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Can one connect two technic pins end-to-end?
Who hasn't tried following some MOC instructions only to discover problems? This TIE Outlander build (free instructions) is neat but has several issues, the biggest of which are steps 44-46.
 The directions show a 3-length technic pin (6558) that connects to four pieces. The "orphaned" pieces do connect to other things in later steps but are never connected as shown in step 46, leaving the build less durable than I'd like. The directions later use the opening for other technic pins as well (steps 86-91), so even if a 4-length pin existed, it would not solve this issue.
Is there a way to connect two pins directly together, end-to-end? I know there are rods that can fit inside of pins; is this a legal connection, and would it work here? (I'm not sure if "rod" is the right term.)

Looks like there are 4 pins of length 3, though the instructions show two sets of 2x. Are you perhaps trying to put the same pin of length 3 through two pieces meant for 2 separate pins?

@DanielStevens No.. It is clearly 4 3L pins with 4L worth of pieces on each one.

In the MOC instructions it is clearer (in later steps) that it is intentional. The outer pieces on each pin are "floating"and kept in place later by the wing that gets added. Then a 2L pin is stuck in each of them to further extend the length. Fragile construction. Putting a narrow bar in the 3L+2L pins would work and is a technique used by Lego themselves at times.

The canonical way of connecting two pins is using part 62462 "Technic pin connector":

Those are shown in step 89 in the instructions of that MOC.

I know there are rods that can fit inside of pins; is this a legal connection, and would it work here?

Remember that "legal" means "doesn't put parts under stress".
By "rod" I guess you mean "bar". As far as I can tell, bars will fit snugly into technic pins. While this might be a legal connection, the pins themselves won't be able to compress to be fit into a technic hole (or to get out of one, for that matter). So while putting a bar through a pin might be legal, putting that pin through a hole will not. Putting the pin in the hole, then the bar through the pin, would be better.
A flex tube has the same diameter as a bar (IIRC), and would be a better option.

For the MOC in question, note that the wing (in steps 60 & 81) will connect all the 2x1 plates with perpendicular technic hole, so there's no need to put extra pins. Yes, the instructions could have been better.
You can also try replacing the pins with a 10L axle, the inner pin connectors with axle connector 2Ls, and the 2L pins from step 89 with pin axles.

The axle route would hold things together, but unless I miss something it wouldn't have any means of holding the wing position. So it would work for other applications with this problem but not this particular one

Oh, I didn't realize the position of the wings is held just by the friction of the pins. My bad.

@TomCarpenter No, that won't work well. The MOC is designed so that the wings can be (un)folded as a play feature. Locking the axle in place and locking the wings to the axle would disable that feature.

The question was how to connect pins, and this answered that so I've marked it as such. A solution to the MOC is different; like Ivan said, it is meant to fold but needs to be stiff enough to hold position. I might use a hinge, perhaps a liftarm, or maybe just say screw it and use 44224

Putting bars through pins is legal in my opinion, and is done in official Lego sets from time to time. Especially the "flick missile" is used in technic sets to extend pins with one more module:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=61184

Here is an example of such usage (from the 42039 24 Hours Le Mans Race car):

Another example; the recent 31127 street racer:

for aesthetic reasons flick missiles are used here with length 2 pins rather than length 3 pins.

Note how the pins go through the holes first, and then the bars go through the pins.

Yes, and when deconstructing the other way around, first remove the bars from the pins, then compress and remove the pins from the technic holes... imho it IS possible to create an illegal connection that way if the bars can't be removed from the pins anymore


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How does The LEGO Group view 3D printed parts?
I own a 3D Printer, and depending on the legality, I may or may not have 3D printed some straight tracks. Because why not?
As these parts are, hypothetically, printing, I think to myself "what would the LEGO Group think about me doing this?"
What's the LEGO Group's opinion on people 3D printing copy of their products?

I believe this depends on whether for personal use or not

If Kreo and Mega Bloks can make Lego-compatible parts, why couldn't you? They even sell those parts! But they probably have more lawyers than you do.

They would obviously prefer it if you bought the parts from them.
If it's for personal use, not many people will know, and TLG probably don't want to spend much time (and money) on it, if they find out.
If you want to make money, you also have to be aware that TLG still has some patents and other rights (I don't knw for sure, but I think it's mostly around the minifig and design of sets). Kreo and Mega Bloks can do what they do, because they navigate that field and only sell stuff that is not covered by any of those rights.
If you want to exhibit any of your creations you should also think about what the organisers/groups behind the events you're thinking of exhibiting at thinks of it.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Is this resistance ship a set on its own, or part of another set?
I can't find this ship on Brickset, so it's either unlisted (unlikely) or came with another set.
Can anyone ID it, please?

This A-wing is part of 75196: A-Wing vs. TIE Silencer Microfighters

Ah, they come as a pair. I'd not got to the other craft yet. Thank you.

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


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Can anyone identify this trans-neon green piece?
I've got two of these little fellas in my mixed box circa 2000. No markings and no ideas!
Dish 2 x 2 Inverted for reference.
*edit, added Antenna Whip 8H for another reference

I don't think those are Lego parts.

Yeah, but the spherical tip looks a lot like Antenna whip 8H. I'd like to see the mystery side by side with such an antenna, to see if the dimensions match.

I've gone through the list of parts available in trans-neon green and haven't found a match.

@IvanSanchez they match; same dimensions. Pic attached. Same tips, I haven't a clue, bricklink has been no help.

I suspect this might be a prototype of some sort. You may want to post in this Flickr group. There's a lot of rare/non-production stuff posted and group members are quite knowledgeable.

Does the strange end offer any connection possibilities with other LEGO pieces?

This appears to not be a Lego piece at all, but rather part T250 of the 509 Odyssey Transporter marble elevator made by Toto Toys.
See also this eBay listing for spare parts for the elevator, including this piece.

Also included in part list:


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Anyone identify this gold piece mixed with some vintage Castle, Pirate, etc sets/minifigs? No LEGO imprint, but all other pieces are LEGO
Gold piece next to minifig for size comparison.Interior of part.[]

There's plenty of space for a LEGO logo on that piece, so my guess is that the absence of such a logo is a major clue, so my guess would be that it isn't LEGO.

Thanks, Henrik. I was thinking the same thing but the gold matches the king’s crown perfectly. Since it would be the only non-LEGO piece in a box of about 1,000 vintage parts (yes, I verified every part), I just can’t imagine how this one random non-LEGO booger got in there. I’ve tossed several pieces away that I thought weren’t LEGO only to realize they were just unique LEGO parts - Oops! Maybe I’ll hang on to this one a few days. Thanks again :)

I believe the part in question is actually from the Wave 1 "Iron Man: The Animated Series" figure: Hydro Armor with “Deep Sea Weapons”.

(Image from https://www.action-figure-resource.com)
If you look at where the armor is "assembled", the piece in the thigh position (which will go on the forearm), seems to match the piece in question.
I actually have this figure, but can't get to it at the moment.


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

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

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

These are:

Plastic Flag 3 x 6 Ninja Pattern Blue

and

Plastic Flag 3 x 6 Ninja Pattern Red

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


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Best method for building large by assembling modules?

I am about halfway in building a 16 foot high tower made of simple bricks. It is basically a hollow skyscraper 6 inches square, with the walls two studs thick. To steady it, it is built around a steel pole anchored top and bottom. I've built it up row by row, but now given its height, I want to assemble sections of it on the ground and add them to the top. Each section is about 10-15 rows high, same square footprint. But I have unable to add sections of more than 2 rows at once. With larger heights I can not seem to apply enough pressure to get the bottoms to seat on top of the last built row. The lego are so precise that tiny displacements can't seem to be overcomed. The added bulk piece just won't marry the lower piece, unless I add them a row at a time.
How are extremely large Lego sculptures made? Are they just made by adding pieces row by row incremently? Or do they have a way to add an assembled piece to an existing piece? I even tried using plates on top row and a plate on the bottom row of new piece but could not get the plates to marry with more than a few rows on top. Any suggestions?

Large structures are made in layers. I had a chance to be part of a team that was assisting in assembling large Yoda model in one of LEGO sponsored events. Model had a heavy and strong base for the start. Then the model has been assembled in layers. Each layer consisted of base, made from multiple plates glued together also acting an outline for that particular layer, with a set number of layers made from 2x4 bricks. Afterward each assembled layer (base + bricks) has been put on top. Hammer was included to persuade bricks into their intended position.
Other models, not intended to be disassembled are usually glued.
In your case I would assemble two opposite corners as high as possible leaving enough space to connect them together. Something like this:

Use rubber hammer to push assembly together. Afterwards, build everything on top of corners you just attached and repeat.

Wow, I had not thought of using a hammer!

Make it a rubber hammer and wrap head with felt or toweling.

This is a great suggestion, I'll certainly be using it in my own builds


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Color values are:

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

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

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


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I came across these and cannot identify the set - greys, tan, orange, darker green
I came across these and cannot identify the set.
Can anyone help me with identifying the set?

The top left assembly is from 75974: Bastion

the top right assembly is from one of these AT-ST 's

the bottom left assembly is from 75035: Kashyyyk Troopers

The bottom right assembly is from 70228: Vultrix's Sky Scavenger

AT-ST 75153 is the only of the three to have 6587 in Dark Tan and 92593 in LBG


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Has any non-Duplo LEGO set included Duplo components?
It’s not uncommon for LEGO Technic components to be included in LEGO builds - especially where motion or interaction is needed.
Has the same ever happened with a Duplo component being included in a ‘classic’ LEGO set? Perhaps using their extra size to help build up an area.
(In case clarification is needed, we can define Duplo components as being anything listed under Duplo in the LEGO pick-a-brick service. And any set not branded as Duplo or Technic can be considered a ‘classic’ LEGO set).

I feel I would be remiss if I did not mention such a near miss as set 30527 https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=30527-1

Thanks for the comment @RSchulz - it's the closest to what I imagined - looking almost like an actual Duplo brick! Shame they didn't actual use Duplo pieces for it.

Does LEGO Serious Play count here?

Some of the bad guys in Lego Movie 2 were Duplo but when they made them into sets, they used actual Lego pieces instead. Go figure.

@MatthewGreen Yeah, but it makes sense when you consider that the target audience for The LEGO Movie 2 is beyond Duplo age, and would much rather have standard LEGO bricks that are inter-compatible with the rest of their collection. With that in mind, those sets achieved a pretty clever compromise if you ask me.

Not official sets, but: https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1156/which-duplo-bricks-have-practical-uses-in-system-building?rq=1

One instance I can think of is the 52 mm ball, usually used in the DUPLO Ball and Tube system, being present in a couple of "classic" sets. Most notably the Indiana Jones Temple Escape, 7623

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=41250&in=S

It's also present in quite a few Mindstorms and Technic sets, where it is usually used as an object to be grabbed by a gripping mechanism.

There was almost (probably) a Technic BIONICLE set with a Duplo tread piece.

That set would have been the Sand Tarakava (low-res, high-res, other), a smaller set that was meant to compliment the 8549 Tarakava set.

This prototype set was given to Saffire to develop the cancelled 2001 PC video game, and later changed hands.
Ultimately this set was not produced, so it's possible it would have undergone additional revisions if it had been. Changing the tread seems like it would have been a rather drastic change though, especially compared to the minor changes seen in other prototype models Saffire worked with.


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Trading and Lego VIP
What websites can be used for trading? I want to  have as many rare ones without buying anything. Does someone want to trade a Lego minifigure for free? I have been trying to get many Lego minifigures for a stop-motion movie.
Finally, how do I get all my free stuff from Lego VIP without buying anything?

hello! if  you have  been to the lego website, there is a new thing called lego vip. if you signed in your account and sign up for the vip there is some cool rewards about it.

The go-to sites regarding LEGO brick trading are bricklink.com and brickowl.com. They operate as marketplaces where people can buy and sell sets, parts and minifigs alike. There is one site I've found that is marketed as a dedicated place to trade (or in other words swap) minifigures: swapfig.com - Note that there is not much experience with this platform, so exercise caution when operating there.
Regarding the "Finally" part: I don't know of any such opportunities, could you please clarify what have you heard/read and where?

Edit based on OP's comment:
LEGO VIP is not a new thing, but it is not about free stuff. You can register an account, and then collect VIP points with every purchase on LEGO.com. These points can then be exchanged for discounts or promotional sets. Sometimes minuscule amounts can be earned by other activities, like completing surveys.


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Salt Lake City Temple: Temple doors
I'm building the lds temple in Salt Lake City in lego. I'd like to represent the temple doors as seen here:

My current plan is to use the stockade as the base door:

...and probably put a plate over it then use 2x2 pearl gold plates for the background, then put some decorated 2x2 rounded tiles such as this one or this one.  Can anyone suggest an approach to represent the gold filigrees in between or any other part of this?

Judging by some photographs, the size of the doors is roughly the same as that of the window arches, and judging by one of your previous questions, those are 2 studs wide and about 4 bricks high.
Therefore, I suggest building the doors at that size: 2 studs wide. IMO the right size will help the build as a whole, even if you have to sacrifice detail. Something like the following should work:

Parts:

1x2 brick with studs on side, reddish brown
1x2 plate with rail, pearl gold
1x1 round tile, nougat with red circle
1x1 round tile, trans-clear with octagonal jewel pattern
1x2 brick, trans-clear (should be partially hidden behind a 1x4 arch)


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Mistake with hook holder (steering arm with round socket) on Technic Helicopter 42145
I made one small (but costly) mistake in my otherwise very satisfying build for the Airbus helicopter: at step 66, I connected the grey piece "steering arm with ball socket" the wrong way. And of course now that I need it at step 744(!), the socket is facing up instead of down, and it is impossible to attach the hook. Can anyone here see a not-too-painful way of fixing this? Otherwise I will just have to give up on that hook.
Thanks!

As you can see from building step 66 and 67 the beam is held with a length 7 axle and a blue length 3 pin.
I'm afraid there is no easy way to flip that beam without partially deconstructing the model.
You can deconstruct either severely on one side until you can access the axle and take it out with pliers, or less severely on both sides so you can push the axle through with another axle.
Likely the blue pin will not give you much trouble, if the model is deconstructed enough to remove the yellow axle, there will be enough wiggle room to force out the beam with pin and all, Lego Technic is rather flexible like that.
One tip to make the process less painful: photograph each step you did while deconstructing the model. Then reverse the order of the pictures and you'll have yourself a list of instructions to put the model back together.

That's good advice even it it won't be easy for me to fix it. Thanks!


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Half the size of Lego but only 1/3 the height

I bought a batch of like Lego but small off eBay. I'd like to know what brand. The ×2's have tubes, but ×1's have no pillars. Colours like Lego, red, blue, light & dark bluish grey, B&W. Height little less than Lego plate, estimate 3•1mm instead of 3•2mm. Photo compared with Lego bricks, their 2×4's = the same size as a Lego 1×2 plate.
O! They are the same height as Nano Block, the white isn't quite as white.Just bought some more the same. I believe it to be L'OZ. Basically I'm after what brand of Nano Blocks there are, came sans instructions. Other brands are Lele Brother & Wise Hawk.

Can you add a photo showing the shapes, dimensions, colours? Best would be to include known quantities like similar LEGO bricks in the image as well.

Can you (a) provide less fuzzy photos and (b) label the photos so we know which is the mystery brick and which is LEGO/Duplo?

@reviewers: it's the photo that needs more focus, not the question, so please don't close it.


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Any idea what set any of these are from? mostly minifigs and decorated bricks
Just bought a random mixed box on Facebay, trying to work out what sets might be there. These are the most distinctive pieces.

I can identify:

Several parts which appear together in set 76170:

sh612 "Iron Man with Silver Hexagon on Chest" minifigure
11092 "Hand, Gorilla Fist" (in pearl gold)
73304 "Power Burst Figure Pedestal", once in trans-clear blue and once in trans-orange.

6213p02 "Brick 2 x 6 x 3 with Green, Yellow and Blue Dots Pattern", which appears in 5 sets.

4215ap18 "Panel 1 x 4 x 3 - Solid Studs with Black 'POLICE' Bar and White Stripes Pattern", which only appears in set 6684.

cty0974 "Fire - Reflective Stripes, Bright Light Orange Suit, Life Jacket, Red Fire Helmet" minifigure, which appears in two sets (the torso and head appear in other combinations, though).

cty0179a "Sweater Cropped with Bow, Heart Necklace, Tan Legs, Reddish Brown Hair Female Ponytail, Black Eyebrows, Thin Grin" minifigure, which only appears in set 7937.

4491a "Horse saddle with one clip" in yellow, which appears in 5 sets.

soc028 "Soccer Player - Green and White Team with Number 9 on Back" minifigure. I'm assuming it's no# 9 because of the mustache, but I cannot be sure, specially since the pants are wrong. Anyway there's only one set with the "green and white team" striped torsos: set 3409.

An ubiquitous orange 96874 brick separator. As I'm writing this, it appears in a whopping 1016 sets, so it's pretty much impossible to know where yours came from.

973pb0906c01 "Torso Open Jacket Hoodie with 4 Buttons over Medium Blue Sweater Pattern / Orange Arms / Yellow Hands". Since I don't trust it has the right head or the right pants, I cannot narrow down the 18 sets that minifigure torso appears in.

973px52c01 "Torso Divers Submarine Logo Pattern / Black Arms / Yellow Hands", appearing in four sets. Note that the attached head is from a clone brand.

Note that you've got some parts from clone brands - notably the "policeman in swimming shorts" minifigure, and the aforementioned head on the red "Divers" torso.
I have doubts about the worker in orange hard hat - the head might be from soc151, or from a clone brand (I recall that particular face expression being common in clone brands), plus there are no hard hats in orange.
I also have doubts about the 1x8 bricks with "fire" sticker being from a clone brand.

The figure in the lower left corner has an obviously non-LEGO head, but its torso is genuine. The worker in the orange hat might have a genuine head too.

Good catch! I'll edit the answer.


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Lego 21323 Grand Piano - After setting up app on page 110 of instruction, the gear is turning anti-clockwise instead of clockwise as shown
After completing all builds till page 108 of the instructions, I installed the app. But when I press play on a song the gear move for a quarter turn anti-clockwise but the picture on page 110 shows clockwise.
What should I do
 (from https://lego.brickinstructions.com/en/lego_instructions/set/21323/Grand_Piano)

Could you confirm if Technic, Gear 20 Tooth Bevel is installed as shown in the picture? And not on the right (closer to us) side?

Thanks Alex. You are right. That was the mistake I made.

Converting comment that lead to an answer.
Looking at the picture the first thing that gets my attention is the position of Technic, Gear 20 Tooth Bevel. Particular part placement has a room for error - yellow half-bushing, placed on the same axle could easily be swapped with mentioned 20T bevel gear. This kind of error would reverse the rotation when operated.
Could you confirm if  is installed as shown in the picture? And not on the right (closer to us) side?


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How to get IR codes of Magformers RC?
Some of Magformers blocks comes with Remote Controller:

The controller is lost. Is there any way to get RC codes to use with some universal remotes (for ex., with Moes UFO-R11 or with Android app irplus)?
I tried RCs from other devices and also tried hundreds of devices from irplus, but it didn't help.

I’m voting to close this question because even though we accept questions about other clone brands that produce LEGO-like elements, but in this particular case it isn't related to bricks of any form or brand.

@Alex, there are similar questions about ir codes on this site.

It's not the IR codes that are relevant in this case (otherwise TV remotes were on topic too), but the nature of building blocks. While a point can be made about Magformers being a building system, IMO it's sufficiently different from LEGO and its on-topic clones that it might not belong on this site (just like with KNEX).


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How do I determine which set these belong to? Lots of yellow and blue, wheels, some grey
How can I determine which set this is?

60079-1 Training Jet Transporter
Based on

Yellow Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 4
Blue Plate 6 x 6


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Alternative source for instructions of LEGO set 7784 Batmobile?
The PDF instructions provided on the LEGO website are of very low quality. With all the black pieces, no contours can be identified. I bought a used 7784 without original instructions and with some missing part and have difficulties finding what is actually missing.
The set is almost complete, only this area is incomplete:

Is there an alternative source for LEGO instructions, possibly by a community that addresses this problem?

Those instructions are indeed of low quality. I haven't found a downloadable copy of better quality than that either.
Unless you can find someone with a physical copy that is willing to scan them for you, or can convince the Lego company to dig you up a higher quality pdf, your best option appears to be buying a physical copy on the secondary market, like on Bricklink or Brickowl eg.
As an alternative, there are some Youtube videos showing the full instructions, if that's up your alley. Just look for "lego 7784 instructions".
On the other hand, your question does make it seem like you're really interested in the list of parts, and not so much the building instructions. In that case, there are several websites that can provide that information. A selection :

Bricklink
Brickowl
Brickset
Rebrickable

Thank you for the hints. Actually, I am looking for clear images of that section (I added a photo in the question). Then I may be able to complete the set. One of the YT videos is a speed build. I will have a closer look.

@Aziraphale : ah - in that case, LegoFan's answer is probably more appropriate. Comparing your physical model against the digital model(s) mentioned in that answer sounds easier than watching through a youtube video.

For this particular case, the speed build video was the quickest solution. The set came fully assembled, but with 2-3 parts missing PLUS a simple building error that I hadn't figured out so far. It seems that I only need 2 of those black 1x3 curved slopes to have a complete 7784. Yippieh!

For reference, the instructions on the LEGO Builder app are just as bad.

There are people who do an awesome job and remake entire sets in LEGO Digital Designer.
Luckily they did your model too:
https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41226&view=findpost&p=1097640
https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41226&view=findpost&p=909795

You may try LeoCAD, opensource tool for LEGO designing, that supports .lxf files provided at forum.

Very interesting. As I understand, LDD is no longer supported and LDraw/LeoCAD have similar functionality? I only installed stud.io once, but I never really used digital LEGO desingning. For a quick solution for my question, I found @Sander D Dycker's answer very useful. Thank you anyway for showing the LeoCAD solution, I will keep that in mind!

Note that Stud.io can also load lxf files.

@Aziraphale Yes, LDD is not supported anymore (this means LEGO will not add new bricks, etc.), but works and can be downloaded from 3rd party sources. In this case, with digital designer tools you can explore model brick by brick, including part numbers.

This is to wrap up this question. I accepted @Sander De Dycker's answer because it directly led to the solution. The images show the critical section of the crappy official PDF plus a screenshot from a speed build video.


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Lego China Cabinet
I'm building a Lego china cabinet and I'm looking for some nice pieces to put in it. (Fancy dishes, table settings etc). Here's a picture of what I have so far:

Here's some pieces I've identified in my want list so far:

dragon bowl
Minifigure, Utensil Bowl with Gold Rim and Stripe Pattern
Minifigure, Utensil Bowl with White Rim and Waves Pattern
Glass for Window 1 x 2 x 2 Flat Front with Ornamented Window Arch Pattern
Minifigure, Utensil Sun Disk
And of course the usual goblets and wine bottles.

Can you suggest any other nice pieces that would go well in this build?

How about tea cups with saucer? That’s a recent mould that should be easy to get

There are some nice tea bowls in the Tranquil Garden Set. You could also appropriate some pieces as figurines, such as the famous frog in a pretty color, or some of the tiny flower combinations. My grandmother used to keep such china figurines in her cabinet.

You could go macabre, and source a pirate skull, or a ninjago villain such as this snake head
http://76.my/Malaysia/lego-ninjago-snake-villain-spitta-minifigure-newl-yesbrick-1307-08-yesbrick@1.jpg

Make it a gruesome trophy case huh?  I would but this is a christmas gift so I think I'm looking for a more traditional look


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

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


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Is this piece identifiable? A plus-shaped pyramid?
Some kind of 1x1 slope.. a plus-shaped pyramid? I'm not sure where to start searching for this piece.. thanks for any help!

Are you sure it's one piece, and not two cheese slopes connected to something else? What context can you give us? Where did you see it?

It certainly looks similar to an upside down Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 4 Point rendered at low resolution:

An equally possible solution is a Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Studs on 4 Sides with four Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3 (aka cheese) on the side studs.
A less probable option is a Brick, Round 1 x 1 with Fins with exaggerated fin thickness and without any roundness:

Excellent answer, zovits--thank you! Turns out this is from a game ULTRAKILL and is a 'rodent piece'

@BbJug If it is from a non-LEGO-related video game, then why did you ask here? And why did you assume that it's a LEGO piece? Or did you not know where it was from?

The image was posted in a discord server where someone commented it looked like a Lego piece. In the spirit of this stack exchange I thought I would have luck identifying it but could not do so. I'm still impressed with how close your answer was despite the impossibility of the question.


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Is "modular" just a theme, or is it bigger?
I first heard of "modular" in the Lego world about the series of modular buildings in sets produced from 2007 onward. The architecture seems to be 1800s to late 2000s.
Then read that the Lego system as a whole is considered modular. "This modular system is a set of basic building blocks that can be combined in different ways to build numerous varying creations.
But sometimes the people talking about their modular buildings are talking about MOCs or medieval villages. Is the term being used to mean something more?

Generally speaking "Modular(s)" refers to sets in the Creator Expert theme that are designed with common proportions and common attachment points to allow them to be strung together neatly. Mostly this takes the form of Technic-pin connectors and socket bricks in the same places on each set. It's made somewhat simple by all the sets being built on the same size baseplates, sometimes paired up the half-width version for larger sets.
They're also generally designed so that each floor of the building is itself a module. They have no cross-floor connections, allowing higher levels to be cleanly lifted off lower floors and separated to see what's inside.
While most of them are in the Creator Expert series, and that's generally what people mean when they talk about "Modulars" as a group, there are sets in other themes designed to a compatible specification. Off the top of my head:

80107 Spring Lantern Festival (shown below, admittedly not connected but it could be)
Marvel's 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum
Marvel's 76178 Daily Bugle

There are some sets built with similar techniques (plate size, easily lifted floors) that are not directly/fully compatible with the other "Modulars": 71741 Ninjago City Gardens comes to mind. It doesn't have the sidewalks of the other sets, nor does it have all the attachment points.

Lastly... in the eyes of Lego themselves, "Modular" is not a theme. You can't shop explicitly for sets by their modular nature.

There's a few more themes than those listed above, but "Modular" isn't among them.

"Modularity" is an attribute, that like for example "flexibility" can be applied on different scales. A water droplet is considered flexible, but a larger volume of water is definitely not. Whereas a meter of 1mm diameter copper wire is clearly flexible, but a 5mm piece of it will easily pierce skin.
When people talk about LEGO bricks being modular, they mean they (i.e. the individual bricks) can easily attach to each other in various different configurations (barring some combinations of course). When the same is said about buildings, they mean essentially the same, just on a different scale: that the individual buildings can be attached to each other easily and in various ways. Inbetween, a single LEGO set can be modular as well, meaning it consists of multiple modules that can be connected in different ways, like for example 6973: Deep Freeze Defender, 7633: Construction Site or 60349: Lunar Space Station

I would say term "modular system" is the basic idea behind the LEGO itself. It  is the reason there is so much variety in the ways you can attach parts to make your won creations.
"Modulars", on the other hand, is the term commonly used for particular Creator Expert sets of buildings that, once completed, can be attached one another to form a larger exposition. This is because these buildings are modular (have sort of a standard) - they are roughly same scale, have attachment points in the same place, sidewalk is the same width (+- a stud or two depending on a building). All of this makes them look consistent and easily interchangeable i.e. modular. Unlike previously sets with buildings which were standalone or didn't keep to the same "standard".

To add to the answer given by Alex when building a MOC some people also make their creation modular to make it transportable and/or to make it flexible in usage. For landscaping there are some standards created by the community. One example is called MILS(Modular Integrated Landscaping System). In the case of MILS one of its primary objectives is to create a set of standards so that 2 or more people can work together on 1 large creation while not in the same location and make sure it will all fit together.

MILS is commonly used, but it is not the standard. There is at least one other option - Moduverse.

I didn't know about that one. I have edited my answer to make it clearer that MILS is just 1 of the standards created by the community.

In some parts of the community "modular" in relation to a MOC means it's designed to attach to the official modulars.

We are not limited to the modular buildings from LEGO.  You can design your own based on documented standards for modular buildings.  And the community has designed many modular buildings that you can get instructions for on rebrickable.

Your first link is super helpful, thank you! I guess that though I will probably not  build in the modular 'style', having the proportions at least, will help to make my buildings compatible to each other.


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Help identifying 4 weird Duplo pieces
I don't collect Duplo so I'm not familiar with a lot of the pieces they have. Here are the four that stump me:

4x10x3-ish freight hopper: I searched "duplo hopper" in BrickLink but only got this

2x2 brick with axle(?). The axles are hollow up to the edge of the brick

2x2 blue dome brick with eyes and a clip. The studs are hollow

5x5-ish dome bricks with a 2x2 centre. They have two tiny holes in the bottom, and a groove at the top. Initially I thought they belonged with the tube system pieces because I have several of those, but the circle size is too big for that.

None have dates on them.
Thanks!

The yellow piece looks like 40637 Duplo, Brick 2 x 2 with Digger Bucket Arm Holder.

I just found the answers to 75% of my question! I was scrolling BrickLink for "duplo tube" since I have several of those pieces, then found the blue dome with eyes: it's "Duplo Ball Tube Cover Ring Hinged Top with Eyes". It only appears in one set, and attaches to another piece which I don't have, which then connects to the tubes, so that's why I didn't know it related to the tube pieces.
In this set's inventory, I then found two more of my pieces: the green hopper, which is "Duplo Loading Chute with 2 x 4 Base Bricks", and the red/blue inverted domes, which are "Duplo Egg Base". So I was right about the bases relating to the tubes, but they don't actually connect to them, they just sit there.
I haven't identified the yellow axle brick though!


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Downgrade from Spike 3 Hub OS to Spike 2 Hub OS
I'm trying to downgrade our Spike Prime Hub from the Spike App v3's firmware to the Spike App v2's firmware. Has anyone been successful? Or does anyone have suggestions on how to flash the firmware to a version that's compatible with Spike App v2.0.8  or v2.0.9?
Context
I upgraded our hub to Spike 3. This is the default recommended behavior through the new v3 app as of December 1st, 2022, as follows.

 DO NOT DO THESE STEPS IF YOU NEED YOUR v2 CODE TO WORK WITH YOUR SPIKE PRIME HUB
 Navigate to Spike App v3 (link above) and notice that there is a new version of the app
   Select Prime
   Click Update Hub on the popup
   Follow the steps to update the firmware for the v3 Spike App

After doing so, I realized our existing v2 Spike Prime code would no longer be compatible. There's a different filename extension for the new files (.llsp3 vs .llsp). Eventually, I want to switch to the newer app, but for now, I am trying to get our .llsp code working again.
Attempted resolution

As suggested at this support page (screenshot below) and via built-in troubleshooting steps in the app, I went to https://spike.legoeducation.com/hubdowngrade to downgrade.

Because I know v2 of the app is available at a similar URL (starting with spikelegacy instead of spike), I attempted using the tool at https://spikelegacy.legoeducation.com/hubdowngrade/.

There's some hope via: 1. https://dfu.pybricks.com/index.html 2. https://github.com/gpdaniels/spike-prime/tree/master/firmware/spike%20-%20v1.3.00.0000-e8c274a%20-%204.0.0 3. https://spikelegacy.legoeducation.com/hubdowngrade/

Aha!

Prerequisite for Windows: Use this tool to install a driver. (See tips here.)
Use the https://spikelegacy.legoeducation.com/hubdowngrade/ downgrade tool.
Go back to https://spikelegacy.legoeducation.com/ to reconnect.
Follow the prompts to update the Hub OS one last time.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Can LEGO City Powered Up trains be automated?
I have a LEGO City train set (60336):

The set includes a remote control as well as an app that can be used to control the train. Is it possible to automate the operation of LEGO City trains, ideally without needing to be tethered to a smart device to help reduce children getting distracted by a screen?

I've been exploring this recently, and I wanted to share my experiences in the hopes that they are useful to others. There are a few ways this can be accomplished. Some are possible out of the box, and others require extra hardware or 3rd-party software.
Typical Package Contents
Here's the electronics we typically get out of the box with a Powered Up train set:

Powered Up City hub (28738). This includes two I/O ports (used for a motor and possibly lights). The City hub does not include an accelerometer, compass, or GPS, so there is limited feedback provided. It does include a programmable RGB LED and a button.

Train Motor (28740). This motor is one of only two Powered Up motors that do not include rotation and distance tracking, so there is no easy way to know how far the train has traveled, but we are able to adjust its relative speed.

Lights (22168) may be included as headlights for the train.

Programming using Powered Up App
The default experience in the Powered Up app provides a controller for the train, but we can also automate the train using a Scratch-like programming environment. This environment is powerful, but the hardware at our disposal is quite limited as a robotics platform. In particular, the included hardware has no useful sensors, which makes the environment unobservable.
If we start the train from a known location, we can run it at a set approximate speed for a certain amount of time, leaving it at a new approximate location. Unfortunately, these locations will change slightly over time, as we have no way of sensing exactly far we have traveled. This might be fine if you just want the train to move for a while then stop for a while, but if you want to stop at stations, things get trickier.
One solution is to induce the train to stop at a known location regularly, such as a siding. We can intentionally stall against the buffer on the siding to reset to a known position.
Adding Sensors
If we're willing to add some additional hardware, things can get much more advanced. One option is to add a color sensor to the bottom on the train:

We can connect the sensor to the port not being used by the motor.

With this in place, we can modify our track by adding plates or tiles of different colors to indicate location on the track or particular actions to take. In this way, we can have the train reliably stop at stations or take other actions. Here's an example program that allows the train to wait when it sees red under the color sensor:

This is similar in concept to the DUPLO trains in terms of input, but we can program the colors to change behaviors in any way we'd like.
We could also choose to add a different sensor, such as a distance sensor or a tilt sensor. Alternatively, we could replace the City hub with a larger hub and add multiple sensors, but this would likely require redesigning the train and would add significant cost.
Standalone Operation
One of the weaknesses of the City Hub currently is that it requires a tethered Bluetooth device, such as a phone, tablet or computer, in order to function. By flashing the custom Pybricks firmware to the hub, we can overcome this limitation and write programs directly to the device. This is especially useful for public displays or other use cases where Bluetooth connections may become problematic.
Here is an example Pybricks program that would allow a train to run for 10 seconds and then pause for 35 using the RGB LED on the hub to indicate its status:
"""
Simple automated train that runs for 10 seconds then pauses for 35

Light transitions from red to orange to yellow as timer counts down
"""

from pybricks.hubs import CityHub
from pybricks.pupdevices import DCMotor, Light
from pybricks.parameters import Button, Color, Direction, Port, Stop
from pybricks.robotics import DriveBase
from pybricks.tools import wait, StopWatch

hub = CityHub()
motor = DCMotor(Port.A)

while True:
    hub.light.on(Color.GREEN)
    motor.dc(60)
    wait(10000)
    motor.dc(0)
    hub.light.on(Color.RED)
    wait(15000)
    hub.light.on(Color.ORANGE)
    wait(15000)
    hub.light.on(Color.YELLOW)
    wait(5000)

I use a setup similar to the above to allow an automated train to run around my son's city without the need to have a screen nearby the whole time.

If you don't want to touch the original hardware, you can replace the smartphone with something else like an ESP32.
https://github.com/corneliusmunz/legoino
This would require some programming knowledge.

For the sake of completeness: it's possible to replace the 2-port "city" powered-up hub with the 6-port technic powered-up hub. That should offer more flexibility when programming.
This is doable since the technic powered-up hub is 4 studs high, so it will fit within the locomotive (leaving a gap of half a stud on the front and back). It will, however, protrude about one stud over the ceiling of the locomotive (without taking into account cables and connectors!), so this is not a very aesthetic approach.

It should be possible to enclose the hub (or at least make it flush with the locomotive's ceiling) by increasing the overall height of the locomotive.
It should also be possible to replace the train motor with a SPIKE medium angular motor (since the latter is slightly smaller than the former), but connecting such an assembly to the train underside (and make it pivot as the train motor does) is a bit too challenging.


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Is a huge box of old unsorted Lego and non-Lego pieces with no instructions or boxes of any value?
I have an old big bin of at least 20,000 Lego and Lego-like pieces. I never kept the boxes or the instructions when I was finished building sets and I have Lego pieces from at least 50 different sets, plus other non-Lego brand bricks of various types. I could sort it out, but that would take an extraordinarily long time. I want to know if they have any play value left; if I can still use them as Lego without any instructions or boxes, and no memory of what half of the sets that went into it were. Do these pieces have any play value, since they are random pieces with no way to reassemble the original sets?

Yes, there's play value (build whatever you want with whatever pieces). On finding the original sets, see https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/404/how-can-i-identify-lego-sets-from-a-box-or-bag-of-parts . On sorting big collections, see https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/550/has-anyone-automated-the-lego-hand-sorting-process-beyond-pawing-piling . Does this cover your quandaries?

@IvanSanchez I think so. I didn't know if legos could be put together any which way or if the legos would only fit together the way the instructions showed. So I can build things from legos that aren't the way they are in the instructions?

Yes, you can combine together bricks from pretty much any set. Try it out.

@IvanSanchez That comment would be an upvote-worthy answer in itself.

Just bought 1 for £5, so yes, quite a few parts I was after, p!ate with 1curved, petrol pump, blue window.

It definitely has a lot of play value for random creative building. With a box like that I would recommend to donate it to a primary school or kindergarden. If they have lego it would be in exactly that form anyway. A nicely ordered collection of indivual boxes with manuals would just quickly be turned into a huge mixed box anyway.


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How to build this flower?
I found this picture of a flower in a book and would like to build it. I'm wondering what's inside the white bloom?

It seems to me this would be made something like pictured below. Obviously flower stems need to be rotated for better alignment and may need to attach an extra apollo stud brick to make some space.

Key parts:

Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Studs on 4 Sides
Plant Flower Stem with Bar and 6 Stems. Other options.
Plate, Round 1 x 1 with Flower Edge (4 Knobs / Petals) or Plate, Round 1 x 1 with Flower Edge (5 Petals)
Plate 1 x 1

Awesome, thank you very much!

There is a very similar design to this tree used in the 10247 Ferris Wheel set. (Page 96)

It uses another part (6081986) Bar 6L with Stop Ring which cannot be seen which strengthens the connections between the round bricks to stop it from snapping.


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Convert 9V train to Powered Up
This is a follow-up from question "Can I convert my train 9V 4563 to the Power Functions motor?", now that Power Functions motors have been phased out in favour of Powered Up motors.
How can I convert a train locomotive from the 9V system to the Powered Up system?
Let's assume the oldest 9V locomotive, the one from set 4563-1.

This is possible, if you place the hub in the closed van and couple the van behind the locomotive. Swapping out the 9v motor for the Powered Up motor is straightforward; you will then need to remove a 1x2 brick from the back of the locomotive cab and a 1x2 panel from the front of the van to allow the wire to pass through.
I would also suggest modifying the van roof so that it is easier to reach the power switch on the hub.
Adding lighting using 88005 is left as an exercise for the interested reader.

That's neat! Would it be possible to place the cable further down, closer to the couplings, in order to hide it a bit?

I think you could replace the rear light prism brick with a couple of headlamp bricks and run the cable between them, if you wanted it at that height.

Let's assume the oldest 9V locomotive, the one from set 4563-1.

I don't think you can convert that locomotive without dramitically changing it's appearance.
The basic components of a powered-up locomotive are a train motor and a hub, the train motor is basically the same size/shape as the old 9V track powered motor but the hub is a large additional component to accomodate.
There are a few different hubs, but the one included in the train sets is 4 studs wide. That basically means that either the section of the locomotive where the hub is located ends up at least 6 studs wide, or the sides of the hub and possiblly the connectors plugged into the hub will be visible.
It may be possible to put the hub in a wagon pulled behind the locomotive to try and preserve the appearance of the locomotive, but I expect wire management to be a challange.

4563 includes a closed van; it is very likely possible to put the hub in the van and couple the van behind the loco. I have done this with 12v trains of similar dimensions such as 7760 and the diesel-outline alternative build of 7730.


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

These exemplary markings are from the instructions of:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transcription :

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@AustinHemmelgarn perhaps much easier would have been to rotate the battery box along with the light!


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Which set is this roller from?
We found this roller build. Is this from a set? I looked through the instruction manuals on the LEGO app and did a Google image search but no success.

That is from Batman and the Joker (76013):


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Looking for a LEGO promotional, Christmas-themed video game from the 90s-00s about spaceships
This is one of my childhood white whales and I cannot find the answer anywhere.
When I grew up in France, I remember a very short computer game which was actually an ad for LEGO spaceships. Given the fact that I was born in 1996, and it was on a relatively early computer, I think it is from around 1999 to 2003, approximately. I could be wrong though. Here are the things I remember:

The story starts, it's set in the snow. There is a small wooden house, a snowman, and probably Christmas-themed decoratons. It is a point and click game, I think, and a snowman gives you instructions.

You find something (what?) and the snowman says "You should not trust the appearances!" ("il ne faut pas se fier aux apparances !", sentence is stuck in my head since).

The plot evolves, I think a spider is involved? The game is very short, in my memory.

It ends with a spaceship race. You have to pick between three LEGO spaceships: a yellow one, a blue one and a red one. I think it is a minigame, you see the spaceship from behind and you have to dodge obstacles.

When you win, the game ends. A screen, white and snow-themed, prompts you to get the Lego spaceships IRL. The three of them are displayed simultaneously on the screen.

This is all I remember and it is KILLING me. It's been bothering me for literal years, I looked everywhere in my parents' basement to find the CD, but couldn't.

Weird, there's nothing like that in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lego_video_games . See also https://gaming.stackexchange.com/tags/game-identification/info , BTW.

Thanks for those links. Indeed, nothing in the Wikipedia list.

Do you remember the shape of the spaceships? Have a look at the space sets from 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and see if something jolts your memory.

Do you remember if this was a desktop game or if it was shockwave/flash based?

Unfortunately, I don't remember... Back then, my dad also had a Commodore Amiga, but I think it was on his Windows computer. @IvanSanchez Unfortunately I don't have a specific memory, it is very blurry. Maybe the blue one looked like that: https://ideascdn.lego.com/media/generate/entity/lego_ci/project/b48f0a29-e7a7-4fcf-b612-a73e6a106e83/1/resize:1600:900/native, or something along these lines (very "traditional" spaceship shape).

@C.Crt That'd be around the galaxy explorer era: 1979. It's unlikely that a videogame from the late 90s would be advertising lego sets from the early 80s.

I'm gonna go on a hunch and say this is either Lego Racers from 1999, or Lego Racers 2 from 2001.
Both of these fit some of your criteria:

The timeline (1999-2003)
There's an ice level
Last level is on an spaceship-themed alien planet
They're rather short: a playthrough can be completed in about an hour.

But they don't fit the "point-and-click" criteria, which leads me to think your brain is confusing memories of (one of) these games with memories of some other point-and-click game. It's hard to tell with the information you've provided.
Judging by gameplay videos of Lego Racers 2, the player drives a blue(-ish) car, the main opponent drives a red one, and cars flash yellow when using a power-up. This might have led you to think there's blue, red and yellow ships. The winner podium is red-yellow-blue as well.
In the second game, there's also an ice monster in the ice stage.


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Help, identifying mega blok kit - bag label X1033A and X1031A
I need help identifying this kit, thanks
One bag is labeled X1033A and X1031A
I tried looking at Halo kits

I think these parts are from:
Mega Bloks Halo-Covenant Wraith Ambush


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

In particular, what sort of electronic components are present?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is D1 a power indication light?

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


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Identify my old motorbike
My old motorbike part, I want help to identify please.

BrickLink calls it a Fabuland Scooter. In white, it seems to have been in two sets.

Thanks RSchulz
for your help !!!

@Georgios If RSchulz answered your question, you should accept their answer with the check mark to the left.


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Question about "Arch 1 x 2 Inverted"
So, I'm creating round windows for my temple build.  My current approach uses 2  1x4 arches (the stubby kind) with one of them upside down and some complicated mechanisms for keeping it in place.  Then, I insert a Dish 2 x 2 Inverted (Radar) with Radial Cockpit Window Pattern between the 2 of them.  I recently came across the arch 1x2 inverted. I'm wondering if this could be used to do the same thing without some of the complexity of inserting an upside-down piece.  I don't have one at the moment so can anyone verify this?
Here are some pictures that show what I'm currently doing:

pictures added.

According to a quick LeoCAD model, it looks like it should work, altough there'll be a tiny gap on the bottom part since the inverted arch doesn't exactly have a round shape. Consider also using 41682 bracket 2x2 - 1x2 to simplify the SNOT support for the window. But I guess those would fit better as an extra answer to your question from last year.


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How do I identify a new sealed bag of Lego

I've bought the Lego set 11019 Fun Functions for my daughter. Bag number 5 isn’t in it just a blank bag plus the pieces don’t match up with the helicopter instructions number 5 is supposed to make. They don’t match anything else you can make from the box so how can I find out what you are supposed to make from it. I scanned the QR code and it’s number 6172062 on it.

We really do need a good picture (or three) of the contents of the bag. The QR code on the bag is about the plastic bag itself, used in many different sets, so that won't help identify the pieces inside at all.  But if a bag (#5) is missing, then perhaps the bag you've identified is just an extra bag of fun bits to facilitate free play building, If so, enjoy the extra pieces, but also contact Lego support to let them know your set was incomplete, so they can make it right.

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

In your photograph I can see a lot of the pieces from set 11019 - but what's this "bag number 5" you speak about? Can you please post a photo showing only that bag?

@IvanSanchez I thought bag #5 was missing

If you suspect you're missing a whole bag, then you should get in touch with customer support. Also: every set has a parts inventory (printer either on the box, or in the instruction booklet). Check if the inventory matches your available bricks.

Did you find out what it's for? We've got it too but our bag had no number on it at all. We've got all the bags for the ones included in the instructions and then this one. Wondering if it's just a bag of extra bits to make other stuff

I got in touch with Lego and they confirmed the extra bag is just extra bricks to build with.


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Problems with the main rotor speed in Airbus H175 (42145) set?
I'm having problems with the main rotor in "slow" position. The speed stays the same no matter what position the joystick is in. On the other hand, in "fast" position the blades slow down When the joystick is in the forward position but works fine with left, right and backward. Does anyone know a fix?


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Fixing a LEGO M Motor connector
I have several broken "Powered Up" M motors and I took one apart to see what was wrong. I ended up snipping off a section of the wire and re-soldering it back together but testing with an Ohm meter results in infinite resistance between the connector pins and the soldered points in the motor. So I took the connector apart (nearly destroying the thing), and I removed the wire and snipped an inch off. Using an Ohm meter now shows 0 resistance through the wire.
I have a problem putting the connector back together now. I put the pins back in place on the plastic pieces and then pressed the plastic pieces back in place with the hopes that the metal pins pierce the wires and allow for electricity to flow. It's not working.
Anyone here have any experience putting the connectors back together or pointers to resources on how people did it? I haven't found anything so far applicable for the M motor.

A quick search sends me to https://www.biasedlogic.com/index.php/lego-powered-up-connector/ - it's possible to 3d-print a new male connector and solder it.

I thought about the 3d printing too. Just adding the wire to the connector though is very difficult because the pins have these little spikes that pierce through the wire to complete the circuit.

You mean the male connectors have to be crimped, like male RJ45 connectors? The usual way to repair a crimp-on connector is to just replace it with a new one, and apply a specialized tool to crimp. :-(

I think I kind of got it. I pressed down really hard and the wire did get pierced by the spikes on the bottom part of the connector. The top spikes aren't working but I think I'll let that slide.

Can you share a picture?

Have you tried asking LEGO for a replacement?


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Lego D11 ripper cylinder
I'm building the Lego set 42131 D11 bulldozer and my back ripper cylinders (linear actuators) are in the complete up position and it's keeping me from completing the build.
How do you get them to go down? I tried the control on my phone but it just keeps calibrating and won’t move past that screen.

You can adjust the length (extension) of linear actuators manually in two ways:

The same motor would do - by rotating the axle on its end.
By rotating an extending shaft. Just make sure the other end is fixed, otherwise it would spin freely without doing anything.


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Looking for piece name with 3 small bars, adjoined to each other, and 2 larger circles on the side
I am looking for the name of a piece. I haven't seen this piece before, but it's a perfect match for micro scale Dutch bridges. It's a piece with 3 small bars, adjoined to each other. The bottom bar has 2 larger circles on the side. I think its size is about 1x3.
I have added 2 pictures of it:

Just went through the Bars, Minifig Utensils, Window Glass and Shutter, Fence, and Door categories on BrickLink and couldn't find a match. Do you have a link for where you found the images?

I had better luck looking through the "miscellaneous" section of the LDraw parts database :-)

Apparently it does not exist in white! The pictures are probably renders, not actual builds. @IvanSanchez found the part, apparently it's an oldskool part that's only available in light grey

That's part 969 Trailer Stand.
Apparently it appeared only in (old) light grey in sets from the early 70s, and not in white as your picture suggests.

Great find! The pictures must be renders then, too bad. But I can see they are still for sale, so maybe I'll just make the bridge grey then!

Yeah, grey should be just fine for the counterweights of bascule bridges :-) Be aware that old (pre-2000) grey is not the same as modern bley, anyway.

I'm not convinced the part is white in the op's pictures. All those light parts might very well be grey (possibly a mix of old grey and new bluish grey) - white balance can do that to a picture.

I doubt that, since 3024pb010 1x1 plate with black square pattern only exists in white.

OP's picture is 3D render, not a photo. 3D models could use non-existing colors.  @IvanSanchez it won't stop you from using whichever color you want for that piece while creating 3D model.


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Kazi train - struggles to run, maybe due to weight
I've ordered 2 Kazi trains on aliexpress. Seemed like a nice set with some tracks for my kids. As seen below it's a set where the power box is a separate part and it runs a motor that connects to the wheels by a bunch of gears. Problem I have is that the trains are struggling to run. Yellow one more than green, maybe due to weight. Anyone had a similar problem and knows how to improve the set? I'm wondering if switching to the undercarriage motor would work on these sets. The larger ones seem to have a different kind of motor that has no gears to get it moving and provides power directly to the wheels but not sure if that one would fit. Considered applying some grease but not sure how much that can help in this case without making everything sticky.
[
[]

So I have done some more investigation into the problem on my side and there are several ways to go into this. First thing I did is I switched the battery brand from regular Maxell to GP extra which improved the condition but I still could not fully use the battery box in terms of speed regulation but an improvement none the less. Then I tried a couple of combinations:

changed the rubber on the wheels - no significant improvement all though the rubber I got originally is a lot worse in terms of quality
I used a combination of the original battery box and the undercarriage motor - best solution if it fits your train - you need some additional bricks to do the change probably - speed settings work well also
New motor and a 6 AAA battery power box - works well but no way of changing the speed with this power box - does not improve with the 5 battery box

So essentially the problem is in the gears which get stuck a lot, make a lot of noise and have a lot of wear - a lot of dust everywhere.
In case you're considering buying a train that is using the M motor like mine the best solution is to switch to undercarriage. Some trains are bigger and use the undercarriage by default so those will probably work better although the overall train weight is higher.

First thing is what batteries are you using with it ?
Some devices do not run well on rechargeable NiMh or NiCad batteries as their voltage is lower initially. So you may see lights that are more dim, motors run slower or so on.
Many devices may have voltage regulators or DC-DC converters where this not an issue. Simpler childrens toys and so on are often wired directly with no power circuit and are not optimal for rechargeable batteries.
You can also have some issues with heavy duty batteries not working correctly (not just shorter life), so if not already done troubleshoot with a set of fresh decent quality alkalines and go from there.
If that is already the case we can move on to looking at other possibilities.

Hi, thanks for replying. I'm using regular AAA batteries. Was considering the rechargeable but since voltage is lower than with the regular ones I'm guessing it's not gonna work. I saw some ideas of making your own battery pack but question is also weather you can put a bit more power in and not damage the motor.

deafeningly the Offical rechargeables are 7.4v output


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Is this "moon buggy" an official Lego set?
This six-wheeled "moon buggy" has been in approximately this form in our Lego box since the 1980s. Is it from / based on an official Lego set or something my brother made up?

The distinctive parts of that build are 4288 Wheel Full Rubber Balloon with Axle Hole and 3787 Vehicle, Mudguard 2 x 4 with Arch Smooth (in old grey colour). They do appear in several classic space sets.
But a search for sets which contains both of these parts together tells us that your buggy is not an official set.


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Help identifying sealed Lego Bag 4 from 2017 set long red flat pieces, blue flames, green bricks, blue tint windows misc small black parts
Need help to identify which set bag 4 came from?  Have a random bag #4.  No idea which set it goes to.  Bag label is 706R2. Bag year is 2017.  Has green bricks and red pieces, four blue flames, and 7 blue windows like pieces.

This appears to be the bag for the car wash in Town Center (60292):

Thank you so much!  You are amazing.


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How do I join the LEGO Ambassador Network?
I am a bit confused about the LEGO Ambassador Network.
How do I get free sets from LEGO? Do I have to be a content creator or can I just be a member of a community? Also how can I find a community to join?

LAN isn't some secret group you join and immediately start getting free stuff. If only it was this easy!

LEGO Ambassador here. There is an onboarding process happening every couple of months and you essentially have to get noticed by LEGO to get invited. You can also get referred by another community that already has a LAN access. But I can tell you right now that if your only goal is "to get free sets", then you're approaching it wrong and missing the point of LAN network in the first place.

The LEGO® Ambassador Network is a program that allows The LEGO Group
to work with communities of LEGO fans. There are three different types
of communities:

Recognized Online Communities
Recognized Fan Media
Recognized LEGO User Groups

Anyone can create or join a group of LEGO fans but to be recognized
they’ll need to fit a set of criteria outlined in the program.

About the LEGO® Ambassador Network (LAN)
The minimum requirements to join can be found on the LAN forum. The basic requirements are:

Complying with certain policies (Novelty Policy, Confidentiality Policy and IP Guidelines and several other policies)
Must exist for a full year.
Must have an active community with a reasonable number of people (depending on community type.

As of posting, Bricks Stack Exchange is one of the 110 online communities, there are also many regional user groups you can join.

This is great info, thank you!  I am at 37 sets and counting...


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Minifig head hollow stud vs blocked open & others
These three heads have the same print. I have one I’m trying to identify. It appears to be 3626bpb0704.

However it could be 3626cpb0704:

or 3626cpb0647:

Is there a way to determine for sure? I’m asking for advice on this part but all similar parts in general too.

When you say, "I have one", do you mean you have it, or you have a picture of it? I assume that if you have it, you could just look?

One of the mentioned minifigure heads have different print. Could you clarify what kind of information you are looking for? Do you need to identify which head (out of all mentioned) you actually own?

The first two differ in their mold type (and specifically their stud type). The mold is identified by the first part of the bricklink id ("3626b" and "3626c" in your examples)
Here's an overview of the different minifig head stud types, an how they're named on bricklink :

The third has a different (but similar) print : most notably, differently shaped eyebrows, a wrinkle between the eyes, and a slight smirk. The print is identified by the last part of the bricklink id ("pb0704" and "pb0647" in your examples).


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identifying mega bloks parts, including a lot of big fig parts
Morning all,
I have got a massive box of mega bloks, but am really struggling to find what sets they are from. I have tried to find the more obscure bits so it can hopefully narrow things a bit.
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

Have you already run those blocks through any block sites?

The part on the 1st photo is from MEGABLOKS set 9728 :Blue Thunder

Source : Partlist from Manual
I think the part on photo # 2 is from MEGABLOKS set 1401: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1/4 pipe fight

The raised base plate on the 3th photo is from the Megabloks Dragon line
The part on photo #4 is from
MEGABLOKS set # 9337 Transforming Blok-Bots - Spy

The brown arm  is from
MEGABLOKS set# 9358 : Transforming Blok-Bots - Gladiator & Lion


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

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

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

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

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

Thank You very much. I will look into this


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Identify this Super Mario Lego set
My son has a super mario LEGO set and we lost the box with the instructions in it. Can someone tell me what Super Mario Set this is??

These parts are from :
1388: Boss Sumo Bro Topple

keyparts:

Blue Plate, Modified 6 x 6 with Rounded Corners and 4 Feet

Blue Brick 1 x 2 with Yellow Star with Black Eyes Pattern


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Problem to connect my NXT to Bluetooth. everything else run fine
I use Windows 11 (64 bit). NXT sw v2.1, NXT firmware 1.31.
I have reinstalled these several times, without success. Everything seems to work fine except to connect via Bluetooth, that fails most of the times.
I suspect it has something to do with my OneDrive connection. During installation of Mindstorms software, it ends up in the cloud (the setting.ini file) although I like to put it locally on my C:.
The PC interact with the NXT, but it fails most of the times. I get a feeling that there is something wrong with the logic or some settings.
Is there anyone out there, that could give me some hints?


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Converting Nanobocks builds to LEGO
Had anyone attempted and had any success in converting a nanoblocks build to use LEGO bricks?
On the horizontal plane, the nanoblocks bricks seem to be half the size of LEGO bricks (4mm x 4mm versus 8mm x 8mm), so a purely 2D model could be simply reproduced at double (or four time considering the area) the size.
However, I am finding it harder to determine how to scale the two vertically - nanoblocks quote a height of 5mm, but this is to the top of the stud rather than the height of the brick, which seems to be roughly half as high. This means nanoblock scaled up to the same width would be half the height of LEGO bricks. So perhaps replacing every nanoblocks 1x1 brick with a LEGO 2x2 would work?
Another problem is that nanoblocks produce a 'T' shaped piece which LEGO is missing, but this could be much easier to work around.
Has anyone experimented with this and have any conclusions?
[I'll tag this with clone brands, but I don't think nanoblocks actually qualifies as a clone (different size, not compatible)!]

I was thinking that Nanoblocks are the same height as Lego plates, not counting the stud. I've built a church from Lego, then tried to build one just as big using Nanoblocks: it having a 30-brick tall tower, but found it to be about 1 brick short, so I estimate Nanoblocks are 3•1mm tall which is what it says on LNO Nanoblocks box, with double height 6•3, guess they expect a 0•1 gap. The 5mm given as their height includes the stud.
So 2 Lego plates will be just over twice as tall as Nanoblocks. One may as well do each level of Nanoblocks as the 2 Lego plates levels using joins in differing places. 1st layer Lego plate, then bricks where also wanted for 2nd layer of Nano, then finish 1st layer Nano with 2nd layer of Lego plate, or maybe start with bricks.
Kawada Nano Block of Japan don't use tubes, but a ridge. This lets the brick below to be positioned anywhere along its length. It is the same with the 1×x pieces as they have no bars. Lego tiles 1×2 with 1 stud & 1×3 with 2 studs can position under their studs if they have groove.
Looking at building a Lego elephant from Nano instructions, it uses 1×4's with round ends. These Lego plates are only in 1 set. To be able to move the ears back to ~45°, I considered using hollow bricks, so square end bricks could turn like a round 1 can. A panel corner 1×1 does the job & needs to be mounted 1 plate lower so the corner of the brick is over its base.
Back of Lego elephant, black = 1×3 +2 studs & groove, white = 1×2 +1 stud & groove, yellow = 1×2 +1 stud normal & grey = 2×2 corner. There be 2 ways of doing the top part of legs. Used plate 6×x & so not hollow. Nano, red when I've not dark gray, 2×2 corner as not Kawada.
Photo of orca (killer whale), I do not have the right Lego ball joints, see 1 full brick on fin, some clone brand, 2nd black from front are 2 1×3's with 2 studs with 1×2's atop (I've none for the Nano, so got there a 1×3 atop).
As for T shape, as 2 layer, 1 using 1×3 & other 2×2 corner both with a 1×1.
Bulldog, from Wise Hawk, full brick for mouth with top part hidden for Lego.
With the beagle dog there is a 1×2 at 90° under centre of a 1×4, as can't be seen can use a 1×2 with holes as its hollow studs fit to bars. Maybe use a 1×2 slope. (Has a 1×1 atop, so full brick & plate for 2 Nano.)
Cow's udder, this = 2×3 central under 3×4, if 3×4 brick used then no problem as 2×3 fits to tubes, but slope or 2 of 2×3 wedge won't do, with 1 row of studs okay. Other way is 1×3's with 2studs across mid 2 'then 2 other way under,

Hi Andrew, I tried to fix up your answer, but at certain places I could only guess at your intended meaning. Please take a look at my edits and fix anything I might have gotten wrong or missed altogether. And I'd appreciate if the next time you could use a bit more professional language, including but not limited to proper punctuation, complete sentences and full words. That way your intention would be clear even without copyediting. Thanks!

If you want more exact measurements, this Nanoblock vs Lego article shows the exact figures for 1x1 pieces from each brand, not including the studs:
Nanoblock: 3.8 x 3.8 x 3mm
Lego: 7.8 x 7.8 x 9.6mm
That means they're just under half the width and 1/3 the height.
However, you can also see from the images in the link that a standard Nanoblock piece is just a hair shorter than a standard Lego plate (3.2mm), not including the studs.
Therefore, if you simply use two stacked plates instead of standard-height Lego pieces, you can easily replicate Nanoblock builds using Lego by doubling the other dimensions. This is also a better solution to match color profiles.
Of course, this doesn't solve other problems, like the lack of L-shaped pieces and different locking mechanisms, but those should be easy to overcome with a few simple design changes.


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Control MoveHub (Boost) and Mindstorms Inventor Hub over one app
I'd like to control Lego Boost (Move)Hub and the mindstorms inventor hub with one app. I know that it is probably possible with python, but my son is not yet ready to programm in a fully fledged development environment.
Consequently, I'd like to provide him a scratch like environment where he can work with both hubs at the same time. E.g. creating a joystick with Boost that controls a mindstorms robot.
Could someone point me to the right direction.

I'm thinking this open source code here: https://github.com/NStrijbosch/hub2hub/tree/main/examples/MoveHub

Thanks @Eric, you are right, there is a python integration (also see pybricks), but I am searching for something scratch-like for younger children.

Okie I don't have a Prime Hub and the hub myself but I have replied to Alex, zovits, Philo etc.

delayed by all.

erm...............................

Hi, Eric - I don't get your point. At the moment it is just us two commenting on that question. Who is delaying what? So I do not see any comments from "Alex, zovits, Philo etc" as you have been writing. Are they hidden?

defiantly a user lol

???????........

erm, i found this: https://bricklife.com/scratch-gui/

Ok, here it is a link

Since November 2023, Pybricks now includes a block programming language that works with most Powered Up hubs, including BOOST, and MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor. This also includes Bluetooth communications that is compatible between all hubs.
As of this writing, the blocks are in beta and require a paid subscription.