One's Love for LEGO Can Only Be So Large
 

I picked up a women's magazine at the laundromat today that recommended playing with leggos when you need to distract yourself from pesky food cravings.

I'd recommend fidgeting with LEGO (or LEGOs, which is a hotly-contested debate about how you properly refer to LEGO bricks, plural) for just about anything.

It helps, it heals, and it hurts to not have enough time in the day for more LEGO innovations.


Here's a bit of history:
Lego (trademarked in capitals as LEGO) is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The toys were originally designed in the 1940s in Europe and have achieved an international appeal, with an extensive subculture that supports Lego movies, games, video games, competitions, and four Lego themed amusement parks.

The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934 his company came to be called Lego. The company name Lego was coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well". The name could also be interpreted as "I put together" and "I assemble" in Latin, though this would be a somewhat forced application of the general sense "I collect; I gather; I learn"; the word is most used in the derived sense "I read".

The Lego Group's motto is "kun det bedste er godt nok", which means 'only the best is good enough'. This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. The motto is still used within the company today.

The modern Lego brick was patented on January 28, 1958; bricks from that year are still compatible with current bricks.

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and a visual inspiration for thee: A LEGO Sea.
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...9mvoo1_400.jpg
by EgnaroorangE

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Oh, man, BadNick... did you really have to post so many? Now I have to find and attribute sources to all of those.


This one, though, is easy... if only because he is a flickr buddy:
Mini Pok by powerpig

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additions by re-track-tions:

Sushi. Hashi. Oishii. by "Big Daddy" Nelson
translated: [Sushi (the food). Bridge (bricks). Delicious.]

[posterous.]


"Can I eat a hamburger?", by Sachiko Akinaga (2004)

[lets-brick.]


"LeGummies": Make-It-Yourself LEGO Gummies, an edible treat; instructions by SFHandyman

[wonderhowto.]


"McDonald's Value set", by Sachiko Akinaga (2002)

[designboom.]

I love LEGOs. Wish I had more time/space for them. One dream of mine is to have a LEGO room.

My son has a Darth Vader tie fighter LEGO kit. It is bloody cool. There are a few knock off brands around now, but none (imo) are the quality of the original LEGO.

If you are going to buy a kid some building blocks, do them a favour and pony up for some real LEGO.

Even now, LEGO isn't what it used to be. Too many specialized parts.

Jetee! I love you. I have debated the use of Legos vs. Lego on TFP before and was shouted down by the Legos crowd. The plural of LEGO is LEGO!

Sweetness...

I agree with this sentiment. I find that most of the best, and really creative, large-scale productions of LEGO are best done with either 2x2 peg bricks, or the standard 2x4 peg bricks.

Still, I did like the UFO and Medieval-themed-lego sets that I once had years ago, but the best way to create something entirely original usually starts with LEGO that actually resemble a brick, not a clear semi-arc or anything.

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http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx...zdzxo1_500.jpg
Giant Lego made out of regular-size Lego - (sorry, couldn't find the creator of it)

Yes! When I was a kid, my uncle had a HUGE box of LEGOs...he built an entire city (that I wasn't allowed to touch), and I built my own (way smaller) city later on. Now, whenever I wander down the toy aisle, they only sell box kits. "This one makes a starfighter!" "This one is a pirate's cove!" I just want a box of random snappable bricks so I can use my imagination, damn it.

Amazon.com: LEGO Bricks

My son has a few packs of these, along with a bunch of the LEGO Powerminer sets. He enjoys both of them, but gets more use out of the basic LEGO blocks. Also, if you go to a LEGO store, they have bins in the back where you can fill a container with whatever parts you want.

Heh. That was taken at SXSW this year... I have one like it in my many many photos of that 2 week span

Oh...OH. That is totally awesome. Now I'm chanting in my head, "need to save money to move. need to save money to move. need to save money to move."

That's a good eye, there... I was going to include that info into the caption, but then people might have asked my why, exactly, was this photo was taken at South x Southwest, and I wouldn't have an answer for them. It's just a spontaneous moment of needing to create architecture, I guess.

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Mike Stimpson (aka Balakov) recreates classic moments using LEGOs.

http://i44.tinypic.com/ol5z9.jpg
Original photograph: Lunch Atop a Skyscraper by Charles C. Ebbets

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Original photograph: V.J. Day, Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt

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Original photograph: Behind the Gare Saint Lazare by Henri Cartier-Bresson

all parodied photo creations (c) and belonging to Mike Stimpson.


[ninjavspenguin.]

Here, let me tempt you even further.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/1051/legostore.jpg

For LEGO nerds on a budget, LEGO offers a nifty little building program called LEGO Digital Designer.

It's a CAD-style software that allows you to build an endless array of things... I usually do spaceships and castles that I recall from my childhood.

Not trying to inhibit any creative personal expression here, but if it even need be said, I'd like to keep this topic safe to view at work, and make it designated as 'PG-rated', if possible.

That's kind of an eerie coincidence you mentioned by name the two LEGO concepts I actually dug the most when I was younger.

Also, that's a cool innovative tech app that allows one to play with LEGO digitally, without actually having to clean up afterward (and after my last move, my thousands of LEGO bricks vanished somewhere in another country, so this is just the something I could use, up until the point I go to the local Target and pick me up a few sets).


a tiny bit more history, in the form of an infographic:

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How Lego has built it’s way to success | GDS Publishing

i'm going out to buy some right now :thumbsup:

at the beginning of each week, the most important decision that faces us all is... exactly that: which face do I put on?

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by TheMagikMaster / Nate W.

the full on LEGO stores like at LEGO land in Mall Of America sell bulk bricks by the pound.

I've seen a few examples of these over the years, but this one is evermore unique (and tiny, too)...

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...r38no1_400.jpg
Chessboard Sculpture by buriedbybricks

This isn't LEGO Star Wars
 

or is it?

http://i44.tinypic.com/35ic7ra.jpg
courtesy of edelyoung

I just saw my lego collection at my parents place and thought: I should really bring it over before they sell it! millions of birthdays and rainy days in that box.

We were just talking about my son's huge collection of lego currently stored in my Mom's basement. It was seeded with small suitcase full of lego that was mine. We are hoping he will pass his lego onto his children.

But not before I skim a little off the top for my daughter.

before it becomes too late and I once again forget to post this until next week, I present:

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MYTHBUSTERS by Shmails

author's comments: The paper arrow episode.

From the creator:

Crawler town roams the barren wastes of a post steam-punk world after cataclysmic climate change do to excessive coal use. Several such cities exist but Crawler town is the most popular due to the Aero 500 hydrogen fuel cell Air races that are held. Many people travel the wastes to Crawler town for vacation and to enjoy rare luxuries like Pizza, fresh vegetables and Beer. Travelling the wastes in search of minerals and aquifers ( vital for survival) the mobility of the city keeps it away from the vicious sand storms of the wastes.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/...641bc7f049.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/...f709f8342d.jpg

Details about the MOC - I really enjoyed building this one! Its started out as going to be a steam-punk land dreadnought/battleship but evolved into a roaming city where self sustainability and Eco efficiency became the theme. I ended up calling it “Eco-punk” due to its Steamy inspired roots. Several playable features include functional powered treads for movement , full suspension and front and rear steering. Working crane, hanger slides for planes and lift from upper and lowers levels.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/...0e995183_b.jpg


[flickr.] + [theautoinsiderblog.]

Lego, Motorola Droid Combine to Solve the Rubik’s Cube | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

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1935 Duesenberg Phaeton, by Lego Monster

This thread is way too much fun.
Reminds me of the morning after my sister's wedding. I woke up to the sound of Legos. Lots, and lots of legos. My sis and her hubby were merging their lego sets and building their dream home.

Really? That's the noise you heard when you awoke to a newly-wed couple? (I wasn't trying to go lewd there, I just don't readily imagine people merging their belongings together as you portrayed it... and then someone else will say "that's not what they were merging last night! Woo!").
That's really cool. (not my scenario above. your anecdote, I mean.)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/...bc7a387f_m.jpg
by maclinz1

lego rules; check this out

"Brick by brick, Lego has been building its way out of the near bankruptcy it suffered around the turn of the century. It has done this by a seemingly simple strategy — making awesome product after awesome product. Now it is releasing the almost ridiculously fitting Architecture series, beginning with the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, six planned sets including the Guggenheim in New York and Fallingwater, the iconic cantilevered waterfall-house outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This, we don’t need to tell you, is inspired. Real bricks turned into Lego bricks. The sets are as yet unpriced, but are unlikely to be cheap. The Lego Taj Mahal, for instance, is $300. What’s better is that this is just the beginning of Lego’s Architecture series, as we can see from the teaser on the product page. We’ll put in a vote for Le Corbusier right now (as a bonus, his buildings should be pretty easy to construct in Lego).

Available now, if you can make it to the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the Guggenheim.

UPDATE. The sets are priced at $45, plus shipping from $10 to $25 depending on how far way from the US you live. I have added a link to the online store below."

[wired.] + [thecoolist.]

[buyzombie.] + [inadawords.]

I knew I was forgetting something...

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CubeDude MythBusters by MacLane

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Cap’n Lego by ~nat-lyn on deviantART

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Mondrian & LEGO by martongazso

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LEGO cupcakes, by Hello Naomi

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Flamingos, seen in LEGOLAND, California.

Legoland California, located in Carlsbad, which is 1 hour drive south of Anaheim/Disneyland and half an hour drive from north of San Diego, built on a 128-acre landscape with Lego blocks in the year 1999, is the only LEGO theme park in the United States. The theme park which is the only one outside Europe, with the original in Denmark (the original place for toy building blocks), and the others in Windsor (England) and Germany, is the third of the LegoLand parks to open.

Currently, there are plans and contracts to build another LEGOLAND in Central Florida, and the newest park should be upon completion sometime in 2011.

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[planetoddity.]