|
|
|
Cary Clark / FAQ / General / all | |
Am I too old for LEGO® toys? From Jeremy Sproat: Nope! You are never too old to enjoy LEGO toys.
Am I too young for LUGNET? From Cary Clark: LUGNET is, by definition, a Lego User Group, inclusive of age. However, part of its Terms of Use asks that users under the age of 18 receive parental permission before using this service. The LUGNET community tries to keep the content appropriate all ages, but the LUGNET service does not screen postings that some might find offensive. LUGNET includes links to regional LEGO organizations which may or may not welcome minors. Contact the club in your area for details. As of August 2000, here are some of teenagers who use LUGNET:
What does the “ob” (as in “oblego”) mean? From Jeremy H. Sproat: ! “Ob” is an abbreviation of “obligatory”. Among other things, it’s an old Usenet trick to insert an on-topic remark into an otherwise off-topic message. From Shiri Dori: ! If you’re looking for an acronym mentioned on lugnet, try this: http://www.lugnet.com/~88/acronymfaq/
SW LEGO®? What’s that stand for? -or- What common acronyms are used on LUGNET? From Shiri Dori: ! If you’re looking for an acronym mentioned on lugnet, try this: http://www.lugnet.com/~88/acronymfaq/ From Jason Spangler: ! http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/9639/rtlspeak.txt contains rec.toys.lego specific acronyms and jargon, courtesy of Derek Schin. From Larry Pieniazek: ! SW is Star Wars® (except to a train nut like me in which case it’s a prefix for a series of EMD switchers... SW-1, SW-9, SW-1500 and others).
Where did the names DUPLO™ and SCALA™ come from? From Todd Lehman: ! DUPLO is like “double” or “duplicate” or “duplicity” -- i.e. 2x, which is how much bigger LEGO DUPLO bricks are compared to LEGO SYSTEM bricks. (Well, 2x in each of 3 dimensions, anyway.) SCALA was originally used for a line of LEGO jewelry for girls in the 80’s. They re-used the trademark for the dolls line. I think it made more sense in the old line since it suggested “scalability” and “scales.” (The watches had interchangeable tiles.)
Who is Timmy? From Robert M. Dye ! Timmy’s actual name is “Tim.” 
©1996 LEGO
This minifig first appeared in the Time Cruisers sets. You see it some in the Freestyle stuff, too. He is held in contempt, I think, because he is sort of like Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: the Next Generation. What was Picard thinking, letting that little brat fly a starship? What was Dr. Cyber doing letting a kid like Timmy have access to a time machine? It’s a kids’ toy, but this is the AFOL’s (Adult Fan Of Lego) reaction to the figure.
What set contained the first fully articulated minifig? From Kevin Loch: ! In 1978, a number of sets contained minifigs. It’s difficult to say which one came first. See: http://www.brickshelf.com/scans/catalogs/1978/c78us/c78us-13.html http://www.brickshelf.com/scans/catalogs/1978/c78nl/c78nl-08.html http://www.brickshelf.com/scans/catalogs/1978/c78nl/c78nl-09.html
Who is Susan Williams? From Matthew Miller: ! Many letters from Lego Consumer Affairs are signed “Susan Williams”. Susan Williams isn’t an actual person; it’s a pseudonym for the Consumer Affairs department. From Gary Istok: ! The German version of Susan Williams is Paul Pudel.
What is “Town Jr.” ? From Cary Clark: The Lego Group introduced a line of town-themed sets that bridge the gap between its Duplo™ and System which it called Town Jr. It was aimed at four to seven-year olds. It generally replaces small model parts that build, for instance, a vehicle chassis, with a single large and less flexible part. New parts introduced by Lego that could have been made of multiple common parts are termed “Juniorized”. From Tim McSweeney: a message to the newsgroup “Dear-Lego” I’m not minifig kind of guy, Back when I was a kid I used to get space stuff and so on, but at some point I moved on to technic and didn’t really look back. When the information started coming out about the Mindstorms stuff I decided to get back into the swing of things. I started buying Technic sets again to get myself up to speed, I joined Lugnet, I put a Lego wallpaper on my computer. One lunch time at work I bought a couple of tiny sets, (a ninja, and a bat-lord I think) To sit on my computer.now I’m hooked, My desk has been taken over, I’ve bought a lot of the larger Adventurers and Ninja sets for home... you know how it is. I’ve watched the complaining about Town Jr. with mild interest. Everything that people said made sense. Dumbing down the sets seems like a bad idea. Lego is about construction not just Action figures, You know the drill. I went and had a look at some of the new Town sets just to see what everyone was complaining about. They didn’t look too bad, Sure they are a lot simpler and less detailed than some of the recent Town Stuff, I can see how people Who have come up through this golden age would complain. If anything the looked to have less specialized pieces than some of the more detailed Town Stuff. (bear with me, I am going somewhere). The also reminded me a lot of the Town sets I played with as a kid, Very Simple(No Doors) Check out  ©1978 LEGO
and  ©1978 LEGO
To see what I mean Was This really just Lego Going back to it’s roots? Feeling Rather Nostalgic I decided to buy one:  ©1997 LEGO
I Got Back to My Desk and opened the Box. Inside where three printed bags I had been warned to expect these. Tearing open the first bag I pulled out the instructions. I knew something was horribly horribly wrong when I saw that the plans consisted of only TWO steps. Looking at the pieces I suddenly knew what everyone was complaining about. The base of the truck thingy which I had blatantly assumed to be made up of half a dozen pieces was one great solid piece of plastic. A few decorative bits stuck on the top and that was it. I assembled all three models in record time and sat staring at them in disbelief. Editor’s Note: Here are two examples of juniorized car bases. Set 6565 contains one or both of these, or similar parts.  
I had never even thought it possible that one could feel dirty while playing with Lego but now I look at my hands in disgust. I Apologize to all those people who previously took the time to complain about town Jr. I had you silently catalogued as overly sensitive whiners. Now as I join your ranks I understand the great crime that has been committed. That’s it for Town Jr. and me. No more will I throw money at cute LOOKING Stuff. It’s proper Lego or nothing.
What’s the connection between Samsonite® and Lego? From Gary Istok: ! In the early 1960’s, The Lego Group licensed the Samsonite Corporation of Denver Colorado to serve the markets in USA and Canada. Between 1961 and 1972 all US Lego boxes said “LEGO by Samsonite”. In 1973, TLG took over and the USA Lego headquarters were moved to Enfield, Connecticut. Samsonite provided LEGO for Canada from 1962 to 1986. Some sets produced by Samsonite have no European counterpart. Sometimes the sets were the same, but the set numbers were different. Some service packs had the same number, but the Samsonite boxes were larger, and usually contained more parts. In my opinion Samsonite produced two of the most beautiful and interesting LEGO sets ever made.
Why are some colors more rare than others? From Steve Bliss: ! Here’s one conjecture: Green, brown, and a few other colors can be easily used for military models, and LEGO is non-violent; so green and brown aren’t allowed, except in limited situations. From Cary Clark: Here’s another conjecture: Lego’s color production has historically been limited to mostly red, blue, yellow, black, white, and grey. Other colors required silo space that was not permanently available, and were only used to produce parts during limited production runs. Over the last few years, more colors have become available in a greater variety of elements. New “System” sets often contain tan, dark grey, green, brown, and orange bricks. It appears that a change in manufacturing has loosened the former color restrictions.
Where can I find web sites created by Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOL)? From Jeremy Sproat: ! Try looking for “Lego” in any of the popular search engines. If you want to start your search off with some really really good sites, check out LUGNET’s Cool LEGO Site of the Week, at http://www.lugnet.com/cool/. A rather comprehensive list of Lego fan sites can be found at Everything Lego, http://lugnet.com/links/. You could also check out the Legomaniac’s Webring at http://www.zacktron.com/ring/. Please note that these Web sites are unofficial fan-authored sites. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse non-TLG sites. The absense of a disclaimer on fan-authored sites should not be interpreted as endorsement by LEGO. When in doubt, e-mail the author for clarification, or go to LEGO’s offical Web site. You can visit the official LEGO Web site at http://www.lego.com. From Cary Clark: More AFOL creations can be seen at http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery.
What are some rules for Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOL) Websites? From Jeremy Sproat: ! NOTE: The author of this answer is not a lawyer, nor does he represent the LEGO® Group. For legal issues or questions concerning the LEGO® group, always check with them first. Their Web site is at www.lego.com. The LEGO® Group has a strong policy concerning how you, the LEGO enthusiast, publishes LEGO-related information on the Internet and other place. Happily, the LEGO Group’s policy is very easy to work with. The LEGO Group has published a document called Fair Play, at http://www.lego.com/info/fair.asp. In this document, the objective of the LEGO Group is to:
Included among the things which the LEGO Group requests fans who publish LEGO-related information, to keep in mind:
How can I request newer set instructions from BrickShelf? From Jeremy Sproat: ! http://www.brickshelf.com/scans/ doesn’t have the instructions for newer sets. To quote the site: Note: due to self-imposed restrictions, we do not have instructions for sets released in 1997 or later. You may want to see if anyone has a copy they are willing to sell, trade, or give away. The newsgroup /market/buy-sell-trade/ is a good place to advertise. Alternatively, you could ask someone to put a copy into a Jambalaya box that you are in line for. Give the newsgroup /market/jambalaya/ a look. |
|
Primary content in this document is © Cary Clark. All other text, images, or trademarks in this document are the intellectual property of their respective owners. |
| |
©2005 LUGNET. All rights reserved. - hosted by steinbruch.info GbR |
