Curious Minds and Brickstuff - a match made in LEGO
At Curious Minds we are hard wired to get excited by a bright idea, but when our Gareth took a trip to the Chigago Toy and Game Fair last year even we were surprised by the level of his excitedness over some very small bits and bobs.
But since then we have all become very animated by those little pieces of fabby tech known as Brickstuff and we are sure that AfoLs (Adult Fans of Lego) around Europe will be equally excited.
And we are delighted to announce that our award winning online science shop, Curious Minds, has become the sole European retailer for the amazing Brickstuff lighting and automation system that adds brilliance to hobby building projects.
Brickstuff, “born in the USA” is already a firm favourite with ®LEGO fans in Asia and all over America and looks set to take Europe by storm with the European launch through Curious Minds.
Curious Minds owner Dr Wendy Hamilton said: “We are so excited to be working with Brickstuff to bring their inventive range of LED lights and effects to European customers.
“We first met Brickstuff at the Chicago toy fair last year where Gareth Davies, our man at the show, was as excited as I've ever seen him about anything. It's finally here and on our shelves, in store and online at Curious minds.co.uk
“We are delighted and can't wait to hear what the brick community is going to build!"
And Brickstuff's inventor and “Chief Enthusiast” Rob Klingberg said: “We are very excited to have teamed up with Curious Minds to reach or fans in Europe and look forward to sharing our 'Small Lights for Big Ideas' with them.”
He continued: “Brickstuff started in 2011 when my kids began building LEGO® modular buildings, and I noticed there were parts of the buildings that were intended to be lights (hanging lanterns, etc.) in real life, but that were not lit.
“I looked around the web for makers of LEGO® lighting but all of them had wires that were too thick. I visited several fan conventions in 2011 and learned that many builders, while they created amazing creations with bricks, didn’t want to learn to solder or learn electronics.
“I set out to create a system that worked together, where people could add amazing, lifelike effects to their work without needing to do any soldering or needing to know anything about electronics.”
He added: “Since then business has continued to grow to the point that we shipped product to 34 countries in 2014. Customers have used our products for LEGO® builds, dollhouses, model trains, and a variety of other uses (the most creative of which may have been when a couple purchased some lights to use inside their motorcycle gear bags for use at night while on cross-country trips).”
Brickstuff offers a range of around 50 products to its growing army of enthusiasts and Rob is always working on developing new ideas and new concepts and he explained the success of Brickstuff saying: “Compared to other, similar products on the market, our lights have two primary differences/advantages:
“The first is that we use the thinnest wires on the market, which allow bricks to be snapped directly on top and wires to be hidden in walls and fully concealed, creating the most realistic-looking effects.
“And the second is that Brickstuff has the ability to scale to hundreds of lights and effects in a single system. All of the other products on the market can scale to around 50 lights, but we are working with a model builder in Atlanta, Georgia, on a 300 square foot city he has built, using over 1,000 LEDs to light every aspect of the city, including buildings that are over 10 feet tall.”
And he added a promise for the future: “We are intensely passionate about helping our customers succeed in all of their lighting and automation plans. We constantly solicit customer feedback and use it to drive continuous improvement.
“We work directly with many of the leading LEGO® builders worldwide, including several LEGO® Master Builders, and will be making an increased commitment to creating documentation, high-quality online content, and books focused on lighting for LEGO® builders in the coming year.”
The full Brickstuff range can be found at www.curiousminds.co.uk or on the shelves at Grasshopper Toys Ltd, 112 West Princes Street, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, G84 8XD.
Some Brickstuff kits contain LEGO® parts and/or elements. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not manufacture, sponsor, authorize or endorse any Brickstuff product or service.
