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Best way to store instruction manuals?
Currently I store LEGO set manuals and instructions in hanging file folders in a file box, grouped by set type. This makes it hard to dig through and find the one I need, and manuals tend to get tangled up and damaged.
Is there any storage method that protects the instructions better and makes them easier to find the one I need?

For physical manuals, I personally like to use clear presentation sheet protectors similar to the ones that @BradC mentioned. Regarding organization, I place the ones that I refer to frequently in some binders, sorted by theme, while sets that I don't use as much go into a set of hanging file folders.
If you don't mind electronic storage, you could download all of your manuals, either from Lego's site (for sets since 2002), or from other fan sites as noted in this Squidoo page:

Still no joy? Let's try another site. Go to Worldbricks, choose
  Instructions Number and pick a number range from the dropdown list at
  the top of the screen, or Instructions Theme and pick a starting
  letter from the dropdown list.
Without knowing the number or name, you can still find the set.
  Several sites provide databases of lego sets which you can search by
  theme, or using a single word you remember from the set name, or even
  just something related. Try LUGNET or Peeron, which will link you to
  instructions once you find the set.

Electronic viewing keeps my manuals in pretty good condition - I minimize touching and only pull them out when I build now, while if I just want to browse, I can fire up my computer.

What about clear sheet protectors like these inside a 3-ring binder? I imagine most are designed to hold a single page, and not an entire booklet, but these heavy-duty acid-free ones could be up to the task:

You could have separate binders for different product lines, and sort by set number or name, and the cover of each would be visible as you browse through. Anyone ever try something like this?
(I'm imagining sliding the entire booklet into a single protector, not slicing it up into individual pages. Would these comic book inserts work better, with a fold over top, or is 7-1/4 x 10-3/8" too small for the larger instructions?)

My wife found some magazine holders to keep her magazines organized in a 3 ring binder.  Those might be helpful for some of the larger manuals.

Storing them in order by set number or alphabetically by set name and including an index sheet could help you find the sets easier.

I've tried this for my collection of 37 or so instruction booklets and it doesn't work for me. About 30 instruction booklets make up the size and weight of a phone book. This leads to the pouches sagging.

If I could motivate myself, I'd be tempted to use scanned PDFs and would put the paper originals in a box, in plastic bags, like precious comic books. I'd use the model numbers to refer to them, plus collection folder names (both for physical and digital documents)
My kids are currently in the process of shredding my 20-30 years old instructions manuals (which admittedly, don`t really need any help for falling apart).
Side note, I'm generally against late ideas I'm hearing about providing instruction via computer support only.


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Are both of these slope designs genuine LEGO?

Are both of these slope designs genuine?
I am reasonably certain that this is just a mold change at some point, but it doesn't hurt to ask.  I also have two textured types in dark blue, and one smooth type in sand blue.

It looks like it could be either #3049 or #3049c. Part #3049 currently exists in Sand Blue in at least three sets. As for the change in smooth and rough texture you may wish to read this answer by Joubarc.

That's what I thought, when the Bricklink name referred to the the, 'inside stud holder,' I hadn't connected it to the tiny notches inside the brick, I was looking for a tube of some kind.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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

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

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

How secure is this kind of connection? I'd almost think that it'd work better the other way around, with a DUPLO base and a generous amount of extra LEGO 2x4s that can be used to build a foundation for any LEGO structures. Though a look at google seems to indicate that most large DUPLO baseplates don't have the hollow pegs that allow for compatibility.

You're right - the DUPLO baseplates don't really allow System bricks to connect, while the System -> DUPLO connection is quite good.

Regular LEGO baseplates can accommodate both LEGO and DUPLO. DUPLO obviously won't stick to regular baseplates as securely as on a DUPLO plate because the studs are much smaller, but they are compatible.
There are some pre-made LEGO tables that already have baseplates (or third-party LEGO compatible baseplates) incorporated in the top surface, or you can make your own table and cover the top with baseplates.
LEGO sells baseplates separately on their website, and they are also available at stores like Toys'R'Us. I have seen the pre-made tables at Toy'R'Us as well, and they are also available on eBay.

I would also add here that there are some excellent third-party options as well for baseplates. For example StrictlyBriks.com makes both LEGO compatible baseplates, large plates and DUPLO plates in a number of different colors, styles and shapes. These are the ones I use because they are cheaper than LEGO baseplates and come in significantly more colors. The quality is the same as LEGO. I also use them as wall-coverings for displaying minifigs and small builds.

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

While I've actually seen these Nilo products, this does NOT answer the Original Poster's question.

While not meeting the request for a "baseplate" I think the Nilo Brick Mat could indeed be an answer if you're after a "one or the other" solution. That said, System Baseplates work nicely for both sizes, and will out-last your DUPLO interest ;)

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


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How to tell the different ages of pieces?
I know that LEGO bricks have changed over the years, with regards to moulding pip locations, element ID numbers printed inside, etc, but I was wondering if anyone knows when these changes happened?

What year was the pip moved from on the side of the brick to on the stud?

What year did they start printing the element ID on the elements?

What year were the heads changed from solid stud to recessed stud?

The reason I ask is because I have started to collect earlier sets from the 1980s and 1990s and these are used sets. I want to know if they are the original parts or if they have been substituted for newer, cleaner parts.

You may get a decent answer for some characteristics, but bare in mind is that old moulds are often in use at the same time as newer ones, and that the overlap can last many years.

Newer isn't always better IMO.  I've found with some newer sets quality has gone down - i.e. plates bend an alarming amount, clear pieces fade in 2 years to a brownish dull and some bricks don't have that satisfying snap any longer.  I feel your question will become more and more relevant @chicks as the general consumer realizes this too and is favoring older bricks!

I just edited the question, but the OP, user2354, hasn't been around for 9 years.

According to Leggodt.nl, the molding pip was moved from the side to the top of a stud beginning about 1974, but as Kramii points out there is no hard cutoff date, as LEGO used molds until they were worn out and included existing stock in sets until it was depleted. So you may find mixed types of bricks in sets between 1974 and 1979. By about 1980, the side-pip bricks were gone.
The element numbers were printed on the bricks subsequent to the "patent pending" period, which was when many bricks had either "pat. pend." molded underneath, or places where those words had been obscured. Obscured "pat. pend." bricks appeared in sets as late as 1978, which is also when the LEGO logo on the top studs was changed (according to Gary Istok's LEGO guide). I believe this is when the element numbers started to be molded on the underside of the pieces, but again there would be a transition period. By 1980 in the US, all modern pieces were in use.
The hollow-stud minifig head appeared in 1992 and was a change based on product safety requirements (to prevent choking.) According to an article at Gizmodo, LEGO decided to re-introduce the solid-stud heads after reviewing changes in safety laws. According to Peeron.com 1992 was the last year the solid-stud heads were included in sets and they began appearing again in 2006.

Think side pips only on large plate, & square. Ends were the normal placement.

I don't think the molding pip was completely gone by 1980. I recently rediscovered my childhood Lego collection, which was mainly Classic Space from about 1980 (oldest set was 6970 Beta-1 Command Base) to about 1985 (the newest sets were 1984's 6951 Robot Command Center and a 6073 Black Falcon Knight's Castle and 1985's 6882 Walking Astro Grappler). The vast majority of bricks had a side molding pip, though most of the plates did not.
Just to give you an idea, my Knight's Castle contained a ration of roughly 4 to 1 old, side-molded 1x1 and 1x2 light grey bricks to ones with the molding pip on top.
I know this is all anecdotal to anyone other than myself, but I can assure you that the stock of old bricks was not depleted by 1980 - I would guess it was around 1984 that they really started to disappear.

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


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Code for PID for EV3-g
I want to use PID for my Ev3. I used PID for NXT-G before, but I have never used EV3-G before and don't know how to get PID. Could someone please post a screen shot of the code or upload the file?

Not clear whether "I used PID for NXT-G" means you wrote a PID in NXT-G for use on an NXT, or you bought a 3rd party PID control for use with an NXT.  Let's assume you want to write the program.  A starting point is: http://e-fisica.fc.up.pt/edicoes/8a-edicao/projectos/robo-sensorizado-com-lego-mindstorms/documentacao/PID%20Controller%20For%20Lego%20Mindstorms%20Robots.pdf (from a google search for "PID NXT").

This is EV3-G code for a PID based on PID Controller for Lego Mindstorms Robots by J Sluka.  It uses the steering parameter of the Move block instead of power levels of the Motor block.  The interesting parts are setting the Kp, Ki, and Kd values.

i understand that code. But how to make robot go straight for 5 rotations for example. without waiting between rotations ? thanks

Good point, this example runs forever. One way to implement stopping after 5 rotations, would be to replace the infinite loop with a loop that runs until the left motor + right motor   > 10 rotations. Obviously, that would be less than ideal.

The best documentation I have found for PID is "A PID Controller For Lego Mindstorms Robots" by J. Sluka
J. Sluka
Send me an email at:
Lego at InPharmix dot com
It is written for the NXT and needs to be updated for the EV3.  But it has really helped me out.  I am working on a maze solver and used PID to follow the wall.  I prefer to program the EV3 in python and have included the code here.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# so this script/program can be run from Brickman

from ev3dev.ev3 import *
from time import sleep

import ev3dev.ev3 as ev3

print('Auto Driver TubeBotEZ.py')
# File EV3 Python TubeBot.py
ev3.Sound.speak('python Tube Robot easy 2').wait()

LeftWheel = LargeMotor('outA')
RightWheel = LargeMotor('outB')
ir = InfraredSensor()
# assert ir.connected, "Connect a single infrared sensor to any sensor port"

ts = TouchSensor()
# assert ts.connected, "Connect a touch sensor to any port"
# can have 2 statements on same line if use semi colon

# Put the infrared sensor into proximity mode.
ir.mode = 'IR-PROX'

DelayTime = 0
Target = 10
Error = 0
Integral = 0
Derivative = 0
LastError = 0
Kp = 3
Ki = 0
Kd = 0
PID = 1
Time = 400
LeftPower = 1
RightPower = 1
MaxTurnPower = 200
Iteration = 0
Distance = 0
SpeedFactor = 300
y = 0
Speed = 100
OldDistance = 1000
DistanceL = 1
DistanceR = 2

Beginning = '{:3d}        Start                        Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
    LeftPower, RightPower)
print(Beginning, Ending)

#ev3.Sound.speak('Start').wait()
sleep(DelayTime)
Battery = True
#Sound.speak('Point 1')
while Battery:
    Leds.all_off()
#    Leds.set_color(Leds.UP, Leds.GREEN)
#    Leds.set_color(Leds.DOWN, Leds.GREEN)
    Leds.set_color(Leds.LEFT, Leds.GREEN)
    Leds.set_color(Leds.RIGHT, Leds.GREEN)
    # Phase 1
    if True:

#        Sound.speak('SQUARE WALL')
        sleep(DelayTime)
        DistanceL = ir.value()
        LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
        RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
        #sleep(DelayTime)   # Give the motor time to move
        #LeftWheel.stop()
        LeftWheel.wait_while('running')
        RightWheel.wait_while('running')
        #sleep(1)
        DistanceR = ir.value()
        if DistanceL != DistanceR:
            if DistanceL < DistanceR:
                while DistanceL < DistanceR:
#                    print('in Left loop')

#                    Sound.speak('Left').wait()
                    sleep(DelayTime)   # Give the motor time to move
                    DistanceR = ir.value()
                    LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                    RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                    sleep(DelayTime)   # Give the motor time to move
                    LeftWheel.stop()
                    LeftWheel.wait_while('running')
                    sleep(DelayTime)
                    DistanceL = ir.value()
                    Iteration += 1
                    Beginning = '{:3d}      Left      in                    Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
                    Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
                        LeftPower, RightPower)
                    print(Beginning, Ending)
#                ev3.Sound.speak('Re set Right').wait()
                LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                sleep(DelayTime)   # Give the motor time to move
                LeftWheel.stop()
                LeftWheel.wait_while('running')
                sleep(DelayTime)
                Iteration += 1
                Beginning = '{:3d}       Left out                     Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
                Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
                    LeftPower, RightPower)
                print(Beginning, Ending)
                Sound.beep()
            else:
                while DistanceR < DistanceL:
#                    print('in while close loop')

#                    ev3.Sound.speak('Right').wait()
                    sleep(DelayTime)
                    DistanceL = ir.value()
                    LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                    RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                    sleep(DelayTime)  # Give the motor time to move
                    LeftWheel.stop()
                    LeftWheel.wait_while('running')
                    sleep(DelayTime)
                    DistanceR = ir.value()
                    Iteration += 1
                    Beginning = '{:3d}          Right   in                   Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
                    Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
                        LeftPower, RightPower)
                    print(Beginning, Ending)

#                ev3.Sound.speak('Reset Left').wait()
                LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-30, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=30, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
                sleep(DelayTime)  # Give the motor time to move
                LeftWheel.stop()
                LeftWheel.wait_while('running')
                sleep(DelayTime)
                Iteration += 1
                Beginning = '{:3d}          Right   in       out            Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
                Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
                    LeftPower, RightPower)
                print(Beginning, Ending)

                Sound.beep()

        Beginning = '{:3d}       Finished                     Left Distance {:>4.0f}     Right Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, DistanceL, DistanceR)
        Ending = '        LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
            LeftPower, RightPower)
        print(Beginning, Ending)
        Sound.beep()

        Beginning = '{:3d}    Target {:3.0f}    Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, Target, Distance)
        Ending = '    Delta {:>4.0f}    Integral {:>5.0f}    Derivative {:>5.0f}    LastError {:>5.0f}    PID {:>5.0f}    SpeedFactor {:>5.0f}    LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
            Error, Integral, Derivative, LastError, PID, SpeedFactor, LeftPower, RightPower)
        print(Beginning, Ending)
        sleep(DelayTime)

        while not ts.value():  # Stop program by pressing touch sensor button
                # Infrared sensor in proximity mode will measure distance to the closest
                # object in front of it.

#                    Sound.speak('FORWARD')
                    sleep(DelayTime)
                    Iteration += 1
                    Distance = ir.value()
                    if Distance < Target:
#                        print('in Distance < Target loop')
                        Leds.set_color(Leds.LEFT, Leds.RED)
                        Leds.set_color(Leds.RIGHT, Leds.GREEN)

#                        Sound.speak('RIGHT')
                        sleep(DelayTime)
                    else:
#                        print('Close else')
                        Leds.set_color(Leds.LEFT, Leds.GREEN)
                        Leds.set_color(Leds.RIGHT, Leds.RED)

#                        Sound.speak('LEFT')
                        sleep(DelayTime)

                    Error = Target - Distance
                    Integral += Error
                    Derivative = Error - LastError

                    if Integral < -MaxTurnPower:
                        Integral = -MaxTurnPower
                    if Integral > MaxTurnPower:
                        Integral = MaxTurnPower

                    if Derivative < -MaxTurnPower:
                        Derivative = -MaxTurnPower
                    if Derivative > MaxTurnPower:
                        Derivatine = MaxTurnPower

                    PID = Kp * Error + Ki * Integral + Kd * Derivative

                    if PID < -MaxTurnPower:
                        PID = -MaxTurnPower
                    if PID > MaxTurnPower:
                        PID = MaxTurnPower

                    LeftPower = SpeedFactor + PID
                    RightPower = SpeedFactor - PID

                    if LeftPower < -900:
                        LeftPower = -901
                    if LeftPower > 900:
                        LeftPower = 902

                    if RightPower < -900:
                        RightPower = -903
                    if RightPower > 900:
                        RightPower = 904

                    Beginning = '{:3d}    Target {:3.0f}    Distance {:>4.0f}'.format(Iteration, Target, Distance)
                    Ending = '    Delta {:>4.0f}    Integral {:>5.0f}    Derivative {:>5.0f}    LastError {:>5.0f}    PID {:>5.0f}    SpeedFactor {:>5.0f}    LeftPower {:>5.0f}    RightPower {:>5.0f}'.format(
                        Error, Integral, Derivative, LastError, PID, SpeedFactor, LeftPower, RightPower)

                    print(Beginning, Ending)
                    LeftWheel.run_timed(time_sp=Time, speed_sp=LeftPower)
                    RightWheel.run_timed(time_sp=Time, speed_sp=RightPower)

                    LastError = Error

#    Leds.set_color(Leds.UP, Leds.RED)
#    Leds.set_color(Leds.DOWN, Leds.RED)
    Leds.set_color(Leds.LEFT, Leds.RED)
    Leds.set_color(Leds.RIGHT, Leds.RED)
    LeftWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-20, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
    RightWheel.run_to_rel_pos(position_sp=-400, speed_sp=900, stop_action="hold")
    Sound.beep()

That is a great picture of a great EV3-G program written in a great programming  language editor.  I do not understand how your EV3-G editor in 2014 is better than my editor in 2017.  Is it possible that you are using the Macintosh software.

That is a great picture of a great EV3-G program written in a great programming  language editor.  I do not understand how your EV3-G editor in 2014 is better than my editor in 2017.  Is it possible that you are using the Macintosh software.      Specifically, when you break your code into rows, your wires are equally spaced between the rows.  My editor temporarily does that, but when the last end is anchored, the equal spacing is lost.  My EV3-G editor is up to date for 2017.  What am I missing?

"your EV3-G editor in 2014 is better than my editor in 2017" - it was written on a PC using the "education" version of EV3-G.  That version has comment blocks, which allow adding comments that travel with the linked blocks. It's available from the "Advanced" tab.  Either version is a free download. The image PID is known to work on the NXT brick, but not EV3. EV3 handles the loops too fast and needs to add a delay before re-entering the loop.


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Where can I find LEGO Digital Designer projects for Lego Technic MOCs?
I have LEGO Technic pieces collected from multiple sets and would like to find projects on the web which I can view and build models step by step. Please advise sources where I can find these.

Eurobricks forum has hundreds of official sets in LDD format here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41226&#entry727293

As suggested on this question Rebrickable has a number of MOCs based on Technic parts.
If you happen to know which sets you have, you can create an account, add your sets, and then filter those MOCs to just ones you can build.
However, not all of these are available as LDD projects, some are "photo sets".


text:
What are the holes on the backs of MegaBlocks Call of Duty characters for?
I need help with identifying this, and I'll have a lot more questions.

This question is not about LEGO products or clone-brands in relation to LEGO bricks.

According to the help center, "Bricks is for LEGO® and building block enthusiasts. If you use LEGO or one of a number of compatible systems that share similar building techniques, and need answers to your questions (or would like to answer questions about these systems), this is the place for you." Based on this, OP's question is quite valid. Can we please un-hold the question? I can answer it as I'm familiar with Mega Bloks.

@TheBrickBlogger There seems to be some discrepancies between the Help Center and the Tour page which says "With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about LEGO Bricks".

@TheBrickBlogger I have re-opened the question considering what is currently written in the Help Center but I think we need to review what questions are on-topic.

@CourierCouch Welcome to Bricks.SE! Most of us here focus on the LEGO brand, so I can't promise we'll have great answers for you, but your questions are welcome here. You may find yourself proselytized if all your questions are about Mega Bloks, though. :)

Thank you, @Ambo100. I think an occasional compatible brand question is not too distracting, and they can naturally come up, as many LEGO fans are collect - or at least curious about - compatible brands. Also, often people buy used lots with mixed content and questions about an item being LEGO or not can come up. Anyhow, jncraton already answered this particular question, so I only added a little extra to it in the comment section.

The hole on the back of the figures is mostly used for backpacks and other accessories as shown here in the figure on the left:

In addition, it is also used sometimes to secure the figures into position. For example, in some open cockpit vehicles there is a peg at the back of the seats, that the hole on the back of the figures can attach to. This keeps the figures more secure in their position.

Yes, that is correct. The hole on the back of the figures is mostly used for backpacks and other accessories. In addition, it is also used sometimes to secure the figures into position. For example, in some open cockpit vehicles there is a peg at the back of the seats, that the hole on the back of the figures can attach to. This keeps the figures more secure in their position.


text:
Is it part of an offical set?
Does this assembly look familiar to anyone? I've identified the two trans-light blue 4x1 tiles and looked up and down the list on Bricklink but none of them look right.

There are no sets with both the transparent 1x4 tile and the transparent 1x2 plate. If it's part of a set, it's been modified.

Thanks Alex. Have you got a tool for finding sets that contain a list of pieces? I've seen Rebrickable's API but haven't gotten around to writing any code against it. P.S. you should write that as an answer so I can mark it as correct

I haven't tried the Rebrickable API. I just checked it myself manually from the Bricklink lists.

Is it me or are the transparent blue parts different colours? Looks like the 1x2 plate is Transparent Blue, while the 1x4 tile is Transparent Light Blue? In which case only 2016 LEGO City Advent Calendar contains both, and that's clearly not right.

If you combine the black 2x4 slope with the 1x4 tile the best fit is 70228 "Vultrix's Sky Scavenger", but that doesn't have any transparent grey slopes in it.

You could cross-check the sets with the transparent 1 x 4 tile and the transparent 1 x 2 plate. No matches jump out at me.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any tools to make crosschecking easier.

Using those two lists you provided I found there are the following sets with both pieces 21021 Marina Bay Sands https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=21021-1#T=I, 70145 Maula's Ice Mammoth https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=70145-1#T=I, 70165 Ultra Agent's Missions HQ https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=70165-1#T=I, 76041 Hydra Fortress Smash https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=76041-1, 76042 The SHIELD Helicarrier and a few more https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=76042-1

@Craig Huh, I must have made a mistake in crosschecking.


text:
Is there a 90 degree angle brick?
Is there a brick that I can use to connect LEGO plates at a 90 degree angle?

In which direction do you want to attach them?

There are many different types. You can find them here: Bricklink - Brick Modified
There are also Brackets: Bricklink - Brackets
And you could use some of these Bricklink - Plate Modified  or, of course, these Bricklink - Hinges

This answer wins in terms of teaching folks to find the answers with the tools available.

The part# 87087 - "Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side" could work:

But the part# 11211 - "Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Studs on 1 Side" seems better to scale up with:

There are many. I believe the classic "Erling"/headlight brick (it was designed by a guy named Erling) is the oldest way, but there's also a number of bricks with studs on the side and a number of brackets.

I thought of this part too because it is so much more commonly seen than the ones I put in my answer, but the 4070 brick wouldn't work well for the OP because of the inset.  It would be hard to attach a plate to the side studs after attaching one to the top or vice versa.

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


text:
Can you identify these LEGO animals, mountains, and minifigs?

Came across this package 2 of a larger set. I could only upload several pieces of it. Can anyone identify this for me please?

You have bag 2 of set 60014: Coast Guard Patrol.


text:
Can you identify this minifig and its set?
I would like to know what set this minifigure belongs to.

The legs might be LEGO, but the rest definitely isn't. No idea what it actually is.

The legs appear to be LEGO, the torso and head are from the old Mega Bloks Dragons series.


text:
Help me figure out what sets these minifigs belong to!
I was given a huge box of LEGO bricks from my neighbor and these are the last men I can't figure out what sets they come from.  If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated!

Numbering your minifigures 1 to 19 by going from left to right, top row first, I see the following:

gen035 - Skeleton with Round Brick Head (Ninjago Bowling Pin) from set 2519 Skeleton Bowling.

Same as 1
Same as 1
oct027 - Octan - Racing, Blue Legs, Blue Helmet 4 Stars & Strips, Trans-Light Blue Visor from set 9293 Community Workers. Note that the minifig head in this figure is not correct in your image - it was likely swapped out by the previous owner.

The torso is 973pb0510 - Torso SW Armor Clone Trooper Pattern (Clone Wars). There are several minifigs that have this torso, including 8 with white arms and black hands. A full list is located here: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=973pb0510&in=M
Not LEGO.
Not LEGO.
Torso is 973px83 Torso SW Dark Gray Shirt, Belt with Red Buckle Pattern (Padme), which belongs to sw025 Padme Naberrie from one of two sets from 1999: 7131 - Anakin's Podracer or 7171 - Mos Espa Podrace. Note that the arms must have been swapped out by the previous owner as the original minifig had blue arms.

Either njo007 Kai (missing his headscarf) or njo052 Kendo Kai (missing his Kendo gear). Appear in 7 sets from 2011/2012.
sw258 - Hoth Officer (with another minifig's head on top). From set 8083 Rebel Trooper Battle Pack.

cc4066 Actor 1. From polybag 4066 - Actor 1, released in 2001.

njo013 - Lord Garmadon (Ninjago). Could also be one of 2 other Lord Garmadon minifigs (with different gear). Part of several Ninjago sets from 2011.
Not LEGO.
Not LEGO.
Not LEGO
sw401 Imperial AT-ST Driver from set 9679 - AT-ST & Endor.

The torso is 973pb0318c01 Torso Speed Racer Pullover Open Collar, Diagonal Wrinkles Pattern / Blue Arms / Light Flesh Hands from the Speed Racers theme. The legs do not belong to this torso. Torso belongs to sr001 Speed Racer, Blue Pullover from set 8158 - Speed Racer & Snake Oiler from 2008.

Another likely Castle related torso that I haven't been able to identify yet. Seems to have a sticker on it.
Thanks to Samuel L.(!), this torso is 973px67c01 Torso Police Vest, White Shirt, ID, Yellow Star Badge Pattern / White Arms / Yellow Hands. It was part of 11 minifigures in the Classic Town theme, and those minifigures appeared in 18 sets.

I think the last one might be from the Lego system police series. http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/soc045.png. To check out the entire system police series:https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Town/instructions2/subtheme-Police. I'm not quite sure which set it came from, as it came in a lot of these system police sets.

Thanks! Added that to my answer. Curious why this torso didn't show up in my search - it seems to have most items that I searched for listed in the name.

Thank you so much!  I will spend the next while trying to make the sets to see if I've received all of the pieces....


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Can you help me identify the set?
These pieces are part of a large box I received and I am thinking they belong to a Star Wars set, but I have searched fruitlessly and haven't found which one.

Top left:
Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator 7961-1

Top Right:
ARC-170 Starfighter 8088-1

Bottom Left:
Sith Nightspeeder 7957-1

Bottom Right:
One of 3 Alpha Team: Mission Deep Freeze sets. I think it's Ice Blade 4743-1, if that's the same sticker I see on the side.
Bottom Center:
No direct matches, but appears to be a sticker from a Hyena Droid Bomber 8016-1 on the wrong color of piece.


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Can you identify this truck with spikey wheels?

I would like to know what set this partially put-together truck belongs to.

Legends of Chima 70004-1: Wakz' Pack Tracker


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How can I read NXT logfiles?
I used the logfile feature to collect light intensity values.
How can I get a view to this data?
On the NXT brick I only found: "delete" or "send" but not "show". I tried "send" when I had an USB conection to a PC, but I couldn't find a file in the download folder. Please help.

Possible duplicate of How do you open a logfile (.rdf) downloaded from an EV3 brick?

@chicks This might be considered a duplicate if both EV3 and NXT have identical data log structures.


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Which set did this sealed bag of mostly grey LEGO bricks come from?
I bought a sealed bag of LEGO bricks with no box or directions and I am trying to figure out which set it is. It is all grey, black, and clear pieces and looks to be 100-150 pieces. Any help is appreciated.

This is an inner bag of a larger set, not a full set. It is hard to tell which set it could be, as the pieces are too common to narrow it down from just this one image. I did look up the 3x4 hinge-plate, as that was the most uncommon, but it still appears in 45 sets, so we would need some other clues to narrow it down further. Here are the sets the hinge-plate appears in: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=44570&colorID=86&in=A

As I mentioned in my comment to OP's original question, this is an inner bag of a larger set, not a full set. It is a bit hard to tell which set it could be, as the pieces are too common to narrow it down from just one image. I did look up the 3x4 hinge-plate, as that was the most uncommon, but it still appears in 45 sets: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=44570&colorID=86&in=A
Upon more careful inspection, and narrowing down the pieces even further, it appears that this is the gray/black bag from the #10702 LEGO Classic Creative Building set: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=10702-1#T=S&O=
I came to this conclusion by verifying some of the other pieces in the set from the BrickLink Catalog, and also noticing that the 23mm D. x 7mm Offset Tread Black Tire only appears in the above mentioned LEGO Classic set from the list of 45 sets with the 3x4 hinge-plate.

Impressive amount of effort you put in. I just noticed that all the elements looked common and decided not to spend my time on it. It's good that someone else did.

The power of lots of eyes looking at the same image is amazing, but I still get impressed by the great set-ident answers on this site.

I was also going to pass after checking on the hinge-plate, but it was bugging me I couldn't answer right away, so I got back to it. I hate to be defeated by questions like this. :D


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When did LEGO have a groove in the center tube underneath?
I have a bunch of bricks from my childhood, some have grooves in the tubes underneath, some have the old style bubble logo, some have square holes under the plates. I am interested in general ages of each.

I can give you some help, especially if you are talking about 2x4 bricks.  Last year, I embarked on a bit of a history project to trace the design changes in Lego, by looking at the 2x4 brick, from 1949 to today. (Such as changes in the tubes, like the slots you mention!) I talked to several very helpful collectors (some here on Bricks beta!), who gave me lots of helpful information.
I distilled it all down into this article:
http://snakeandboris.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-short-history-of-lego-brick-1949_6.html
(This link goes to Part 2 of the article, because it contains a link for Part 1.)
Keep in mind, though, that not all dates with Lego changes are hard-and-fast.  You will see a few "c." meaning it was AT or AROUND that time--because as Lego changed molds, they didn't do it all at once, across the whole world. They used the old molds for their normal lifespans.
There are even MORE sub-variations than what I have found, and there are links at the end of my post to some other good sources of information.
Good luck! One thing about this hobby I can tell you, there are lots of knowledgeable and kind folks to help you!


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Empty LEGO boxes: are they worth anything?
I have 4 garbage bags full of empty LEGO boxes, at least 20+ years old. Are they worth anything? Is there somewhere to post them for sale?

it might depdend on many things. I would surf ebay or similar sites to check if these items are traded there. May not be interesting to most people, but if you happend to find the right collector they might be interested on such items.

i mean, if someone has the set and they dont have the box, buying a box for the set might get the person more money when selling their set.

@eva that's true, that's also why sometimes "pat pending" bricks can be sold for a little bit more for sets that are old

experience shows when selling old sets incl. the box on ebay or bricklink the price will be higher. same goes for me when i am buying, the box to me is absolutely valuable

On Bricklink.com vendors sell original boxes. You can see a listing of what's available here. For example, the King's Mountain Fortress from 1990 is offered for sale for about $65 USD. (I have the front and back flaps of that box, I wonder if I could list just those.)
Bricklink shows a price guide for products which have been sold recently; Some of the boxes show sales and some of them don't.  Whether you can get any specific price for a box will depend greatly on the condition of the box, how you manage your bricklink reputation, and how patient you are.


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Can anyone tell me what these LEGO sets are?

Can someone help me identify these part built LEGO sets?  They may be Star Wars or Ninjago .

At least some of these parts are from 4433 Dirt Bike Transporter.

The clue is the sticker on the assembly in the top right corner of the image. Number plate stickers typically indicate the initials of the designer (for modern sets) and then the number of the set. In this case, "DM 4433", which matches the set number 4433.

The majority of the pieces in the picture are from set/item# 9780756663117 - "Brickmaster Star Wars".
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?B=9780756663117#T=S&O=

There appears to be some customized bits, but they are still recognizable.  Then there's that one little bit from set# 4433 that Kramii pointed out.

From what I can tell the 4x4 quarter circle plate in dark bluish grey and the 1x1 yellow tile only appear together in one set, the doc ock set from 2004, and that set doesn't have binoculars in it, so you're probably looking at a mix of sets here.


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Build-A-Bricks Building Set
When I was a boy - 1940's-50's - I had a plastic building set called, Build-A-Bricks, or some such. It was for modeling brick houses. The pieces were similar to LEGO but larger and there were cardboard windows, doors and roof elements. Does anyone remember such a product? Are there any such products on the market now?

Maybe you can try Bricklink or Brickset? Try this page:https://brickset.com/sets. Click on the drop-down menu that reads "Year".

@Alfred Welcome to Bricks Stack Exchange!

Yes, maybe called Bilda-Brix.
I was given set for Christmas when I was 4.5. This would have to have been 1951.
Don’t remember any instructions, just used my imagination to build houses, towns and even battle ships! They were mostly red, some white hence I could have opposing battle ships. LEGO with its kits to build a specific thing has always seemed to me to demand less of the imagination.

This certainly fits the description. Nice work, and welcome to Bricks.SE!


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Can you identify the set that these bird-like LEGO assemblies came out of?
I would like to find out what set these pieces belong to.

This is a partial #70003 LEGO Legends of Chima Eris' Eagle Interceptor released in 2013:   https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=70003-1#T=S&O=


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Are creative play sets compatible with Duplo?
Are are the blocks in the Creative Play sets compatible with LEGO Duplo blocks? Also, are they the same size as Duplo, or Juniors or in between?

Duplo bricks are twice (in each dimension) the size of regular bricks, and it's not hard to mix them, look for instance at the top related question (look in the right side). All the Creative Play-boxes I found in a quick search seems to bear the Duplo logo, meaning that they are Duplo, so of course they are compatible.


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Does the Mindstorms RCX Input Ports have a Pull-Down Resistor?
Sorry for the strange question. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the internals of the RCX mindstorms brick. Specifically, does it have a pull-down resistor (if no sensor is connected, will it read 0)?

The RCX input port has a pull-up resistor, not a pull-down (so it reads high: 1024 in raw mode). You can see reverse engineered I/O port electronics here: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=109570

Thank you for the response! Just want to double-check: if I connect a button to the RCX, it would read that it is on when it is off and vice-versa?

Depends on how you read it! in raw mode, you would get 0 (or a low value if your switch has some internal resistance as does the RCX touch sensor) with switch pressed, 1024 if released. But if you configure your sensor as a touch sensor, you'll get 0 if released, 1 if pressed.


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What sort of college education is best to become a LEGO designer?
I'm a big fan of LEGO and I would love to know about what kind of college I should apply to so I can get a degree to work with TLG. Also, I was wondering if I wanted to be a LEGO Set creator, would I have to move out of the United States and move to Denmark, or would I be able to work in the United States and create sets?  I'd love to get feedback because I am in 10th grade, and I am going to college soon.

Related: http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/283/how-does-one-get-a-job-as-a-lego-designer

You should also consider asking this question to Lego directly since they know best what they want and may even have special programs or similar for people like you.

Try for an industrial engineering degree. That would be the best fit for a set designer. An art degree would work too.
If you want to be a LEGO set designer, you're gonna have to move to Denmark. Of course, you need to be accepted first. You can stay where you are while you work on your degree and become more proficient in working with bricks.


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Lego Batman Figures In Picture Unknown? Please Help
I missed this purchase by seconds; I was devastated and so was my son; probably me more so. Secretly I am a massive fan.
There are some unusual Batman figures that I haven't seen before. I was wondering if someone is able to identify these so I can search again. Chances of the same bunch coming up are very unlikely. Will buy them individually if that's what it takes.

First off let me apologize for fueling your future addiction to Batman LEGO minifigures.
Bricklink finds me 211 minifigures searching for "batman"
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/search.page?q=batman#T=M
Many of these are related characters and not Batman himself, but there are a lot of Batman minifigures, including some really odd ones:

I can also confirm that some of the ones shown in your picture are not Batman and are assembled incorrectly, the middle far right figure appears to be a Nightwing body with a different head and an added cape and batman cowl (original Nightwing shown below), also upper right is clearly superman wearing a bat cowl, if the picture was better you could tell it was dark blue and not black.


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My grandson wants a LEGO motor. What should I get?
My grandson wants a LEGO Power Motor to use with his gigantic box of Lego pieces.  He is 11 years old and seems to know his way around the world of LEGO bricks.  I, though, haven't a clue what he is asking for. I see things such as "EV3, NXT, RCX, and NXT-G and I'm confused. Can anyone help me?  What is it I'm looking for?

See Alex' answer, with the following note: There is a combo box that sells a battery box (the AA type) and an M-Motor, plus LED lights, a couple of gears and a polarity switch for (US) $30. It's not typically available in normal stores, but online at shop.lego.com as well as in LEGO brand stores. That's your best deal.

While Alexander's answer is completely correct, I wanted to provide an alternative that may work a little better while being a bit more expensive. Buying a motor and battery box is certainly the cheapest way to get a spinning motor, but depending on your grandson's collection, this might not provide the best experience.
In order to build creations that operate using motors, it is helpful to have the following in addition to a battery box and motor:

Gears
Axles
Wheels that fit axles (the majority of wheels in the LEGO system are not designed to be driven by a motor)

These pieces form what is commonly branded "Technic", though they are found in non-Technic sets which sometimes feature moving parts.
It can also be helpful to see how motors are used within the larger LEGO system. The best way to get all the needed components and see them in action is to buy a complete set that is motorized. For example:

This set contains loads of axles, wheels, and gears, which together provide a great base for mechanical building. Sets like this are typically expensive ($150+), but could be worth it to you depending on your means.
Here's a list of currently available Technic sets that include electric motors.
Also, to directly respond to your confusion over the many acronyms, the current manually controlled motor system is called Control+ (the previous, and now incompatible, system was called Power Functions). Everything else (EV3, NXT, RCX, etc) is related to robotic and computer controlled motors.

I second this. Getting a motor by itself probably isn't enough. You need a decent collection of gears and technic bricks/beams to make even a simple machine.It also helps to get some of the gear boxes or other specialized parts. Buying any of the motorized Technic sets is a good way to start.

You say he is looking for a "Power Motor", which sounds like he is referring to the LEGO Power Functions line. The bare minimum you need to get a spinning motor would be one of the battery boxes and one of the motors.
Battery Boxes:

AA Battery Box
AAA Battery Box
Rechargeable Battery Box (requires Transformer 10V DC)

Motors:

M-Motor
L-Motor
XL-Motor

(They also make a servo-motor and a train motor, but these are made for special purposes.)

The terms you listed however refer to the different generation of Mindstorms robotics.

EV3: Current generation
NXT: Previous generation
RCX: First generation (rather old and difficult to use with modern computers)
NXT-G: The GUI used to program the NXT robots.

Mindstorms do include motors, among other things, but are mainly geared towards use with robotics.

Alexander you have been very helpful.  I assume that the upper half of your reply is what I'm looking for and we won't worry about the lower half since you lost me there!  This is a great web page for Grandparents.

Note that there is a combo box that sells a battery box (the AA type) and an M-Motor, plus LED lights, a couple of gears and a polarity switch for (US) $30. It's not typically available in normal stores, but online at shop.lego.com as well as in LEGO brand stores. That's your best deal.

@Phil, the set you are referring to is 8293. If the grandson already has a lot of Technic then this is a good way to motorise it https://shop.lego.com/en-NZ/LEGO-Power-Functions-Motor-Set-8293

If your grandson has lots of Technic pieces, such as gear wheels, axles, beams with holes etc (if he knows his way around Lego he should be able to confirm that pretty easily), the Lego have a good starter set which contains a motor, battery box and a few other pieces. It's how I started updating my old LEGO Technic sets from the early 90s to be motorised and eventually radio controlled.
https://shop.lego.com/en-NZ/LEGO-Power-Functions-Motor-Set-8293

authors: Степа Кузьмин


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The four armed minifig
How do you put together a four armed minifig?????

I really want one.

The good news is: This Minifig is still available (as of March 2017)! The bad news is, he's only in two sets and they're both quite expensive. He's Nadakhan, the captain of the Sky Pirates in the Ninjago range. There is also General Kozu, but his set is even more expensive.

Misfortune's Keep
The Lighthouse Siege
Samurai X Cave Chaos

As Kevin points out in the comments, Lord Garmadon appears three times in the LEGO Ninjago Minifigures series (Garmadon, Volcano Garmadon (pyjamas), and Flashback Garmadon (suit and tie)), so it's possible the part is now more widely available.
The key part from Nadakhan's body you need is:

Torso, Modified Short with Armour Breastplate...

Or there are some other options from earlier Ninjago sets available as well.
Which accepts a standard neck post and has holes for the arms.

So what pieces would I use for the actual body?

You'd use a standard torso (body) for the bottom part, and then a "torso, modified" on top of that - they are custom designed to fit on the neck and shoulders of the standard body part.

there were also at least two in the CMF line for the Ninjago movie.

Also there is Z-95 Headhunter (75004) which has General Pong Krell, but it is also fairly expensive.


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Please help identify LEGO Batman vehicle
I'm trying to identify the set that this partial Batman vehicle belongs to. I believe the front center piece is part # 4623524 Roof tile 6x10, but all of the sets that contain that part don't seem to match the rest of the pieces.

Here is the bottom front of the boat as it has an unusual shape that I can't find:

It appears to actually be an Iron Man set, with the dark green #4623524 piece swapped out for the same piece in black from a Batman set.
The base is 76006-1 Iron Man: Extremis Sea Port Battle

Based on the 1x2 slope piece with the Batman symbol, the #4623524 piece likely comes from 76000-1 Arctic Batman vs. Mr. Freeze: Aquaman on Ice


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DFB LEGO Minifigures
I'm a big fan of LEGO still to this day I was wondering are the DFB LEGO Minifigures available in Los Angeles cause I live there hoping to get the LEGO because they look so great.

Like Henrik said, I think it was sold exclusively throughout Europe only to cellebrate the world cup champions(I think that was the reason).

According to LEGO's German Store it is a:

Retired Product

So if you're going to find it you'll need to look on ebay, Amazon, or other "unofficial" dealers.

I believe that no official retailers outside of Germany+Austria+Switzerland go these. I bought mine on amazon.de.


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LEGO bag with no instructions or box
It's bag #2 and the only # I can find is 135149 and a date of 2011.
There are 2 mini bags inside the large bag.
It has some very long grey pieces and 2 blue wall looking pieces.
Thank you for your help

I don't think there is enough information here to identify the set. Can you add a picture?

Number and date identify the plastic bag design, but not the set nor the pieces in the bag, so that info doesn't help us (apart from eliminating sets that were no longer produced in 2011). We'd need a picture as per Alex' comment.

It is from '4645 Harbour' which was produced in 2011 and bag 2 contains blue wall panels and stone grey 1x10s.

Instructions can be found here.

I'm hoping Kevin can confirm your findings, but that's a pretty awesome find based on the meagre description provided.


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NXT 1.0 software issue
I am an educator with 33 Mindstorm NXT 1.0 computers. We are a Mac school and are running El Capitan (OS 10.11). Two questions...

Is it possible to download the 1.0 software to our Macs? Has there been any update/upgrade to the 1.0 software?
I'm assuming I can't use 2.0 software with the 1.0 units correct?

Looks like http://www.onemindstorm.com/nxt-software-support/ has a solution for installing on a previous mac version of OS 10.  The instructions may work.  They also have links to download the software.  I don't own a mac to test that it does work.  I can't describe this as an answer without knowing it works.  If you get it to work, please add the steps you used.

I'm not sure about compatibility of different versions of NXT-G with different versions of macOS. However, regarding your second question:
The only difference between the 1.0, 2.0, and Education NXT kits is the parts and sensors that come in the kit. There is only one hardware revision of NXT brick, and any version of NXT-G will work with any NXT brick. Thus, if you found a version of NXT-G other than 1.0 that will run on El Capitan, you could use it program your NXT bricks.


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Are there factories in China that produce raw LEGO-compatible blocks?
Nowadays Chinese are getting really good at making LEGO-compatible blocks. Some sets are really unique and of very good quality. But still - we got our own ideas. I wonder does anyone here know any source in China, that produces blocks (not sets)? So blocks of requested shape and color. I would like to contact them somehow. They should exist, since set producing companies do not seem to produce blocks themselves, but rather taking them from somewhere else.

Welcome to Brick.SE! That's a nice question. As a reminder to answerers: clone blocks are fine, but anything that infringes on LEGO copyright is not (e.g. clone sets, minifigs, etc).

There are vendors that sell LEGO compatible blocks. One place to look for these is on AliExpress, which is an online marketplace affiliated with Alibaba, the world's largest retailer (wikipedia).

You can search around for what you want, but here are two sellers that I found as an example (1, 2).
Note that these don't appear to be significantly better prices than what you might find on a secondary LEGO market such as Bricklink, and quality varies a lot between brands, so I'd recommend sticking with Bricklink unless you are looking for massive quantities and quality isn't as important to you.
High quality LEGO compatible brick manufacturing requires very high mold tolerance and tight tolerances on the entire injection molding process. It isn't easy to do cheaply, and LEGO's scale allows them to be fairly price competitive on bulk parts among manufactures with similar quality.

+1 for Bricklink. However what I'm looking for is to give a printout of parts constituting my custom designed set to manufacturer, who could then mass produce it for me.

Note that shipping from China is ridiculously cheap and typically included in the prices found on AliExpress. So if you need just a handful of parts, it's actually a lot cheaper to buy from AliExpress than buying from LEGO or on Bricklink, beause of the high shipping cost when buying in Europe or the US. Also, the quality of Chinese bricks has improved so much they're barely distinguishable from LEGO.

@JohnSlegers that is about to change, at least for Europe, where the EU has abolished the VAT except for imports below 22 €. Now every package will have to pay customs, no matter the cost.

If you are looking for a product in China, but do not know where to find a manufacturer, I suggest you consider using a sourcing agent. These companies can help people in European and American countries find suitable factories. They are locals and have more experience in doing such things.

Hi Cynthia, and welcome to Bricks :) When posting recommendations for companies, we ask that you declare any affiliation (or lack of) with the post so that it's not considered spam. Having seen a number of other projects use Chinese manufacturers, I can agree that having a local sourcing agent seemed to help them.


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How to inventory a large collection of LEGO sets
I have a fairly large collection of LEGO sets, most of them still as completed models. I also have all of the instruction books organised into plastic wallets which are stored in two A4 folders.
I'm looking at creating some kind of inventory of my LEGO sets. I'm thinking an Excel spreadsheet is the way to go. I would like to include information such as original price, current value, number of pieces, e.t.c.
I'm looking to see if anyone has some kind of template I could use or a quick way to automatically pull information from a site like Brick Picker or BrickLink. And also have information like current value be automatically updated.

I would recommend taking a look at BrickPicker's BrickFolio feature. It allows you to maintain a list of sets you own, including place of purchase, purchase cost and seal code, and keeps track of the current EBay value on a month-by-month basis. It also tracks CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) - a measure of how well the set's value is performing over time.

Clicking on the set name gives you an overview screen with key set details such as piece count etc.

Having played around with some of the tools it does show promise. Still think I might put some time into making a custom spreadsheet later this summer.

A custom spreadsheet solution gives you great flexibility and leaves you in control of your own data. Be sure to use a spreadsheet tool that supports the use of web images in cells (Google Spreadsheets, for instance); then you can easily use online resources to automatically show thumbnail pictures of your sets on each row (given the set number). This makes it so much easier to navigate your sheet.
In addition, you can harness the power of websites such as Brickset, Rebrickable and Brickpicker to get current valuations of your "brickfolio", or enable powerful database features that let you make queries on your collection. Note that some of these support the exchange of collection data as well as batch-style import, so that you don't have to tediously enter your collection set by set.

+1 for Rebrickable and Brickset. Those sites can share data with each other, have good coverage of the existing sets, and are flexible in how you can organize your data. I use Rebrickable, it's nearly perfect for my needs.


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What is the selling rate per pound for individual colors?
I separated all my LEGO bricks by color so I can get max profit to pay closing costs on my family's home.  Is there a going rate per pound for individual colors?

Colour seperation matters more in which audience will be interested (AFOL's knowing they used some colour(s) more than others vs. parents wanting a pile for their kids) than for price.
Lots of things matter a lot more then the bricks being seperated by colour, some examples:

Whether the bricks have play wear
Whether the bricks have been miscoloured by sunlight
Whether the bricks have been exposed to smoking
The actual selection of bricks - i.e. are they all standard bricks or are they something less common in (some of) the pile(s)
Where you are in the world
...

So we don't have nearly enough information to give a good answer.
They are other questions on the site where people give estimates.

I would add to this that selling by the pound usually produces the lowest possible profit. Maximum profit is by selling parts individually, or by selling complete desirable retired sets in good to excellent condition. Separating by color has very little benefit, unless the color is rare; old grays, old brown, olive-green, dark-green/red/blue, and sand-green/red-blue. But even then, condition is very important, as well as what kind of mix of parts we are talking about. If OP mostly has standard colors, it's better to separate them by part, and/or condition, rather than color.


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Can you identify this old set with LEGOLAND minifigs?
There is nothing written on the box and no LEGO logo anywhere. All the pieces that come with it are LEGO.

It is one box from 364-1: Harbour Scene from 1975:

Here's what the particular box looked like in newer condition:

And here's the set freshly opened with your box slotted into its place. Your box is the top center one if you can't tell from the image.

Here's a video covering this set in detail.

Yep.... but it came inside the larger box? Was a separate item?

@MiguelRicardo Do you just have the cars? If so, maybe the cars where in a separate box inside the larger box.

Nice work. This is definitely one of the boxes from 364. I've edited this answer to reflect that.

Ty all, thats it, and probably have the complete set in pieces from what i can see (no outside box or intrstucions thou...) many thanks again

@MiguelRicardo Great! The instructions are available here if you're trying to put it together: http://peeron.com/cgi-bin/invcgis/scans/364-1/


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Mindstorms program - myblocks that work fine when run individually but when executed as part of a larger program, break
We have a line following myblock, which follows the line perfectly if it runs alone.  However, if we include it as a block as part of a larger program, it goes haywire when it gets to that step and can't follow the line that it's on.  If we run our program step by step, it completes each task successfully.  Has anyone encountered this issue, and if so, any ideas how we can fix the problem?

Can you post a screenshot of the code?

This can happen if your block runs in parallel with other code, especially other motor control blocks. Would need to see the code to assess this further.

(I'm translating from what someone else told me, so hopefully I'm explaining it properly).
We've figured out what the issue was - in the line follower we had issues with a loop breaking out consistently, so had changed it to a large motor block doing x number of cycles.  when it was run individually, it worked fine as the number of cycles started from 0.  When it was part of the larger code, it had already run that many cycles, so it immediately quit out of the line follower.

@Lori Please consider posting your comment as an answer.

We've figured out what the issue was - in the line follower we had issues with a loop breaking out consistently, so had changed it to a large motor block doing x number of cycles. when it was run individually, it worked fine as the number of cycles started from 0. When it was part of the larger code, it had already run that many cycles, so it immediately quit out of the line follower.


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What is the largest jump in LEGO instructions?
What is the largest gap in LEGO instructions in terms of build time needed to complete a step? For example, Skyline (5526) includes this step:

That is quite a leap between steps 14 and 15. I'm curious to know if any sets leave more up to the builder than this.
I saw this over on Reddit and thought it might be interesting to get answers over here.

Urgh, that set + instructions looks like a nightmare build.

I haven't looked at the 10214 London Tower Bridge instructions, but those maybe leave out many steps describing the second tower. To some degree I noticed this in the instructions for the 70618 Destiny's Bounty when it comes to the second railing which is a mirrored version of the first one.

@Aziraphale Most of 10214 is actually (x2) instructions :)

It's difficult to judge build time, would you consider steps that include many bricks to have a long build time?

Would you consider step 18 in this set to be a single step?

@Ambo100 I think so. This makes me want to pick up some Model Team sets. :) Those were really nice.

@Ambo100 Is that sub-steps within a sub-step? We need to go deeper!

Car Chassis 8860 gets my vote for complexity of a single step.

The instructions are laid out so that you have two pages like this on top of each other.  I was building this model with my 11 year old son recently, and at almost every step on the last couple of pages we found we had missed something from the previous step.


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Did any sets have lots of 1x2 smooth tiles with gauges on them?

1x2 smooth tile with red 82 and yellow and white gauges pattern
I've inherited some LEGO and strangely it has 28 pieces of the above tile. Is there a set that uses a lot of these tiles?
I can't seem to find anything with more than 1 or 2 of them used.

The link you provided would be enough for me to consider it an authoritative answer.  They could have bought them from the wall of random bricks from a LEGO store or gotten a batch from BrickLink or a vendor at a LEGO convention.

Not sure how I managed to add that link - I thought I'd just copied the description that was with the picture I found on the net!

I will wade through the list that the link provided,  the lot I have seems to be lots of bits of incomplete sets so I'm trying to unravel each mystery. I'm inclined to think the 28 pieces are part of a set, as most of the other bits seem to form sets. But you could be right, might be a random lot. I just hoped someone would recognise such a large number of those pieces as conspicuously part of a certain set. Thanks for your comments anyway

@David C; I have edited your question and added the link

No. :)
I checked several "gauges pattern" tiles. There is no set with more than 3 of them.


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How much is Sheriff's Lockup #6755 worth?
I have set #6755, Sheriff's Lockup.  What's an estimated value without the minifig?

It depends on the minifigs and how much they are worth.

As Alexander said, it depends, but often a lot.

Will post this as an official answer once the question gets reopened, now that it has been updated: set 6755 is basically an older version of this set: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6764-1. There are several listings on that page missing all the minifigs - they seem to go for ~$40 (or at least those are the current asking prices)

Set 6755 is basically an older version of set 6764. There are several listings on that page missing all the minifigs - they seem to go for ~$40 (or at least those are the current asking prices).

BrickLink has a price guide that will give you both the current prices people are asking for sets as well as any details on those sets sold in the last six months.
If you can't find your specific set, you may well be able to find a similar one (either in the same theme or similarly sized) that does have the data you want.
Typically "new" or "new in box" sets will sell for substantially more than "used" sets, and licensed figures will have more of an impact on prices than generic minifigs if they are missing.


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"Unable to compile" error code with LEGO EV3 Arm Robot Program
Does anyone know how to fix this error with my LEGO EV3 program?
Unable to compile some documents for deployment:
Program.ev3p: Use of a block which no longer exists.
INI.ev3p: A My Block cannot contain a copy of itself.

I think the key phrase is "A My Block cannot contain a copy of itself." Look in the "INI" My Block for another copy of the "INI" My Block and delete it.

The main problem is that you have nested INI inside INI maybe cause you were trying to use recursion which EV3 does not support. It might also be that you have a copy of INI inside INI not connected to the play button script.
It may also be that your INI block contains another my block inside which contains the INI block in it and so on.
It would help if you uploaded the program or showed us snapshots.


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How should I transport my big LEGO sets?
I'm moving and I have some big LEGO sets (Police Station, Fire Station, and Ultra Stealth Raider).  How should I pack them so they won't get shattered to pieces in transit?

You should disassemble the buildings to smaller parts, then pack these parts with bubble foils. After that, you can place them in massive plastic boxes. LEGO bricks aren't really fragile.


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Is there a way to buy just the robotic parts?
I apologize if this is a silly question.  My kids recently went to a LEGO robotics workshop at our local science museum and LOVED it.
Is there a way to buy just the robotic parts (motor, sensors, software, etc)?  We don't need anymore lego bricks, as we have them coming out our ears, lol.
I did see parts on ebay, but got overwhelmed since I really don't know about the different types and what is compatible. Is there a good place to learn about that?

Yes, you can buy all the electronic parts by themselves, but given that the electronic parts are the bulk of the cost, you may not save much.
The MINDSTORMS EV3 set (MSRP $349.99 USD) contains:

1 - EV3 Intelligent Brick (MSRP $189.99 USD)
1 - EV3 Color Sensor (MSRP $39.99 USD)
1 - EV3 Infrared Sensor (MSRP $29.99 USD)
1 - EV3 Touch Sensor (MSRP $19.99 USD)
1 - EV3 Cable Pack (MSRP $14.99 USD)
2 - EV3 Large Servo Motor (MSRP $24.99 USD each)
1 - EV3 Medium Servo Motor (MSRP $19.99 USD)
1 - EV3 Infrared Beacon (MSRP $29.99 USD)
Software: Free download.

That comes to a total of: $394.91, or $44.92 over the price of the whole kit.
That means you would have to find these pieces for a fair bit less than the MSRP to save any money (remember shipping costs if you get them from multiple sellers), which could be difficult as these pieces tend to have good resale value. At quick glance on BrickLink, I found you can maybe get $40 of an EV3 Intelligent Brick, but the EV3 Medium Servo Motor is actually selling over the MSRP (possibly because it is backordered).

We don't need anymore lego bricks

The Mindstorms kits actually come with LEGO Technic pieces, not bricks. You would not really be able to use these electronic parts without a fair number of Technic pieces.
If you plan to follow along with the instructions from the kit, you would need to have the parts in the kit.

OK, that makes sense.  The kits they used at the workshop were apparently much more basic.   They were some kind of educational kit that just had a motor, tilt sensor, motion sensor, and various Lego pieces.
Would you say you can build things other than what the instructions show with the EV3 set? My older son hates instructions and almost always builds his own thing.

@BeckyBrown Sounds like you might be describing LEGO Education WeDo. I don't know if LEGO limits who can buy them, but they are also available on BrickLink. Both MindStorms and WeDo can certainly be built into other things besides what the instructions say.

It could also be the new LEGO Boost sets - the software is available from the App Stores, but I don't know if the logic brick is available on its own yet.

There's also EV3 education set, that has several more sensors (and lacks the remote) compared to the EV3 retail set. The education set is actually better value for money if you have already some LEGO at home, as it gives you more robot parts and a lithium battery.


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Is possible to change firmware of ev3 brick?
I bought LEGO 31313 but I would like to change the firmware for education (45544).
1.09H to 1.09E.  Is this possible?

Connect EV3 with USB to computer, have Lego Mindstorm software open
Under Tools -> Select Firmware update and start he update
Brick will restart after firmware is updated

This is the correct method. If you have the retail software downloaded, you will need to download and install the educational software here in order to access the 1.09E firmware and utilize its additional features (datalogging, etc).

Yes, this is totally possible and I have done it multiple times. You will need access to both firmware files though - AFAIK there is no menu to choose versions.

Thanks Phil, can you explain how to... or may be there's some manual or video to do it... I'm newbie and i would like to do it. Thank you very much


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LEGO Mindstorms Spik3r won't move
I built my Spik3r as usual, but it wouldn't run when I tried to program it. I checked the wheels and the legs and everything seemed fine. I even looked back in the instructions, and redid it. It still wouldn't move. The wheels and the spikes moved, but when I set it on the ground, it only wiggled around. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Could you embed some photos of that? We couldn't post an effective answer now because we don't know how you created Spik3r.

https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/8007/ev3-spik3r-mission-2-doesnt-move and https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/9269/spik3r-wheels-move-but-the-spik3r-itself-doesnt are quite similar questions to this one.  Maybe comments from those could be useful.


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How should I get started with LEGO trains?
I'd like to get started with LEGO Train. I understand the PF system is The Way, and the tracks are generally mutually compatible, but the exact interplay of trains & power components eludes me.
Is there a "Just the train, PF control system, and tracks" set available?
Would that be set 60051?

That set would work, set 60052 would work as well (although it has a few more parts that are not actually needed if you are really focused on trains, in that regard 60098 might be better)
Those sets (including 60051) are from 2014/2015, rumours have it that new trains will come out this year (probably around august), and apparently (I hadn't heard it before @TheBrickBlogger wrote it in a comment here) they won't be completely compatible.

I would add to this that the PF system is getting updated this year. The 2018 trains use blutooth connection instead of infrared like the current PF trains. It might be worth waiting a few months until it becomes clear of what the new PF system looks like and its compatibility with the current system, before investing in the current version. There are also a lot of train accessory packs coming with a good mix of tracks, and other components later this year.

@thebrickblogger when you say accessories, you mean..? Can you aim me at a preview? I don't want to buy into something that will be hard to deal with in a few years.

Unfortunately, I can't give you a direct link as the original source has been already taken down, but if you do a search on the 2018 trains, you should be able to find at least some of the upcoming train sets and accessory packs via secondary sources. I would suggest to wait until the sets get released later this year to know for sure how it is compatible with the current PF system. I believe they are summer releases, so we only have to wait a few more months. And we will likely get more details even before the official release date.


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Can you identify this LEGO plane set?
Sadly this LEGO plane crashed today. No one was injured, but I do not know where the instructions are, or the LEGO kit/product number. Can someone help me identify which kit it is so I can look up the instructions online?

That's one of the alternate models for Ocean Explorer (31045):

The instructions are available on LEGO.com.


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What's the fastest way to rebuild different sets that have been brought together
My mom did something to my LEGO. When I was a kid I loved playing with them. Frankly I have no interest in it anymore.  She broke down all them sets, and put them all in a huge box.
I still can figure out some parts, but I don't know if it's better to break down every piece and rebuild from scratch.  I'm not talking about 3 or 4 sets, more like 20 to 30 LEGO sets worth around 3k to 4k euro...  I want to resell it, sadly she took away the building books and the boxes and did them away too.

Some people in this forum are very good at identifying sets. Add some photos of your LEGO and I am sure that at least some set numbers will be found. Then you can use a part list, e.g. on Bricklink, to collect the pieces of the sets.

Could you clarify if you need to identify some of the sets, or if you want some help to separate the piece of each set, because manual instructions should have at the end a list of all the pieces.

I can identify them myself, just looking for the best and fastest way to rebuild them. I already seperated pieces by color. Right now I rebuilded the smallest thing I had because it was near completion anyway. Anyhow I see I miss a few things though, bobba fett's helmet for example. I was wondering if there is some place where I can buy these spare parts too

Related: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1160/how-should-i-go-about-selling-a-large-number-of-unsorted-lego-sets

So you have all parts and instructions in front of you and your question now is how to assemble the pieces as fast as possible?? Without interest in LEGO, as you mentioned, I would use Bricklink to collect the pieces of each set, put them in bags, take product photos and sell them separately on Ebay.

Without the instructions it's going to be hard to reconstruct the sets and it will reduce the price anyway (I think people who cares for old sets also want the instructions). But you can find many instructions online.
Your valuation of 100-200€/set is probably unrealistic. There are lots of sets in that price range, but they are fairly large (especially in the upper end), so it doesn't sound like a typical kid collection, and when you include that it's used without boxes or instructions it becomes even more unrealistic.
I would need to see the parts to give a real recommendation, if it's all (but it has to be quite close) bigger parts that are reasonably easy to connect I would try that, but you easily end up spending more time looking at the model to find out where some small piece goes.

Hello, thank you for your answer. I have begun rebuilding a bit of small sets. Reason why I try to look at the price is because these sets already cost that much in the store. I have a huge collection of lego star wars, with a lot of big sets.


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Which set did this Technic assembly come from?

I posted a week or so ago and had great  success identifying a LEGO Star Wars set which is now completed.
So.. thought is would try again. Can anyone help me identify what this could be?

Ahh brilliant, this site and the support is fantastic! Thank you

According to BrickLink there are only 4 sets with the arched element in it in Dark Bluish Gray.
From those only 8435 Technic 4WD seems to fit:

I have this set and can confirm.


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EV3 Unregulated Motor - different plus/minus power behavior
I'm helping some fellow Bay Area LEGO User Group builders who want to use an EV3 to power a 9V train.
I'm using the NXT to 9V conversion cable (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=x1676)
with the old 9V metal train track connectors (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=5306c01&C=0#T=C&C=0) and the Unregulated Motor (UM) block in EV3=G.
My first test was to have the train travel one second in one direction then one second in the opposite direction in an infinite loop.  The results were fine with the train going in the direction that used a negative power in the UM block, but either no motion or shaky motion in the direction that used positive power values.
I tested the track with a multi-meter and verified that the power was only consistent and steady when using the negative power.
On this site I found an interesting answer describing what is probably happening:
Using the unregulated motor block and conversion cable to light LEDs
But that answer is only partly applicable -- I found that if I put a one second Wait block between power changes, then the power is consistent.  But different!
So a power setting of +40% for one second moves the train one track segment, while a power setting of -40% for one second moves the train three track segments.  It looks like I can generate a workable program, but I'm curious about why this behavior is happening, and if there will be other surprises.

Also see https://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/2325/3498

The answer is basically the same as the LED question that you linked. On the EV3 output ports, pin 2 is internally connected to pin 6. So, when you tell a motor to go in reverse (negative power value), pin 2 is powered, which in turn raises the voltage on pin 6. Both pins 5 and 6 are used for automatically detecting when a motor is connected.
So, when you use a negative power setting, most of the time (but not 100% of the time), it it will trick the EV3 into thinking there is a motor connected and the motor will stay powered. However, when you use a positive power setting, pin 1 is powered instead of pin 2, so the EV3 thinks that there is no motor connected (because nothing happens to pin 5 or pin 6). So, in this case, the device connection manager in the EV3 software takes over and resets the motor port, which causes it to stop sending power to the motor.
I attached an oscilloscope to pins 1 and 2, to see what is going on.

As you can see, the output is only turned on for 380ms, then it turns itself off. The motor was instructed to run indefinitely, but in reality, this is not what happens.
Since your test involved running the motor for 1s but it really only runs for 380ms, one would expect the car to run 38% of the distance as in the reverse case. You observation was 33% (one track length vs. 3), so that is quite close to what is expected.
As a workaround, you can Use the Unregulated motor block in a loop like this...

It is important to use two different "power" values. Each time you change the value, it turns on the output port again. If you use the same value, the software won't update the motor port and the device connection manager will take over and turn off the output.

Appreciate the thorough analysis and solution.  I've forwarded this info to the MOC designers.  You can see their work starting on page 34 of the 50th issue of BrickJournal.  I've got the digital version; the hardcopy version hasn't arrived yet.  Your help will be incorporated into whatever they've got planned for Bricks By the Bay 2018.  I'll try to post a video after the convention in July 2018.  Thank you!


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Alternate builds for classic space sets
I'm looking for a full list of the alternate builds on the boxes of Classic Space.  Any ideas?

Since the alternate builds have only been printed on the boxes, this question seems to go in the same direction. There was no success, so far, with scans of LEGO boxes, but maybe some collector did this for Classic Space sets. It is a pity, that there are no alternate builds any more on the boxes.

It looks like someone has 'reverse engineered' them from the box images in this eurobricks thread.
Hope that helped.

those are not official alternates but rather people using their imagination to think up their own alternates. Which was how it was intended at the time, and how I spent many evenings after school work building contraptions.

@jwenting oh ok.


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

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


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Can you print a LEGO Powered Up connector with a 3D printer?
Has anyone ever printed a LEGO Powered Up connector with a 3D printer? Currently, I'm using a modified SATA adapter for some LED lights on my train.

Yep.
See my writeup here: https://www.biasedlogic.com/index.php/lego-powered-up-connector/
Done that, works.

Are you talking the new 6 wire cables for the latest launched systems or the old two wire connectors like what was used on the Scout robotics controllers for sensors?
If you are talking the old two wire versions, you might be able to use conductive filament in conjunction with standard PLA to print an insulating strip between the two conductive halves of the connector and get it to work. If you stop the print in the middle and add the wires, the connection might be acceptable to have the wires 3-D printed into the connector.
I have used this method to make 3-D printed led holders that connect the leads of the LED's to the circuit by 3-D printing directly onto the LED's leads. I print the holder so the LED can be inserted into the holder, the leads bent to the surface and trimmed at the edge of the holder. Then when the rest of the holder is printed it melts the conductive filament to the leads and glues the LED into the holder permanently. I have tried insertion into tight fitting holes in the conductive material with poor results. I have tried wrapping the leads around posts of conductive material with moderate results. Melting the conductive filament directly onto the leads makes for the best connection.

With the OP's talk about a modified SATA connector, I think he's talking about the new system, possibly inspired by (something like) https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/10441/are-there-powered-up-compatible-connectors-available/10442#10442


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Are there more LEGO minifigures than humans?
In 2014 Randall Munroe of XKCD predicted that there would be more minifigures than people by 2019.

Was he correct? Have we reached the crossing point, and if so, when? If not, when will we?

I do not know the answer but the growth of the human population is definitely not linear.

From skeptics Will Lego people outnumber people by 2017?

@BalazsToth since 1970 it has been

Someone told me that in 2012 we already had reached the crossing point. However, I was not able to find the source yet. Maybe it is not that obvious.

@Tim Checked it, you’re right. I was pretty sure it’s rather exponential. Good to know!

To get the official info, I have asked LEGO about this topic:

Dear LEGO, in 2003 you have reported that there are (were) 4.000.000.000 LEGO minifigures produced by that time.
  I was wondering if there are more recent numbers available, especially since the popularity of the collectible minifigures, which could indicate an increase in the production rate.
Could you please provide some official information? Even estimates would be welcome.
Thank you!

And received the following reply:

Thanks for getting in touch with us.
Thank you for your interest in LEGO® Trivia, that is an interesting question.
You are certainly right that the number should have increased drasticly since then but I can't give you any new numbers. I am sorry but you will have to wait till our marketing department decides it is time to release more fun facts like this.

So in the absence of official numbers, we can only guess.

Haha, they don't know. Right now some LEGO agent is consulting the Bricklink catalog to come up with a number :)

Although it is impossible to be sure without more information from the LEGO Group, it seems likely the answer is yes (both now, and when the question was asked)—at least when you consider all minifigures ever produced, ignoring whatever minifigures have somehow been destroyed.
In early 2015, Lego reported that "Over the years more than 5 billion minifigures have been produced". This is in the 2015 company profile which I found on the Internet Archive. This was published on February 25, 2015, together with their 2014 Annual Report, so I think we can assume it reflects the state at the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.
In their 2015 report (also available on the Internet Archive), they said "In 2015, we made more than 725 million LEGO® minifigures globally."
Assuming that they've produced at least that many minifigures annually since then (and if anything, I would expect the annual production to have increased), then over the course of 2018, the number of minifigures ever produced would grow from 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×3 = 7,175,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 + 725,000,000×4 = 7,900,000,000.
At some point during the year the number would have been equal to the human population, which estimates place somewhere between 7.44 billion up to 7.63 billion in 2018.

It appears not to be the case. This link notes there were only 4 billion minifigures in the world in 2022 and around 340 million LEGO minifigures are produced every year.


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How to make an exact 16 degree turn?
Does anyone know how to make an exact 16 degree turn with a LEGO robot?

This is actually a surprisingly difficult task. If you search for similar questions over on the Robotics stack exchange, you will find very smart people who can't even get it right with thousand-dollar localization solutions and graduate-level control theory.
If you have a Gyro sensor like Michael suggested, you're on the right track. You can probably get close to 16 degrees with that.
If you don't have a Gyro sensor, you can use the motors' built-in rotation sensors. If you drive the motors in opposite directions, the robot rotates around the point halfway between the wheels, and the formula is:

Where:

r_wheel  is the radius of your robot's wheels
theta_wheel  is the angle the wheel has to move
r_robot  is the radius of the robot (half of the distance between the two wheels)
theta_robot  is the angle you want the entire robot to turn, in this case 16 degrees.

So measure the radius of the wheel and the robot, plug in 16 degrees for theta_robot, and solve for theta_wheel. Then drive one motor forward theta_wheel degrees, and one motor backward theta_wheel degrees (simultaneously).
Bonus points if you make a MyBlock to have the EV3 do the calculation itself, for any desired theta_robot.
Actually even if you do have the gyro I would recommend trying both to see which gives better results for your specific situation.

I think the reason people struggle with this task is due to the difference between maths and the real world - you also need to take into account slippage of the wheels on the surface, play within the components, and so on ;)

@Zhaph-BenDuguid Oh definitely. There's too many unknown variables affecting robot motion, and they add up to bigger and bigger error over time. Generally this task would be done using a Kalman filter, fusing the sensor readings from the motor encoders with an IMU and a compass. Such a task is totally doable with Mindstorms but is more than likely out of the scope of this question.

Do you have a gyro sensor on your robot? I'm assuming you're using an EV3 set, and the Mindstorms programming environment.
If so, reset your gyro sensor, and then insert a loop block attached to the gyro sensor. Set the loop settings to >= 16 degrees, and insert a tank move block into the loop. The motor should be set to 'on', with wheels going in opposite directions; the speeds should be relatively low to more accurately stop at your chosen degree setting. After the loop, be sure to insert a stop, or the robot will keep rotating.
m.


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How to convert LEGO base plate to a DUPLO base plate?
How can I convert a regular LEGO base to a DUPLO base? I have a table that cannot be changed and it has built-in LEGO baseplates, but I need it to be 100% DUPLO compatible. Any LEGO to DUPLO baseplate converters?

See also: Are DUPLO blocks compatible with LEGO blocks in any way and Are there any LEGO baseplates that are compatible with DUPLO

The table IS already cross compatible, even though it doesn't look it. The tabletop or LEGO baseplate is cross molded for DUPLO pieces to fit and lock in on top of the regular LEGO baseplate.
PART ONE: THE PICTURED PROOFS...

So, let's imagine the top of your table is my unopened gray baseplate.

We'll use a DUPLO Cock-A-Doodle-Doo for an example DUPLO model.

Sorry, but I don't want open my baseplate just yet, so in the next four shots we'll use these green plates to show the cross interlocking magic of LEGO and DUPLO.

PART TWO:  THE WHAT IFs...

Now, I did say the magic was cross interlocking, so... WHAT IF your tabletop HAD started off DUPLO and we wanted it to be, in our minds, 100% compatible with regular LEGO.

You see, it is compatible, again, it may not look it at first glace, but as we can see using these White 2x4 LEGO bricks with a Bright Yellow 2x2 DUPLO brick things are indeed cross compatible.

I'm gonna get uber geeky here, but the harder to imagine negative space inside the White 2x4 LEGO brick interlocks beautify with the easier to see studs of the 2x2 Yellow DUPLO brick.

Well, hey!  Hoped to have saved you time, money and effort in fabricating a new table.  Later!

Thanks for the clear pictures.  They really drive your point home.

Now you have to tell us what the black, white and grey thing is. :)

A highly glorified garbage can, that's what it is!  Well, it's a trash receptacle. LEGO themed after an enemy from Super Mario World, called a Thwomp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxr5WEYJ-6s.


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What is this element ID?

What is this element ID?? Could you please help?

This is :
Part # 4285b
Dish 6 x 6 Inverted (Radar) Webbed - Type 2 (underside attachment positions at 90 degrees)


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Mystery LEGO bags
I bought 3 sealed bags of LEGO at the second hand store. They are unopened but have no box/ instructions.
I looked at some other threads here and tried to identify the sets using piece numbers and the Peeron site but haven't had luck.
I'm hoping to post pictures here and hopefully someone can help me.....
The first bag has a police theme, a robber and a bubble canopy window. I believe it's the complete set as the bag has no number.
The other two are harder, they are numbered bags so obviously part of larger sets (both 6 so not part of the same set.....)

you should probably open a new question for the first photo

The first one is 60004-1 fire station I'm pretty sure, at least part of it. You should add another question for it though

Found it, it's LEGO City Brickmaster, a book-set (ISBN-13: 978-1405356237),

How did I do it ?
I used my trusted pyrebrickable, using a few pieces in the bottom right corner, and the only set that contains both black knit cap, white cap, and light bluish gray 1x1 cone is this one, numbered DKCity-1 in the rebrickable dataset.
Good building !

Nice! I didn't get beyond 60049 with bricklink. I would delete the old part of your answer.

You're right, I removed the deprecated part :-)

Thank you very much! Any idea how to get instructions for this (since they are  within a book) any ideas  about the other bag? (it's only part of a larger set).

Also, How can I leave good reviews/rating for my helpers?

Building shouldn't be really hard based on what we see on the image, I think.

That source you were using is broken, it leads to a 404 page.

Thanks @mindstormsboi, fixed the link

First picture has parts from Fire Station (60004) set. Identified by unique combination of Garage Roller Door Section without Handle in Trans-Light Blue and Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Open O Clip Thick (Vertical Grip) in Yellow.

The other set has been correctly identified by rienafairefr.


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Source of LDD models
I have just begun using LDD and want to teach my grandchild.  Is there a community inventory of some kind of LDD models that people share?

Eurobricks has a very large list of official LEGO sets recreated in LDD by community members. I found it extremely useful. Look through the list and search for sets by set number and/or name: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/41226-key-topic-official-lego-sets-made-in-ldd/

You're very welcome. :)

@BillDuncan then don't forget accepting the answre


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Advanced LEGO set for my 5 yr 2 months old child
My Son is considerably talented in LEGO building. Till now, he has completed over 30 LEGO sets all by himself which includes this year completion sets - 42054, 42064, 42072, 42073, 31010, 3367 And 70625. His very first LEGO set was built when he was three years old - 40220.
Now looking for more challenging sets for him. Any suggestions?

As far as building experience, LEGO Technic sets are considered the most challenging. Looking at your list, it appears that your son already built some pretty large LEGO Technic sets, so if he enjoys the challenge, you can purchase him more of the larger Technic sets. Also, note that most large LEGO Technic sets will have alternate instructions, or the models can be combined with other sets. Additional instructions are available on the LEGO Technic website.
Compared to LEGO Technic, pretty much all other sets are going to be simpler, however some of the larger regular sets can still provide a good challenge. I would suggest browsing the paper catalog or LEGO's online shop together, and see what strikes his fancy. He might be into a particular theme to not just build but also play out stories. Or he may like vehicles, trains, motorized sets, or robotics.
Also, encourage him to free-build. There are alternate instructions available for many LEGO sets both online and in book form, or he can just build from his own imagination. That's really the next level for a talented LEGO fan; designing and building their own models.
You might also want to check if there is a LEGO club near you for young LEGO fans. They are usually well structured and focus on robotics and other educational aspects of LEGO, which may be a good fit for your child.

My daughter is also voracious with lego.  I like to just let her decide what she wants to build, within reason.  I think the Technic sets are the most challenging for her but at 8 she is doing sets labeled for teens, she has needed help occasionally.  I also like to make up challenges for her, "That is a great car you built, can you add the pull-back motor to it?".


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Which set is this bag 3 from?

This is the bag. Please help me identify and find instructions.

Do you have any other pictures of the bag?  The glare on the bag makes it hard to see the parts.  A picture of the back in better light would make this much easier.

THe appearance of  part 973pb2859c01 - Torso Scuba Vest with Utility Belt with Pouches and Lavender Tentacles Pattern / Yellow Arms / Black Hands means this is from one of these 3 The Lego Ninjago Movie sets.
The dominance of Red and Black bricks, combined with the presence of part 78c02 - Flat Silver Hose, Ribbed 7mm D. 2L narrows it down to set 70615 - Fire Mech.