I have to change the graphic here on the front page one of these days. I need to do that to reflect the actual sales figures for ULBG. As of this fall it would appear we're now over 25,000 copies sold worldwide. My thanks to all the kids, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers and other LEGO-loving adults who have bought the book.

UPDATE: June 2, 2007

A few months ago I received a kind email from John Noordijk a member of De Bouwsteen. He adapted some of the Design Grids from ULBG into an Excel spreadsheet. This 'all-in-one' file contains a Baseplate Top View, Front View, Left View, Rear View and Right View. With his permission, I've posted John's file on the Design Grids page. Feel free to download and use this file for your personal use.

Also, please visit the Reviews page for a new reader email and a great review from ArsGeek.

UPDATE: December 16, 2006

A French translation of Chapter 4 of The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide is now available! Visit the my blog to find out more and get the link for downloading. Of course, the Italian language edition of ULBG has been available for some time, but this new sample gives a chance for French speakers to get a glimpse inside the book as well. Even if you don't speak French you may wish to download the sample, since all the original images are included. For note, this new sample chapter is different than the sample chapter available for download from No Starch Press.

UPDATE: November 19, 2006

I've now posted a document that will hopefully help you get started building your own Sphinx model, like the one mentioned in the 2nd half of Chapter 7. Unfortunately it's not the complete instructions (yet) but instead is a tips and tricks document that should provide a lot of inspiration. Visit the Instructions page to download the document. Or, visit my blog to read more about why the complete instructions are not yet available. Thank you to all of my readers (and their moms and dads) who've taken time to write about this particular model and have shown so much patience while I got this information ready to post.

UPDATE: November 07, 2006

The Hobby Show display is over for another year. You'll find a short write-up about the event in my blog. As well as links to a longer write-up on LUGNET and some pictures that I've posted on Brickshelf.

UPDATE: August 7, 2006

I've just added two completely new pages to the site. The first is a page highlighting some of the positive feedback that I've received, in the form of book reviews and reader emails. The second is a page that has long been missing from the site. I guess that makes it the missing "links". :) Yes, the links page is finally available!

More content is still coming! Yes, the apotome.com website will continue to grow. It's always been my intention that this site be a living resource for the book and I hope to keep that going. Thank you to all of you who've written in the last few months asking questions and asking when certain things will be posted to the site. I sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding. I hope to make sure all of your requests are met. In the meantime, be sure to check out my blog for news and updates about me and the book. Or, feel free to email me with any other questions or concerns you may have.

UPDATE: February 12, 2006

Are you interested in purchasing The Unofficial LEGO® Builder's Guide but don't want to pay the shipping charges? Then why not head over to No Starch Press (a.k.a. my publisher) and order your own Adobe .pdf copy of the book. It will be ready for download in just a day or two, complete with embedded information identifying it as your own copy. No Starch Press has just begun to offer books in this way and you can read more about the process and what you're getting.

UPDATE: January 17, 2006

As you can see above there are now two new links on the menu at the top of each page. The first is a link to a page that gives you get an indepth tour Inside the Book. You have the chance to see images taken directly from the printed version, read a detailed explanation of the contents of the entire book and find out the answers to many Frequently Asked Questions.

The second link is a much shorter page giving you a bit of background About the Author. Find out why I wrote the book and what else interests me.

UPDATE: January 1, 2006

The files for the Design Grids are now available for downloading. Appendix B contains a complete description of how to use them to help you design your own models.

Are you interested in taking a look inside The Unofficial LEGO® Builder's Guide? A sample chapter is now available for download from No Starch Press.

Curious to know what people are saying about the book? Read some of the reviews on the No Starch Press website or check out some of the reviews that have been posted to Amazon.com.

Read a posting to my blog that talks in-depth about the black and white images in the book and why they ended up that way. Some people have expressed concern about the book having been created in black and white (actually subtle greyscale tones) so I felt it was important to explain exactly why this was done and why it doesn't negatively affect the readability of the book. And as always please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

The Unofficial LEGO® Builder's Guide, begins by asking such questions as, "What exactly is a slope? What's the difference between a tile and a plate? Why is it bad to simply stack bricks in columns to make a wall?"

The book then moves on to cover such topics as:

• The best ways to connect bricks and creative uses for those patterns
• Calculating and using scale - it's not as hard as you think
• Creating a minifig scale train station - step by step plans included
• Complete instructions for building your first sphere
• How to build jumbo sized LEGO bricks - these quirky creations are both easy and fun
• Building micro scaled models from just a few parts
• Designing a complete model - a mini space shuttle
• Tips for sorting and storing all of your LEGO pieces

The Unofficial LEGO® Builder's Guide is available at all major book retailers. If your local store doesn't carry a copy, you can ask them to order one for you. The book is also available for ordering from Chapters.ca, Amazon.com, or LEGO® Shop At Home. For links to other online retailers, please visit the order page.

Email me with questions, or read more about the book in my blog entries.

© 2005 Allan Bedford

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