LEGO Archives - Page 12 of 17 - Christoph Bartneck, Ph.D.

The REAL Ninjago

I am not always happy with how the LEGO Company is treating enthusiastic fans concerning the usage of the LEGO brand. While the company did in the past claim copyright to Minifigures I was not able to find a relevant entry in the relevant registries in the USA. And of course the LEGO company did loose several lawsuit against Mega Blocks in recent years. While the LEGO company is fighting to protect its brand and its market, several competitors have arrived that offer compatible bricks. But what I discovered in a 1 dollar shop recently goes even too far for my taste. The JLB company, whose logo is a clear rip off from the LEGO logo, is offering Ninjago Minifigures. They use the Ninjago logo, the characters names (in this case Lloyd) and even the slogan “Masters of Spinjitzu”. The LEGO company has registered a Ninjago trademark in the USA, so I wonder if you can only buy this little gem or product piracy in New Zealand and China. In any case, I am amazed by JLB’s boldness of copying a LEGO product. A quick Google search revealed that JLB is also offering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Super Heroes. I played with Lloyd a little while and the quality of the Minifigure is far below that of the original.

Inside The Christchurch Brick Show 2014

Mitchell Adair made an excellent documentary about our Christchurch Brick Show that took place on July 12-13, 2014 here in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Topographical LEGO Map of Middle Earth

For the Christchurch Brick Show 2014 I build a Topographical LEGO Map of Middle Earth. I measures 2×2 meters and consists of 7 levels. It took approximately 30.000 bricks and four months to build the map. All the main characters of both books are presented on the map as minifigures. Even the path of the ring is illustrated through a breadcrumb style line of golden 1×1 round bricks. The map is accurate as much as a map of a fantastic land can be. I heavily consulted The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. This project was made possible through a strategic grant of LUG 4/2. I also created an album at Flickr for this MOC.

LEGO Simpsons TV Episode Brick Like Me

So finally, after more than twenty years, my two favorite illusions cross again: LEGO and The Simpsons. Of course we already know about The Simpsons house and the Minifigures. But now we are going to have a Simpsons Episode made of LEGO. Well, they go the CG path and not stop animation, but that is fine with me.

New Minifgure Catalogs Available

The 2013 LEGO Minifigure Catalog is now available. It contains photographs of more than 550 Minifigures that were produced in 2013. It is very complete and I was even able to photograph the very rare Minifigures.

Furthermore, I am happy to announce that the 2nd edition of the 2012 LEGO Minifigure Catalog and the 3rd edition of the Star Wars LEGO Minifigure Catalog are now available. The later contains all the photographs and data of the 2013 Minifigures in addition to several corrections and extensions. The 2nd edition of the 2012 catalog contains mainly additions and some minor corrections. The Minifigures from the Arkham Asylum, for example, have been added to the catalog. I hope you enjoy the books.