The Lego Book by Daniel Lipkowitz

The Lego Book Reviews

• 
  Artiom Karsiuk

  My childhood was very few things: professional wrestling, Dragon Ball Z and, of course, LEGO.
  Those three things were the cornerstones of everything that mattered to a 10 year old Artiom: they were my world. And nostalgia is a motherfucker, because I am now 26 years young and still love all three of those things. Yes, old folk don't have a monopoly on nostalgia.
  This book was everything I hoped it would be - just a fun little ride through the company's history in colorful pages and beautiful presentations. I loved it so much that I decided against reading it in one sitting, because I wanted to salvage these pages: after each day in the office I came home to a few glossy pages of my childhood. Almost like therapy.
  And I am so happy for their company - LEGO were already an international powerhouse when I was growing up, but now, with the success of The Lego Movie plus all of the licensed themes, they are working their way into the entertainment business (film, games, amusement parks and etc.) I love it, because my impression of them is that they are a moral and ethical company - today, when there are one too many evil multinational conglomerates, I try to root for every "non-evil" company there is. They made the list.
• 
  Sophie Crane

  A highly recommended book for Lego lovers.
  Hardcover book. With good quality sheets and beautiful illustrations with the Lego figures.
  It tells you the whole story of Lego, you can see all the constructions, all the figures with their explanations... the photographs more than beautiful.
• 
  Kyle

  A really nice coffee table book covering the history of TLG...
• 
  Nathan

  The LEGO Book is THE book for both the beginning Lego fan and the seasoned veteran. This book is about as comprehensive as you can get without going overboard with information; every play theme LEGO has ever done gets at least a few detailed pages, as does the history of the company, the process of making pieces and designing sets, and even the fan culture. Much of the book was also a nice walk down memory lane for me, and I spent a long time on some pages just soaking in the nostalgia. If anyone were just beginning to dabble in the hobby, I would point them here for their education.
• 
  Parxyr

  What was fantastic about this book is entirely a subjective thing. This book, and its companion in the two-parter I picked up, were an interesting background on the history of Lego and purely a trip down nostalgia lane for me. If you were like me, and grew up on the blocks that Lego produces, then you'd be hard pressed to not have this on your shelf. You'll look through it and smile, that is a promise.
• 
  Mark

  A wonderous coffee table book about Lego history & sets... a trip down memory lane in full color that makes me want to dig my giant box of Castle Legos out & start building again. :-)
• 
  Morbus Iff

  Greatest LEGO book ever: history, sets, culture.
• 
  Brian

  This book was very well written and had a lot of great photographs. I would enjoy it more if I was more into Legos which I am sadly not. The book features the history of the Lego and contains hundreds and hundreds of photographs of sets I had never heard of, many of which I would not have been interested in as a child. I enjoyed some of the older sets that I remember playing with when I was a child.
• 
  William

  Hi, my name is Bill, and I'm a Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL). This book is so cool, and the companion book, Standing Small: A Celebration of 30 Years of the LEGO Minifigure, is also wonderful. These were a gift from my daughter's family for my 65th birthday, just recently celebrated. I'm looking forward to reading both continually for the foreseeable future.
• 
  Spiderhulk8150gmail.Com

  During my childhood I like these 3 things basketball, superheroes and obviously LEGO’s this is the book that I used to make cars, planes exc.
• 
  Nichole

  We read every bit of this book, page spread by page spread. Ben liked to see all the pictures, I loved learning all the trivia.
• 
  Michiel

  No really a ‘read’, but lovely to browse old sets and themes!
• 
  Orsolya

  Chances are you have played with Lego bricks in your lifetime. Whether it was simply building your own crazy, imaginative contraption with those bright-colored bricks; or assembling a large pirate ship per Lego directions. Maybe you’ve even been inside a Lego Store or Lego Land. Whatever your connection to Lego is, one can’t deny that Lego is a firm foothold in the toy world. Combining elements of building blocks, model sets, and puzzles; who doesn’t LOVE Lego?!
  
  Daniel Lipkowitz’s “The Lego Book” is a colorful and highly pictorial look at the history of Lego products. Ideal for the Lego collector, children, or merely for those seeking a “fun” coffee table book; “The Lego Book” is divided into various sections describing the history/background of Lego, playsets/themes, and Lego-related business ventures. Sadly, don’t expect an expose or in-depth look at Lego, as this is a low text book and merely highlights the business aspect without diving in too deeply (although the reader will learn interesting blurbs on the meaning of “Lego”, the material bricks are made out, etc).
  
  The reader can’t help but revert back to childhood with the detailed photos and set-ups of the various Lego toys. Offering details on the development and creation of the sets; the reader will begin to view Lego playsets as more than a toy. The more “adult” highlight features a step-by-step look at the factory process of the production of Lego bricks (which is very futuristic and Jetson-esque with robots performing much of the work). This section can possibly lose the interest of some of the child readers (although short enough to make it quick). Equally adult-stimulating is the look at the brainstorming and graphic design elements which begin the life of a Lego theme/playset.
  
  A great addition to “The Lego Book” are the sum-up pages at the end of each chapter which feature “Sets to Remember” within each theme. These pages take a historical look at the growth and development of the sets within a theme over time (example: various castle sets from the 70s to the present); which helps not only compare and contrast models but firmly entrenches the Lego world in the mind of the reader.
  
  Lipkowitz did create some confusion and lacked clarity in describing the difference between play theme sets and adventure sets. Although “The Lego Book” featured sub-sections for these, it isn’t clear to the non-Lego “pro”.
  
  “The Lego Book” doesn’t merely describe playsets, but also emphasizes all licensed and related Lego products such as Dupplo/baby product lines, clothing, magazines, books, clubs, video games, movies, street art, theme parks, etc. Positive selling points are the product codes captioned by each photo. This easily identifies the product for those readers who want to seek them out after reading (I tried this and it worked seamlessly).
  
  “The Lego Book” may not be an intense look at the Lego company or how they even came up with the Lego brick idea (Lipkowitz only indicates that a fire destroyed the company’s wood toy distribution so they focused on the plastic); but it is a fun and colorful look at the Lego product lines. If you don’t get the urge to head to your local toy store to pick up a playset after reading… then you probably shouldn’t even be reading this book. Live a little!
  
• 
  Sam Still Reading

  If you’ve had a look at my Instagram, you may have seen the odd Lego picture in there or two. I’m one of those people who grew up with Lego and still build in adulthood (my preferred theme is Lego Technics aka the ones that have gears, hydraulics and loads of tiny fingernail breaking bits). I bought this book for several reasons – to find out more about the company and its origins, to relive the Lego themes of my youth and to look at all the wonderful glossy pictures. I think this book is aimed more at the young (say 9 or 10 years and up) but it was still a fun read.
  
  The book can be read in any chapter order, but being old and boring, I decided to start from the first page and read through. Younger fans may find it easier to jump straight to the gorgeous pictures of the different Lego themes (e.g. pirates, space, cars, castles etc.) and get inspiration for building. The history of Lego was fascinating about how the company started and the changes in the iconic bricks over the years. There are also pages explaining the brick and how there are unlimited possibilities to build and build. Illustrated timelines also show key points in Lego’s history and how Lego sets are designed is also mentioned. I would have liked a bit more on this because this is a big part of the AFOL world, but hey, I’ve got the internet too…
  
  The section on the different Lego play themes make up the bulk of the book, covering every different theme over the years. Adult fans will be familiar with Town/City, Space, Castles and Pirates but the more modern sets demonstrate just how versatile Lego is. There’s Harry Potter, Star Wars, Monster Fighters, Ninjago, Bionacle and Mindstorms. Robots and monsters play alongside flying machines and vehicles to create play with the wildest of imaginations. I was really disappointed with just two pages on Lego Technic though – it’s evolved so much through the years with the addition of battery operated motors, remote controls and hydraulics (not to mention the size of the models). Technic seems to be a natural progression from Lego for me, but perhaps not everyone sees it that way. For AFOL fans, there are also pages on super models (I would love to build the Lego minifigure aka man that stands at 51cm tall) and modular buildings – the street set is still continuing in 2015. There’s also a small section about Lego CUUSOO/Ideas, where fans design their own sets and Lego builds the ones with the most votes. There are two pages about fan builders (those building their own models from Lego bricks).
  
  The last section on other Lego merchandise was interesting – Legoland in Malaysia is something I’m torn about going to, because I’ve heard/read so many mixed experiences. It was useful to look at the pictures from other Legolands around the world, but I wasn’t really into the video game section. This book also predates The Lego Movie, so you won’t find anything about it here.
  
  While this book is interesting, it’s aimed at a younger audience than AFOLs (understandably so). AFOLs may want to ‘share’ a copy with their younger fans or borrow it from the library.
  
  
  http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
• 
  Kevin

  What we have here is basically a 30-year history of the Lego minifigure showing its evolution up through figures that were released last year. And it's cool to sit there and browse through and reminisce about all the ones you used to have when you were young and the sets that came with them and the stuff you used to custom build for them.
  
  My only issues are that it seems like some sets and figures were left out plus there were a couple factual errors that I saw. One I can't quite remember offhand, but the other? A glow-in-the-dark Snape figure from Harry Potter? The GitD minifig that he showed was obviously Voldemort. With as little text as this book contained, errors are unforgiveable.
• 
  Kate

  You can never go wrong with Lego. For all you die-hard Lego fans, this is the No#1 book to read! Here is your chance to read the complete illustrated history of the LEGO products that discusses the origins of the company, and the evolution of bricks, figures, play themes, and related products; and features a time line that records the introduction of the first plastic bricks to the LEGO products of 2012. I could spend hours looking at this book. Another awesome read that has the WOW factor and that will bring out every adult's inner child. A definite 5 star rating!
  
  Also check out LEGO play book : ideas to bring your bricks to life and The LEGO ideas book : unlock your imagination.
• 
  DJ

  If you love Lego, get this book. It covers a LOT more than "The Ultimate Lego Book". Updated version. It still has the history/timeline of how Lego was created, but a LOT less focused on LegoLand, which bothered me in the The Ultimate Lego Book.
  
  This book has updated on various collections, ultimate collections, movie collections, etc.
  
  There were some things (charts, or MiniFig charts for example), that were extremely small, and I wish it was blown up to see the pictures of MiniFigs and how they were created.
  
  Other than that, it's a great addition to my Lego book collection.