Adding lights to your LEGO creations is one of the most satisfying ways to bring them to life. Whether it be a police-car with flashing lights, a fireplace with flickering flames, or a LEGO City with warmly glowing streetlights, lit up LEGO models really stand out and get the attention of even non-LEGO fans. There are basic light-bricks that LEGO offers, and there are also third-party options we have discussed previously (see links at the end of this post), but the undisputed highest quality and most versatile LEGO compatible light-kits come from a company called BrickStuff.
BrickStuff is a family-run business from Minnesota focusing on providing sophisticated light-kits to LEGO fans. If you want to light up your LEGO Modular Buildings, LEGO City, LEGO spaceships, LEGO trains, or make Darth Vader’s lightsaber light up, you can do all of that and more with the BrickStuff lighting system.
What makes BrickStuff lights so unique is that they are very-very tiny – so small in fact that you can place them inside LEGO’s smallest 1×1 elements. And the wires connecting the modules are so thin that you can run them between LEGO elements with no problem. Tiny LED lights doesn’t mean dim or flimsy though. In fact I temporarily blinded myself playing with them while preparing to write this review. Another important aspect of the BrickStuff light system is that all component are fully compatible and work together. So you could begin with a starter kit, then add more modules to it later if and when you have the need.
The BrickStuff lighting system includes a power-source (this can be a battery-box, power-adapter, or even an adapter to a LEGO Power Functions system), various length connecting cables, adapter-boards for connecting the lights in a variety of configurations, light-boards which contain the LED lights (these could be single lights or strips). The LED lights themselves come in a variety of colors including white, yellow, orange, red, blue, green, and ultraviolet. The lights can be used as they are, or controlled by a Lighting Effect Controller that provides 12 different pre-programmed light-patterns: On/Off with Selectable Dimming, Flicker (perfect for fireplaces, torches, and campfires), Pulse, Glimmer, Jet Engines, Airport Runway-Style Pulsing, Flash, Single Strobe, Double Strobe, Blinkylights (perfect for elaborate control panels), Laser Cannon, and Cannon with Explosion. For each of the effects you can fully control the speed and intensity.
While you don’t need to know electronics to use the BrickSuff lighting system, as the components simply snap together, you do have to plan out how you want to light up your creation, because that will effect which components you need. The BrickStuff website is very well organized showing all the different product categories and individual products (see here). Still, if you have never worked with lights before, it could get a little overwhelming to figure out what you need. So my suggestion is that you first get a starter kit, as they provide all the modules you need to light up your LEGO creation, and once you familiarize yourself with how things work, you can purchase individual components you need more of.
BrickStuff offers three starter kits. The first one features light-strips great for inside buildings, the second tiny single lights that you can thread through pretty much anything, and the third one the same tiny lights with lighting effects. While all of them will give you everything to start working with lights, I highly recommend the Lighting Effect Starter Kit as that is the most versatile and it includes that awesome Lighting Effect Controlled I mentioned above. It is a bit more expensive than the other two, but it gives you the most options. You can find all the starter kits here.
Brickstuff also provides ideas and guides to get you started. In the BrickStuff Ideas Gallery you can find pictures and videos about how other people lit up their LEGO creations. And in the BrickStuff Guides section there are detailed product guides, and even step-by step instructions on how to light up popular LEGO sets like the LEGO Winter Village sets and the LEGO Modular Buildings. In addition BrickStuff has a dedicated YouTube channel with more tips and tricks on how to use their kits.
If you would like to light up your LEGO creations, BrickStuff is really top of the line. Their light kits may be more expensive that other options, there is really no comparison as far as quality and versatility. There are no other lights that are this small, this versatile and have such incredibly tiny components that can be incorporated into pretty much any LEGO model. I would like to mention though that because of the small size and sophisticated system, BrickStuff lights are not for children. They are meant for older teens and adults who want to have the best system money can buy and who work with the tiny parts carefully.
I hope you found this review about BrickStuff’s products helpful. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section below. I will do my best to answer them based on my own experience with the light kit that I have, and I can also invite Robert from BrickStuff to respond if you like. 😉
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