Those relative few of you on Google’s cellular network business Project Fi should be receiving an odd package in the mail this week. What’s inside, you might ask? Why, LEGO bricks, of course. A set of LEGO* bricks that, when put together correctly, create a phone stand for your device. Encouragement for the next generation of Google-made smartphones is also included in the box in the form of a USB-C to USB Standard A Plug Cable. *UPDATE: It’s become VERY apparent that this box does not actually include LEGO-branded building bricks. A couple of the photos we’d been looking at had LEGO bricks added to the mix, while most bricks have their own “Fi” branding. Google is sending a box of bricks they’ve made themselves, not LEGO – though, as you can see, they fit with the LEGO bricks just fine. We might expect the USB-C cord to be a reminder not to purchase off-brand or lesser-brand cables, especially since some newer cables haven’t been up-to-snuff as of late. Project Fi: is it right for you?
This cord is a fairly standard length – just long enough to reach a nightstand top from your wall outlet – basically the same cable you get if you purchase a Nexus 6P. Since the Nexus 5X does not come with a cable such as this, it’s possible Google is pushing the connection to everyone that doesn’t yet have a Nexus 6P (or whatever comes next). The LEGO bricks are delivered in some relatively non-standard colors, coming in the green, blue, and yellow (and white) of Google’s Project Fi branding. Connect them to drop your phone in a fancy stand beside your couch. Google adds the message “Thanks for your support. Let’s build on this.” as well. The photos you see above come from the Google+ Project Fi group.Come Play With Us! Bricks & Minifigs® is your one-stop LEGO® shop! We are the largest toy store of our kind, specializing in only new and used LEGO® items. We buy and trade all things LEGO®, from tubs of bulk to storage unit sized collections.
If it’s LEGO®, we’ll take it!!Enjoy our selection of individual minifigs, bulk bricks, components and accessories. With the largest assortment of new, used and retired sets we keep your collection growing! Bricks & Minifigs is built on the principle of the 3 R'sREBUILD with thousands of pieces to choose from ensuring you'll have those childhood sets rebuilt in no time.REUSE is our way or saying that we buy, sell and trade anything Lego brand and pay top dollar for it.REIMAGINE those sets you get from us by creating your own masterpiece straight from your imagination.For the Kinder Duplo confectionery product, see Kinder Chocolate. Duplo (trademarked as DUPLO) is a product range of the construction toy Lego, designed for children aged 1½ to 5 years old. Duplo bricks are twice the length, height and width of traditional Lego bricks, making them easier to handle and less likely to be swallowed by younger children. Despite their size, they are still compatible with traditional Lego bricks.
Initially launched in 1969, the Duplo range has gone on to include sets with figures, cars, houses and trains. Duplo is manufactured in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. Duplo bricks alongside a smaller red regular-sized Lego brick Duplo and regular-sized Lego compatibility demonstrated Duplo bricks were introduced in 1969, in four colors: red, yellow, blue, and white. The following year, two more sets were added with blue and red wheel plates. In the product catalog for 1971, the sets were described as being for children from 1 to 2 years, but were still sold mixed with Lego bricks, normally designed for ages 3 to 12. In 1972, the Duplo brick with two rows of two studs was introduced. In 1975, Duplo became its own product brand, with five sets made up exclusively of Duplo bricks. New additions included a round-topped two-by-two stud brick and a small four-wheeled wagon with two rows of six studs. With these new Duplo sets, Lego began targeting children 1½ years old with the intention that when the children became older, their Duplo bricks could be used together with regular Lego bricks.
In 1977, the Duplo name was dropped in favor of Lego Preschool. Small figures the size of two-by-two bricks were introduced, made up of a cylindrical head and a tapered, limbless body, similar in design to Fisher-Price's Little People. Another new brick was a half arch. The new sets included figures, doors, and two-by-six brick wagons that could act as a car or train. The name Duplo was brought back in 1979, along with a new reworked logo. Some brick sets were sold inside a plush version of the rabbit from the logo, that zipped closed. In 1983, other Duplo figures appeared, often called Duplo people. These figures have a moveable head, arms, and legs and look like large Lego minifigures, but cannot be taken apart, making them safer for small children. Also in 1983, set number 2700 was introduced with a model of a steam engine with two train cars. In 1986, a Duplo doll house with sliding doors was introduced. This included a Duplo people mother, father, and smaller child.
In 1992, Duplo Toolo was introduced. These used internal screws to stay together. 1993 brought a grey rail train system with a stop and start track. Later, two more train systems arrived. In 2005, Lego started selling Duplo trains themed as Thomas the Tank Engine. The name Duplo was dropped again in favor of Explore in 2002. In the 2004 spring catalog, there was a reminder that Duplo was now called Explore, but that fall the well-known Duplo name was back yet again with a new rabbit logo designed to match the new elephant logo for the Lego Quatro range. Lego have made Duplo sets licensed with Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends characters. Those Duplo ranges have been discontinued, but Duplo sets now include farm, zoo, town, castle, and pirate lines. A doll house and princess castle are available as of 2008. Some Duplo sets have cars, trucks, and buildings which cannot be disassembled. Some DUPLO sets do not include building manuals.Let’s face it, making realistic looking LEGO water is tough.
And a blue baseplate just doesn’t look as good as you might want. So what do you do? Well hopefully this post will help you next time you want your minifig to go for a swim. Let’s look at some LEGO water techniques and how we can make realistic looking LEGO water. (Click on any of the pictures to take you to the creator’s gallery.) This is one of the simpler LEGO water techniques, all you have to do is turn the LEGO bricks… sideways. Two great examples of SNOT water are Fort McHenry by Blake Baer, and Omaha Beach D-Day by Milan CMadge: The trick in both of these MOCs is making the colors of the LEGO bricks lighter, the closer to shore you get; signifying the ground underneath the water getting higher. If you have enough, you can use translucent 1×1 studs to give your LEGO water a sense of movement, like a mild river or something. Examples are Afghanistan River Fording by Chandler Parker, and Oasis by Nannan Zhang and The Legohaulic. (If you haven’t seen Oasis yet you should definitely check it out.):
➡ LEGO Water Technique #3: BLUE TRANSLUCENT TILES If you have enough translucent blue tiles you can make fairly believable LEGO water. This looks MUCH better than just a plain blue baseplate, and many people use this technique. For example, it is used in Pirates’ Remorse by Thoy Bradley; notice how he put darker LEGO pieces underneath the translucent tiles to make the water look deeper in some areas, and used 1×1 translucent studs for bubbles: This technique is also in Raid of Scone by Blake Baer; he used the same method but put some of the pieces in only halfway, giving it a bit of a wavy look. And check out MicroScale Island by Eggy Pop; his MOC show again that when building LEGO water the closer to shore you get, the lighter color the pieces need to be: But don’t think that this LEGO water technique is only for flat oceans or quiet rivers. The Surfer by tiberium_blue shows just how far this technique can go. ➡ LEGO Water Technique #4: CHEESE-SLOPES
By using blue (or white) translucent cheese-slopes you can give the tiles – you learned to use in the last technique – a nice current. A great example of this technique is Loggerhead Turtles on Studdington Beach by Jason Railton. Another rule of thumb for making LEGO water is when water isn’t in a collected mass – like when building waterfalls or tips of waves – to have clear (or white) pieces instead of blue translucent pieces, making the water look frothy. Here is another example of the cheese-slope technique; Waterfall Landscape by Thoy Bradley: ➡ LEGO Water Technique #5: TRANSLUCENT WHITE ON BLUE The final LEGO water technique is my favorite and (in my opinion) the most realistic; put a layer of translucent clear plates on top of a layer of blue bricks – just that easy! Here are some examples: Amon Hen by Blake Baer and Jake Bittner, and Hurricane Irene also by Blake Baer: Now the way to get the best results with all of these LEGO water techniques is finding the balance of mixing them together; f