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Is it possible to buy a bulk of 1000s of basic bricks (mostly 2x4)?
Several years ago I remember being able to walk into toy shops and actually shovel lego bricks into a bag and thus buy them in bulk.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find stores anymore that offer this service.
Is it possible to buy the basic blocks in bulk anywhere online?

At official LEGO stores, you actually can shovel bulk bricks! Use the "Locate a LEGO store" bar along the top of the page to find a location near you.

If you can find a Lego store, they can sell cases of bricks if you ask the manager.  They'll have to give you a price, but it's what the store itself uses to stock it's Pick-a-Brick wall.

@Grandpappy: They're very difficult to find, I managed to grab the only bulk bag by getting there as soon as the store opened. They only do this after dismantling models used for display.

@Ambo100 I think Grandpappy means the stock cases they use to fill the PaB walls, which presumably don't come from dismantled models but a big box in the back room somewhere ;)

And if they don't have what you seek in stock, the store manager should be able to order it for you (depending on their willingness, I suppose). 2x4 bricks should be no problem.

@Ambo1000: I wasn't referring to the bulk bag.  I'm referring to the cases of parts that they get shipped in for the Pick-a-Brick wall.  They're smallish cardboard boxes just heaped with parts.  It shouldn't be an issue of "getting there early" - all the Lego stores typically keep a stockpile of them in the back.  Pretty much what Zhaph said, I guess!

I know this must be possible, because you see stuff built out of large numbers of 2x4 https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vs6Gcqkb11g/maxresdefault.jpg

The LEGO Store has the Pick-a-Brick service, which allows you to bulk buy elements, up to 999 of any one element apparently.
It's not necessarily the cheapest, for example 2x4's are GBP£0.19 each, so purchasing 999 of them would cost me £189.81 plus shipping - there's no obvious savings/discounts for bulk ordering.

As Refro points out, BrickLink might be a better option: the prices are more variable, but often cheaper than PaB, discounts for bulk purchases can be found from some sellers, but shipping costs might be higher depending on where the seller is based relative to you.

Besides the options mentioned above there is a lugbulk program targeted at afols. If your a member of a LUG you might be able to order bricks that way. Typically the prices are lower than if you order via the Lego stores.
As an alternative you could use bricklink to get the desired amounts.

We've got a nice question about LUGBULK here

Thanks refro, but pick-a-brick is just what I need.

Several years ago I remember being able to walk into toy shops and
  actually shovel lego bricks into a bag and thus buy them in bulk.

Official LEGO retail stores offer a similar service called Pick-A-Brick, which is available online and in stores. Despite having the same name, they each have their own differences:

The LEGO retail outlets house a matrix of bins, each filled with a certain type of brick. The bricks used tend be excess bricks from LEGO's own factories and some bricks of the same kind may be included in more than one bin. Bricks are packed into small or large plastic cups, you pay for getting as many bricks as you can in one cup.
The online version of Pick-A-Brick allows you to choose between thousands of individual pieces and colours. Parts are sold by the brick, each with their own prices with an additional fee for postage, packaging and handling involved.
Then there are also the LEGOLAND stores which aren't classified as LEGO stores (despite The Lego Group having a large chunk in the theme park company). These too offer a similar Pick-A-Brick service, with a larger range of parts then the average LEGO retail store. Since the stores are located inside the park you must pay admission to the park to browse the shop.1

Unfortunately I can't seem to find stores anymore that offer this
  service.

There are many unofficial stores dedicated to selling LEGO.2 It's possible that some of these independent stores would offer their own service which typically sells bricks by weight.

1. Incidentally, I had contacted the Legoland Windsor representatives in 2010 to see if it's possible to visit the store without paying admission. 'You will need to purchase a full day ticket on arrival but as long as you return to guest services within 30 minutes these will be fully refunded'.

2. I haven't come across any independent LEGO stores living in England but I've seen a few in Eastern European counties.

I seem to remember LEGOLAND (Windsor) shops being open for a few days in Christmas period free of admission charge - as the rest of the park isn't open then. Not sure if they still do it, but that's a good option (especially if they still offer free annual pass vouchers at a certain amount of purchase)

From a conversation with a store manager: US based retail stores (Lego Store) are able to order bags of specific bricks for their PaB walls. They do not have access to the full range of parts that online PaB offers.  If you time it correctly and know the mgmt, they can order a bag (or more) for you.  Legoland Discovery Centers (mini theme parks) also have PaB but with a smaller selection and at a higher cost ($10/100g)

If you go to the Lego store and get a case of 2x4 bricks, it'll cost about $70.  People in my LUG have found that you can expect to find about 675 per case, which puts them at about 10 cents a piece.
We found this to be significantly cheaper than Lego's online Pick-a-Brick, or Bricklink.

Update: I recently (Dec 2014) checked with my local (US - Cincinnati) Lego Store and they still sell full boxes of PaB items (Except the really small items such as 1x1 round tiles). Current price in my store is $100 per box.

You can also buy bricks on brickowl.com. They cost about 20 cents each thus you can get 50 for 10 AU dollars.


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Do LEGO stores sell bricks in bulk?
I've seen these pictures of LEGO stores, but have been unable to work it out: Are they are plastic bubbles on the wall that you can dig youe hand into and buy LEGO bricks in bulk, or are they just for decoration? Do the high-street LEGO stores offer a bulk-brick-buy option, or do they just sell sets and games?

You can indeed take bricks and purchase them. I've listed the main types of Pick-A-Brick in this answer:

The LEGO retail outlets house a matrix of bins, each filled with a
  certain type of brick. The bricks used tend be excess bricks from
  LEGO's own factories and some bricks of the same kind may be included
  in more than one bin. Bricks are packed into small or large plastic
  cups, you pay for getting as many bricks as you can in one cup.

The top few rows of bins are generally just decorative, it would take a fully grown adult on a kickstool/ladder to reach the top bins.
Other products unique to LEGO retail stores include:

Exclusive and limited edition sets (which can also be bought from Lego.com)
You can build and buy minifigures which consist of torso, legs, head, helmet/headpiece and accessory.
Events, such as the monthly mini-builds. Models you can build in-store to take home. Subject to age restrictions.

Not to forget all the accessories: clothes, outfits, watches, magnets, clocks, torches, etc.

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sort: votes


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Why are they called "minifigs"?
Were larger-scale LEGO figures the standard at some point in the past? It just seems odd to me that they're called "mini" when they're basically the only kind of LEGO figures available (not counting vastly larger figures that are themselves models.)

The minifigure is so-called because the original LEGO "Family" figures that were released in 1974 where somewhat larger, with bodies made from 2x2 Bricks, and arms made from hinged tubes.

There's a bit more of a condensed history in the minifigure tag wiki, and there is a bit more information about the minifigure as we know it today in the Company Profile

It almost begs the question "Where are they now?".  I'm assuming the grandmother passed away.

@LarsTech There's a set of (most of) them up in my loft mixed in with the rest of my System LEGO bricks ;)

Dearly de-parted grandma. May she rest in pieces. ;-)

There are now also even smaller figures used in the board games. Nanofigs?

@Lunatik Those are called microfigures or Microfigs for short :)

The pieces used to make the arms have later been used in Classic Space sets. It can be seen here.

Apart from the family figures, there was also the 1988 Technic action figures set (8712), which stood about 2.5 minifigs high from memory. There have been a few iterations over the years up into the 90's.

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How versatile are the parts in a lego pirate ship set?
I am looking at buying one of the pirate ship sets, such as 6285-1: Black Seas Barracuda,
however, I am concerned the parts in the set are too specialized, and could not be easily adapted to make custom creations. The three main parts are: the pieces of the ship's hull, the masts, and the sails. Are there any uses for these parts outside of making other pirate ships?

I have a mast and rigging from 6270: Forbidden Island, I haven't really found them to be all that useful otherwise. Of course, that could just be my lack of imagination... ;)

Is the entire black part of the mast, except for the round base of the crow's nest, just one piece?

If you don't know what the parts inside look like, keep in mind you can check an inventory of the set.

(promoting this from comment to answer, since it now has pictures)
In my experience, they're not that useful.  I have a mast and rigging from 6270: Forbidden Island, and more rigging from 6261: Raft Raiders.  The mast from 6261 is more useful (and has been in 20 sets) because it also has the two finger hinges, which make it a bit more versatile than the two mast pieces of 6270 (first part [8 sets], second part [3 sets]).  The mast platform is quite reusable, given its generic shape.
All the pieces apart look like this:

And you can combine the small rigging and mast platform to make a rudimentary TIE Fighter:

Nice work on the TIE fighter - it proves that imagination is the only real limit

ALL parts can be used for something other than the original theme.
Here's an example of a use for the boat hull by Flickr user 2 Much Caffeine:
There's also a rather humorous saying that goes: "All parts are space parts".  It's equally applicable to any other theme.


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Can you use four movement bricks on one NXT?

Possible Duplicate:
How can I use more than three motors with one NXT brick?

I want to make a tank out but it needs 4 movement bricks but I only have one NXT. Here are the parts:

It can move and that takes up two motion bricks so it can turn, move forwards and backwards.
It uses one movement brick for the gun.
it uses one movement brick because it will have a hatch that can open so that it can collect the balls that it has already shot so I don't need to get them manually.

You might want to check out the question How can I use more than three motors with one NXT brick.


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How should I remove a Hinge Tile, especially in the middle of a plate?
I've recently had some trouble removing a 1x4 hinge tile from the middle of a plate:

Even when they are on the edge of the plate there isn't a lot of areas you can use to gain the traction to remove the hinge plate. Unlike the modern jumper plates these don't appear to have been "upgraded" with a groove.
I want to avoid breaking the fingers, especially on some older elements that I own.

I don't think it will ever be upgraded to "with groove" since LEGO doesn't use that type of hinge any longer.

Often in these cases, I have been able to flex the plate the piece is on a little.  This allows you to get a fingernail or small tool under the lip of the thing in the middle of the larger plate.  If you don't flex too much, you won't do any permanent damage to it.

You can flex the plate quite a bit before you do any permanent damage. I do this quite often when a piece is being stubborn.

In most cases it's best to to pry a brick by it's length (the bricks longest side). The base of the hinge brick can be removed with a crowbar. The crowbar brick can be found in many sets (particularly CITY Police sets) but I consider it to be the most versatile.

There are many other minifig utensils that can be helpful in removing different types of bricks:

Screwdriver: + Small, with a flat edge, - Flexible
Pickaxe: + Works well in tight spaces, - Pick head is too thick for most bricks
Axe: + Can also be used in tight spaces, - Poor leverage
Oar: + Long with a flat side, +/- Flexible
Shovel: + Handy for removing Plate, Round 1 x 1, - Not much use for other bricks

Any minifig utensil or non-LEGO tool made of plastic would be better then using a knife or a screwdriver made out of metal which cuts into LEGO like hard butter.

Curious, that list of sets is very wrong - the crowbar also appears in pretty much every LEGO Game set that comes with a die as it's the best way to remove the 2x2 tiles from the faces.

@Zhaph-BenDuguid: It's listed under Gear as it's a board game.

Still seems to confuse things unnecessarily ;)

I have used the nail cleaner tip on my Leatherman pocket tool in similar situations.
Update: Like Grandpappy says, you may have to flex the larger plate ever so slightly to get started. Once you've created a tiny opening, you can get a tool in there to pry the pieces apart.


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What part is this grey keyhole shape and what set(s) is it from?
I've recently found this grey keyhole-shaped piece - there are a fair number of them that stack together to form a circular staircase. There is what looks like a part number on the bottom but it is unreadable and faint. There is also a number beneath the part number, 201.
(images were made smaller but bigger ones can be added if needed).

Bricklink lists it as "Stairs Spiral Step" (Part# 40243). It first appeared in 2001 in the initial series of Harry Potter licensed sets.

Here is the complete assembly of the staircase: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?P=40243c01

The second I saw those I thought "Harry Potter for sure."
Called it!

It is also found in the Lego Batcave (set number 7783).

Also found in the Hobbit "Barrel Escape" set. In that set though, it's locked in place, so it can't be opened or closed magically like it's supposed to in the Harry Potter sets.

One of the recent Frozen castles has one - it's only locked in at the bottom though. Set is also notable for having 4 glittery transparent tiny rock pieces :D


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Can I control 2 NXT bricks from a computer using bluetooth at the same time?
I am thinking about starting a project involving controlling the movement of a mindstorms robot depending on some input from a Kinect device; however the robot will require at least 6 motors. I have access to 2 NXT sets* (provided by university) - is it possible to control both bricks using either one (or two) bluetooth dongles? I've read through the Bluetooth SDK docs but they only mention that a master NXT can control up to 3 slave NXTs. Reading through the protocol spec I see no reason why another NXT could not be controlled by just sending it "direct control messages". Can it be done in a simplistic way without having to make my own low level bluetooth api?

Yes, this is definitely possible! You can connect up to 7 different NXT devices from one computer and one Bluetooth dongle (theoretical limit). I have tested this with the RWTH - Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for MATLAB) successfully with 5 NXTs on Linux and with at least 2 NXTs on Windows.
In real life, it depends on your Bluetooth hardware. Your Bluetooth stack or driver software should provide several serial COM-ports. You can then connect each virtual serial port to a seperate NXT device, and access them via those different serial ports.
If you go the direct way via the official LEGO NXT Bluetooth SDK you mentioned, you can retrieve different handles to multiple NXTs.
Oh, and for the record: You can also connect multiple NXTs via USB, and you can also mix and match with Blueooth.
Regards, Linus

To back this up, I've also controlled 3 NXTs simultaneously from Windows with a single Bluetooth dongle, using a LabVIEW program with the LabVIEW NXT Toolkit.

The RWTH documentation about initiating connections has a sub-chapter called "Using multiple NXTs" which can be found here: PC to NXT Communication - Using multiple NXTs
The C++ communication from norgesgade14.dk claims to support: "Open and close connections with multiple NXT units" on its overview page.
So it should be possible to do this, though I can't confirm since I only have a single NXT. I suspect that you only need one dongle though.

Those answers above do all work.  If I were looking for fast speed, I would probably use USB, however if you robot moves around, then bluetooth is probably the best solution (the slowest thing in the loop is the NXT anyhow :P).  If your Bluetooth hardware on your computer supports multiple devices, then simply address each associated COM port per device.
After reading through the bluetooth direct command PDF provided by LEGO however, it's written fairly poorly and leaves the user asking a lot of questions or messing around with certain commands for a long time.  There is a great writeup here that goes over the commands in an easier, more understandable, and thorough way:
http://www.robotappstore.com/Knowledge-Base/Programming-LEGO-NXT-Mindstorms/92.html
I recommend checking it out as it goes over a whole host of command types.
Hope this helps!

I've used RWTH and vouch for its effectiveness. However, if you don't have MATLAB, don't know how to use MATLAB, or just want an open-source solution, you can use the Perl module for controlling the NXT over bluetooth.
http://search.cpan.org/~collins/LEGO-NXT-2.00-1/lib/LEGO/NXT.pm
It's quite simple to use and provides very thorough control. Best of luck!


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What is the average price per piece?
Some LEGO pieces are probably more expensive than others, but what is the average price per piece of LEGO pieces, when sold as part of a kit? Is there any place containing statistics or graphs about the prices, showing the range of smaller and larger pieces?

BrickSet has information on how many pieces were in a set and it's RRP, which it then uses to calculate the average "price per piece" for that set in the right hand column.

You also have to factor in the LEGO bricks like the NXT intelligent brick, which costs $150 alone.

A brief search led me to a very thorough blog post by Ruth Suehle on GeekMom, which includes the data and a Graph:

Does It Feel Like Lego Bricks Just Keep Getting More Expensive?

In her findings, she found that average cost per piece in 2011 is about US$0.12, down from a high in the '80s of about US$0.40 - these prices were adjusted for inflation, etc.
Prices tend to be most affected by the price of oil, as that's a key component in plastic manufacture, so we might expect to see prices starting to creep up again.
Interestingly the licensed sets (Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.) don't seem to have much of an impact on the price of the sets, it's just that they are often bigger sets, so have higher price tags - For example the Super Star Destroyer with a retail price of $399 had 3152 pieces working at $0.13/piece - although yes, an extra $0.01 multiplied over 3000 bricks does seem to add an extra $30 to the set.
There doesn't appear to be much data on weight or type of brick.

Brickset has information on individual sets, and has some interesting data in its Data Mining section. Towards the bottom of that page they list

Best price per piece in the UK
Worst price per piece in the UK
Best price per piece in the US
Worst price per piece in the US

amongst other data.

Interesting set of links - I notice that the "worst price per piece" sets all seem to be the ones excluded from GeekMom's research - duplo and battery powered sets.

The average price per brick value for all the sets ever sold is going to be unhelpful. The prices of sets are influenced by the exclusiveness of the set, product licence (I.E. Star Wars), year of production, etcetera...
I don't think a statistical representation exists for that reason.


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Why doesn't LEGO bring back old series as they were "in the day"
As many of you probably can tell, LEGO has been rehashing old series and giving them a new twist (eg. Rock Raiders -> Power Miners, or whatever its called). Why doesn't LEGO actually make some of those old sets again, without modification (or very little)?
The sheer amount of nostalgia that would come from that would be insane.

There are a number of reasons I'm sure, however looking at some of the "new versions" of some sets, often there are changes in building techniques (through the addition of new elements for example) which allow for either more accurate shapes or more structurally sound models. Also, while there might be some nostalgia in being able to buy the original yellow castle, I'd much rather have the new articulated horses that are coming with LotR than the original ones made from bricks ;)

First, LEGO did at some point reissue some sets (the "legends" series), but then stopped doing so, and it's likely they found out it was not really that interesting to do.
The reasons why would be pure speculation, but at the very least building techniques and available parts do evolve in a way that older sets wouldn't be able to compete with recent ones. As Zhaph mentionned, horses are a very good example.
Also, don't forget that LEGO is producing toys and that kids are their main target audience. Ask a kid what's cooler, the new Kingdoms Joust or the yellow castle? Or even any cool castle set of the eighties? Why do all minifigs have the same stupid fixed smile? Why don't they have alternate faces on the back of their heads? Where are the animals? Granted, it's a bit of an exageration, but still.
They do take adults into account now, yes, but the "sheer amount of nostalgia" generated by re-issuing older sets may not be that big a market as we would believe. Even adults tend to be more in awe at newer sets (modular houses). I did buy the re-issue of the USS Constellation, and to be honest... I find nostalgia to be a bit overrated.
Then there's the whole problem of parts which are simply not in production any longer, and for which the cost of reproducing them would offset the potential benefits of reissuing sets. (In other words, don't expect monorails to be reissued ever).

This said, they also use some "old" parts in new sets. And I allways get a "nostalgic kick" when I see some old parts re-introduced in new sets.

Hey, ask an adult which is cooler the new Joust or the Yellow Castle and I'd have to say that I really want the Joust - but that might be because I've still got all the bits for the Yellow Castle in my collection.

Thanks for the answer. I guess maybe I just get to sobby with nostalgia compared to the rest of their market xD

No problem, we'll just send yellow bricks your way, and you send us Jousts in return.


text:
What was wrong with monorails?
From this answer:

Then there's the whole problem of parts which are simply not in production any longer, and for which the cost of reproducing them would offset the potential benefits of reissuing sets. (In other words, don't expect monorails to be reissued ever).

And this comment:

The cost for producing an old element again is presumably lower than the cost to develop a new element altogether, as long as the molds still exist (monorail parts molds are rumoured to have been destroyed, for example)

I'm getting the impression from these comments that there were issues with the monorail sets.  What problems did they have?  Were they too expensive to produce?  Why would LEGO destroy their part molds?  Why wouldn't they re-issue monorail sets?

For the molds: An injection mold is made for a specific injection molding machine. I very much doubt Lego is still using the same machines as they did 20 years ago. So to keep the molds, they would have to keep the old machines, including the service teams and infrastructure.
Also, machine parts are rarely made out of stainless steel, some old Lego ones clearly weren't. Stainless steel is just too bad at conducting heat, which is needed in an injection molding machine. In order to keep the molds for 20 years, they would have to keep them in shape, which means additional effort.
With regard to play value, and here it is becoming subjective, the monorail never added up. Monorail trains are only 4 wide structurally, while trains are 6 wide. Making monorail 6 wide would end up in a very unstable situation when manipulating the inside / load whatever. A robust, universal toy, they weren't.

Consiering how much LEGO vehicles have inflated recently, it's quite true that a 4-wide monorail would be very weird in a city setting.

Since I'm responsible for both the answer and comment you point to, I don't have much more to say, although there is one capital element I feel I omitted: motors.
Track parts being just plastic, they wouldn't actually be that much of an issue to produce again. Maybe LEGO would need to make or even redesign some new molds, but if they felt there was a demand for it, that's probably not going to be the biggest issue.
However, motors and articulated bogies may be more of a problem, as they rely on non-plastic parts which may even be outsourced. Of course, this is by no means authoritative, but LEGO would have to come up with new motors, and presumably have them fit the newer PF system.
This is not impossible, and considering the PF battery box is only higher than the old 9V one, that wouldn't be much of an issue either.
Edit:
Someone asked a LEGO representative at an event whether monorail would come back, and his answer was a quite clear "no plans to do so at the moment", citing difference in perception about it between adults and child.s Basically, only some adult fans want monorail, kids don't, so it would make little commercial sense to produce monorail again right now.
So technically, there would be some high costs, but no real impossibility. As far as I know, the old system was quite stable as well, so that's not an issue either. But what may be stopping LEGO is whether they feel it would sell or not - they aren't in the toy business to make losses after all. So presumably their first monorail sets didn't sell too well, or not enough regarding to their cost.
But in all honesty, we may probably never really know. LEGO employees will basically always answer "monorail is not coming back", but even they have only a limited vison of the future (and they can't tell about it anyway).
You may want to support some monorail projects on CUUSOO - who knows.

To repair and keep a Lego monorail system immortal - create Autocad files for parts.
Translate each autocad file into a 3D printer file so you can re-create each part as
they wear out. Later this year Staples will have 3d printers available along side the photocopier... so you won't need to buy a 3d printer to fix your monorail system.
For the electrical system, new components need to specs - mechanical dimension and electrical characteristics so they when they break they can be repaired to spec or replaced.


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Are these trees LEGO parts?
I've come across some trees from some bulk purchases I've made, and I can not determine if these are LEGO or "compatible" parts. Any ideas? The tree on the left is an official tree but the one in the middle is an odd aqua color, and the one to the right is very similar. Neither the middle nor right trees have any LEGO stamps on them anywhere, which is why I'm pretty sure they are from something "compatible" but figured I'd see if anyone else could identify them. My apologies for the photography.

Can you add a bottom view of the trees? The bottom side for LEGO pieces carries Logos or other bits of information helping to confirm their identity.

I'd have to find them. I asked the question over 9 years ago so I have no idea where they're even at by now.

A full list of LEGO tree parts can be found on Bricklink. I'd encourage anybody looking to identify a brick to use the part catalogue.
The two trees on the right are definitely not LEGO parts.

So I suppose a meta question might be: Is BrickLink's catalog complete? My understanding is that the answer to that is actually no, though the number of exceptions is pretty small.

@NathanStohlmann I don't know if it's 100% complete, but it certainly classifies some items under different keys so the list of sets an item appears in doesn't appear accurate.

@Zhaph-BenDuguid And the question is open-ended enough to not be a good question for this forum I suppose.

@NathanStohlmann - I'm unsure - we've had a few questions along these lines which were quite successful but since then there's been the recent blog post "Let's play the guessing game" which seems to imply they aren't great on the network - I'm still curious as to where these trees are from though.

Not sure about the other tree. But the center tree is from Tyco.

The rightmost tree may be a bent original Lego tree. I am not sure as I was not a kid in the 60's or whenever they started coming out with the interlocking stud-type sets.

The first one on the left is definitely LEGO, and the other two are just poor copies.

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How can I catalog my LEGO pieces?
I have a fairly large LEGO collection, but not large enough that I can build anything and everything, given instructions. It's already organized quite well, but how can I catalog the pieces I have so I can easily tell whether I can build something?

Have a look at this question -- it's probably what you're trying to find.

@PeterDC That's helpful, but they only let you input pieces set by set, and most of my pieces don't come from sets (or if they did, I've long forgotten what sets they were). I'm looking for something that'll essentially let me build an inventory brick by brick.

Actually, if you have a Rebrickable.com account (I do), then you can add individual elements to a digital list of your collection. Also, it's free to sign up, so it's a pretty useful resource, in my opinion.

@PeterDC Thanks! Could you add that as an answer?

I guess not… I'll do it then.

Sorry about that, I haven't been on SE for several days due to school. Sorry again for not being able to respond.

@PeterDC Oh, no problem--please feel free to answer it yourself at any time, I'll be happy to remove my answer! :)

Rebrickable.com offers the ability to add sets as well as individual pieces to your account.


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What are the new elements released via the LEGO Friends sets?
What new elements did the release of the Friends sets add to the LEGO element parts palette?

As well as the new colours (two new shades each of blue, purple and green), there are actually quite a few new parts in the friends sets. I think this is the complete list, but it's possible I missed one or two. (Let me know of any corrections. It's a big list!)
Accessories (44)

Friends Accessories Cupcake Holder
Friends Accessories Cutlery Fork
Friends Accessories Cutlery Knife
Friends Accessories Dish, Rectangular
Friends Accessories Dish, Round
Friends Accessories Frying Pan
Friends Accessories Hand Mixer
Friends Accessories Measuring Jug
Friends Accessories Spatula with Holes
Friends Accessories Comb with Handle and 3 Hearts
Friends Accessories Glasses, Heart Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Glasses, Oval Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Brush with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Bow with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Butterfly with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Serrated Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Smooth Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Heart with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Star with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Tiara with 5 Points and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Dryer
Friends Accessories Hand Mirror with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Basket
Friends Accessories Lipstick with Light Bluish Gray Handle
Friends Accessories Bag Round with Bright Pink Ruffle
Friends Accessories Medical Clipboard
Friends Accessories Medical Feeding Bottle
Friends Accessories Medical Ice Pack
Friends Accessories Medical Nurse Hat
Friends Accessories Medical Otoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Pen
Friends Accessories Medical Spoon
Friends Accessories Medical Stethoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Syringe
Friends Accessories Medical Thermometer
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 1
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 2
Friends Accessories Bow
Friends Accessories Bow with Heart
Friends Accessories Brush Oval, Large
Friends Accessories Brush Round, Small
Friends Accessories Comb, Small with Heart
Friends Accessories Sponge
Friends Accessories Spray Bottle with Heart

Animals (9)

Bird, Sparrow with Red Beak Pattern
Cat Standing, Looking Left with Light Green Eyes, Dark Pink Nose and Mouth and Dark Bluish Gray Stripes Pattern
Dog Small Standing with Blue Eyes, Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Dog Small Standing with Patch over Eye and Spots Pattern
Dog Small Walking with Blue Eyes and Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Horse with 2 x 2 Cutout, Blue Eyes and White Blaze Pattern
Hedgehog with Reddish Brown Spines Pattern
Rabbit Sitting with Blue Eyes and Pink Nose and Mouth Pattern

Flower/Fauna (5)

Friends Accessories Beetle / Ladybug with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Butterfly with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Flower Rose with Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 6 Rounded Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 7 Thin Petals and Pin

Other Parts (2)

Door 1 x 5 x 3 with 3 Studs and Handle
Panel 1 x 2 x 1 with Rounded Corners and Central Divider
Minifig, Utensil Handlebars with Angular Handles

Printed Parts (11)

Slope 45 2 x 2 with Red Cash Register and '+15' Pattern
Brick 1 x 1 with Oranges Pattern (Juice Carton)
Brick 1 x 1 with Cow and Flower Pattern (Milk Carton)
Tile 1 x 2 with Cell Phone / Music Player Pattern
Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Brown Paw Pattern
Brick, Round 1 x 1 Open Stud with Paws and Heart Pattern
Tile 2 x 4 with 'Andrea' and Music Notes Pattern
Tile 1 x 4 Lights with CD and Speakers on Light Aqua Background Pattern
Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Blackboard Pattern
Tile 1 x 6 with Ruler Pattern
Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Clothes Design and Swatches Pattern

Total: 71, (non-printed parts): 60

+1 Wow, You beat me to it by ten minutes AND did a better job of sorting the parts. However the Pie with filling was released last year.

@Ambo100 Ah! I figured there was at least one of those in the list. Should be fixed here in a second. Thanks for pointing it out.

Holey Moley! I had no idea there would be so many!

I underestimated just how many new parts were produced for the Friends line when I tasked myself with finding out. Excluding the stickers and Mini-Dolls there are a huge number of new piece, the majority of which are either utensils, accessories or pets.
New parts

Friends Accessories Cupcake Holder
Friends Accessories Cutlery Fork
Friends Accessories Cutlery Knife
Friends Accessories Dish, Rectangular
Friends Accessories Dish, Round
Friends Accessories Frying Pan
Friends Accessories Hand Mixer
Friends Accessories Measuring Jug
Friends Accessories Spatula with Holes
Bright Light Orange Bird, Sparrow with Red Beak Pattern
Cat Standing, Looking Left with Light Green Eyes, Dark Pink Nose and Mouth and Dark Bluish Gray Stripes Pattern (An awkwardly long name for what is essentially a Freinds scale cat)
Friends Accessories Beetle / Ladybug with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Butterfly with Stud Holder
Friends Accessories Flower Rose with Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 6 Rounded Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Flower with 7 Thin Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Comb with Handle and 3 Hearts
Friends Accessories Glasses, Heart Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Glasses, Oval Shaped with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Brush with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Bow with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Butterfly with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Serrated Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Flower with Smooth Petals and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Heart with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Star with Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Tiara with 5 Points and Pin
Friends Accessories Hair Dryer
Friends Accessories Hand Mirror with Heart on Reverse
Friends Accessories Basket
Medium Dark Flesh Dog Small Standing with Blue Eyes, Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Bright Pink Friends Accessories Lipstick with Light Bluish Gray Handle
Friends Accessories Lipstick
Door 1 x 5 x 3 with 3 Studs and Handle
Dark Orange Horse with 2 x 2 Cutout, Blue Eyes and White Blaze Pattern
Dark Orange Dog Small Walking with Blue Eyes and Black Nose and Mouth Pattern
Friends Accessories Medical Clipboard
Friends Accessories Medical Feeding Bottle
Friends Accessories Medical Ice Pack
Friends Accessories Medical Nurse Hat
Friends Accessories Medical Otoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Pen
Friends Accessories Medical Spoon
Friends Accessories Medical Stethoscope
Friends Accessories Medical Syringe
Friends Accessories Medical Thermometer
Tan Hedgehog with Reddish Brown Spines Pattern
Bright Light Blue Friends Accessories Bag Round with Dark Pink Ruffle
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 1
Friends Accessories Award Ribbon with Number 2
Friends Accessories Bow
Friends Accessories Bow with Heart
Friends Accessories Brush Oval, Large
Friends Accessories Brush Round, Small
Friends Accessories Comb, Small with Heart
Friends Accessories Sponge
Friends Accessories Spray Bottle with Heart
White Dog Small Standing with Patch over Eye and Spots Pattern
Rabbit Sitting with Blue Eyes and Pink Nose and Mouth Pattern

The microphone and custard pie parts have been included only once before in the Collectible Minifigure series. They feature for the first time in a set in the Friends line.
New printed parts

Brick 1 x 1 with Oranges Pattern (Juice Carton)
Slope 45 2 x 2 with Red Cash Register and '+15' Pattern
Brick 1 x 1 with Cow and Flower Pattern (Milk Carton)
Tile 1 x 2 with Cell Phone / Music Player Pattern
Lime Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Brown Paw Pattern
Medium Azure Brick, Round 1 x 1 Open Stud with Paws and Heart Pattern
White Dish 4 x 4 Inverted (Radar) with 2 Dark Purple Octagonal Circles Pattern
Magenta Tile 2 x 4 with 'Andrea' and Music Notes Pattern
Red Tile 1 x 4 Lights with CD and Speakers on Light Aqua Background Pattern
Black Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Blackboard Pattern
White Tile 1 x 6 with Ruler Pattern
White Tile, Modified 4 x 6 with Studs on Edges with Clothes Design and Swatches Pattern

I hope this answers your question!

Good points about the Microphone and Custard Pie elements. The trans-clear Vial in the Laboratory set was similarly only released with a Collectible MiniFig.


text:
Is it possible to display large text on an NXT using LabVIEW?
In RoboLab and using RobotC, it's possible to write LARGE text to the screen of the NXT. In RoboLab, this can be done by just typing [\big] at the beginning of a string constant which is wired into a display VI. For some reason, this doesn't seem to work when programming with LabVIEW, and I can't seem to find any documentation on how to do this. It appears that the larger font is built-in to the NXT's firmware, so there should be some way to achieve this. How can I display large text on the NXT's screen using LabVIEW?

I am not used to LabVIEW... but RIC image files, supported by NXT firmware, can also be used by LabView I guess. So nxtRICEdit may help. See also RICfont utility, more information (though targetted NXC/NXT-G, should be useful) here.

Hm. I'll have to look into this more. I need to be able to display dynamic text (e.g. results of data acquisition) on the screen, so there would need to be a way to generate RIC images dynamically.

RIC files can take parameters and display accordingly. RIC fonts are based on this idea, they take the character to draw as the first parameter, which then causes them to display the proper character.
The extended NXT firmware has a special function which uses such a file to automatically display all characters. You can do it yourself pretty easily if all characters are the same width though.
I'm the author of RICcreator, a slightly more modern alternative to nxtRICEdit

I'm the author of RICcreator, a slightly more modern alternative to nxtRICEdit, so I should be able to answer about anything about the RIC format if you need help. (constantly hitting enter ruined this comment... -__-)


text:
Do LDraw files describe models, bricks, or both?
Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question, but do LDraw files describe models (with translation and rotation values with references to bricks contained in other files), or do they describe the bricks themselves (such as the individual vertices, lines, polygons, etc.)?  Or do different LDraw file types work in different ways?

Both, often in the same file.
If you take a look at the .ldr file format specification you can see that each file is made up of an number of different types of "line", one of which is a Subfile Reference where you can specify the colour, position, rotation and scale of the model.
Other lines can then be added to describe Lines, Triangles, Quadrilaterals and Optional Lines, which are specified by their individual vertices.
For example, the 1x1 Brick [part:3005] has the following non-comment lines (I've added comments to show what it's doing):
0 Author: James Jessiman
0 !LICENSE Redistributable under CCAL version 2.0

0 // Meta line, causes the next line to be drawn "inside-out", to make
0 // the inside of the brick.
0 // Followed by a subfile reference for a "box with 5 faces".
0 BFC INVERTNEXT
1 16 0 24 0 6 0 0 0 -20 0 0 0 6 box5.dat

0 // Draw 4 quadrilaterals to fill in the edges of the base of the brick
4 16 10 24 10 6 24 6 -6 24 6 -10 24 10
4 16 -10 24 10 -6 24 6 -6 24 -6 -10 24 -10
4 16 -10 24 -10 -6 24 -6 6 24 -6 10 24 -10
4 16 10 24 -10 6 24 -6 6 24 6 10 24 10

0 // Draw another 5 sided brick for the outside of the brick
1 16 0 24 0 10 0 0 0 -24 0 0 0 10 box5.dat

0 // Draw a stud on the top using the "stud" subfile.
1 16 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 stud.dat

Common subfiles include the studs and tubes on bricks.
When you save a model in MLCad or similar as an .ldr file it's basically all Subfile lines.


text:
What sites are available to sell original boxes?
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a site (not Ebay) where LEGO fans buy and sell items.  I have some large boxes for various sets to sell.  All my son's LEGO collection is in plastic boxes, and I don't think he has any interest in keeping the boxes.  I also have all the original instructions, and noticed somebody talking about some really high prices.
Can any of you refer me to a good site for selling, other than Ebay?
I do sell on Ebay (going through closets and such as awe downsize), but I figured these would be more interesting to LEGO collectors.

You probably came across BrickLink.
They sell pretty much anything LEGO related, including original boxes and instruction books.

Definitely Bricklink, specify "Box Only"; but I'm not sure whether that has a lot of success (depends on the set I suppose). Then again, I'm more of the keeps-the-bricks side than the keeps-the-box one.

Gosh, people even sell the opened poly-bags. Craziness.

Well, they try to - notice there is no "Price Guide Info" on that one, which means it hasn't been sold yet, while a the box of an UCS Yoda has been sold last december for 29.99€... Okay, time to raid my attic I guess...

Meh, I never keep the boxes once I've built the models, clearly a tad foolish ;).

Thanks, guys.  Another mom told me her method of keeping track of systems, which is the one I adopted:  Cut off the front of the box and discard the rest of the box.  I sure wish I had NOT followed her way of doing things.  I do have a few of the large boxes still intact, and all of the instruction manuals are in mint condition.  Off to Bricklink!

Hu-oh... it looks like I'm won't be able to sell my empty UCS Yoda boxes - they are, in fact, not empty.


text:
Looking for a site with custom instructions
I'm looking for a website that has some cool custom model instructions. I have a LEGO store near me and I'm able to buy pieces individually. I'm looking for more of a sci-fi ship kind of instructions.

https://dinorobo.com seems to have been deleted, I guess I'll remove the link.

@mindstormsboi I checked the dinorobo page in the Wayback Machine, and it appeared to have been a scrape of a Flickr page that's still available (and now added to the Wayback Machine as well): https://www.flickr.com/photos/21545821@N03/with/6432497709/

There are quite a few individual sites out there offering that sort of thing, however one of the best I've come across is:

The MOC pages on Rebrickable.com

This is because the site allows you to catalogue all your parts and then search for other sets and MOCs you can build with your existing collection.

The Unique Brick LEGO Creations provides pdf instruction files, for a fee; but they don't seem to carry sci-fi creations.

This website has custom instructions, categorized by age and type.
www.buildingexamples.com
A nice feature is that they also provide Apps for smartphones and tables.
Have fun!

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


text:
Is there a way to draw LEGO figures using Blender?
I have some basic experience in Blender. Is there any way to insert pre-drawn LEGO pieces into Blender?

Will it blend, in other words?

First note that this question is a possible duplicate of Do any programs exist that allow you to build your own LEGO manuals?  With that, here is the answer:

(optional) Create a model in LEGO digital designer or LDraw and export it as a LDraw (*.ldr) file.
Install LeoCAD, and either open the model that you made in LDD/LDraw (recommended) or create your model directly in LeoCAD.
Export your model in LeoCAD as a 3D studio (*.3ds) file and import that in Bender.

I learned this technique from this very site less than a week ago and have already tried it out.  So far, it works great and has given me loads of ideas.
Edit: The Linux version of LeoCAD currently does not export to the *.3ds file format, so you can not set up a pipeline that way; I know this from experience.

You can also use the Lightwave (.obj) exporter from LeoCAD and import that into Blender - note also that LeoCAD has the "Minifig Wizard" allowing you to create your Minifigs directly in there.

I just did a video using the same method as InkBlend. It worked well for me and here is the link https://youtu.be/kIbvFUuAoLU

For a general introduction to Lego characters (humanoid figures) modeled directly in Blender you might like to view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWfS82EOa4A&list=EC3F4C5FF0451A92D9 which is a tutorial on modeling a Lego man. I have just begun to analyse this tutorial to see if I can make an expanded PDF version that will incorporate the correct proportions for this figure but when I will complete this task and if I will publish it depends on too many factors to predict.

I would start to model the lego-head.
It is pretty simple, because u can use only one cylinder and then extrude/move and scale faces.
Here is a nice tutorial with an attached blend file.
http://infofreund.de/modelling-lego-head-blender/

authors: الوارث الحضرمي


text:
What is the name of the Technic pieces that snap together to make a track?
We have these little black Technic pieces that connect together; they make a track that fits over the gears (sort of like wheeled-belt-track on excavators or tank track).
Can you tell me the name of these pieces? The kids love them, I'm hoping to buy more in the Pick a Brick.

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

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

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


text:
Can I use two ultrasound sensors at a time?
Is there a way to use two ultrasound sensors on a Mindstorms NXT without them interfering with each other?

theres a single shot mode (at least when using NXC, NXT-G is very limited in fuctionality) for ultrasonic sensors. if you use that and don't read from two sensors at the exact same time, you can pass around interferences. to read more about that, please take a look at:

http://www.mindsensors.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=134
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/nl/roboticstroubleshooting/thread/81a4680d-20a7-46bc-bdba-e7041566c93c


text:
What is the most compact way to make a flat six pointed star in LEGO?
I spend a lot of time building in Micro scale (I maintain the Micropolis collaboration standard) and my partner is trying to figure out how to build the most compact, or smallest, six pointed star possible to fit into one of her builds. We've played around with friction set cheese wedges similar to this example but were curious if anyone has any other ideas. We're open to using parts in System, Technic, Clickits, or even Znap or of course any combinations thereof.

There's the Hair Decoration, Star with Pin, currently available in two Freinds sets in bright pink and orange. It's only a five point star. Sadly, all the other star pieces that I know seem to have five points.

@Ambo100 Yep, we've noticed the same thing. Plenty of five pointed stars but this particular build (a Synagogue to go with the Cathedral and Mosque) really needs a six pointed star instead of a five.

Hexagonal symmetry and angles in 15, 30 and 60-degree proportions are scarce among LEGO elements.
I think the smallest single piece that approximates a six-pointed star is the basic flower:

I myself don't practice freelance brick modification, but someone with fewer scruples might easily trim one of these into a 6-pointed star shape.
Another piece that has hexagonal symmetry is the old pulley wheel:

The holes are arranged at 60-degree intervals around the center. Putting two of these pulleys together and inserting half pins into the holes will give you 6 studs arranged at what could be the points of a 6-pointed star:

I added a 1x1 round plate to three of the studs to offset the gear shift handles. This construction is a little shaky, as the half pins will rotate. Not sure if it's compact enough for micro-scale - the star ends up about 2.5x2.5
You could get a 6-pointed star of about the same size using two triangular roadsigns:

These have clips on the back. Putting them face-to-face would give you a clip on the front of the star, and you'd have to find a way to hold it in place, but it would have the advantage of being fairly thin. The color options on these pieces are limited, though.

Not a huge fan of dremels, but it's a fair point about the flowers. We had also noticed the triangular plates with clips but the clip on front was a problem for the application.
We're planning on giving the pulley a try but it might not work in this setting. Still, it's a great idea.

A possible variation on the pulley would be to use some small element like a screwdriver or light saber blade inside the pins and then use two elastic bands to form triangles by stretching them around the pins. The gearshift solution looks OK head-on, but it is kind of messy from the sides.

Would you have trouble keeping the elastic bands on the ends of the blades or screwdrivers? I wouldn't think there would be quite enough friction on their surfaces to keep them in place. Probably worth giving it a try though. It's certainly a refinement that's worth playing around with.

The screwdriver handles are textured, so that might help. I don't have enough of them to try it out, though. They do not fit snugly inside the pin hole, so you would need to use the tension from the band to hold them in place. Kind of a tricky operation in such a small area, but if you're a micro builder, probably nothing new!

A smaller six-pointed star which only uses cheese slopes has been achieved in the MOC below:

Flickr: The grand entrance 6, qi_tah


text:
What is the difference between train motors 88002 and 10153?
I want to motorize my Santa Fe Super Chief.
Its original instruction mentions 5300 but it's marked obsolete on BS.com and now re-released as 10153.
In the same time 88002 costs few times less, e.g. $15 on Lego.com vs $55 on eBay.
So does it make sense to acquire more expensive 10153, or can just go for 88002? Are they compatible? What is the difference?
Update: Is the key difference in the way how does engine receive electricity? From metal tracks or inner engine (like Red Cargo train does)?

Similar to add the power functions to Western Train Chase and What parts are really required to motorize 10219 Maersk Train

@Zhaph-BenDuguid: You're right, thanks. But actually I'm trying to figure out what the difference between this two approaches. Seems that 1st is engine-inside-wheels, and 2nd - separated. Something like that.

@Zhaph-BenDuguid: I've updated my question to be more clear and specific.

5300 and 10153 are from the former 9V train system and drew power from the metal tracks. They were controlled using a transformer attached to the tracks.
88002 runs on battery power from an onboard battery box. Trains with this kind of motor can run at a set speed, or can be controlled by adding IR remote controllers.
Regarding compatibility, the 5300 and 10153 require powered 9V track. They will not run on the new plastic tracks. The 88002 is the same gauge as these 9V motors, so it will fit and run on the 9V tracks.
LEGO is no longer making 9V train components.

Thanks! That were my thoughts, wanted to confirm. But how to treat trains that expects old on-track power? Hack it's construction and install PF engine + wheelpair?

I'm not familiar enough with the specific 9V trains to know how well this would work. I think the main issue would be accommodating the battery box.


text:
Is it possible to build Lego bricks with a makerbot replicator 3D print?
Is it possible for plates, tiles or small pieces ? Is it possible to use MLCAD with a Makerbot replicator?

I can't imagine that the tolerances would be as good as LEGO's - would probably be on a par with MegaBloks ;)

Yes, but the quality would not be that good.  See this (my) answer on a related question.

The MakerBot Replicator 2 produces surfaces with 100 micron precision according to MakerBots website.

See the referenced answer by InkBlend; precision of normal lego pieces out of box is under 10 microns. The quality you can get from a 100 micron printer is not going to work as well as a real piece. Once we have 10x precision for the 3D printers, things might change.

(fair warning: I work for a 3D printer company [Type A Machines])
I thought this cross-posting up on the RepRap forum would be useful here.
Summarizing that post:
It is possible to 3D print LEGO-compatible parts on desktop 3D printers, but with caveats:

The fit will likely never be as tight as real LEGOs. Those are tough tolerances to match. LEGO Corp are (I've heard) the masters of injection molded plastic.
The fit we achieved is not bad though, but to make it work you can't just print the holes at the exact diameter and just hope it works.
I did my models in CAD software and (CRUCIAL POINT) had to expand hole sizes by about 1/2mm to get the right fit.
I added 1mm chamfers to the holes as well.
I also widened the holes after printing with a 4.8mm drill bit. No power tools needed, just a few turns manually.

...but with those caveats, it's totally doable.  The holes I printed stuck quite nicely to the top of a standard LEGO 8x8 plate. Of course, it's crazy to try and print any standard LEGO/Technic brick. LEGO corp does that so much better than you ever will. The interesting thing is making custom pieces that you'll never see from LEGO. There are a lot of interesting 3D designs out there that - with the methods above - allow you to turn them into a LEGO component.

LDview can directly export LDraw files to .STL. But the problem is that the mesh obtained may not be suitable for 3D printing, many of LDraw parts are not "watertight", or contain surfaces inside the part volume (eg. studs are simply lain on flat top surface).

You can't directly export from MLCad to the .STL format that the Makerbots require, but there are workflows you could probably set up.
MLCad doesn't really have many export options, so you're better off using something like LeoCAD which can read .ldr files from MLCad, and export as other formats.

Using LeoCAD, add the part you want to print to the scene.
Export as either .3ds or Lightwave .obj, and import into Blender.
Export from Blender as an .stl file (native exporter).
Open the .STL in ReplicatorG and away you go.

I've heard there are limitations to printing layer-by-layer as parts can be very brittle. How do home-made bricks compare to the real thing, is it even a viable option?

Good question - I really doubt that the precision of the printers are anywhere close to actual LEGO bricks.


text:
Where and when did the straight block letter LEGO logo appear on brick studs?
The LEGO logo that appears on the tops of brick studs has had several styles over the years. In the US, when Samsonite began manufacturing LEGO bricks, they apparently made some alterations to some of the molds they obtained from LEGO, resulting in occasional odd bricks that had both the older and newer style logos on the same brick:

This brick shows the two main styles of logo, the earlier one with thick, rounded lettering and an open O, and the later style with thinner, italic lettering that is very similar to the style used today. There have been slight variations in the size and orientation of the logo, but these are the two main styles.
I have a few pieces, however, that have another distinct style:

This is also a thinner style, but is not italic, like the modern style. The pieces I have seen it on are white plates with the modern underside - not the old waffle type.
I want to know roughly when this logo was used - It would appear to be later than the old style logo, but concurrent with the modern logo. I am also wondering how long it was in use, and whether bricks with this style logo were produced in a specific place; i.e. whether they are Samsonite from the US or Canada, or distinct to one of the European manufacturing locations.
Additional Information
The pieces I have that display this logo are white 6x8 plates with Pat Pend on the underside in block caps. This style plate first appeared in sets in 1961, and I believe by 1976 most of the Pat Pend molds were either replaced or had the words obscured. That narrows the date range down somewhat for this particular piece.
If anyone has examples of other pieces with this style logo, especially if they are known to come from a certain set, that would be helpful in answering this question.

Note: I retagged this question with [history] instead of [identification], as you seemed to be asking about the history of the straight lettering than trying to identify something. Also, very interesting question -- can't wait see some answers!

@JoshuaDrake : bounty rules aren't very flexible, you can read them in full here. In short, if there's no answer, the bounty will not be awarded or refunded.

NOTE: from 1949 to 1954 "LEGO" was printed INSIDE the brick.
LEGO appeared on the studs for the first time in the late 1954, then it was re-designed a lot during the years, becoming the stud we all know.
The not-italic stud of the photo was produced between 1960 and 1963. You can easily exclude 1963+ noticing that it's not the same exact plastic of the modern bricks (ABS was adopted in 1963).
Hope this helps.
P.S. I'm a huge LEGO collector and I'll be glad to share my expertise here and learn from other passionate people.

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure it quite coincides with this piece, however, because it's not a waffle-bottom plate, it's a circle-bottom, and the circle-bottom plates didn't come along until 1963 in Europe, and waffle-bottom plates were still the norm for this size plate in the US and Canada until the early 70s. So it's from 1963 or after. While the switch to ABS in Europe was in 1963, Samsonite still had some CA pieces in sets into the late 60s. Do you have any other pieces with this logo from a known set?


text:
NXT motor power accuracy
When turning the motors, how precise is the speed parameter? I am programming in the NXC language (standard firmware) and wishing to know how many decimal points will be taken, if any, and whether the input speed will be truncated, rounded or neither.

From the page you linked to we can see that the NXC OnFwd method has the following parameters:
void OnFwd (byte outputs, char pwr)

The power or speed parameter is listed as a char type, and looking around elsewhere on the site we find the definition of the char to be:

In NXC the char type is a signed 8-bit value. This type can store values from SCHAR_MIN to SCHAR_MAX.

This means it can hold an integer value between -128 and 127.
It cannot take any decimal values.
I assume that a char was used over an int as they only need to support values between -100 and 100 in this method.

Thanks, for some reason I didn't connect value to integral value, but looking at the int and float description it's quite obvious! When I use a decimal value as a parameter there is no compiler or runtime error; I believe C would just truncate a floating point number to an integer, ao I presume it would be the same in NXT for float to char?

I guess so - I can't say I've tried, but yes, there's possibly some implicit conversions going on.


text:
How accurate is the ultrasound sensor when moving?
Can I use an ultrasound sensor while the Robot is moving, or will it give bad data?

Short answer: The ultrasonic sensor is perfectly accurate while moving!
A regular NXT robot will move at a maximum speed of several meters per second (usually about 1 or 2 m/s max.). Ultrasound, on the other hand, travels with about 330 meters per second through air. So during the "snapshot" the ultrasound sensor does (basically it sends a ping, listens for the pong-echo, and takes the time difference), your robot appears to be frozen for this brief moment.
So this is why, whenever your ultrasonic sensor makes a measurement, you get a freze-frame snapshot of the current distance to the nearest object it detects. In reality, the sensor sends out pings all the time during default operation, and you just get the very latest measurment -- but essntially, this feels the same.
Since the ultrasonic sensor is digital and offers its data via the I²C protocol, this is where the main latency comes from. On the other hand, you shouldn't poll (i.e. read out) your sensor too frequently, if that is what you're worried about. In several tests we've concluded with hundred NXT kits, that a polling rate of 50 Hz (50 times per second, delay of 20ms between each poll) does work perfectly with no problems at all. When you're using NXT-G, you shouldn't worry at all: You won't get values faster anyway. When you're working with other languages, and you feel your ultrasonic sensor doesn't work so well in a tight loop with constant polling, try to insert this little 20ms break!
Far more important are the objects you try to detect. This is due to the wavelength of ultrasound. You can't detect objects with dimensions of just a couple of centimeters.

The US works best when facing walls, perpendicular to the sensor
It has big problems detecting furr, carpet- or cloth-like surfaces (the ultrasound doesn't get reflected)
It has big problems detecting smooth surfaces, facing the sensor at skew angles (not 90°) -- the ultrasound gets reflected away
It has problems detecting round objects (e.g. a water bottle or a football) accurately. The ultrasound gets reflected too widely, so you'll see the bottle or ball "bigger and wider" than it is in reality.
It will miss tiny objects

The first rule is, as always: Experiment on your own! For more resources, try the LEGO NXT Hardware SDK or at least the pictures in this german paper, pages 24, 27ff.

The ultrasound sensor will only be affected by the rate in which it captures and processes data, which could be a matter of milliseconds.
Supposing the ultrasound sensor captured data at one second intervals whilst moving towards an object at a rate of ten inches a second. If the rate at which it was moving was consistent the sensor would report measurements of say 60, 50, 40, 30 inches. This is not 'bad data', it can be considered insufficient depending on objective.
LEGO haven't specified the rate at which the ultrasound sensor processes data, if it hasn't been documented, you might want to try a couple of controlled experiments to see how it is affected by motion.

The shooterbot, one of the robots that can be built from the instructions in the nxt 2.0 set, uses this sensor while rotating in place, which proves this works pretty well.
please note that your results might be different, depending on the angle, speed of movement and distance of the objects you're measuring. Basically, there's no problem - but the best way to find out is to start building ;)


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Are LEGO bricks recyclable?
Yes, I know that it is kind of a dumb question, as no one would want to dispose of LEGO bricks.
But it's a curiosity thing: are LEGO bricks recyclable?

According to this website, LEGO bricks are made from a type of plastic called acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or ABS. We do have the technology to recycle ABS, however you would need to check with your local/national waste disposal service whether it is in use. Dropping unwanted bricks off at a local charity bin or childcare provider would certainly be the easiest way to "recycle" LEGO :)

I don't understand the phrase "unwanted bricks"

The LEGO Group's sustainability report covers a few key areas, although it's not completely clear.
At the most basic level, they see passing your bricks on to relatives or friends as the most environmentally friendly way of "disposing" of your bricks:
Sustainable Play

We believe that the LEGO Group should produce and market high quality products that last for generations and are safe online and offline. It is about continuing to develop a systematic approach to creativity and play to enhance learning and to help pass on the joy of play from generation to generation. We call this Sustainable Play.
All LEGO bricks are compatible across time and product line, giving each brick a very long lifetime. LEGO bricks never become redundant, as each one can be reused to build new ideas and to unfold children’s creativity. Bricks that are not passed on to family or friends are often sold second-hand. We call this Sustainable Play. The resilience and long-life of LEGO products supports our Play Promise by extending play value over time. It also opposes a culture of ‘play and throw away’, helping to support our Planet Promise.

However they also touch on the option of recycling the bricks themselves when they talk about reusing them as the raw materials for new products:
Design for disassembly of LEGO elements

Design for Disassembly is about designing a product so it can be separated into base elements of materials at its end-of-life. Each element can then be reused as raw material for new products. When it comes to sub-assemblies and the electronic elements of our
products, we also see an opportunity to encourage innovation by our suppliers to support cost reductions and environmental optimisation at the same time.

Nice, I found a statement from LEGO saying they were able to reuse their own waste material, but nothing from them directly on whether this was possible at an individual consumer level.

As for them reusing their own waste material, they do it quite a lot, and the percentage of plastic which ends up being actually thrown away is extremely small (not sure about the exact figure, unfortunately). Re-used plastic usually ends up in darker bricks, maybe even only the black ones.

@Joubarc, Yep, reusing their waste, and moving towards a "Zero Waste" goal is very clearly covered in the sustainability reports.

Still, it's rather frightening to be scolded because you touched some random glob of plastic laying around in the factory, just because it's going to be recycled and your fingerprints may hinder the moulding process (well, to be fair, it was only an issue with raw granulate, but since they start this kind of visit by saying "don't touch anything", they never miss any opportunity to remind you of it, whatever you touch. Good thing walking on the ground is mostly OK)

Short answer: No, but you can make sure they are reused by sending them to us (go to www.brickrecycler.com for info on sending in your LEGOs and getting postage reimbursed if you desire and live in the US).
Long answer: We personally researched or called over 35 recycling programs that serve a population of over 30 million customers (top 30 cities with highest population, plus several more). Only one Curbside Recycling Program claims they can recycled mixed LEGOs. Only the City of San Fransico (proper) bales them up and ships them to China, but doesn't know what they make out of them). All the other cities (including NY, Dallas, Chicago, LA, San Jose, etc) said they cannot use them; either because: they are mostly ABS, some contain rubber, some contain batteries or wires, are "Type 7" but are not labeled, are too small, etc. Even cities whose web sites said "we accept all plastic types", sent us emails saying they couldn't take them for these reasons (except SF).
We even called an ABS recycling company (yes some of these exist). They said, even with pure ABS LEGOs, they would need over 1,000 pounds to make it worthwhile to them to touch it.
We have sent hundreds and hundreds of pounds of LEGOs on to "new lives", including donations to: children in Haiti, orphanage in Zimbawe, LEGO clubs, libraries, doctor's offices, etc.
We called dozens of thrift shops throughout the US and were please to find that at least "some" of them claim they can used mixed bricks, but a lot of them don't touch them, especially if they are not in complete sets. Our local Goodwill said they just dump them in the citywide recycling. We cried, then called the city recycling program, and they said they painstakenly sort them out, then dump in the landfill. We cried some more, then started this great program to give "the world's most awesome toy" a chance a 2nd life.
LEGO pieces will not decompose even after 100,000 years, which makes them an excellent choice to "pass along to a curious child".
We will be posting more details and actual emails from many curbside recycling centers soon.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), the material that most LEGO bricks are made of, is also popular for using in 3D-Printers. There is an Open Source Ecology project to create a plastic shredder that makes the raw material for 3D printing. People also use 3D printers to create LEGO compatible parts, so one can recycle bricks to create bricks again!


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Is it unethical to distribute 3D models of Lego bricks?
So say that I use LeoCAD to export some brick models to Blender.  Would it be unethical to modify the models in various ways (tris to quads tool, subsurfacing, textures, rigging, etc.) and then publish them to the internet, assuming that I do not try to profit from them in any way?

Ethics is always a personal taste and choice, isn't it?

@abatishchev Not really - there are legal agreements covering the parts, so they should be followed - as some of these allow for derivative and commercial use, there are no real ethics involved. The LDraw Steering Committee ask for donations of time or money if you are profiting from the library, which is where "ethics" might come in to play. Personally if someone wants to convert all these files into a more "native" format for use in traditional modelling apps I'm sure people would be very grateful.

In this case it's better to say "legal", not ethic, imo.

Almost certainly no, but with some caveats:
The LeoCAD parts library is based on the LDraw parts library, which has a Legal Agreement here.
The vast majority (and I would assume the entire subset used by LeoCAD) are covered under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0:
You are free:

to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to Remix — to adapt the work
to make commercial use of the work

Under the following conditions:

Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the works).

However there are parts in the library that are not covered by the LDraw Contributor Agreement (CA), and these are covered by the more restrictive NonCA agreement. You are expressly forbidden from sharing, or making derivative works of these parts (creating 2d renderings of the elements isn't considered a derivative work, but converting the parts to a different format is).
All part files should have a license comment in their header stating either:
0 !LICENSE Redistributable under CCAL version 2.0 : see CAreadme.txt

or
0 !LICENCE Not redistributable : see NonCAreadme.txt

You should check those parts you wish to adapt, and proceed accordingly.

How do I tell which parts are under which licenses?

The .ldr or .dat files are text based, do you can open them and check the comment lines at the top. I've not checked but I'd assume that all the ones included in LeoCAD were the ones covered by the CC BY license.

Note that the LDraw community has been actively working to remove non-CA parts, and there are only 5 left in the latest release. Not sure how up-to-date the LeoCAD parts library is, though.

Somewhat out of date last time I looked ;)

Are 2d renderings of the CC-BY parts considered to be derivative works? Is attribution required for those 2d renderings?

@PeterDC as I stated, and if you take a look at the linked page, 2D renderings are not considered derivative, however credit is appreciated, especially if being used for commercial works.


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How does the cost of a LEGO railroad compare to a traditional scale railroad layout?
How do the costs compare between a railroad layout constructed with LEGO trains and a nearly identical layout using traditional scale models, such as HO?

This is kind of irrelevant, but remember that the parts for Lego train sets (as with all Legos) can be used for many more things than what you bought them for.  You can swap pieces around with other sets or build something completely new.  So even if a Lego train set does cost more than a model train set, you can use it for a lot more things than the other.

I'd say that an initial HO scale set was probably cheaper than a LEGO version, although a direct comparison isn't easy, and it can rapidly get out of hand once you start adding more elements in.
Initial Purchases
The closest I can find is probably comparing 7939 LEGO Cargo Train, which is currently selling in the LEGO shop for £130:

With something like the GWR Passenger Freight from Hornby, which is selling for £80:

I chose that one as it has the basic oval plus "Track Pack A", giving some additional track including points.
Add a TrackMat accessory pack for £30 for some buildings or platforms and you're still cheaper than LEGO set.
An entry-level set from Hornby with just the basic oval of track retails at around £70, compared with £102 for the Passenger Train set:

However, once you venture out of the initial sets, go for the digital options, or move out of the "RailRoad" brand, the cost goes up to the point where you're paying £200-300 for an engine, up to the giddy heights of "Live Steam".
Extending your track
The comparison becomes even harder now, however this is where LEGO wins on price, if not on range.
The LEGO shop lists a Switching Tracks set with a pair of points (left and right) and 4 curved rails for £16, compared with Hornby's price of £12 for each point - or £29 for a pack with a pair of points, 2 curves and 2 points.
HO Scale will offer you more options in general however: Hornby for example have 4 different radii of curves, a number of different lengths of straight tracks, 4 different styles of points (Standard, curved, express and Y), crossings, and two flexibilities of "flexible" track (about £4/m compared with LEGO's £12/m), as well as a much larger range of locomotives and rolling stock.

I say this as having been a model railroader (http://zoorail.wordpress.com) for more than 10 years. You will never get the level of detail, scale or even perhaps value with Lego railroad sets as compared to normal model railroading but I just bought two Lego Train sets 7939 and 3677 and was blown away by the care that has not only gone into how they look but also how they operate. Out of the box, you are not only given a full train set and track; but the controller also allows you to independently operate up to 8 functions i.e. trains / lights etc. This IS possible with model railroading but it certainly isn't as straightforward or even if it is, if you have young children (like me) the marriage of ease of operations with child-proof playability makes this something you may want to consider.


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How can I make a LEGO heroica scale fountain of youth using bricks from Fortaan or Waldurk?
I have started collecting heroica and I thought "wouldn't a fountain of youth be superb!" but I only have Fortaan and Waldurk... any ideas?

Is that all the LEGO you've got, or are there other pieces to work with?

@Miles, Zhaph - Ben Duguid is right.  You need to supply more information if you want an answer.  Are those Heroica sets all the Legos that you have?  Do you have more, but not want to use them?  Please clarify.

The way I read the question, it does imply "only parts from these sets". If not, it would just be formulated "How can I make a LEGO Heroica scale fountain of youth?". Not everybody has a huge stash of LEGO parts, and we won't shy away from a challenge, will we? (well, I suppose I will since, I don't have any of the two :-/)

Thought I'd finally step up to the plate - here's my first attempt.
On the basis that the Fountain of Youth is probably an end goal rather than something you'd come across on the way somewhere else I've gone for an 8x8 base, but as we're limited to these two sets I've had to go with grey - I could probably have gone with the 4x4 blue plates, but felt that might limit other options, and wanted the figures to be able to move around the fountain a bit.
I've added the goblet as a collectable treasure that could have a "healing" rule for use in campaigns:


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LEGO games for grown-ups?
Are all LEGO Boardgames more or less for children, or are some of them suitable for grown-up, more expert players? (Everybody likes relaxing with a simple game, but are any of the games a bit more challenging?)

From personal experience (which doesn't quite qualify as an answer), the games I tried left me with a feeling of being a bit too easy, or repetitive, thus having low replay value. Also, the competitive stance of all these games tends to get annoying.

The most obvious answer is probably the LEGO Heroica range, especially when played in "Campaign" mode; for more details see our Heroica tag wiki.
There are also a few examples of "Expert" rules that others have come up with, including our very own Joe Wreschnig's set on his dedicated site.

Advanced Heroica PDF by Jason Glover/GreyGnomeGames (archived page)

Both of these make the ruleset more complicated and can encourage more of a team play than the usual competitive play that my kids make it.
LEGO Creationary is another game where the modelling requirements make it a slightly less child friendly game than some of the others.

Good to know someone made coop rules for Heroica games (I didn't dare try these yet as I feared I would be disappointed), they sound much more interesting.

@Joubarc I've not tried the more advanced rules "officially" with my kids yet (4 and 7), although I've taken some of Joe's ideas and others - I've used Joe's Thief changes, and added a variant where the Druid can heal other characters over a certain distance - making it more of a true healer than it currently is. Works nicely when each player has multiple characters too.

I've played Creationary with adults only and it works well.


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Is Technic compatible with Mindstorms?
My wife bought me a Mindstorms NXT 2.0 for my birthday. I've been reading up on it from as many sources as possible however apart from the 9695 Education Resource Set which adds some additional bricks to the set, is the Mindstorms compatible with any other Lego sets, specifically the Technics?
If so, where can I get more information on how these sets are interchanged?

Yes.
The current Mindstorms sets are completely Technic orientated and use the Technic pins (i.e. [part:3673:7]) to connect to the newer Technic Beams (i.e. [part:32316:7]) as well as the original Technic Bricks (i.e. [part:3894:7])
The various different size pins and axles are the way to interchange between these.

Thank you for the confirmation. Definitely makes it a worthwhile investment.

No probs. Yes it's definitely a good investment :)

You should note however that Power Function motors and accessories that can be found in large TECHNIC sets won't work with Mindstorms without the addition of (expensive) adapters.

Mindstorms is essentially Technic and Lego parts with electronic components built in to them.  So the answer is yes.

There are two sides to this, building and electrics.
In terms of building yes, mindstorms can be seen as an extension of Technic and most of the Elements in a mindstorms set will be "Technic" elements. The old RCX was orientated towards "old-style" Technic that used a mixture of pins and studs while the newer NXT and EV3 are orientated towards new-style Technic that mostly uses pins.
In terms of Electrics things are more of a mess.
LEGO has had various electric systems over the years, broadly speaking there are.

The 4.5V/12V system, this is ancient and completely incompatible with Mindstorms. This used plugs with two pins, sometimes with a central bump.
The "electric system 9V", inroduced in 1990 and used for motorising many Technic sets. Also used by the RCX. This used contacts built into the top of lego studs.
The NXT/EV3 system this uses a RJ style connector but with the clip in a different position from normal.
The "Power functions" system, introduced in 2007 and has now mostly replaced the "electric system 9V". This uses a custom connector with two lego studs and a custom contact block next to them that is roughly 1x2 but won't stack with lego bricks.
The "powered up" system, the newest system from Lego. Sometimes also reffered to as "power functions 2.0".

Lego sold an adapter cable to go from the NXT to "electric system 9V" part number 8528. Unfortunately it is no longer sold. They also sell two different lengths of extension/adapter cables which can be used either to extend power functions or to connect power functions to "electric system 9V" part numbers 8886 and 8871.
It seems that Lego never made an adapter to go directly from the NXT to power functions though you can connect the NXT to power functions motors by combining the two adapters above or by splicing cables to make your own adapter.
Also it seems that the EV3 is not really compatible with the Lego adapter cable, apparently sensors won't work at all and motors will only work with special software hacks. There is discussion of this and possible workarounds with custom cables at How to use Power Functions with Mindstorms EV3? and Use legacy RCX sensors with EV3
The powered up system seems to have no compatibility with anything else at least not using official parts. Lego don't even sell an extension cable that can be hacked into, I've seen some third party ones but they were very expensive.


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Can you program Lego Mindstorms with the Scratch programming language?
My child is learning programming using Scratch in school. Can she program her Mindstorms using Scratch?

If you are talking about the NXT, you can actually use assembly, C, or C++ to program it (see this question).  I don't know about Scratch, though.

If you wish to program the EV3 with Scratch, then check out this project on github:
https://github.com/koen-dejonghe/ev3-scratch-helper-app
This software is a so-called helper app, that interfaces between the Scratch 2.0 offline editor and the Lego Mindstorms EV3.
The EV3 must be booted from Lejos (http://sourceforge.net/p/lejos/wiki/Home/), requires a wifi dongle and wireless setup.
The helper app will find the EV3 brick on the wireless network, and will execute commands invoked in Scratch as RMI requests on the EV3.
The helper app also reports the status of the motors and sensors back to Scratch.
Below is an example program in Scratch, that allows you to control the robot with the arrow keys (after having pressed 'g'), or (after having clicked on the 'start' sprite) let the robot walk around until it meets an object that is too close, at which point it will make a left turn.

The robot itself should look something like this :

Have fun, and let me know what you think.

No, but you can use a very similar programming language:  Enchanting.
(I haven't tried it yet. It was recommended by the programming instructor).

Mitch Resnick at the MIT Media Lab is the developer of both Scratch and the original Mindstorms programmable brick, and the original Mindstorms programming interface was very similar to Scratch. If you have one of the original Mindstorms Robotics Invention System sets (and a PC of the proper vintage on which to run the software) she would probably find it similar enough to use without much trouble. (I recently rejuvenated my old Mindstorms sets with a $30 laptop bought online)

Scratch for LEGO Mindstorms EV3
One way is to use the open-source online programming environment Open Roberta Lab: http://lab.open-roberta.org there is also a wiki included for detailed information. Or just google Open Roberta at wikipedia.
Everything is for free.

On macOS, it is officialy supported, with the « New LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Home pre-release software for macOS ». I guess that will soon be the case on windows

Open Roberta wiki: https://wiki.open-roberta.org
Open Roberta Community: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/open-roberta
Best
 Thorsten

Thorsten - welcome and these are good suggestions. Can you elaborate a bit in your answer - for example explain what Open Roberta is, how NEPO compares to Scratch etc. that will help OP get a full answer from this site without having to jump to links that might or might not work in the future?

Open Roberta is the name of a project within the German education initiative "Roberta—Learning with robots", initiated by Fraunhofer IAIS, which is an institute belonging to the Fraunhofer Society. With Open Roberta Fraunhofer IAIS is looking to encourage kids to code by using Lego Mindstorms, a programmable robotics platform. The Cloud-approach of the Open Roberta Lab makes programming easier and minimizes the hurdles for teachers and schools to teach how to code. Open Roberta is free and does not require any installation. The project was initially founded with $1Mio by Google.org.

NEPO is a free open source meta programming language that can be used by students, scholars, teachers, and other interested persons in the Open Roberta Lab. NEPO is how we call our graphical programming language and its coupled hardware connection layer. NEPO uses the freely available Blockly library. In addition within NEPO there are additional functionalities and improvements have been adapted for Open Roberta. The programming paradigm of NEPO is inspired by Scratch. All infos at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Roberta

You can control an EV3 brick as it is (no added firmware) via bluetooth with Snap. This open source Snap extension can be find at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BycKtjGwKylicndOeXNkcXVlVG8
It allows you to control all the sensors in the LEGO box, the motors and the vehicle (if you need one). The documentation (and the blocks) is mostly in french :-(
All you need to make it work is Windows (7 or higher), Chrome and bluetooth (on your computer, the EV3 already has bluetooth).

Maybe also interesting for scratch users - we made a comparison between our language, called NEPO (wich is quite simular to scratch) and LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Software (EV3-G): http://roberta-home.de/en/comparisson-between-open-roberta-and-lego-mindstorms-ev3-software


text:
What is the best way to preserve a LEGO model after it has been built?

Possible Duplicates:
How can I store LEGO bricks as long as possible?
How do you store your built models for long term display?

I want to preserve my sons LEGO ships after they are built. Is there anything out there to apply as a coating after he is done building it?

It's not necessary, nor is it a particular good idea to apply coating to your LEGO bricks.

If you want to consider a permanent construction, take a look at: What glue should I use for permanent LEGO construction?, otherwise as Ambo100 states, take a look at the storage questions.

You could invest in a nice shelving system to place completed ships for display - that seems like a better method than gluing or coating them.

I disagree with the duplication.  The dupe is talking about unassembled bricks, and this question is clearly talking about completed models.

@DaveDelong I think we can all agree that as it's written this question is a bit ambiguous; it could also have been marked as a duplicate of: How do you store your built models for long term display?

@DaveDeLong If the question is rephrased to be less ambiguous and less like either of the questions in the "Linked" list, I'll be happy to reopen and clear down these comments :)

authors: Γιώργος Φιωτάκης


text:
Where can I find "hacker" information about the NXT?
I want to know if, and where, is some extremely detailed hacker information on the Mindstorms NXT 2.0.  Things such as the processor, flash memory, and RAM information, GPIO or I2C support, custom firmware mods, maximum amperage draw, motor types (AC or DC, stepper or standard), sensor details (ultrasonic and color), and all of the other things that hacker types love.  Don't get me wrong, the NXT is incredible as it is, but I would be happier getting one knowing that I have some room to mess around with it.

Good question. You may also be interested in this: Power Functions motor review

You can start with the Hardware Developer Kit which includes "documentation and schematics for the NXT and related sensors", supplied by The LEGO group to help you "design and develop your own sensors and actuators [motors] that can interact with the NXT".
I've not really looked at the latest ones, but the original O'Reilly Unofficial Guide to LEGO Mindstorms was very good, and covered things like creating your own sensors for The Robotics Invention System - looking at the descriptions of the newer ones, they don't appear to require soldering irons or alternative programming environments :(.

How did I not know about those developer kits before... that's fantastic!

They're tucked away on a little bit of the site that you don't notice ;)


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Access hatch in a wall?
Working on a 10 stud by 10 stud Square bell tower for my annual project. Need to create a access panel/door. Any tricks that can be done so it's hidden or at least not easily noticed?
I need to hide a small MP3 player and speaker inside and need access to the player to turn it on and off.

This is a hatch so that you can get at the inside of the tower, rather than a "hidden" hatch for a minifig?

It may even be easier to build your tower so that the top part of it can come of (resting on tiles on the lower part with maybe 1-2 studs to hold it in place), then you can access whatever you need by simply removing the top part. And, you can have additional layers if required.

The idea is to hide a small MP3 speaker inside. I just need to get access to it and the player so I can turn it on.

Then I'd say the removable top is really the easiest to work with.

I would suggest not using hinges of any kind, but just making a plain panel with a tile on top, resting on a tile in the wall. For an example from LEGO itself, have a look at booklet 2 of the instructions for set 7094. Notice they use panels instead of flat tiles which is even less visible from the outside (although they did it not for that reason but to make sure it was easier to remove).
In your case, you'll want to block it from behind (with slopes at each corner for example) as you don't want it to go into the structure.
To remove it, you'll either need to draw it by some protruding fixture if you can fit one in, or push it from the inside by another mechanism (for example, pushing on something on the top would activate a lever which would push the wall)


text:
Are there any AFOL clubs in the Atlanta area?
Are there any AFOL clubs in the Atlanta area? If so, do they have current contact information? I did some Googling but the results were inconclusive and I thought I'd shoot this out to the community.
Sorry if it's too specific or localized, but that's good I guess.

There may not be anything aside from the North Georgia LEGO Train Club, but it looks like you could start one from the Waiting List - AFOL there also appears to have been a newsgroup lugnet.loc.us.ga.atl.

That's a great idea. I just started one - http://www.meetup.com/Atlanta-Adult-Fans-of-LEGO


text:
How can I draw a microfigure on paper?
I am a great drawer, but I cannot draw microfigures! You may think that because I am young I won't be great I really am, but I need help drawing this, on paper.

Whilst it's not in our sites interest to discuss drafting, I think it can be a very important tool for creative design. I think this is a good question for our site.

Since you'll be working at a scale you may prefer to use graph paper. You can print your own if you don't have any, this will make it easier. Use a ruler, pencil and a rubber to draw your microfigure.
A microfigure is roughly 2/7 legs, 2/7 torso and 3/7 head high, It should also be 3 squares wide. You may find the diagram below makes it easier to visualise:

At this stage the most important thing to concentrate on is symmetry.

Symmetry is common in nature, human beings and even more so with Lego.
  Bricks wouldn't be as compatible as they are now if they didn't have a
  sense of symmetry.

For now, concentrate on the vertical symmetry (top-to-bottom). In my sketch I've drawn out the three boxes first and added a few rough outlines within the guidelines. These guidelines can be erased later when you have finished.

If you can draw Microfigures, you can draw Minifigures. All it takes is a change of scale.

Take a look at:

How to Draw a Lego Minifigure with Easy Step by Step Drawing Tutorial
How to Draw LEGO Men
How to Draw a LEGO

Personally number 3 looks like the best bet to me.

The instructions in these links could be adapted for the micro-figure rather then the minifigure, although they are more "representations" of figures.

@Zhaph-BenDuguid doh, I got the wrong figure type.


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TTF font for LEGO bricks
I'm in the process of reprinting labels for the zillions of LEGO storage drawers in Junior's toy room.
I'm not looking for a font that depicts Latin alphabet characters seemingly built out of LEGO bricks, but instead a font which code points map to drawings of LEGO bricks, plates and tiles. Similar to windings, but with LEGO part shapes instead of smileys.
I believe there is at least one font where letters are actually LEGO parts. Does anyone know where I can find it?

Am I right in thinking that you'd like a typeface that displays certain characters such as 'B', '4', or '$' as icons representing different bricks? I think it may be easier to resize images of bricks to fit your labels.

Yes @Ambo100. This is exactly what I mean. In which case printing labels is just a matter of using a character map in a text processor.  That said, I can't seem to find it. I Might have dreamed it...

I searched around on dafont.com, fonts.com, and myfonts.com but didn't find anything.  However, I found this post on the eurobricks.com forum from 2008, which links to this page:
http://www.house42.com/2008/09/17/legorama-fontstruct-font/
This font (and its variants) are all available for download as TTFs (free account registration required):

Legorama
Legorama Fill
Legorama Everywhere
Legorama Everywhere Fill

The fonts are available under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license (Attribution required, non-commercial use, no derivative works).
Alternatively, if you're feeling really ambitious, here's a tutorial on how to make a LEGO font yourself.

Dave, Thanks for your answer. I'm afraid I was not clear enough. I'm not looking for a font that depicts Latin alphabet characters seemingly built out of LEGO bricks, but instead a font which code points map to drawings of LEGO bricks, plates and tiles. Similar to windings, but with LEGO part shapes instead of smileys.  I actually came across the various links you cite before posting my question.

@AlainPannetier aha that makes sense. I'll google around some more.


text:
How can I make a pigglet headed LEGO figure to be a sidekick for my Gadget Hero?
I have a LEGO superhero that I painted, and he needs a sidekick. The Sidekick is a boy who has the head of a pigglet! But how do I make a Pigglet head?!?

I would use the head piece from a Gamorrean Guard.  This piece can be found in the following sets:

4476 Jabba's Prize
6210 Jabba's Sail Barge
9516 Jabba's Palace

The 1979–1989 Fabuland animals figures have a human body slightly larger than a minifigure, the head, arms and legs move but cannot be removed. The figures are no longer produced but remain quite popular amongst AFOL's. They can still be purchased on sites like Bricklink.

It's a bit late, but in 2020 the Monkie Kid line contains a minifigure-sized pig head:

Another possibility is one of the pig minifigures from the now-discontinued 2016 The Angry Birds Movie theme. For example, see set 75822, Piggy Plane Attack: