text:
Do all the 'balls' fit in the bowls?
Will this ball fit in this bowl?

Only for a given value of "fit".
Both of these pieces are part of set 70156-1, Legends of Chima "Fire vs. Ice".  On the front of the box, you can clearly see the blue ball 'sitting in' or resting on top of the white bowl, in front of the orange vehicle on the left.  It does not sit snugly inside.

No, both have a size of 2 studs.

2 studs, not bricks.

@Alex right, thats what I meant, thanks


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

Welcome to Bricks.SE. I think you edited away the end of your last sentence :)

No, mindstormsboi did but the edit is pending approval. No idea why mindstormsboi did that... I rejected the edit, and now I've lost my original text and the history. Sigh.

This is probably a smartphone issue. Someone calls while you are bidding on Ebay and editing text at the same time.

Who knows. Anyway, I've sort of restored it.

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

It’s a super LEGO Star Wars™ gift idea for adult fans and offers a
  testing challenge for experienced LEGO builders, with the familiar
  shape and authentic details of the helmet beautifully recreated using
  LEGO bricks.
Pay homage to one of the most fearsome bounty hunters in the Star
  Wars™ universe and challenge your LEGO® building skills to construct
  this awesome Boba Fett Helmet (75277) memorabilia model for display.
The authentic details of the Boba Fett Helmet are beautifully
  reproduced with LEGO® bricks. Displayed on its base with nameplate,
  this model will spark memories of thrilling Star Wars™ scenes.
This Boba Fett Helmet is part of a range of collectible LEGO® Star
  Wars™ build-and-display models – also watch out for the Stormtrooper
  Helmet (75276).
The best birthday gift, Christmas present or special surprise for Star
  Wars™ fans aged 18+ and any experienced LEGO® builder, this 625-piece
  Star Wars Boba Fett Helmet offers a challenging construction project.
This LEGO® Star Wars™ Boba Fett Helmet measures 8.5” (21cm) high, 4.5”
  (11cm) wide and 4.5” (11cm) deep – it doesn’t take up lot of space,
  but its striking details are sure to delight any Star Wars fan.
This cool, battery-free construction set for creative adults offers a
  stress-relieving, relaxing build. So, take time out, find your
  building Zen and construct a fantastic Star Wars™ character
  build-and-display model!
Thinking of buying this Boba Fett memorabilia for a Star Wars™ fan new
  to LEGO® sets? No worries. It comes with clear, step-by-step
  instructions so they can take on this complex building challenge with
  confidence.
LEGO® Star Wars™ construction sets are great for kids and adult fans
  to build and display the models, recreate classic Star Wars movie
  scenes and create their own exciting stories. There’s something for
  everyone!
No need to use the Force to connect or pull apart LEGO® bricks! They
  meet the highest industry standards to ensure consistency and a
  perfect, easy connection.
LEGO® bricks and pieces are dropped, heated, crushed, twisted and
  analyzed to ensure that this LEGO Star Wars™ set meets the highest
  safety standards on Earth (and in galaxies far, far away!).

Basically a little more challenging build and not intended for play are the main reasons, I suppose.
Although I'm not sure why they both mention "+18", "adults" as well kids in the same description, like here:

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

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

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

Thanks Alex. Interestingly, my 7 year old asked if he could help build it. I said he's not over 18, so he's not allowed to. He came back with "Oh, so I can't build any more 12+ sets yet then?". The noticeable difference with this set over a 12+ set or something like 42110 11+ Technics set is that there are less granular steps. What I mean by that is, you get a step with a list of say 12 bricks, and 1 image to work out where they all go. In a 12+ set the steps would be more granular, with more guidance on where to place the bricks. Total build time on 75277 was just under an hour.

It is sort of similar with those sets with age recommendation set up to 99 (8455 set as an example). Should you stop building at the age of 99? Probably not, if you still can. And I loved building sets with recommended age above mine when I was a kid. Such sets were somewhat more complex but then much more rewarding to build.

The press release link seems to just take me to a generic Lego landing page.

@spikey_richie That's because you haven't opened lego.com page before/recently. I've checked in my main browser - all opens fine; and with incognito mode it opens the page you've mentioned, however choosing "Explore" option will let you see the press release.

I was on there yesterday browsing Harry Potter Lego... But curiously, when I go back in now it does show the article. Curious.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Horizontal connection between plates
If I only have minimum height available (one plate), how can I make a horizontal connection between two components? I need the connection to be easily disconnectable yet sturdy (like technic bricks with grey connectors).
I thought about hinge plates (4276/4275), but they are far too tight. I don't own any of the old ones (x1125/x1126), so I cannot check myself, but are they less tight?
Clarification - the components are built regularly (studs up), and sit next to each other and should be moved horizontally to separate or reconnect them.
There's no such thing as 2921 but only one plate high? I'd use that together with 4085, that would be perfect.

question: do your components sit RIGHT next to each other or is there a gap?

...was just wondering as two clips will be three studs wide, and if this layer is only one plate high how would you offset the clip?

@Uli right next to each other, yes, with slope bricks on top the "connection zone", and 2466s to the sides, so no possibility to add more space, I fear, without making the interior look ugly. If everything fails, I'll have to make the "roof" removable instead, but that will make the whole thing a lot less rigid.

so basically this is about two buildings touching each other with plain walls, each wall one stud width, can't use technic bricks because of visibility on inside, trying to hide clips in ceiling layer... right? any picture would certainly help : )

Mr. Blue and Ms. Red live next doors. Their houses are simple. The walls are one stud wide, the ceiling's one plate thick, some slopes on the roof.

Now they want to move their houses wall to wall. Mr. Blue bores a hole into the wall and happily bolts in a big peg. But Ms. Red thinks that's just a big eyesore!
So they try to hide some clips in the ceiling, but as it turns out...

...they leave a gap one stud wide.
And they don't fit onto a stud. They need at least one more layer of plates in the ceiling.

Okay. That's how I understand the situation. You cannot use Technic bricks (one can see them on the inside), your ceiling's height is just one plate.
So, why not go on top of the ceiling? Up onto the roof, between the slopes and hide some clips or hinges in a chimney or under an antenna?
Just two ideas, the yellow plates represent your ceiling layer.

Fun fact: here the amount of clutch depends on the length of the blue antenna's tip; slide it up to adjust.

Have you tried horizontal clips? They will be a little taller than 1 plate in the center, but you might be able to adapt them to your needs given that the connection point is just one plate. Perhaps these parts:
60470b

48336

Something like 4623 with a vertical clip might also be a possibility depending on your constraints:

You've already been given a number of solutions, where the part that actually goes within the components is only one plate high, while the actual connection is a bit more. I can't do any better, but I want to suggest another option:
A combination of

or

With either

or

The right combination of these parts allow some offset (if the parts fit), and these also allow movement in more than one direction.

How about trying Hinge Vehicle Roof Holder 1 x 4 with Hinge Train Gate 2 x 4?
Their connection is a lot looser (at least for old parts) than the 1x2 finger plate hinges.

Historical pieces phased out more than a decade ago ...

Modern hinges, like below, may give you desired result.
Here are Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers on Side and Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger on Side with Bottom Groove

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


text:
North American market Lego boxes sold in Europe (by Lego itself). Is that normal?
Thanks to this old question I know that North American market Lego boxes have the piece-count printed on the box, as that is a requirement in USA and Canada.
European market boxes don't have that.
However in the last 3 months I have purchased 2 Lego Creator boxes in The Netherlands (which is still Europe, as far as I know) that have the North America box style.
One box (the 1960's Mustang model) was bought January 2020 in a regular toy shop (not a Lego store). And I noticed several other sets in their shop with piece-counts on the box.
(So this could be a case of a retail chain sourcing their stock via unusual channels.)
But the other one (the Harley Fat Boy model) was bought middle of April 2020 directly from Lego on Lego.com and shipped from their German warehouse.
How common is this?
Some reasons come to mind:
Is this just a matter of Lego occasionally using packaging intended for the North American market to supplement their European packaging stock if that runs low?
Is Lego having production/stock issues due to Corona and is selling NA sets in Europe in stead of shipping them to NA?
Or is Lego starting to use a single box for all markets on some models? (The linked question is 7 years old. Things could have changed since then.)
Does anyone know?

It might be hard to answer, as we don't know what is TLG doing on their side. It could be one of the reasons you've mentioned. And I haven't seen US box in Eastern Europe for past 7 years.

On a related note, when the Mandalorian battle packs came out, there were European boxes sold in our local Lego Store (in Canada) with stickers placed on showing the piece count.


text:
Received 2 LEGO bags with no instructions
My wife and I received 2 LEGO bags and we are trying to identify what they are so my son and I can find the manual. I’ve attached pictures, thanks!

Also this picture shows the figures included.

Both are from Jungle Tree House (41059)

First polypag is identified by Container, Barrel Half Large with Axle Hole in Medium Lavender and Sand Green Mini Doll Friends Hips and Skirt
Second polybag has combination of Tile, Modified 4 x 4 with Studs on Edge in Dark Pink and Brick, Modified 1 x 2 Log in Lavender color.
Instructions can be downloaded from LEGO Service web page.


text:
What is part number for this yellow cylinder?
I looked through hundreds of bricks on BrickLink and can not find this thing. Does anyone know what this is? The yellow piece on the axle:

That would be 75535 Technic, Pin Connector Round 2L without Slot (Pin Joiner Round)

There's a newer variation on the part which has a slot, but you can tell the difference by the hairline crack in the picture.
62462 Technic, Pin Connector Round 2L with Slot (Pin Joiner Round)

Thank you!!!!!!


text:
What is this LEGO part (kind of wheel or gear) number?
I recently found a really nice MOC of the AT-TE from which I try to get inspiration. But there is one part that I really cannot identify... I wonder if anyone can tell me its part number. Here is a picture:

It seems to me to be a kind of Technic wheel or gear, but I couldn't find it on Bricklink...

It is a bit tricky to find this piece on Bricklink. Even though I knew the part it took me a little to find it.
The part you are interested in is Hero Factory Weapon Barrel with 2 Pin Holes and 3 Axle Holes. Default item part number is 98585, but 31511, 31520 could also be used for other colors by LEGO.


text:
How do I remove programs from my Lego Mindstorms EV3 project?
The title says it all. But to be more specific, I find it annoying that I have to download one single program to the EV3 Brick but then all the others in the project end up in the brick too, therefore I have to look in the EV3 storage to remove the specific programs I don't want. I bet there is a way to permanently delete certain programs from a project, but how??

Please clarify if you are using the old EV3 environment (with graphic blocks) or the new scratch based one...

@MichaelVerschaeve The block-based programming environment.

If you click the little wrench button, you can see your programs, images, sounds and more. You just have to click on the program you do not want and delete it. Alternatively, you can hide it.

Hope it helped.
Sorry my handwriting is terrible with a mouse.

I recall that most photo editors have a feature to add text, which would solve your problem.

Yeah but I used snip and sketch window app. Did it help you?


text:
Has anyone noticed paint tool buttons missing?
In LDD version 4.3.10 I have found the four paint tool buttons to be missing. I searched online and haven't found anyone else with the same question, and the user's manual was no help. Then just playing around with LDD I noticed that if I open a free build in Extended Mode, the buttons are there, so then I have to import a model in order to use them. This is fine, but if anyone knows why the buttons would be missing in the first place, I'd appreciate hearing from them. Thanks!

Hi, and welcome to Bricks! LDD seems to have been end-of-lifed without there being an official announcement of it, other than The LEGO Group saying that they are now going to focus their efforts on Studio from BrickLink. If you have a large body of designs in LDD files, the good news is that Studio can open these, and it has a wider range of parts and features that LDD. More information and downloads: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/download.page

Further checking shows that 4.3.10 is officially unsupported now - "Sorry. We don't support LDD version 4.3.10 anymore. If you still use version 4.3.10 you will experience errors when launching the application.". As noted on the linked question, version 4.3.12 also has missing parts, so you'll need to get the actual 4.3.11 version if you must stick with LDD on Windows.

Because it's no longer supported, LDD is bound to have strange problems. I've had a similar situation: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/14579/ldd-lacks-almost-all-functionality


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Lego Duplo Train Track Switcher washable? / Best way to clean them?
I've found some pretty old Lego Duplo train track parts, that I'm looking to sell on Ebay.
As these are pretty old and caked with dust, I wanted to used my usual method I usually use to clean all kinds of Lego parts: Put them in a duvet cover with a zipper so they don't go everywhere, and put them in the washing machine, and wash without any detergent and no spin cycle.
Afterwards I take them out of the machine (thanks to the duvet cover I can take them out just like a bag) and spread them on my terrace to leave them in the sun to dry.
As these track switchers have metal springs in them (at least I think so, judging based on the sound when moving the red thing) I was not sure, if they were just normal steel or stainless. Does anyone of you know about this, or know a way to open them without destroying them?

According to this page it is glued together and can not be opened without damaging the part
You are correct about it containing a metal spring

I would just wipe it with a slighty wet towel


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Unable to save NXT program
I pulled out my NXT recently to tinker around with it. After reconstructing one of the suggested builds, I was writing a small program for it. About halfway through, I needed to leave my work, so I tried to save the file, but I was unable to. I received the following completely straightforward and not confusing error message:

The text of the error message reads
Insane object at BHDP+3C18 in "Arm4Caleb.rbt": {graphics } (0x80): Loop Tunnel DCO )
with Arm4Caleb.rbt being the name of the file. I have failed to find what this error message may be referring to.
I also attempted to save a blank NXT program file; this was successful, leading me to believe that there was something wrong with my particular program. Consequently, I attach an image of the NXT program (I can't post the file because I can't save it):

The program is in collapsed mode so that I can screenshot it; the alternate decision for the largest switch "box" is a use of the C motor; the alternate decision for the medium box is a use of the C motor in the opposite direction; the alternate decision for the smallest box is doing nothing.
It's been a while since I've tried this visual coding stuff; I suppose I have an error somewhere in here? I'm not sure why it would prevent me from at least saving the file, though.

Apparently, all that I was missing was a STOP block at the end of the thread. Hopefully my oversight helps future users.
The STOP block looks like so:

Do you happen to have a picture of correct program with a "STOP" block to include in your answer?

@Alex do you think a picture of just the STOP block would work?


text:
Connectivity graph for a digital model
I'm looking for a way to take a digital representation of a model (e.g. an LDD or LDraw file) and extract from it a representation of the model that describes which pieces are actually connected to each other as a network graph. Bricklink Studio is able to calculate how many "detached sections" a model is comprised of (i.e. connected components) so this is definitely possible with available tools, I'm just not sure how to export this information in a format I could work with outside of Bricklink Studio.


text:
Need help identifying helmet
I cannot identify this minifigure helmet I have. It looks like some sort of a biker helmet.
This piece came in a bulk of parts, which are LEGO, however not entirely sure this is legit LEGO piece. It fits snugly onto minifigure head, however doesn't have any usual LEGO marking. The inside has just a number "3". Which is the reason for clone-brands tag. I did check on Bricklink, but I'm not very familiar with minifigure items.

This appears to part# 30171 Minifigure, Headgear Cap, Aviator

In black it appears in 118 sets.
However, I checked with my helmet from Robo Pilot
and that one has a LEGO marking on the inside, yours could be a older mold though.

Edit, I also have one with a 7 marking inside , no logo, so I would assume it is from an older mold.

Ah, so "Aviator" is a key word here. It turns out I already had a this piece in LEGO set from 2011. Both of the items have a number inside without mentioning LEGO anywhere. Also moulds are the same, including PIP, which proves this is LEGO piece after all.


text:
Where to start with a custom firmware for the NXT
In the process of hardware hacking with my NXT 2.0 I Found no easy way to connect the device as a USB storage device. Is there a specification that states how the NXT interacts over USB, or should I just RE the firmware?
I have experience with coding in C, compiling, linking, etc. So I’m not completely new.
I know the firmware is open-sourced, but as others have written their own firmware, and since the codebase is pretty big, I’d like to gain opinions on where to start modding the firmware.

You have there the core of a quite interesting question, but in its current form it is not suitable for this site. Please add some details, like what kind of experience you have (whether you need basic tutorials or pointers to the specific files), what have you already tried, and so on. As soon as you do so, we can reopen the question and you'll probably get the answers you are looking for (and not some vague answers that you can't do anything with, since they don't apply to your particular situation).

See also the answers to Is there any other way to program the NXT other than the provided hardware which details out other programming options and firmware - the best place to start with something like this is picking up where others have left off!

The best resource I have found for compiling NXT firmware is http://nxt-firmware.ni.fr.eu.org/.

Most of the flashing tools on Linux use an ancient version of lib USB, making them kind of hard to compile.

Community♦ has apparently 'bumped' up this question so that we can vote on your answer to see if it is good or not, but I really do not know whether to upvote or downvote. Perhaps your answer should be a comment instead??


text:
How do you display multiple items at once on an EV3 screen?
I'm trying to make a program on the EV3 that will imitate the shutdown process.
At first, I wanted to make my life easier by naming the program "Shutting Down" and not interfere with the display in any way, because the program execution screen looks almost exactly like the real shutdown screen, however there is one small difference. On the default program execution screen, the line underneath the Mindstorms logo sometimes has parts of it intentionally white-ed out so that it looks like two lines, but the shutdown screen always has one straight black line that never changes. So I decided to go with Plan B.
Plan B was to interfere with the display and make it look 100% like the real shutdown screen. I am a bit new to this, though, and there's one thing about displays that I still don't get. And that is how I'm supposed to have more than one item appear on the screen at a time.
Here are the things I tried:
• I put all the displays in an infinite loop block without any wait blocks, hoping that without wait blocks it will display the images at such a rate that it gives the illusion that they are being shown all at once, but instead, it acted as if I did put tiny wait blocks here and there and the screen flickered, which is not what I want. What's stranger is that they came up in a lighter black than usual, kinda like the EV3 screen was physically dying.
• I put each display block with one play block behind it and nothing else, but the result was that only one of the displays would show up.
Here's the current program, without any display tweaks (other than the completely blank screen). I doubt it will help, but I don't mind if you steal my code and claim it for yourself. It's also possible that the code is messing with the display, but again, I doubt it. Just take a look:

I know the/an answer for the nxt, so I figured I'd check to see if it works for ev3: Is there any sort of option (a checkbox, on NXT) associated with the display blocks that says "Clear Screen"?

@Brandon_J As you can see in the given program the display block has an image of an eraser and a grey checkmark underneath. This tells that the screen will be cleared, but for some reason it doesn't seem to work for me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the eraser looks like that on the NXT software, right?

I have figured it out.
At first, I mistook the eraser icon on the display code block for a function that makes the screen completely empty. As it turns out, I am wrong.
As Brandon_J pointed out, the clear-screen function is crucial to the solution. When enabled, it removes any other images that have been on the EV3 screen before it. If I want to show two or more images on the screen, the code should look like this:

The first code block has the clear-screen function enabled (the eraser), but the second one doesn't so that the sideways hourglass that comes before it will still stay on the screen. The first display block has clear-screen enabled to prevent odd outputs like the following:

If there are multiple display blocks in a loop, the screen will also appear like the above no matter what. There aren't any wormholes for it, and even if you put random code blocks before the displays in a loop in order to reach the program execution screen, you'd still get a similar result. Thus they should be outside of loops.
Alternatively, we can use the image uploader, as user15324 pointed out. This can be accessed by clicking "Tools" and clicking "Image Editor". This allows you to make custom images for the EV3.

You can then press the Save button in the upper-left corner and name your image.

The image will automatically appear under the "Project Images" folder in display blocks. It can be used the same way as any other image.

In my case, I could've just added this small batch of code to the start of the program. It has a random code block in front of the play button to access the program execution screen, and then a line is added to cover up the existing line that sometimes partially disappears.

At the start of the program, add a block that displays a custom image that is exactly the same as the shutdown screen (To make one, go to the tools tab at the top left, and in the drop-down, press "Image Editor") also, you can make a completely blank image for the second display block.

Will try it soon. Thanks!


text:
Procuring alternative rubber bands
I am reassembling old sets from my LEGO collection and, naturally, some parts are missing. Many parts are easy to get on Bricklink, but some parts are either missing or too expensive to buy for the little aesthetic value they bring.

Rubber bands. They've been with LEGO since 1969. They have the tendency to snap, they love to get lost and with age start to crumble (or is it just mine?) If you want to reassemble decade-old sets you probably have to look for replacements. I can see two ways to go:

Buy it on Bricklink if the type-color combination is still used in new sets (say Blue x37 or you're fine paying a lot for the part or the shipping Bright-green x37 was last seen in 2007).
Look for alternatives.

Call me stingy, but if I can get bootleg all-rubber-bands-I-ever-need for $1 versus a single rubber band from Brazil for a total of $11 I will go for the former. But are there any tricks to it?

Is there any company/shop that sells rubber bands with the same/similar sizes, colors, shapes and strengths?
Are there any good guidelines to follow when buying bands from anywhere else?

I am doing research for this answer from time to time and this answer is going to be updated as I learn new things. Feel free to suggest edits or post your own answer if you have better information.

Problems
There are five problems that need to be solved when looking for a replacement rubber band:
Diameter

(image source)
This is probably the easiest. There are a lot of rubber bands available in every corner of the Internet and for most cases you'll likely be okay with slight variation in size.
Height
Height being how tall the band is when you lie it down - too tall and it won't fit on bushes or wedge belts. Sometimes seller will specify this dimension, if not you can always try asking.
Thickness
For most intents and purposes thickness should not matter much, unless you're dealing with severely limited space which in my experience is rarely an issue with official sets.
Cross-section
LEGO rubber bands come in two cross-sections - square/rectangle and circle. While I've found countless square/rectangle rubber bands I'm yet to find a single seller who deals with round. Even on Aliexpress which is said to have everything available.
Unless you're lucky you'll have to manage with square ones.
Tensile strenght & stretchability
LEGO sets rarely deal with forces sufficient to snap a rubber band, though how much energy is required to stretch it might be important. That's not an easily found information, so you have to deal with it by either contact the seller (or even better manufacturer), or buying different kinds and trying them out.

Solution
Even though the question is about finding alternatives, your first line of action should be seeing if the official ones are available.

Check on Bricklink and other LEGO marketplaces if the specific rubber band you're looking for is available in an acceptable price. Just remember that rubber bands from very old sets even in mint condition can be weakened by old age.
There is an official rubber band pack from LEGO (2000707-1) which can be fairly easily found but it's not cheap. There are likely other sets. Make sure to email LEGO customer support requesting they release new sets of rubber bands in different colors - the more emails they get the more likely they'll actually do something about it.

If the above are not acceptable options here is what I'd do:

Assemble the set that requires the rubber bands as much as you can. Use any bands you have at home to finish it.
Determine what's the acceptable difference in size, strength, stretchability and color.
Repeat the same process for all other sets you own that are missing bands.
Shop online for bands that are the closest to your requirements. Amazon, EBay, local equivalents. Maybe you can find a local manufacturer or distributor - don't hesitate to contact them.

Hobby/crafting materials stores often have boxes with several 100 rubber bands in various colors/sizes mixed together for just $5 to $10. Even if only a handful of the bands in such a box fit your requirements it is probably a lot cheaper than buying more specialized sets. I always keep such a generic box of rubber-bands around the house. Usually there is something in there that fits whatever need I have.  By the time the box gets empty or the bands start to deteriorate with age (whatever comes first) I just buy another box.


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What are the buildings in Miniland in the Legoland Park set 40346-1?
The Legoland Park set 40346-1 contains three plates with buildings/structures from the Legoland Miniland: https://www.mecabricks.com/en/models/8xaDX5zwaB7 (building instructions: https://www.lego.com/biassets/bi/6282853.pdf )

I can recognize some of them: Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, Brandenburger Tor, perhaps Nyhavn.
But what are the rest supposed to be?

The comment by user "Stephan3321" (the creator of the digital model) on the linked page lists the following buildings / monuments:

Statue of Liberty
Tower of London
Steamboat Willie
Golden Gate Bridge
Brandenburg Gate
Neuschwanstein Castle
Burj Khalifa
Petronas Twin Towers

The blue, lime, orange and brown buildings could be Nyhavn, indeed, but I couldn't find any official description.

There's also a mountain, perhaps Mount Fuji? Right beside what seems to be a cherry tree. Both are related to Japan.

@Alex That is plausible, but in the absence of an official description I'm pondering whether opening up this answer as a community wiki would be a better way of collecting ideas.

Yes, I did see that comment. I don't believe the Tower of London is there (perhaps he confuses it with Big Ben?) and I don't believe the boat is Steamboat Willie (wrong shape).

I think that the boat is steamboat willie. There isn’t to much that you can do with two studs.

Agree that it's likely to be Nyhavn - it's a fairly large section of the Billund LEGOLAND display. I think it's also got Billund Airport in it (the curved roof gives it away).


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EV3 menu tabs occasionally vanishing
When I say "EV3 menu tabs," I'm referring to this part:

And sometimes it disappears, just like the title says.

After testing the EV3, I concluded that there are certain circumstances where this occurs:
• When you make a program that will give this error while in the middle of processing (if program interferes with the display you will not be able to see it).
• When you leave the EV3 brick inactive for a few minutes.
I conclude that my EV3 screen is not defective. I can still navigate to other tabs because when I press any of the EV3 brick buttons, it shows up again. This bug has appeared only when I updated the firmware to V1.10E, and since I see that this version lacks the Brick Datalogging app, I'm not surprised that this ends up appearing too.
Has anyone else had this problem? Has any genius out there already came up with a fix for this? Or do I have to send a report to LEGO™ about it and wait for a new version?
Edit: Here's some code that is likely to trigger this problem.

Reading your question I understood this issue has only appeared post recent firmware update and it seems like you treat it as a bug. We might not be able to answer this vendor specific question. Have you tried submitting a bug report?

@Alex Nope, not yet... but I guess I will.  Can you try testing that program of mine to see if you get the problem, or do you not own the EV3 brick?


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Why was 4265 redesigned?
According to Bricklink, there are three versions of the part 4265:

4265a with teeth and tight-fit axle hole
4265b with teeth and loose axle hole
4265c without teeth and loose axle hole

Looking at the release dates it seems like B superseded A and C superseded B, although there were long overlap periods. My guess is B was introduced to reduce the amount of plastic used per-part and possibly to make it easier to slide it on an axle.
Then C removed teeth because they're fragile and tend to break off.
Is my theory correct? If not, then why was that part redesigned?

I suppose that you're right about the teeth being fragile, but it's also worth pointing out that they are quite useless. I bet they were intended to prevent the part from unintentionally spinning on the axle, but the way that they designed the hole in the part already did the job. Also, I think they are called "bushes."

Also, they might have made the clutch tighter since it was quite pointless and annoying for the bushes to occasionally slip off.

If you check sets each version was available in, you'll spot there isn't much of an overlap. Yeah, some sets still had older version, while newer one was already introduced, but is more of an exception (or error while inventorying a set) rather than a rule. A version had its end in 1993, B version began to appear in 1992 and ended in 1997 (with few odd sets released afterward), just where newest, C version, was introduced.

Part A & B were fragile, to the point where enough teeth fell off you ended up with your own version of Part C.  :-)

I'll speak from my experience with these items as I don't have any formation backed by TLG.
The teeth themselves, found on A and B version of the 4265, while looking fragile, weren't the cause of the redesign I think. These could bend or deform but still be gripping with Technic plates with toothed ends as well as toothed pin axle connectors (which I think was the primary reason teeth existed on half bushes at first).
First two versions seem to be quite weak since they tend to crack quite often. Especially with aging, when clutch strength increases (perhaps parts shrink a little over time?). Don't know the reason behind designing version B, but it looks like the issue with cracking was observed and TLG tried to remediate this.
As for version C, I cannot really tell if supplemental sets released in 1993 really had this version included. It looks like the actual year C version was used is 1997, being part of several sets. You'll also notice this is also the year modern Technic connectors (like 32016) were introduced. These new connectors have the same angles you could construct from toothed pin axle connectors with busing of A or B type and are much stronger. Due to this there's no need for half-bushing to have teeth, thus it can have a little more plastic to make it stronger. In fact, I cannot really remember if any of modern 1/2 bushing I have got cracked or broken.
As seen on this picture from Rebrickable C version (represented here as 32123a and 32123b) had minor mould change over its production as well. Bricklink doesn't distinguish these variations and use 4265c part number for both.

Oh! I knew the teeth could be interlocked with another bush but I completely forgot about those plates with toothed ends - even though just yesterday I assembled an old Technic set that had those. And I think I still have one of those axle connectors.
As a side note I remember quite a few of the old bushes breaking or losing single teeth but I indeed can't remember any modern being damaged. But that could have something to do with the fact the old ones were used by me and my brothers, while the new ones only by me.

Since those teeth pin axle connectors caused so many teeth to fail, I assumed they just replaced them with angled version, which also made the bush version less necessary.  Big improvement, in my opinion.

I never had a tooth break on one of the old-style bushings, but more than half of the ones in my collection, including nearly all of the "a"-style ones, have split down the body of the bushing.

Indeed the interlocking of the teeth with plates or toothed pin axle connectors was rarely used, but it did happen: it is for example used in set 8480 (Space Shuttle) to give the cockpit ceiling the right angle. Without the teeth, the cockpit ceiling will move around its axes and never take a nice position.
The angled connectors are much more robust, but also take up much more space, so I have trouble considering them as a straight replacement for the old system.


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What set has a monster food truck with a burger on top?
I saw this image of a Lego truck with a giant burger on top, but the set number was not given. If anyone could tell me what set this is, I'd appreciate it!

I have just realized that I could've simply typed "lego burger truck" into Google and I would find my answer.

That is the Creator 3-in-1 Monster Burger Truck, set number 31104. It has a piece count of 499, and it sells on LEGO.com for $49.99. It was released in January 2020.

What about the price in Euros? Or will I have to find that out myself?

No, I just figured it out.  It's 54.99 Euros.


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Set identification - Movie set
I have a set that could be a partial set and, to make things even more difficult, include parts of a different set.

It looks to me like a movie set, with a director and an aide. There are some other guys that could be movie actors or just part of a different set (a red herring).
I never got any kind of instructions when I acquired this set, and now my oldest kid an I are trying to put together all our sets (many of which were in pieces or were cannibalized to make other creations), and I would love to know if this is a complete set and I can do something with it.

There are multiple sets indeed.
First and last minifigures are part of 1356 Stuntman Catapult set. Stuntman is unique to this set.

Looks like the second and third minifigures, camera as well as most of the parts are from 1355 Temple of Gloom

This leaves us with some bits as well as last minifigure - fourth from left is Baron Von Barron with Pith Helmet and White Epaulettes, also appears in 11 sets. This minifigure as well as baby dinosaur, including some leftovers after first two sets indicate these could be from 5914 Baby T-Rex Trap.

It doesn’t look like a complete set to me, and it does seem to include parts from more than one set. Some of the parts and minifigs are from 1349 - Steven Spielberg Moviemaker Set. Some of the minifigs that are not in that set look like they’re from other sets in the LEGO Studios theme.

[ Alex and Andrew have already identified the sets, but I'd like to add a bit of context. ]
Seeing the directors and camera instantly reminded me of the Moveimaker sets.

I had forgotten that there wasn't a "Moviemaker" theme, but LEGO Group called it "Studios".  As the brickfilms wiki describe this theme:

LEGO Studios was a LEGO theme that focused on stop-motion animation and filmmaking. Sets in the line were released from 2000 to 2002. The flagship set, 1349 LEGO Studios Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set, included a special LEGO webcam and proprietary software that included stop-motion capture, timeline editing, and sound recording and editing. LEGO Studios was instrumental in popularizing the hobby of brickfilming.

So despite the short life of this theme, many folks who probably never even owned any of the sets in this theme have seen the amazing results and added their own art to the genre.
Given how much you have from this theme already check out the other sets on brickset or bricklink and see how many more parts you may have.


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PF: One battery block, one IR receiver, two motors on same port
I have a heavy train with Power Functions. Now I want to use two train motors on the single loco. But as I understand, this is not possible with original LEGO parts? Do I need something like a three-way cable to connect two motors to the red pin of the IR receiver? If I connect one motor to red pin and second motor to blue pin — I will not be able to control both motors from one RC simultaneously, right?
UPDATE: Hey, I can stack connectors? Didn't notice that before.

Welcome to Bricks.SE. Could you elaborate what do you mean by saying "PF 1.0" and "PF 2.0" here?

I corrected terms.

As well as stacking the connectors if you want to control two things at the same time you can build on the remote so that both switches or dials are moved in sync.

You can attach (stack) more than one motor on the same connector (red or blue) of PF IR Receiver to control them at the same time. This is exactly what is being done in 9398 set, for example (although it uses V2 of PF IR Receiver). They will be spinning in the same direction with a push of a single button. If you need to reverse the rotation of one of the motors Pole Reverser comes to the rescue.

At this point of time there is no option with Powered Up to control both ports on the same receiver with a single button. Each port accepts just one motor, so you cannot make both motors attached to same receiver spin at the click of a single button - you need another receiver (on the same channel as the first one) for second motor to be controlled simultaneously.
Edit. Stacking motors on the same PF port/connector doesn't provide unlimited power and has its limit. Usually, couple of motors doesn't cause overheating protection to kick in, unless they are strained.

Ahhh! Just before your answer I noticed I can stack connectors. This must be the correct answer. I removed the part of my question about PU because I googled it and saw it is non-compatible.


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Looking for two specific Lego pieces

I've been browsing through Bricklink for most of my morning trying to find these two specific LEGO pieces. If someone could help me find the number ID for these, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Sorry for the image quality, it's the best I can do.
Edit: Here's another pic of the first piece:
Edit Edit: Okay so I did find the first piece on Bricklink. It's categorized as a minifig weapon and its' ID is 15071.

Cannot recognize the first one as it might be a clone-brand part, but the other is Pneumatic Hose Connector with Axle Connector

The first piece is: Minifigure, Weapon Gun, Blaster 1 x 2 x 2/3 with Studs on Sides and Handle
Part # 15071


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Suitable arched bricks for building a bridge
I'm working on a LEGO project with my son and we want to include a bridge. However, I cannot find individual arch pieces that would work for a bridge.

Could you be more specific about what kind of bridge you want to build ?

This sounds like a fun project! There are lots of options available for arches. It might be helpful to know a bit more about what you are looking for. If you are trying to build an arch bridge such as this:

The 18838 arch or similar might be a good fit. These can be purchased on Bricklink or directly from LEGO fairly inexpensively.

If you don't have an easy way to get that piece or a regular arch piece doesn't meet your needs, you can get pretty good results emulating arches of any shape using inverted slopes (or regular slopes if you get clever). Here's an example brick-built arch by Tom Alphin:

You can find arched bricks produced by LEGO on Bricklink. You can also find available colors for each item as well as purchase if you need extra.


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What set does this brick come in?
This brick is part of a 1980-1990's set.
Does anyone know which one?

That's Slope 45 2 x 2 with 3 Gauges and 3 Knobs Pattern and was available in 23 sets.


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Bag sets identification please Star Wars © 2007
I just purchased a box of random Lego with some sealed bags I’m wondering what they are. The guy I purchased from was vague but said he thinks they’re Star Wars. Note bags 4,5,6,7,8 are there. Mostly black, some technic parts throughout and ©2007 on each bag. Thanks

The "©2007" on the bags, just refer to the bags

looks like 7672-1: Rogue Shadow

Based on the parts

Left Shell 3X10

Parabola 6X6
Rocket Step 4X4X2

Technic Stick

2M Fric. Snap W/Cross Hole

Jet Engine

and the Technic rubber projectile launcher

it should be (as Uli commented) 7672-1: Rogue Shadow:

Champion Zovits! I would have never worked that out. Thank you so much. Looks as though I’ve scored a good set cheap


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Help finding number so I can find the set
I am looking for the codes of these 2 bricks. I inherited a big box of LEGO, but can't find the number to identify the set they go in.

Welcome to Bricks.SE.  Congratulations, you've got 40+ years old LEGO parts there!

That's 772p01 - Brick 1 x 2 x 2 without Bottom Tube with Window Pattern was available in one of these 4 sets.

And 3145 - Vehicle, Tipper End Flat with Pins in White color could be found in just 2 sets.

Thank you!!! I have found and build the sets


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Set to this brick
Do you know this piece? I would like to know the number of this item to see the set.

Does this answer your question? Part Identification - bricks with posts

I have never seen this piece before, but it seems like this is Vehicle, Steering Gear. In case this is the right one, black colored one was available in 12 sets.

You are correct. I have 3 of those 12 sets you linked and this is most definitely the steering gear. The cabin of the truck has a bottom and top plate with a hole. Beam goes through both and gets a standard 2x1 brick on top that can be twisted to turn the wheels.

Hi all thanks again! I have found the set and finished it. It was from the breakdown truck nr 382.


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Minifigures - Series 20 The Knight
Is the knight in the new Minifigures Series 20 based on the character in the movie Monty Python and The Holy Grail?
Here's what it looks like:

This seems to match my recollection of the major knights from the film, so pretty much probably not:

There wasn't a black (sable) and yellow (or) quartered knight, nor a martlet or raven on his shield.
That helmet element (Mini Knight's Helmet Closed) has been around since 2010, and has often been used in tournament and jousting sets, as well as general Castle sets of the time.


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Paint and marker removal from minifigs?
When I was little, I sometimes painted or colored on LEGO minifigures. Is there an easier solution for cleaning off the marks, especially the paint? Glass cleaner was recommended but after leaving them in the cup for a while (a few hours, I believe), the marker and paint faded, but it was minimal. Is there anything else I could do to remove it?

Does this answer your question? How to remove printed decoration

No, I don't think it does, because this one is getting off decals from LEGO, and not paint.

You mean your figures have decals on them and not paint?

Do you have a picture of minifigures before and after using windows cleaner?

@zovits I painted on the minifigures, not premade decals.

No, I don't have pictures, but the paint is indeed faded, but since I'm selling them I need them in top shape.


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Why won't my Lego Mindstorms NXT stop beeping/clicking and work properly?
I was trying to update the firmware on my NXT but suddenly the screen went blank and it started beeping. I unplugged and re-plugged my USB and a notification came up saying that the device malfunctioned. I tried holding down the orange button but that didn't work so then I held down the off button (gray button) but that didn't work either. What should I do?

I advise that you look at our other questions about malfunctioning NXTs for more troubleshooting tips here: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/nxt

Btw, did the beeping sound like computer mouse clicks? If so, then this means that the firmware has been broken in some way. Here's another troubleshooting idea: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/8076/15028

yes it dose sound a little like clicking

Click the link in my second comment for instructions on fixing the problem. If it doesn't help, let us know. Clicking NXT bricks are actually quite common.

Nevermind I fixed it

How?? Please write how you fixed it as an answer so that this question doesn't get considered an "unanswered question."


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How many unique Lego elements are there?
I’m looking for the number of “kinds” of pieces, not the aggregate number of all pieces produced. A breakout of Duplo, Technic and other “specialties” would be helpful as well.

Yeah good enough. I looked several times for existing ones but that didn’t come up.

Bricklink will be a source of the data to answer this question.
At the time of this answer Bricklink has 59610 items in its part catalog. However, this list contains such categories like "Sticker Sheet" (3422 items), "Stickers Over Assembly" (250 items), "Special assembly" (38 items) you wish to exclude, since they are not really individual parts. This leaves us with 55900 parts. It is worth mentioning this number includes "decorated elements", which are printed or stickered version of the parts. Most of these decorated elements exist in non-decorated form, however there are exceptions.
Out of these 55900 elements DUPLO has 4299 entries.
Now Technic is a bit more complicated. If we take just the elements in Technic categories there will be 2298 parts. Some Bionicle and Hero Factory elements could also be considered as Technic, however they are listed under their respective categories instead.
Minifigure categories account for 17758 elements.
Noticeable categories include Bionicle (595 elements), Belville (158), Clickits (372), Modulex (1172) and Scala (465).
Some other categories are small enough to contain all elements within single category like Fabuland (223 elements), Galidor (117), Hero Factory (253) and Znap (21).


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What are these pieces for?
I got these pieces from set 76119 "Batmobile Pursuit of Joker", but the instructions don't specify what the pieces are for. What is their purpose?

They're included because the model uses one of the bat pieces as part of the build, and if you include one of these pieces, you need to include all of them because they're packaged in a bag together

According to the official description, these are for customizing the completed build:

This LEGO Batman toy playset includes 2 minifigures and children can customize their builds, minifigures and weapons with the included pack of 10 assorted Bat elements.


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Evolution of the LEGO part catalog over time
I have downloaded the Bricklink catalog four or five times in the past, but the interval was very irregular. I would like to look at the evolution of the LEGO part list over the years. However, I didn't find an option on Bricklink, or elsewhere on the Internet, to download past versions.
Are you aware of any archive of Bricklink catalogs? I haven't looked at other platforms with LEGO catalogs. Any other idea to get systematic information on the evolution of the part list is also welcome, of course.

Since bricklink was recently purchased by Lego Corp., that database may be evolving further soon.

Are you specifically interested in only the Bricklink catalog, or are you interested in the evolution of produced LEGO elements generally?

@jncraton It is general interest. I tried the Bricklink catalog because it comes in a format that can be analysed by scripts quite easily. Questions I have are e.g. "Did the number of Technic elements increase by more than the average over the past 20 years?". And other statistics that may have evolved over time.

@user3794648 Yes, the catalog is constantly updated by the community. That is why an annual (or otherwise regular) snapshot would be interesting to have. Plus, the BL catalog comes in text format which is easy to reformat and to analyse.

You might be able to get the information that you are after from the Rebrickable database dumps. This includes set inventories for many sets, along with the year that the sets were released. Here's the full schema diagram:

A query something like this should provide a count of the number of sets every element has appeared in by year:

SELECT year,
       Sum(1),
       colors.name,
       parts.name,
       parts.part_num,
       colors.id
FROM   sets
       JOIN inventories
         ON inventories.set_num = sets.set_num
            AND inventories.version = 1
       LEFT JOIN inventory_parts
              ON inventory_parts.inventory_id = inventories.id
       JOIN parts
         ON parts.part_num = inventory_parts.part_num
       JOIN colors
         ON colors.id = inventory_parts.color_id
GROUP  BY year,
          colors.name,
          parts.name,
          parts.part_num,
          colors.id
ORDER  BY year DESC,
          colors.name ASC

Here's that dataset:
https://gist.github.com/jncraton/b0641ce5f8bc28e10e761a5ce1bafd51
Note that this query includes part variations (mold updates, prints, etc) as unique elements, so you may need to filter it down quite a bit for your use case. If you'd like to run your own queries directly against the full Rebrickable dataset, I maintain some scripts that make this fairly easy to do.


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Help with popcorn cart wheels
Can someone identify the wheel attachments for a LEGO popcorn cart wheel like this?
How do we connect it to the axle? Is there a good tutorial on LEGO wheels somewhere I can read?

The second one is almost entirely made of clone-brand parts that haven't existed in the LEGO universe, and those include the wheels. And that means that we can't help you with them.

@mindstormsboi No, all bricks are authentic in this, except printing and or stickers...

The "wheels" are really the hubs, mostly from the various Speed Champions cars among others.
The inside of the wheel takes a standard stud, so you should be able to use:

Plate Modified 2x2 with Pin Hole
Technic Pin 1/2
Wheel Cover 5 Spoke

Beyond the primary question of how to build these particular wheels, there are a few common themes among wheels and axles across the system (there are clearly more than those shown here, but these cover most of the typical "official" connections you'll come across at the moment):


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NXT software on Windows 10 isn't detecting NXT brick
I have the Mindstorms NXT software and brick (CPU), and I worked with them a long time ago running NXT on a Windows XP. Now, I would like to retrieve the brick to teach my son, and I installed the NXT software on Windows 10. The application runs well, but it does not detect the brick. I have read that NXT software is not supported on Windows 10, but other sites tell that NXT works well on Windows 10.
Could someone give me more details on how to install and run the NXT software on Windows 10?

Hmm, Did you try right-clicking the software, go to the "compatibility" tab and run it in compatibility mode for older Windows models? If this works, let me know and I'll post this as an answer.

Oh, I forgot that you had to click 'properties' when you right-click. Sorry about that.

You need a newer version of the Lego Fantom Driver.
You can download it here as part of the whole software kit:
https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/retiredproducts/nxt/software
If you want JUST the driver on it's own, scroll to the advanced section at the bottom of this page:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/mindstorms/downloads
And grab the NXT Fantom Driver file

Unzip the downloaded file, then follow the usual "install driver from disk" under win 10 procedure.
The driver works perfectly fine under windows 10:

But some of the driver installers for 64bit have an error in the install script, and need to be patched before they work.  If your driver setup (Assuming you use the exe setup method) fails, the instructions to patch the driver can be found here:

Your installation will fail if you are using a 64bit-Windows. The reason for this is a slightly defect setup.ini-file, which refers to a LegoMindstormsNXTdriver64Supp.msi which does not exist.
I don’t know when Lego will fix this (current version 1.2.0 still has the problem), but there is an easy workaround:

Download the File, Unzip it

Go to „NXT Fantom Drivers\NXT Fantom Drivers\Windows\1.2\1.2.0, open setup.ini in your favorite editor (still using notepad???)

Search for the line „[LegoMindstormsNXTdriver64Supp.msi]“

In the next line, enter another, valid path (even if it has nothing to do with the Driver-Support). e.g. change it to   „Path=Products\LEGO_NXT_Driver_64\NXT_D02\LegoMindstormsNXTdriver64.msi“.

Save the file

Start the normal setup.exe

When the installer asks you which components you want do install, deselect the „LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT x64 Driver Support“ LegoInstaller

Finish the rest of the installer with the defaults, everything should run smooth now. The Driver-Support files are not necessary for normal use


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How do the Ninjago spinners work?
How do the Ninjago spinners work? From the set it looks like you can put a minifigure on it. It's a little hard to understand how that works from the picture though.

I've had a few of these in the past, and I've managed to find one so hopefully I can explain it with a few pictures.
They are simple, hand-powered spinning tops, best spun by a finger and thumb:

Usually the original spinner would have a Plate, Round 2 x 2 with Rounded Bottom on the bottom to aid spin:

Although clearly these became more advanced as per the other examples with pin holes in the bottom for further attachments.
The minifig stands inside the spinner, only lightly held on by the parts inside:

The interesting part is the light grey part that holds the minifig's feet which can go up and down, which happens when the dark grey part is rotated:
Lowered:

Raised:

And it was this action that made the game you'd play with them: By getting two people with spinners, you could spin them at each other, and hope that they'd bump, or at least the characters with their weapons would catch on each other, and this would cause them to rotate within the spinner, lifting them up, and hopefully knocking one off!

The cards would then allow you to add additional weapons to your minifig, or parts to the spinner itself, either raising it up, or building up "defences" that would stop the minifig from rotating, and so keep it in place for the next battle.

I've found a manual online for set 9591 which includes one of these spinners, but it has no English instructions. I decoded all of the translations using Google translate, but they only told what you should do depending on which card is available.
Then this part of the PDF rang a bell in my head:

As you can see in the image, the hyperlink in your question leads to only one of the parts required to build the spinner, which is this one. Also, you can attach minifigures to it as shown. Based on the looks of that grey bottom part, it's pretty much a typical top. This part of the image also contributed to that conclusion:

So it seems like these are ordinary tops like I already said. They don't seem to have any special mechanism like Beyblades or any other special tops, but they did make similar tops before these came out.

Same page with instructions include an English version as well.

Thanks @Alex but they don't seem to lead us any further. They do not show any clue as to how the spinners are assembled.


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Can you identify this torso assembly
Can anyone identify this torso and arms?
I did a search on Bricklink for torsos with 'fur' and 'belt' but couldn't find it.

Can you please insert the image instead of the link? Usually, the webpage opens with popups, cookies and other unwanted stuff.

I found another listing for the same minifigure on Etsy with extended description, which doesn't mention LEGO parts have been used. Otherwise that would be a selling benefit. Also, two sentences below, extracted from description, make you assume minifigure is built from non-LEGO parts.

This custom Minifigure works with any building block set.
These figures are custom figures and are only compatible with LEGO® but are not in any was associated or endorsed by them.

Now if you are still in doubt, we could check if Bricklink has them. Torso and legs seems to be in Light Bluish Gray color. While such legs exist as LEGO item, checking torsos, assembled torsos, body parts (arms) in this color it can be be concluded that torso and arms have non-LEGO print. These still could be made of genuine LEGO parts, but print is custom.
Hair looks to be in Dark Orange, which exist both in LEGO form as Minifigure, Hair Female Mid-Length with Braid around Sides and a color.

The seller says that it was handmade, and Lego minifigures are not made like that. And it clearly says this in the product description:

Game of Thrones Ygritte custom mini figure.

This most likely means that this is a MOC figure. Like I said before, Lego would not bother to buy the Game Of Thrones license (it is already purchased by Mega Construx anyways) and they don't even spell the word "minifigure" as "mini figure." As told in the comments, the head, hair, and grey pants are not in Bricklink's database, so I'm still sticking with the fact that it's a MOC figure. I typed "head blue eyes" "orange hair" "pants grey" but none of them appear. This therefore offers more proof to my answer.

"Custom minifigure" doesn't always mean all of its components are non-LEGO or otherwise modified LEGO parts. Minifigure could be assembled from existing LEGO elements, but assembly itself doesn't appear as such item in any of the sets.

You also don't need to have a license to build your own GoT minifigure from LEGO elements. So having an answer based on the fact that LEGO doesn't hold the license for Game of Thrones isn't really accurate

And based on the price, I suspect this was not custom printed but assembled from other lego pieces.  The custom printed ones typically sell for much more.

@user3794648 Well, the head, hair, and grey pants are not in Bricklink's database, so I'm still sticking with the fact that it's a MOC figure. I typed "head blue eyes" "orange hair" "pants grey" but none of them appear. This therefore offers more proof to my answer.

@mindstormsboi Hair, Legs


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Red Palisade Brick?
Is there a red variant to the 2x1 palisade brick (30136)? I looked at bricklink but couldn't find anything. Known colors don't include red or any similar shades, but I feel as if I've seen the red bricks before.

As of this moment, officially - no. The ones available for sale are, most likely, test runs that made their way from LEGO factory since none of them have been included in any of sets. Red is known to be common color for running tests with injection moulding. Quite a few other test parts in Red (the color that hasn't been used by those particular parts in any of released sets) have made their way from factory and have been offered for sale.

This so reminds me of BrickTsar turning the red 2x4 into a rare brick!


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In what set is this brick used?

In which set is this LEGO brick used? There is no number in it and it's original LEGO. The only number on it is "A 1".

The specific part (870) is identified in the other answer, however it is part of an assembly with its own part number:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=827#T=C&C=3
827 Vehicle, Tractor Chassis
870's page mentions it has extra parts that it is used with, and 827 is the complete assembly (steering wheel + mechanism).
This page details what other parts are needed to complete it.
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?P=827
870 is the base in the picture, and 871-874 are the mechanism pieces.

The first link in your question is identical to the one in Henrik's answer.

How do I edit this the best way? I see the redundancy but the point here is to give the extra information. Do I just remove the link?..

Maybe post the extra info as a comment to his answer, why not?

I've seen people post add-on answers elsewhere so I figured it would be fine here - especially since when I started searching there was no answer yet

Okay, but in that case just edit your answer to explain that you're posting this to add some context and don't say "this is the real part" because we already know what the real part is.

Oh, with that I meant that while this is the specific part, it is useful to know that it is not a standalone piece. Not good with words, will try to reword it.

I disagree with mindstormsboi here, your answer is just as valid as the other one. Also your answer in original form was fine.

That's
Vehicle, Tractor Chassis Base 11 x 2 x 3
Following the link to bricklink, you can see that it was in four sets in the 1970's.


text:
What is this small space-themed set from possibly the early 90's?
I have a bunch of LEGO bricks mixed together.  I recognize a few of them as going together for some small set that I no longer have the instructions for.  I believe I got this set in the early 90's.  The minifigure rode some sort of small contraption.  What set is this?

Welcome to Bricks.SE!

This is most probably Ice Planet Scooter:

Ice Planet - Looks like Star Wars before Legos marketed for Star Wars.
https://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego_instructions/set/1711/Ice_Planet_Scooter

The link does not seem to bring any more useful information.

@mindstormsboi It contains the building schematics and a picture of the rest of the result. It's a source. There's nothing wrong with the link.

Oh, I was paying attention to the orange box saying ther's  no instructions and yet there are instructions. Couldn't you have clarified that?

@mindstormsboi No, your point made sense, because the older answer from the day before seems to have more useful information in the link there. This answer doesn't seem to contribute much that the other answer didn't already have.


text:
Winch with String
I'm considering buying a few winch's with string. I don't understand what I need to make it turn. It doesn't look like a regular technix axle goes inside it right?  I've looked at a few of the instructions for sets it's supposed to be in and I can't find where it's used.   What parts do I need to purchase with it?

It actually does take a Technic axle and has been used with such in some sets, although in most old sets I know it was usually supposed to be operated manually by rolling the drum with your fingers.
If you look at the picture of the individual drum piece, you can just about see the axle holder inside, even though the round hole itself is bigger. So you can stick a normal Technic axle into it and do whatever you want with it, but this really depends on the actual build you're trying to accomplish and nothing precludes you from simply making it hand-operated either.
From 2019 set 60216:

I looked at the 3d render of the piece and I can see how the axle fits into it now. Thanks


text:
Decorations on drawbridge
At about 0:28 of this video, it depicts a descending drawbridge with some metal decorations. Are there any decorated tiles that come close to this? Is there some other way I could achieve a similar looking effect?

I've certainly seen a lot of 1x4 tiles with printed decoration of a slightly worn-out wood plank, but none that have ever had 'metal' on them.

can you give an example?

Yeah, here's one: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2431pb243&name=Tile%201%20x%204%20with%20Wood%20Grain%20and%204%20Nails%20Pattern&category=%5BTile,%20Decorated%5D#T=C&C=88 As you can see there are nails on it which count as metal, but almost all wood planks have nails so it doesn't really count.

This part is a typical wood plank with nails (which are metal) on it. There are many variations of it, and almost all of them have nails, therefore they don't really count. However I've looked at all variations and the only ones I can find that have more metal are this one, this one and this one.


text:
Identify red triangle stick
Help me to identify this part please.

Does this answer your question? Part Identification - bricks with posts

Your question is also a duplicate of this one.

That's Train Direction Switch - 4.5V 2 x 3


text:
How were these building instructions from the 1970s produced?
Have a look at page 7 of the instructions for set 367, produced in the year 1975 (source: Peeron.com):

How were these instructions produced? Were they hand-drawn or computer-generated? If the latter, which computer system and software were used?

They would have been hand drawn.
Technical illustration used to be a highly skilled job, similar but slightly different to design draughtsmanship.  I can still recall the latter being used about 20 years ago in engineering.  There were tricks to remove some of the repetition (drawings were done on translucent drafting film and could be duplicated optically, and templates and stencils were widely used).  Translucent film also means it was possible to work on an isometric grid behind the drawing.
2D CAD software, while it dates back to the 1950s, only became accessible, though still very expensive, around the time these 3D drawings were produced.  3D CAD/modelling with rendering is a 1990s invention, and now any fool can use it (e.g. me), and it can be made cheap and user-friendly enough to give away (e.g. Lego Digital Designer).  Rendering using something like POV-ray (which can still be used with LDraw) could take days for a single image on a fast PC in the 90s (though you wouldn't need to render like that for these illustrations).
Also, while it's hard to tell with the JPG artefacts and anti-aliasing, if you look closely at say the wheels in panel 8, they're not quite a perfect match; they would be if rendered from the same model.
Here's a picture of what's available at the click of a mouse these days (2020):

I used this 3rd party model of a 2x4 brick and a range of view options in Autodesk Inventor (3D modelling software).  The top right clearly imitates the old manuals, and the style is called "Technical Illustration".  Lego tend to use fairly heavy shading on studs, demonstrating that clarity and style are closely related. Newer instructions use thinner black edges (with better quality printing). The bottom right is suitable for box art but doesn't clearly show the joins between bricks - at a glance the bottom could be a 2x8.  This took less than a minute to render on 1 core of my desktop; 20 years ago it would have taken hours.

I doubt in the mid 1970's that The LEGO Group had any computer aided design tools. I was in university during that time and this kind of documentation was all hand drawn illustration.
Remember that computers at that time were big, power hungry and really, really expensive. For what it would cost just to purchase, install and operate one computer for a year you could hire four comercial illustrators for that same year.

Not saying that you're wrong, but if anyone could afford it, it would be a big international company like Lego

@hedgie, In the mid 70's TLG was not that big a company. Organization that did have CAD tools would be in what we call today the Fortune 100 group. IBM, General Motors, Ford, NASA etc... A lot has changed in 45 years.


text:
Can you identify this dome
Can anyone identify this dome?  I looked through the "brick,round" section of bricklink and couldn't find it.

What really helps me when searching on Bricklink is searching the dimensions. In this case the measurement of the part is 4 studs (x axis) by 4 studs (y axis). In the BL search, that would be written as 4x4. If too many pages appear, try searching by other properties. For example If it has printed decoration you type "pattern" and BL will give printed parts, and if it has sticker you type sticker and you'll find what you want.

@mindstormsboi Dimensions on BL would be written with space like "4 x 4", and not "4x4". See your own answer.

@Alex I know that, but that doesn't matter. Bricklink will still think of it the same way. In fact, in order to find the piece, I typed it without spaces and still got what I was looking for.

That's Cylinder Hemisphere 4 x 4.


text:
What is this brick and how do I use it?
My son received a huge assortment of legos for his birthday and one piece we would like to know how to use, but I can't seem to find information on it anywhere! I would sure appreciate any help you fine folks might be able to offer. I am not able to share my picture because it's too big. The part I'm talking about is this one. The only words or numbers I can find on ours is "2002 lego group" and the numbers "2223". Thanks in advance. :)

This is

Record and Play Module, 16 x 10 x 4 with Built-in Motors 4.5V (Item No: 3173c01)

There was another question on our site asking about the same exact part. It has more information on how to use it.

This is a better answer: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/6659/15028

Also, the OP already knew what part it was, she didn't know how to use it which is what she was pretty much asking. So I don't think this will answer her question.

Thank you. And no, I had no idea what part it was OR how to use it. Thank you so much for the help!!

@JessikaMcNaughton, You can also download a PDF of the sets instructions from LEGO.com from here.


text:
Lego filling boxes with random lego to meet law requirements
In some countries, there is a law that toy boxes need to filled with at least a fixed percentage of the total volume of the box.
I know Lego addresses this by adding random Lego.
At least, I've been assured this during a Lego seminar by a Lego employee (probably community manager) at one of the fanweekend events (Paredes de Coura or Skaerbaek).
However, does anyone have a reference for this, perhaps pictures of what random Lego is added?

You mean random bricks as addition to existing elements needed for a set? That's an odd thing to hear. From my point of view, reducing the size of the box helps dealing with such law (which I never heard of too). And I think this has already happened with some sets, like 10242 Mini Cooper.

Yes, I know it is odd and hard to believe, thats why I'm looking for references. I am however certain that I heard a Lego Official say this.

Can you provide any example countries (especially if this Lego seminar took place in one with such a law)?

@Chronocidal, no I cannot, I didn't think to ask. The seminar took place in Denmark or Portugal which obviously don't have such laws

Not sure if this is a partial answer, but an example is quoted in the act to repeal parts of the Californian (USA) slack-fill legislation:
Toys.  Lego has been sued for slack fill on its "Aqua Zone" building sets.  The boxes which contain the sets are uniform in size, and contain from 29 to 33 pieces, depending on the set.  Each box contains an "actual size" representation of the pieces and a clear and conspicuous disclosure as to the number of pieces.
From:
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
BILL NO:  AB 1394
AUTHOR: Figueroa and Senator Richard G. Polanco,
Chairman      Escutia
As Amended:  9/4/97
HEARING DATE:  September 5, 1997
FISCAL:  Yes
SUBJECT:  Packaging and Labeling:  expansion of exemptions to slack fill laws.

Its at least a valuable contribution, it indicates that "slack fill" laws do exist and that it has been an issue with Lego.


text:
Bionicle generation 3
Hey LEGO will you make another Bionicle reboot? If you are is it going to be a bit more like g1 but also bring back a few g2 characters and I hope it is either ccbs, you bring it back or technic like the original, and not system.

This is something that only Lego can answer. We are not the Lego set developers, and it is not possible for us to find leaked content of upcoming sets. If that's what you want then you practically have to be a spy to get your info.

While only LEGO themselves can answer this question, there is a proposal for a 20 years of bionicle set on LEGO ideas that had achieved 10,000 votes and is currently under review. Depending on the outcome of the review process, it may become an officail LEGO set in a few month.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like a set showcasing Bionicle robots that have already existed before in other sets.

Yes, of course. In LEGO ideas you can only use existing elements.


text:
Simple way to build large circular plates?
I was wondering if there is a simple way to create a large circle or circular plates. I want to build a MOC of the Hero Factory assembly tower (In LDD first) but most of the pieces that form circles don't give enough clearance for a decently sized CCBS model. I was wondering if there were any bricks or techniques that would help for this specific MOC.

Similar question: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/976/how-do-i-build-a-curved-wall

In the accepted answer in that question, you can see a wall made of these parts, these parts, and these parts. Try building it in LDD.

TL;DR: How to make a big circle-shaped PLATE, right?

...and if so, HOW big a platform? what's 'decently sized' mean? just some rough figure, any unit will do...

Can you please specify what exactly you mean by CCBS? A quick google search tells that it stands for "Contract Contingent on Buyer Sale" but I'm not sure if that fits into your question. I might as well remove the acronym if no response comes soon enough.

@mindstormsboi: it's Character_and_Creature_Building_System

@Uli when I said "decently sized" I was thinking around a size to fit a set like Breez: 2227 or Surge: 44008 positioned to take up as much space as possible space since I want to treat this like an easel but for creating CCBS sets.

@MedicinalMan Surge seems to be 17 cm wide and 23 cm tall, so let's say at least ø 20 cm for the platform? That's 25 studs. Or still bigger? As for the easel: will it be a fixed platform or a turntable, like say a pottery wheel...?

@Uli I'd need it to be larger, as I plan to have the platform go up and inward off of the base, as well as mount some CCBS  parts on the walls (In order to mimic the tower in the show) so I'd need around 3 studs of space in each direction.

@MedicinalMan Is it this one? LEGO Hero Factory - Full Trailer at 0:43, seen from above...

@Uli That's exactly what I meant with the platform shape but I also wanted to make enough space to mount parts on the wall like in the Breakout mini-movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTDpEJJVSLw

The largest truely round base plates in the LEGO system fit in a 8x8 square. You can build them from two LegoPlate, Round Half 4 x 8 or from four quarters.
For a bigger (and thicker!) base plate there is a Duplo version of the above mentioned base plate, fitting into a 16x16 studs LEGO system square: LegoDuplo, Plate Round Corner 4 x 8 Double
EDIT: For a thicker base, you can use these bricks: Brick, Round Corner 10 x 10 with Slope 33 Edge. They make a base fitting into a 20x20 square.

What about https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6162&name=Brick,%20Round%20Corner%2012%20x%2012&category=%5BBrick,%20Round%5D#T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}

@molot Nice finding. I wonder how round this brick is, it seems¹ that for 4 studs it is just straight before the round contour starts. ¹I don't have one of them in my collection

I don't have one either, so let's just leave it in comment for now, maybe someone else will be able to tell. Another question is, how round @medicinalman really needs it to be.


text:
LDD part library missing
I have deleted the LDD part database (part library) by mistake.
As many of you know, LDD can no longer run in online mode, which means it can't update itself.
Is there any possibility to download the parts from somewhere or recover them somehow?

Here's an archive of the LDD part library for you to download, but I am not certain if it works. Give it a try.
Alternatively, if that link ever breaks down and you have Windows 10 you can right-click on your recycle bin, press open, then right-click on the library file pending deletion and press restore. It will come back.
P.S. If you doubt you will ever use this feature again, you can disable it by right-clicking recycle bin, clicking "properties", and selecting "Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted".

It worked!!! Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy you made me.

@alexvali You are welcome! If LDD ever stops working for any reason that seems impossible to fix then that means you should move on to Stud.io which is much more up-to-date and is still being worked on occasionally, and you can even make your own instructions there. See here for more information.

Thank you. I know about Stud.io and other 3rd party programs but I like the simplicity of LDD more and I don't have the patience for working in the others. It may sound strange but I actually like LDD's limitations for it makes me work around the problem. Thanks again and good luck sorting :))

Is there a more reputable source other than some random file from Google Drive?

@Alex I don't know because I actually copied the link from this answer.

@alexvali - just so you know, The LEGO Group recently bought BrickLink and committed to supporting and evolving Stud.io in the future (question 7 of the Acquisition secton)


text:
What is inside BuWizz 2.0?
I'm interested in Buwizz PCB and components. Can someone share good photos of the Buwizz PCB (both sides)? It will be very cool to see Buwizz 2.0 but older versions will also be good.

@mindstormsboi This community isn't solely focused on official LEGO elements. From the tour page: "we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about LEGO bricks and compatible building systems"

@jncraton Nevermind, should've googled before flagging.

I don't have this part, so I can't directly give you the photos that you are looking for, but there is at least one teardown video floating around that we can use to see what is inside the BuWizz 2.0 module.

Power
The module contains 2x 850mAh LiPo batteries:

PCB
The top of the PCB looks something like this:

I wasn't able to find an image showing the back of the PCB
Components
System on a chip

From the above images, we can see that the main microprocessor is a Cypress PSoC 4200 series. Looking at the datasheet, we see that is a BLE-enabled system on a chip running at 48MHz with 128KiB of flash.
Motor driver

There are at least 4 DRV8833 chips present on the PCB. This chip is a dual H-bridge. The datasheet for the part indicates that each channel can handle 1.5A RMS/DC or 2A peak. The specs for the BuWizz indicate:

Performance

Max continuous current per channel: 4 A
Max instantaneous current per channel: 6.5 A
Max continuous power per channel: 36 W (HIGH speed mode)
Max instantaneous power per channel: 55 W (HIGH speed mode)
Max total power: 45 W

Speed Modes

SLOW: 5.2 V
NORMAL: 7.2 V
FAST: 9.2 V
LUDICROUS: 11.2 V

I'm not sure how 4A per channel is achieved safely using the DRV8833. Given that 4 dual H-bridges are included, it is safe to assume that each chip is driving each output using both H-bridges in parallel, but according the the datasheet, this still only gets us to 3A RMS/DC per channel.
My hunch is that they are simply driving these parts harder than intended. We can see that they are using them at 11.2 volts, while the datasheet recommends a max operating voltage of 10.8 volts. It's worth noting that the max quoted continuous power per channel (36W) is very close to what you would get from a parallel configuration running at 11.2V (11.2V * 3A = 33.6W).
The BuWizz has carved out a niche for itself by going well beyond recommend operating power (the LEGO PF battery box tops out at 9V * .8A = 7.2W or less than a quarter of the BuWizz), so I wouldn't be surprised if they are running the motor drivers a bit hot.

Thank you very much!
I already see this video, very useful but I am very interesting on their power supply components. They say in specs: 4A per channel, 6.5A MAX per channel - I want to know how :)
Motor drivers is popular DRV8833

@AloyanDmitry That makes sense. I've updated my answer with some thoughts on the motor driver specifically.

Thank you for detailed update. It is very useful! But I talking about DC-DC converter used on this PCB. So, as we can see dc-dc contains one inductor (222 squire). Inductor is small and use about 1MHz (not sure). Bigger frequency require smaller inductors, but we talk about Boost converter from 3.7-4.2v (in battery) to 11.2v 3A = 33.6W so inductor for 33.6W should be bigger. So if we load 2-3 channels we got only 1A or 0.5A per channel.
My decision: this device can give 9v 2A max (and only to one channel per time), in 11v current will be less

@AloyanDmitry That's a good point. I don't know enough about this stuff off the top of my head to speak to inductor sizing vs frequency vs power here. However, this device does include 2 LiPo batteries, likely to be used in series, so the nominal voltage may be ~7.2 volts. The battery voltage may be used directly for the motors in "normal" mode.

As we see, in PCB only 2 battery polygons, it mean they connected parallel and don't have any balancing staff (like in BMS boards). Using 2 batteries without balancing is too dangerous (we talking about kid toy (yeah kid... ha ha... all know it not for kids :D))
Also buwizz use usb charger and we don't see any additional converter from 5v to 8.6v (2 lipo in serial give 8.6v).
All talking about parallel connection.
Also, if some one interesting, I working on OpenSource/OpenHardware controller for Technic
http://wibrick.wilix.org/
Any help are welcome :)

@AloyanDmitry That looks like a cool project. Good luck!


text:
Are LEGO Quatro compatible with larger bricks? Soft Bricks or other?
There is a nice discussion here on LEGO+Duplo+Quatro compatibility.  I posted what I found here where a LEGO storage block is the right dimension to be double a Quatro (4x Duplo, 8x normal).  However, a 2x2 Quatro will not stack on the storage block stud and the storage block does not have a working underside to stack/attach.
Are there bigger bricks out there that might work with a Quatro?  Maybe the Soft bricks?  I think the size is off on them and I don't have any to test out.  Are there working giant bricks out there that I am clueless on that might be compatible?
I have seen sources on the Samsonite jumbo bricks and they appear to not be compatible.  Here.
Is there a mythical "Octo" brick out there somewhere?  I don't think it can exist due the to bottom side of the Quatro brick (which does not have the standard single circle like Duplo and normal).


text:
Lego Pneumatic Engine: Possible Damage from Baking Soda and Vinegar?
I have a question on Chemistry.SE about secondary reactions producing something other than CO2, and from a bit of discussion there, the answer seems to be that there aren't any, but some of the original ingredients can get splashed up into the LPE.
So, has anyone tried doing that?  If so:

What was your setup?
How did you clean the LPE afterwards, if at all?
Was there any damage after a few days?

I'm thinking about a 3-step process, but I'm also wondering if it's even necessary:

Run it on Baking Soda and Vinegar as planned.
Run it on Water to rinse out whatever raw ingredients might have gotten into it.
Run it on Air to dry out the water.

The water is probably from a garden hose, with the unsolved problem of how to hook it up to a Lego hose.
The air is probably from a shop compressor with the regulator turned down.  I have a bicycle pump for testing, and a sports inflator needle to make the connection, but I don't think I want to pump it that much!

The reason to use Baking Soda and Vinegar at all, instead of just using Air in the first place, is to have a compact, self-contained system that can run itself around a track for a while, and be able to start and stop on command without over-pressurizing for lack of use or running out from constant use.
So, I've rigged up a pressure-regulated, motorized air pump to displace vinegar out of one small plastic water bottle, and into another that has the baking soda, which then creates the working gas.
I've seen a big bank of pre-pressurized soda bottles on an LPE-powered car, but that's just too bulky for what I'm doing.

Some pictures may help:
The water bottle sits horizontally, under the black "hold-down bridge", with the bottom against the RCX.

"Steam" locomotive with Walschaerts valve gear.  And yes, it runs.  :-)  Both directions.
(Wires and sensors are in false color to show the connections.)
There's also a tender car with the other water bottle and the air pump to displace something out of it.

Is the use of a separate component dedicated for filtering out fluids and solid particles out of the question?

@zovits No, I could do that.  But it would have to be fairly small if I'm going to avoid another redesign.  About the size of 2 Lego air tanks side-by-side, and 2 more single air tanks in other places if I get a little bit more creative.  I could also put something inside the reaction vessel, which is a 0.5L water bottle on its side with hose connections in the cap.

What is the orientation of the bottle like, is it horizontal or vertical? If the latter, does the cap point down or up? Will the orientation change during operation?

@zovits I added some pictures.  The orientation won't change, but it'll probably slosh around a bit.

I wonder why you are going such complicated way (and, potentially, damaging yor pneumatic pistons) with chemicals. It seems to me it would have been easier, safer and have a consistent pressure using motorized LEGO Pneumatic pump. No overpumping could is also achieveable.

@Alex Ideally, I would use a motorized Lego pump to provide all of the working pressure.  But LPE's need a lot of volume!  And that volume also has to be at a fairly high pressure if they haven't been pried/cut open, drilled out, and re-lubed like mine haven't.  (nor do I intend to)  I think the closest I'm going to get is a Lego air pump to displace one chemical into another, so that the reaction can produce far more gas than the pump can.  A "chemical amplifier", if you will.

I see two main problems that need to be adressed here.

Intrusion of liquids into the pneumatic system
Intrusion of solid particles into the pneumatic system

To filter out solid particles, namely baking soda, a fine mesh could be used, either alone or in multiple layers.
To get rid of droplets, some absorbing material such as cotton could be inserted before, after or rather between the layers of mesh.
So if we can suppose that the bottle will have an exit point that is always clear from the liquid-solid phase (based on your comment "with hose connections in the cap"), we can imagine the following filter system built inside a small diameter tube (like a plastic straw), where # denotes layers of fine mesh fixed inside the pipe, capable of holding back both baking soda dust and the loose cotton swabs:
 ________________________________________
/                                        \
|                                         \
|                                          \
|                                           \___
|                                               |
|            #cotton#cotton#cotton#cotton#======+
|                                            ___|
|------------------------------------------ /
|    o     8      O   Ö    *     0    .    /
|  °    vinegar + baking soda   :    ö    /
\________________________________________/

Or if you need to fill the bottle more than halfway, but can ensure that the sloshing will not reach the top of the laying bottle, then you might be able to use a doubly-bent straw:
 ________________________________________
/                                        \
|        #cotton#cotton#cotton#cotton#=\  \
|                                      \\  \
|                                       \\  \___
|----------------------------------------\\-----|
|  :         *           ö                \=====+
|       o      Ö    0        8     O    .    ___|
|   °                 Ö                     /
|    o     8      O        *     0    .    /
|  °    vinegar + baking soda   :    ö    /
\________________________________________/

But as MaxW has noted on your question over at Chemistry.SE:

You won't get pure CO2 out of an aqueous solution. There will be water vapor in the CO2.

So your metal parts will definitely be exposed to a (probably highly diluted) carbonic acid, that "can corrode, rust or pit steel but the extent of those effects depends upon the chemical composition of the steel. Stainless steel, in contrast, resists general corrosion caused by carbonic acid." (Source)
How fast of how much will the parts be corroded? I can't find a definitive answer for that, but in the end, it all comes down to three, highly variable factors:

The exact composition of the steel used in your pistons (pretty much unknowable, especially since the particular pistons are about 20 years old)
The concentration of carbonic acid in the generated stream of CO2 (depends on the filter, the water content of the vinegar used and probably other factors as well)
The duration of exposure (that can be minimized by applying the cleaning steps outlined in your question, but consider that rinsing with water brings another set of problems, like limescale or rusting - so if I were you, I'd skip step 2 and only run it on warm, dry air to remove any moisture from the system)

Looking forward to read your experience!

+1 Just because of perfect ASCII art.


text:
Anybody know what this piece is called?

This came from a little car, and I'm trying to build that car using LDD, but I can't find the piece. Can someone help?

On Bricklink this is called Wedge 3 x 4 x 2/3 Cutout.

As Uli pointed out in the comments this part is called "FRONT 4X3X2/3 W. BOW" in LDD. The given image looks very similar. You can also see if this is really the part you're looking for by looking at the 3D model of it.

How I found it: Searching by properties did not work (which usually does), and I knew that many Lego city police sets had red-colored vehicles, so on google I searched "lego city police" and hit images, and I saw an image of the front of the box for set 60243 which showed a truck that seemingly looked like it had this piece and I found the same set on bricklink. Then I looked at the part list, and it had this part!

LDD calls it FRONT 4X3X2/3 W. BOW