Customer Reviews

Forbidden Lego: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against!

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book was a good effort. The instructions are pretty good, in full color and it somewhat interesting to find out why these models would be forbidden from the perspective of a former Lego designer.
There are some problems though. My two biggest beefs with the book were

1. The author didn't tell you what sets you could pull pieces from to make the given model. I had to use a Lego set inventory web site ([...]) to determine that which took about an hour per model.
2. The models didn't use the latest pieces and motors in the Technic line. Most of the models in the book were built with pieces and motors from sets that came out in 2000-2003. Thus, unless you're a collector like me, the people who buy this book will have a hard time finding the right pieces to use.

Having a couple of close friends who are LEGO-maniacs, I couldn't pass up the chance to read and review this particular title in order to see what it's all about... Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against! by Ulrik Pilegaard and Mike Dooley. I now understand why they find LEGO building so much fun, and it probably wouldn't take much to bring me into the fold...

Contents:
Introduction; How to Build Great Things; Project 1 - Paper Plane Launcher (PPL); Project 2 - Candy Coated Catapult (CCC); Project 3 - Ping-Pong Cannon (PPC); Project 4 - All-Terrain LEGO (ATL); Project 5 - High Velocity Automatic LEGO Plate Dispenser (HVALPD); Tips and Tricks

So what makes these projects "forbidden"? There are certain rules that have to be followed in order for a LEGO model to be allowed to be marketed as a kit. Some of these rules would be:

Never launch a non-approved object into the air.
Never launch a non-approved object into the air with great force.
Never alter any LEGO part.
Never connect two moters to run together.
Never double the approved voltage.

And so on. Generally speaking, a LEGO kit should not be able to injure someone, should be able to be built with standard pieces, and shouldn't use anything that doesn't come directly from LEGO. In varying degrees, these five projects break some (or all) of the official rules. Which is why they are appealing to the LEGO builder's inner-geek. For as complex as these devices look on the surface, the authors do an excellent job in breaking things down into step-by-step instructions. They start with a brief explanation of the project, some of the design hurdles they faced, what rules are broken, and what non-LEGO parts you might need. From there, you find a full parts list (in color, complete with pictures and amounts) followed by a numbered series of steps. The steps show what parts are needed for that specific step, as well as how they fit together with the growing assembly. Surprisingly, they do this without directions... just the pictures. But the assembly is broken down into very small steps, so you don't have to make any major intuitive leaps to get from step 45 to 46. And if you've been building with LEGO before this, I'll guess that you wouldn't have any trouble following along. I could even see myself making any one of these, and I'm definitely *not* an engineering wizard. :) Oh, and another nice touch... the binding is designed to allow the book to lay flat when opened. So you won't be looking for weighted objects to hold the book open while you're building your next contraption.

I don't know that I'd want to give this book to a 10 year old for fear of what he'd do with the items once built. But knowing the person(s) who I'll be giving my copy to after this, I should probably trust the 10 year old a bit more. Great book, wonderful quality, and it should provide a number of hours of fun walking on the "wild side".

What an absolutely fun book to read. The authors, Pilegaard and Dooley, both worked at LEGO. Apparently, as a LEGO engineer, there are many rules that need to be followed when creating a new toy. Most of these rules appear to be in place to protect children from getting hurt. The purpose of this book is to allow two amazing LEGO designers to create models that break one or more of the LEGO rules. The results are some really interesting models that are a lot of fun to build--just don't let your 5 year old play with them!

I've read some previous LEGO books where the construction information was printed in black and white, making it difficult to follow. This book has all model instructions printed in full-color, making this book as easy to read as any LEGO-printed construction manual.

It also helps that the models are a lot of fun to build. You'll see instructions for a paper plane launcher, a candy catapult, a ping-pong cannon, an all-terrain vehicle, and "high velocity automatic plate dispenser". Each model starts out with the builder's inspiration for the model, as well as why it is forbidden by LEGO. While some reasons include safety concerns for young builders (any catapulted item must be below a certain velocity for it to be deemed "safe"), others include models that use non-LEGO parts.

All in all, this is a very fun book to read and build along with. If you've got a Technik set and want to try something new--something forbidden--then this is a great book to pick up. Not only are the models easy to follow (thanks in part to the color instructions), but they're fun to build.

Here are my best 5 little-known reasons for you to consider buying this book:

1. It's got a great little summary (10 or so pages) about LEGO, the company's mindset, how these 2 authors got involved in LEGO, and how the design process works at LEGO. LEGO's safety test is described which is important because it helps to determine what is safe vs. non-safe for consumers (from LEGO's point of view). It's a great behind-the-scenes summary and very enjoyable to read.

2. What follows is a short 6 page summary about the LEGO master builders' design theory. With headers such as "How We Build at LEGO" and "The Hero Model," (don't know what that is - get the book!) readers can read a short essay on LEGO's design strategy as well as steps on incorporating it into your own design process.

3. Each project has an "Inspiration" and "Design" short discussion that lets you know how the project came to be. My favorite "LEGO Rules Broken" which tells you EXACTLY why this book is titled "Forbidden LEGO!" (You're also told if any non-LEGO parts are used which is a HUGE benefit before starting to build a project.)

4. "How it Works" short discussions tell you the principle behind the project's design and operation. After that, you've got full color building instructions.

5. Every project can be "MINDSTORM"-ed! These projects all have the ability to be converted to robotic platforms, automating them and giving your robots some real firepower. I've already got some ideas moving through my head after reading over some of these projects.

A great book - definitely a LOT of time and energy put into it.

A waste of money. This is a well done instruction book that motivates you to build the design and then stops. There isn't a parts list and since it doesnt give you the Lego parts numbers, neither is there any place you can go to get the parts. The Lego website won't let you order without them and, even with hours of searching, you can't find most of the special gears the authors magically came up with. A good example for business classes of how to foul up a really great idea. I raised this question to the publisher, NoStarch Press and they thanked me for my comments but offered no solution. They said they talked to the authors "from time to time" and would ask them - 6 months later, still no response.

What an awesome, fun book! My 9-yr old son and I are having a blast creating all the cool models. The instructions are clear and as good as any official lego kit, while the text is funny and informative.

Included is some behind the scenes information on the inner workings at Lego, and how the design process operates there. Interesting reading for all ages.

The book has also inspired my son to build other creations of his own design. A great way to watch less TV and video games, and get the creative juices flowing.

Any fan of the Lego Technic line would enjoy this book. But be forewarned, unless you have a stockpile of technic parts, you will be buying more Lego sets and pieces to complete all the cool models. But it's not that bad, and well worth the effort.

This is a great book for LEGO aficionados wanting to push the boundaries of this wonderful Danish product.

Personal favourites include the full-functioning ground-to-air missile - built from the Fire Rescue set - and the life-size girlfriend with realistic hair that can be cobbled together from combining the Star Wars: Clone Trooper with various Bionicle sets.

My life would be complete if they were to publish a second book showing how to make a working distillery.

I was excited to get this book for my 12-year-old budding engineer. He was too, until he looked through it and saw that he would need to have a Lego robotics kit to make a good number of the creations. Since the kit is $250, that ain't happening, so back it goes.

And as other reviewers mentioned, they show pictures of the pieces you need, but they don't label them with names or part numbers. It would be EXTREMELY hard to find the parts you need to build most of these projects. It's amazing to me that the authors would create such great projects but then provide such incomplete info, rendering their book virtually useless to most users. What a waste of the return postage!

I ordered this book a week ago, and I'm having a lot of fun with it now.

It's a very thorough, thick book for the somewhat small number of models it shows you how to build, (only 5 different models), but it does cover them all in depth and with full illustrations, just like any Lego manual you've ever used. There's a lot of interesting notes written in the comments at the beginning and end of the projects, offering some interesting insight into what goes on at the Lego thinktank. Overall, if you've got a lot of lego bricks on hand, and time to kill, this is a very fun and amusing book, and I would definitely recommend it.

Pro's: gives an insider's view of Lego and the Lego mindset in very well-written text sections; has easy to follow diagrams for assembling the fun forbidden models.

Con's: text is incredibly small (especially compared to the large assembly diagrams) and the Lego constructs rely on older Mindstorm motors.

Overall, very worthwhile. I bought this for my kids but it is geared more toward adults (despite the small type!) and serious entry-level robotics. It would be great to have a new edition!