The fan community often discusses illegal LEGO techniques – but what are they, do they matter and should you use them in your builds?
Graham E. Hancock (Editor of Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine for fans) asks Daniel Konstanski (author of The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks) about illegal LEGO techniques – can you really be arrested for using LEGO bricks incorrectly?
Daniels clears up some misconceptions, explains why illegal techniques exist, how they link to connector pairs and illustrates some examples of what are considered illegal connections. Sharing some examples, he demonstrates what the illegal versions of connections are and what the legal versions are.
You can read the full feature on illegal techniques in Issue 128 of Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine for fans, available to buy now.
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“As far as the LEGO Group is concerned, for fans there is no such things as an illegal building technique full stop,” says Daniel. “That being said, it is something that is an actual thing within the LEGO Group. There are outlawed techniques and ways of attaching bricks together that are – forbidden maybe sounds like a little bit of an extreme word – but they are.
“They are not allowed to be included in sets and through the review process that all the sets go through before they are put on shelves anything that does not meet this strict criteria will be removed from the set. Whether it’s a function or just a detail or some fundamental part of the build, those will be weeded out as part of the review process.”
LEGO building techniques may be considered illegal because they cause elements to be connected too tightly, they cause elements to be connected too loosely, they will be damaged if used in that particular way. Fans can use their elements however they like, the stringent rules only apply to those who work for the LEGO Group in a professional capacity.
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