The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide

I had the experience today that I’ve been waiting on for nearly two years. This morning I was able to walk into the public library in the city where I live and donate a copy of the book to their collection. I hope that eventually many people will enjoy this one copy and find something useful between the covers. I think I’ll go back next week sometime and see if I can find it on the shelf. That will be pretty exciting.

Allan

And you thought they only sold gadgets!

But they sell books too! ThinkGeek.com has been nice enough to add The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide to the list of books they sell. So now you know it’s a cool book.

Allan

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

It was interesting to finally show the book to people who had known I was working on it over the last nearly 2 years. Several of them made the same comment: “Wow, I didn’t realize it was going to be this big.” For some reason I guess many people thought this was just a thin children’s book or perhaps like one of the old LEGO Idea books. So today I added a picture to the order page on apotome.com that shows a stack of the books. Hopefully this will give people who are thinking of ordering it a better idea of what they’re getting.

But before I scare off any younger readers (or their parents) with the thought of a “textbook” or something like that I want to suggest that you take a moment to read the FAQ entry that I posted on the the topic of how best to read the book, depending upon who you are. While The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide is certainly suitable for adult readers it is just as suitable for younger ones as well. There is something in there for everyone. Remember that over the course of more than 300 pages there are more than 600 illustrations.

For the truly curious, the book measures 7″ wide × 9.25″ tall × 7/8″ thick. And yes, I really measured it today just to be sure. LOL

Of course if you’re still sitting on the fence and just aren’t sure if the book is appropriate for yourself or someone you might buy it for, please feel free to email with your specific concerns. I’ll do my best to help you understand how the book is suitable for someone like you.

Best regards,
Allan B.

As you can imagine I keep a close eye on the online book retailers to see both how the book is selling but also how it appears in the search results.

When The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide first appeared on Amazon.com back in January it was, as expected, simply buried in the search results. Slowly but surely over the months it crept up and up until finally, it is now the #1 search result when you look at just the “Books” category and search on just the word “LEGO". In fact, the same can be said of other Amazon sites as well. Here they are if you want to see what I mean:

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Amazon.co.uk

And it even seems to have worked its way up to the top of the results on Chapters.ca as well.

Allan

The book has been shipping from Amazon.com for about two weeks now. But until just yesterday Amazon.ca was still listing it as only available for pre-order. I’m excited to say that I got confirmation today that not only has Amazon.ca started taking regular orders (i.e. to ship within 24 hours) but some of the pre-orders have already been filled, shipped and arrived.

So if you’re in Canada, and you were waiting for the book to become easily available, you need wait no longer.

Please stop by Amazon.ca if you’re interested in ordering a copy.

Later,
Allan

Question: There are a lot of topics covered in The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide. What’s the best way to get the most out of reading it?

Answer: The answer depends on who you are. That might seem odd, but let me give some examples to help illustrate what I mean.

Although you can certainly read the book from front to back, it’s not entirely necessary to do that. In fact, depending on who you are and why you’re reading the book, you might want to take a different route. Keep reading to see what I mean.

Let’s say you’re the parent of a younger child (perhaps a child under 7 or 8 years of age). You may want to skip right to some of the model instructions and work together as a team to build them. In this instance I would recommend starting with something simple like the microscale house in Chapter 6, or the basic sphere in Chapter 7. You may also want to try building one of the jumbo bricks from Chapter 5 or perhaps just build some of the different types of columns and beams described in Chapter 2. Although these might seem a bit plain they teach some important lessons in creating strong stable connections between LEGO elements.

Now what if you’re the parent of an older child? I would suggest having them read Chapter 2 to get a grounding in the basic construction techniques. Then, they might want to tackle a model such as the train station in Chapter 3 or follow along with the design excercise in Chapter 10 that results in the mini space shuttle. Both the language and tone of the entire book are suitable for older children and they should therefore be able to work through much of the text on their own. Of course, joining them in their building adventures is also highly recommended.

Finally, let’s look at older adult readers. Maybe you’re someone who had LEGO sets as a child but hasn’t touched them in years. Or, perhaps you’re an adult who never really got to play with much LEGO when you were younger but you’re eager to get into the fun now. In this case I see every reason to start with Chapters 1 and 2 to familiarize yourself with some key terminology and principles. After that, you can continue reading the book in order, or skip to a section or chapter that you find particularly interesting. That might be the sphere, a mosaic, the shuttle model or even brushing up on the sorting and storing techniques described in Chapter 12.

Of course the Appendices are intended to be used at all points along the reading journey through the book. You can, at any time, refer to the Brickopedia (Appendix A) to learn more about a particular part or an entire category of parts. When needed, you can also flip to Appendix B and learn more about how best to use the Design Grids that are often mentioned in the book.

Ultimately there is no right or wrong way to read and enjoy The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide. My feeling is that the chapters, while connected each other in many ways, are also strong enough to stand on their own. Each can be read as a separate unit. So where you start is up to you. Of course, where you end up on your building odyssey is also up to you, the book is just here to help.

Best regards,
Allan B.

I did link to this in another post, but it occurred to me today that I hadn’t actually posted the Table of Contents for The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide here on the blog. So here it is:

The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide

Index

A recent review of the book on Amazon.com mentioned that the reader was disappointed by the fact that The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide is printed in black and white. I know that other potential buyers/readers might also share this concern so I wanted to address it again here.

I have already posted one entry about the illustrations. In fact, it was the first FAQ question and answer that I posted. In it I also presented an example of one of the figures from the book. Here it is again, Figure 2-15:

As you can see, the image is actually a very crisp computer rendering of some LEGO bricks, and is really a subtle greyscale, rather than harsh black and white. Other images, such as those featured in the Brickopedia, were rendered using different settings and as a result have a slightly more realistic look to them. You can see an example in the illustration below. It’s an entry taken directly from the Brickopedia:

As you can see, the 1x4 arch has more contrast than the image from Figure 2-15. But once again, it’s important to point out just how sharp these images are when printed.

There was one primary reason that we (myself and No Starch Press) decided to produce the book in black and white. It was a simple economic decision and I really didn’t give it a second thought afterward. To have printed the book in color would have nearly doubled the cover price. Since we knew this book was going to be at least 300 pages long, that would have meant a price that might have put the book out of reach of some potential readers. I just wasn’t ready to let that happen. Since the book is aimed at a wide audience (readers both young and old, builders of little to great skill levels) I wanted to make sure that everyone could feel comfortable with the cover price.

There is, however, a side benefit to having all of the images in black, white and shades of grey. And that is that the reader can focus strictly on the technique being presented and not be distracted by the color of the bricks shown. In most cases the colors (when the models or examples are actually built) are not really that important - they could be any color the reader has available. When you buy an official LEGO set, you certainly expect color instructions and the company doesn’t disappoint. But in many cases, when building specific models, color really is important and you want to make sure your space shuttle ends up the right color. However, when you’re just learning a technique, or reviewing a model (such as the sphere) to see how it’s built, then color is of no concern. The sphere that I describe in detail in Chapter 7 could be built from red, blue, white, yellow, green or even orange bricks. It’s the technique that’s important, not the color.

So for potential readers, I hope you’ll read the review that was posted to Amazon, but I also hope that you’ll consider the information I’ve presented above. I’m sad to hear that anyone was disappointed with the illustrations in the book (as I spent hundreds of hours producing them) but I’m equally concerned with sharing the reason behind the choice we made about how to print the book. I think you’ll see that the reasons were sound but more importantly, the decision didn’t negatively affect the readability of the book nor the ability of the reader to enjoy the contents.

Of course, as always, please don’t hesitate to email me with questions about this, or any other issue related to the book. I’d love to hear from you.

Best regards,
Allan B.

The other day I noticed that The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide had been referenced in the Wikipedia article about LEGO. It mentions the book title and ISBN number but leaves it up to you to find out more (such as how to order). That’s o.k. It’s just nice to have it mentioned there.

AB

Pretty cool… the Design Grids have been Wiki-ized. Is that a word? Well, it’s a great link no matter what you call it. Check it out here.

Question: Why do all the internet links in the book point back to your own website? How come there aren’t links to other good LEGO-related websites?

Answer: The decision to not include links other than those related to www.apotome.com was not one made lightly. Throughout the writing process of the book there was more than one person who suggested including links to sites where people could buy LEGO pieces or where they could learn more about software for virtual LEGO building.

In the end I went with the decision to include only links to apotome.com (and pages linked from it) so that I could have complete control over those links. At first read that probably sounds like I’ve got a big ego, but that’s not entirely the case. Rather, by having only links that point to a web domain that I own, I can ensure that those links remain active for many years to come. When including links to other sites (that you do not own) you run the risk (perhaps quite small, but still a risk) of having those links become broken.

Rather than have that happen I decided to set up a links page on apotome.com that will be kept up-to-date and will indeed provide the information that people suggested might be useful. This will hopefully allow The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide to remain timely for as long as possible.

Regards,
Allan B.

I remember sending this to No Starch Press a few months ago, specifically for this purpose. But it’s just weird to see it show up in a search engine. It looks so clinical in this style of layout.

Table of contents for The Unofficial LEGO builder’s guide

Later,
AB

It looks as though Amazon.com has received their copies of the book and has begun filling orders. You can find the listing here:

The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide - Amazon.com

if you’re interested.

Allan B.

Question: My child is interested in making some of the models featured in The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide but we don’t have all the pieces. What’s the best way to find/buy LEGO pieces?

Answer: In speaking with parents of kids involved in LEGO building, this is perhaps the one question that comes up most often. The answer, unfortunately, isn’t cut and dry but before I tackle that let me back up just a bit.

One important thing to point out about the book is that every attempt was made to include instructions and examples that could actually be built by kids or adults with limited sized LEGO collections. It’s simply not realistic to believe that everyone who loves LEGO also has 100,000 pieces sitting in their basement. With that in mind I attempted to design the models in the book to be fun and instructive but at the same time be constructed with fairly common pieces or at least pieces that are reasonably easy to obtain.

Which brings us back to the question, “what’s the best way to buy LEGO pieces?”

Of course the first and simplest answer I usually give people is to visit their local toy store or to check out LEGO’s own Shop At Home service. But what sort of products are you looking for? Again, not a straightforward answer, though not hugely complicated either. In some cases you’ll want to try and find nothing more than the large assorted buckets and tubs that LEGO typically has for sale at any given time. The contents of these assortments changes every year or two but the idea is always the same: lots of basic bricks for not a lot of money. Here’s a pic of two recent offerings along this line.

Buying those types of LEGO products will give you lots of basic bricks, but what about some of the more interesting specialized pieces? For that you may wish to turn to some of the themed LEGO sets. That could include Harry Potter sets, Star Wars sets, or even LEGO’s own Designer sets. All of these offer fewer pieces for more money but also offer a wider variety of elements that you may find useful for your own models.

Another way to go, if you want to buy specific LEGO pieces, is a site called Bricklink. Here you’ll find hundreds of virtual ’stores’ where you can pick out only the parts you need in the colors you want. You may find that individually these parts seem a bit more expensive. But what if, for example, you wanted 10 red 1x4 arches? It’s entirely possible there’s no single LEGO set on the shelves today that contains that many of that piece in that color. However, on Bricklink it’s quite likely you’ll find someone who can sell you just those pieces.

Finally, there’s the ever popular eBay, though like anything else on that site you must adopt a ‘buyer beware’ attitude when bidding on LEGO items.

The point of buying LEGO is that it’s not always cheap and sometimes takes a bit of creativity to find what you want. But in the end the reward is more than worth it. LEGO bricks today still connect to and work well with bricks made 10, 20 and even 30 years ago.

Regards,
Allan B.

Question: The description for the book talks about learning to build spheres. Is this true? Will the book really teach me to make a sphere?

Answer: Yes! Absolutely. In fact, the entire 1st half of Chapter 7 is devoted to the subject of creating a sphere. The particular sphere described in the book is not very large, but the concepts used to build it can easily be applied to larger versions. There are step-by-step images included and although three dimensional models like this can sometimes seem daunting the process is thoroughly explained. Best of all, the sphere in the book requires only 220 basic bricks in order to build it. Virtually anyone, of any age, with even the most modest LEGO collection should be able to build this fun model.

I do want to be clear on one issue though. Obviously this is not the first sphere ever to be created out of LEGO elements. Not by a long shot. I don’t in any way claim to have thought up the idea of building a model like this. However, creating a sphere or spherical shaped models is a cornerstone of learning to be a more skilled LEGO builder. And thus, by teaching you to build a sphere I hope to give you some of that skill and in turn the confidence to design your own models.

Allan B.

The concept of design and planning of models comes up many times throughout the book. In order to help builders work out plans for their creations I have assembled four different Design Grids that each provide a slightly different approach to this subject.

Be sure to download the grids here:http://www.apotome.com/grids.html in order to maximize your enjoyment of The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide

Regards,
Allan B.