The Cult of LEGO®

John Baichtal

Joe Meno

The Cult o

f LEG

O®

“I defy you to read and admire this book and not want to doodle with some bricks by the time you’re done.”— Gareth Branwyn, editor in chief, MAKE: Online

“This fascinating look at the world of devoted LEGO fans deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone who’s ever played with LEGO bricks.”— Chris Anderson, editor in chief, Wired

LEGO® is much more than just a toy — it’s a way of life. The Cult of LEGO takes you on a thrilling illustrated tour of the LEGO community and their creations. You’ll meet LEGO fans from all walks of life, like professional artist Nathan Sawaya, brick fi lmmaker David Pagano, the enigmatic Ego Leonard, and the many devoted AFOLs (adult fans of LEGO) who spend countless hours building their masterpieces.

Page after page of full-color photos showcases the fantastically creative and complex models builtby the LEGO community. You’ll marvel at a life-size stego-saurus, a microscale Yankee Stadium, a 22-foot-long World War II battleship, a MINDSTORMS®-powered monster chess set, and a remote-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler (with moving conveyor belt!). Visit the conventions where LEGO fans gather to socialize and show off their work. And discover the serious side of LEGO, used in therapy, prototyping, and team-building.

Whether you’re a card-carrying AFOL or just thinking fondly about that dusty box of LEGO in stor-age, John Baichtal and Joe Meno’s magnifi cent look at the world of LEGO will inspire you to take out your bricks and build something amazing.

John Baichtal is a contribu-tor to MAKE magazine and Wired ’s GeekDad blog. He has also written for legendary tabletop gaming magazines Dragon and Dungeon, as well as Kobold Quarterly and 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

Joe Meno is the founder of BrickJournal, a print and online LEGO® fan magazine. He has organized and run LEGO fan events, acted as an advisor on LEGO projects, and helped design LEGO sets.

“We’re all members of the Cult of LEGO — the only membership requirement is clicking two pieces of plastic together and wanting to click more. Now we have a book that justifi es our obsession.”— James Floyd Kelly, blogger for GeekDad.com and TheNXTStep.com

“A crazy fun read, from cover to cover, this book deserves a special spot on the bookshelf of any self-respecting nerd.”— Jake McKee, former global community manager, the LEGO Group

“An excellent book and a must-have for any LEGO enthusiast out there. The pictures are awesome!”— Ulrik Pilegaard, author of Forbidden LEGO

This unoffi cial book is not endorsed or

authorized by the LEGO Group.

$39.95 ($41.95 CAN)

Shelve in: Popular Culture

5 3 9 9 5

9 7 81 5 93 2 73 91 0

ISBN: 978-1-59327-391-0

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col_final_cvr_05.indd 1 8/9/11 1:32 PM

Table of Contents

Foreword by Mark Frauenfelder viii

Introduction ix

1: The History of LEGO 1Billund: Home of Peat Bogs and LEGO 4Only the Best Is Good Enough 6The LEGO Group Reality: Change Happens 8Just Another Brick? 14Fake LEGO 16

2: Building Again 17AFOLs 21Women Builders 26LEGO Builder Interview: Fay Rhodes 29Organizing the Trove 34Ingenious LEGO 36Remixed Bricks 42LEGO in Print 44LEGO on the Web 48LEGO Fan Glossary 49

3: Minifig Mania 51The Minifig Turns 30 54Minifig Facts 57Minifig Controversy 58The Minifig in Pop Culture 60Red-Headed Step-Figs 64CubeDudes: Cartoony Geometric Figures 67Sig-Figs: LEGO You 68Pimp Your Fig 70Famous People, Minisized 72Minifig Scale 80

4: (Re)creating Icons 83Carl the LEGO Guy 86Architectural Re-creations 88Trains 96Brick Classics 103Cinematic Inspirations 112

5: Building from Imagination 119LEGO’s Odes to Imagination 122Mecha 128Steampunk: Pure Fan 135ApocaLEGO 138

6: LEGO Art 141Olafur Eliasson’s Collectivity Project 143Douglas Coupland Ponders Time and LEGO 146AME72’s LEGO Graffiti 148Ego Leonard 150Nathan Sawaya’s The Art of the Brick 152Sublime Building 157Zbigniew Libera’s LEGO Concentration Camp 160

7: Telling Stories 163Vignettes 165Back Stories 166Comics 170Political LEGO 175Diorama Storytelling 176Brick Flicks 182

8: Micro/Macro 185Microscale 189Microdioramas 190Collaborative Microbuilding 194Building Big 198Life-Size LEGO 209LEGO Records 212

9: Digital Brickage 217Video Games 219Building Games 220Computer-Aided Building 221LEGO Font 225Print-Your-Own Bricks 226LEGO Fan Resources 229LEGO Universe 230

10: LEGO Robotics: Building Smart Models 233MINDSTORMS 236Robotics Also-Rans 241LEGO Robotics Projects 243FIRST LEGO League 252A Successful Sideline 256

11: Gatherings 257The Online Beginnings 260LEGO Users Groups (LUGs) 260LEGO Conventions Come of Age 262Convention Activities 266Brick Cliques 270

12: Serious LEGO 271Autism Therapy 273Marketing with Bricks 274Prototyping a Space Elevator 277High-Altitude LEGO 280Visualizing Skyscrapers 282Open Prosthetics 284Serious Play 286Andrew Carol’s Mechanical Computers 288

Epilogue 291

Index 292

The Minifig Turns 30

A sampling of the LEGO Group’s

vast minifig selection decorates a

LEGO store in Florida.

54

In 2008, the LEGO Group celebrated the minifig’s 30th anniversary. Though the minifig’s year of ori-gin is debatable since a version with fixed limbs came out a few years before the movable minifig we know today, this anniversary marked a special milestone that transcended a mere marketing event. “The minifig is as iconic as the basic brick and as much a critical component of the LEGO System of Play as its studded cousin,” said Andrew Becraft, co-editor of the fan blog The Brothers Brick (http://www.brothers-brick.com/). The minifig has been used to add humanity to LEGO models, to lend scale, and even as an art form in itself. LEGO wouldn’t be the same without it.

55

56

Minifig Facts

1 Source: http://parents.lego.com/en-gb/news/minifigure%2030th%20birthday.aspx/

With such an impressive history, it’s only natural that the LEGO Group would come up with a myriad of facts and statistics that tell the story of this remark-able little creature:1

More than 4 billion minifigs have been manufactured, with nearly 4 figures sold every second, for an average of 122 million per year.

The first minifig was a police officer. To date, 41 different cop minifigs have been enclosed in 104 sets.

More than 4,000 different minifigs have been released since 1978, including those with subtle differences in color, with 450 head designs alone. Mathematicians tell us that this means more than 8 quadrillion different combinations are possible.

The first minifigs with noses drawn on their heads were Native American figures in LEGO Wild West.

The first female minifig was a nurse. The ratio of male-to-female minifigs is 18:1.

The minifigs’ trademark vacuous smile did not change until 1989, when the Pirates line introduced other facial expressions as well as such lovable deformities as eye patches and hook hands.

The year 2003 marked the first year the minifig’s yellow coloration changed to a more realistic flesh coloration.

The only way to make a completely nude minifig is to use the torso and legs from a classic LEGO Space astronaut.

57

Angus McLane’s loveable

’Dudes instantly spawned

a trend.

66

CubeDudes: Cartoony Geometric Figures

One day Angus McLane, an animator for Pixar, watched an episode of the G.I. Joe TV show and decided that he wanted to build a miniland figure of one of the characters, Snake Eyes. He wanted to build small (due to a lack of space) and ended up building at a size only slightly larger than a minifig. As he played around with the bricks, he came up with the more “deformed” appearance that is the CubeDude’s signature look: a cubi-cal head presented in such a way that one angle serves as the face. He built about a half-dozen characters before he began shar-ing them online, and they were an immediate hit. Since the debut of McLane’s models, dozens of LEGO fans have tried their hands at creating CubeDudes, but McLane is still considered the grandmaster. To date he has built over 100 CubeDudes, most of them rec-ognizable figures from TV and cinema.

67

120

The LEGO builders featured in Chapter 4 take pride in accurately re-creating real-world phenomena. Ultimately, their accomplishments are measured in terms of their technical skill and faithfulness to the original item. But what about building beautiful mod-els of things that exist only in one’s imagination?

When building from the imagination, anything is possible. Builders don’t need to limit a project to what can be found in the real world or limit it to depicting technology that could actually function. Some build-ers draw inspiration from movies, dreams, or simply conversations. Others crank up the music, grab a pile of bricks, and just create. Still others take a more methodical approach, sketching out entire fleets of vehicles before placing a single brick.

Guy Himber’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” evokes the

Renaissance tradition of collecting natural marvels and

odd discoveries in a cabinet, except that this cabinet is

also a robot!

121

3D printing, 226–227

Aadult fans of LEGO (AFOLs), 18–20

profiled, 21–25women, 26–28, 31

AFOLs (comic strip), 46–47Almen, Derek, 172Ame72, 62, 148–149Anderson, Chris, 243Andersson, Hans, 244–245apocaLEGO, 138–140Armstrong, Matt, 34–35, 113,

135–136, 193art, definition of, 145Art of the Brick, The, 152–155, 204ATLANTIS (theme), 127autism, and LEGO, 272–274

BBaldwin, Amanda, 70–71Barrister, Lich, 173Baumann, Claude, 281Beckett, Thom, 53, 59, 72, 73, 74, 76,

78–79Becraft, Andrew, 52–53, 55, 59, 68,

73–79, 175, 181, 188Bedford, Allan, 92Belville (theme), 26–28, 64–65Bergmann, John, 284–285Beurteaux, Marc, 184Big Ben, 43Big Daddy Nelson, 18, 136, 164, 165Billund (Denmark), 4–5, 7BIONICLE (theme), 10, 26, 113, 128,

131–133, 134Bionicle Encyclopedia (Farshtey), 132BIONICLE Heroes, 219bley, 46–47BlueToothKiwi, 250–251Braaten, Heather, 68–69Brant, Alvin, 212–213Breannicle. See Sledge, BreannBrickArms, 43, 70Brick Bible, The (Smith), 110Brickfilms.com, 183, 184brick flicks, 182–184, 274

Go Miniman Go challenge, 183Pagano’s picks, 184resources, 184Steven Spielberg’s MovieMaker

set, 183BrickForge, 70–71Brickipedia, 229BrickJournal (magazine), 44–45bricks, 8, 10, 12Brickset, 229Brickshelf, 48, 228–229Bricks in Motion, 183, 184Bricksmith, 221, 222Brick Testament, 110–111Brin, Sergei, 36Brothers Brick, The, 55, 176, 229building standards, 268Byrne, Bob, 174

CCAD (computer-aided design) soft-

ware, 13, 221–223Carol, Andrew, 288–290Castle (theme), 122, 123, 161,

189, 268Chapman, Will, 70Chiles, Matthew, 198–199Chow, Winston, 38–39Christiansen, Godtfred, 10, 14Christiansen, Ole Kirk, 7, 8Chryssanthakopoulos, Vassilis,

246–247City (theme), 82, 96, 122Clague, Kevin, 222Clark, Jennifer, 26–28Collectivity Project, 143–145comics, 46–47, 170. See also specific

comic titlescomputer-aided design (CAD) soft-

ware, 13, 221–223conventions, 262–270

cost of, 262, 266international, 265, 270and LEGO Group, 262, 268–269public display days, 266, 268theme-oriented rivalries, 270theme roundtables, 268

Cooper, Brian, 118Cook, Roy, 145Coupland, Douglas, 146–147Cousineau, Denis, 250–251Creative Explorations (Gauntlett), 287Creator, 220Crimson Wolf. See Kevin FeddeCubeDudes, 66–67Cybermaster (theme), 242

DDark Age, 18Darrow, Brian, 124, 202–203Davis, Brian, 281DeCraemer, Steve, 203Denoyelle, Dirk, 210DeShano, Troy, 273–274Design byME, 223Diment, Ed, 80–81, 82dioramas, 176–181Donnan, Beau, 166Dooley, Mike, 5Doyle, Yvonne, 26–28, 65duck pull toy, 8, 9DUPLO (theme), 10, 136

EEgo Leonard, 62, 150–151Eliasson, Olafur, 143–145EXO-FORCE (theme), 116, 129,

130–131Expert Series (theme), 10. See also

TECHNIC

FFactory (theme), 13, 189Farshtey, Greg, 132Fedde, Kevin, 122, 123, 126,

138–140, 168, 178films, and LEGO. See brick flicksFIRST LEGO League (FLL), 13,

31, 252–255. See also MINDSTORMS

Fleay, Lindsay, 184FLL (FIRST LEGO League), 13,

31, 252–255. See also MINDSTORMS

Florea, Adrian, 166, 169fonts, LEGO-inspired, 225Forbidden LEGO (Pilegaard and

Dooley), 5

GGagne, Remi, 238–239Galidor maxifigs, 64Gauntlett, David, 287Giddens, Chris, 50Giger, H. R., 113, 131glossary, 49–50gluing LEGO, 204, 208Goddard, Tim, 179Go Miniman Go challenge, 183Gorman, Will, 250–251graffiti, 62, 148–149Great Ball Contraption, 268Grguric, Matija, 91Grunts (comic strip), 171Gugick, Arthur, 90, 102, 108, 117

HHanft, Adrian, 39Harshbarger, Eric, 117Hassenplug, Steve, 244–245, 248,

250–251Hawking, Malle, 82, 186–187Himber, Guy, 120–121, 136, 137HISPABRICK (magazine), 46Hitchcock, Christina, 260HiTechnic sensors, 240, 243,

244, 281Hoffmeister, René, 200, 215Holland, Matt, 195Homemaker (theme), 64Hurbain, Philippe, 247Hyland, Greg, 46–47

II Like the Future and the Future

Likes Me, 147

JJack Stone maxifigs, 64Jasper, Michael, 73, 74, 76–79Jessiman, James, 221, 222JunLEGO. See Mitsui, Jumpei

KKelly, Colleen (Minx Kelly LEGO

Goddess of Phobos), 260Kenney, Sean, 88–89, 190–191,

275–276Knights’ Kingdom maxifigs, 64knockoffs, 14, 16, 46–47, 226Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig, 13Koch, Rafael, 225Konzentrationslager, 160–162Kristiansen, Kjeld Kirk, 258, 287Kueppers, Bob, 40

LLachmann, Michael, 222Lambrecht, Bram, 196LDD (LEGO Digital Designer), 223

LDraw, 221, 222, 247Lee, Mike, 40LEGO Batman, 218–219LEGO Battles, 219LEGO Chess, 219LEGOFest Prime, 260, 262LEGO Font Creator, 225LEGO Football Mania, 219LEGO Group, the

business cards, 68Christiansen, Godtfred, 10, 14Christiansen, Ole Kirk, 7, 8history, 5, 8–13Idea House, 44Knudstorp, Jørgen Vig, 13Kristiansen, Kjeld Kirk, 258, 287manufacturing, 7, 11–13, 16,

226–227slogan, 6–7and trademarks, 10, 226, 265. See

also knockoffsvision of, 14

LEGO Harry Potter, 218–219LEGO Island, 218LEGOLAND, 5, 10, 44, 64, 187, 199,

206–207, 216, 260, 262LEGOLAND (video game), 219LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Zoo!, The

(Rhodes), 33LEGO Racers, 219LEGO Star Wars, 218–219LEGO Stunt Racers, 219LEGO themes, 10, 13, 64,

122–134, 241–242. See also specific names

LEGO therapy, 274. See also Serious Play

LEGO Truck Tours and Imagination Celebrations, 258

LEGO Universe (MMORPG), 13, 218, 230–232

LEGO Users Groups (LUGs). See LUGs

LEGO video games, 13, 218–219. See also specific video game titles

Lehni, Urs, 225Lewandowski, Peter, 165Libera, Zbigniew, 160–162Lifelites, 42–43Lim, Henry, 84–85, 104–105,

118, 209Little Armory Toys, 42LPub, 222LUGNET, 229, 260LUGs (LEGO Users Groups), 48,

260–261BayLUG, 260ChiefLUG, 261IndyLUG, 202LUGNuts, 260NELUG, 260PortLUG, 261TwinLUG, 196, 261WAMALUG, 260

Mmacrobuilding, 198–199marketing, and LEGO, 274–276Martins, Lino, 68maxifigs, 64–65McDonald, Simon, 116

Index

McGlone, Bryce, 15, 20McLane, Angus, 66–67McNeely, David, 35, 36MCP (MINDSTORMS Community

Partners), 26, 31McRae, Ron, 244–245Mead, Syd, 15mecha, 128–134ME Models, 42Meno, Joe, 112, 186Merriam, Carl, 86–87Meta Gear (comic strip), 173Michon, Ted, 214–215microbuilding, 189

collaborative, 194–197Micro Moonbase, 196Micropolis, 194–195, 196–197

Factory sets, 189models. See models: microscale

microdioramasShannononia, 69, 192traffic jam, 193Yankee Stadium, 190–191

Micro Scout (theme), 242MINDSTORMS (theme), 10, 13,

29–33, 234–240, 256conventions, 262NXT brick, 237, 238–239, 240projects, 243–251

3D scanner, 2473it3ot, 246–247ATM, 244–245autopilot, 243chess set, 248Full Contact, 250–251LegoMakerBot, 250–251LegWay, 244–245meteorological experiments,

280–281pen plotter, 244–245safe, 248–249sudoku solver, 248–249Swimming Pool Insect

Terminator (SPIT), 250–251Tilted Twister, 244–245Turing machine, 250–251vending machine, 247

RCX brick, 237sensors, 240servos, 240TECHNIC vs. System, 239

MINDSTORMS Community Partners (MCP), 26, 31

minifigs, 42, 53–57, 64. See also maxifigs; miniland figures

as cake toppers, 63controversy with, 58–59costumes, 63egg timer, 62of famous people, 72–79Genghis Khan, 53graffiti, 62sig-figs, 68in Simpsons intro, 60–61

minifig scale, 80–82miniland figures, 64Minx Kelly Lego Goddess of Phobos

(Colleen Kelly), 260Mitsui, Jumpei, 200–201MLCad, 222MOC box, 165MOCpages.com, 48, 228–229

MOCsBionic Fridge, 132–133Black Fantasy, 157, 159BLACKTRON Intelligence Agency,

124, 202–203Cabinet of Curiosities, 121Castle Caravel, 123Clockwork Coconut Crab, 137Cry of Dreams, 157–158Distortion, 156–157Kukorakh, 132–133Pit Scourge, 132Shannononia, 69, 192

modelsarchitectural re-creations

CN Tower, 92Dome of the Rock, 90Villa Savoye, 91World Heritage sites, 93–95Yankee Stadium, 89

artistic re-creationsLast Supper, The, 107Mona Lisa, 106Persistence of Memory, 102Starry Night, 108–109work by M. C. Escher, 104–105

biblical, 110–111consumer products

air fern planter, 40bookend, 38–39circuit board separators, 38–39computer chassis, 38–39Guitar Hero controller, 36–37hard drive enclosure, 36–37iPod dock, 40pinhole camera, 38–39XO viewfinder, 40–41

dioramas, 176–181life-size

car, 215chair, 203portraits, 210–211stegosaurus, 209

macroscale. See also record holders

angel sculpture, 208battleship Yamato, 200–201Blacktron Intelligence Agency,

124, 202–203chair, 203LEGO Allianz Arena, 206–207roller coaster, 198–199Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton,

204–205microscale. See also

microdioramasaircraft carrier, 186Colonial Vipers (Battlestar

Galactica), 188fire truck, 188

MINDSTORMS-powered. See MINDSTORMS: projects

movie/television-inspiredalien queen, 113Boba Fett costume, 116Catwoman mosaic, 118Darth Maul mosaic, 117Jawa Sandcrawler, 114–115Mechagodzilla, 118“Spinner” police car, 15Terminator, 113Titanic, 69

Voltron, 264–265Wall-E, 112

as promotional materialCarrier air conditioner, 276Chris-Craft speedster, 276Nintendo DSi, 275–276skyscraper project, 282–283

for prototypingprosthetics, 284–285space elevator, 277–279

replicasAntikythera mechanism, 290box camera, 87Difference Engine (Charles

Babbage), 288–289drill press, 87hairbrush, 87harpsichord, 84–85Harry S. Truman, 82, 186–187HMS Hood, 80–81microscope, 86Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton,

204–205trains, 96–101vignettes, 164, 165

Monsterbrick. See Armstrong, Mattmosaics, 117, 118Mr. Amperduke (comic strip), 174

NNaoe, Kazuyoshi, 93–95Nerds in Space (comic strip), 172Ninjas (themes), 59NXT-G programming software,

239, 240NXT Step blog, 32

OOliveira, Ricardo, 247Open Prosthetics Project (OPP),

284–285organization, 34–35Oskay, Windell, 18, 34, 39

PPagano, David, 182, 184Page, Larry, 36Palmer, Mark, 39Paradisa, 64Pece, Marco, 106–107Peeron, 229Pick a Brick (online store), 187, 190PicToBrick, 224Pieces of Peace, 93–95Pilegaard, Ulrik, 5, 13, 15pink LEGO, 64Pirates (theme), 57, 126Plumb, Andrew, 226–227political commentary, with LEGO,

160–162, 175Power Functions (theme), 242POWER MINERS (theme), 127

RRailBricks (magazine), 46, 96Ranjo, Jeff, 113record holders, 212–216Reichling, Tobias, 224Reitz, Don, 168–169Rhodes, Fay, 29–33Rich, Suzanne, 262

ROBORIDERS (theme), 128robotic lines, 234, 237, 241–242

SSalu, Urmas, 60Samantha, 40Sandlin, Mark, 50, 264–265Sawaya, Nathan, 34, 152–155, 189,

204–205, 210–211, 276Schütz, Adrian, 224Scout (theme), 242Semon, Ted, 278Serious Play, 286–287sig-figs, 68Sledge, Breann, 26, 132–133, 134Smit, Erik, 189Smith, Allen, 221, 222Smith, Brendan Powell, 110SNOT (Studs Not on Top), 84–85, 90, 99Søborg, Anders, 244–245Space (theme), 57, 82, 122, 124–125,

196, 202–203, 268Message Intercept Base set, 202subthemes

BLACKTRON, 124, 202INSECTOIDS, 124LIFE ON MARS, 125MARS MISSION, 124–125, 133SPACE POLICE, 125UFO, 124

space elevator, 277–279Sports (theme), Basketball, 59Spurgeon, Jeramy, 96–101Spybotics (theme), 241steampunk, 135–137, 166–167SteamWars, 135, 136Studs Not on Top (SNOT), 84–85,

90, 99Summersgill, Andrew, 129, 171

TTECHNIC (theme), 10, 14–15, 28, 38,

64–65, 112, 113, 116, 196, 215, 251, 278, 288–290

and BIONICLE, 133and MINDSTORMS, 237–240and steampunk, 136, 137

third-party companies, 42–43, 70–71THROWBOTS (theme), 128Tiefenbacher, Philipp, 226Town (theme), 268Trains (theme), 96–101Tscharmer, Hannes, 114–115

VVianco Studio, 184vignettes, 164, 165

WWeDo (theme), 13, 242Wells, Nathan, 184Wild West (theme), 57, 59, 219Winkler, David, 208Wood, Ryan, 261

YYoung, Shannon, 192

ZZhang, Nannan, 34, 128–129, 156–159

The Cult of LEGO®

John Baichtal

Joe Meno

The Cult o

f LEG

O®

“I defy you to read and admire this book and not want to doodle with some bricks by the time you’re done.”—Gareth Branwyn, editor in chief, MAKE: Online

“This fascinating look at the world of devoted LEGO fans deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone who’s ever played with LEGO bricks.”—Chris Anderson, editor in chief, Wired

LEGO® is much more than just a toy — it’s a way of life. The Cult of LEGO takes you on a thrilling illustrated tour of the LEGO community and their creations. You’ll meet LEGO fans from all walks of life, like professional artist Nathan Sawaya, brick fi lmmaker David Pagano, the enigmatic Ego Leonard, and the many devoted AFOLs (adult fans of LEGO) who spend countless hours building their masterpieces.

Page after page of full-color photos showcases the fantastically creative and complex models builtby the LEGO community. You’ll marvel at a life-size stego-saurus, a microscale Yankee Stadium, a 22-foot-long World War II battleship, a MINDSTORMS®-powered monster chess set, and a remote-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler (with moving conveyor belt!). Visit the conventions where LEGO fans gather to socialize and show off their work. And discover the serious side of LEGO, used in therapy, prototyping, and team-building.

Whether you’re a card-carrying AFOL or just thinking fondly about that dusty box of LEGO in stor-age, John Baichtal and Joe Meno’s magnifi cent look at the world of LEGO will inspire you to take out your bricks and build something amazing.

John Baichtal is a contribu-tor to MAKE magazine and Wired ’s GeekDad blog. He has also written for legendary tabletop gaming magazines Dragon and Dungeon, as well as Kobold Quarterly and 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

Joe Meno is the founder of BrickJournal, a print and online LEGO® fan magazine. He has organized and run LEGO fan events, acted as an advisor on LEGO projects, and helped design LEGO sets.

“We’re all members of the Cult of LEGO — the only membership requirement is clicking two pieces of plastic together and wanting to click more. Now we have a book that justifi es our obsession.”—James Floyd Kelly, blogger for GeekDad.com and TheNXTStep.com

“A crazy fun read, from cover to cover, this book deserves a special spot on the bookshelf of any self-respecting nerd.”—Jake McKee, former global community manager, the LEGO Group

“An excellent book and a must-have for any LEGO enthusiast out there. The pictures are awesome!”—Ulrik Pilegaard, author of Forbidden LEGO

This unoffi cial book is not endorsed or

authorized by the LEGO Group.

$39.95 ($41.95 CAN)

Shelve in: Popular Culture

5 3 9 9 5

9 7 81 5 93 2 73 91 0

ISBN: 978-1-59327-391-0

6 89 1 45 7 39 16 9

col_final_cvr_04.indd 1 8/2/11 2:29 PM