LEGOS!
December 30, 2010 1:08 PM Subscribe
This question about Legos prompted me to ask my Lego-related question.
I was obsessed with Legos 25-30 years ago. Had thousands of different pieces, built crazy spaceships and buildings and other contraptions. Then I lost interest when I became a teenager and never really looked back.
But I keep hearing of really cool things that you can do with legos, like making robots and other such stuff.
What, exactly, is there out in Lego-land for 35 year olds?
I see Lego Mindstorms, which looks sort of like what I'm interested in.
Are there any independent blogs out there about these types of things?
Thanks!
*Note: I know there is at least one artist out there who creates sculpture out of Lego. While that is very cool, that's not what I'm looking for here.
I was obsessed with Legos 25-30 years ago. Had thousands of different pieces, built crazy spaceships and buildings and other contraptions. Then I lost interest when I became a teenager and never really looked back.
But I keep hearing of really cool things that you can do with legos, like making robots and other such stuff.
What, exactly, is there out in Lego-land for 35 year olds?
I see Lego Mindstorms, which looks sort of like what I'm interested in.
Are there any independent blogs out there about these types of things?
Thanks!
*Note: I know there is at least one artist out there who creates sculpture out of Lego. While that is very cool, that's not what I'm looking for here.
Best answer: What, exactly, is there out in Lego-land for 35 year olds?
This is a funny question, because there is this huge community of, well, 35-year-old Lego enthusiasts, as some of the above links will show you. If you're asking what Lego products are for 35-year-olds, I think you'll find that isn't the point. These are folks who buy standard Lego bricks by the bucketful.
Not that there aren't incredibly mind-blowing things you can do with the specialized kits.
posted by dhartung at 1:22 PM on December 30, 2010
This is a funny question, because there is this huge community of, well, 35-year-old Lego enthusiasts, as some of the above links will show you. If you're asking what Lego products are for 35-year-olds, I think you'll find that isn't the point. These are folks who buy standard Lego bricks by the bucketful.
Not that there aren't incredibly mind-blowing things you can do with the specialized kits.
posted by dhartung at 1:22 PM on December 30, 2010
Best answer: I just bought this Lego replica of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater yesterday to complete over the weekend with friends--looks like it will be somewhat difficult (SO MANY BEIGE PIECES) and somewhat acceptable to have around my apartment upon completion.
posted by arm426 at 1:35 PM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by arm426 at 1:35 PM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: So is there an easy way to buy Lego bricks in bulk?
posted by dfriedman at 1:37 PM on December 30, 2010
posted by dfriedman at 1:37 PM on December 30, 2010
Best answer: http://www.brickpile.com/buying-bulk-lego/
posted by radiosilents at 1:39 PM on December 30, 2010
posted by radiosilents at 1:39 PM on December 30, 2010
Okay -- before you go any further? The plural of "Lego" is "Lego."
You want to read this AFOL comic (PDF file)
EBay is a good resource for stuff like 100 bits of Lego money or other weird assortments, and also for other people's Lego collections being sold in bulk by the pound. Scrutinise the photos carefully to get an idea of age/interesting pieces/play wear/odds that a Mega Blok has found its way in and you can get some good deals and neat old sets that way. (Which you will want, after reading the comic.)
posted by kmennie at 1:42 PM on December 30, 2010
You want to read this AFOL comic (PDF file)
EBay is a good resource for stuff like 100 bits of Lego money or other weird assortments, and also for other people's Lego collections being sold in bulk by the pound. Scrutinise the photos carefully to get an idea of age/interesting pieces/play wear/odds that a Mega Blok has found its way in and you can get some good deals and neat old sets that way. (Which you will want, after reading the comic.)
posted by kmennie at 1:42 PM on December 30, 2010
That Falling Water looks cool. A hundred bucks tho ... It would make a good Minecraft project too.
Okay, carry on!
posted by carter at 3:30 PM on December 30, 2010
Okay, carry on!
posted by carter at 3:30 PM on December 30, 2010
When I was in Berlin recently, I went to the Lego Discovery Center, and as well as the normal sets, in the gift shop they had replicas of major Berlin buildings. I assume you can get similar sets in other cities and countries. So one thing an adult could do is build some sort of souvenir collection.
Another use is not just the Lego Mindstorms, but any sort of electronics/robotics project. I got an Arduino for Christmas, and when playing with putting little robots together, building bodies for them is easiest to do out of lego, because it's so modular, and light, and easy to create the exact shape you want.
posted by lollusc at 4:08 PM on December 30, 2010
Another use is not just the Lego Mindstorms, but any sort of electronics/robotics project. I got an Arduino for Christmas, and when playing with putting little robots together, building bodies for them is easiest to do out of lego, because it's so modular, and light, and easy to create the exact shape you want.
posted by lollusc at 4:08 PM on December 30, 2010
I don't know where you are, but in Seattle there's SEALUG and I suspect any big city will have a similar group. It's aimed at adults (although kids are welcome). This, or an even like Brick Con, could be a good source of inspiration.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:43 PM on December 30, 2010
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:43 PM on December 30, 2010
Response by poster: These are all very helpful answers.
Thanks.
posted by dfriedman at 10:16 AM on December 31, 2010
Thanks.
posted by dfriedman at 10:16 AM on December 31, 2010
Have you read Forbidden Lego yet? It's full of danger and recklessness and off-label model instructions.
posted by Sallyfur at 9:16 PM on January 4, 2011
posted by Sallyfur at 9:16 PM on January 4, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
http://www.lugnet.com/
http://www.brickshelf.com/
http://brick-builder.com/home/
posted by radiosilents at 1:12 PM on December 30, 2010