Few toys capture the imaginations of children and adults like LEGO. With its interlocking studs, builders can construct everything from houses and castles to space ships and fantastical imaginary creatures – something only LEGO could do!
Lego tests bricks during production by stepping on them; in this manner, the company simulates a 50 kilogram child walking over them to ensure they can withstand pain.
Bricks
Bricks are the basic building block of Lego piece 26047, used to construct various structures. As well as being essential components, they often serve as inspiration for new creations.
The basic brick is a 2×4 plate with studs on all four sides, although other shapes such as 3×5 bricks and 1×4 bricks exist. Bricks each carry their own identification number called the Design Number that can be found underside each brick; Brick Link features an element database which references these Design Numbers so it is easier than ever before to locate bulk parts quickly and efficiently.
Table scraps are clever builds that provide an interesting technique or recognisable item, yet don’t warrant their own creations. Many builders keep these bits for future projects.
Plates
A plate is the foundation for medium to large-sized creations. A standard Lego plate consists of a flat plastic piece with studs on its top surface for connecting other LEGO elements; there are also curved plates with an extra dimension as well as Technic plates equipped with holes to connect axles.
Jumper plates are a special type of Lego plate with unique properties. While similar in appearance to regular plates, jumper plates do not contain studs on their bottom surface and can therefore be used for Half-Stud Offset building. A 2×2 jumper plate is typically found; however other sizes exist.
MOC stands for “My Own Creation,” and refers to any custom LEGO creation made by an individual or group. MOC builders span from kids who build sets as small as $1 to adults with rooms full of thousands of dollars worth of thermoplastic art on display.
Minifigures
A basic LEGO figure comprises of a head, torso, arms and hands designed to hold accessories like weapons (swords, guns and lightsabers), tools, cups, food plates or documents. Furthermore, its hands feature studs at their tips that match those on bricks for easy gripping of other pieces.
LEGO also produces minifigures in various scales and themes. Technic figures feature more realistic sculpts than their standard counterparts; Bionicle figures are part of an imaginary tale created by LEGO that depict biomechanical creatures.
Microfigures, with fixed heads and short legs that resemble regular Lego leg parts, are used to represent children, teenagers, gnomes, dwarfs and other small characters such as children or teenagers. They usually come printed, including printed hats and hairpieces; sometimes included with sets based on popular movies or TV shows like Orient Expedition, Star Wars Alpha Team or Harry Potter.
Details
Lego bricks feature small bumps on top, known as studs or lugs, that help connect one piece to another.
TLG in Billund is responsible for overseeing this system and ensure that it adheres to appropriate principles so as to allow safe building experiences for both children and AFOLs (who sometimes break things, and then cry!).
Every Lego piece contains its Design ID number on its underside; this serves as the main point of reference used by TLG when listing items at the back of instruction manuals or on their Pick a Brick or Replacement Part websites.
Some parts have an additional attribute that indicates their material or process used to color them, represented as a three-digit number known as an Element/Color code. There are currently 68 such Element/Color codes and several Rebrickable features operate at this level such as importing your own 3D CAD files, creating parts lists and buying at our integrated parts stores.