Monday 19 May 2014

[Week 10] LEGO

Many people grow out of Lego bricks – even though they develop creativity, they eventually end up in a box in the attic, or go to the younger generation of the family. However, not everybody treats Lego this way. There is a group of people that play with Lego regardless of their age.

They are sometimes called AFoL – Adult Fans of Lego. They not only keep the bricks from their childhood, they expand their collection as well! They store their Lego bricks organized by color or shape, so it’s easier to find the ones you need to build something.

And what do they build? Anything that comes to mind – often they base on real life buildings and machinery. The level of detail is amazing. The AFoLs call it MOC – My Own Creation.

Polish fans prove that a Lego is a great fun for people of all ages. Here are some examples of Lego constructions, ranging from huge and complicated to minimalistic, yet very imaginative.

This Dodge Challenger R/T from 1970 was built ten weeks.
photo by Havoc/Zbudujmy.to
A Soon-To-Be-Demolished Bridge (author: zgrredek). Inspired by an old narrow gauge railway bridge on the river Świder, which is narrower, but longer than the one shown in the picture.

photo by zgreedek/LUGPol.pl
The Ferris Wheel is 86 cm high and 67 cm wide. It needs 30 seconds to reach full speed. It’s because the wheel weighs a lot, the ratchets are loose and the main drive shaft is far from the engine. Overall, the wheel moves smoothly.
See a fully functional mixer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rk0Eq_oAjg
and a model of the Kenworth T900 truck - Australian version. The truck weighs almost 3 kg and is 53 cm long. You have three different trailers ranging from 1,4 to 2,3 kg. It’s propelled by Lego Mindstorms set.
I recommend a documentary about Lego lovers: "AFOL - a blocumentary".

Lego bricks are so deeply rooted in our culture that they are even used in art.
Zbigniew Libera created his controversial work “Concentration Camp” using Lego.
http://www.artbiznes.pl/index.php/lego-zbigniewa-libery-w-zbiorasch-msn/


Questions:
Do you know any nice examples of Lego constructions?
Has anyone of you ever been to Legoland in Denmark?
What do you think about Zbigniew Libera’s Concentration Camp? Does it offend you?
Did you play with Lego as kids and do you have any interesting memories?

9 comments:

  1. Now, this is a topic I like :)
    1) Do you know any nice examples of Lego constructions?
    I have Lego Technic set which is nice. Legos are not good construction material.
    2) Has anyone of you ever been to Legoland in Denmark?
    Legoland US. Can recommend.
    3) What do you think about Zbigniew Libera’s Concentration Camp? Does it offend you?
    How is it supposed to offend me? History is not for us to be offended by. Future is much more important.
    4) Did you play with Lego as kids and do you have any interesting memories?
    C'mon. If You had asked if we still play as adults, then there would be some nice answers. But yes, I did play as a kid with Legos. They were awesome. Who knew that Legos were able to sustain life in out of space in a spaceship that I made.

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  2. @armandstanczak - I can not believe what I see, you enjoy a topic! I didn't think it would ever happen.

    As for the questions:
    1.As a kid, I used to have a pirate island and a gas station and they were pretty cool! I think they are still packed somewhere in the basement.
    2.I was in LegoLand, but in Great Britain. It was years ago, I think I was around 10 years old, but it was pretty impressive.
    3. I think that concentration camp is not the most suitable idea. Lego is destined to play with it... No one should play German-Kapo-Mengele-Jews game. It is disgusting. Is there a room of dr Mengele expermients for instanct?

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  3. 1. I remember I always wanted a set with a ghost figure which was glowing in the dark and a set with the green dragon figure, or a Super Car 8880-1.
    One of my favorites I owned was 6536 Aero Hawk and two Ice Planet themed sets (6834 and 6898).
    When Star Wars sets came to production LEGO started to produce large scale models of ships for example, the most notable ones are Death Star, Slave I, AT-AT or 75089 Sandcrawler.
    I recommend brickset.com site, where you can search huge database of LEGO sets that appeared throughout the years and find your beloved models.
    2. Wanted to go there but never actually been.
    3. I mostly agree with @Tomek Kerber. It doesn't offend my feelings that much, but I do have some respect for some matters and sense of a good taste to know when the line is crossed while it shouldn't have been.
    4. Of course I played LEGO and I remember that I always wanted to be old enough and be legitimate to play LEGO Technic. A while after I finally passed the border age, my parents got me a huge set of LEGO Technic (8277-1).

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  4. Oh, I forgot to add that once I've personally designed and built the Star Wars X-Wing model, from which I'm extremely proud of, and did that mostly (if not only) from a 8277 model parts.

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  5. Tomek - miracles happen :)I enjoy most of them.... or do I...?

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  6. Oh I did play lego when I was a kid and I enjoyed it so much! Lovely memory:) I onced saw a whole city map made in lego , I don't remember which city it was, but it was really eye - cathing.

    Zbigniew Libera's work can be offensive because beople, who were in concentration camps are still alive so maybe it would be better if such pice would appeared after theris passing not to offend them. But on the other hand it is really orginal and it creates the debate. And this is the most important thing for Libera. At least I think so…

    And I have never been in Legoland but always wanted….

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  7. Do you know any nice examples of Lego constructions?
    I'm not interested in Lego construcions, so unfortunately no.

    Has anyone of you ever been to Legoland in Denmark?
    No, I haven't been there.

    What do you think about Zbigniew Libera’s Concentration Camp? Does it offend you?
    No it dosen't offend me - it is building as any other. Does Colosseum offend anyone?

    Did you play with Lego as kids and do you have any interesting memories?
    Yes I did play with Lego when I were kid and I enjoy it even more than playing with dolls.

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  8. @Natalia, not so good comparison, I'm afraid. Colosseum with concentration camp? Building like any other? You probably should think your mind over, one more time.

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  9. Do you know any nice examples of Lego constructions?
    When I was a kid every house I built was very interesting for me.
    Has anyone of you ever been to Legoland in Denmark?
    Never heard of it. Where is Denmark?
    What do you think about Zbigniew Libera’s Concentration Camp? Does it offend you?
    Not at all. i always liked this work of Libera. Great polish modern art.
    Usually presented with Piramide by Kozyra in Zachęta.
    Did you play with Lego as kids and do you have any interesting memories?
    Who didnt. Yeah especially when I stand on lego brick.

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