The History And Future Of LegoGenre And EverydayBricks

LegoGenre 00001: In The Criminal Justice System

LegoGenre | 00001: In the criminal justice system…

The Early Days

LegoGenre originally started out as a Tumblr, way back in 2012. The name LegoGenre was selected, it was a reference to the multiple themes (or Genres) that are popular in Lego. So, the very first picture was posted in January and for over a year was the best way to find my photos. The whole project was a a way to engage with my reignited Lego obsession. And at that time, LegoGenre would focus on photos of Minifigures taken from their prospective.

For the first two months I was working on a daily photo challenge. That was going to lead to a creative burn out, so soon afterwards the project settled into a three photos per week project. It was a satifying time, and soon LegoGenre began to expand. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts were established. The whole project was getting a good response.

One thing about the Lego community is that there are a few major places where photos and projects get shared. The biggest and more vibrant community is found on Flickr. So a new LegoGenre Flickr account was made. It quickly became time consuming to post each new photo on all these services. So it was decided that something needed to change.

LegoGenre’s LegoGenre Mosaic

LegoGenre.com And Blogging

In 2013 I chose to get out of the Tumblr system and venture off on my own. Once the idea was formed it was relatively easy to get started. It was decided to run the website myself and to use the WordPress platform. So in April of 2013 LegoGenre.com was officially born. As I was posting my photos of Lego on the new website, I though why not highlight Lego photos, MOCs and News from other people.

LegoGenre would slowly take off over the next few months, eventually finding a small audience. A big thanks to all the visitors and fans during this time. Your support and engagement helped to push LegoGenre into expanding and is a large part in why it stuck around.

The small ad revenue during this time kept the website online. (A thank you to anyone who clicked on them!) This activity lasted for a few years, but the slowing of traffic mixed with less posting put the website into decline. There were a lot of little things that bothered me about the site (more details in an upcoming post) and a change needed to happen.

EverydayBricks Lego Relief, LegoGenre and EverydayBricks

The Future Of LegoGenre And EverydayBricks

LegoGenre is now EverydayBricks! The new website is focused on loading faster. With less outside calls (less plugins and features). The new simpler design is also focused on providing a better mobile and tablet experience. Besides checking out the site every day, you can also follow LegoGenre and EverydayBricks on a new Twitter account: https://twitter.com/everyday_bricks which is focused only on website updates.

This is a great time for EverydayBricks. Some of planned content includes:

• Daily posts/updates. (Mostly MOCs from other people, and official Lego news. The Every Day Bricks.)

• LegoGenre Photos. (A focus on photos of Minifigures taken from their prospective.)

• More original reviews. (Lego Modulars, and other official sets, past and present)

• More original features. (Longer wordcount posts with thoughts on Lego, projects, and games)

Make sure to update your website bookmarks to http://everydaybricks.com and check back often to see all the new stuff. Thanks!

A Lego Color Chart, Can You Find Any Missing?

Jeremy Moody's Lego Color Chart

Have you ever wondered how many colors Lego has in its collection? There are probably more then you thought. Jeremy Moody has made it his mission to collect and catalog every released color. Some of these colors go back decades, and are extremely rare.

“Here is my chart of all known named LEGO colors. This started as an attempt to collect colors of 2x4s, and turned into collecting every color in as close as possible to the size and shape of a 2×4. There are some color names LEGO is known to have used, not included in this chart. However, it is unknown what parts or sets were ever made in those colors, or if they were used at all beyond trial pieces.”

Jeremy Moody's Lego Color Chart Detail

Check out hi-res versions of this Lego color chart over on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/64498969@N08/23456044745/

The Lego Philae Lander Module Has Landed On A Comet

MolochBaal's Lego Philae Module

The Rosetta spacecraft’s lander, Philae, successfully landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (NYTimes). This history making touchdown was the result of a 10 year journey across 6.4 billion kilometers. A lot of attention was focused on the landers harpoons which did not properly fire. For now the lander has dug into the comet surface with some smaller screws. Currently the comet is 510 million kilometers (317 million miles) and traveling at 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles). As a tribute to this epic event MolochBaal has quickly built a Lego Philae lander module. This mini lander looks great, and uses many common Lego pieces. Meaning we can all make our own, now it just needs an in scale comet to land on.

MolochBaal's Lego Philae Module Detail

Check out the Lego Philae Lander Module, designed by MolochBaal over on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lokosuperfluolegoman/15156546173/

The Lego Story. A Beautifully Animated History of Lego.

The Lego Story, An Animated History of Lego.

Have you ever wondered where the Lego brick comes from? Well, for the 80th anniversary of The LEGO Group a beautifully animated history of the company was produced. The Lego Story focuses on the history between 1932 to 1968. This story has it all, a failed business, new ideas, a tragic fire, the invention of the Lego System, and the resulting success. It is easy to compare the quality of animation with some of the work that Pixar has done, which is saying a lot. This really is a must see video.

http://youtu.be/NdDU_BBJW9Y

Lego also made a little bloopers and outtakes reel. Even poking fun at everyones worst nightmare: stepping on a Lego. Haha… ouch.

http://youtu.be/g-olhaMCRDE

How the DeLorean Effect changed CUUSOO @ Brick Fanatics

Lego CUUSOO Website

Lego has been running the Lego CUUSOO project for a couple of years now. Most Lego fans are familiar with the site, but may not know just where it came from. Brick Fanatics has written up a great article containing the history of the CUUSOO project and where it is going. It all started as a tiny side project from Japan and is currently on the verge of becoming mainstream. All thanks to a little Lego DeLorean (and Minecraft).

“Originally only available in Japan, the user created ideas website was a joint venture between CUUSOO and The LEGO Group and allowed Japanese LEGO fans to submit their ideas to The LEGO Group in a more formal way. Once a project reached 1000 supporters it was then reviewed by The LEGO Group for consideration on whether it should go into production.” — Brick Fanatics

You can find the full article on the Brick Fanatics website: http://brickfanatics.co.uk/how-the-delorean-effect-changed-cuusoo/

Lego has also created a video explaining the concept of the CUUSOO website:

http://youtu.be/ZaFbGIV5s7k

Odysseus and the Sirens

lokosuperfluoLEGOman’ Odysseus And The Sirens

Homer’s the Odyssey is one of the greatest adventures of all time. Just look at that Lego Odysseus, he looks so happy to see those Sirens. Good thing he is tied up, and those sailors have wax in their ears. Who knows what kind of evil things those Sirens would do.

Odysseus and the Sirens is an MOC created by Flickr user lokosuperfluoLEGOman.

“One morning, he and his crew, reached a small island, where the half-bird, half-woman creatures, the sirens, dwelled. This monstrous creatures had the most beautiful voice any man could have heard, so when a ship passed in front of them, they sang to the mariners, leading them melodiously to their deaths in the sharp edges of the shore rocks. Odysseus, aware of that, told his crew to put on wax earplugs, so they couldn’t hear the sirens’ song. Besides, he told them to tie him to the mast, for he wanted to listen to the sirens’ song, being sure he will not be able to fulfill the sirens’ macabre plan.” – Homer’s The Odyssey

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokosuperfluolegoman/8690472484

Lego Printed & Named Beams & Bricks

Gary Istok’s Printed/Named Beams 01

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.

Gary Istok’s Printed/Named Beams 02

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.

Gary Istok’s Printed/Named Beams 03

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.

Gary Istok’s Printed/Named Beams 04

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.