I'm trying to create a large Lego-style set for Algernon's Steam Empire Project, and to give it that extra lego-ness I would like to add it a generous helping of play features such as the ones that Lego uses. I was looking through an old catalog, and it seems that it was mainly catapults and the soccer-chair missile method back then, not things that are really innovative.

What I want from you, Eurobricks, is for you to post your favorite, most clever play features that you remember from their sets, not only for my use on this MOC but for the use of others in the future. Hopefully, what we can get is a comprehensive list of LEGO play features, large and small, ingeniuous or dopey *cough* flick-fire *cough*. Post with a description or picture if you can find one, and say one set that it came in.

Flickfires Flickfires and More Flickfires it seems to be a trend for LEGO.

Just a few that have jumped out at me over the last year.

I love the way the concealed cannons mounted in the side flanges of the 7679 Republic Fighter Tank rotate to reveal the weaponry.

I don't own it, but the hidden weapons rack and safe in 5980 Squidman's Pitstop look quite clever too.

Anything requiring a smoothly moving cockpit mechanism should look at the 7673 MagnaGuard Starfighter.

The groovy elevator function in 7631 Construction Site using a 32 long Technic axle and wheels for friction is pretty cool.

The hinged trailer on the blue tractor from 7637 Farm is strong and far superior to dodgy similar mechanisms in the Cargo Plane runway vehicle or Dump Truck.

The way the drill bit is built in the 8960 Thunder Driller to rotate in different directions is very clever.

The sliding door feature in the 8036 Separatists Shuttle is a brilliant bit of small scale Technic engineering.

The way the boats in 7197 Venice Chase are designed to separate but still hold together is worth checking out.

The way the 10193 Medieval Market Village water wheel spins to power the blacksmith's anvil is another greate small-scale Technic function.

Overall, I think the SW sets are better designed in terms of play than a lot of regular themes - whether this is from extra dedication from the design team or the slightly older age bracket, I'm not sure (eg hinged cockpits were taken to be too hard to construct for the SP3 target audience).

You could probably even break it down into a taxonomy. Eg, Most Lego play functions fall into:

1) Catapults

2) Missiles (flickfire or Technic)

3) Trapdoors

4) Hidden Compartments

5) Functional Hinging

and so on.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Sliding cockpit mechanism: General Greivous' Fighter

Sliding doors: Separatist Shuttle

Sliding troop deployment: MTT

Rotational A-Wing stand: Home One Mon Cal Cruiser

X-Wing S-Foils: X-Wing

These are really great play functions that give the sets so much more in terms of enjoying them.

I love the way the concealed cannons mounted in the side flanges of the 7679 Republic Fighter Tank rotate to reveal the weaponry.

Agreed! I recently reviewed that one, and I really liked that part.

Overall, I think the SW sets are better designed in terms of play than a lot of regular themes - whether this is from extra dedication from the design team or the slightly older age bracket, I'm not sure (eg hinged cockpits were taken to be too hard to construct for the SP3 target audience).

Also agreed. I think the play features are for the kids, but they sure are pleasing to any FOL.

Cool topic. Here are some of my favorites (excluding what has been mentioned above):

The exploding wall feature in 6755 Sheriff's Lock-Up.

The spinning rotor in 4403 Air Blazers. A similar feature is in 8971 Aerial Defense Unit, but I like the one in 4403 better because it works with squeezing, not pushing.

The way you can make a skull appear inside a crystal ball in 6097 Night Lord's Castle.

The fall-off wings in 7198 Fighter Plane Attack.

The hidden weapons in 7153 Jango Fett's Slave I and 7664 TIE Crawler.

The X-Ray vision feature in the Divers and Exploriens sets.

The walking function of the motorized AT-AT.

The gate opening mechanism in 8061 Squid Gate.

The opening ramp of 4504 Millenium Falcon.

The flapping wings of 6493 Flying Time vessel and 6495 Time Tunnelator.

Pretty much any use of magnets or light bricks.

Edited November 10, 200915 yr by Oky Wan Kenobi

One of my favorite features was the flipping cockpit for the MagnaGuard starfighter.

I like the new Pirate Cannons. Those things are fun to fire! Other than that everyone else has already listed my other favorites

I like the new Pirate Cannons. Those things are fun to fire! Other than that everyone else has already listed my other favorites

They were in the original line too....

I'll throw in my 2 cents, now that I've started this. A few that haven't been mentioned

-The tube system on the old LOM base and the newer MM set.

-Any of the multitudinous Bionicle launchers, which are sometimes used in system as well

-Triple blow of rubber-band battering ram, bashed-in wall, and collapsing floor in Tower Siege (best $30 I spent on LEGO)

-Monorail on Sentai Fortress and Dr. Inferno's volcano base

-Utterly cool collapsing bridge on Tygurah's Roar... I thought this thing was the bee's knees when it came out

-The sabotaged jewel drawer on Yeti's Hideout

-The collapsing bridge, used in many, many sets.

Just to sort of show how broad the definition of play feature can be. Sometimes the whole set is based around it, like with Tygurah or the LOM tubes.

So, generalized a bit more:

Shooting Stuff

- Flick-firing bolts

- Catapults

- Shooting cannons

- Bionicle shooting dealies

- Cyberslam spring-loaded cannons

- Throwbots flinging discs

- Etc.

Trap doors

- Collapsing bridges

- Trap doors

- Revolving walls

Fall-on-people Traps

- Dropping bricks

- Swinging axes

Exploding things

- Exploding stands (a la 7749 Echo Base)

- Exploding buildings (like 1352 Explosion Studio or 8038 The Battle of Endor)

Transports

- Monorail dealy (like 6970 Beta I Command base or 8637 Volcano Base)

- Tube system (7317 Aero Tube Hangar)

Configurable Vehicles

- 6952 Solar Power Transporter

- 6954 Renegade

Cranes, Liftarms, Claws

- Snakey liftarms (6880 Surface Explorer, etc)

- Magnetized cranes (M-Tron)

- Advanced Cranes (7632 Crawler Crane, etc)

Wacky Rolling Motion Doodads

- 6493 Flying Time Vessel

- 4533 Train Track Snow Remover

- 7626 Jungle Cutter

Dump Beds

- Dump Trucks

- Hopper Cars (10017 Hopper Wagon)

Simple (but fun) Motion

- Garage doors

- Crossing gates

- Hinged Buildings

- Spinning radar dishes and antenna

- Drawbridges

- Portcullises

Fancy Lever Systems

- 6953 Cosmic Laser Launcher

- 6983 Ice Station Odyssey

Conveyor Belts

- 580 Brick Yard

- 6195 Neptune Discovery Lab

Controllable Figures

- Soccer

- Basketball

- Hockey

- Lightsaber Duel

DaveE

Edited November 10, 200915 yr by davee123

Looking through my collection, here are some thing that come to mind:

Any kind of Technic mechanism in minifig models is always great to see. Many of the old Space ground vehicles like 6895, 6896 and 6989 had steering systems, usually made up of a four-bar swivel mechanism. Another example that comes to mind is the opening launch bay system in 6953 and 6987. In recent times, some of the Power Miners vehicles have had drills and other things that spin when the vehicle moves. I've increasingly been trying to do more of these kinds of things in my MOCs.

Modularity was also a common thing in some Space themes, especially on larger ships. 6984, 6973, and most of the Blacktron 1 ships had a couple of separate sections, which could be combined in various ways to get new ships. The 5974 Galactic Enforcer continues this tradition as well.

The 6339 Shuttle Launch Pad had a cool system for lifting the shuttle and boosters into place. This and this from the manual describe it best.

The 7033 Armored Car Action set had a neat setup where the rear doors are locked, and you have to use two included keys (1x1 tap pieces) to unlock the compartment.

As mentioned earlier, any use of light, sound or magnets is good too. One of the best uses of lights was 6781, with its flashing cannons and light-up computer panel.

The spinning rotor in 4403 Air Blazers. A similar feature is in 8971 Aerial Defense Unit, but I like the one in 4403 better because it works with squeezing, not pushing.

Yes, this is an impressive and unique design. I don't remember seeing a mechanism anything like it in other sets.

Edited November 10, 200915 yr by CP5670

I love how everything fits inside and folds away in the Agents Mobile Command Center. All the compartments under the trailer, the swing out crane for the quadbike that slots neatly in place. The fold out light brick that projects the sticker picture onto a scrreen. That set had some of the best features in a long time.

Erupting volcano - 6248 volcano island

Collapsing masts - 6280 armada flagship and 6289 red beard runner

Portcullis and drawbridge - 6090 royal knight's castle, among others

Fast firing projectiles - 7020 Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon

Exploding wall - 6755 sheriff's lock-up

Falling rocks - 6082 Fire Breathing Fortress and 7419 Dragon Fortress among others

Edited November 10, 200915 yr by Fluyt

Wheels driving a mechanism is cool on vehicles - e.g. the Agents Gold Heist with fan at the back that rotates as the wheels under the back of the boat run on whatever surface you're "driving" the boat on.

Similarly Jungle Cutter, the wheels underneath the spinning blades make them rotate.

Just looking through my sets - For Harry Potter, some features that stick out are the letters falling down in Privet Drive, the cobwebs springing up in Aragog and dark forest, the cool pendulum and gate mechanism with wind-up function in the Azkhaban Hogwarts. The skeleton springing up out of the grave in the Graveyard Duel is neat.

Pirates - Shipwreck hideout has the rotating bridge, the skull dispenser and swinging out blades.

The battering ram in the recent Castle Siege tower is nice functionality (and of course there is the extending platform too). Dwarves Mine Defender of course has the "wheels driving a mechanism" feature.

I like the collapsing statues that knock out the walls in the Indy Tomb set. Rolling ball works well in temple escape. Temple of the Crystal skull as various little features like falling skulls, flick fire, moving wall. Also the weird contraption at the top is, well, operational (whatever it does - I haven't seen the film yet).