Illegal LEGO Building Techniques to Beware of 2023

Reading the title, you may be wondering whether there are actually LEGO police ready to throw people in jail for using illegal building methods. Okay, it’s really not that deep. Adult LEGO fans have demonstrated just how creative (or rather, rebellious) they can be when it comes to building LEGO Home Alone sets. If you’ve ever tried a LEGO building set, you know all too well how frustrating it can be to deal with missing pieces and yes, parts that just won’t go together. Of course, the intended purpose of playing with LEGO bricks is to follow the steps and guidelines and try your best to build a set that actually works and hopefully looks right too. 

However, what happens when you keep putting pieces together and they just don’t go together or you are missing some pieces (because LEGO is great at making sets with thousands of pieces)? Heck, just a few missing pieces can make a LEGO toy malfunction. It’s even worse if you didn’t realize you were missing some delicate pieces until you were almost done with the set and now it’s just not moving right. This is enough to have you pulling hair out of your head. But hey, we choose what we find as fun, right? Well, that’s the fun in building LEGO brick toys. There is a lot of trial and error, and a lot of time and focus to expend. But in the end, we get to see the outcome of all our work and there’s just something satisfying about seeing it all come together through your effort.

With all that said and done, there are still many LEGO fans who always look for different ways to connect LEGO bricks, even though that was not what was intended by The Lego Group. This is especially common with adult LEGO fans who love trying new things and love creating new things…Not just what LEGO said they should create. In fact, some have become so creative that they have found ways to join LEGO bricks in ways that make it easy to build a set that looks entirely different from what’s on the box. There is no telling just how far LEGO or AFOL fans are willing to go and what new building techniques they will come up with. But wait a minute, why are these techniques termed “illegal Lego building techniques” by LEGO? Let’s take a look at what it actually means to use illegal building techniques, perhaps you’re guilty without even knowing it! 

First, LEGO designers have a set-out plan when they create a LEGO set. So, the techniques to follow in building the set are clearly outlined and they do not expect you to deviate from it. Basically what this means is, you can’t just go and do your own thing. Thus, any technique that is outside of the normal building methods intended by the designers is termed “illegal.” Okay, so this is a bit of a strong word to use, seeing that it is not exactly against any law in any country. It is more of a way for LEGO to say, “Hey guys, please do it this way, will you?” Lego Illegal building techniques are techniques that would place unnecessary stress on the LEGO bricks, hence, they are not recommended to be used when building LEGO sets.

With that said, you can see that you will not get arrested for using these techniques but it’s as close as you can get to breaking the law in LEGO Land. If there was any such thing as LEGO police, well, a large number of adult fans right now would be in a whole lot of trouble. There are currently several posts of illegal techniques adopted by LEGO toy builders and more and more people are trying them out. While some see it as thinking out of the box, LEGO sees it as stressing the bricks in a way that was not intended. In addition, LEGO set designers emphasize on not combining some bricks made of certain materials that may not react well together. This is strictly for safety purposes and not to kill your fun.

In any case, most of these illegal techniques have more to do with making double-sided bricks, fitting studs in between bricks to help them stay together and so on. There is a lot of controversy regarding cool Lego building techniques since most people feel that LEGO bricks can be used in so many different ways, hence, why stick to just one way?

Yes, building a LEGO rules actually exist. If you thought you could just build LEGO sets any way you want, well, it turns out you could be doing the wrong thing, which would make LEGO Daddy (if there was one) very disappointed in you. Most people do not know what is actually illegal and what is not in terms of LEGO building techniques. You’re in luck, here are some of the most common techniques considered illegal.

1. Only 1x1 plates can be inserted into technic bricks. Any other plates should not be put into technic bricks with their studs. 

2. Plates should not be placed in between studs. Although this was a normal, “legal” technique some 20 years ago, LEGO now considers it illegal. 

3. Bricks that have studs on their sides cannot have these studs inserted into a technic brick. 

4. There is actually a minimal height for the LEGO embossing, so any brick that has been mounted in the SNOT style on Headlight bricks cannot be directly above a normal stud.

5. It is illegal to have technic pins not fully inserted into technic holes as this means they will be compressed, placing stress on the element.

6. Using certain types of transparent pieces with other transparent pieces is illegal because these plastics can form a chemical bond that may pose a hazard to you.

#1

Here, a raspberry is used as a sort of hat or beret for a LEGO mini-figure. This gives it a completely new hairdo! Well, it’s unfortunate that this is an illegal technique because it sure makes the mini-figure much cooler and realistic.  

#2  

The trick here is to use some triangular pieces and a standard LEGO brick to make one with studs on both sides of the brick. The great thing about studded sides is that you can make a double of whatever you would make on one side, on the other side. This gives room for a whole lot of creativity and although you may not see the outcome initially, it could become something you never expected.

#3

Here, we see what looks like a perfect rendition of a brick paver. The trick is using the rectangular pieces in a sequenced horizontal and vertical pattern.  

#4

By far one of the most genius techniques, this method involves using shield pieces and fitting little brown pieces in the middle of the studs and then, joining them together to form a Quaffle! 

#5

This is a pretty great idea; a standard brick with stud holes has other smaller LEGO pieces fit in the holes and each piece anchors onto the next. 

#6

It is obvious that a great deal of thought went into this technique. This method of combining LEGO pieces results in a replica of a stone wall or brick wall. First, a number of standard bricks with both stud holes and studs on the sides are joined together to form a base. Then little black pieces are crammed in between the holes to allow the hooked pieces to fit perfectly.  

#7

This technique uses several LEGO parts mounted on each other to form a pretty realistic roof. The issue with this is that there will be great strain placed on the pieces since they are not meant to be combined this way. 

#8  

This technique is one of the few times we see LEGO pieces forming a circular structure. Five pieces are joined together, with the studs of the one below fitting into the holes of the piece above it.   

#9

With this technique, you can make columns with all the studs facing out. Then, fitting thin tiles to the studs gives the overall look. But first, the trick is to make bricks with studs on all sides. This can be done with connectors or little LEGO axels. 

#10

The beauty of this technique lies in the fact that no one really knows what it is! At first glance, it kind of makes your head hurt. Basically, different bricks are forced to fit together in the most bizarre way but it does come out looking like…something.  

#11

Another double-sided brick technique. Here, tube connectors are used to join two standard bricks so that the studded sides face outward.  

#12

In essence, this is the art of wedging one LEGO brick in between the studs of another LEGO brick – a big no-no from the LEGO police. 

#13

The great thing about illegal techniques is that they don’t always have to make complete sense. This technique is simply joining the sides of two pieces that would otherwise be mounted on one another using a third, connector piece.  

#14

It seems LEGO fans love bricks with studs on both sides. Here is another technique to join two bricks using flower pieces so that there are studs on both sides of the combined brick. 

Enhance your LEGO builds with LEGO LED Flowers and make them shine.

#15 

Although this trick leaves a small gap in between the joined bricks, it is another way to get a two-sided brick so that you can build any double-sided toy you can come up with.  

#16

Here’s a pretty creative technique that looks both like a climbing rope wall and a Tardis. Of course, all these pieces were not meant to be joined in this complicated way but hey, that’s the fun in doing illegal stuff. 

#17

This genius technique involves fitting little dumbbells in between the stud holes of one brick so that another brick can be clamped shut onto it. 

#18 

Well, well, here’s a technique that shouts “I can do better than the rest.” It still incorporates the use of bricks with studs on all sides but combines many more to form what looks like an engineer’s masterpiece.  

#19

Using a LEGO piece with four blades, each one is wedged in between the studs of four different bricks to form a cross-shaped brick.  

#20

Here, LEGO bricks are wedged in between each other with no regard for the intended or more logical way in which they were supposed to be arranged. The resulting design sure makes you think for a while.

#21

This is quite an in interesting design as each stud hole is clamped by another piece. Again, this forms double-sided bricks.  

#22

This illegal LEGO technique of building is just another chance to confuse other less creative builders. The pieces are forced to join together to form what looks like an inner part of a machine. 

#23

Here’s just another way to get LEGO bricks to stick together without glue. The technique uses slightly bigger connectors to fit tightly in the corners of the bricks to be joined together.

#24 

This technique combines the smallest pieces to form a cute little LEGO cube, although it might be quite frustrating getting such small pieces to fit together.  

#25

If you’re looking for a chance to get creative with no real aim, how about clamping random pieces on each other to form a kind of shelf to hang even more pieces?  

#26

This technique is a bit more common and was actually discovered by accident when LEGO pieces would wedge themselves together.  

Well, it sure doesn’t seem like these techniques should be termed “illegal.” Perhaps, “not recommended” would be better, but hey, it’s up to LEGO to decide what they call legal or illegal. In general, there is a very thin line between getting creative with building LEGO sets and using illegal LEGO building techniques. For those looking to enhance their creations with LEGO light kits, exploring different techniques can make a big difference in how your builds come to life.

Source used: BoredPanda