Cult of Lego members seek out only authentic elements when selecting Lego pieces to use in their builds, and will avoid using stickers that come pre-stickered from the factory.

Referring to LEGO elements with numbers written on their undersides as their unique ID or Element Numbers for use in instruction manuals and online search tools such as Bricklink, Brickset and Brickowl.

Design ID

Lego bricks feature bumps known as “studs,” which serve to connect other LEGO pieces together and identify elements when ordering additional parts or borrowing someone’s spare.

LUG (LEGO Users Groups) are local or regional LEGO groups which meet in person or online; while RLUGs, or registered LEGO User Groups, are officially recognized by Lego as LUGs.

LMN: Lego Metal Nerd – This term refers to LEGO enthusiasts who are extremely knowledgeable about all the components that comprise their sets and their properties, often writing MOC instructions for sets they have created themselves.

NPU: Outstanding Part Use – An appreciation for how a builder has used an element in their MOC.

LMN: Lego Metal Nerd is an immensely popular YouTube channel offering Lego building tutorials. Their videos are both educational and entertaining; many even feature humorous comments from their narrator! A fantastic resource for any LEGO fan!

Element Number

LEGO element numbers consist of 6- or 7-digit numbers printed on their bottom; these represent their element number assigned by the manufacturer based on design considerations. Each number corresponds with protons, neutrons and electrons within an element’s atom and serve to indicate its atomic weight in periodic tables.

Cheese Slope – This Lego piece 26047 sloped element with 33 degree angles measures one stud long by one stud wide and two plates high (or 2/3 of a brick), drawing inspiration from its likeness to cheese wedges.

KFOLs (Kid Fans of LEGOs) – Children who are the primary target audience for LEGO products and are considered its biggest fans; due to COPPA regulations, many online LEGO fan sites do not permit KFOLs.

Bricklink – Bricklink is the go-to website among adult fan of LEGO (AFOLs) for purchasing elements and minifigures in bulk quantities, often considered addictive by some.

Colour Number

Lego elements each possess their own three-digit color number to identify them uniquely, starting at 1 for white pieces and proceeding through to 298, the latter of which indicates it requires specific coating processes in order to attain its finished form. For example, drum lacquered 1×1 plates require specific paint processes as indicated by their colour number 2988 indicating specific colours needed to produce finished pieces.

LEGO sets continue to expand in terms of colors. By 2004, their palette reached 110 hues; this growth was due to themed sets like Castle and Town that required distinctive combinations not found elsewhere in traditional sets.

Rebrickable site administrator Jared Hinton has spent years carefully cataloguing and preserving LEGO colors. This research has enabled him to understand how LEGO prioritizes their palette – such as when in 2003 they added brown skin tones for certain minifigures like Lando Calrissian; this change addressed complaints that yellow faces lacked representation of people with light complexions.

Size

The standard unit for Lego pieces, the “stud,” measures 5/16 of an inch or 7.9375mm in diameter; this measurement distinguishes an official Lego piece from other copies as Lego’s tolerances are very tight.

Studs are standard Lego pieces which connect to other LEGO pieces both top and bottom, enabling LEGO bricks to form larger creations such as cars, buildings and robots by joining together like this. Additional parts that use studs as connections include wheels, car screens and plants.

Lego bricks are constructed using an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic that’s similar to what’s used to make eyeglass frames and provides an exceptionally durable construction material. But, recently the Lego Group has begun searching for more sustainable raw material derived from sugar cane. They recently introduced polyethene leaves from sustainable sugar cane sources for some green leaves in their product lineup.

Why do Lego sets have extra minifigures?

Many have asked why Lego sets often include extra pieces. The answer lies within their purpose; extra pieces serve as a safeguard to ensure there are enough small elements in each set and do not get misplaced during packaging, shipping or opening the set – something Lego understands can be upsetting for customers so they always add an extra piece or two in case someone misplaces something from their set.

These extra bags contain smaller pieces like 1×1 bricks and studs that must fit within a set. Once weighed, Lego adds extra bags until there are sufficient numbers in a set to reach that number.

Technic sets with multiple stages require special consideration when counting small pieces accurately – especially when they’re packed away in bags. Accurate counting of small parts is hard when they’re hidden inside large stage bags! For this reason, these sets often include an extra bag full of smaller parts in each large stage bag to aid counting accuracy.