2020 seems to be a bit of a year for LEGO® pods. The Friends, Ninjago and Trolls lines all feature large two-piece containers that you might struggle to think of uses for. Today, Victor Pruvost examines the second of these: the LEGO NINJAGO Arcade Pods which come in sets 71714 Kai Avatar, 71715 Jay Avatar and 71716 Lloyd Avatar.
Breaking away from the usual spinners, flyers and other Spinjitzu-related entry-level sets, LEGO® released three Arcade Pods as part of the latest Ninjago wave, which is inspired by video games. Like the new Friends Play Cubes, these Arcade Pods are built around two specialized new parts, which we’re examining today.
Those two elements are:
The parts are connected via a bar & clip connection on one side, and two studs on the other (which reinforces the similarity with the Friends Play Cubes). The clip has some give, so there’s no friction and the back can easily opened and closed.
The back is based on a 4x6 plate, with Technic holes in it to help remove plates or tiles that can’t be reached with a brick separator. It’s one brick tall with sloped edges, and measures 6x8 modules at the top. On one side a bar with two handles protrudes and on the other, a 1x4 plate.
The latter has rounded edges, presumably so the kids won’t hurt their fingers when they open the pod. It lies two plates above the bottom. Similarly, the bar can connect with existing elements in various ways.
It also perfectly fits elements with two clips side to side, like the modified plate with 2 clips (60470) shown below.
As for the front piece, it has a base of 6x6 modules and is seven bricks tall. The ‘counter’ lies three bricks above the bottom, leaving an opening that is four modules wide and 11 plates tall.
When it comes to connection points, the base has 10 antistuds along three edges, 12 studs on the counter and 20 studs on the top. All of those studs are recessed.
In addition there’s the two clips and 1x2 plate on the sides. Just like the plate on the back piece, the 1x2 protruding plate has two rounded edges. The clips fit a standard lightsaber four modules long.
As for the plate, it’s precisely three modules below the top of the arcade. The non-studded side of the protrusion is flat rather than having antistuds, but you can build around it to reach the front of the part. The bottom of this 1x2 plate is aligned with the bottom of the counter, which is a half-plate thick. That means the middle of the protrusion is two plates above the counter.
An important characteristic of this element are its angles on the sides. The bottom matches a 2x3 wedge plate quite closely, and the top is fairly close to a 2x4 wedge plate.
What’s surprising is that the two topmost slopes don’t form a right angle.
It can also be compared with sloped bricks, but again, it’s not a perfect match.
If we take this idea further, we can actually build an Arcade Pod out of bricks and I’ve put the instructions and parts list on Rebrickable, if you want to try yourself. This version, however, is only comprised of the front piece of the arcade pod.
So, it’s not exactly a POOP, since there are some minor differences, but we’re quite close. Of course, having the whole arcade pod made of as few parts as possible ensures its solidity, allows more detailing and makes it easier to apply the stickers on the sides, so in a way it makes sense that specific parts had to be created for them.
But what if the two pieces could be used in a different way?
I played a bit with the back piece, and turned it into a computer screen.
I also reused both of the parts for a small contest on a French forum where the goal was to find a new use for POOPs and other big parts. In addition to that, the MOC had to use less than 100 elements! Since I had a blue arcade pod, I turned it into a Classic Space-inspired rover.
Those two elements are:
- Arcade Front (Design ID 65067), which comes in the three classic colours Bright Red/ Red (Element ID 6287556), Bright Blue/ Blue (6287557), and Dark Green/ Green (6287559). It is called Design Element, Front, 6X6X7 by TLG/Brickset, Minifigure, Utensil Arcade Game Cabinet Body by BrickLink and Pod, Arcade Machine by Rebrickable.
- Arcade Back (Design ID 65068), which is only available in Dark Stone Grey/ Dark Bluish Gray (Element ID 6287562). It is called Design Element, Back, 6X8X1, W/3.2 Shaft by TLG/Brickset, Minifigure, Utensil Arcade Game Cabinet Back by BrickLink and Plate Special 6 x 8 x 1 with Bar, Door by Rebrickable.
The parts are connected via a bar & clip connection on one side, and two studs on the other (which reinforces the similarity with the Friends Play Cubes). The clip has some give, so there’s no friction and the back can easily opened and closed.
Geometry of LEGO part 65068 Arcade Pod Back
The back is based on a 4x6 plate, with Technic holes in it to help remove plates or tiles that can’t be reached with a brick separator. It’s one brick tall with sloped edges, and measures 6x8 modules at the top. On one side a bar with two handles protrudes and on the other, a 1x4 plate.
The latter has rounded edges, presumably so the kids won’t hurt their fingers when they open the pod. It lies two plates above the bottom. Similarly, the bar can connect with existing elements in various ways.
It also perfectly fits elements with two clips side to side, like the modified plate with 2 clips (60470) shown below.
Geometry of LEGO part 65067 Arcade Pod Front
As for the front piece, it has a base of 6x6 modules and is seven bricks tall. The ‘counter’ lies three bricks above the bottom, leaving an opening that is four modules wide and 11 plates tall.
When it comes to connection points, the base has 10 antistuds along three edges, 12 studs on the counter and 20 studs on the top. All of those studs are recessed.
In addition there’s the two clips and 1x2 plate on the sides. Just like the plate on the back piece, the 1x2 protruding plate has two rounded edges. The clips fit a standard lightsaber four modules long.
As for the plate, it’s precisely three modules below the top of the arcade. The non-studded side of the protrusion is flat rather than having antistuds, but you can build around it to reach the front of the part. The bottom of this 1x2 plate is aligned with the bottom of the counter, which is a half-plate thick. That means the middle of the protrusion is two plates above the counter.
An important characteristic of this element are its angles on the sides. The bottom matches a 2x3 wedge plate quite closely, and the top is fairly close to a 2x4 wedge plate.
What’s surprising is that the two topmost slopes don’t form a right angle.
It can also be compared with sloped bricks, but again, it’s not a perfect match.
If we take this idea further, we can actually build an Arcade Pod out of bricks and I’ve put the instructions and parts list on Rebrickable, if you want to try yourself. This version, however, is only comprised of the front piece of the arcade pod.
So, it’s not exactly a POOP, since there are some minor differences, but we’re quite close. Of course, having the whole arcade pod made of as few parts as possible ensures its solidity, allows more detailing and makes it easier to apply the stickers on the sides, so in a way it makes sense that specific parts had to be created for them.
But what if the two pieces could be used in a different way?
Building MOCs with the Arcade Pods
I played a bit with the back piece, and turned it into a computer screen.
I also reused both of the parts for a small contest on a French forum where the goal was to find a new use for POOPs and other big parts. In addition to that, the MOC had to use less than 100 elements! Since I had a blue arcade pod, I turned it into a Classic Space-inspired rover.
We hope Victor Pruvost's article has given you the technical and creative inspiration to try something different with LEGO NINJAGO Arcade Pods! We've challenged another two builders to use them in MOCs which you will see in the coming months, along with our analysis of the Trolls pods.
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Big up to our 'Vibrant Coral' patrons: Iain Adams, Geppy, Chris Cook, London AFOLs, Gerald Lasser, Big B Bricks, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Huw Millington, Neil Crosby, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Sue Ann Barber & Trevor Clark, and Kevin Gascoigne. You're all awesome!
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon USA: Amazon.com Canada: Amazon.ca UK: Amazon.co.uk Deutschland: Amazon.de
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Out of curiosity... how comparable is the loose bar connection of the hinge in this set to parts 92107 and 92099 (the modern trapdoor elements)? They look to be comparable in size and might even be compatible to some extent... though what you'd do with that, I'm not entirely sure.
ReplyDeleteBoth pairs are based on a 4L bar, so they're compatible, but movement is constrained. Position the arcade cabinet like a refrigerator: then the trapdoor can swing from left side of the fridge, by 225°, so it's still hanging open; this is true both studs-in and studs-out. When the 6x8 cabinet-back (65068) is affixed to the 8x6 trapdoor-frame, studs-in the two parts overlap and the frame swings from -5° to +80° (because of the elevated position of the hinge on the 65068, the opposite edge of the frame sinks slighly into the concavity); studs-out the frame hangs outside and swings by 110°.
DeleteWhat happened to the photos? I see only grey "stop" signs in different browsers...
ReplyDeleteStupid Google. It's a widespread issue. "Blogger is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. No timeframe given."
DeleteThanks for flagging.