My love for Lego continues to grow day by day. Recently I too have succumbed to the MOC (My Own Creation) life. Having seen the sets by builders around the world I felt nothing but inspired. As has two of my three daughters. The younger of the two at only seven seems to have a natural talent for creativity while the ten-year-old leans into the more Technic bit. We currently got a set of Mindstorms to incorporate the coding bits as well. But whether you are a novice or a Master Builder, the most common complaint is that “I don’t have the right part for this”
Light Up My Life
Lighting is becoming a major part of Lego as technology moves forward. I recently stumble upon a brilliant innovation, Light Up Bricks. Now, I know what you are thinking, that is not new or much of an innovation. However, these bricks have no cords or batteries. I am sure I have your attention now.
Light-up bricks have added a lot to the visuals of any finished Lego creation regardless of whether it is a licensed product or moc. Fun as it is, light-up bricks came with limitations, of course, these were accepted due to the nature of the brick. You-Tuber Cultural Gutural may have potentially solved this. They have dubbed the mod-loving brick LEDO, a clever twist of Lego and LED lights. Some may find it corny, but I love it.
Find It in the Dark
So, this hack is simple, purchase the $20 kit of AliExpress and simply insert them into the desired brick. Yes, there are still limitations, especially with flat panels and other odd, shaped brick. Nonetheless, it is still a huge step forward. If the good folk at Lego are paying attention, then they have the resources to push this further. More money in their pockets and happy builders. A win, win.
The modded bricks still work fine and can even be stacked up and mixed with other bricks just like regular pieces. The power is sourced from a power coil, which does not need to be physically connected to the light brick but does have to be close by. That is a fair trade-off. The shortcoming is that as the bricks are placed further away from the coil pack the intensity of the light reduces. This can be overcome by simply introducing more coils.
Rumour has that an idea was submitted to the LEGO IDEAS platform, however, it was rejected. Lego does have strict rules regarding IDEAS, one of which is that all pieces used must be original LEGO from existing sets. However, while the ruling is justified, they have clearly missed a beat. Again, this technology can have a huge positive impact on Lego and their community. We may be wrong and they may have their mad scientist working on their version of this technology already.
Come what may I will be getting a set just to tinker with and see what I can dream of, maybe shed some light on some old creation ideas.
