GLOSSARY

 

Am I using weird acronyms and phrases? It happens.

AFOL

Adult Fan Of LEGO®. The standard acronym used by the community.

Bley

Bluish Grey, known as Stone Grey within LEGO®. In 2004, LEGO changed the shade of light and dark grey LEGO to be a little bluish instead of greenish. They did it in all innocence never imagining anyone would care or even notice... but there was a massive outcry from the AFOL community! 'Bley' was a derogatory term they coined and it has stuck, though perhaps now used with more affection with the fullness of time.

Cheese

An easier name for this popular tiny slope than its official name, Roof Tile 1X1X2/3. I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to how it got this name:

Constraction

LEGO®'s internal name for buildable figures such as Bionicle and HERO Factory.

Dark Ages

The period from when you stopped building with LEGO® as a child and then started again.

Elements

The official name for each unique LEGO® part. An element is not just the shape of the part but also the colour; so two identically shaped parts in different colours are considered different elements. All elements are given their own individual ID number by LEGO.

 

LDD

LEGO Digital Designer

 

Minifigs and Minifig Scale

LEGO® Minifigures. The little LEGO people, introduced in the '70s. Initially they had no posable arms or legs and no facial expressions, but that was soon changed to the bendy little folk we know and love today.
Something built in 'minifig scale' means all the buildings, cars etc are built at the same scale to a minifig. The human:minifig ratio is very vague due to the strange shape of minifigs, so two minifig scale models might not match. It is about 1:40 to 1:50.

 

MOC

My Own Creation. A model built by a fan.

 

Modulars

This is a series of sets aimed primarily at adult builders and collectors, each consisting of a large building with removable storeys. The buildings all connect to build a street in minifig scale. One building has been released each year since 2007, when LEGO® Designer and former AFOL Jamie Berard began the series. They are beloved by AFOLs thanks to their size, exclusivity, interesting and challenging building techniques, and of course rare parts. The name Modulars comes from the fact that you can add extra storeys to your building by buying more pieces to replicate floors. A set also usually considered a Modular is 10190 Market Street which was designed by Dutch AFOL Eric Brok and released by LEGO in 2007. Also available is a set of the first five Modular buildings in microscale - 10230 Mini Modulars, also designed by Jamie Berard.

 

Moulds

Moulds are the huge expensive metal moulds LEGO® inject molten plastic into to create elements. They are incredibly sophisticated and expensive lumps of metal!

 

NCS

Neo Classic Space. A fan building style heavily based on the 'Classic' period of Space sets, which LEGO® produced from 1979 to 1987. Learn more at Neo Classic Space.

 

Parts or pieces

Parts are what I call LEGO® pieces/bricks. They are different to elements because each part can come in many colours and these differently coloured parts are called elements. All parts are given their own individual 'Design ID' by LEGO.

 

Prints

Elements with printing on them.

 

SNOT technique

Studs Not On Top. (Those wacky AFOLs. Can't resist some humour based around bodily secretions.) Many elements have the little building studs on the sides of bricks. This enables 'sideways building' (as LEGO® prefer to call it) at 90° but there are many methods of building at 180° also. SNOT technique is the cornerstone of adult builders, allowing exciting new possibilities and finer detailing.

 

System

The LEGO® System of Play. In 1955 a new standard was applied to the fledgling array of elements produced by LEGO®. Elements were standardised to a system allowing everything to work together. This was one of the most significant advances in the toy's history. Today the System refers to groups of elements that are designed to connect together. There is more than one System; for example Technic elements are a separate System (even though many elements can connect to the main System).

 

Tablescraps

Those little builds that are just to explore an idea, even if it doesn't go anywhere. Usually accompanied by the thought, "that's cool. I must use that in a MOC..."

 

Technic

The Technic System of elements was introduced in 1977 and still runs successfully today. It consists of parts like gears, axles, pins etc. enabling functional mechanical models to be built. It is not 100% compatible with regular System parts.

 

TLG

The LEGO® Group of companies.