The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide

Just when you thought you’d heard the last of me talking about ULBG…. along comes a new podcast interview.

I want to thank James from LMALradio for contacting me recently and setting up an interview. Actually, he contacted me in December but was patient enough to wait for me to get through the holidays and have a clear head for the interview.

The podcast is posted here if you would like to download and listen to it. James asked some interesting questions, including some I hadn’t been asked before in previous interviews.

Allan

I was thrilled to hear from John Baichtal last week. He let me know that he was working on a review of ULBG for the geekdad blog. I answered a few questions and told him how glad I was that someone was still interested in posting a review about the book.

I’m happy to report that the review has been posted and I think he had some really kind words to say about the book.

Check out this cool pic of the new cover art that he posted:

Allan

Check out this posting on LUGNET announcing the arrival of RailBricks magazine.

According to Senior Editor Jeramy Spurgeon, “RailBricks is a dedicated LEGO® Train Hobby Magazine similar to Model Railroader. Each issue will strive to advance the LEGO® Train Hobby by providing a FREE online publication created by LEGO® Train fans that focuses on various aspects of the LEGO® Train Hobby.”

It’s good to see more writing about the LEGO hobby finally starting to emerge. I have said before, and continue to believe, that this hobby is lacking when it comes to the amount of writing that represents it. Most hobbies (model trains, coin collecting, quilting, water color painting etc. etc.) often have not just one but several monthly printed magazines and shelves full of books in the library related to the hobby. So I’m glad to see new LEGO-related books and periodicals appear as I think it helps build the hobby as a whole.

Allan

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a reporter from the Toronto Star about this event, coming to this year’s CNE.

Sounds like fun!

Read about how you can be involved in this unique event.

Allan

I know it’s kind of short notice, as this contest closes Monday evening (May 21/07) but I wanted to pass along a link to a contest being run on the ArsGeek website. These are the same folks who recently posted a really nice review of ULBG.

If you do happen to end up the winner of this contest, please be sure to email me and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Unfortunately the contest is only open to people in the U.S. and Canada.

Good luck to anyone who enters!

Allan B.

I’m pleasantly surprised (though not complaining in any way) that more than a year and a half after the release of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide there are still reviews of the book being posted online.

Yesterday the site ArsGeek posted a really nice review. A couple of the comments that caught my eye were:

“The Brickopedia is, quite frankly, the centerpiece of this book for me (even though it’s at the end, allow me my creative license). It was here that I truly reveled in my Lego thrall. Pouring through a brick by brick description of the various types of Legos, from the simple 1×1 to the Pine Tree (Large) this is what kept me up late.”

and also:

“This book also has something of an ‘oh wow!’ factor. I know that if I leave out on my table I can judge who my real (Lego) friend sare by how quickly they run for and grab this book. In fact, it’s already on my list to get for several friends who’ll get lots of use out of it.”

You can read the entire review by clicking here.

So thanks to Ben at ArsGeek and here’s hoping his friends will enjoy the book as much as he did.

Allan B.

It seems like just a few weeks ago I was blogging about the release of BrickJournal Issue #6. Oh wait, it was just a few weeks ago!

Yes, the entire BrickJournal staff has been working overtime and the result is that the latest issue has come literally just weeks after the last. Don’t expect this sort of schedule all the time, but it is a nice surprise this time around.

This issue features two major product reviews/announcements. The first is the Hobby Train set that was first revealled at BrickFest 2006. The second is a set that will make Town fans and probably lots of other LEGO fans happy for many reasons. The Cafe Corner set was designed by one-time adult LEGO ‘fan’ Jamie Berard. Well, I guess Jamie’s still an adult, and he’s probably still a LEGO fan, but of course he’s now working for the LEGO company and that’s worth mentioning. You can read some of Jamie’s own comments about the set on his blog. And you may also want to check out more details (and pricing) about the set on LEGO’s website. While it may seem to be an expensive set at first glance, from the pictures and decriptions I’ve seen of it, I think the price is justified.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to LUGNET to read Joe’s posting about the latest issue and find out where you can download a copy.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

I love posting about new issues of BrickJournal being available.

And Issue #6 has just rolled off the virtual presses:

Be sure to read Joe’s announcement on LUGNET to find out where to download your copy… for free!

Allan

Earlier this year an Italian Edition of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide was released. And while there isn’t (yet) another full edition in additional language there is one complete chapter now available in French.

This translation was undertaken by Didier Enjary. I recently posted an entry about Didier’s miniland scale model of Napoleon. Miniland scale is, of course, the focus of chapter four so it’s appropriate that Didier asked if it was o.k. to take on the task of translating that particular chapter. Didier has been incredibly supportive of ULBG and his ongoing efforts to spread the word about the book are sincerely appreciated by me. He has posted the French version of Chapter 4 on the FreeLUG site.

Of course, the Italian publishing rights are spoken for but translation rights for other languages are still available. If you’re a LEGO fan interested in seeing ULBG published in a language that’s familiar to you then you may wish to pass along the idea to a publisher in your country. Interested publishers are then encouraged to contact No Starch Press.

Again, thank You to Didier for making this new sample of ULBG available!

Allan B.

I’ve paraphrased Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (LEGO’s CEO) to come up with the title for this posting. I think it’s an interesting approach to look at the way in which LEGO toys fit into the electronic era of computers and video games.

You can read more about Mr. Knudstorp and his thoughts about LEGO bricks and the company in this article that ties in with his upcoming visit to Singapore.

Allan B.

Joe has called this one “The BIG Issue” and for good reason. There is a lot of writing, photos and fun packed into this latest issue of BrickJournal.

I got a little more involved with BrickJournal since Issue #4 was released. I am now doing some of the copy editing (checking punctuation and spellling… that sort of thing) and therefore was lucky enough to get to read some of these articles before the issue was complete. If you even think you’re possibly a LEGO fan you owe it to yourself to download this issue and read it. If you’re sure you’re a LEGO fan you have probably already downloaded it…. so what are you doing reading this blog right now?

If you haven’t already, click on the picture above and you’ll find links to a number of download mirror sites. Then cuddle up with your laptop and enjoy some LEGO fun.

I’m going to enable comments on this posting if you want to leave a comment. I’d love to know who’s reading BrickJournal, what you think of this issue and how it’s affected your interest in the LEGO hobby. Look for the word ‘Comments’ to the right of this text and click there to leave your feedback.

Oh, I almost forgot. If you flip to page 91 you’ll also find my latest model instructions. This one ended up a bit bigger than anticipated, but is still a relatively small (though not ‘micro’) model. It’s also the first time I’ve used an actual image (of the actual model subject) in one of my instructions.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

My Google alert pointed me to this article today:

Building a Career, (Lego) Brick by Brick

You get a great behind-the-scenes look at the world of Master Builder Eric Hunter.

I’ve read a bunch of news articles about adult builders, or even those like Eric who’ve made LEGO their career. But this article caught my eye as it seems particularly well-written and handles the entire “LEGO as a hobby/career” issue with respect; not just making it into a silly story at the expense of the subject.

Allan

Yes, Brickfest 2006 finished up about 3 weeks ago, but I’m still posting about it. It was my first Brickfest and there was enough to see and then talk about that I didn’t figure it would all fit in one blog entry. (Suddenly I feel like Doogie Howser writing one of his journal entries at the end of each episode - do other bloggers ever get that feeling?)

O.K. back to Brickfest….

On the Saturday afternoon I did a book signing for a couple of hours. As previously mentioned here, Rick Sellers was extremely generous in offering to give up some of his afternoon to help sell books. That allowed me to concentrate on spelling peoples’ names correctly. As you may know, both the Saturday and Sunday afternoons were open to the public with paid admission. And since Rick and I were set up across the lobby from the entrance to the grand ballroom (where many of the models were displays) it helped to generate quite a bit of foot traffic. A number of these folks either recognized the book (from the net or seeing it in a store) or were interested enough right then to buy a copy.

There were also several BrickFest attendees who had brought their copies from home. Of course, I was more then delighted to sign those ones. Thanks to everyone for your support!!

Now a few pictures. Thanks to my wife Kathie who played the role of paprazzo for part of the afternoon. Most of the photos below were taken by her.

Bill Pollock had a larger-than-life copy of the book’s cover mounted and displayed in the lobby. Yes, for an author this is pretty much the height of cool.

A young reader with his newly defaced…. er, autographed copy of the book.

Several people asked for directions, no kidding. Mostly to find the other room with models displayed in it and also to find the Brick Bazaar. But despite our best attempts neither Rick nor myself could answer the million dollar question, “where is the popcorn?” Since everyone was smelling the distinctive aroma of freshly popped kernels.

Rick Sellers = #1 super helper of the day. Thanks again Rick!

My biggest fear was misspelling the name of the person for whom I was autographing the book. Amazingly I think I made it through the entire afternoon without doing that once.

Bill Pollock who tirelessly promoted the book all weekend and without whom you wouldn’t be reading about the book signing.

The young girl with the large pick-a-brick cup was later seen balancing it on her dad’s head. My wife still laughs at that memory.

More folks who paid to get in to see LEGO models and were hit with my live infomercial as they exited the display room.

You may not recognize Jeremy Kirsch but you will eventually hear more from him. He’s the Director/Co-Producer of an upcoming documentary film called LEGO Nation. I’m really looking forward to seeing the final product!

One of my goals for the book was that it would appeal to not only adult builders getting started in the hobby but that it would also find an audience with younger readers. I think it succeeded.

Allan B.

This coming Saturday (July 22nd) I’ll be at the Bricks and Blocks outlet store in Waterloo, Ontario. (Just south of St. Jacob’s).

I’ll be hanging out for the afternoon (12-3), helping the kids with some building projects and displaying a new copy of an old model. Thankfully they’ve got high ceilings there. Can you guess what model it is?

If you’re in the area on the 22nd, please drop by and say hello to Sue and the rest of the gang at Bricks and Blocks… oh, and don’t forget to say hi to me too. Bring your copy of ULBG (or buy one there) and I’ll be more than happy to sign it for you.

Hope to see you there!
Allan B.

If you’ve read my blog over the last few weeks, you know I’ve talked several times about the great episode called ‘Block Party’ that appeared on Corner Gas recently.

I was delighted to get even more information, via email, from Robin Sather. He told me about his connection to the show and with his permission I’m reposting the email here:

Hi Allan,

Just happened to browse by your note on the Corner Gas LEGO episode a couple of months ago! Too cool, huh?

As it happens, the show’s art director and I spoke a year ago about this episode, when they were planning and writing the season, and setting up their summer shooting schedule. At that time, they pegged Brickville DesignWorks to build the city for them, and probably to consult on the rest of the episode. I’d helped with a similar project (see “Nostalgia Boy” on our gallery page). Us Brickville guys said, “Cool! Just say when!". So, we left it at that while they continued their planning.

As time went by, it turns out that the internal set decoration and props department got so excited about this episode that they decided they wanted to do it all themselves! So, Brickville was no longer needed. As far as I know, there were no other “known” AFOLs involved with it. However, the project probably spawned a few new ones!

Too bad for us, but by the sounds of it, the show personnel all had a great time with it.

So, there’s the story!

Robin Sather

I agree, it is too bad that Robin wasn’t able to be directly involved in the show, but I also agree that it seems to have turned out well. I think that’s an interesting reason for not getting an assignment like that.

Be sure to drop by Brickville DesignWorks to find out more about Robin and his partners Scott and Paul.

AB

Thanks to an email from a LEGO builder named Shaun I was able to get in touch with Dennis Jackson from Dark Thunder Productions. As it turns out they were the company behind the animated LEGO segment featured in the Corner Gas episode called ‘Block Party’ that I’ve written about previously.

Dennis was kind enough to send me an email with some details about his company and their part in the episode. Here is what he had to say, posted with his permission:

We are currently shooting our stop-motion series entitled, “Wapos Bay",
for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and the National Film Board
of Canada. It is not, however, with Lego. My wife and I own our production
company Dark Thunder Productions and we have been doing stop-motion
projects in Saskatchewan, Canada, off and on, for the last eight years. We
received a call last summer from the producers of Corner Gas about the
Lego dream sequence of Hank and were asked if we could shoot and
animate the piece. We had just finished our pilot episode for Wapos Bay
and had the technology to do the job in High Definition. We shot the piece
at the Saskatchewan sound stage in Regina where they were still shooting
the other episodes of Corner Gas. We brought our two boys and they met
most of the actors and we also drove to Roloeux, Saskatchewan where they
shoot their exteriors. It was a lot of fun. Their art department built
the town out of Lego and the Corner Gas set attached to the Ruby
restaurant. We shot for two and a half days and delivered the shots in
HD 2 weeks later. It was great to work on this exciting Canadian series
and they’re great people working on that show. Thank you for your
inquiry on behind the scenes.

Thanks again to Shaun for passing along the information that helped me find Dennis. And special thanks to Dennis for filling me in on the rest. Be sure to visit the Dark Thunder Productions website to learn more about their work.

Allan B.

Three of my favorite things.

And this blog entry on Forbes.com shows how all three of those things came together at recent gathering in New York.

One of the questions debated was, “how can we get our kids to think and act more creatively?” I think the LEGO building system is a natural answer, but there’s more to it than just plastic building bricks. There’s how the kids interact with those bricks, how the parents/mentors interact with the children and how childrens’ own lack of creative inhibitions should be supported and not hindered.

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time at the Bricks and Blocks store in St. Jacob’s, Ontario watching kids building with huge tubs of 2x4 LEGO bricks. What amazed me was the determination and focus these kids had in building simple walled structures, sloped roofs and tall towers. The only things that seemed to distract them were reminders from parents about how soon they needed to leave to attend to whatever other plans they’d made. But the interest was there. And I personally feel that folks who claim that today’s kids don’t have long attention spans have possibly not spent enough time watching their kids build with LEGO bricks.

In my mind, part of the answer to getting kids to think more creatively is simply to not prevent them from doing so.

AB

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend some time talking to Steven and Nikki Combs from BimpCast. Now, this is the Internet age, of course, so the talking actually occured via a program called Skype. Some of you may be more familiar with this app then I was since I’d never used it before that morning. But I have to say it was remarkably easy to download, install and configure.

At the last minute I realized I hadn’t given much thought to what I was going to do for a microphone. I don’t use my computer for any sort of voice chat or anything that normally needs a mic. So what to do? No problem… I dug around in some old electronic gear I’ve had for ages and came up with a Realistic Highball 2 microphone that had to be almost 25 years old. Many of you might know Realistic as the house brand once sold by RadioShack stores. So using a little adapter plug I had the mic connected to my laptop and was amazed that it actually seemed to put a clean sound through to the Skype program. But the Highball is one of those classic big mics like you see 70s rock musicians swinging wildly around the stage. I really didn’t want to sit there for the entire interview and hold the mic in my hand. Plus, I thought if I happened to bum p it, or worse drop it, there was likely to be some aweful noise recorded. So again… what to do?

No problem… I’m a LEGO builder, right? Why not use some LEGO bricks to solve this problem. and that’s what I did as you can see here:

And it worked like a charm.

So Nikki, Steven and I talked for quite a while… nearly 45 minutes of actual interview I think. But we also had a little time before and after the interview and I have to say that the two hosts you hear on the BimPCast each episode are just as nice when they’re not being recorded. They’re genuine and sincere people who obviously have a great passion for this hobby. I can’t thank them enough for taking the time out of a Saturday morning to talk with me about my book.

So if you’ve got 45 minutes and want to hear what we talked about, why not head over to Bricks in my Pocket, the home of the BimPCast that is now the official podcast of LEGOFan.org and download the file. There’s even a link on the BimPCast site that takes you to my book’s listing on Amazon.com. So if you happened to be thinking of buying a copy, why not use that link and help support the BimPCast at the same time.

Allan B.

I hope everyone caught tonight’s episode of Corner Gas called “Block Party".

Once again, here’s the synopsis from the show’s website:

http://cornergas.com/episodes/?volume=12&issue=87

I was hoping they wouldn’t make fun of building with LEGO bricks, but rather
would have fun with the idea. And I think they did just that. The show was
great. Not a single mention of the word “legos", but rather a lot of use of
“LEGO blocks” and even “LEGO bricks".

When Hank showed Brent the ‘almost’ completed version of his model I really
began to wonder if any adult fans had helped prepare for the show. It was a
very cool model and looked, at least to my eyes, like someone with lots of
minifig scale or train layout experience had helped build it. Anyone out there
willing/able to come forward and talk about being involved? Maybe they did it
themselves, but maybe they had help. It would be fun to know either way.

And then close to the end came a big surprise. Some LEGO animation. If you
missed this, you really missed not only a good Corner Gas episode, but an
excellent bit of brick parody. Again, it suggests to me some involvement from
the fan community but that’s just my feeling.

Send me an email if you know anything about the behind-the-scenes happenings
that went into this episode.

I hope lots of people saw the episode. Proof again of what a great show this is.

Allan B.

If you’re a fan of the hit show Corner Gas then the title of this posting probably doesn’t strike you as all that odd. If you’re not a fan of Corner Gas, why not?

This is a show that brought scripted comedy back to TV at a time when “reality” television was everywhere. And it proved, once again, that Canadians are funny people. But there’s a true-to-life sensibility to the show that can appeal to many non-Canadians as well. So if you’re not watching, why not? You’re missing some great entertainment.

I’ve linked to a pic from the Corner Gas website below… you can see how much fun this episode looks like it’s going to be:

You can also read the synopsis of the episode on the official Corner Gas website. The episide entitled ‘Block Party’ airs Monday February 20, 2006 on CTV.

Enjoy!
Allan B.

On Saturday afternoon (Feb 9/06) I had the pleasure of meeting up with Brian McKechnie from commandN.

We did an on-the-spot video interview in the Bricks and Blocks store in St. Jacob’s Ontario. For those of you from this area, you’ll know that Bricks and Blocks is a LEGO retailer with stores in Cookstown and Windsor as well. It’s easy to think you’re walking into a LEGO company outlet store, but in fact they’re an independent chain who just happen to sell nothing but LEGO products…. and tons of them at that!

Special thanks go to Sue and the rest of the staff of Bricks and Blocks for making us feel so comfortable using their store as a studio on a busy Saturday afternoon.

The interview went really quickly… I was surprised. But then I was pretty much trying to make sure I didn’t make an idiot of myself so that occupied my mind for most of it. Brian was really easy to talk to, considering we met for the first time just a few minutes before beginning our on-camera chat about the book.

So if you’re curious to see more… check out the commandN website and download Episode #33. It’s a huge download, be forewarned. It’s over 130 meg, so make sure you’ve got the bandwidth available before you click that “Save As” command.

Thanks also to Barb for great camera work and for listening to the author ramble on about all things LEGO.

Allan B.

O.K. you all know my feelings on BrickJournal, right? Far and away, it’s one of the best things that’s happened for the LEGO building hobby in a long time.

Don’t want to take my word for it? Need more proof?

Check out this interesting post on LUGNET today –> The LEGO Group Praises BrickJournal #3

I agree with Geoff’s thoughts… Joe Meno really deserves a ton of credit not just for being able to pull this project together but to have now pulled it together three times. And it just gets better every time!

AB

I’ve said before how much I enjoy writing for BrickJournal magazine, but it’s my blog so I’m going to say it again.

But entirely separate from how much fun it is to contribute I also feel that BrickJournal is a huge leap forward for the LEGO builder community. It represents a way for existing fans to communicate and at the same time offers a way for people new to the hobby to learn about what’s going on.

So be sure to download the latest edition. Be warned… it’s a bit big so if you have a slow connection just be patient. But I think you’ll find it’s worth the effort to get a copy. After all, it’s free!

Click the image above to go to the BrickJournal page on the LEGOFan.org website. There are links there to several different mirrors for the download.

Among the tons and tons of great stuff in this edition you will also find a short article I wrote as a follow-up to the instructions for the Mini Constellation model that appeared in issue #2.

Did I mention how much fun it is to write for BrickJournal?

Enjoy!
Allan B.

I was really pleased to hear from Joel at Nextbrick. We did a back-and-forth email interview that actually worked out pretty well. It gave me time to come up with all sorts of clever answers.

You can read the entire interview here –> Nextbrick.net interview

And be sure to check out the rest of Joel’s blog. He’s got a fresh way of looking at the hobby.

Allan B.

This was a short but nice review that appeared on a site called 800CEORead.com a couple of weeks ago. You can read the entire blog entry here or, just read it below:

In the spirit of Make Magazine, which by the way, has spawned Makers, I call your attention to the recently published The Unofficial Lego Builder’s Guide by Allan Bedford (No Starch Press). This book will help you, um, build things with Legos. Actually, make that…it will help you build better things with Legos, not to mention build things better with Legos. Produced with the same care and no-nonsense ease-of-use that so many O’Reilly technical guides to computers and software display, this sweet and extremely practical guide will delight any person of any age who, upon spying a few errant Lego pieces, finds themselves clicking them together almost without thinking. This book offers sage advice on everything from understanding the strongest way to connect blocks to building a complex structure from a design to storing the pieces. If you are a fan of the Sims, Christopher Alexander, Make Magazine, or, of course, Legos, you will savor this gem.

So whether it’s a belated holiday gift or just a way to suck up to the boss… now you know what to buy for the CEO in your life.

AB

I spotted this short but positive review of the book:

ULBG review on OperationGadget.com

I find it so odd when people quote directly from the book. Not bad, just weird. I read it and think, “that’s weird, that sounds like something I would write….. oh wait, it is.”

AB

There’s a long story behind this review, but here’s the short version.

The review done by ;login: magazine was unfortunately not included in their December printed edition. However, the good news is that the review has been posted to their website. You can read all of the book reviews from that edition by downloading a small .pdf file here.

But if you’re impatient like me and want to read the ULBG review right away, here’s what they had to say:

THE UNOFFICIAL LEGO BUILDER’S
GUIDE
Allan Bedford
No Starch Press, 2005, 1-59327-054-2,
319 pp.
The process of selecting books to review is, to put it politely, organic;
it involves complex variables such as my level of interest in the
topic, my level of knowledge about the topic, my estimation of readers’
levels of interest, the other books in the stack, and whether or
not I think a book is cool. Which is all by way of saying, no, Lego
does not have much to do with advanced computing systems, but I
think it’s cool, and I’m betting a fair number of you do, too.

This book is cool. It’s not rocket science, although there is a nice
walk-through of how to design a space shuttle model. It would be a
great Christmas gift for the person on your list with the big Lego collection
and no very focused idea of what to do with it. You might be
more reluctant to give it to anybody in your own household, as
the storage suggestions may result in the reader developing entirely
new ideas of the scale of a “big” Lego collection, and wanting closets-
full. If you already have closets full of Lego, this book will give
you the graph paper and the ideas to turn it into Lego cities, or whatever.
It’s suitable for older kids and young-at-heart adults. And you
can feel good about giving it to kids, because it teaches some nice
mathematics about ratios, making it genuinely educational.

I learned some neat stuff (the thin Legos are exactly 1/3 the size of
normal-height ones), and it’s my 18-month-old’s second-favorite of
the books I’ve reviewed, because it led me to build things she likes
out of her Duplo. (Her favorite is a hardback with a penguin on it. She
likes the penguin and finds it an especially intriguing size, for some
unknown baby reason.)

A pretty nice review if you ask me.

Allan

Today’s London Free Press newspaper featured an interesting list of suggested Christmas gifts. The list was assembled by James Reaney and included one entry for each letter of the alphabet. I’ll give you one guess under which letter The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide appears….. Got your guess ready?

If you want to check your answer, have a read through the entire list by clicking here.

I’ll give you a hint… it’s near the bottom.

Allan

Another mention of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide, this time in a publication called Book News that focuses on ‘Reference and Research book news’. You can download the entire issue if you like, but to save you a bit of time, here’s what was included for my book:

Going beyond simply supplying instructions for building particular
models, this useful guide provides information, tips, and techniques
that empower readers to make their own fantastic creations. Lego
enthusiast Bedford introduces a comprehensive array of Lego parts, and
discusses fundamental elements of building, design, scale, mosaics, and
color. Other topics include sorting and storing, using tools, creating
instructions for Lego models, and designing and playing games with Lego
pieces. The appendix contains a section on design grids, as well as a
comprehensive “Brickopedia,” a visual guide to hundreds of Lego pieces,
which lists dimensions, a description, Lego part number & year of
release, and historical and usage information.

And for those wondering about availability on Amazon.com and the other retailers, all I can say is please be patient a little longer. More copies are on the way and they should all be restocked shortly.

AB

I haven’t seen the actual printed magazine, but this link was brought to my attention yesterday:

MacTech Magazine

If you scroll down a bit and look under the heading “MacTech 2005 High-Tech Gift Guide” you’ll find The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide listed as one of the gift suggestions.

I think this is now the second or third time the book’s been mentioned on a Mac related site of some kind. Maybe there’s a deeper connection between Mac users and LEGO than we realize….. [cue the Twilight Zone music].

AB

I had a bit of a pleasant shock yesterday morning when I woke up and checked the stats on my website. (Yes, I know…. only a geek would check web stats before breakfast.)

By 7:30 a.m. I’d already had more hits than I normally get in an entire 24 hour day.

I checked the details to see where most of the hits were coming from. It turns out most of them were originating from BZPower.com. Kelly (a.k.a. Binkmeister) had posted what I think is a very flattering review of the book.

What was really great about the review was the time and effort Kelly took to point out two key points.

First, he noted that even though the book is not about Bionicles it might be of interest to Bionicle fans. I happen to agree.

He also was up front in mentioning that the book (as noted many times here) is printed in black and white. And his reasons for why this isn’t a big deal were right on the money.

There is also a discussion thread on BZPower about the book and the review of it, so be sure to check that out.

Thanks again to Kelly for such a great write-up.

AB

As I’ve noted previously, I keep an eye on the hits to my website with a basic stat counter. Yesterday I began to notice a lot of traffic coming from a LUGNET posting that I made nearly three months ago. At first I thought perhaps someone had grabbed the link and posted it to a group of friends who were chatting online or something like that.

But then the hits kept coming from this link. So I began to suspect it wasn’t just a few friends sharing the link.

So today I was pleasantly surprised to find out what was really going on. It seems ULBG has been featured on the front page of LUGNET.com. Many thanks to the LUGNET crew for making that happen. And best of all, look what else is featured there too! When you’re mentioned next to The BrickJournal you know you’re in good company.

Allan B.

I won’t say too much more about the latest edition of the BimpCAST but I couldn’t resist pulling out one quote from Steven Combs to use as the title of this post. I will say that the quote was taken from the review of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide given by Steven and Nikki. The entire review is quite flattering but I hope you’ll also take some time to check out the rest of the show. As always, there’s also lots of other LEGO related content and there’s even a special announcement near the end of the show that gives you a good idea just how cool this show has become… and where things are headed!

Allan B.

I must admit I was a bit nervous when I saw the link for this review arrive via a Google alert that I have set for the word ‘LEGO’.

In fact, based on the link I first thought that this might be some kind of critique of this blog, rather than the book itself. Afterall, the URL for the site started off with: www.blogcritics.org. I figured anyone looking at this blog would pretty soon figure out that it’s really just an extension of the apotome.com website, in support of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide.

On one hand, I don’t try to hide the motive for this blog. But on the other hand I thought that some blog purists (are there such people?) might take exception to such usage.

Happily, I was wrong.

The link actually lead to a very positive review of the book.

Here’s the link in plain text:

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/09/234743.php

Later!
Allan

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but hey…. better late than never.

It was fun to note that the book has been the featured product on the book page of ThinkGeek.com for the last several days. Of course, by the time you read this it may no longer be the featured product, but go there and buy it anyway.

And so to return the favor, I thought I would post one of their ultra cool logos. And now… the ultra cool logo!

Allan

I happened upon this recent entry on 1000steine.de. I’ve included the already translated link for you here, but of course if you speak German then you’ll more likely want to read the original posting.

From what I gather (based on the translated version) the person who posted the message seems to like the book though indicates that it doesn’t offer too much in the way of new material for experienced builders. I’m not sure what is meant by the EU reference, but it may just be the way Google is translating that makes it hard to understand.

I found it interesting that he took the time to scan and post not only the front and back cover art, but also the entire ‘Contents in Detail’. So a quick thank you to Tobias for posting this information for German builders and fans to read. And if you notice the follow-up to the first posting, you’ll find a link to the entry on Amazon.de for The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide.

Allan B.

I just wanted to note this discussion going on over at Eurobricks.

I really appreciate the kind comments that have been made about the book.

Allan

I was sent a link today to an article/review of the book that was posted on Ink19.com. I think the author did a great job summing up some of the features of the book and makes some excellent comments about which readers might find it the most interesting and/or useful.

Allan

Today was something new for me. It was the first interview I did for the book. Luckily Jason Meserve from NetworkWorld.com is a really easy guy to talk to, so that made it a fun experience for me.

You can find the downloads for the interview here:

http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/0829radio.html

Of course afterward I had a few of those thoughts like, “Oh, I should have mentioned this…” and “I should have answered such and such differently.” but all in all I think it went o.k.

Regards,
Allan B.

A quick blurb posted to a blog on Make.

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/08/the_unofficial.html

Every little bit helps.

Allan

This was the press release that went out from O’Reilly today. As always, please email me with any comments or questions. Or, drop by apotome.com to learn more about the book.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Patricia Witkin
patricia@nostarch.com
415.863.9900 x303

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE BASICS - AND NOT-SO-BASICS OF BUILDING WITH
LEGO BRICKS

Longtime hobbyist lays firm foundation for building with LEGO elements

August 24, 2005, San Francisco - Bridging the gap between instructions
included with LEGO sets and the unlimited world of freestyle LEGO
building, The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide (No Starch Press,
September ‘05) is a nuts-and-bolts approach to making original models
from those famous plastic bricks. Written by Allan Bedford, a lifelong
LEGO fan whose most ambitious model to date is a 5,000-piece replica of
Toronto’s famed CN Tower, this new title draws together core techniques,
principles and reference information.

Focusing on building actual models with real bricks, The Unofficial LEGO
Builder’s Guide includes complete instructions for building several
models but also encourages readers to use their imaginations to create
their own fantastic designs. While the book incorporates basic engineering
and architecture principles, its tone is friendly, light-hearted and
geared toward helping readers of all ages get the most fun out of the
popular pastime.

Inside The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide, readers will learn:

-The best ways to connect bricks and how best to use those patterns
-Tricks for calculating and building to scale
-How to think and build in 3-D
-Step-by-step plans to create a train station on the scale of LEGO people
(a.k.a., “minifigs")
-How to build spheres, jumbo-sized LEGO bricks and micro-scaled models
-An end-to-end design exercise for creating a mini space shuttle
-Tips for sorting and storing LEGO pieces

The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide also includes the “Brickopedia,”
a visual guide to nearly 300 of the most useful and reusable elements of
the LEGO system, with historical notes, common uses, part numbers, and the
year each piece first appeared in a LEGO set.

“Although age-old, LEGO building seems to be more popular than ever,”
said Bill Pollock, founder of No Starch Press. “Allan’s book takes the
LEGO building hobby seriously and does a great job of spelling out the
fundamentals so that anyone can become a master builder.”

The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide will appeal both to children who are
ready for more ambitious projects and adults who are rediscovering the joy
of building with LEGO elements - as their own hobby or one to share with
their kids.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Allan Bedford is an active member of the online LEGO
community, having contributed ideas and discussions for several years.
He works as a business analyst by day and spends his spare time cycling,
designing board games and, of course, building with LEGO bricks.

The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide by Allan Bedford
September 2005, 376 pp., $24.95, ISBN 1-59327-054-2
Available at fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or
directly from No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com,
800.420.7240).

ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS: Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few
remaining independent computer book publishers. We publish the finest in
geek entertainment - unique books on technology, with a focus on Open
Source, security, hacking, programming, and alternative operating systems.
Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books
tackle topics that people care about. See www.nostarch.com for more. (And
by the way, most No Starch Press books use RepKover, a lay-flat binding
that won’t snap shut. Hungry geeks love it.)

LEGO, the brick configuration and the minifigure are trademarks of the
LEGO Group, which is not responsible for this publication. Copyright 2005 The
LEGO Group. All rights reserved.

# # #

Have you got a great Brickfest experience you want to share? If so, be sure to check out the contest that was announced on LUGNET yesterday. Joe Meno, the Editor/Publisher of BrickJournal and my friends at No Starch Press have worked together to come up with a neat contest that could see you winning a copy of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide. The contest closes September 9, 2005 so be sure to sit down and relive your fav Brickfest moment soon!

Allan

Pre-orders anyone?

Amazon.com: Books: The Lego® Builder’s Guide