When you are an AFOL you obviously fill your house with sets, but sometimes you want a little extra. Some little touches that celebrate your love of the brick. This is where the team from WLWYB come in. If the name doesn’t ring a bell they are the ones that produced the super popular Periodic Table of LEGO Colors.
The latest creation from WLWYB is a range of LEGO letter lights. Each light is built with genuine LEGO bricks and comes with integrated LED lights powered by USB.
I was lucky enough to receive one of these lamps to check out. I picked the letter C because I thought my son would love this and his name starts with C.
There are four key parts of the set: the LEGO elements themselves, in black and white; the LED strip lights; a backing piece of cardboard; and a translucent film for the front. The solid backing means that all of the light is going to come out the front of the letter rather than out both sides. I can see pros and cons of both approaches but I like the way it’s done.
The letter is built in a SNOT orientation which means that the measurements are a bit different than you might expect. The letters are two bricks and two plates thick and the C that I got is 26 studs tall. Overall they are a good size.
The good parts…
The lamp is very well designed; it’s simple and elegant. I really like the big block style for the letters. Some letters are obviously more complex than others but they all seem pretty good from pictures.
It is also really bright with a nice warm tone to the LEDs. It may be a bit distracting directly in your eyeline but would work well as a desk lamp off to the side of a computer desk.
Obviously I also love that this uses genuine LEGO elements so there are a lot of option to customise it. The front surface has a border of studs that is probably the perfect place for some of your leftover DOTS pieces.
The not as good parts…
In regards to the electronics please be aware that this is a USB powered lamp. You will need somewhere to plug this in like a computer, USB wall plug or a powerboard with USB ports. It is also worth pointing out is that there is no switch on the cord at all – if you are plugging it in to a wall you’ll have to unplug it or switch it off at the wall whenever you want it off. This is not as bad if you are plugging it in to a computer but just something to be aware of.
The cord is also a little bit shorter than I personally would have liked.
The final con is probably the price. You can get these lights either pre-built or as a kit you assemble yourself. The pre-built ones cost $59.95 USD while the kit version is $49.95 USD. Depending on the exchange rate you are looking at approximately $70 for a kit or $80-$85 for a prebuilt letter, which is not cheap. Thankfully shipping is free.
The price is eased a little with the exclusive 10% discount code you’ll find at the end of this article.
Final thoughts
I like the idea behind the letter lamps and I think the execution is really good. There are just a few little features that I wish it had for the price such as a switch, longer USB cord and maybe even RGB LEDs rather than just warm white.
None of those features are deal-breakers, just things I think you should be aware of before you buy.
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT CODE
Impressed with the LEGO letter lights and want to get your own? Use the exclusive code BRICKINGAROUND10 at checkout to get 10% off your order. This code works on any of the available letters. Find yours here.
Disclaimer: I received my light free of charge from the people at WLWYB and worked with them to set up the discount code above. WLWYB also have an affiliate program where I receive a small commission on sales made via Bricking Around. As always opinions above are entirely my own. Bricking Around will never enter in to an arrangement where a third party can control the content of posts.
Are they even allowed to sell this, considering it uses official LEGO bricks?