(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 #76025 LEGO Super Heroes Green Lantern vs. Sinestro. You can also check out the previously discussed LEGO techniques found in official LEGO sets at the end of this article. 🙂

It’s hard to believe that it took this long to get Green Lantern in a LEGO set that is more available than the super rare 2012 Comic Con exclusive. Thankfully he’s finally here and ready to join the ranks of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. The Justice League is definitely shaping up nicely. And Green Lantern is not the only cool minifigure in this $20 set. We also get the classic villain Sinestro, and a very different looking Batman. You may notice Batman’s wings look sometimes folded and other times open. This is because he has two soft plastic wings that can be interchanged. As for techniques, we’re going to look at an underappreciated piece, and a technique we talked about before, but this time it will be used in a slightly different manner in order to show its versatility.

➡ FLEXIBLE RUBBER LEGO TECHNIC CONNECTOR

It is hard to miss a rubbery element in a box filled with hard plastic. To some, this piece looks like a modified log brick, while others see a way to connect two axles parallel. Still others want to use its flexibility as a type of springy rubber band. However, it should be noted that this piece has another name: “damper”. It’s with this name in mind that we see how the piece used here.

Essentially one end is connected to an axle while the other side is left free. Then you proceed to build the vehicle around it. It never connects to anything else in the set, but it has a very unique purpose; its rubbery sides have a minor amount of sticking power when you rub anything against it. The small amount of traction is used to damper the movement of a piece that would otherwise swing free. This helps the mechanism stay solidly in place while at the same time allowing it to still move freely.

What this does is allows you to suspend parts or assemblies in mid-rotation that would otherwise be unable to do stay that way. This is because the traction it provides can hold some weight. So if you ever find you are building something that just moves too quickly, you might want to try incorporating this nifty piece.

➡ INVERTED GRAVITY CATCH

Now we are all familiar with how gravity affects our creations; remove a support from underneath and parts fall down. This is the basis for nearly every trap-door action LEGO includes in their sets. Then there is also the gravity mechanism that we have seen in the #21117 LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon set (see link at the end of this post to that review). In the LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon the weight of the wings were sufficient to push a button up, therefore when you pressed the button down the wings would turn up. This is another simple but effective use of gravity.

And here we see the same technique used as a catch. The containment-unit for the lantern core is a very straight forward approach to this technique. The first step is to have a piece that will fall on its own. This is accomplished with a plate with two pin connections and a half cylinder panel that is heavier on one side than the other. This assembly is then given a catch. It’s roughly “L” shaped with the corner of the L resting and preventing the panel from falling over. The only trick is hinging the catch so it only moves upwards. Throw in a dish that looks like a target and you got a clever little design.

➡ APPLYING WHAT YOU LEARN

The rubbery LEGO Technic connector is undoubtedly a strange little piece. Between the way it looks and feels, it has a whole different set of properties that normal elements don’t have. For this reason you may want to experiment with it to find new ways to make this part work for you.

It’s sometimes said that what you don’t see is what makes something great. For LEGO creations that something is often the battle with gravity. However, techniques that utilize gravity show us that there is room to integrate and take advantage of something that we normally fight against.

So what do you think? How do you like this LEGO Super Heroes Green Lantern set? Have you had a chance to build it? Did you learn from the interesting building techniques used in the sets? 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:

• Brick Breakdown: LEGO UCS Tumbler
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Minecraft The Cave
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Santa’s Workshop
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Ideas Exo Suit
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Ideas Research Institute
• Brick Breakdown: Emmet’s Contruct-O-Mech
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Forest Animals
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO King’s Castle
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Cinderella’s Castle
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO MetalBeard’s Sea Cow
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO MetalBeard’s Duel
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Minecraft Sets
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Disney Princess Sets
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Back to the Future DeLorean
• Brick Breakdown: The LEGO Movie Ice Cream Truck
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Parisian Restaurant
• Brick Breakdown: The LEGO Movie Flying Flusher
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO The Hobbit Dol Guldur Battle
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Winter Village Cottage
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Winter Village Market
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lord of the Rings Council of Elrond
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lord of the Rings Pirate Ship Ambush
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Ninjago Golden Dragon
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Superman Black Zero Escape
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Tower of Orthanc
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO City Dump Truck
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Monster Fighters Ghost Train
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lone Ranger Silver Mine Shootout
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lone Ranger Constitution Train Chase
• Brick Breakdown: Ninjago Temple of Light
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lone Ranger Colby City Showdown
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lone Ranger Comanche Camp
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Lone Ranger Stagecoach
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Star Wars AT-RT
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Arkham Asylum Part 1
• Brick Breakdown: LEGO Arkham Asylum Part 2
• Brick Breakdown: Legends of Chima Polybags