LEGO teases new lighting kits, causes controversy
A little bit of lighting makes LEGO models look amazing after dark. Long the domain of small business, The LEGO Group is exploring offering products of their own.
“Lights out” hours at LEGO Conventions like Brickworld Chicago encourage fans to add lighting to their models. Inspired by DIY solutions, several small businesses offer ready-made kits with parts and instructions to add lighting to many official LEGO sets. (In past articles, we’ve reviewed Brickloot LED Light kits and generic Battery-powered LED Christmas Lights.)
This week, The LEGO Group announced a partnership with Light My Bricks to produce and sell LEGO-branded Lighting Kits for official LEGO sets. This kind of partnership is new; LEGO will be investing money and resources in companies through their new Lead User Lab program.
LEGO ‘Night Mode’ Light Kit for Ford Mustang (Photo: Brickset)
The story gets a bit more complicated… In this detailed article, Brickstuff (a pioneer in this category, founded in 2011) has alleged that their designs were stolen in 2016 by Light My Bricks.
The LEGO Group has some time to figure this out, since the Lighting Kits aren’t actually available for purchase at this time. This is a bit confusing, since realistic-looking boxes of LEGO-branded lighting kits were displayed at a LEGO store in Copenhagen, coinciding with this year’s LEGO World covention.
Further reading on this controversial news:
- LEGO Night Mode light kits are ‘a test’ —Brick Fanatics
- LEGO Night Mode Lighting Kits Controversy —The Brick Fan
- Night Mode: more information —Brickset
I just discovered this site and am loving it!
Are there still plans to write a lighting guide? I’m very keen to add lighting to my modular city, but I’m still stuck with no clear way of evaluating the options.
Jeannie and I have discussed this. It is not my current area of focus, but she may want to pursue it further in the near future. I’d love to see a complete guide!