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What are black sausage pieces used for in Crocodile Locomotive set 10277?
After assembly I have these 5 pieces left. Should I have put them somewhere? I can't find any missed step that would use them.  So why are these there at all?

For feeding the crocodile...

These are placed next to the magnets at the front and the back of the train. See step 142 in the instructions.
4 are needed and there is 1 spare.
BrickInstructions shows it here:

Does the set come with minifigs? You'd be able to pose one holding onto the last "spare" one, right?

Yes, it does. 1 male and 1 female in blue overalls. "The 2 LEGO®minifigures with tools, display track and plaque provide lots to explore after building the classic train." https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/crocodile-locomotive-10277


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Alternative ways of attaching roller coaster wheels
While doing a bit of research about a mine track related question, I noticed that part 24869 "Wheel Roller Coaster" is meant to be used only with part 26021 to form a form a specific assembly:

I personally don't like the aesthetics of the car base, so I'm wondering about how to use the wheels without the car base. The axle has the same dimensions of a bar, so it can be used with clip plates or minifig hands:

...but that will obviously have a lot of friction.
What building techniques and parts can be used to attach the roller coaster wheels (or, for that matter, any other bar part) to other parts with low enough friction?
I'm looking for techniques for play (i.e. the vehicle should move along tracks and hold together when shaken), not for display (which can be achieved by high-friction clips).

Without the rollercoaster parts to check, I reckon some of the smaller wheel assemblies might be compatible, but not the one I was thinking of as the bar has smaller sections where itc lips in

@Chris that part clips onto the narrower parts of the wheel piece, not the middle, where it is the usual bar diameter.

@zovits, exactly. That's why I said not that one. I still think there's another but couldn't find anything

@ChrisH Right, sorry, I misread your comment and made the same point as you did.

Just like the other answer by @matthew jensen, I do not have the roller coaster wheels in my possession, so my answer is entirely based on what seems to work in Stud.io.
It looks like you can construct a basic wheelholder using part 3176 - Plate 2x3 with Hole. Here is how I would do this:

I am using 2 small 1x2 - 1x2 inverted brackets and a 2x3 plate in the above.
Here is how you would use the same (replacing the 2x3 plate with a 3x3 plate) to create a small minecart that (hopefully) rolls along the track. If a 5 stud wheelbase is too long to make it through LEGO rollercoaster track curves, you can shorten the build by 1 or 2 studs.

I've checked this assembly in LDCad. Roller coaster wheels indeed fit into the space. Based on the results I can see in LDCad small pins protruding from each side may be a little too short and barely have any plastic to hold on to plates. I'm not even sure if wheels would stay in place in case of a tiny bump or misalignment. However, it feels like this could work if which ever assembly will be put on top of these wheels will be static.

I've been fiddling a bit with LeoCAD about using other pieces for this technique. It seems that the outer rim of the wheel has the right dimensions to accept a round 1x1 brick (on either end), so trying to use any piece to fit tighter might actually provide a solid connection (instead of allowing the wheel to spin).

Disclaimer: I don't have the roller coaster wheels or body, and have not tried this.
The Skateboard with mag wheels comes to mind, as an example of a bar connection with little friction.

If I remember correctly, the wheel bars are of normal diameter (regular clips have normal friction), so it is the board clips which are slightly larger than a regular clip.

This is a good approach, but not without drawbacks. The rollercoaster wheels might slide sideways and hit the sides of the top part of the skateboard. It also forces a fixed axle distance that might cause trouble with narrow curves.

The diameter of a bar (i.e. the axle) is the same as the distance between two studs. This can be leveraged in a variety of ways using hollow studs and bars.
This uses upside-down 85861 1x1 round plates and short bar parts (48729):

The hollow studs can be moved up and down in order to adjust the friction.
Same technique, using 3959 Minifig Utensil, Torch and 11203 2x2 inverted tile:

The friction on the axle will depend on how deep the torch is pushed into the inverted tile.
A few 2555 1x1 tile with clip and an upside-down 4238 trunk lid (from the silver mine set), and we've got ourselves a minecart:

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


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Recent change in Pearl Gold colour?
I just received a Bricklink delivery with pearl gold pieces (see right-hand side in the image). This colour is less shiny and has less of the pearl effect that I used to expect so far (left-hand side, parts from an older set).
Did I miss anything about a change in the colour? Or is this part of the (nowadays) normal colour variation?

Not voting it as a duplicate, but please see https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/12782/pearl-gold-vs-flat-dark-gold

I saw that question, but I ruled out dark flat gold, because these are 4 different pieces that are definitely not available in this colour. The pieces are all new and they look exactly the same. Therefore I guess that this is our new pearl gold.

Yes, I have seen LEGO sets that have both colors mixed together - looks bad.

Metallic plastic is always tricky, especially when dealing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS for short). The granules (small plastic pellets) for the metallics are really sensitive to light and time, and the process can alter over time.
The stronger colors (ie. the base chromatics) are easy to get right since the granules are all from the same source and designed for that specific color. Where some of the more "exotic" colors, a mix of granules are being used, and that can be tricky.
So the process that a batch of pieces from 2018 and the same pieces molded in say 2020 might have some coloration differences, and it is a heck of a job to keep track of.
Even without direct changes in the formula, a slight change over time can happen. If this makes the pieces unwanted for you, I would reckon you can argue with Bricklink for a refund, but I would not bet that they can do much for you.
A similar case of this can be seen below, both certified pearl gold bricks, molded two years apart:

"The stronger colors (ie. the base chromatics) are easy to get right since the granules are all from the same source and designed for that specific color." - This sounds easy, but definitely not a trivial task. Even TLG struggle producing consistent color for basic colors. You can check this with almost any large set - different parts of the same color will have noticeable range in shades when assembled side by side.

@Alex absolutely true, I didn't mean to undercut the work put into keeping consistent colors, was only trying to map out how the swirly-mixed ones can be harder than the solid colors ones. But point taken.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Part identification - (handle crank?)
Please help me identify this part. (Both pictures are the same piece, just in different angles)
Reverse image search does not help unfortunately.

P.s.: Please excuse the unprofessional title, I don't know too much about part names- but I want to build something for a Lego fan I love :)

Related: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/7654/curved-little-bar-piece-seems-incredibly-useful-what-is-it

Bricklink calls this piece Minifigure, Utensil Paint Roller Brush Handle. And its "part number" is 12885 or 34076.

Thank you so much!


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What is this right angled piece with clip and how can it be used?
What element is this? What can it be used for?

The piece is 72869 Bar Holder with Clip and 90° Angle (Mechanical Leg)

It's a new part for 2021, and as the name implies, one of it's main uses is as a leg on various creatures. It seems especially well-suited for building spiders:

It hasn't had many other official uses to date, but it does get used as a robot of some kind in the Marvel advent calendar:

Stylistically, the part is very similar to 11090 Bar Holder with Clip

It's easy to imagine how bars could be used to integrate these parts together into larger structures.
In terms of size, the part is 2 modules in its longer dimension, and 1.5 modules in its shorter dimension:

There are of course many, many ways this piece could be used, but one that came to my mind was using it as part of wrought iron stair rail design. This works nicely, but we do have to use stairs with a tread depth of 1.5 modules to allow the railings to touch:

This part adds new flexibility to the bar and clip family, and I'm excited to see it get used more in the future.

Magnificent question and answer, I wish I could give more than 1 upvote each


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Insert a gear into a turntable?
Is there a way to insert a 24 tooth gear into a turntable of the 48452cx1 type?
  -->
Is there any model to feature any tooth gear (even smaller) used inside this turntable?
This specific combination leads me to the conclusion that can not do this unless the turntable is disassembled or the 24 tooth gear modified.
Is there any method known to disassemble 48452cx1 without damaging it?

I distinctively recall having placed such 24 tooth gear in such turntable and being pleased how perfectly it fitted, perhaps you had a slightly different mold of the 24 tooth gear... I do agree with Alex that there is not much use for placing a 24 tooth gear inside the center of such turntable...

Probably you have inserted it when it was not assembled yet. The studs are preventing it.

You are correct, just tried, will post picture as answer

Indeed I had to disassemble it (which went without much effort) but the 24 tooth fits fine:

It can slip up or down for about half a stud but is stuck otherwise.

This is the expected mount, but how did you disassemble it without damaging it?

I could wiggle it enough until I could put a screwdriver under the lid and just forced it. I have sufficient of these turntables that I could risk one, but wouldn't advise doing this if you consider your turntables as very precious.

Any chance you took a picture of the inside workings of it? That might help with preparing for gentle disassembly.

Bricklink has a picture of the light grey base part... there's a recess round te inner cilinder where the black part just clips... On second thought, the clips on the black part are quite large (about a quarter of the circle arc each) and seem quite sturdy. So opening it by simply prying it open with a sharp tool betweel black and grey part is probably reasonably safe

I'm struggling to understand why would there be a need to insert 24T gear inside turntable gear. If you need rigid connection - it is best to use existing attachment points for you assembly.
Internal gearing works with 8T gears. 3 of them could be used in line to have planetary gearing (actually, two is enough, but to make thing a little more rigid 3 are needed). I've seen fair share of such solution being used by Truck Trial MOC's and some Crawlers within their wheel hubs to increase the torque at the wheels. Here's an example of one such hub.

A 16T gear should work as well.  Probably just 1 though?

@DarrelHoffman In terms of size both 16T as well as 12T, will fit. However, you would need to play around a little to attach them properly. For example, 16T has an offset of half a stud. 12T will be a little more trickier to attach inside turntable gear.

That too - I wasn't aware that 12T was a thing (until I looked it up just now), don't think I've ever seen one.


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How is the roof on this bridge town formed?
I recently came across this build from Markus Rollbühler:

It includes many great details and building techniques. I'm curious how the conical tower roof is formed, though:

It's obviously made using a number of cheese slopes:

How are they all attached?

Something cheesy is going on with that roof.

At first, I assumed that this was a clever technique using something flexible like a net or tubing. After a bit of digging, I found a similar tower roof on a different build by the same person:

Someone had asked about the roof technique on that build, and Markus included a photo looking up the inside of the roof structure:

The build makes use of round elements of different sizes with elements of an appropriate length clipped around them like spokes. This is a great technique that delivers a nice result if you have loads of parts and patience available.

I'm not quite sure pictured technique has been actually used in build posted in question. Maybe a variation of it, but not exactly the one mentioned here. Picture clearly shows two cheese slopes are kept together with single robot arm while original build has each cheese slope placed individually.

@Alex That's a great point. I assume the the inside structure is similar, but the build from the question only uses one cheese slope per spoke.

You can attach the cheese slopes to the light grey "light saber grips", leaving out the darker grey robot arms.

This exact building technique, while possible, wouldn't be used by LEGO, since wheels could be stressing out parts and connection looks to be rather weak (wheel doesn't have bar connections). TLG, however have recently announced Sunflowers (40524) set, which is using similar approach, but with "legal" technique, as seen Brickset review.


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Identify an unusual double-ended ball socket link part
This part is made up of three pieces - two identical ball socket ends that fit the standard tow ball size, and a thin rod connecting the two that is freely rotating. This allows the two ends to rotate independently of each other. The visible section of the rod is three studs long, and each end is two studs long, making the whole assembly seven studs long. The pieces do not appear to be designed to be disassembled by the user, hence my assumption that it is a single part.

That is 4 separate parts. They can be disassembled, but they are somewhat fragile. The ends are part 6644 Technic Flex Cable End - Ball Connection with Cage:

The middle section is made up of a length rigid hose with a flex cable inside.
Rigid hose:

Flex cable:

The cable end includes a hinged door that allows flex system hose to be freely inserted or removed while the door is open. Once the door is in the closed position, the hose is locked in place. Here's what the part looks like with the door open:

If you're curious why you might want such a piece, it can be used to transfer translational motion down an irregular path. Here's and example from set 8412:

The part is first used to connect the flex system to the control stick inside the helicopter cockpit:

It's then used to connect one of the cables to the main rotor to provide pitch and roll control:

So it's basically the brake/shifter cables on a bicycle then?  Neat.

@DarrelHoffman Exactly! It's very similar to those cables.

Can you really (non-destructively) disassemble these pieces? I always thought they were rather permanent once that door locks closed...

@KRyan You can. I store mine fully disassembled, and I don't recall ever breaking one. They do feel very fragile, though.


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How can I build MOCs well
I want to learn to build MOCs well. Is there any advice or websites/videos that give building advice and techniques for building

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer.

While I've posted generic suggestion as an answer it is best to just begin building something yourself. And once you encounter an issue you cannot solve or need some advise - post this as a new question with as much details as you have. Make sure to add pictures as otherwise it is basically impossible to help.

It is rather opinion based, however I've got a piece of advice.
General advice is to build whatever you want and as often as you can. It won't be perfect and top-level MOC at beginning (we all were there at point), but you will eventually get there, while learning following in the process:

what it is to build for yourself;
what kind of obstacles you encounter during your build;
list of parts you can use and their properties;
what colors are generally available for the MOCs you build;
what it is to work with certain scale;
structure stability;

and so on.
Next thing is to build other people's MOCs and study them. These are, sometimes, more advanced that LEGO sets. You can find a lot of free instructions on Rebrickable.
I've specifically excluded any resources for advanced techniques as those are usually cool to look, but are very specific to particular use case. There are also no resources that list all possible techniques, because... there's no such thing as "all techniques" - something is being discovered every other day!
Disclaimer. Wanted to post this as a comment, but it got too long.


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Has the colour "White" changed over the years?
Recently, I bought a new and sealed 70828 Pop-up Party Bus, 2019, a quite underrated set, in my opinion. I was surprised to see that the many white parts are not as white as I expected. I compared this set with white elements from my other sets. On the picture, you see elements from the 5974 Galactic Enforcer, 2009, 70810 Metalbeard's Sea Cow, 2014, and the 31109 Pirate Ship, 2020.

It is not quite obvious on the image, but all sets have exactly the same, ivory white. For comparison, I placed them on a blank white paper. I remembered having seen much brighter shades of white in older sets, so I dug deeper and found a 6982 Explorien Starship, 1996 with many yellowed white parts, but also some parts that hadn't yellowed at all:

On the picture, you see the famous 30037 Wing Plate Bi-level 12 x 9 x 2 1/3 over the Pirate Ship sails. Again, the light for the picture is not the best, but the white colour from 1996 is much brighter than the more recent version of LEGO White. I assume that in 1996, all white parts were of the same hue.
My question is whether there was a change in the LEGO colour "White" and whether this change can be attributed to a certain date or a known change in the production process?
Any hint is appreciated. Happy new year, by the way!

I have done some research on this question and I can tell it wasn't easy to find an answer. With some deeper digging I found this thread on Eurobricks related to color variations and where they are coming from. https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/98441-color-variations/
In short it says since early 2000 Lego is using only 1 color of pelets instead of using pre-colored ones. Because of this color variations have been noticed.

Nice find! That post covers some interesting aspects, also partly praising the new pellet method. However, my examples above seem to show that there is very little colour variation, at least from 2014 to 2021, for the white pellets.

This change is the reason why we see color inconsistency.


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Will custom parts be included in .IO-files?
In a Stud.IO project I made I'm missing a specific printed part that isn't available in Stud.IO. So I used the Part Designer to create a custom part, which is basically just a normal 1x1 tile with the print as a decal. I got this properly imported into Stud.IO and by giving the part the correct BrickLink number in the Part Designer, I also got it to automatically link to the proper LEGO piece and the instructions show the proper part number, too.
This is all well and good, but now I want to share the Stud.IO file, with someone who doesn't necessarily have that part. Now the question is, will the custom part automatically be included in the Stud.IO model and work as expected or would the other person need to import that part on their system, too? If it doesn't work right away, what would happen instead? Would the part just be missing, as if the pieces are just not in the model or would anything else happen (like an error or some kind of dummy part being shown)?

Seems easiest to me to just test on another system or reach out to someone to test the .io file for you...

@MichaelVerschaeve That's what I since did and in fact it does all work properly. ;-) Still, a proper SE question seemed like a good idea anyway (although, I don't quite feel like giving a one-line-answer based on hearsay now either.)

It is completely reasonable to self-answer questions on StackExchange.  And it won't be just one sentence if you explain how you tested it.  I'd make a heading with the word "Yes" by # Yes at the top so the simple answer is easily evident.  :)

Okay, I did the obvious thing and just tried it. That is to say, I gave the Stud.IO file to someone who opened it on their own system where the part hadn't been imported from the Part Designer. And in fact yes, it works, meaning he could see the part with the print decal in the model and the instructions and it even linked to the correct BrickLink piece.


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Is there a way to create a database of bricks that are connected in different sets
I'd like to build a database (for a machine learning project) of which parts are connected to which part for a large library of (official) Lego sets. Is any such database available or would it be possible to create one from publicly available Ldraw files?
You could imagine that each set is a graph, each node represents a part and the edges of the graph represent that two parts are connected.

This is an interesting question but from my understanding of most LEGO CAD software, bricks are stored as positions rather than as connections. The software knows how each part is arranged but not how they connect. Some parts may be directly adjacent for example but not necessary physically connected. Most connections are made using studs, pins and axles, so it might be possible to analyse positions of those pieces.

Is any such database available

I do not believe that a graph database like this exists.

Would it be possible to create one from publicly available Ldraw files?

This would be difficult to create. LDraw files do not store connection information. They store part locations in 3D space. Modelling tools frequently support snapping parts together and/or snapping to a grid, but that information is not directly stored in the LDraw model files as far as I know.
Going from an LDraw file to a connection graph seems possible, but it would require modelling precise connection information for each part for each connection family. It would then require a physics engine that could model the parts and perform collision detection for each connection point to determine if a connection exists and what it is connected to.

Stud.io uses it's own proprietary file format, but it is based on LDraw files and seems to have quite good collision detection...


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Where can I find Orient Expedition 7419 gameboard tiles to print?
I lost the cardboard gameboard squares.
Does anybody have a high quality scan of the tiles so I can print them ?

You are asking us to help you commit a copyright violation

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.

You can buy missing items on Bricklink.

I think you refer to parts 4189445pb01 through 4189445pb11, all pieces of "gear" from set 7419.
The low-resolution scans available from the BrickLink item descriptions might be enough, though they will require some labour on your part. You can also consider buying second-hand tiles from BrickLink vendors. I don't think there are publicly-available high-resolution scans.
Otherwise, do try contacting LEGO support; they might be able to help with a replacement.

Highly unlikely that LEGO will able to help with unique replacement parts for 19 year old set.

Somebody might have some printable files tucked away in a drawer, and asking has zero risk of anything.

Thank you for your constructive answer @IvanSanchez.


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Are both a Mario and a Luigi required for 2-player mode?
The Luigi Starter Course advertises the ability to "team up for new adventures":

Does this 2-player mode strictly require a second Luigi, or would a second Mario also work? What about 2 Luigis?

Two-player mode is intended for Mario and Luigi, but it also works just fine with two Marios or two Luigis, as can be seen below for two Luigis paired with one another:

A matched pair appears to support the same operations as a Mario and Luigi pair. The only significant differences appear when the two interact in certain scenarios. For example, the initial dialog is now "hello, Luigi" followed by "hi, Luigi" and Mario's name is correctly not used.
While the app isn't required for all two-player functionality, it is recommend to pair both characters with the app to receive the most recent updates. This is especially important for Mario, as early firmware doesn't include 2-player mode.


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To which set belongs this door with stickers on both sides?
I try to identify sets in a large bag of unsorted Lego (will probably have to ask some more of these in the coming days).
This piece is a real odd-ball: A black door with (mostly silver) stickers on both sides. I'm not sure if the door-frame goes with it, because they were separated in the bag, but it is the only door-frame in the whole bag.
The frame looks almost white, but it is actually grey. The shiny silver really messed up the white-balance of the camera.

The stickered part is 57895pb056 which only appears in set 75954 "Hogwarts Great Hall":

That appears to be the one.. Unfortunately my large bag of unsorted stuff doesn't have anything else from that set....

As a counterpoint, I have bought this set used, and after taking it apart and going through the entire BrickLink inventory, I've discovered that it's the one piece that's missing. So perhaps it's mine!

Who knows? I got this bag in The Netherlands. Is that anywhere near you?

@RSchulz : did you mean to put beta links in your answer ? They don't appear to be fully functional (doesn't actually show that the part is in that set for me eg.).

@SanderDeDycker The link to the set on that brinklink parts-page seems empty indeed. But the 2nd link (and the image above) are clear enough.

For clarification : my comment wasn't intended to cast doubt on the correctness of the answer (it's correct and I upvoted), but rather to suggest using the regular non-beta links in order to avoid confusion - unless there's a reason to use the beta links.

@Tonny I can categorically deny ever buying used Lego in the Netherlands.

@SanderDeDycker I only shared what BrickLink seemed to want me to see. I also had trouble with the set list being empty, but had just assumed it was a compatibility issue with my browser or some such, not with BL itself.

@RSchulz: I've submitted an edit that switches to the classic links. Feel free to disapprove/revert if that's not desired. For info - all the way at the bottom of the bricklink pages, you should have a link available to switch to the classic view if you ever need it. I'll clean up my comments here as soon as they're no longer relevant.

I wouldn't delete anything - everyone can look back on this (hopefully brief) time when BL was a bit messed up.


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Adding custom / recorded sounds for power-up
The Powered Up application offers many more sounds than the BOOST app, but the later allows for recording of extra sounds...
How could someone add / record custom sounds for powered-up App?

I believe it's not possible.. Lego might not have thought of it during development. What's the point if the powered up brick doesn't make sounds anyway? You'll have to teach your phone ventriloquism for that

This video has a solution for Android users.
In the Files app, navigate to:
Internal Storage -> Android -> data -> com.lego.common.poweredup -> files -> PredefinedActivities
Copy the folder containing the project files to:
Internal Storage -> Android -> data -> com.lego.common.poweredup -> files -> Activities
Download and open QuickEdit and navigate to the copied folder.
Open powered-up-metadata.json and set these values and save the file:
"IsControllerEditingAllowed": true,
"IsCanvasChangeAllowed": true,
"IsPanningAllowed": true,
"Contexts": [
  "freeplay"
],

This will unlock the advanced features of Powered Up.

Unfortunately it doesn't work. The widget is there, the recorder does indeed open, but nothing gets recorded. The wave is "flat", the mic maybe isn't initializated.

i think its going to be an issue in lastest version


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What is a rubber technic beam with two axle holes?
I'm starting an inventory on Rebrickable, and came across a part that I can't find listed.  I can describe it clearly enough and I know how it might be used (but not why it's better than the "normal" plastic), but I want to be able to add it to the tracked inventory in the database.  So how do I "find" it on Rebrickable?
This looks just like a beam that has two axle holes and is made of rubber rather than ABS.  It is a unit (not half-unit) thick.

Couple more resources alternatives to Rebrickable you can use to check inventory and identify parts: Bricklink.con and Brickset.com . Each has its own benefits and disadvantages, but otherwise very useful. Sometimes it is easier to check inventory for couple of recent sets to see which parts they have. Especially if the part is rather fresh.

That sounds like Technic, Axle Connector Double - Flexible Rubber, known on rebrickable as Technic Axle Connector Double Flexible [Rubber].

It's used for various purposes - eg. when some extra "give" is needed, or some extra friction, or to dampen a movement, or ...

On Bricklink, it's called "Technic, Axle Connector Double - Flexible Rubber" - part number 45590
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=45590


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Identification green plane-tail-like pieces
Any idea from which set these pieces do come from?

Welcome to Brick.SE.  Thanks for the clear picture with a nice background of a different color than the part. :)

These are Sand Green Tail Shuttle pieces, found only in 2509: Earth Dragon Defense - exactly 4 pieces per set:

Out of curiosity how did you identify them?

@ThorbjørnRavnAndersen I recognized the shuttle tail piece from my own Space Shuttle set, and started with looking up 2x3 modified plates. There were way too much of those, so I focused on the colour instead and got a hunch that it has Ninjago dragon vibes. From there it was quite straightforward.


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What is the procedure for connecting PoweredUp remote to Boost motor brick?
I have a PoweredUp remote from Passenger Train 60197 and the motor-brick from Boost Creative Toolbox 17101.
Sometimes I can connect the remote to the motor, sometimes I can't. When I do manage to connect the remote, sometimes it controls A and B (the main motors on the brick) sometimes it controls C and D (the external ports on the brick)
Is there a specific sequence of buttons to press to guarantee a connection and guarantee that it controls A and B?
I have read about firmware updates and have connected both the remote and the brick to my phone using the Android PoweredUp app, but don't know how to tell if firmware updates are required.
Just to be clear the aim is to control the brick from the remote without using an Android phone.

This video from Hispabrick magazine demonstrates it perfectly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHv8or2GnFE
PRESS and RELEASE the green buttons on both devices and WAIT until they connect, the lights on the devices will match.
Lots of people have problems with this step, either they keep the buttons pressed (which will cause the devices to switch themselves off) or they don't have the patience to wait the couple of seconds until the devices connect and repress one of the buttons in which case the connection cycle restarts...
When connected there seem to be 3 modes:

mode 1 controls A and B, i.e. the internal motors
mode 2 controls B and A, i.e. the internal motors in reversed order
mode 3 controls the external ports C and D, you can connect various motors, but also a train motor and external leds. The latter two don't operate in bang-bang mode (all on or all off) but you can set the speed/intensity gradually...
There seems to be no mode where D and C or switched, or that an internal motor and external port are combined (e.g. "A and C" or "B and D")

You apparently cycle between the modes by shortly pressing (and releasing) the green button on both devices, the lights on the devices change (and match) when successful.
Regarding firmware updates, keep your app up to date on your Android device and it will automatically upload any firmware updates as soon as you connect a Powered Up device. You'll notice by the cycling colors the device displays while updating, it may take a few minutes,... It's a bad idea to interrupt any firmware update so please be patient.

Thank you for the quick and comprehensive answer!


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Which bricks are still protected by copyright / trademark / patent law?
In 2010, The European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg validated a lower-court ruling, in favor of Canada's Mega Brands, that Lego's bricks can't be legally protected by trademark law because their two rows of interlocking studs are a functional, technical shape that cannot become the property of any one company.
In 2015, the ECJ rejected an attempt by Best-Lock, a UK-based toymaker, to appeal against the trademark protection of Lego’s figures, ruling that LEGO mini-figures should continue to be classed as protected shapes.
In December 2016, German toy manufacturer Delta Sport filed an application for the declaration of invalidity of design 001664368-0006, trademarked the with the EU since 2010, applying the same reasoning used by Mega Brands to win their lawsuit in 2010. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) initially sided with Delta Sport in 2019, but this ruling would later be overruled by the General Court of the European Union (EGC).
What is the impact of these lawsuits on items sold by brands such as Qman, BlueBrixx, Cobi & 3DWise, or artists like Stefano Bolcato or Andy Morris (aka "Little Big Art")?
To which degree is one legally allowed to produce and/or sell LEGO-compatible bricks or artworks inspired by LEGO?

Don't you think there's a huge difference between "LEGO-compatible bricks" and "artworks inspired by LEGO"?

@RobbieGoodwin : Is there? Both are essentially derivative creations inspired by LEGO products or components or LEGO products. The whole distinction between "art", "merch" and "toy" is rather arbitrary IMO...

Sorry John. I still think there's a huge difference, and I now realise this is one place where that doesn't matter. a jot.

@RobbieGoodwin : Can you please elaborate? In what way is there a huge difference, in your opinion? And why do you believe it doesn't matter? You completely lost me here, with your train of thought...

Sorry I Posted that before realising it doesn't matter here. Broadly, bricks are bricks. I took "artworks inspired by LEGO" to mean "models built using LEGO or compatible bricks". I failed to see through that tenuous wording to the fact that "artworks inspired by LEGO" might be both a sophisticated attempt at describing simple bricks, and in other circumstances a more mundane term for models specifically designed by LEGO. I now see that while those are three, very different things, the difference doesn't matter here.

@RobbieGoodwin : When I'm talking about "artworks inspired by LEGO", I'm refering first and foremost to paintings / prints like those made by Stefano Bolcato & Andy Morris, jumbo-sized mini-builds like these flowers by 3DWise & this human-sized money tile by Andy Morris, etc.

Thanks and sorry to point out, that makes things less clear. I doubt LEGO could claim copyright to any of those linked examples… but the artists would.

Copyright applies when any work is created, even if it is based on other copyright works.  If the derivative work can't get a license from the underlying copyright holder, then fair use or the first-sale doctrine may cover it.

This is a complex topic. If you are considering designing a LEGO-compatible product, you may want to consult a lawyer who is an expert in this area. With that in mind, here's my attempt at an answer.
Terms
First we'll define some terms. From Wikipedia:
Copyright

A type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy and distribute a creative work, usually for a limited time.

Trademark

A type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others.

Patent

A type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention.

Industrial Design Right or Design Patent

An intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian.

It is very easy to get these mixed up.
Trademark never expires, and relates to a specific design or mark that identifies a product or brand. The shape of the LEGO minifigure is trademarked. The word "LEGO" is also trademarked.
The "Red LEGO Brick" judgement from 2010 struck down the idea that the shape of the 2x4 LEGO brick could be trademarked. The reasoning behind this decision was that the shape is functional and it would not be possible for another company to design another shape that functioned in the same manner without being essentially the same item.
Copyright rarely applies to functional designs like building blocks. It is used for purely creative works. It may apply in the case of box art, instructions, or complete set designs.
Patents cover novel and non-obvious functional inventions. The stud and tube design was successfully patented in 1958 and the patent has since expired.

Design patents are a bit different than regular patents. They still represent novel and non-obvious functional inventions, but can be granted for a different visual structure that performs a similar function to prior art. For example, the Coke bottle was covered by a now expired design patent, but is still covered under trademark:

The 2016 Application for Declaration of Invalidity that you mentioned revolves around a registered community design (RCD). I believe that this is an EU legal structure that is effectively a design patent or industrial design right.
The application referenced the 2010 2x4 brick trademark case. The rationale for denying this request to have the RCD invalidated was partially based on the arguments related to trademark in that case not applying to an RCD. Trademark should rarely apply only to specific non-functional design elements, otherwise the patent system need not exist as entities could simply permanently trademark everything they design. Patents can be more broad in the designs they cover, as they allow only for a limited period of exclusive use.
In practice, very few elements appear to be eligible trademark. The minifig is the most common one that I'm aware of. The 2010 case makes it clear that regular bricks are generally not eligible for trademark protections, even bricks like the 2x4 that are iconic and largely synonymous with the idea of a LEGO brick.
That implies that most element designs will fall under patent law rather than trademark. In order to be eligible for a patent, the design must be novel and non-obvious. If a patent is awarded for a design, it will typically be protected for some number of years, typically on the order of about 25. Here's an example of a recent LEGO element patent:

The patent on that design is expected to expire in 2034.
One may think that in order to make elements that are free of patent infringement, it would be sufficient to be aware of all of TLG's non-expired patents. However, anyone can be granted a patent for a LEGO-compatible element. Here's another recent patent:

That patent was awarded to Mega Brands, so even TLG can't make that element until the patent expires in 2036. Unfortunately, determining which designs are patent infringing currently and which are not is non-trivial, and there is a reason these companies have legal teams.
Thankfully, there is a somewhat simpler answer to the question:
If an element already exists, and was created long enough ago that its patent would have expired in the jurisdiction of interest, it should be free to use.
This does assume that the element is not eligible for trademark protection, but it seems that most are not. Anyone can manufacture and sell a LEGO-compatible 2x4 brick in a product. All other common building elements that were around in the 80s, or obvious extensions of these elements such as the 1x5 plate, should also be fine. Beyond that, it gets complicated.

Out of curiosity, what is the purpose of that last block?  I can see what it does - placing the brick on the left causes the brick on the right to pop off, and vice versa.  But what would you need that for?  There's easier ways of separating bricks that don't require designing everything around that bulky mechanism, and it doesn't look like that'd pop them off with enough force to make a fun little catapult or anything like that.

@DarrelHoffman Both bricks could be part of separate moving mechanisms. First thing that comes to mind would be two ferris wheels, that are side by side, but should only move when the other has one gondola on the ground. So pressing one gondola into the ground, would release the other one to rotate further. Or releasing something on a zip line? Basically manual activation/unlocking of a moving mechanism.

@Minix Maybe?  But it looks like you'd just wind up with a loose brick, higher by the height of just the pegs.  Seems to me there are plenty of easier ways to accomplish that, but I'd have to see it in action.

@DarrelHoffman Owning a patent does not necessitate manufacturing the protected design. Might be that Mega has realised the same thing you did, but after submitting the patent application.

@jncraton : Thanks for your detailed answer. With respect to your initial remark, I am indeed contemplating starting a business that involves both LEGO-compatible items (similar to BrickArms) or derivative products (similar to Little Brick Art & 3DWise), targeting the AFOL-community. And I guess I'm trying to figure out how to avoid stepping into a legal minefield...

@JohnSlegers Good stuff. I hope that the new venture goes well! From what I've seen, TLG is much more likely to go after trademark and whole set copyright infringement than any element patent issues. This is especially true for small startup ventures run by AFOLs filling a niche in the community. There is literally a display case of those sorts of products at the US HQ in Enfield. TLG tends to have a positive relationship with those sorts of businesses as long as there's no trademark infringement.

@jncraton : TLG did go after the 3D printing community a while ago, getting 3D-printable files of LEGO parts folks were sharing for free removed with takedown notices. They also had 2 T-shirts removed that I was selling on RedBubble a few years ago, with respectively a minifig & a minifig head on 'em. This kind of actions is what makes me rather reluctant to even touch anything LEGO-related for my business...

@JohnSlegers TLG does protect their trademarks (logo, minifig likeness, etc) as both of those take downs show. This is quite different then going after the design of individual building elements.

@jncraton I can see the parrot being covered by trademark, but the blaster doesn't seem to be a good example of this. It is made of two simple LEGO parts that have been around since the 80s and the LEGO mark is not present on them.

@jncraton That said, there was no legal decision in that case. It was a takedown request, and the site decided to honor it. It may be that the claim of the blaster being trademarked wouldn't be defensible.


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4.5v/12v connector contact problems
I have pulled out several 1970s and 1980s 4.5v and 12v motors/trains from my childhood for my children to play with. Everything is working pretty well, except that we have recurring contact problems plugging the cables into either a battery box, motor, or transformer. A lot of wiggling is needed to make the connection, and it's hard to keep the motor turning without holding the connector in place.
Since the plugs just seem to be metal cylinders, I assume the sockets must have some kind of spring that has worn out. Do you have any advice on rejuvenating them? I don't want to try to replace all the motors and power supplies :)

At least with 1980s grey cables, the pins on the plugs are split, and if the four segments of the pin get pushed together the connection becomes loose. Gently easing the segments apart with the tip of a small electrical screwdriver or the blade of a penknife restores the plugs' tight fit -- but don't force them apart too far, or you may damage the pin.

I'd suggest a razor blade or very thin bladed knife.  Unless the gap's a lot wider than I remember even a small flat bladed screw driver is going to be too thick if you accidentally push it in all the way.

You are absolutely right, I don't know how I managed to get confused about the plug pins. I blame brain fog. I was able to spread them with a tiny screwdriver and things are much better now. Sorry for wasting your time!


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How can I find the value of a LEGO set over several years?
Bricklink has this handy feature on its site which allows you to view the average selling prices of a particular set based on previous auctions.
I like this feature, but unfortunately, it only displays trades made in the last six months.
Are there any tools that can track or display historical selling prices on sets. Preferably using data from popular LEGO auction sites like Ebay and Bricklink.

Yes, you can see the price development of sets on the Brickfact website. The prices are calculated daily by sales on Ebay and Bricklink.
If you want to keep track of the price development of all your LEGO sets you can you use the Brickfact portfolio tracking app. You can enter all your sets there and see the individual price development as well as for each of your sets.

I will mark this as the accepted answer. The other two answers had very good resources but they no longer work unfortunately. I heard the Brickpicker Brickfolio service was meant to return at some point but I have no idea if that is the case anymore.

Not sure about several years, but Brickpicker covers one full year. Here are the stats for the Green Grocer, for example:

Or the ones for the UCS Millenium Falcon:

And so on, you get the idea. They have more and other stats, too — e.g. the following quick overview for every set:

They pull their data from eBay, through some third-party tool they licensed.
Now, I think they only let you look up like three sets at a time — then you have to register. But the registration is completely free. They cover their costs via affiliate marketing, i.e. links to Amazon and the like.
They can also sync your account with (i.e. import your sets from) Brickset and Rebrickable, but I never gave that a try. I'm not much of an investor anyway, just your typical AFOL. In fact, according to them, the prices for some of the discontinued sets I still have unopened have actually plummeted.
I suppose if I were in for the long haul, I would just take a screenshot of their stats every twelve months and then string them together in GIMP.

I'm not familiar with any tools that do this with eBay or Bricklink price histories. I'm pretty sure that Bricklink removes all data older than 6 months, so if this information is available, it would have to come from a third party who scraped it from the site.
I have used a tool called Tracktor to look at Amazon price histories for LEGO sets. Sadly, this tool is most useful for sets that are currently in production, as there aren't many listings for out of production sets on Amazon. Here's an example showing the price of Medieval Market Village (10193) over the past couple of years:

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


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What is part 53119 supposed to represent?
This part appears in 50 sets, but of particular interest is what it's supposed to represent. Is it a bag of trash, or animal faeces?
In Minifig series 19, dog sitter appears with 1x 53119 where it appears to imply a doggie doo-doo.

But it's also used in many other sets where doggy doo-doo wouldn't be appropriate/fit the theme. It also makes a good fairy cake icing.

For an attempt at an objective answer, I went though all sets released in 2019 or 2020 with this part (13 sets total), and looked to see what the part represents.
The results:

Brown in col19-9: Dog poo
Brown in 11940: Possibly poo, maybe just a lump of dirt
Brown in 41429: Human poo
Brown in 75969: Cupcakes/muffins
Brown in 41422: Panda poo
Brown in 71722: Possibly poo, maybe just a lump of dirt
White in 41431: Cupcakes
White in 43180: Ice-cream
White in 43170: Seashell
White in 43183: Decorations on a box. Mabe a seashell?
White in 21322: Seashell? Foam?
White in 43176: Seashell
White in 43188: Contents of a pot. Soup?

So by my count we have: 3-5 poops, 4 foods and 2-4 seashells.

Based on the bag art for set 11940, I'd assume it's supposed to represent a catapult stone. (Also, after checking the build instruction for set 41429, I have to agree with your evaluation: the part is hidden deep inside the airplane build, completely out of sight and with no structural function, under the toilet seat in the plane's restroom in a cavity that looks like it represents a septic tank. It feels like whoever designed that set probably had a lot of fun hiding that little "easter egg" there. :D)

I'm marking this as the answer, because it shows a good level or research and understanding of the question.

I just built 76389 (Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets), and the part is used as an Easter egg in one of the towers. I think it's supposed to represent Bassilisk poop.

This question is hard to answer objectively.
It is a small "swirl" and like many pieces, represents whatever the designer/player wants it to. It comes in white (where as you noted, it is usually a cake icing or a rock) and in brown, where it looks like it is primarily a poo. But it can also represent a decorative element like a flourish.

Perhaps the best attempt at an objective answer would be that the imaged set is in fact the earliest release (and only release from 2019) with the part, so it is possible that "dog poo" was the original intention for this part (altough it is likely that other sets with other uses were in the pipeline).

As Fredric Mention in his answer, what this piece represents is up to the imagination of the creator. Indeed it is used for several things in official sets, often as a cupcake topping, icecream, seashell, or dog poop.
A few interesting uses:

marshmallow
narwhal horn
hermit crab shell

And this set uses a brown one as a cupcake, but also as a dog...

Two dogs, a shovel and minifig's expression pretty much suggest that the subject of this question is poop.

For 1 of the 50 sets, yes.

It's definitely represents faeces in a lot of sets. Children think poo is funny. Most of Lego's customers are children and Lego caters to its customers taste...


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Help identify this part - possibly train related?
I suspect it might be related to a train coupler but I could be totally wrong. I couldn't find it in the train parts category on Bricklink. It seems similar to part 2920.
It has an open stud on the top and an antistud on the bottom, and a regular axle hole going across. The clip things that are on one side are smaller than the diameter of a regular bar.
It says "(C) Lego Group" and "3" and "01" but I do not see a part number.

It's in the Magnet category: 2607 Magnet Holder 2 x 3 with Clips and Pin Hole. It connects to Magnet Cylindrical.

These were used heavily in the 90s with their underwater line and I think some of the digger line.

They were also the key naming item in the M-Tron space sets.


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Technic pin on a pole: is it an illegal technique?
I have two 2714b pieces that I want to put together to make a longer pole. Is sliding the technic pin of one pole over the end of another pole illegal? (If it is, how else could I make a long and thin pole like this?)

I dunno if puting a pin in that hole is legal, but my guess would be LEGO would not do this because such a construction would be relatively fragile and easy to snap.

TLG has been using "bar inside Technic pin" technique, so I assume this is considered legal connection. One thing to consider though - some newer elements with pins are no longer round inside, so you cannot fit bar type of element there anymore.
One example from 42043 set (I'm sure there are more examples, but this is something I had in my head immediately):
Roof assembly has these LBG Technic, Pin 1/2 with 2L Bar Extension (Flick Missile)

Later, in Step 64, you have horns attached with half pins.

Are you certain that bar type elements don't fit any more in pins? Do you have an online resource to support that claim? I've built recent technic sets and the pins didn't seem altered that drastically...

@MichaelVerschaeve Correction: not a pin, but a connector with pins - newer version of Technic Pin Double with Axle Hole has been changed and doesn't accept bar elements.

interesting, seems worth an SE question and answer on its own...


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What set which involves building a dump truck has the most pieces?
I'm trying to recall a bricks set I used more than a decade ago which I remember needing an inordinate amount of pieces to build a dump truck or similar piece of construction equipment. I haven't been able to find such a set on my own so hopefully I can get some help here. Frankly, I'm not sure if it's even a LEGO set or different brand.
While don't remember much about it, it's still important to create a post that has a definitive answer so I'll settle for identifying which LEGO set has the most pieces and involves building a dump truck.

That is pretty much a description of any dump truck LEGO has ever made. What were the colors? Number of axles? What size it was? Was it Technic or System? Any specific features (like text or images on stickers) were present?

I'm trying to cast a wide net. "Any" number of features/ colors/ or other identifying information. The only requirement it that the set involves a dump truck

Slightly tongue in cheek, so not an answer, but the "LEGO set  has the most pieces and involves building a dump truck" must be 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator, even though the dump truck accounts for only a small fraction of the almost 4000 parts.

There's a few candidates.
At minifig scale we've got 4202-1 "Mining Truck" modeled after a haul truck, with 264 parts:

On the Technic side, there's 42114-1 "6x6 Volvo Articulated Trailer" with 2193 parts (as pointed out by @MatthewJensen):

But if your criteria is "a set which involves a dump truck", then the answer (for minifig scale) is probably 60188-1 "Mining Experts Site" with 857 parts, albeit with a rather simplistic truck...

Or, as user @SanderDeDycker points out, technic set 42055-1 "Bucket Wheel Excavator" with 3929 parts and a relatively tiny dumper:

Looking at the list of construction sets ordered by descending number of parts did help in choosing these.

This is exactly the kind of answer I'm looking for! Thank you! I'll wait a short while before marking it as accepted

Your edit with the Mining Truck is the set I've been looking for! I don't think I was able to identify in my search because it wasn't explicitly referred to as a dump truck.

There is also 42114 6x6 Volvo Articulated Hauler


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Which original LEGO videogames had sets based on them?
Which original LEGO videogames have related sets that were either included with the game or were introduced alongside it?

For this question I will be listing all original LEGO games that were not based on an existing franchise or theme. This means games like LEGO Loco and Rock Raiders are included, but Bionicle and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes aren't. As it turns out, only nine games had original sets or themes.
I've assembled this list by going through every LEGO game, and then comparing that against the sets released in the same year the game was released.
All images link to their respective bricklink pages.
If I miss something, feel free to correct me.
LEGO Island (1997)
The US release included polybag set 2181 with a minifig of Infomaniac, the character that helps the player through the game.

LEGO Loco (1998)
Certain versions of the original release include set 2585: "Track Buggy with Station Master and Cool Kid". Both minifigs are characters in the game.

LEGO Chess (1998)
This game included set 2586: "The Crazy LEGO King". Interestingly enough, it took LEGO another seven years to release their first full chess set, set 851499, but they never released a board featuring any of the characters from the videogame.

LEGO Creator (1998)
This game included set 2584-1: "Biker Bob".  The Biker Bob minifigure is exclusive to this set.

LEGO Rock Raiders (1999)
LEGO Rock Raiders introduced the Rock Raiders theme which ran from June 1999 to December 2000. It had a total of sixteen sets.

LEGO Stunt Rally (2000)
Several sets came out featuring Stunt Rally characters and cars, but for some reason LEGO called the theme just "Race". The later Racers theme also had a few sets that featured minifigs from Stunt Rally.

LEGO Island 2 (2001)
The PC release of Island 2 included set 3925; a keychain of the brickster.

LEGO Racers 2 (2001)
The release of Racers 2 kicked off the Racers theme that ran from 2001 all the way to 2012. The first subtheme of Racers was Xalax, which were featured in the videogame.

LEGO Island Xtreme Stunts (2002)
Island Xtreme Stunts had its own theme with a total of 13 sets. Several of the sets feature Pepper and the Brickster, which both also appeared in Island 1 & 2.

LEGO City Undercover (2013)
While based on the city theme, set 60007 "High Speed Chase" was released after the game and features the game's main character; Chase McCain.

Footnotes:

LEGO Friends, which released in 1998, is unrelated to the Friends theme that launched in 2012.


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Can LDD or Studio calculate the weight of your model?
I have made a model of mine in LDD, and I want to know its weight. Is there any feature in LDD that can calculate the estimated weight of your model? If not, is it available in other software like Studio? I really appreciate any help you can provide.

studio can. Not sure about others.

Stud.io has that functionality, in the main menu select "Model", and then "Model information", select in the dialog the second tab "Physical information":

Step 1: Export your LDD model to a BrickLink wishlist.
Step 2: Move items from the bricklink wishlist to shopping cart(s) (i.e. find sellers).
Step 3: See the added weight of your BrickLink shopping carts.

Step 2 is a bit like underpants gnomes.


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Do Duplo train cars with two female ends exist?
Most Duplo train cars have a male and a female connector, such as Duplo Car Base 2 x 6 with Red Wheels with Fake Bolts and Open Hitch End.
Since most tractors, in the widest meaning of cars meant to pull other cars only have a male ending, such as Duplo Car Base 4 x 8 with Four Black Wheels and White Hubs, you can only make Duplo trains which go one way.
Commuter trains in my city have a cab on each side on the train, meaning that when they are at the terminus, the driver just has to move to the far-end cab, and be on his way. My son would like to build such a train, but cannot connect an other tractor at the end of his train, since it is always male - male.
Are you aware of a female - female train car, that would allow such a two-way train? (Or any other way to achieve this!)

I'm not familiar with any train cars like what you describe.
It sounds like you could get this to work by building one of the locomotives backwards on its base.
For example, here's the locomotive assembly from the Cargo Train (10875).

You could build a second "locomotive" by putting the same orange train chassis on top of the regular train car base backwards:

The train could then be pulled (or pushed) by the real locomotive and the other unpowered locomotive could be attached to the opposite end of the train.
That general technique should work for most trains, but you may have to get a little creative if the parts for the locomotive interfere with the connectors on one of the train wagons.


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What's the easiest way to remove the license plate on the Time Machine?
I have the 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine. I'm assembling it for the first time, Following the directions. and I'm at the end where they're allowing me to pick which of the three I want to install. I started down for the first movie, and it's asking me to put in the license plate, into the frame. (The license plate is piece number 60602. The frame is item number 60593.)

I'm a little hesitant to put it in, because I'm not sure how I could remove it. The license plate frame snapped in.

So now there isn't a good way to remove the license plate holder.
What are my options for removing the license plate? I only can think of one: Just start removing pieces from the bumper until I can access the back of the license plate frame, to push the frame out, or plate itself.
Any other recommendations?

The way I would approach it, is to start by lifting off the two big black "exhausts" (with the cooling fins) at the back of the vehicle. These were installed in steps 292 and 302 resp. :

That should give you access to the back of the license plate holder. Via the gaps on either side of the blue sloped bricks, you should be able to push out the license plate holder from the back (a finger might not fit, so a thinner tool might be needed). An earlier construction state shows the gap more clearly from a different angle :

You can just about see one of the two balls which the license plate holder sockets slot onto.
To make access easier, you can additionally lift off the plate installed in step 203 :

Once the license plate holder is out, you can simply push the license plate out from the back (again with a thin tool - like eg. a brick separator).
This video by 2bricks demonstrates this procedure, but with a twist. They've adapted the license plate holder slightly to make removal much more convenient. If you intend to swap license plates regularly, that might be an option for you.

This is very helpful. I like the video recommendation. I might see if I can find a spare one of those pieces lying around. You also said "so a thinner tool might be needed". Care to elaborate on a good tool?

@McKay a plastic spudger (multi-packs for a couple of $/€/£ on ebay) is good when a brick separator won't fit, and generally handy for tinkering with gadgets.

Or an axle in a pinch.

@SanderDeDycker an axle won't fit in the hole.

While I don't have any spudgers, the space was narrow, but I was able to have success with a sim ejector tool


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Can you identify these half cylinder tiles
Can someone identify these white half cylinder tiles? I've searched bricklink for white round tile and semicylinder but couldn't find them.  They are similar to the half circle tile but they are more extended, like a cylinder.

That looks like Brick Curved 1 x 1 x 2/3 Double Curved Top, No Studs (49307) to me.


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How can I stop bricks 'skating' over plates?
I've just read all around the question about 'clutch power' from nine years ago and the changing molds, both here and on Rebrickable, but these don't answer my problem.
Has anyone else had the problem of bricks and plates not wanting to stick to plates being used as base plates? As in MILS plates, for example? Often they just slide over the plates not wanting the engage, especially when I'm trying to stick a structure with EG a footprint of 6 x 4 studs onto a MILS plate. I'm using a mixture of new and I don't know how old.
Anything I can do about it? Wondering if I should wash everything in lemon juice.

Never heard of (or experienced) that problem, and I can't see why lemon juice would be any better than water.

What if you start from a corner, instead of trying to push it down all at once ?

Do you happen to have a picture to show the issue you are describing here?

@SanderDeDycker I do try that. When plates/objects  and that works when objects have a footprint of up to 4 x 6 studs. Bigger that that and my problems start.

I suspect you are encountering an effect similar to what happens when stacking large plates together. 6x4 doesn’t seem particularly large but any area larger than 2x2 can be difficult to initially connect to a large contiguous area. The comment from Sander is a good one: try attaching one corner of your structure first. Then apply pressure radiating from that corner to connect the rest. You may need to use some of the techniques mentioned in the linked answer to get it fully connected.
I would VERY STRONGLY recommend AGAINST using any fruit juices to wash any parts in any circumstances! Any fruit juice, even a highly acidic one like lemon juice, contains sugars that will be hard to remove completely and can lead to mold or insect infestations depending on how the parts are stored or displayed.

Thanks for these suggestions, I shall get myself a little rubber hammer.
I wondered at one stage whether the soaps/detergents used to wash secondhand bricks were the problem. Then wondered how to get it off. That's where the lemon juice idea came from. Don't worry, I don't think I'll need to go that far.


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What was the purpose of the triangular corner marking and the "points" in Lego instructions starting around 1992?
Around 1992 (possibly, coinciding with the switch from Legoland to Lego System labeling on boxes?), Lego instructions started featuring a triangular marking in the corner of a page. On one side, that marking would show some graphical cue to the theme or subtheme, e.g.:

These exemplary markings are from the instructions of:

6401: Paradisa Seaside Cabana from 1992
6534: City Beach Bandit from 1992
6350: City Pizza To Go from 1994
6442: Divers Sting Ray Explorer from 1997

In the beginning, the other side of those markings contained what appears to be a points count (the larger the set, the more points it would contain):

Note how this side also contains the set number and the year - based on the instructions I'm looking at right now, I cannot tell whether it is the original release year of the set, or the year this particular instruction sheet was printed.
Oddly enough, TLC discontinued this "points" labeling not long after it had been introduced, but otherwise, the corner marking remained:

What, if any, was the purpose of those "points"? Once the points were gone, was there still any purpose to the triangular corner marking, or was it merely "traditional"/decorative by then?

There doesn't appear to be much information left on this. I've only really found this eurobricks thread, that attempts to answer the same question.
In summary, it appears to have been a marketing experiment that was abandoned before it really took off (it only lasted for about 2 years between 1992 and 1994). The idea was (as far as I can gather) that these points could be redeemed for rewards and/or discounts (similar to the current VIP points system).
These points were printed in the instructions for several themes worldwide, with more points allocated to bigger sets. The biggest sets yielded hundreds of points, eg. 600 points for 6086 Black Knight's Castle :

However, I've only found mention of actually being able to use them in the US, and in a very limited fashion at that. This post by star1138 in the same eurobricks thread includes an example of how the points could be redeemed (found in a US Town Mini Catalog from 1993) :

Transcription :

HURRY! Offer Expires March 1, 1994
Collect Maniac Model Points for FREE Gifts!
You can get a FREE half-year subscription to the LEGO Builders Club Magazine for only 50 Points
Or get both a FREE Police 4x4 Model and the FREE half-year subscription for 150 Points!
Here's How To Do It...
Purchase any of the awesome sets shown to the left. Collect the required amount of Maniac Model Points from the building instructions of these sets. (They'll look like the ones pictured here!)
To get your FREE gift, clip the Maniac Model Points you've collected and mail them with the order form below.
It's really easy ... and fun!

I haven't found any other examples (trawling through all kinds of instructions and catalogs from different regions in that time period), so all credit goes to star1138 for finding the above one !

Ooh, good find. I am based in Germany, and back in the day (for lack of internet etc.), if something wasn't explained right in the instructions, or in the main catalogue, it remained an unsolvable mystery to me. Had the promo been available in my place, I would probably have redeemed 20 of the free police cars; had all of the depicted sets with points plus many many others (including big ones, like the mentioned Black Knights Castle) from the era with instruction points ;) Will probably accept after waiting for a bit, just in case even more info turns up.


text:
How does the motorized lighthouse rotate continuously without tangling the wire powering the light?
I'm curious about the Motorized Lighthouse (21335):

As the title suggests, this set is motorized to allow the light on top to rotate continuously:

From the looking at the inventory, it is clear that it uses the Powered Up lights:

How does the wire not get tangled/twisted while the top of the lighthouse rotates?

This required a clever design and one novel element.
The power for the light comes from the very bottom of the model where a battery box is stowed inside the mountain:

The wire leaves the mountain via the top and heads upward.

It then snakes its way around and up into the tower. Interestingly, the Powered Up lights include dual LEDs, as they are often used for headlights. Only one is needed for main light, so the other is used to add a glow to the woodstove in the cabin.

Up at the top, the light is attached facing upward underneath a construction that will be powered by the motor in the bottom of the lighthouse via a long vertical axle.

We need the light traveling horizontally, so we add a stickered mirror at roughly 45 degrees to vertical:

This would sort of work, but the light from the Powered Up LEDs disperses significantly and is not able to travel very far. In real lighthouses, a Fresnel lens if often used to appropriately direct the beam from a diffuse light source. The basic operation can be seen here:

TLG saw fit to create a Fresnel lens element to enhance the performance of this set. Here are some of the prototypes that folks iterated through:

The final version is a unique element with the footprint of a 2x4 plate. It attaches to our mirror assembly providing light that is now traveling in the correct direction and is more focused than it would have otherwise been.

This assembly is then attached to the top of the lighthouse and driven by gear so that it is able to rotate:

In this way, the mirror and lens assembly is able to rotate without the wired lights rotating and creating twists and tangles.

Possibly of note, they theoretically could have created a new slip ring part to allow the LED itself to be rotated, but such a part would have been far more expensive to produce, as well as being far less reliable than the approach used, and even then they would probably still need the Fresnel lens piece to make it project the light well.

+1 Only tangentially related but a nice image: What is a 3rd-order Fresnel lens?


text:
What's inside the non-Bluetooth Powered Up hub?
What's inside the non-Bluetooth Powered Up Hub (85825)?

In particular, what sort of electronic components are present?

We can begin to explore this part by carefully removing the top cover to reveal the PCB:

On the left, we can see a current-limiting thermistor (MF-MSMF075). On the right, we have a pair of Powered Up connectors. In between the connectors, there is a surface mount LED labelled D1 that is used as a power indicator.
Let's remove the PCB:

Under the PCB, there are a couple of metal springs. These provide the physical resistance and locking capabilities for the switch but perform no electrical function.

That's the main housing without the springs present.
Let's look at the bottom of the PCB:

This clearly shows how the electrical side of the switches are implemented. The two components on the right are usually in contact with the board and are allowed to slide to make or break contact with the contacts shown on the board. A quick examination of the traces shows that the contacts are used as DPDT switches that are wired as crossovers to allow polarity reversal.
Overall, this is a very basic basic battery box much like those for older systems such as Power Functions, with the exception that this box allows two motors to be controlled independently.

"On the left, we can see what I believe is a current-limiting thermistor."
Looks like a Bourns MF-MSMF Series - PTC Resettable Fuse. The same is used in other Powered Up hubs.

Is D1 a power indication light?

@DavidLechner D1 is the power LED. Thanks for the note about the fuse. I've added a link to the datasheet in the answer.


text:
Replace brick inplace in Studio 2.0
I'm using Studio 2.0 to design my MOC.
Is there a way to replace a brick in my design by another other than removing it an setting a new brick on the old place? Best would be when the replaced brick keeps the properties (color, rotation) of the old one.

I tried a few things in Studio 2.2.1 and I couldn't come up with any way to do this.

So "no" seems to be the answer. Thanks for trying @chicks.

It is unlikely, since it would rely on the replacement piece having the same relative connection information (at least for the attached ones)

The latest versions of Bricklink have a "Replace" feature when clicking on a part. You can find all the parts by part number in your build by searching the part number in the Step List. I used this to replace rare colors of 1x2 jumper plates 3794a with the more modern and cheaper 15573.
Related: How to Replace Expensive Parts in your MOCs video

In Bricklink Studio go to File > Export As > Export as LDraw...
Open the file in any text editor such as Notepad
Find the Bricklink part ID you want to replace it. It will be a number followed by a .dat extension.
If you have multiple identical bricks with different colours, check the colour id in the second column. Bricklink has a list of colour ids for reference.
Replace the part ID that precedes the file extension with a valid Bricklink part ID.
Save the file (as a .ldr file)
In Bricklink Studio open the file with File > Import > Import Model...

In this example I replaced the Green (ID 2) #3003 2x2 brick with a #3941 2x2 round brick.

The rest of the data includes rotation, transformation and meta data which you should leave unless you know for sure how it works. There are no guarantees connections will be valid, as each part has their own unique geometry and fixed pivot point.
In this case I could safely replace these two parts as their geometry is very similar.
0 Untitled Model
0 Name:  Block Tower
0 Author:  Ambo100
0 CustomBrick
1 4 20.000000 -24.000000 -60.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 3003.dat
1 14 20.000000 -48.000000 -60.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 3003.dat
1 2 20.000000 -72.000000 -60.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 3941.dat
1 1 20.000000 -96.000000 -60.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 3003.dat

Notes
This may interfere with generated instructions, it is recommended to replace all parts before creating instructions.
Many text editors have a 'Find and replace' feature you can use to replace all parts as each line only refers to one part. I would recommend using regex expressions if you are familiar with them, I have created an example that can be played with here.
Add the following replacement expression in the 'Replace' window on the bottom of the screen. NEWPARTID must be changed to the new part you want to replace with. (3941 for example). Make sure you don't remove the 1 at the start.
$1NEWPARTID.dat

For finding only certain colours you can use this search expression.
((?:\d+\s+)(?:COLOURID)(?:\s.*))(?:(PARTID).dat)

Replace COLOURID and PART ID (14 and 3003 for example).

Well, this is not a very comfortable solution, but at least it is a solution. Thank you.

I’m afraid it might be the only solution. As Matthew Jensen mentioned that from a technical point of view it would be difficult to replace parts and have the software guarantee valid connections and avoid any overlapping parts. For this reason I don’t think the feature was included but it might be worth contacting the developers to ask about it.


text:
What's this round blue gear piece from set 76911?

This piece was in with all of set 76911's spare pieces in a separate bag. 76911 is the only Speed Champions set I have so I don't know if the piece comes in any others. I looked at the inventory for 76911 on Brickset & BrickLink and the piece isn't listed there (I also looked through New Elementary's blog posts on new pieces and I couldn't find them mentioning it either).
It seems like a utility part like the brick seperator or wrench/crowbar, but its two holes at each end are too small to do anything: the large one is too small to connect to a stud and the small one is too small to fit a rod into. So this piece is completely bizarre to me...

Does the piece have a LEGO marking? If not (my suspicion), then it is likely that it is not an official part, but a piece of machinery or equipment that somehow fell into the bags at the packaging facility. You should probably contact LEGO with it, they would surely be interested to look into what it is, where did it come from and which of their machines is missing a piece.

Typically, spare parts don't come in a separate bag. Can you clarify whether this bag came with an unopened official lego set ? Or might this part have found its way in the bag after it was opened ?

@zovits Oh that's really interesting, I was starting to suspect something like that might have happened because this piece really doesn't seem to connect with Lego... I'll look into contacing Lego tomorrow then!

@SanderDeDycker I was surprised all the spare parts were together, I've never seen that before but I assumed that maybe it's just a new thing with Speed Racers sets (or sets in general). Yes, this piece 100% came with the set. My dad built the car, but he didn't need anything in this small bag of spare parts so he left it unopened (I don't know which bag, 1 or 2, this bag was with). I then opened it and this blue piece was in there with all the spare parts and the wrench piece.

Interesting. If you get an explanation from Lego, please let us know (you can self-answer your question with it). I'm intrigued.

This is a blue Non-Vented Double Dead-Ender Cap (or a variation thereof), also called a Luer taper/lock, sold by various OEM suppliers. According to the supplier KempCo Specialties, these are multi-purpose fittings that are used in various industries including industries that involve pneumatics.
I suspect either the injecting molding machines or the dye mixers use these caps. You should report this to LEGO, alongside whatever batch markings are on the box, so they can track down when and where it happened. As for the piece, I guess you now own a part of the LEGO production process :)
I figured this out by employing Google Lens and having Google compare the photo with images online.

So, it seems there's a Lego factory somewhere which has a missing nozzle?

Nice find ! Some speculation : this supplier mentions it can also be used for several non-medical applications - one of which is pneumatics. A Lego factory probably has many uses for pneumatics during manufacture and/or packaging of lego parts. Looking forward to Lego's response.

@SanderDeDycker thanks! I've expanded my answer some more and included additional links. After watching several videos on the brick production process I did notice several other luer locks in use, especially on the dye mixers, so chances are it originated there.

Fascinating answer! Marking as accepted since you actually found out what it is, which I wasn't expecting! As you can see in my answer I just posted, it doesn't actually have a Lego factory origin... But the pneumatic/medical stuff is interesting: my dad was in the hospital for a leg infection when he made the set, and he had some kind of tube device stuck into his wound to keep the blood circulating, so maybe the piece came off of that..? Or maybe his bed. So it's not a Lego factory that's missing this piece, it's a hospital!

Ok everyone, I have a disappointing update but it does answer my question. I didn't actually get round to contacting Lego about this because I mentioned my discoververy to my mum first. She immediately said "Oh your father put that in there!" She told me a story about how he found the piece on the floor, thought he dropped it, asked my mum if it was Lego, then when she said no, he put it in the bag (I don't know why he didn't just put it in the bin, but okay). I was SURE the bag of spare parts was sealed, so this confused me even more. So I fished the bag out of the bin: you can see the big rip I made in it, but if you look closely, there's a teeny tiny rip at the top too... So I guess my dad just didn't want to spill the spare parts, so he made the tiniest opening he could to put the blue piece in there. The rip was very small and in the seam part of the bag, so I didn't see it and thought it was a sealed bag when I saw the piece in there! (So, SanderDeDycker's comment about the piece possibly getting into the bag after it was opened was 100% correct after all).
I'm marking MMM's answer as the accepted one because they found out what the piece actually is, which is very interesting :)
Sorry for the wild non-Lego related goose chase everyone, the story is kinda funny though (so I'll be keeping the piece)

This is a funny way for this story to end.  Dads can be wily.

Looks like an unofficial LEGO brick, because there is no LEGO print on it and it is not listed in the instruction.

Does the fact that it came in a sealed bag of LEGO pieces grant it the status of an official LEGO piece though? Like with the rubber band holders and accessory sprues? ponder

Well, if someone drops their button, or false tooth, or wedding ring in the bag accidentally in the factory, that doesn't make them official Lego pieces. This would seem to be rather analogous.


text:
What were vintage LEGO promos like?
Does anyone know of any undocumented vintage LEGO sets such as Promos or mail in order items? I know of some but it'd be interesting to find out if there were others.

Could you give an example of the sets you have in mind?

The one I’m wondering about is 367 Airport from the 1970s

I guess the real question is how would one have gotten a set like this as I don't think it was a regular retail set

I cannot think of comprehensive resource that would list this kind of details. The only thing on my mind is The Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide, which can have some of the information you are looking for.
Gary Istok aka "LEGO Historian" has been known for gathering information on lots of old and obscure LEGO stuff. He has occasionally shared some of this in form of posts on Eurobricks.

Thank You very much. I will look into this


text:
What's inside a linear actuator?
The two linear actuators that I know, 61927c01 Linear Actuator and 92693c01 Linear Actuator Mini, have a built-in clutch (that makes a clicking sound when feeding the actuator torque when it's fully retracted or fully extended).

What's inside the actuators? Is there a worm gear inside? How does the internal clutch work?

There is definitely a worm gear and a clutch inside, as reported by the (now defunct, but luckily archived*) TechnicBricks blog:

The orange part is the input and engages with its serrated surface the pins of the white cylinder. The flexibility of these pins allows the rotation of the input axle while the actuator shaft is blocked - providing the clutch functionality.
The inside of the white cylinder has grooves in it which then engage and drive the worm gear structure of the actuator shaft - provided the end of the shaft is prevented from rotating. Otherwise the cylinder and shaft just rotate together.
The Eurobricks forum has a thread detailing the differences between the various iterations of the linear actuator, with the following images of the internal components as they got updated based on customer feedback:

* Have you considered donating to the Internet Archive?


text:
Looking for instructions for this LEGO dragon
I found this guy (or gal) in a lot purchase and was hoping to complete it since it seems there are missing pieces but I can't identify it to find any build instructions that might be available.
Can you identify it for me??

Based on the distinctive "wings", looks like set 70674 - Fire Fang.


text:
Is there a resource (e.g. a website) to identify a lego set based on a selection of parts?
Is there a resource (e.g. a website) to identify a Lego set based on a selection of parts?
For example, I have inherited a big box of Legos including several castle-type pieces. Is there a way to figure out what sets those may gave come from?

BrickLink itself has such a feature - had I known, I would not have written my own a year ago.
Brickit is a new entry in this arena; I haven't used it myself.

Thanks. This is exactly what I'm looking for!


text:
Can you identify these dresses
Can you identify these monochrome slope/dresses? I looked in the curved slope section of bricklink but couldn't find them.

That's the part with item number 36036, called Lower Body, Skirt on bricklink.


text:
Can anyone identify the set these plastic flags belong to? They are mixed in with several old castle sets

Flexible plastic material
Two blue plastic flags (?) with “U” and Two red ones with Bulls.

Welcome to Bricks.SE! I appreciate you including high quality images in your post to make the identification easier. Just as a heads up, I did remove your "thank you" comment, as it was posted on your question rather than the answer as you likely intended.

These are:

Plastic Flag 3 x 6 Ninja Pattern Blue

and

Plastic Flag 3 x 6 Ninja Pattern Red

they come from the old Ninja sub-theme
one of each appears in
4805: Ninja Knights


text:
Lego colors that the powered up color sensors can detect
Lego currently offers two color sensors to use with Powered Up or robotic kits (Spike Prime, Spike Essential, Mindstorms robotic inventor):
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/color-distance-sensor-88007

https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-technic-color-sensor/45605

I'd like to find a reference online which lists the colors these sensors are calibrated to detect and if such a thing does not exist, perhaps we could create an unofficial reference here. I'm also interested to see a mapping of the colors to colors used in production of existing Lego elements, perhaps also the bricklink name / id.

Official Sources
The LEGO Shop page for the Color & Distance Sensor (88007) says:

Detect 6 colors and objects within 5 to 10 cm range with this robot toy accessory for kids.

Since this one is aimed at kids in the retail market, there isn't much in the way of official technical information on this sensor.
A LEGO Education blog post has this to say about the SPIKE color sensor:
-1 = No object
0 = Black (LEGO:26; R:0, G:0, B:0)
1 = Magenta (LEGO:124; R:144, G:31, B:118)
3 = Blue (LEGO:23; R:30, G:90, B:168)
4 = Turquoise (LEGO:322; R:104, G:195, B226)
5 = Green (LEGO:28; R:0, G:133, B:43)
7 = Yellow (LEGO:24; R:250, G:200, B:10)
9 = Red (LEGO:21; R:180, G:0, B:0)
10 = White (LEGO:01; R:244, G:244, B:244)

3rd-pary resources
Pybricks
At Pybricks, we use the raw HSV values (or convert raw RGB to HSV if HSV is not available) to do better color detection instead of relying on the detection built into the sensor firmware.
This is discussed in detail at https://github.com/pybricks/support/issues/116.
With some of the proposed changes, it is even possible to detect black vs. dark gray vs. light gray with both of these sensors.
Reverse engineering
This page on reverse engineering the BOOST Color Distance Sensor says:

Color values are:

BLACK 0x00
BLUE 0x03
GREEN 0x05 (Cyan or Turquoise in RGB LED)
YELLOW 0x07
RED 0x09
WHITE 0x0A

From the discussion I gather that in pybricks there's a mapping of the HSV or RGB values detected on actual bricks to the list of colors I find in parameters.h.
What I'm not clear on, does CYAN map to the medium azure found in boost and spike prime, or the dark turqoise (teal) found in robotic inventor ?
MAGENTA maps to magenta as found in the spike prime? Does VIOLET map to anything (I hope to purple as found in older technic sets) ?

In the Pybricks code, currently the colors are the same as what we use for emitting light and are not matched to any specific LEGO brick color. In the linked discussion and the related pull request, there is some discussion about whether it would be useful/more accurate to have brick colors separate from light colors, but no conclusions have been made yet. Since you can define your own colors and make a custom list of colors for the color sensor to detect, you can detect just about any color as long as you don't have two that are too similar.

The specs for the Lego education sensor can be found at
https://assets.education.lego.com/v3/assets/blt293eea581807678a/blt62a78c227edef070/5f8801b9a302dc0d859a732b/techspecs_techniccolorsensor.pdf
I will also paste the info here:

Hardware name: Technic™ Color Sensor
Description: The sensor can detect color, reflectivity, or ambient light. The sensor can also be used as a light output.
Key features

Color sensing (RGB, HSV, and LEGO® colors)
Reflectivity sensing (for line following)
Ambient light sensing
Emission of white light
The sensor has a Technic build geometry that allows for versatile building and easy integration into models

Connector type: LEGO Power Functions 2.0 (LPF2) for connection to LEGO Smarthubs (i.e. LEGO Powered Up)
Wire length: 250 mm
Sensor sample rate: 100 Hz
Sensor input
Color sensing:

Optimal reading distance: 16 mm (depending on object size, color, and surface)
Output range:

No object
White (LEGO:01; R:244, G:244, B:244)
Blue (LEGO:23; R:30, G:90, B:168)
Black (LEGO:26; R:0, G:0, B:0)
Green (LEGO:28; R:0, G:133, B:43)
Yellow (LEGO:24; R:250, G:200, B:10)
Red (LEGO:21; R:180, G:0, B:0)
Medium azur (LEGO:322; R:104, G:195, B226)
Bright reddish violet (LEGO:124; R:144, G:31, B:118)

Reflectivity sensing:

Optimal reading distance: 16 mm (depending on object size, color, and surface)
Output range:

Non-reflective/nothing = 0%
Very reflective= 100%

Ambient light sensing:

Output range:

Dark = 0%
Bright = 100%

Sensor output
LED output:

Color: white - temperature 4000K
Controlled individually (3 LEDs in total)
Cannot be used while sensor is in color/light sensing mode
Output power: controllable from 0-100% increments of 1%


text:
Instructions for lego bag with 135149 (yellow and red bricks)
Please let me know if you know what set this goes with.  This is everything I have.

These bags are from 31112 Wild Lion:

This set includes 4 bags, so you appear to have everything. The instructions are available on Rebrickable.

Wow, thank you so much!!

@emith Make sure you click to accept the answer (which beat me by a minute!) https://stackoverflow.com/help/someone-answers


text:
identification: strange parts in a sprue
Found this in my random parts bag.

No Lego logo's anywhere, also the shade of blue is slightly off the standard blue in the Lego colour palette. The bottoms do seem to fit quite snug on Lego studs...
I do not recall how I obtained this.
Can anyone identify this?

This is part # 6923 : Scala Accessories - Complete Sprue - Perfume Bottles (Belville)
in Blue it appears in :
Set # 3849: Orient Bazaar

Seeing the other contents of that set, I recall how I obtained the parts. I ordered a number of the coins (gold coloured 2x2 round tiles) in this set through bricklink, the seller gifted me the part as an extra


text:
How can I easily take apart stacks of 4x4 plates?
Earlier this week I bought roughly 200 4x4 plates from the Pick A Brick wall at my favorite LEGO store. Greed got the better of me, and to fill up my PAB cups as much as possible, I stacked the plates tightly onto each other:

Now that I'm back home, how do I take these apart easily without breaking my nails? I don't get enough leverage using a LEGO brick separator, and using the flat end to pry apart plates is damaging the separator a lot.

Have you tried, and hear me out here, two brick separators side-by-side?

@RSchulz yeah, even tried more than two - It's hard to get good leverage and I end up having to use the flat end every time.

In such a situation I'd try using a larger plate. Stick it on top of the stack and try to pry one or more 4x4s off with its leverage.

Do you have a zillion brick separators? Maybe just sacrifice one for this task, and then next time, remember that this particular form of greed probably doesn't pay off.

Do not use brick separators for plates - they can easily damage the plates by stressing the plastic. I had several plates break this way. Nowadays I try to avoid putting large plates directly on each other and use smaller plates in-between them.

Pop them apart with a pocket knife (don't cut yourself!) should work just fine. A note for next time, put them together with one row of each piece exposed to make it easier for you.

Were I to try this method, I would use a butter knife; a sharp knife would easily damage the plates.

Won't that damage the plates?

While this have a high chance of damaging parts, the thinner the blade of the knife the easier it is to get parts separated.

Keeping stacks of plates with each layer offset by one stud is a great way to store LEGO plates.

Try using a pair (or possibly three) longer 4-wide plates (4x8, 4x10), attaching them on a offset- gripping 12 of the 16 studs of your 4x4's. The longer plates should give your hand and arm something decent to hold on to, and you may be able to get some twisting and prying action because of the good grip provided by new elements, and the fact that you won't need to be pressing down on the whole stack.

4x4 plates might be the worst-case scenario - larger plates flex a lot and so can be twisted apart; smaller plates can't bind as much because the have fewer studs. I had this problem, and it required multiple brick separators - typically two on top, two on the bottom, and one or two along the edges to try to pry the plates apart. Next time, you should consider off-setting your plates by one stud so that they are not fully attached.

Dental floss works quite well.


text:
What is this brick with a round back and a stud on the side used for?
I haven't seen this part before. What is it? What is it used for?

This part is 3386 Plate 1 x 1 x 2/3 Half Round with Side Stud.

I recently encountered this part for the first time and wanted to share more about it as it is new to me and looks very useful. It was launched in 2023 and appeared originally in 3 speed champions sets:

In terms of the height and side stud placement, it is similar to 87609 and 99206

It's even a bit like the classic Erling brick when the brick is used on it's side:

This is one of the smallest brick-like parts available that provides two studs at 90 degree angles from one another. It fills a role somewhat similar to the smallest brackets, 36840 and 36841:

This part shares its footprint with 24246 Tile Round 1 x 1 Half Circle:

It does have some unique advantages. It's very easy to sneak this part in where it would otherwise be difficult to create a studs out connection. Here are some examples from the first wave of sets:

Another advantage of these parts is that they can be used to recreate the 5 plate tall bricks with studs on side in a way that should be usable in most contexts where these elements are needed:

The geometry of these parts also makes them useful for microscale building. Here's a quick example of a train car that uses these elements to attach the wheels:

The rounded back of the part also allows it to be used at varying angles as demonstrated in this quick X-wing design:

This looks like a part that could open up a number of new building opportunities.
Here's a final clever example of this part being used upside down to create a tiny toilet on the Concorde:


text:
Which set is this part 6082 from?
Which set this is from, part number is 6082 or 60052.

This is Rock Panel 4 x 10 x 6 Rectangular (BURP) with Marbled Dark Green Pattern and it has been included in three sets.

thanks for answering

The set is 7036-1 one of the three sets containing the part.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7036


text:
Set identification: Ninjago style dragon
Can someone identify the set containing this (part of probably) creature?
Found it in a box at a thrift sale, along with 2 ninjago motos and snake-headed minifigs, all of this may or may not be in the same set.

Does this answer your question? How can I identify LEGO sets from a box or bag of parts?

I'm not fluent enough in english, so I know neither english part names nor english color names making those tools extremely difficult / impossible to use for me.

This looks like (part of) 70674-1 Fire Fang which is indeed a Ninjago set.

I identified this the hard way, using Dark Tan Barb/Claw/Horn/Tooth Small which looked fairly unique but is actually in many sets.


text:
Help identifying a brick
Found this part a Lego event and would like to get some but can’t seem to locate.  I believe it’s from a technic set.

this is a CATAPULT ARM 1X4 (88289) in black

Alternative name is Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Pin Hole and Bucket (Catapult) (Bricklink)


text:
Please help identify this mech robot set
This is some kind of mech robot. I guess it is coming from some Japanese story as on its left leg it has some Japanese writing.
I would love to rebuild/complete it but can't figure out what it is.

Thank you!

That's part of Thunder Raider (70723), a Ninjago set from 2014 :