Monthly Archives: March 2021

LEGO to stop using black backgrounds in instructions [News]

As reported by our friends over at Brickset, LEGO appears to be making plans to transition away from the use of black backgrounds in instruction manuals. Earlier today, LEGO customer Sam Walker posted an image in a Facebook group of a response he received from LEGO customer service, in which the company states “we’ve been listening to feedback about the background colour in our building instructions. We’ve done lots of testing already and have plans to move away from the black backgrounds entirely.”

The dark backgrounds have been part of the theming for 18+ sets in LEGO’s newly rebranded adult product portfolio that began rolling out last summer. The black manuals have been the source of much frustration for builders, as the low contrast has made it very difficult to discern darker-colored elements, with some disappearing entirely, as we noticed in our review of 10275 Elf Clubhouse.

LEGO has been trying a variety of things to combat the issue, including adding more outlines to elements. Some recent sets, such as 10295 Porsche 911 Turbo & 911 Targa, shipped with black backgrounds in the instruction manual, but the version available for download from LEGO’s website has been updated to include traditional light backgrounds. Other recent 18+ sets, such as 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, included light backgrounds in the printed manual that shipped with the set, though it’s unclear if this is a result of the change already being put into action, or because that set is part of the Ideas product line rather than Creator Expert.

In the response to Sam Walker, LEGO also says that it is working with LEGO designers with color impairment in creating revised manuals.

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Waia Konekta

Joss Woodyard shows us that he is not afraid of using color in his LEGO creations. His creation titled Waia Konekta is very vibrant and lovely. There are a few parts in this creation that are used very creatively. The wire connector is used to create a grass necklace of the Waia Konekta. Next to that the wing with feathers gets used quite a lot in a range of different colors. It is used in the grass skirt and in an elaborate headdress. The use of the 12 tooth gear for teeth is quite ingenious, and there is just something about those eyes. They appear to follow you, and it looks like the Waia Konekta can see straight through you. Did I mention this creation reminds me of the mask in Crash Bandicoot?

Waia Konekta

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Cable Clip Chameleon

Builder Joss Woodyard has made a chameleon out of LEGO and it’s simply a small work of art. There are a lot of axle connectors used in this build for the tail and the spine of the creature. I love that it manages to stay true to the color scheme of an actual chameleon. White wedge plate create gaps that resemble the mouth and there is great part use with the pumpkin part used to portray the characteristic eyes which bulge out the side of their head and appear to swivel about in all directions.

Cable Clip Chameleon

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The next LEGO House exclusive set revealed: 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine [News]

Today, LEGO reveals the new 40502 The Brick Moulding Machine set. The set becomes the second LEGO House Limited Edition product (joining 40501 The Wooden Duck) and will sell exclusively at the LEGO House starting March 4 for 599 DKK (approximately US $99).

Continue reading

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LEGO Marvel Avengers 76170 Iron Man vs. Thanos [Review]

Younger Builders….ASSEMBLE! The LEGO “4+” line is aimed at junior builders, with simplified designs and larger pieces. Marvel Avengers 76170 Iron Man vs. Thanos is one of them, and will be available March 1st from the LEGO Shop Online for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £17.99. But this is a Marvel set, and that means a wider range of fans are going to consider it as well. Is there anything here to tempt them? And what about non-Marvel builders? Come along as we examine just what LEGO has squeezed into this 103 piece set.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full hands-on review

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Parfait por favor

Nobu Tary makes us long for summer with their latest LEGO creation. This built doesn’t use a lot of pieces and it is actually fairly small. The main piece in this creation, which is used beautifully, is the Ninjago tornado spiral. Which works perfectly as an ice cream coupe glass. The white swirl towards the bottom looks like slowly melting ice cream dripping towards the bottom of the glass. The classic baguette piece gets used as a ice cream wafer stick which to me is just brilliant.

parfait

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