Pre-production design

[ILikePi]

can you post the pictures here?

i am dying to see those!!

I don't know if he's allowed to, since you have to pay for BrickJournal.

svelte, did the preliminary models look extremely better than the final versions of SPIII sets?

Edited June 22, 2009 by ILikePi

[Freddie]

There are some *amazing* pictures of prelim Space Police III sets in the new issue of Brickjournal (Issue 6, Vol 2).

It's well worth the small download fee.

The pics make me so wistful about what the line ended up looking like!

Nah, the some of the SP3-sets are fairly close in design, especially the bad guys' car from Hyperspace Pursuit, altough that started out as a police vehicle! The Container Heist was also much larger, but the set is still faithful to the original prototype design, aesthetically.

What there is to drool about, however, is all the photos of preliminaries and prototypes of the early space theme (i.e. 85-95 sets, five full pages of photos!). Some of those are breath-takingly awesome. There are also some very cool molds pictured, including a few prototype alien-figures - one of those only share the arms with other minifigures! Another one appears to be Fabuland-based. Also fun to note that Aquazone was developed from space, but was originally meant to be space-gone-underwater, litterally.

Yeah, it's worth the price for the download.

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

LEGO made a mistake on the fight on the flying wing Prelim picture. If you look in the bakround, you can se a nazi swastika flag. Good thing the media didn't se that.

Edited June 22, 2009 by Emperor claduis rome

[phoinix]

so where cab i find the brickjournal issue ?

i went to their site but i couldnt find it!

[Svelte]

so where cab i find the brickjournal issue ?

i went to their site but i couldnt find it!

It is a little hard to find, even from the publisher's website!

Here's the direct link to the digital edition.

I don't know if he's allowed to, since you have to pay for BrickJournal.

svelte, did the preliminary models look extremely better than the final versions of SPIII sets?

Yes, I don't think we're supposed to reproduce Brickjournal images. I personally thought SP3 looked better in the mag - it's mainly a level of solidity and detail - but Freddy is absolutely right - there is a huge spread of great Classic Space set-ups, very reminiscent of the old catalogues or Idea Book double-page spreads. Definitely worth checking out!

[jmenomeno]

It is a little hard to find, even from the publisher's website!

Here's the direct link to the digital edition.

Yes, I don't think we're supposed to reproduce Brickjournal images. I personally thought SP3 looked better in the mag - it's mainly a level of solidity and detail - but Freddy is absolutely right - there is a huge spread of great Classic Space set-ups, very reminiscent of the old catalogues or Idea Book double-page spreads. Definitely worth checking out!

Sorry guys, all the photos were provided to me by the LEGO Group for use in the magazine, and all rights beyond are reserved.

I was blown away by the images myself.

Joe Meno

Editor, BrickJournal

[Svelte]

It's a great issue, Joe! Thanks for stopping by and confirming the rights usage. I definitely hope the prospect of some great images encourages people to buy it (I'm in Australia so it's much faster and cheaper to get the download edition )

[prateek]

(I'm in Australia so it's much faster and cheaper to get the download edition )

how? is BJ in Australia?

[Freddie]

how? is BJ in Australia?

Brickjournal is shipped to wherever the buyer lives, if he decides he doesn't want the digital copy, which anybody willing to pay less than four US dollars can get. Svelte_corps posted the link to said digital edition a few posts above.

[Siegfried]

how the cow was designed

***snip!***

and a few images on how a power miners set was developed

Wow! I especially love the Power Minor wheel concepts.

[LEGOMAN132]

Wow the Viking monsters are way better looking except the dragons we got are better. And the crane wow looked great.

http://nccunningham.blogspot.com/2007/01/l...t-event-in.html

Edited June 26, 2009 by LEGOMAN132

[phoinix]

was the image i found removed?

[Siegfried]

was the image i found removed?

I turned moved it to the LEGO Sci-Fi forum as it wasn't pre-production.

[phoinix]

ok thanx!

[Raphy]

I got some, I was surfing brickshelf for 8036 Separatist Shuttle and 8037 Y-wing and found what they looked before :)

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3687222

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=3687265

[prateek]

Wow the Viking monsters are way better looking except the dragons we got are better. And the crane wow looked great.

http://nccunningham.blogspot.com/2007/01/l...t-event-in.html

I would like a bank like that, and considering that it's small, it would be cheaper than the others

[ILikePi]

I found some LEGO Games prototypes in this article (thanks to Brickset):

http://www.brettspiel.co.uk/2009/07/lego-b...ith-cephas.html

The LEGO die:

Cephas built the first prototype from existing LEGO pieces, but it had no weight and often landed on its edge. The very next day the team used ‘rapid prototyping’ technology to produce the second prototype, and then spent 16 months perfecting the design. The final dice design is a two-part mould, with an ABS core and a rubber outer that creates a near-silent roll. The design also allows players to easily change the panels on the side of the dice, while at the same time ensuring that they never come off during play.

The microfig:

The Ascent of Man Microfig.

Lava Dragon:

Prototypes illustrating four stages in the development of Lava Dragon.

Enjoy!

Edited July 15, 2009 by ILikePi

[Rick]

The microfig:

That one near the middle (with the printed face) is cute... even though its wider than 1 stud...

[Peppermint_M]

The dice prototypes are really interesting to see. It must be hard to create such a completley functional element that conforms to safety rules etc. After all, most new elements are for shape not functionality.

[Rick]

Via this news item on The Brothers Brick: a never-released "prohibition theme":

Personally I'm not surprised this gangster-theme didn't make it to production, but it looks like there were some great designs and new pieces to be released.

Oh, and some classic space madness

Edited July 28, 2009 by Rick

[astra]

Very nice to see al these prelimanary designs! I wonder if there are also designs (publicly) available of Technic and Exclusive sets...

I mean, did CafeCorner have an interior in the design or not, and was it left out for pricing issues..?

[HumanPackMule]

I really wished they used the prototypes with the Vikings line

[Milan]

Whoa, great topic, it is a great pleasure for me to see all those sets different than original ones.

[arturo83]

Via this news item on The Brothers Brick: a never-released "prohibition theme"

Personally I'm not surprised this gangster-theme didn't make it to production, but it looks like there were some great designs and new pieces to be released.

Personally I think that Gangster-theme is not more violent than other recent LEGO themes.

Then the conflict between good and evil is a quite old concept, even in older LEGO themes, such as Pirates, Castle, Space and Town too.

Police has been present in the Town-theme since many years, and I remember that in 1991, set 6679 was released in Italy as: "Smugglers' boat".

Then weapons was introduced with the Castle-theme many years ago, so I don't see the problem for the Gangster-theme to be released.

However if this wasn't enought, LEGO could still renounce to the gangsters and simply release a new Town-theme set in the '20s-'30s.

More over I love this simple old-style of building that seems to come back directly from the '80s!

What do you think about?

Edited September 5, 2009 by arturo83

[Matt Dawson]

I would like to see the prohibition theme donme today - afterall, we have a gansters car from the Indy sets, and Lego seem to be more at ease with the 'war and guns' issue...