LEGO is coming out with a new line of battery-powered, infrared (IR) remote controlled trains this year, and Larry Pieniazek has written a review. There’s a long discussion thread on LUGNET about it here (use this link to see the full text of all replies on one page).
Tag: #lego
Mindstorms NXT Presentation
Today we had a special Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group meeting featuring a presentation by Mark Edelman, founder of Playing at Learning, the Northern California FIRST LEGO League affiliate and a member of the Mindstorms Developer Program.
Maker Faire 2006
Maker Faire sure was a lot of fun! We (Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group) had a great time showing off our LEGO train layout to the public and other Makers at the event.
Halfway through Maker Faire
Wow, this has been a great show! It’s quite different from the train shows we (BayLTC) usually do. The Maker Faire crowd is a very diverse group of artists, geeks, and craftspeople. Plus, a lot of families with kids which is just like what we’re used to. One of my favorite things about the LEGO hobby is when little kids are staring through the “sneeze guards” at our layout with their eyes and mouths open, and just about the only thing they can say is “wooooaaahhh.” That’s fun.
Fish
These two fish were built as part of a display that my LEGO club, the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group, maintains at the Stoneridge Mall LEGO store in Pleasanton, CA.
Getting Ready for Maker Faire
Next weekend (April 22-23) is Maker Faire, an event featuring “the MythBusters, and thousands of tech DIY enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, science clubs, students, and authors,” put on by the publishers of MAKE Magazine. This event is kind of like a giant science fair for grownups, mixed with an art show and all kinds of stuff. I don’t really know what to expect but we’re planning to treat it pretty much the same way we do the train shows.
Old-fashioned Fire Truck
This old-fashioned fire truck was built in July, 2004 for the display that my LEGO club, Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group & Train Club put on at a museum in Pleasanton, CA.
Aquarium display at LEGO store
With other members of the Bay Area LEGO Users Group, I helped install a new aquarium-themed display at the Stoneridge Mall LEGO store in Pleasanton, CA on Feb 20, 2006. My contributions to this display were two fish and some seaweed.
Coastline
This is another model that I built 3 years ago but only recently posted the pictures online. This, along with the recently posted Road Bridge, was built for the BayLTC train layout in 2003.
Any LEGO Fans from South Carolina?
My wife and I will be traveling to South Carolina (visiting Hilton Head and Charleston) next month.
Road Bridge
In 2003 (or maybe 2002) I built a bridge for the BayLTC train layout. But it wasn’t a train bridge, it was a road bridge (for cars and trucks). The road pieces came from LEGO’s 6600 Highway Construction set, and the bridge’s structural elements were built of Technic bricks.
Treasure Reef
Today’s entry features a creation by a Czech LEGO fan named Jindrich Kubec.
It all starts with LEGO
When I was a little kid my great passion was building things (usually spacecraft) out of LEGO. When I was 10 I learned about computer programming thanks to the Commodore PET computers at my school. I really think that the mental process is much the same, and that my experience with LEGO led directly to my ability to pick up computer programming skills.
BayLUG exhibit at MoAH
For the past few weeks (starting just before Christmas), we have been running a display at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. It has been insanely popular, with more people coming to see the exhibit than the room could even hold at once.
BayLUG Pleasanton display featured in BOTB
Our display window at the Stoneridge Mall (one of only three in the country at the moment!) was mentioned on the Bricks on the Brain blog.
BayLUG mini-San Francisco display at Stoneridge LEGO Store
Today I met with other members of BayLUG to set up a new display at the Stoneridge mall LEGO store in Pleasanton, CA. We had a display there for the past month with a Christmas theme, but I wasn’t involved in that. The new theme is miniature models of San Francisco landmarks: I made Transamerica Pyramid and Lombard Street models, which are now on display along with a Coit Tower model from Russell Clark and a waterfront scene by Paul Sinasohn that included a tall ship and the car ferry Sausalito.
BayLTC Museum Show, December 2004
Last December, BayLUG and BayLTC put on a display at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto, CA. This was our second long-term exhibit, after the one in Pleasanton in June of 2004. Here are pictures taken both during and during tear-down after the show.
I took the pictures taken during the teardown phase while suffering from a terrible fever and flu, so I don’t remember much about it! But the pictures speak for themselves anyway…
Coast Guard Base
Last fall, the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (BayLTC) was doing a show where many of our usual waterfront models were not available, so I volunteered to build a new model for that spot. I discovered Coast Watch HQ sets on sale at Costco for about $20 each, and bought two of them. I used many parts from the sets, such as the baseplates and windows, but built a new design to be a little more realistic. The building is of my own original design, but the helicopter and cutter are based on real U.S. Coast Guard equipment. Since it was for a train show, I made it come apart into pieces for easy transport.
Esso Garage
A garage to take your LEGO cars for their regular maintenance. Has two service bays, each with a lift to give the mechanics access underneath the car. Also equipped with a workbench and a complete inventory of repair parts and tires.
This model is fully detailed on the interior, and also features rare and valuable printed bricks (Two each of “ESSO SERVICE” and “GARAGE”) from the 1960’s.
Great American Train Show, November 2004
On November 27-28, 2004, we participated in the GATS in Pleasanton for the third time. We won third place again!
BayLTC “Dress Rehearsal” Meeting, November 2004
My digital camera troubles continue at this meeting. This time I brought it, but with three sets of nearly-flat batteries. I only managed to get 5 pictures.
This meeting was held at Bruce’s church gymnasium as a “dress rehearsal” for the next weekend’s Great American Train Show display.
We set up the tables and track along with major landmarks to make sure that it all fits.
BayLUG Meeting, October 2004 in Fremont
I forgot my digital camera when I went to this meeting, so I took pictures with my cell phone instead. Apologies for the poor quality.
This meeting featured a Halloween contest as well as several space and Technic models not shown before.
BayLTC Museum Show, July 11, 2004 (tear-down)
Turn out the lights, the party’s over…
Sunday, July 11 was the last day of our month-long display at the Amador-Livermore Valley Historical Society and Museum. After the museum closed at 4pm, we took down the “sneeze guards” and table skirts for a photo shoot, culminating in a group photo.