AUCZILLA VII: [4] COLOR & SIZE NOTATION
Todd Lehman
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This is the fourth in a series of auction announcements. If you missed
any of the previous announcements, don't start here. Instead, start at
the AucZILLA homepage http://www.auczilla.com/
+--------------+
| OVERVIEW |
+--------------+
This announcement describes some of the abbreviations used throughout the
auction, and the notation for describing colors and sizes.
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| NAMES OF COLORS |
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"Trans" stands for "Transparent" and is used as a prefix, for example "Trans-
Red" or "Trans-Green." Note that there is no "Trans-Blue" since there are
actually two types of transparent blue in the LEGO world -- transparent light
blue and transparent dark blue. Here is a table of all 34 colors seen in
this and previous auctions:
ABBREVIATION INTERPRETATION
---------------- --------------------------------------------------------
White White
Gray The lighter of the two Grays -- the classic Gray we all
grew up with
DkGray The darker of the two Grays -- a slightly brownish dark
gray as seen in Space, Time Cruisers, BURPs, etc.
Black Black
Blue Blue
LtBlue Light blue -- as seen on the Street Sweeper brushes
Teal Blueish-Green -- as seen in new 1998 Technic sets and
on various 1997 torsos
Green Green -- classic green as seen in foliage and baseplates
Pastel Green Old Paradisa Green, before the switchover to LtGreen
LtGreen New Paradisa/Belville Light Green
Yellow Yellow
LtYellow Light pastel Yellow, as seen in Belville
Tan Tan (very light brown), as seen in Wild West, Divers,
and Outback; not to be confused with LtBrown, which is
darker and richer than tan but lighter than Brown
LtBrown Light brown -- a color resembling butterscotch-candy --
as seen in DUPLO Dinosaur sets; not to be confused with
Tan, which is lighter yet than LtBrown
Brown Brown (dark brown), as seen in Wild West, Adventurers,
and various other places such as minifig hair
Orange Orange -- as seen on decorated tiles and other
decorated elements and in the DUPLO Brotosaurus
(Also short for "Trans-Orange" in UFO minifig context)
Red Red
DkPink The darker of the two pinks -- a reddish/mauve color as
seen in Belville
Pink Light pastel Pink as seen in Paradisa
LtPurple Light Purple, as seen in Belville (not the same as the
Purple seen in 8277 or CyberSlam)
Purple A magenta-ish purple as seen in the 8277 Giant Model Set
and CyberSlam
PurpleBlue A purple-ish blue as seen in rubber pneumatic tubing in
the Technic 8250 Search Sub set (note that this color
may not actually qualify as a separate color; it has
been suggested that the designer's intent may actually
have been to produce traditional blue, and that a slight
difference in reds has been observed in various plastics
formations)
Gold Gold, as seen in bugles, coins, and Launch Command
Astronaut visors
Silver Chrome-Silver, as seen in swords, harpoons, knives,
hyrdolator crystals, and shiny Model Team elements
LtBlue-Chrome Light-Blue Chrome-Silver, as seen in Hydronaut suits
Glow-in-the-Dark Glows when charged under incandescent light or held in
black light, as seen in ghosts and 5-star magic wands
Clear Totally clear -- no pigment
Trans-LtBlue Transparent Light Blue, as seen primarily in Town
Trans-DkBlue Transparent Dark Blue, as seen primarily in Space and
Aquazone
Trans-Green Transparent Green, as seen in Space, Aquazone, Town,
etc.
Trans-GrYellow Transparent Fluorescent Greenish-Yellow, as seen in
Space and Aquazone
Trans-Yellow Transparent "Beer" Yellow, as seen in Space, Town, etc.;
this is different from the "neon" greenish-yellow
Trans-Orange Transparent Fluorescent Orange, as seen in Space and
Time Cruisers
Trans-Red Transparent Red, as seen in Space, Town, etc.
+------------------------+
| COLOR COMBINATIONS |
+------------------------+
Perhaps even more important than the abbrevations are the conventions used
in color combinations. For example, normal two-colored minifig legs pieces
(legs + waist) are given as follows:
4 DkGray/Yellow Legs Pieces
4 Blue/White Legs Pieces
4 Red/Black Legs Pieces
The first color, before the slash (/), is the BOTTOM part of the legs piece --
the legs themselves. The second color, after the slash, is the TOP part of
the legs piece -- the waist. In general things do not go bottom-up but instead
the colors are listed in order of majority.
That is to say, the color which occupies the most volume/area on the piece is
listed first. The color which occipies the next largest portion of piece is
listed second, and so forth.
So if you see some minifig torsos like this...
16 White/Green Plain Torsos
4 Black/Yellow Plain Torsos
4 Blue/White Plain Torsos
2 White/White/White Plain Torsos
...then the interpretation for the top one is White Torso and Green Arms, the
second one is Black Torso with Yellow Arms, the third one is Blue Torso with
White Arms, and the bottom one is White Torso with White Arms and White Hands.
When the color of hands is not given, it is often (but not always) Yellow.
In cases such as themed minifigs (Spryius, Unitron, Launch Command), the color
of the hands are not always listed.
Another example of two-colored pieces are the Tilting Bearing Hinge pieces:
16 Gray/Black 1x2 Tilting-Bearing Hinges
16 Black/White 1x2 Tilting-Bearing Hinges
Here the TOP portion of the hinge is listed SECOND because it occupies less
plastic. The BOTTOM portion is listed FIRST because it occupies more plastic.
+-----------+
| SIZES |
+-----------+
Sizes of items are given in six different forms, hopefully all intuitive:
1. Length x Width x Height
This is the most common and is most easily though of in terms of bricks.
Where Height is not given, it is understood to be 1. Fractional heights
are given rounded down to the nearest 1/10. Examples:
2x4 Brick
2x2x2 Round Space Landing Pad
2x4x2 Treasure Chest w/ Lid
1.5x1.5 Micro-Motor-Style Pulley
3x6x3.6 Space-Shuttle Tail-fin (2x3 base)
6x6x3.3 Train Fronts w/ LtBlue Windows
2x2x3.3 Octagonal Bricks w/ Side Studs
Octagonal bricks (from Aquazone) are somewhat tricky since they have no
native "up" or "sideways." A 2x2x3.3 Octagonal Brick could just as well
be called a 2x4x1.6 Octagonal Brick.
2. Technic Index Code
This is generally simply the Length of the piece in studs. This follows
a code invented by LEGO. Examples:
#1 Technic Axle w/ Ball
#4 Technic Axle w/ Dual End Sockets
#10 Technic Axle
Note that the length of the middle item here is not 4, but 6. The #4
applies to the Axle portion. Sometimes (but not always, unfortunately),
anything added after "w/" is independent of the size given. Similarly,
the length of the first item here is not 1, but 2.
3. Length
This specifies the length of the piece in studs, when unfolded (where
appropriate, for example the Whip). Examples:
9L Lance
12L Whip
2.5L 3-Finger Hinge Arm w/ End Stud
2L Ribbed Technic Axle Extender
21L Thread w/ End Studs
Extensible items (such as two-part crane arms) are given with minimum
and maximum length. Examples:
19L/20L Crane Arm w/ 15 Top Studs
4. Height
This specifies the height of the piece in standard-brick-heights.
Examples:
6.6H Large Conical Tree w/ Round Base
12.5H Trapezoidal Rigging Piece
16.6H Skinny Pirateship Mast Segment
Sizes are usually given this way when the width and length are hard to
measure or define, or don't really matter too much.
5. Width x Height, in Inches
This is for paper items such as idea posters and catalog posters. The
double-quote symbol means U.S. inches. Examples:
16"x21" 1993 Castle Poster/Catalog
16.5"x11.5" FreeStyle Idea Poster from 4055
22"x16.5" FreeStyle Idea Poster from 4128
6. Width x Height / Width x Height
This describes piece which unfold and collapse into two different
configuration, for example a hinge:
1x4/2x2 Corner-Connect Plate Hinge
1x4/2x2 Corner-Connect Brick Hinge
It also describes pieces which have two major componets, each with a
distinct size, joined perpendicularly at a seam, for example a bracket:
1x2/1x4 Bracket
2x2/2x2 Bracket
+---------------------+
| NAMES OF SHAPES |
+---------------------+
Arches
======
Bricks are generally rectangular unless otherwise specified. For example, the
following have rectangular (flat) tops...
1x6x2 Full-Arch Brick
1x4x1 Full-Arch Brick
2x8x3 Full-Arch Brick
...while the following have rounded tops...
1x6x2 Smooth-Round Full-Arch Brick
1x6x3 Smooth-Round Half-Arch Brick
...and the following have "staired" tops:
1x5x4 Staired Full-Arch Brick
1x12x3 Staired Full-Arch Brick
Hubs
====
Naming of Hubs is curious. There are big hubs which go on Technic pegs, and
there are little hubs which go on tiny pegs (as seen, for example, in small
modern Town cars). To make things even more tricky, LEGO makes two sizes of
hubs for the tiny-peg system. So there are "Small Tiny-Peg Hubs" and "Large
Tiny-Peg Hubs."
Hinges
======
Tilting Bearing Hinges are also curious. It's a neat system with a lot of
different parts. One of these is a snow-plow piece used in Town sets and also
showing up in a 1995 Ice-Planet set. But it's also used in Space as an
antenna. And it could also be used as a medical examination platform. So
we've called it a "3x6 Tilting-Bearing-Hinge Bottom/Plow."
Rods
====
At least two other interesting pieces show up with rather confusing, non-
colloquial descriptions...
White 5.5H Rod w/ Stop
Gray 8L Rod w/ End Peg & End Hilt
White 10H Rod w/End-Slit,End-Ball,Side-Hole
What on Earth are these? The first one is used on the back of the 6516 Moon
Walker to hold up the radar antenna. It is also very commonly used in Paradisa
sets as an outdoor-umbrella holder. The piece is too wonderful to give a
specific, common name, so we went with a geometrical name.
The second piece is often called a Technic Ski-Pole. It's much more general
than that, however, so it too has a descriptive name.
Finally, the third piece is most often used as a sailboard mast. Why not just
call it a sailboard mast? Because it shows up in the Outback Airstrip set as
a windsock pole. It's a nice, general piece, and I'm sure Terry Keller would
have no problem making it into a space-fighter weapon of some sort.
By the way, the "5.5H Rod w/ Stop" piece is also used as a horizontal mast
segment in sailboards.
+----------------------------+
| THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR |
+----------------------------+
Composite Elements
==================
Many pieces come with their counterparts, for example hinges and ball/socket
pairs, but many also do not. So if you see something like this...
2 Trans-LtBlue 6x6x3 Divers Bubbles
...don't assume that they come with hinges. One way to remember this is to
ask yourself what color the hinges are. If you don't see it, it's probably
not there. (Divers bubbles come with White and Yellow 1x4 hinge plates.
These are sold separately because they work with dozens of other pieces,
and maybe you want to use Black anyway and don't have a need for more Yellow
or White hinge plates.)
Speaking of hinges, watch out for words like "Hingeable" versus "Hinged."
The intention of "Hinged" is to say that the piece comes hinged with its
natural components. "Hingeable," on the other hand, says that the piece
is hingeable but not hinged -- that is, that it is only half the hinge. An
example of this is:
12 Yellow 2x4x4 2-Bend Hingeable Aqua-Panels
An example of a piece, however, that says "Hinged" which does not come with
a second hinge component, is the 2x2 Hinged Plate Turntable. This will, in
a future auction, be renamed to a 2x2 Hingeable Plate Turntable.
Orientation
===========
Beware also of "vert." (vertical) and "horiz." (horizontal) with respect to
rod clips; the orientation refers not to the prongs of the clip but to the
orientation of a rod -held by- the clip. So, for example, if you see something
like this...
8 Black 1x1 Plates w/ Horiz. Side Clip
...it means that these elements grip rods horizontally with respect to the
canonical plane of attachment in the 1x1 plate portion. You can find pictures
of these small clip elements on the website.
Center Posts
============
Most* clear and transparent-colored 1xN bricks are completely hollow in that
they have no center post. This makes them look better as windows. In solid
(opaque) bricks, the center post fits between studs of a connecting brick
and helps stabilize the connection. 1xN bricks are assumed here to have a
center post unless otherwise stated using the word "postless." One exception,
of course, is the 1x1 brick, which is too small to have a post. Another
exception is the set of Super-Tall 1xNx5 bricks, which are always hollow
(postless).
* Most, but not all: Clear 1x2 bricks from newer sets (such as 1796, 4128,
4162, etc.) are hollow and do not have center posts. Clear 1x2 bricks from
some older sets (such as 9364) are -not- hollow and -do- have center posts.
+-----------------+
| BOTTOM LINE |
+-----------------+
We've tried very hard to be as consistent as possible over everything, and as
complete as possible, but we're sure some confusion still lurks here and there.
If you are unsure about what a lot contains, please do not hesitate to ask!
The last thing we want is to sell you something you didn't want, or for you to
miss out on something you did want. Note, however, that since this is an
auction, all sales are final (unless the mistake is ours). So it's your
responsibility to make sure that you understand what you're bidding on.
--
Todd & Suz
www.auczilla.com