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

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.

BBC Interview about evil LEGO

The BBC called me today for an interview about the story of LEGO leading children to the dark side. Here is the MP3 audio recording of the interview:

Yesterday there was also a short feature on TVNZ.

LEGO is not a tool of Satan

I am not proud of every citation I receive, and I certainly do not agree to Father Slawomir Kostrzewa who used our study to conclude that the increased diversity of LEGO faces has “…compounded their evil potential”. Yes, we have been able to show that the number of angry faces has increased, but our study did not investigate what effect this may have on children. We simply cannot provide any evidence one way or the other.

Father Slawomir Kostrzewa continues that “These toys can have a negative effect on children. They can destroy their souls and lead them to the dark side.” He really should know that the only way to join the dark side is by submitting to Darth Vader.

But then again, the report was published on April 1st, so maybe this is just a joke?