The Lego Ideas Book

• 7th Oct 2011

Why bother asking “who loves Lego!” the response is fairly unanimous amongst the ages, and for all you brick collectors out there this book has a few ideas of its own on how to get them all laid.

Having just said that, it is worth noting that this new book from DK is highly tasteful and is here to support your building needs, hence the word “Ideas” in the title of it. It also has a lot of pictures of Lego inside too!

The book has the following main chapters:

Planes, Trains & Automobiles – You guessed, they have a variety of cars, tricks, tubes and aircraft for you to get inspired by here.

Town and Country – A stand out section showing off the design (inside and out) of houses, buildings, and even bridges.

Out of This World – You can expect spaceships and aliens galore in this section. This is also where we leave reality behind and find the designers getting as creative as they can with ideas. So if you want to break conventions and rules then you may prefer this section of the book.

In Days of Old – Shame they couldn’t just say “Yore” like everyone else. But there is a mightly fine few examples of castles, draw bridges, portcullis & doors, traps, wagons, catapults and much more in this section. There are some very grand designs that incorporate many of the just mentioned too which really shows you how high and wide you can go with the medieval slant.

A World of Adventure – This one crosses slightly with the last two chapters as we enter the land of Pirates, Vikings, not to mention the jungle scene. You’ll also discover a few wild animals and robots. Yes robots seems a bit of a leap considering the previous material in this section, but whether they found their home here or in the Out of This World section doesn’t really seem to matter too much.

Make and Keep – Those who like Lego but also like to keep their feet on the ground and stay practical in their lives make take a shine to this section (as will fans of Blue Peter). Pencil holders, display units, picture frames, mosaics, chess boards, you name it – they are sure you can make it. Have to say the Lego Chess Set looks quite appealing!

Each chap opens with a layout of bricks commonly used in each area. All named, and nicely laid out on the page. Each chapter ends with a MEET THE BUILDER piece about an actual Lego creator and some of the wonderful designs they have built. A real highlight is the Days of Yore guy who created what looks like a kingdom!

Looking at the finer details – We get a nice look at the Lego Brick at the start of the book. There is also a guide on how to use the book which is handy, and instrumental for any potential buyer to know about first.

The working guide presents the method of the book using for each model a Main photo, an alternative design and even a construction snap guide. The last of these is the most important as it is key to how to build that actual design. But readers should know this is not a step by step guide. You literally only get a few real life shots of each model – It is up to the sharp eye to pay attention to the designs on the page and the written text that accompanies them to figure out exactly what each model needs and how they go together. Remember this is an “Ideas” book, not a recipe guide. Methods get more difficult to suss out as the models get bigger, but a logical mind paying attention to the details in the text and the images should be able to work it out for themselves

There are also some great tips at the start too concerning your models including research (Real life is always a great place to start!); Stability, creativity and even playability. All just a few of the tips to think about when creating your own Lego sets.

Good book then? For sure!

The LEGO® Ideas Book is published by DK. RRP: £16.99,.

www.dk.com

Steven Hurst