While I was recently browsing BrickLink.com, I found a very interesting product that I thought to share with you. As you probably know already, BrickLink is the Unofficial Online LEGO Marketplace where you can find everything LEGO ever produced; be that LEGO elements, instructions, minifigs, original boxes, gift items and more. Many people don’t know thought that BrickLink also has a Custom Items section where people sell LEGO related accessories. It is a really interesting place to browse for unusual items, and here is where I found what I wanted to show you today: LEGO Minecraft themed baseplates! 🙂
I never saw these LEGO Minecraft baseplates before, but I thought they would be perfect for the LEGO Minecraft sets, and I wanted to learn more about them. So I contacted the store owner, Paul. He told me that the baseplates (he calls them “slabs”) are made of an extra thick plastic, so they don’t bend or bow like LEGO’s baseplates tend to do. The baseplates are white, and then a patented process is used to paint the patterns on the top. He said the paint is very durable and does not come off even after regular use. This made me even more interested, and Paul kindly sent me one.
These LEGO Minecraft baseplates are 12 x 12 inches, or 38 x 38 studs. The studs are fully compatible with LEGO and other similar building blocks. The studs are a perfect fit; LEGO bricks, plates, or minifigs you place on them fit just fine and won’t fall off. I have also tried attaching large plates and bricks, as if there is any miniscule discrepancy in the size or placement of the studs it may not show up on small surfaces, but would in larger ones, but everything fit perfectly well. And LEGO DUPLO bricks fit as well.
And yes, the paint appears to be very strong. It is only painted on the surface of the slab and the top of the studs, so attaching and detaching LEGO elements won’t cause any harm even after repeated use. Maybe after seriously rough play for a long period of time the surface may scratch, but I have tried to scrape off the paint and couldn’t.
Another interesting feature of these LEGO Minecraft baseplates is that they have a lip on two of the four sides. This allows the plates to overlap and create a smooth, even surface. The corners are also sharp instead of rounded, for the same reason; to be able to create a larger unbroken surface. You can use them to cover the top of a play-table or even as a base for wall-mosaics. And of course you can also use them alone if you like.
The bottom of the LEGO Minecraft baseplates has a waffle pattern to give them extra strength and durability, as you can see on the picture below. You can’t attach LEGO elements to the bottom, but this is the case with regular LEGO baseplates as well.
Paul currently offers three different kind of patterns for LEGO Minecraft fans: one with tan and brown colors, the other is tan and green colors, and the third is red and yellow colors. The colors are pretty close to LEGO’s own color palette. In addition to these, he also carries the same LEGO compatible baseplates in solid colors like white, yellow, red, green, blue, tan and black. These are great alternatives for those who are looking for large sturdy baseplates for their LEGO projects. And as I have mentioned, these are also excellent for covering play-tables, and creating surfaces for mosaics. They are much sturdier than LEGO’s own baseplates and I really can’t find anything negative to say about them.
I have to say I really like these baseplates, especially the ones with the Minecraft pattern. I’m a big LEGO Minecraft fan and have all of the LEGO Minecraft Micro World and several of the minifigs size sets as well. The pixelated pattern on the baseplates is 2×2 studs, so it especially fits well the minifig size LEGO Minecraft sets, as they are based on the same pixel size. You can find all the LEGO Minecraft sets at the Online LEGO Shop.
If you are interested in these LEGO Minecraft baseplates, or the solid color slabs, Paul has a store on BrickLink called PaulMartStore where he sells them (just click on the link and look under the Custom Items tab once you are in the store). The baseplates with the Minecraft pattern are $19.99 and the solid color baseplates are $14.99. Paul also sells the baseplates on eBay if you prefer to shop there: PaulMartStore on eBay. And you can also find him on Amazon, where he also sells the plates (search for “slab” once you are in the store): PaulMartStore on Amazon
If you have any questions about these custom LEGO baseplates that I haven’t covered above just let me know. Also, if you have any questions for Paul, you can post those here as well and I will make sure he sees them. So how do you like these custom LEGO baseplates? And what do you think of the ones with the Minecraft pattern? What other patterns would you like to see? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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This is interesting. I could see some good uses for it and it I really like the Minecraft design. You said in the article that the tops are coated with the design, not the side of the studs. One one of the pictures this is pretty clear as the studs look white from a side angle, but on the other pictures they look like an even color. Does this just have to do with the angle from which you are looking at them?
The slabs are painted post production. The process of painting from the top allows for best quality of paint color and paint that does not come off. Since the paint is post production, the sides of the studs are going to be the base slab color (white).
If you are looking at the baseplates from the sides you will see the white. However from pretty much every other angle than from straight from the side, the entire surface appears to be covered. It’s actually pretty cool. Not having paint on the side of the studs is great because it won’t scrape off.
Nice. This is a cool and unique idea, and I like it!
I love these. The manufacturer is Slab Dream Lab (www.slabdreamlab)
They can put any picture you can come up with on the slabs – outer space, moonscape, jungle, etc.
They are durable and much more usable than the Lego base plateds
These seem perfect for me, as I will have some displays I wont’ be able to keep “out” all the time, particularly my carinval / circus/ theme park.
These “vertical” motifs, such as outer space and jungle feels a bit misdirected though. They make sense if you attach the baseplate to a wall, but they’d look off if used as a regular horizontal baseplate. A regular moon map with craters and dunes would make more sense.
This is a great site (www.slabdreamlab.com) to get some really durable and innovative themes – great quality and creative design that really resonates with Kids.
Really cool idea, allows kids to expand their creations beyond the small squares lego produces. if you have young kids, definitely worth buying.
Great idea! My only note of concern is that they are 38×38 studs, which doesn’t line up very well with LEGO’s baseplates. So if you wanted to put some of LEGO’s alongside these, you’d have to substitute normal plates in between to fill in the gaps. (I might add that LEGO plates are thicker than baseplates – a complication.)
Also, I’m having a financial dilemma again. The Nindroid MechDragon is now on sale at half-price ($45!), and though I would really like to get it, I still have not gotten a Bug Obliterator, which is currently about the same price on Bricklink. I can’t decide which to get – or should I get both and skip 2015 sets? Not that I want to do that either. 😕 🙁
I should have mentioned this in my review but these are actually neither a baseplate or a plate high, but somewhere in between. So you can’t really just put a baseplate or regular plate next to it to fill in the gaps, as you said.
As far as your financial dilemma, that’s a tough one as both of those are excellent sets. I would probably go with the Bug Obliterator because that’s the oldest of the sets and the older it becomes the more likely prices will star to climb back up. You will have time for the MechDragon, although at half price it is hard to beat. I would love to tell you to just get both, but I don’t know what else you want to get this year. I know you mentioned some Ultra Agents, but I can’t remember what else…
Inequality of heights could be a problem, especially for larger displays utilizing both LEGO baseplates and the slabs. But I think if these are in-between, then one should be able to use plates to connect the slabs and baseplates, even though the plates will be at an angle. But it should work.
If I had to get one of the sets, I think the Obliterator would be my choice. The only reason I really want the MechDragon is Garmadon and Nya’s car. I think my biggest problem is trying to have my parents in the right mood when I ask them to help me buy it (since I can’t buy online), as they’re rather stressed these days. 😕 As far as 2015 sets, I want too many to count, but of Ultra Agents I will be getting Invizible Gold Getaway. 😉
Budgeting is becoming a real serious issue for LEGO fans. It has always been, but with LEGO ramping up production with so many great sets, it is becoming increasingly difficult both to choose and also to stay within budget. There is such a thing as being overwhelmed by too many good things and too many choices. It would be a good topic for an article. I don’t have an all-encompassing solution, I could share with how I deal with it and open up the topic for discussion.
That would be an interesting read for sure. =)
Oh wow! These are great. I really never like unofficial stuff but these are very awesome, and I would love to have about 6 to make landscaping easier and more detailed and beautiful. I didn’t see a beach one, that would be great!!!
There’s one in “Sand”. Might be too dark, though.
Also there’s one “Caribbean Island”.