Gizmodo Australia » legoland

1979: The Golden Age Of Lego

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:30:00 +0000

1979 was the beginning of Lego as we know it today, the year when they took over the world, the year of the Galaxy Explorer. I photographed all the classic models in my Lego trip. Here’s the never-released gallery.

The Lego bricks were invented a lot earlier, but 1979 was the year of Legoland Space, Legoland Town, and Legoland Castle. Those three are the Lego universes that started it all. They were first introduced in 1978—except for the Galaxy Explorer—but it wasn’t until 1979 and the few following years when they really took off.

During 1978, 1979, and the beginning of the 80s, Lego had its Golden Age. For sure, now they sell more than ever and they have a huge army of followers. But that was the true Golden Age, with the very best sets ever developed by the Danish company. Later many great ones came, but I was lucky enough to play with all those sets back in 1979, when I was a little kid.

Here you have my favourites, straight from the show room on top of their Lego secret vault, in their original factory.

Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History

Gizmodo US Edition — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:30:00 +0000

I have to confess that life hasn’t been very good lately. Work around the clock, not enough free time, trying to have kids and crashing badly… all while moving to a country I don’t particularly like, away from my best friends and family. Maybe that’s why visiting Lego’s Memory Lane–the secret vault guarding almost every Lego set ever manufactured–touched me in a way I didn’t expect. This wasn’t amazement or simple awe. I was already astonished to no end by the tour of the Lego factory. No, this was something else, something bigger than the impressive view of the 4,720 Lego sets inside this lair. These weren’t just simple boxes full of bricks. These were tickets to ride a time portal to emotions and simpler days long forgotten.

750,000-Brick Kennedy Space Centre Is the Mother of All Lego Models

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0000

Forget about the Lego Airbus A380 and the Lego Death Star, because this video will show you the mother of all Lego models: the 750,000-brick Kennedy Space Centre. Using 1,506 square feet, it took 2,500 hours to build. It includes a 1.87 metre tall Space Shuttle on the launch pad, the space centre with a 2.7 metre long Saturn 1B rocket, and the Vehicle Assembly Building—2.4m long x 1.8m high x 1.5m wide—made out of 50,000 Lego bricks. I know. Mindblowing. This thing is so massive that it can probably affect Earth’s orbit. Update: if Lego’s Kennedy Space Centre is the mother of all Lego models, Giz reader Florian Frischmuth has sent us his pictures of the father: the 1,300,000-brick Lego Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, Germany. This titan contains a mindblowing 30,000 mini-figs inside.

The Allianz Arena Lego model was built following the original plans from Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron, using 4,209 hours of work and over a million pieces. It can glow red, blue, and white using interior LEDs, achieving the same lighting effects of the original stadium thanks to a special translucent brick specially manufactured for the project. [Giz's Lego Trip]

Lego Airbus A380 Is Biggest Lego Aeroplane in the World

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:10:00 +0000

Behold the biggest Lego aeroplane in the world, made after the largest passenger aeroplane in the world, the Airbus A380. Made at a 1:25 scale-2.9 metres long, 3.2-metre wingspan98 cms tall—the Lego A380 uses 220 pounds (100kg) of bricks. That’s a mindblowing 75,000 pieces in eight colours—15 Lego Millennium Falcons. With that amount of bricks, and knowing how long my Falcon is taking, I’m not surprised that it took 600 hours for the entire team of professional Legoland model builders to assemble this beast. [Giz's Lego Trip]

Can Command + Legoland + 1 Brick Your Mac?

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:32:00 +0000

This is the second thing I found in my trip to the centre of the Lego universe. Road sign or secret tip? I tried the keyboard combo in my PowerBook and it didn’t work, but given the origin of the command symbol–as commanded by Steve Jobs and executed by Susan Kare–I thought it was well worth a try.

Finally she [Susan Kare] came across a floral symbol that was used in Sweden to indicate an interesting feature or attraction in a campground. She rendered a 16 x 16 bitmap of the little symbol and showed it to the rest of the team, and everybody liked it. Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.

It certainly marks the spot in this case.

I’m back from Lego’s headquarters in Denmark, frantically writing features, editing video, and preparing images showing the amazing brick manufacturing process, the Lego cathedrals with billions of pieces in them and giant robots moving them around, the Lego secret vault with every single set ever produced, and many more awesome things. I’ve to say that I’ve been blown away and, trust me, it’s not just fanboyism. [LEGO in Gizmodo]

What Do You Want to Ask LEGO?

Gizmodo US Edition — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:37:00 +0000

As you know, I’m in Billund, Denmark, right now. Tomorrow I’ll be talking with the guys who make LEGO, the ultimate geek toy, and I would be able to ask them anything I want. So what would you like to know? What would you like to see? Tell me in the comments or write to my mail directly. [LEGO]

In Denmark Even the Cops Are Made Out of LEGO

Gizmodo US Edition — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:46:00 +0000

I just arrived in Billund, Denmark, where every single LEGO piece in the world is produced. I got to the Zzzzleep Hotel just now and, to my surprise, I found this sign on the wall outside even while the hotel is not associated with LEGO in any way: “LEGO Security.” I guess that in LEGO city even the cops are little LEGO minifigs. Just a sign of what will happen tomorrow:

On Tuesday I’m getting an exclusive tour through their factory, and will also visit their idea house—where apparently every LEGO in history is stored. I will also talk with LEGO designers from the Mindstorm, Creator and Star Wars lines.

Yes, I know, it’s an absolute nerdgasm coming up. Hopefully I will recover soon to post videos, photos and impressions right here in Giz. For now, I’m off to LEGOLAND to do exactly that (and buy some sets).

World’s Tallest Lego Tower Reaches 30 Metre Mark

Sean Fallon — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Once again, the record for the world’s largest Lego tower has fallen. Last year, the Lego bricks towered 29.2 metres over Toronto. This year, in celebration of Lego’s 50th anniversary, participants at Legoland in Windsor, UK built a tower resembling a Viking longboat mast that managed to hit the 30 metre mark using 500,000 bricks. Hitting the 100 foot mark is definitely a fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary—but I can’t help but wonder how high they can go next year. [Metro and Daily Mail]