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| Author: Dk Publishing
Publisher: DK CHILDREN
Category: Book
Buy New: $50.00
New (7) Used (7) Collectible (2) from $13.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 34967
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 0
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 12.4 x 9.7 x 0.6
ISBN: 078944691X
Dewey Decimal Number: 688.725
EAN: 9780789446916
ASIN: 078944691X
Publication Date: September 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Great gift book! Slight shelfwear on dust jacket.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great inspiration for a LEGO fan September 28, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a little on the thin side, but it is a beautiful, colorful book stuffed with color photos. If you are a LEGO fan, or even just moderately interested in the LEGO hobby I think you'll find this book fascinating. It starts off with a little history of the LEGO company and products, followed by a tour of the main facilities. Then the real fun starts. Sets, themes, and models and some of the creative processes behind the different products. There are lots of pictures to draw inspiration for building your own models. As an admittedly slightly obsessed fan, I have had this book for around two years and can still stare enraptured at the pictures. Anyway, moving on, the book closes with a few pages looking at the LEGOland parks and models built by professional LEGO master builders. A great book for anyone looking for LEGO inspiration, or anyone who appreciates seeing other peoples' creativity. I gave it four out of five stars. If the book were a bit longer, it would have easily gotten a five.
 A book you'll pick up again and again December 5, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
There are many sides to the LEGO company and its products. This book helps present many of them in a vibrant colorful format that makes this a fun text to explore page by page. There's little in the way of formal narrative to this book so you can pick it up and flip to just about any section you wish. Much of the information is presented by way of large photos and descriptive captions or short paragraphs of text. The clarity of the photos is extraordinary, such that in some cases you can literally read the company's logo on the top of the individual studs. Readers used to seeing LEGO models on the internet will be pleased with how sharp and rich the pictures are in this book.
The book as a whole looks at the many aspects of this still family-owned company. There are sections about product history, new set design, the many elements that make up the system, the LEGOland theme parks and even the ways in which LEGO bricks are used as artistic expression. Of particular interest is the overview of the manufacturing and packaging processes used by the company. The pictures depicting each step are, of course, pictures of LEGO models capturing the real world in miniature. Modeling both reality and fantasy is something made easy by the exceptionally flexible range of LEGO elements that have been created over the years. A visual timeline near the beginning of the book gives you some sense of when many of the important pieces were introduced to the world.
There are no actual instructions for LEGO models in the book but the photos (especially those of the theme park `miniland' models) provide a huge amount of inspiration for young and old builders alike. It's truly amazing to see what can be done with vast amounts of LEGO pieces. In fact, that might be one small disappointment with this book. It shows much of what can be done by professional builders but that could feel a bit overwhelming for someone just getting started in the LEGO hobby. So it's important to see this as an encapsulation of all things LEGO, not just how to build a castle or a ship out of your own bricks. See it as an overview of the magic that can happen when imaginations set free to create sculptures, buildings or life-sized animals. Perhaps you can't make _these_ models, but you can make things like them on your own scale.
The book dates from the late 1990s and thus there is little mention of the internet. This is an interesting fact since in the last few years the ability for LEGO fans to connect online has meant that the hobby (or at least how people approach it) may have changed since this book was written. For example, there are few mentions in The Ultimate LEGO Book of the ever-expanding participation of adults in the hobby of LEGO building. One wonders if this book was written today if there wouldn't be a chapter devoted to the amazing models that adult enthusiasts can produce.
Despite being a few years old though the book is still wonderfully fresh feeling. As I look today at my copy that I bought more than six years ago I feel the pictures are just as rich looking and the information just as interesting as it was before the turn of the millenium. The core designs and dimensions of the basic LEGO pieces (bricks, plates and slopes) haven't changed in over 50 years. Not surprisingly, the examples of how far the elements can be pushed also stand the test of time. Kids and adults interested in the hobby will find that having a copy of this book around is particularly useful on those days when you just can't decide what to build. Pick up The Ultimate LEGO Book and jump start your imagination. Dump out your LEGO pieces on the floor and start looking for that one special piece you need to get you started. Then build until you've stretched your imagination and your skills as far as can be. And the next time you're stuck... do the same thing. That's why I say you'll pick this book up again and again. I know I do.
 Should be called "Ultimate Lego BROCHURE" October 24, 2005
18 out of 26 found this review helpful
I'm giving this one 2 stars because my son, a big Lego fan, loves the pictures and is gazing endlessly at it. So it's worth it for that (although we checked ours out at the library). However, in reading it through now for him for the 2nd or 3rd time, I'm realizing that this is a shameless shill for the Lego Group's products, philosophy, and theme parks -- complete with a foreword by LEGO Group's President and CEO. I'm surprised, as the other DK children's books we have are on non-commercial subjects and are complete with their signature high-quality color photos and multitude of sidebars. But the sidebars in the Lego book contain things like this (on a page devoted to showing off the Lego clothing and accessory line): "combed cotton yarns prevent bobbling" and "clothing designed to allow freedom of movement and durability." Is this a Lands' End catalog, or a children's book? Who is the intended audience?
I've seen much better from the DK publishing house. For $19.99 retail, you're basically paying for a brochure about the Lego company.
Good gift item for a Legomaniac September 10, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Even if you weren't a legomaniac as a kid, you will still be amazed by what can be done with legos (I never knew they were used to make portraits of famous people). The pictures are clear and the book is divided into chapters. For anyone who played with these as a child, or for a child who loves to build with them now, it is a fun book to browse through over and over again.
Ultimate Lego Book August 2, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Great book for kids who are LEGO maniacs. Gives them creative ideas on what they can do with these wonderful building blocks.
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