LEGO Community Headlines & Highlights for March 2021
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The LEGO community is lucky to have so many blogs, magazines and YouTube channels that create amazing content about our hobby. At BrickNerd, we celebrate getting nerdy about the bricks. This past month, we’ve discussed LEGO pianos, lighting of MOCs, a community quilt, mecha collabs, the cheapest Mr. Gold of all time, SNOT basics and so much more.
There are many fascinating stories to be told from within the LEGO community, so here are some of the best LEGO articles that caught our contributors’ attention throughout the month of March. We applaud the effort that went into each of these features, so click on the headlines or photos to head to each story. They are well worth your time!
Bits N’ Bricks: LEGO Universe - Death of a Dream
Journalist Brian Crecente and documentarian Ethan Vincent trace the bumpy launch and eventual death of the LEGO Group’s first massively multiplayer online game: LEGO Universe.
Bits N’ Bricks: LEGO Universe - Darwin
In this episode of Bits N’ Bricks, journalist Brian Crecente and documentarian Ethan Vincent unearth the almost forgotten work of the LEGO Group’s early work in digital efforts at its Strategic Product Unit Darwin.
Blocks Magazine: LEGO Originals – the short-lived theme that celebrated LEGO history
What is LEGO Originals? No, it’s not some brick-crazy pop band, but rather a line of products celebrating the LEGO’s rich history. Most weren’t available to buy though, which is why the Originals range is quite obscure.
Bouwsteentjes: Is there an Iron Builder in you? (translated)
If you enjoy LEGO Masters then you will love Iron Builder, a competition between the most talented LEGO builders in the world. The bar is set high and they have to use a difficult or rare part (seed part) in their MOC every round.
Brick Architect: LEGO Clutch Test Implements
Given their commitment to product quality, it is no surprise that The LEGO Group has produced custom parts to aid in testing efforts. While these parts are not usually available to the general public, let’s take a closer look.
BrickFanz: LEGO Amelia Earhart Tribute GWP Designer Q&A
In celebration of International Women’s Day, here’s a Q&A with Mel Caddick, the LEGO designer behind the new Amelia Earhart Tribute set.
BrickJournal: A Personal Review of 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery
I am a guy that was brought up on Star Trek (Kirk and Spock, not Jean-Luc and Riker) and became a space geek. My first favorite theme was Space, and that got me on a VIP tour of Houston Space Center because I met an AFOL who happened to work in Mission Control.
Brickset: An Anatomy of Star Wars Aliens - Pets & Beasts
Throughout Star Wars we’ve seen a variety of alien animals accompany our characters and flesh out their environments – ranging from semi-sentient pets, to beasts of burden, plenty of wild animals, and always a bigger fish.
Brickset: Tips for designing a Ninjago modular building
A few specific things make Ninjago sets look the way they do. Even though it is modular in essence, the overall style sets itself apart from the modular buildings and other themes. Here are some tips to help build MOCs that can connect and expand on the Ninjago modular sets.
HispaBrick Magazine: Issue 36 - Classic Space & More (pdf)
We wanted to pay a little homage to our beloved Classic Space, so blue and grey is the prevailing colour in this issue. We also share the results of the survey we conducted on BrickLink and its acquisition by the LEGO Group together with the conclusions we have drawn from it.
Jay’s Brick Blog: 50 Female LEGO Designers, Creatives and Content Creators You Should Follow
I started this project of curating and researching some of the most talented female LEGO designers, Instagrammers, MOCers and Creatives in the world.
LEGO YouTube: Behind the design of the LEGO Porsche 911 Turbo and 911 Targa
Hear the stories behind the design of the LEGO Porsche 911 Turbo, led by Ginny Buckley along with LEGO designer Mike Psiaki, Porsche designer Fabian Schmölz and Jörg Thilow of Porsche Heritage Museum.
New Elementary: Old Elementary - A Brief History of LEGO Magnets
Magnets have been in LEGO sets for a long time. They were first used as practical train carriage couplings starting back in 1967 and for were restricted to train sets for over two decades.
New Elementary: Old Elementary - Eero Okkonen’s LEGO Vehicle Fronts
Cars are one of the evergreen subjects of LEGO sets, and the parts specially designed for minifig-scale vehicles can be easily overlooked. I thought it might be interesting to briefly present several LEGO vehicle pieces I like to use in builds other than cars.
Pickle Bricks: LEGO Classic Themes Find a New Home in the Creator Series
LEGO Ideas Design Manager Sam Johnson has confirmed that the Creator 3-in-1 Series is where LEGO will revisit its Classic themes going forward.
Promobricks: If Octan were a real company (translated)
If Octan were a real company, it would be a corporation the likes of which the world has never seen. We analyze the Octan sets to trace the story of how a local oil supplier in LEGO City became the ruler of the world in The LEGO Movie.
Rambling Brick: Q&A with the White Noise Creative Team
The LEGO White Noise playlist was released on Spotify, and after spending some time listening to the tracks, I found myself with a number of questions.
Rambling Brick: Trends in LEGO Minifigure Gender Representation in Licensed Themes – LEGO Star Wars
We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of new female minifigures introduced each year in the LEGO Star Wars Universe, since the theme debuted in 1999.
StoneWars: Fake reviews in the LEGO online shop? An analysis of the Ferrari (translated)
The average rating of the LEGO Technic 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE in the LEGO online Shop suddenly jumped, so is LEGO getting positive reviews for this set or are reviews being purchased or incentivized?
The Brothers Brick: Building a tiltrotor aircraft using Circuit Cubes
A tiltrotor is an unusual flying machine, but the basic idea is simple: with its rotors facing up it can take off and land like a helicopter; with them rotated facing forward they serve as propellers, with the aircraft’s wings providing lift.
The Brick Blogger: Brick Breakdown - LEGO Story of Nian
The Chinese New Year sets are particularly unique as they aren’t only recreating a holiday, but also representing a culture Westerners may be less familiar with.
Tiago Catarino: How to Make LEGO Curves
YouTuber Tiago Catarino shares how to make LEGO Curves for the new LEGO City Road Plates system.
Tips&Bricks: Diversity and Inclusion - Celebrating International Women's Day!
We discuss the importance of recognising this day, the Women in NASA Ideas set, the history of Female coded minifigures and finally celebrate some of the amazing Female builders in our community!
Women’s Brick Initiative: Minidolls vs. Minifigures - Which Costs More?
LEGO minidolls are more intricate versions of the classic LEGO minifigure. Looking at sets of equal value, we did a deep dive into the price of minifigures vs. mini-dolls to see which ultimately costs more.
Did we miss any of your favorite LEGO articles and content from around the internet? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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