Absolutely the BEST Elements

[Peppermint_M]

Excuse my enthusiasm but I have decided that what I really want to do is talk about my absolute favourite LEGO Elements. I also want to see what parts you like and why. There are thousands upon thousands of parts out there, from big to tiny. There are no right or wrong reasons to like elements, nor do they have to be "worthy" reasons to enjoy them. I just want to spread some positive vibes.

Now to bore you all with my favourites 

The pointed wedge. Especially in this metallic colour. They look great, they have sharp lines that look excellent in contrast to the flatter planes of the older wedge/slopes, or the curves of the alternate types. I stick them on spaceships, I put them on aircraft and I work them in to racing cars. 

 Very basic plant/leaf. I have this and the larger version in many colours and will spend hours creating foliage. Trees, climbing plants or just some very overgrown spaces are some of my favourite things to just build; never with any goal in mind more often than not. I have not shared many of those creations as they are never a complete MOC. However, I always chase the ideal of a natural looking plant, or an alien but still recognisable arboreal build.

Tail, Rounded Top - The airplane tail from my childhood. I had Baron Von Baron's Bi-Wing plane and have loved planes since I was a small child, so MOCs of planes have long featured in my creative history. This tail, either plain or the printed versions, was used in many a creation that spent an afternoon swooshing around my bedroom and the house.  

 Favourite printed map, hands down.

 

Maybe I will add more later. but these are the top picks.

Anyone want to join in?

[Darkdragon]

Wow, this is great. I am really going to have to give this some thought.  I agree on that map though! 100%

[JintaiZ]

Favorite printed part? I'll have to go with the Tile 1x4 with Solar Panels ;)

And favorite regular part? The iconic 2x4 brick!

(Images from Toypro)

 

[KotZ]

I love that map, too. I have at least one copy in my collection somewhere.

I'm gonna go crazy, but one of my favorite parts is the BURP/LURP. Leys it is big and ugly. But you can do a lot with it to dress it up. It gives structure and stability, and all it njeeds is some additions to really help.

[JintaiZ]

36 minutes ago, KotZ said:

I love that map, too. I have at least one copy in my collection somewhere.

I'm gonna go crazy, but one of my favorite parts is the BURP/LURP. Leys it is big and ugly. But you can do a lot with it to dress it up. It gives structure and stability, and all it njeeds is some additions to really help.

When it's covered with other studs I don't think it's ugly at all.

[AmperZand]

@Peppermint_M, Are minifigure parts out of scope?

If not, I’m going to go with the minifigure head (in yellow of course), torso assembly and leg assembly. I remember when they came out and thinking how brilliant they were. Still do, actually. Also, body parts for variant minifigures like short legs, yellowy elf ear/hair and Medusa hair.

If so, I would say the masonry brick.

[Peppermint_M]

Oh, Minifig Parts are a must! I didn't get started on those last night, or I would never have gotten the thread posted! I have a list of minifig parts and animals to get posted here in the near future 

[danth]

Great topic. There are so many great parts!

For me, this is the most nostalgic part:

It was only in a few Space sets and it was just so amazing to me as a kid seeing that piece in transparent red. It was basically a space laser shield! In 1984, this was mind blowing for my 6-year-old brain.

I also remember the pic below from an old Idea Book I saw as a kid. It must have cemented how cool this shield was.

Edited September 30, 2020 by danth

[Peppermint_M]

That is a space knight on a rocket horse. I believe all other arguments have been rendered invalid!

Okay, I am going to approach minifig parts by type: 

 This is a favourite, as I have brown hair, I wear caps all the time and I always have a ponytail through the back. If you told little me that this would be a thing, I would never had believed!

Name a more Iconic hat from LEGO. I think it will be difficult!

 A truly classic blade. I had a service pack of castle parts and this sword was a prized part for my Knight to take into battle.

More to come from me, but I have to make choices!

[Robert8]

23 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

 

 Favourite printed map, hands down.

 

Pretty much every printed piece from Adventurers is a beauty

[danth]

If we're talking about newer pieces that we like for opening up new building possibilities, then mine is this:

That's two axes of rotation on a single modified 1x1 plate! Doesn't get much more useful than that. I wish the had a rounded clip now.

Another one that has built-in rotation:

A bunch of possibilities with the above, like a completely round wall, or brick-built tank treads.

Runners up that I'm pretty sure are going to be super useful:

As a kid I think my favorite pieces were the bendy-arm pieces with claw, as shown on the back of 6822.

Any set with those arm pieces was automatically on my must have list. In the 90's the arm parts even came in transparent colors which was super cool.

Now the arm pieces have been replaced with click hinge arms. But I don't think there's a good replacement for the claw.

Edited October 1, 2020 by danth

[icm]

I just like wedge plates.  Lots and lots of wedge plates.  Every kind of wedge plate.

^ The best replacement for the claw is probably the part they developed for the robot arms in last year's City Space wave.  I believe those are also used on one of the submarines in this year's City Divers wave.

[danth]

I really don't like the new claw though. Too big, not enough tension without a rubber band, and has the big axle sticking out of both pieces.

[icm]

Yeah, the new claw is more of an analogue than a replacement for the old one.  It's a lot clunkier, that's for sure.

[Vindicare]

A favorite part of mine is the 1x1 pyramid piece. I have no idea why, I just find it neat. Before the second hand store closed down whenever I would find any of them, it was a good day. I probably found 20 of them, pearl silver & gold & trans light blue. 

[Karalora]

The humble 3L or 4L bar has so many uses. It's a weapon shaft! It's a magic wand! It's a plant stalk! It's a flute! It's a flagpole! It's a plant stalk! It's a length of pipe running along the outside of a machine! It's a walking stick! It's a blowpipe! It's a fence post!

[TeriXeri]

2 hours ago, danth said:

As a kid I think my favorite pieces were the bendy-arm pieces with claw, as shown on the back of 6822.

Any set with those arm pieces was automatically on my must have list. In the 90's the arm parts even came in transparent colors which was super cool.

I loved those arm parts, I had the Aquasharks sub that came with a claw and a magnet arm with some neon orange parts.

Now I think due to age, they just seem to become very fragile, as in the pieces actually getting damaged, so I can see why LEGO eventually replaced them.

[ShaydDeGrai]

So many parts to pick from, especially in recent years with a virtual explosion of SNOT enablers but two pieces that really stand out in my mind are the rounded 1x2 plate and the cheese wedge.

In the early days of Cuusoo (back when they were actually asking for new part submissions) I pitched a part very similar to this - actually it pretty much _was_ this part, along with a brick and tile variation as a family of hinge and curve builders)  I don't know if my pitch in any way contributed to this part eventually getting made (don't really care actually, I'm not going to fight with TLG over a practical and obvious snippet of IP) I'm just glad these things are finally available as 3D printing them was more trouble than they were worth, I'd much rather just buy them in bulk.

My other pick is the humble cheese wedge.  At first it's hardly worth a photo, and, to be honest when they first came out I didn't think much of them.  Over time, however, I've found that I go through a lot of them  (I've bought entire K-Boxes of them and still run low).  It's just such a wonderful little part for adding details, smoothing surfaces and even attaching inverted plates to bricks for SNOT applications.  It's sort of the anti-BURP when it comes to MOC-ing. 

Of course an honorable mention has to go to the wonderful family of SNOT 1x1 bricks (and their cousin the Erling "headlight" brick) I honestly don't know where most of my builds would be without them.

 

 

[jimmynick]

23 hours ago, danth said:



What a ridiculous picture! A horse equipped with thrusters... goodness me.

As far as my favorite pieces... the headlight brick for sure, flex tube maybe? I think this type of bracket is pretty useful as well:

[danth]

2 hours ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

I pitched a part very similar to this - actually it pretty much _was_ this part, along with a brick and tile variation

Yeah, a tile version would be awesome. And an anti-tile (smooth on the bottom, studs on top, whatever that's called).

[Peppermint_M]

 This is invaluable to so many of my builds that I had to add it to the list here. 

 

If I could get a 1kg bag of them, that would be excellent.  These sort of parts are always helpful, I can't think of any serious MOC I have created that did not have a lot of these in use, even my smaller builds might have at least one popped in there.

[tafkatb]

I have a couple favorites. As already cited above, the cheese slope - shortly after I first came out of my dark ages, I got 4996 Beach House and remember being fascinated by this piece, which was wholly new to me at the time. (I feel like a lot of people have similar post-dark age experiences, where they come across particular pieces with a "hey, that's new...") I try not to be a completist about my collecting, but I am attempting to gather at least one of every color of this part, just because it's so intriguing to me.

Another favorite of mine is the skeleton leg (6266). It's one of those pieces that started with a very specific purpose but quickly found its way into all sorts of other uses and contexts, putting the lie to the back-in-my-day crowd's complaints that "specialized" pieces stifle creativity.

[Toastie]

This topic is really, really nice, I so love it. Thank you very much @Peppermint_M for bringing this up.

It will "reveal" - or better seriously reassure us (and that is in my opinion a most valuable thing, in the days we live) - with such an enormous drive - that every single (I mean that) piece TLG has made will be a favorite for someone. And that is the core of this hobby to me.

How could I live without a 1x1? Or 2x2? Never. 1x8 are nice. So are baseplates. Technic plates and bricks; beams, pins, axles, gears, large pieces - everything!

My favorite parts are all TLG have ever made.

Best
Thorsten

[KotZ]

5 hours ago, Toastie said:

This topic is really, really nice, I so love it. Thank you very much @Peppermint_M for bringing this up.

It will "reveal" - or better seriously reassure us (and that is in my opinion a most valuable thing, in the days we live) - with such an enormous drive - that every single (I mean that) piece TLG has made will be a favorite for someone. And that is the core of this hobby to me.

How could I live without a 1x1? Or 2x2? Never. 1x8 are nice. So are baseplates. Technic plates and bricks; beams, pins, axles, gears, large pieces - everything!

My favorite parts are all TLG have ever made.

Best
Thorsten

You can't pick that!

I kid. I agree with you, there are a lot of great elements.

[koalayummies]

4070 The Headlight Brick!

PS you ever step on a Lego when drunk, its not nearly as bad as they say.

Edited October 11, 2020 by koalayummies
WHy are theyre bloody footprints in my apartment