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Brick Breakdown: Minecraft Ender Dragon

by Thita (admin) on December 12, 2014

(Written by William)

In this Brick Breakdown series I review official LEGO sets, from the perspective of looking at interesting building techniques we can all learn from. Today we will be looking at the #21117 LEGO Minecraft The Ender Dragon. You can also check out the previously discussed LEGO techniques found in official LEGO sets at the end of this article. 🙂

Having played the addictive game of Minecraft, I was excited when the LEGO Minecraft Microworld sets were released. However the original LEGO Minecraft sets are only miniature versions of the Minecraft landscape, and I always felt it was a shame not to have LEGO sets in regular minifigure scale. Thankfully, LEGO realized the potential and we now have a full-sized line of our hero Steve and the hazards he must face.

We have talked about the new line of minifig-size LEGO Minecraft sets in previous previews and reviews (see: Minifig-Scale LEGO Minecraft Sets Review, and New LEGO Minecraft Sets Now Available!), but I also wanted to do a Brick Breakdown on them. From the six new sets the one that caught my attention the most was the #21117 LEGO Minecraft The Ender Dragon, so this is what I decided to assemble first. Boy, were there a lot of basic bricks in this set! But it makes perfect sense when you consider what the game looks like. The real question though was, “Are there any cool techniques to learn from the set?” Well, let’s find out…

➡ LEGO GRAVITY MECHANISM

It’s a well-known fact that gravity works, but sometimes we try to build a LEGO creation that defies it to make something impressive. However most of the time gravity actually helps to create something cool. For example, in some of my own builds I’ve used gravity to make sure something hangs correctly and can swing freely. In the LEGO Minecraft The Ender Dragon set this idea is taken one step further by adding in a seesaw device right in the middle of the dragon’s body.

#21117 LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon Details

It’s obvious that if you hang a large wing on one side of the seesaw and nothing on the other, the wing will be heavier. Now place this empty side in the middle of a closed area and build a small box that can push it down. The end result is a slick push-button mechanism that gives the wings a flapping action (see video below). It is kind of hard to reconcile how cool this mechanism works with how simple it is to make. With just a little creativity, this concept can be applied to a wide range of LEGO creations. However, you have to remember how gravity works; turn the dragon upside down and the whole process is ruined.

➡ CONNECTIONLESS LEGO DESIGN

The button in the above mentioned gravity mechanism is amazing, so I wasn’t expecting to see another connectionless design in the same set. Nevertheless, the crystals at the top of each pillar are not fastened to anything. The idea is that the crystal will glow when the dragon is near, however light-up bricks can get pricey. So LEGO gives you only one pillar that can light up, but this makes the other pillars rather dull. However if you don’t connect any of them, then it becomes a simple task to swap them around.

The key to this design is the ability to create a shaft system. Essentially instead of using a stud and tube system to securely connect things, you are enlarging the entire process and treating the elements like a peg and hole system. This is of course not the only way to have a connectionless design; just look at the button on the dragon’s back we talked about before. In that design it is about filling up the space and adding something like the modified plate with hook to prevent the free-floating element from falling out. Whereas here we have a locked version of the connectionless design, which works great for elements that may not have the luxury of always being upright – like a sliding door/rail or something that hangs.

➡ APPLYING WHAT YOU LEARN

If you do plan to experiment with a gravity mechanism, it is important to know where to make certain elements of the mechanism to stop. Generally the goal is to control the movement to create a specific outcome. If you fail to limit some of the movement, it may cause problems in the design later. A good example of this is the wings on the dragon – they do not have full range of movement. As for a connectionless design, it often depends on what you want that design to accomplish. If you are looking for something that swaps out easy and your creation is always upright, then creating a shaft system may work best. However if you are planning something really involved, you will likely need more planning; understand how much space is used and how to use this knowledge to lock your elements in a certain configuration.

While the #21117 LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon looks a little plain compared to the other new LEGO Minecraft sets, you can see that it in fact has some really cool and quite advanced features. If you are interested in any of the LEGO Minecraft sets they are available at the Online LEGO Shop.

So what do you think? How do you like the new LEGO Minecraft sets? Have you had a chance to build any of them? Did you learn from the interesting building techniques used in the LEGO Minecraft Ended Dragon set? Feel free to share your own experiences and tips, or ask questions in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the other reviews in this series:

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LEGO commercial to inspire imagination

by Thita (admin) on December 11, 2014

in Other News & Updates

There is a really nice commercial that LEGO released recently and has been shared numerously on social networks in the past couple of weeks. It is titled: Inspire Imagination and Keep Building. You can watch it below. 🙂

LEGO has been appreciated as one of the most creative, versatile and durable toys by many generations. Parents and grandparents, who themselves grew up with the brand, are handing down their own collections to their children and grandchildren. And many people continue using LEGO as a creative hobby or artistic medium their entire lives. LEGO is almost always on top of children’s birthday and Christmas wish-list, and adults are happy to get LEGO sets as gifts because they know the building blocks will be used and reused many times – instead of being discarded and forgotten like fad-based or pre-made toys.

In fact those little LEGO bricks can teach us from an early age very important skills that we can use our entire lives. Things like breaking down complex problems into basic elements then solving them step-by-step, or conceptualizing ideas that we see in our imagination. No wonder that many of the most brilliant minds today have grown up building with LEGO – be that architects, engineers, programmers, designers, and more. Some people use LEGO to express themselves only as children, while others continue throughout their lives. And thanks to the power of the internet to connect people, both kids and adults can now share with others what they have built though various picture sharing sites, social networks and forums. They can bounce off ideas of each other, learn new building techniques and in general keep the hobby extremely dynamic.

In the commercial above the little girl says: “I don’t always want you to help me. Do you know why? I want to figure it out on my own. Even when it doesn’t turn out the way I want. I know it’s not wrong. Because you taught to me how to think and how to dream. I’m about to make something that I know will make you proud.” – I think this is a timeless message we can all relate to. Even in such rapidly changing times, our basic need to understand the world around us, to find our own place, and to share and contribute something ourselves, are the same as it has always been for generations before our own.

While this video is advertisement for the LEGO Disney Princess and LEGO Friends sets, it is not focused on selling the sets, but the experience – brilliant advertising right there. I’m also really impressed with the filming, and how the commercial captures the way children naturally play. They are not yet brainwashed by brand-loyalty and pre-made ideas that suffocates the creativity of adults. So it is perfectly all right to put LEGO in your bubble-bath, have stuffed animals as the heroes, use pillows and bed-sheets to set the scene, and paper and string to make a parachute. Or even incorporate the help of live test-subjects. For the child there is a whole dramatic story unfolding, while adults would only see a big mess. Kind of reminds me of a certain character at the end of The LEGO Movie. 🙄

What do you think? How do you like this LEGO commercial? Do you ever combine your LEGO creations with non-LEGO props or characters? Or do you use LEGO as functional items to enhance your surroundings? Feel free to share in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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Brick Breakdown: Minecraft Ender Dragon

LEGO commercial to inspire imagination

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