The need for good communication skills have never been more important than now. In particular for Orcs:
Month: August 2012
Using the Nikon D800 to photograph LEGO Minifigures
Today I tried out the Nikon D800 to photograph the Minifigures. Pretty sweet, but due to the larger sensor size I would need to have a different makro lens. Instead of 1900 pixels height I now get 2900 pixels height for the Minifigure itself.
Free update for App: Series 6 & 7 plus Team GB
Today we are happy to announce the free update of our Unofficial LEGO Minifigure App. We now include Collectible Series 6 & 7 and the Team GB series. Just in time before the Olympics close! Phew, it was a bit of a race to get it done in time. The update also includes corrections and extensions for the other collections. For example, I was finally able to photograph the Comodore Guy (nfi.tow.oth.1997.03, CL001). We hope that you enjoy these new Minifigures and photographs.
Instructions:
- Go to the Settings tab
- Click on Database
- Click on check for latest version
- Upgrade the database
- Enjoy the new Minifigures
Team GB looks good
I finished photographing Team GB. The figures look great and GB is also doing exceptional well at the Olympics.
Team GB arrived!
The collectible Minifigures of Team GB (Olympic Minifigures) arrived today. I will now photograph them for the catalog.
The Emotional Expressions of LEGO Minifigure Faces
We investigated how the emotional expressions of LEGO Minifigure faces has changed over time. We submitted it to three scientific journals (International Journal of Play, International Journal of Design, Design Studies), but the article was rejected since the editors did not consider the paper to fit into the scope of their journal. We would be grateful for suggestions on where to publish this article. The full article can be found here: The Emotional Expressions of LEGO Minifigure Faces. The abstract is below:
The Emotional Expressions of LEGO Minifigure Faces
Toys play an important role in the development of children. LEGO bricks are one of the world’s most popular toys and the Minifigure is the centerpiece of every LEGO construction. We investigate and present a summary of the development of the facial expression for all LEGO Minifigures that were released between 1975 and 2010. Our findings are based on several statistical tests that are preformed on data gathered from an online questionnaire. The results show that the LEGO company started in 1989 to dramatically increase the variety of facial expressions. The two most frequent expressions are happiness and anger and the proportion of happy faces is decreasing over time. Through a k-cluster analysis we identified six types of facial expression: disdain, confidence, concern, fear, happiness, and anger. In addition we tested if the perception of the face changes when the face is presented in the context of a complete Minifigure. The impression of anger, disgust, sadness and surprise were significantly influenced by the presence of context information. The distinctiveness of the faces was, however, not significantly improved. The variation in skin color did also not change the perception of the Minifigure’s emotional expression. We speculate that The children of today will remember LEGO toys not with the same overall positive associations as the current adults do, but may remember the full complexity of faces that act in conflict situations.
Demonstration of the LEGO Minifigure App
I recently got my hands on Reflection, which finally allowed me to record a good demonstration of the app.