Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Book Review: The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide

When you set out to build with LEGO, there aren't many printed guides to walk you through the process. That is likely, in part, because one of the most attractive features of building with the plastic bricks on your own is that nobody is telling you what you have to construct.

The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide by Allan Bedford is one of the rare guides that exists. It offers a solid balance of technical description and pictures to underscore the concepts it is attempting to explain. In providing the basic principles behind building from a structural strength perspective, Bedford lets the reader understand how to create structures that can be transported.

This book has been immensely helpful to me as a new adult builder. My mind keeps grasping for some order or at least a foundation for my knowledge- at times the prospect of building is too daunting because I don't have a history of building to fall back upon. Rather than potential, I just see the daunting challenge of meeting expectations. The guide has been invaluable in offering me a general introduction. If you're new to the game, go out and get a copy- it will help solve a lot of your initial questions and mistakes- although the mistakes continue to be fun to make.

1 comment:

Michael Lockridge said...

We were just at Kmart. I saw a box of Lego bricks among the (surprisingly limited) other Lego items. I thought, "Soon."

Nearby I saw a Lincoln Logs set or two. My childhood preceded Lego products by just a bit, but I recall building with Lincoln Logs.

Lego has proven to have more versatility, and more marketability. Still, the old logs are there.

When I jump into adult Lego, I will be doing so without the huge background my kids and grandkids have to work with. Hours of free thinking creativity can be a great resource.

Thanks for sharing your project.

mlockridge01
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