sorter with a simultaneously tedious and exhilarating video of a machine sorting arbitrary LEGO parts; Photos and an extended discussion in Japanese at レゴのレゴ選別マシン　その1).  The conveyor belt perplexed me as I didn't know what it was made of.  I thought it might be some kind of fabric or custom-manufactured belt.
Searching the interwebs pulled up this video of an effective conveyor belt built by a small child, comments to which make it clear the belt is paper.  It's actively driven by rubber tyres at one end, and idles at the other (I'd suggest using  41531 Technic Cylinder 4 x 4 with Pin Holes and Center Bar as a crowned pulley rather than tyres).
This is the same material that Akiyuki uses as you can see in this low-angle shot up into the tensioning mechanism of the paper conveyor belt in Akiyuki's brick sorter.

Sticky-tape, paper and a smooth LEGO surface underneath the paper to ensure solid support (you don't need to use tiles; try a SNOT technique instead).  Presumably you could up the paper to something more robust in the face of having stones dropped on it.  You might want to also line the sides of your conveyor to prevent the stones scratching the sides.

Another option is to use LOTS of 60483 Technic, Liftarm 1 x 2 Thick with Pin Hole and Axle Hole as shown in:
https://youtu.be/X89pXBJaPWI?t=7s


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What solutions are there to organising a LUGBULK order?
I'm involved in a LUG that's made orders in each of the LUGBULK programs that have run.  Determining what goes into each order has proven to be a nightmare, with all sorts of email-spreadsheet-ad hoc solutions that led to various combinations of huge expended effort, errors, misunderstandings and recriminations.
Given rumours of the commencement of the 2013 LUGBULk program are floating around, now's a great time to find out how my LUG can do better this time. Is there a web site we can use, a program of some kind?  Should we just have one member decide what we'll order?  Some happy halfway between autocracy and democracy?
What solutions are there to organising a LUGBULK order?

For our Lug, we have assigned one person who is the contact for all things LUGBULK and is also responsible for the organization of everything. (He also happens to be the one who will spend the most).  We followed this general format to keep everything organized.

At the most recent club meeting, we agreed on those parts that the club needed for upcoming projects. These get the highest priority.
Once we received notice of LB2013, we asked all of the members to submit their information needed to register and to get an accurate count for Lego.  We gave our members 10 days to get this in.
Within 5 days, each member was allowed to submit up to 10 part requests in order of priority.  Each member is also required to submit the ElementID along with each part in order to make things easier.
The person in charge of LUGBULK for us merged everything together and removed any duplicates.  If we were over our maximum of 100 elements on the wishlist, things get removed that were likely to be declined, or that would be cheaper on BrickLink or PAB.
The wishlist is submitted to Lego.
Once the approved list and prices are returned to us, we create an excel sheet of available elements and add in columns for BrickLink color names and current BrickLink prices and send it to all members.
All members are required to send in their orders within 7 days.
The coordinator merges together the orders and sends to Lego.
Once the LUGBULK order is received (on a pallette :) ), the coordinator pays Lego directly, divvies up the orders (or we have a sort party to do it) and then each member pays the coordinator.

Ultimately, you'll probably have to come up with your own solutions, but I think the main issue is to pick which parts to order, as the number is usually limited and your LUG members all have different views on what to pick.
Here are a few line of thoughts:

Have each member pick one favourite part, or more (so you can attribute the second one if there's a duplicate or something). This will probably be the worst solution, since you'll end up with a set of parts which may be totally unrelated to each other, and in which most members don't recognize their choices.
Do the same with more parts, 5 or 10, then try to reduce the list somehow to what LEGO is willing to accept (asking the members to vote on parts, maybe?). Can be a cumbersome and lengthy process, but at least your LUG members will feel more like they have a say in the process.
Have the persons in charge of the LUG pick the parts themselves. This can lead to a good cohesive set of parts which go well together, but you'll risk that some members don't like your choice. For example, you may want to pick all 1xn tan bricks and plates, all 1xn dark red bricks and plates, a few door/windows and roof tiles. Great for house builders, less great for Technic nuts.
Try to combine the different solutions. Maybe you have members in the club with a different status (we do have regular and "effective" members, for instance, for people who choose to be more involved in the club); or maybe you can attribute points for event participation (we did that once to distribute some free loot we had gotten from somewhere, and it proved to be an interesting system), so that people who are more involved in the club get more points. Then maybe more involved people can pick more parts, or participate ina  global discussion process.
Rotate themes. This time, we'll do houses, next time, Technic parts. Promise, honest. Cross my heart.

Once you have picked up parts, you'll have to pick quantities. There you'll also need to ask members for their input, either committed or not. Our club always buys a bit more on its own money, which members can buy directly afterwards. Handy when the club committee picks up the parts themselves, but your treasury needs to be able to cope with that.
As for the organizational side of things, as you say, excel files may be very cumbersome; but I'd advise to stick with them. You may be tempted to develop a custom web site, for example, but keep in mind it will require maintenance, and that usually means someone has to be devoted to it, and be able to work on it fast enough. If you have such a person, great. If not, don't bother too much.


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

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

The best I could do was use various lengths of two-wide bricks and staggered them in a upside-down pyramid shape with 2x2 bricks in the corner.
I was trying to re-create the model from memory, and I forgot to add another row of staggered plates.


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Where can I find the black crusaders horse barding?
The question is all in the title. I'm talking about this: the second knight from the left entrance to the castle.

Good places to find parts include:

Thrift stores, car boot sales, jumble sales. Sometimes you get lucky.
eBay is a good general source for parts... as long as you can find what you're looking for.
LEGO's Pick-a-Brick (PAB) service is good for for common parts.
LEGO's replacement parts service is better for less common parts from newer sets. The range of parts is far greater than PAB, but doesn't come close to being complete.
BrickLink, the most comprehensive resource for parts on the internet.

Given that the part you're looking for is older, I suggest that BrickLink might be your best bet.
I couldn't identify the exact part that you wanted, but they do list a good range of horse barding.

I have tried all of the above, to no avail. I'm talking about a non-commercial barding, one that has never been in store.

Then, to be honest, you probably can't buy it anywhere.

@The Lego Company. Hear this desperate cry!


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Does the jumper plate have a Danish nickname?
Does the "jumper plate" (1×2 plate with centered stud) have a Danish nickname like the "Erling"? Who is the designer of this part? And does there exist a catalog of designers of specific bricks?

I cannot find any cases of the Jumper Plate brick having a Danish nickname, the closest you might get to a Danish nicknamed would be a literal translation: jumper plade.
The Erling brick is a very rare case of a brick being named after its creator. I imagine most bricks created nowadays are produced by not one but several people. It's possible that such a catalogue of brick designers exists, but is not publicly available.

And even "Erling" might be more of a fan nickname than an internal one, but it's hard to know for sure.

Although it is not a nickname, the official internal name of that part is 'Plate 1 x 2 with 1 Knob' according to Brickowl


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Has Lego discontinued presenting alternate configurations on the backs of modern boxes?
When I was younger, the backs of my Castle/Space Lego set boxes showed alternate model builds for the supplied pieces, configurations not detailed in the instruction manual.  I appreciated these creative ideas, showing me other things I could make with the pieces; I found them inspiring and sometimes challenging as they were presented without instructions.  The inclusion of these models made me keep clippings from the boxes in order to replicate designs.
Today, it seems that alternate model designs are no longer presented on the backs/sides of Lego boxes.
Has Lego discontinued this practice, and why?  Has it been dropped entirely for all sets, or is it simply not done for "licensed" sets (Batman, Star Wars, etc.).

Almost all the Technic sets still have instructions for a second model (online rather than printed). I suspect the problem is that sets and parts have become more specific so it's harder to make a decent B model, especially with the smaller sets. 100 parts, half of which are minifigs, just doesn't give a set designer many options.

I don't have enough reputation to post a comment, but in response to this comment by user3509 (and the similar answer from MartenFerret):

I would also hazard a guess that for brand sets part of the deal was that alternate models weren't allowed for copyright reasons - for example, a Star Wars X-Wing set can only build an X-Wing. Lego then probably made all sets follow the same design pattern for their own brand cohesion.

The original 7140 X-Wing model released in 1999 did have the traditional alternate builds shown on the back of the box:

So if it's a licensing-based decision, it was a later one.

I am of the opinion that this response complete with imagery to justify it should remain an answer.

Okay, I have enough reputation now to make it a comment but I'll leave it up as a separate answer instead.

Looking at the website that was linked in the answer by @pfunkadunk, it looks like there were Star Wars sets with alternate builds were still being made as late as 2003, with sets 4482: AT-TE and 4500: Rebel Snowspeeder.

I don’t have an answer to why they stopped, but this site is trying to get instructions together for all the old stuff.
www.backoftheboxbuilds.com

I believe the reason is purely commercial. Why would parents buy another box of bricks if there are pictures of so many things their kid can build with only one set?
Nowadays there are no alternate models on backsides of boxes. Instead, there are some teaser pictures of other sets, and sometimes a message saying "Collect them all!"
Isn't it rather obvious?
Anyone of the same opinion?

LEGO doesn't seem to be that kind of a company.....

"Why would parents buy another box of bricks if there are pictures of so many things their kid can build with only one set?" - I thought the freedom of buying so many things with only one set is exactly why parents are supposed to buy a box of LEGO rather than another toy.

Plus, since you can't build alternate models at the same time as the original, this could be a reason to push for more purchases

@undo Yeah, but they do need profit for salaries and maintenance and whatnot

@Joubarc: Of course, that would require alternate builds to look like valid models on their own, rather than like half-baked brick piles resulting from the attempt to build something with an ill-matching selection of parts. IMHO, alternate builds in former times were a mixed bag in that respect.

I do believe the LEGO Group has limited the instructions to only one build, not including the sets that are meant to re-build differently (in this case there are 3 instruction sheets).

If instead of actually rebuilding the set you mean alternate views (like the back of a model, or the unfolded model, etc.) this still applies to most sets that have an inside, unfold, etc.

I'm referring to the instruction-less alternate builds, which were commonly displayed on the back and sides of the box.

@JoshDM I do believe that the LEGO Company has stopped displaying instruction-less builds, but sometimes you still see alternate views or unfoldings of the same build.

Have they given a reason why?

I believe the parents complained that there weren't instructions provided for the alternative models, so Lego stopped showing them.  I don't know if anyone can confirm this factoid, but I'm sure I read it once somewhere.

This is the sort of info I'm looking for.  Needs more research to back it up, but I'll accept any answer with a sourced variant on this comment info.

Most sets are licensed. If Lego, say, offered alternate models for Star wars sets, each alternate would need to be approved by disney ...which costs money Lego wouldn't know a return on.

About a half, but not the most, with roughly, 220/477 licensed sets for 2019. And you just cannot really build much SW/DC/Marvel alternatives from SW/DC/Marvel sets. Same goes with most of other licenses. However there are exceptions: 42030, 42063, 42053.

Marten, welcome to Bricks.SE. There seems to be much speculation on the whole license/contract/permission topic. Nobody knows the details of LEGO-Disney contracts. Maybe LEGO has other reasons to not present alternative models on the boxes. We do not know that. If you do, please provide some evidence. @Alex I think that you could build alternate models from ANY set (except maybe buildable Star Wars figures :) You could also speculate that B-models are sometimes better than the A-models, so LEGO wants to avoid this embarassing situation.


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What are the armless minifigures from the LEGO boardgames called?
I see many of the LEGO boardgames come with mini figures which are armless and have no holes for arms. While I think it is kind of ridiculous to not simply provide a full figure, I understand it's probably primarily for usability purposes.
What are these smaller minifigs called?

When looking at the inventory of one of the LEGO games (as if you were missing a part), you can see these are clearly labelled "MICRO FIGURE"

On Bricklink they are known as 'Microfig', Lego Digital Designer refers to them as 'Micro Figure.

When looking at the inventory of one of the LEGO games (as if you were missing a part), you can see these are clearly labeled "MICRO FIGURE"

@Joubarc - I wouldn't know; I don't own one.  I've only seen them on the covers, like on Minotaurus.

I don't mean the inventory in the instructions (they don't name parts anyway, just part IDs); but the online inventory which has part names as known by LEGO. Unfortunately my link doesn't work directly, you'll still need to enter your age and country, then "my set is missing a piece", then a set number (3874 for example), then when you click on on of the microfigs you'll see their name. Interestingly, the red one is named "BABY", though.

@Joubarc All the microfigures in #3838 are listed as BABY, but Microfigure seems to be the most commonly used word to refer to this piece.

Once again we face the mysteries of LEGO part naming - and once again they elude us.

It's possible that the name baby comes from the fact that they were originally intended as a baby for a minifig-scale mother or father, although I can't find anything to back this up. And that's not to say that it was ever used this way; it's common that the early naming sticks, even though the actual use in practice changes drastically over time. I have experienced this in dev work and project management, it sure makes things awkward for newcomers to the project when it occurs, and I doubt Lego is immune from that :)

Microfigures. Described by LEGO as "Microfigures...The Minifigures for Minifigures!" As far as useability go, it is true that within the Games theme they are only used as pawns/game pieces. However, in recent years, they've seen larger use. for example, in the 2012 Star Wars set "Palpatine's Arrest", it is used unprinted in pearl gold to represent a statue/trophy. As far as the community go, they've been pretty popular with fans to create micro-sized builds, and perhaps even more so as pilots for micro-sized robots.

+1 Good answer on usability. Was going to ask about utility in a separate question.

Yep, they are cropping up more and more as statues as well - even within the Games theme, the Heroica sets have featured a few plain grey ones as statues.


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Where are the cloth / fabric minifigure capes / cloaks in my set?
I purchased The Mines of Moria (Lego Lord of the Rings item 9473) directly from The Big Store in Legoland, Florida.  When I opened it up at home, the capes / cloaks for Pippin and Boromir were missing.  No other parts appear to be missing, and the set did not appear tampered with.
I went to the LEGO website to report the missing items. The only items listed as "out of stock" on the website parts list were the capes and, as to be expected, the Cave Troll. While I can understand the fascination with the Cave Troll (it is a popular, obscure, and easy to rip off item from the set), I wonder if capes / cloaks going missing from sets is a chronic problem, as those being the only other items out of stock may indicate a larger issue.
Has anyone else experienced missing minifigure capes / cloaks, or is this issue unique to me?  Or, am I just seeing the "out of stock" message and imagining a problem where none exists?

Not all parts are available from the online page, especially rare or unusual parts - I'm not surprised the capes or parts of a Troll wouldn't be there. As for the parts missing in your box, well, if they're in the instructions, they should be in the box, period. Check their part IDs in the parts list at the end of the instructions, and call the customer service with that info.

I found them.
The capes were packaged in a small, unmarked, rectangular, white, cardboard box that was taped shut. Apparently, this little box came with the set, but someone else assumed it was filler trash and put it on our recycling queue.
Considering the capes are the only items out of stock besides the Cave Troll, it is possible others may be simply dismissing the box, and discarding it as filler.  This could explain why they are out of stock (or, as TheBrickBlogger's answer indicates, they are popular items like the Cave Troll).
After discovering the capes, I've cancelled my replacement order.  I provided feedback to LEGO recommending they make the container box more obvious.

Lesson learned: Never let anything from the box out of your sight until the model is completed.

I have not heard of this problem before and I'm a member of several LEGO communities. However it is quite possibe that a batch is missing the parts, or even just your one box. I would suggest that instead of trying to get the replacement parts online, just call customer service and get them that way. Perhaps they are holding back on online stock because they want to make sure that real replacement issues get taken care of before someone buys the parts as extras. Those little capes are quite popular. ;)


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Are there any LEGO movie/game posters?
I'm trying to find some posters for my childrens room and everytime I find something on EBay etc .. they are all A4 or A3 :(
I'm guessing it's a simple process as getting a nice quality version image and paying a Copy/Printing shop to print one in A2 or A1.
Does anyone know of any links to Lego movie posters that are in a quality that is acceptable for such a high print?
Or links to shops already selling em?
Sample images:
Clones Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, BatMan, LOTR.
As this is for personal use (sigh - I can't proove that unfortunatley :( ) that I shouldn't have any issues with copyright etc?
Appologies: for not having enough rep to create valid/accurate tags.

If you subscribe to the Lego Club (availability depends on your location) you will receive the official Lego Magazine and often a free poster is included. The March/April 2014 edition contained a reversible poster with the Lego City theme on one side and the Disney Princess theme on the other side.
Occasionally, you may receive promotional Lego posters with some purchases at the Lego Shops (or online shop). Brickset lists a few of these here.
Bricklinks is place where you could purchase posters that are no more available from Lego. Here is a list of all posters on Bricklink.

My son has a Lego Movie poster on his wall that he got in the "Mega" magazine a few weeks ago. I think it's A2 sized. We're in the UK though (I don't know where you're located) but I'd recommend looking at any magazines in shops to see what they include - some of them are a little expensive for what they are, but they usually bulk them out with free "toys" too.
In addition: Veynom has made a great suggestion, we subscribed my son to the Lego Club and he's had a few posters in the free magazines that come through the post (apologies that I can't upvote the post, I've just started in the Lego site and need 15 rep first).

Besides posters, another thing you might consider is cloth display-banners. If you live close to a LEGO store or LEGO retailer who uses these, often all you have to do is ask for them when they go out of season. Here is an article featuring many of these beautiful banners. They are really pieces of art and they are large too: http://thebrickblogger.com/2013/09/lego-display-banners/


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How to Make a Lego Claw Arm?
I am trying to build a lego claw arm to pick up stuff that is out of my reach and I need some ideas on how to design it. I would like a mechanism to be able to open and close the claw from the opposite end of the arm.
I'm not looking for an arm design which can extend. I would also like ideas about fixed-length arms. Also, I have many, many different TECHNIC pieces. Designs can be very complex and they can use large numbers of pieces.

If you're after a simple collapsible solution to reach those items just out of reach, you can start with the following setup:

You can extend this for quite some way, and use longer bricks or beams throughout if you wish.
To finish it off, I'd use a couple of longer bricks with some additional plates on the end to act as fingers, and add some handles (via axles) at the bottom. If you use longer bricks at the ends then the middle pin would need to be offset from the centre to keep it smooth.

It's a time-tried classic

Yes. I have tried that but I would like ideas more how to make the actual claw and how to make it open and close. Also the claw needs to be pretty sturdy and it needs to have good grip.

I built a similar model to Zhaph's claw arm but with beams and a basic claw attachment:

360° Animation, Demonstration Video
I had a few problems operating the claw when I built it again with real bricks. If you collapse the beams too far, it can be difficult to open them again. When you try to pick up items with your tool, you also have to anticipate just how far the tool extends (try and possition the claw as close to the object as possible, the beams will push the object into the claws).

Well... I guess that would work... But I don't really like the part where to grab something it has to extend even more.

@J.Walker I've built another model claw that doesn't extend, but it's not as reliable as the extending claw (and requires many, many more pieces). I'll see if I can make any more improvements before I share the design.

If you don't need the arm to be extendable then you might get some ideas from the various Technic sets that feature cranes or claws, like the 8868, 8479, 8436, 8110 or 9397.
These offer multiple alternatives, as in pneumatical or purely gear-driven solutions, can be scaled up with appropriate supports and mounted on your own arm designs.


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Strongest gear configuration
I'm building a (what I hope to be) high-speed car using two PF-XL motors together and some gearing up. However, there's a point where I have to rotate the axle with power (that comes from the 3 speed gearbox) 90 degrees to line it with the wheels (this is probably a long way around the barn to say it in english, but I got a picture to fill my lack of words). This is what I want to do:

(the position of the gears is incorrect: in my project the 8t gear would be one hole to the left)
My question is, assuming the structure holding the wheels is solid and won't bulge, what's the best gears to use so that they won't snap?
So far I've considered four combinations:

The same as the image, except the 8t is a 16t
The fat 20t with the fat 12t
The skinny 20t with the skinny 12t (this one doesn't actually work for me unless I do some changes to the car)
Two of those 4t gears that aren't very smooth

It stands to reason that the last option is the strongest because they don't snap unless they break apart. However, they're more suited to low speeds. With high speeds they aren't fluid at all and make a lot of noise. But my biggest problem with them is that they sometimes get stuck (the gear without power sometimes stops in a position where it blocks the gear with power and when the motors start again they can't rotate - this is really bugging me).
So, excluding the last option, what do you think?

This question would be easier to answer if the application was made clear.  Are the axle locations in the picture (edit accounted for) in a fixed location, aka have to be there?  Are you wanting a gear reduction or a 1:1 transfer?  Is there a height restriction that would prevent larger gears from being used?  Is a differential used in the solution an option?  Do you have any restrictions on what gears you have access to? If a gear reduction is desired, which axle in the input?

I would tend to recommend some options which you didn't consider yet: using bevel gears, but actually use a combination of two gear on each axle: a 12t one (the thin one, as you say), and behind it, a 20t one (there you can use a fat one, which will probably be better).
Another option is to use a worm screw, which will also allow you to change the direction of the axle, but which makes the axles non coplanar.
But it really depends on a variety of factors. Gear reduction is one (keeping in mind it has implications on torque, but frankly I'm already way over my head here so I won't tackle that aspect); but torque transmission is another, and so is strength/reliability.
For example, the knob wheel that you did mention has some uses, as it practically can't slip, but at the cost of lower torque transmitted (or something). Worm screws again have another particularity which is unique to them in that they can transfer torque only one way, which also has its uses (locking a mechanism in place).
And then don't forget that the gears aren't all there is to say: sticking your gears closer to the beams will help, as will replacing the two separate beams by an actual frame. You can also make sure one of the axles goes all the way to the other side of the frame.
And last thing, if you're going to transfer power to two wheels, don't forget to use a differential between them (not sure the new one is very solid though).

Thanks. You mean on one axle use those two gears, but what about the other axle? What gears would you recommend? Also, worm screws aren't really what I'm looking for, as they reduce speed dramatically. And I have already added a differential (the old one, since I only have of that type).

I meant, use both gears on both axles, for a total of 4 gears


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How do you construct odd-angles on buildings
I was thinking of building a model of the famous Castillo de San Marco located in Saint Augustine, Florida. A small bit of research shows that Legoland has a replica (flickr link) and that there are other castle MOCs with similar odd (non-90*) angles.
I saw one person build them with hinge-pieces (like this MOC of Fort George) but that doesn't feel authentic.
My question: how did they build those non-90-degree angled walls and retain the points?

Scale is the obvious answer. The Legoland model is huge, which means you're not seeing the brick-level quantisation as easily (quantisation is most obviously seen in mosaics but that works in 3D too).
Getting the same effect at smaller scales usually means a lot of SNOT and using sloped bricks. These days there is a huge range of slopes available, from 4 high, 1 deep to 1 high, 6 or 8 wide. If you flip those on their side (SNOT) that gives you a wide range of angles. But of course this can be very expensive as you end up using a lot of rare sloped parts. For micromodels this can be the only workable approach, and a carefully selected stack of cheese wedges can look great.
A simpler SNOT approach is to use tiles with hinges to minimise the discontinuities at the corners. Instead of a brick width (5mm) you have 1/3 of a brick height (8/3 mm = ~2.6mm), and it's often possible to move things so that there's no obvious discontinuity, just the tile end that's at 90° rather than the actual angle. If you're building a brick or stonework wall using a lot of 1x2 tiles with 1x1 tiles as the endworks can be very effective, especially if you mix the various shades of grey. Like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legoarts/5548508462/ Modifying that technique to have a backing plate, hinges, and extending the plates 1 stud past the edge of the plate to reduce the "height" offset works well.
Another approach is to give up on studs altogether and use Technic beams. That gives you rounded corners instead, but can be effective with larger models (but the colour palette is limited and it can be expensive). This allows you to easily build round structures and varying curves.
For smaller curves it's possible to bend Lego walls. If you search for lego circular walls there are a lot of images. The basic technique is to mix in more round elements as the curve gets sharper. I've also seen a Lego wave built this way out of transparent 1x2 plates.

We've covered circular walls here too ;)

A straight forward wall of Lego bricks will have some pliability that can be used to a Master Builder's advantage. I did manage to find a YouTube video that sums it up nicely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U-n1NZYNpI

Yeah you pretty much have the two choices you outlined...  hinges or make it so big that the squareness of the bricks melts into nothingness at that resolution.
OR...  build your structure over tiles and use single studs, like at the ends of the ends of the hypotenuse of a 3-4-5 triangle... but that will be seriously flimsy the higher you build the walls, unless you use hinges.


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LEGO Digital Designer is unable to connect to the Internet
I just installed LEGO Digital Designer on my Macbook Pro running OS X (10.8.2).  Every time I start up the application, it immediately displays a dialog box stating "Internet access failed" as you can see below. Clicking retry does not help as it simply pops up the same dialog box again, clicking cancel shuts the program down.  Clicking ok simply allows the program to run in offline mode which is not what I want.

I have tried disabling the firewall on my computer, but that did not resolve the issue.  I do not have an antivirus program running that would block the application and all of the other programs on my computer access the internet just fine which leads me to believe that there may be something wrong with the application.
I did some research and couldn't find a definitive solution for this issue.  One proposed solution is to disable parental controls, but I don't have it enabled on my computer.
Have any of you come across this issue and come up with a resolution?

I saw this same problem yesterday, but at some point during the day it stopped happening, and I haven't seen it again. Perhaps a problem on the server end?

Checked the application this evening and the issue is no longer occurring.  It must have been an issue with their servers because I hadn't changed anything on my router or computer since I created this posting.  In fact, I contacted LEGO customer service and they instructed me to change some firewall settings, but I knew that wasn't the issue because my other Apple Computer was working just fine.  I am going to respond back to the LEGO customer service email and inform them that their error handling should be more informative, especially if it an issue with their servers.


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Ideas to slow down RC PF train motor (Item: 88002)
I'm wondering if you already tried to slow down such a motor. I would like the train to run slower at all the supported 7 speeds. Anyway, at speed 7, the train just flies off the tracks.

Unfortunately it's direct drive so gearing it down really isn't an option. That leaves changing the electrical system.
What battery are you using? Fundamentally, any change to the electrical system is going to amount to "use a half flat battery", and if you're using a high-voltage battery now the easy option is to switch to lower-voltage rechargeable batteries. But that only works if you're currently using disposable AAA batteries in the 88000 battery box (or 6 AA's in the bigger one that I don't think I've ever seen in a train). If you are, switching to either NiMH AAA batteries or the the Lego LiIon battery pack 8878 will give you the effect you want.
Based on Philo's extensive comparisons but it's the speed/voltage graph that you probably care about more:

What you want to do is lower the voltage at each setting of the controller, and that means adding a resistor in series with the motor.
If you're currently using rechargeable batteries, the only option I can see is to modify the motor or IR receiver. It's just adding a resistor in the cable, so it's relatively easy to do and also to undo, but it's going to look messy and it will be more fragile than the unmodified item. If you're unsure (which I assume you are, since you're asking here rather than just doing it), it's probably better to buy an extension cable and modify that.
Your motor draws about 1.3A when stalled, and from the speed/power charts lower down, about 0.4A when running. I'm going to guess you want to lose about 1V from the 7V output of the receiver, so you need about 1/0.4 = 2.5Ω. Since that Needs to cope with about 1A, it would ideally be a 3W or 5W resistor but you can probably get away with 1W. I suggest using 2, 5Ω 1W resistors in parallel since resistors typically come in 1W and 5W sizes, and in 10% increments so you actually want 5.6 ohm. RadioShack sell them, as should any other electrical part supplier.
Again, Philo explains what the wires do (2/3 down the page), and the easy way to do this is to put the extension between the battery and the IR receiver. That way you put the resistor on an outside wire of the four. If you can solder the resistors in place it'll work better, but if you can't just stripping the wires and twisting them in place then holding it together with tape will work.

Thank you for such complete information.
So the "clean" solution is to use either the 7.4V set 8878, either rechargeable AAA batteries that have less than 1.5V each.

Similar topics come up regularly on various forums, like this one

When my train was flying off the tracks, I solved the problem by adding more cars to it, or adding extra weight to the existing cars.

Whilst that element is designed to be a "direct drive" system, you could try lifting it up and then stacking some gears on it - however you're going to have some issues with the width of the train/wheels and the track gauge and the amount of gearing you can reliably use because of the size of wheels.
In other builds I've seen, the builders have used the smaller motors and some bevel gears to transfer the power correctly.


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What's the purpose of the clutch gear in Power Functions set?
I have just bought this set and wonder the purpose of the white gear in the middle:

How can you use it in your Lego Technic projects? Is it available in other sets?

When your function (such as an extending crane boom) gets to one limit or the other, this clutch gear ratchets instead of binding up the motor and all the gears in between.
ETA: Forgot the second question. It has appeared in many sets, most recently the Fairground Mixer.


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What does "No Friction" mean in Parts "Gear with 8 Teeth Wide, Notched and No Friction"
http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-gear-with-8-teeth-wide-notched-and-no-friction-11955
As title, what does "No Friction" mean in the part "Gear with 8 Teeth Wide, Notched and No Friction" ?

In the case of this item, it means that the gear will slide freely along the axle it rotates around.


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Is it worth parting out a set to sell without the minifigs?
I wanted to sell my Lego in a bulk, but then decided I don't have a reason not to sort it out.
I do believe I have the Ninjago Earth Dragon (2509), but before I find the pieces, I know a few things about it's condition immediately.
The bricks are good. I've never had problem with the treatment therefore no scratches or broken stuff.
There are NO minifigures or accessories (I sold all my figs in bulk for 20 dollars a while ago, I know I am an idiot)
There is no box or instructions... Just the bricks. Is it still worth the effort?

Welcome to Bricks.SE!

Not having the minifigs certainly hurts the value of a set, but it may still be worth parting out the set depending on how valuable your time is to you.
If you haven't already done so, you can use the Price Guide feature on Bricklink to get a rough idea of what your set can sell for.
You can also browse the current listings for the set to get an idea of how much missing minifigs hurt the price. For that set, it looks like not having minifigs knocks off about 40% of the value of the set ($24 USD vs $42 USD).

I saw this particular set in a "new condition" go for more than two hundred bucks. Is that because of the box and blurb, or is it the value of the Lego itself?

Bricklink says that this set has been sold 5 times in the last 6 months for 67-120 Euros (new and complete). Sometimes you see overpriced offers or (mock?) sales. But these cannot be used as reference. I don't really understand why someone would offer this set for 200 if there are already 5 offers for 100 Euros.

Some Bricklink sellers are quite unpleasant people who just want to showcase their collection. They have no intention of selling, they just want to rub it in your face that they have something that you can't have...

If it is complete (except for the minifigs), I would sell it separately because it is a relatively small set (low weight) with some interesting parts. You might get 10 Euro/Dollars which is still much more than the 10-15 Euros/kg in a bulk sale.
If you have several Ninjago sets, it might be a good idea to sell all of them in one single Ebay auction. Make sure to include all set numbers in the description. When the rare parts (dragon heads etc.) are in very good condition, you could mention this explicitly.
In the past, I bought several sets without minifigs. I looked for offers including the word "without" in the search. So, it might be advantegous to include "without minifigs" in the title.
I know, there are a lot of "could" and might" in the answer, but from my buyer's perspective you might :) consider these things.


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Identify set(s) based on open bags
How can we identify these Lego bags?
It has 2017 year on the bags. Also, there are five random pieces of bags. Most of those pieces yellow and orange colors

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

Came to the same conclusion, some of the combinations are simply not possible according to bricklink... Also, some elements lead to sets that definitely would not have their bags numbered (sets too small/easy for that)...


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Help identifying a bag containing many white plates
I have a bag with number 135149. Can anyone help identify the set it comes from?

This bag is from 75053-1: The Ghost


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Please help me identify this yellow part with four arms and an axle hole
This is part of a set (that's in a bag of partially built pieces) that I'm trying to identify. This seems like a unique part, and if I can identify the part, then maybe I can cross-reference it to the set.

That's a Technic Knob Wheel (32072):
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=32072&in=S
It's not especially rare, but hopefully it will help you to narrow down your set identification search. Feel free to ask other questions if there's anything that we can do to help out.

Thanks so much! Turns out the set is the Star Wars Rogue Shadow 7672-1.


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What is this grey LEGO light and sound element with neon green attachments?
I consider my self to be somewhat of a LEGO collector, and have amassed quite a collection over the years. Recently, while looking through a few of my boxes I found this thing:

I got this years ago from a family that gave me all their remaining LEGO's when I was a child. It takes AA batteries and has 3 noises with accompanying lights when you press either of the three buttons. It has no part number that I've been able to find, and Googling "Lego green and grey lazer" is not very helpful. :P The only from of identification is the printing "LEGO group 1998" on the inside of the battery cover. I just thought I would ask if anyone knows what this is and what set this is from?

That looks like the "Electric, Light & Sound 4 x 20 x 5 Insectoid Stinger, Top". The part number is x239top on bricklink.  It was only in 4 sets in 1998.  The whole Insectoids product line was terminated less than a year later.

Huh, I’m pretty sure I own two of those in a bin somewhere. I rather liked them as a kid; at the time I had no idea they were unpopular and it didn’t even register that the product line got discontinued.

It is a "Electric, Light & Sound 4 x 20 x 5 Insectoid Stinger, Top" from the Insectoid line.
 I always wanted one of those sets.


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Can the Powered Up Remote (latest train version) pair with the Boost Move Hub?
I've got the latest Powered Up remote, I was hoping it would pair with the Move Hub instead of using the Boost App.
At the moment it doesn't want to pair.

Since June 2019, this is possible.  See here:
https://www.hispabrickmagazine.com/content/2019/06/03/powered-up-ii-powered-up-ii-networks/
Look right at the bottom of the article.

The latest version of the Powered Up app (2.2.0) as well as the latest
  version of the Boost app include new firmware for the Boost hub. After
  this update it is possible to control the Boost hub with a remote
  control.
Establishing the connection is a little more difficult than connecting
  a single Powered Up hub to a remote. It is not enough to just press
  the start button on each device and wait. You need to press the start
  button on both devices simultaneously after starting them to establish
  the connection (as if the Boost hub were a second hub in an existing
  network).
Now you can control the internal motors (A and B in the Boost hub)
  with the remote control.

Great answer! I'm glad that this is now possible. Thanks for sharing, and welcome to Bricks.SE!

This is not possible at the moment. This could be enabled in a future firmware update, but I'm honestly not sure how this would work. The Move Hub has 4 possible outputs. Mapping those to the pair of outputs normally controlled by the current remote seems like it would be somewhat clunky or non-intuitive.

If you use third party software to form a Powered Up network you can pair the remote and the Move hub to a computer and control them both from there. You could write your program such that pressing the green button would change the LED colour and swap between controlling ports A/B or C/D.


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Cleaning Bricklink pieces bought as "new"
I'm just preparing my first Bricklink order and I've got a simple question - Is there a reason to clean pieces bought on Bricklink which were sold as "new"?

Pieces sold as new are directly pulled from brand new LEGO sets, or from the Pick-A-Brick wall. I don't see what would be the point of cleaning them. They are as new as new and clean as they can get.

@TheBrickBlogger: To be fair, pieces from the PAB wall that have been in there for a long time may well be as good as used, thanks to dozens or possibly hundreds of hands rummaging through them, dust, shelf wear and all that. I can no longer guarantee pieces on the PAB wall to be new - it seems to be a crapshoot these days unless I keep track of what's been on a particular wall and what's recently changed.

No. 10 out of 10 orders were in perfect condition. Cleaning the bricks would have been a waste of time, and would have added unneccessary scratches.


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How can I get this broken part out?

My New LEGO minifig has a broken hand because of me. How can I get this broken part out?

some days ago successfully I used a hot needle which was glued/welded into the rest of the hand. you can then pull it out carefully


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Help identifying set from 3 sealed bags with Star Wars figs
I got these three bags in a lot. Looks like there are two snow troopers and bag 4 has a bunch of fluorescent green circle pieces. Any help would be appreciated for this first time poster.

Welcome to Bricks.SE! Based on the 10 x 3 Wedges and your description, these bags likely belong to 75100 First Order Snowspeeder:

The instructions for this set are available here:
https://www.lego.com/biassets/bi/6136428.pdf


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What minifigure has a textured lab coat?

With body on legs it will not fully sit down. From a tote of LEGO parts my kids played with in jr high or high school. They graduated in 2008.

Are you sure that's LEGO?

That's not a piece made by LEGO. It's most likely made by a compatible brand.


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Identify sets including tan building and gray engines
These are the last two potentially identifiable LEGO parts received in my garage sale lot find back in 2019 that I am finally getting around to looking at.

The parts on the left picture are from
75178: Jakku Quadjumper
Right picture shows part of
71006: The Simpsons House


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Is there an open dataset of LEGO part photos suitable for machine learning?
I'm working on an app to identify LEGO elements from a photo using machine learning. I've completed a crude prototype that only supports the most common 10 elements.
I'm currently rendering images for the dataset using LeoCAD, but this isn't ideal, as I'd like the training data to look as much like real-world photos as possible to improve accuracy. I'm aware that I could get better renders using Blender or other tools, but that wouldn't provide all the elements of real photos (odd backgrounds, shadows, poor lighting, etc).
Is there an open dataset of LEGO part photos suitable for machine learning applications? I'm aware of a Kaggle dataset, but it uses renders rather than photos. I'm also aware of a couple of folks (Daniel West and Jacques Mattheij) who have used a dataset like the one I'm looking for, but I believe they created it themselves and did not share it for public use.
Update:
I've heard from both Daniel and Jacques. Daniel's dataset has already been exclusively licensed. Jacques wouldn't be easy to generalize due the optics used (mirrors to capture multiple angles), and has already been deleted.
Update 2:
There is now a larger rendered dataset on Kaggle.

I am not aware of any open public databases, but it might be worth contacting Peeron and BrickLink to see if they would grant access to their libraries of user submitted photos of parts. I have no idea if either of them would actually grant the access, but it couldn't hurt to ask either.


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Identify white element on back of Apple monitor
Please help me identify this part - the white piece / pieces at the back? The instructions are no longer available and all i can find is this fuzzy picture. I can work out the rest, but this has baffled me. Thanks!

Looks like this may be Chris McVeigh's iMac design? Looks like the wayback machine may have some LXF files archived if that is useful to you.

If I understand which part you are referring to, it looks like Hinge Plate 3 x 4 Locking Dual 2 Finger (44570) to me.

It's tough to tell for sure what it is connected to, but it is probably Hinge Plate 1 x 4 Locking Dual 1 Finger (44568)

Thank you, it is Chris' but can't find the build guide anywhere! It's been taken off. I had a feeling it was that hinge plate, will try that, thanks so much!


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Identify rug pieces in this library scene
Can anyone identify the roundish pieces that make up the rug in this scene?

It's hard to tell for sure, but I believe that it is Bar Holder with Clip (11090).

The size and shape look about right to me, and it is widely available in those colors.

I agree. And from the larger photos linked in the question it is clear this MOC has enough room under the floor for a support structure to keep everything in place.


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What is the number of this small 1x1 part?
I tried to find the number of this small part. I need it to create the two towers of Notre Dame.

That's 49668 Plate Special 1 x 1 with Tooth.

super, thank you


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EV3 motor port works in motor control but not in demo mode
I have a new EV3 set and tried running the Demo program on the initial build. Only the left motor turned, so the robot kept going in circles instead of going straight like its supposed to. When I swapped the connections so the Left motor was plugged into port B instead of port C, then the right motor turned but not the left motor. So the problem is with the port and not the motor.
But when I went into Motor Control with the buttons on the brick, both port B and port C could operate their motors just fine.
I updated the firmware to 1.10E but that acted the same as 1.09H. What else could I try? Is there a hardware problem with one of the ports on the main brick? If so, how come the motors work in motor control mode?

Update:
Sorry I didn't give better information on what I'm trying to build...It's set #31313, and I'm trying to build the "tracker"...it's these motors that I'm having trouble with; both motors work when connected to port C, and both work ok when I drive them from the "motor control" menu on the control brick, but the motor connected to port B doesn't run when it tries to drive them together.

sorry if this is a dumb question, but wdym by initial build? since i wont have the Ev3 with me during vacation, i don't know what robot you're  talking about, so please add image of assembled robot and the program too. doing this will also make the question more accessible to others, even if they dont own ev3. block-based programming is quitw easy to understand anyways.

ah, try using diffeeent cable. and show the program you're running. on windows 10 use ctrl+shift+s to make screen cut-out of the program and upload it here.