Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against!

by Ulrik Pilegaard, Mike Dooley

It just may be impossible to exhaust the creative potential of LEGO bricks. With an active imagination as your guide, there are endless possibilities-provided you follow the LEGO Company's official (and sensible) rules. This means no cutting or tampering with bricks, creating models that shoot unapproved projectiles, or using non-standard parts with any LEGO product. After all, those little precision-molded ABS bricks can be dangerous in the wrong hands! Well, toss those rules out the window.

Forbidden Lego introduces you to the type of free-style building that LEGO's master builders do for fun in the back room. Using LEGO bricks in combination with common household materials (from rubber bands and glue to plastic spoons and ping-pong balls) along with some very unorthodox building techniques, you'll learn to create working models that LEGO would never endorse. Try your hand at a toy gun that shoots LEGO plates, a candy catapult, a high voltage LEGO vehicle, a continuous-fire ping-pong ball launcher, and other useless but incredibly fun inventions.

Once you get into the spirit, you'll want to try inventing your own rule-breaking models. Forbidden Lego's authors, share tips and tricks that will inspire you and help you turn your visions into reality. Nothing's against the rules in this book!

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

186 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was brought up on Lego - my grandmother would buy us Lego kits for when we went on holiday slowly over the years expanding our collection. Then when I was old enough I would pick up the love for the plastic brick and carry it forward. There have been many changes to the complexity and range of bricks over the year but my joy of building has never diminished.

so when I saw this book I had to find out more. You have here is a series of detailed instructions to build models Lego would (and probably never will) agree to make. Now these models do have risks and they are intended for older more experienced builders but these are not killing machines (paper plane launcher, candy catapult etc.) however they do break Lego rules and that is what I find fascinating.

This book really is out there to encourage free thinking and a little bit of a rebel. The instructions are great and delivered with a tongue in cheek sense of humour I think we all could do with more of. So a great book and certainly its given me a few ideas

[Petr · Rating 3 out of 5]

EN/CZ
The authors expose the how new models come into existence at the LEGO headquarters but they also describe what is the thought process behind creating a new model. I haven't build a set in a long while but this resonated with so many of my experiences and it reminded me about my old builder times it made me wish I would have a set at hand right now. But it also reminded me of general problem solving, all the types of work I do as a developer, researcher or product manager. The research of a topic, prototyping, bringing a vision into the world, optimization, improvisation, desing, problem decomposition. Lego taught me all this without me actually realizing it. This book made me realize it.

All the LEGO projects have a short introduction that explains also the problems the project faced and thus deepen the learning experience. Sadly, there are only five projects and they all focus mainly on launching things with the exception of an all terrain LEGO car suspension. All of the models are primarily functional and not design oriented (as opposed to other books about LEGO models).


CZ:
Celkem krátká knížka s pěti technickými LEGO modely, které jsou hlavně o vrhání věcí někam. Co je však úžasné je úvod, který popisuje jak to v LEGU funguje, když se vymýšlí modely a také explicitně jmenuje, co vše se člověk stavěním LEGA učí - design, improvizace, optimalizace, konstrukci, realizace vizí, prototypování, plánování...

[Robert]

this seems like an amazing book, more for the older people, children may get hurt, lol. i remember making cars and trucks, but now im older, thats boring, this is the book you get when you want to make the fun stuff.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fabulous book, but hard to find all the pieces to carry out the plans.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lack of proper Lego ownership does not diminish the enjoyment of reading the authors' unique mixture of dry wit and Nordic economy.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful about how Lego decides what to release and what is not "Lego Safe" - and how to build things that side-step those rules entirely. Some very ingenious devices.

[RDB]

Full of lego weaponry that works and brakes official Lego rules, this book is great!!!!!

[Abraham Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

not the best (lot's of picture, not enough words for my taste)

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lame.