BrickPi: Lego Bricks with a Raspberry Pi Brain @ Kickstarter

BrickPi is a simple system for joining together Lego bricks with the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a super small open-source computer that is powerful enough to play high definition video. The standard connections available are USB, RCA, LAN, Audio, HDMI, GPIO, and SD Cards. With this system you will be able to hook a Raspberry Pi computer into the Lego Mindstorms sensors; specifically 3 motors and 4 sensors. These things combined can be used to create smart robots. BrickPi is looking for funding on Kickstarter, check out the video for more details:

BrickPi will be powered by Arduino and Python. As an added plus, the designers will be providing examples and libraries for all your robotic needs.

BrickPi is made by the people over at Dexter Industries.

“We were founded by John Cole, an engineer who had never touched a soldering iron before 2009, but had a burning desire to make robots. Most of our products before this were for the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT or Arduino.

When we saw the RPi, we saw the future and ordered six of them. After setting up the Raspberry Pi, we were a little frustrated that it stood still. So we looked for a way to make it into a robot.

Thus was born the BrickPi.”

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/13vuWtb
Dexter Industries: http://www.dexterindustries.com/BrickPi/

Iron Man’s Laboratory / Hall of Armor

The Iron Man Hall of Armor has proven to be extremely popular. Here at LegoGenre, it is currently the number one search term. Who would ever have guessed?

Although the Lab & Hall of Armor have an abbreviated representation by Lego with the Malibu Mansion Attack set, it seems that people still want more. The good news is that it looks like Lego has noticed the popularity for a Lego Iron Man Lab & Hall of Armor. Because, they are offering up the next best thing to another play set: free instructions for building your own. These instructions are offered up as a PDF with full color and good detail.

Now, thanks to Lego, you too can build Iron Man’s Hall of Armor, and create hilarious stop motion videos.

http://cache.lego.com/r/club/-/media/Club/Markets/US/Club%20codes/STARK.pdf

Are you looking for even more Lego Iron Man Hall of Armor builds? Check these out:

Jared Chan’s Hall of Armor: http://everydaybricks.com/iron-man-hall-of-armor/
Lego Stark Industries Armory: http://everydaybricks.com/lego-stark-industries-armory-iron-man-hall-of-armor/
Review of the Lego Iron Man Malibu Mansion set: http://everydaybricks.com/iron-man-malibu-mansion/
Keshen8’s video imagining Tony Stark getting ready: http://everydaybricks.com/lego-iron-mans-suit/

Lego video games Super Sale!

Most of the Lego video games are on a huge sale at Amazon, some up to 80% off. This is because Amazon is running a huge Digital Games Mayhem sale right now with hundreds of video games. Lego Lord of the Rings, Lego Batman, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 are all included. Oddly enough the Lego Star Wars, Lego Indian Jones, and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean have all been excluded (Maybe some sort of Disney thing?)

If you haven’t picked these up before, now is the time. The $5–$10 range is the lowest these will go. You can pick all 5 games up for less then the original cost of 1.

Lego Lord of the Rings: $7.50

Lego Batman: $5.00

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes: $7.50

Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4: $5.00

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7: $5.00

Lego Casino Royale

Bricktease uploaded this frame by frame remake of the opening of Casino Royale in Lego. These projects are impressive for how much work it takes to get the camera angles just right. Make sure to check out the frame by frame comparison below to see just how accurate everything is. I do believe that Lego James Bond is my new favorite, way better then Roger Moore. Maybe for the next film we can replace Daniel Craig with a minifig version of him. Do Do, Do Doo, Do Do Dooooo…

New Lego Architecture set: United Nations Headquarters (21018)

It looks like the next set in the Architecture theme will be the United Nations Headquarters (21018). This set has a lot of creative details. The little Lego joysticks/levers for flagpoles, a technic brick for a fountain, and little Lego grill pieces set together for windows.

This years Architecture sets have all been great. With the Imperial Hotel (21017) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (21015) being released so far, it will be interesting to see what else Lego will release this winter.

Big thanks to Flickr user motayan for posting the first photo.

Star Wars Jedi Defender-class Cruiser (75025) Announced

The newest Lego Star Wars set has been announced, and it is the Jedi Defender-class Cruiser (75025) from Bioware’s Star Wars the Old Republic. Every time I see a new set released from Lego based on The Old Republic it makes me smile. This is a set based on a video game, from the extended universe, ultimately based on the original films.

The Jedi Defender-class Cruiser comes with 4 minifigs, 3 of which are all new. 2 of the 4 happen to be Jedi’s, so thats great, and of course the obligatory Sith to fight with. The new spaceship comes with 937 pieces, and is rumored to be priced around $100. If so, that would make this a pretty good deal for a Star Wars set. The set should be out soonish, so if you cannot wait, just log in to The Old Republic and admire the Cruiser in all its digital glory.

Thanks to GRogall of Eurobricks for breaking the news on this new set, for more photos go here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77256&st=2125#entry1588701

Blocumentary — From Inspiration to Creation: Aaron Draplin

A new Lego Blocumentary is out today, check out the video on YouTube. This one focuses on how Lego has inspired Aaron Draplin and his graphic design work.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes Trailer

It looks like a new Lego game is due out this October. This time the theme will be Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The goofy style that TT Games has perfected over this past decade looks like a perfect fit.

UPDATE: A new E3 trailer for Lego Marvel Super Heroes is here: http://everydaybricks.com/lego-marvel-super-heroes-e3-trailer/

Lego Tower Of Orthanc

Lego Lord of the Rings gets a new mega set this summer with the Tower of Orthanc (No. 10237). Poor old Saruman will have to live his downfall over and over again. Isengard has never looked better at 2,359 pieces. This will certainly take the majority of a day to build, which is not a problem. The problem is that at 6 floors tall, totaling over 2 feet tall (28in or 73cm), most people will not have room to display this set without having to specifically make room for it. Make sure to check out the the designers video below!

The Tower of Orthanc will come with minifigs for Saruman, Grima Wormtongue, Gandalf, a random Uruk-hai, and an Orc Pitmaster. Not only that but you will get a rare Great Eagle, and a brick build Ent. You can now reenact all of your favorite scenes, such as the great wizard battle and defeat of Gandalf. One of the rooms of this great tower contains the Palantír of Orthanc (with a light brick!), where Saruman communicates directly with Sauron. You can even reenact Gandalf’s call for help, with a Great Eagle rescuing him just in time. Or, the fall and destruction of the tower as the Ent join battle with the evil Orcs. This set is full of fun details. Hopefully soon, we will get a Treebeard figure that we can add to the battle.

Many more images can be found at Brickset’s Flickr page.

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The first review of the Tower of Orthanc has been released: http://everydaybricks.com/lord-of-the-rings-tower-of-orthanc-reviewed/

Lego Printed & Named Beams & Bricks

Back before the Pirates, before the Minifig, even before Duplo, Lego introduced the Town System. With this new system came the first named beams and printed bricks. Usually produced on white 1×6 and 1×8 bricks. These printed bricks were so popular at the time that there were hundreds and hundreds of varieties available in different colors and typefaces.

The very first printed/named bricks hit the stores in 1955, just 6 years after Lego introduced their original sets. Since these bricks were there in the beginning, their availability matches the spread of Lego across Europe. First appearing in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Originally these bricks were available in a Named Beams set (Set No. 1224). As Lego started selling in new countries, they started translating these printed/named bricks in all the different languages. By 1962 Lego was offering printed/named bricks in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Italy, France, Finland, Britain, Ireland, United States, Canada, and Australia. Most of these countries had bricks printed in their own native language, with one interesting exception. Lego never printed Portuguese bricks.

The bulk of these printed/named bricks were made in the 1950–1960’s. Since working with ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) plastic was relatively new the printed/named bricks were often misprinted. The typefaces that Lego worked with were originally hand–lettered before being transferred to the molds. There is nothing directly comparable to this printing today, the closest results are found with Flexography (Flexo) printing, which is commonly found on plastic shopping bags.

A very wide variety of typeface styles can be found on these Lego bricks. Anywhere from Sans Serif, Serif, Slab Serif, Script, and Decorative styles were available. The imperfections of coming from hand–lettering greatly contributed to their personality. Some of this printing is interesting in that they exhibit reverse stress on the letters. This is especially noticeable with the “TAXE” and “TABAK” bricks.

As time moved on, so too did most of these unique typefaces. By the time the 1970’s came around Sans Serif typefaces were standard, and most of the charm of these named bricks started to fade. These printed/named bricks would completely die out before the 1980’s, being replaced with the much cheaper, and more versatile, sticker. Today Lego only prints a few bricks a year, and almost never text. Making this an interesting relic from the past.

One last thing; some of these bricks are a product of their time, especially the “TABAK” and “SIGARETTEN” bricks. You would never find a product marketed to children today with a tobacco reference.

Credit & More Information.

All of the above images were provided by Gary Istok. Who, can be found on the Eurobricks website as the Lego Historian. He has written extensively about printed/named bricks/beams here, and here. Also, for extremely detailed information about “Thousands of things you probably never knew about Lego sets, Lego parts, and Lego related items…” make sure check out Gary Istok’s “The Unofficial Lego Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (1949–1990’s)” which is available for DVD and Download. Seriously, his work is awesome.