Alphabet Blocks (Classic)

The concept was originally conceived as a baby shower gift to add a bright splash of playful color to a nursery for twin baby girls. Dad's lifelong love of LEGO came through, and the result was 6 "wooden" building blocks perfectly suited for a wall shelf by the door. Identifying the letters and associating each with their names even became part of the bedtime routine as they were learning the alphabet.

Each block is a perfect cube 10 studs on a side (3.75" x 3.75" x 3.75", or approximately 9.5 cm. x 9.5 cm. x 9.5 cm.). The two opposing faces have a colored frame and character, along with a white background that is slightly inset. Construction consists of two identical halves securely affixed to each other to create the "front" and "back" faces. Each block is rigid and robust and resists unintended spontaneous disassembly!

The actual assembly does not entail challenging or complex techniques, though it does make use of some interesting joining methods to ensure that there are no exposed studs to interrupt the smooth surfaces.

Because the assembly process is not overly technical, putting the blocks together is a perfect project for mom or dad to share with any child over the age of 3. Young children who are excited about an upcoming new addition to the family may enjoy being able to do something nice for their soon-to-be-sibling. The results are striking, immediate, and fun to show off to other family members and, eventually, to their new brother or sister.

It is straightforward to extend this design theme beyond the traditional 26-letter English alphabet. Numbers, punctuation marks, and mathematical symbols allow users to spell out email addresses or geeky equations right on their desk. Playing card suits, musical notes, and cultural symbols or pictographs individualize a person's display and showcase their interests. Flowers can be used to send an important message, and the classic Space Invader proudly confirms one's Geek Cred! Variant letters featuring accents, umlauts, and other international characters (not shown) can also be included to further extend the appeal to other languages. And let's not forget that this is LEGO we're talking about here ... the directions are entirely optional! It’s easy to imagine endless customized designs that could be built using the included pieces or by adding parts from an existing LEGO collection.

PRODUCT COMMERCIALIZATION NOTES (This next section includes some potential production and packaging thoughts): Although a large number of individual block designs are showcased here, it is possible to simplify the product line and provide nearly the entire offering with a small handful of SKUs. Because the blocks all utilize consistent piece types, including 10-15% extra white and colored pieces would allow the builder to construct any of the single-color designs shown. For any given image or letter there would be some leftover pieces, but this number would be a relatively small fraction of the total number of pieces.

With this strategy there would only need to be a different SKU for each featured color. A single SKU could then contain all of the tan, white, and [another color] pieces needed to make any of the designs.

The exception to this is the designs that have a black background, or that incorporate more than one face color (that is, the flame, flowers, tree, and globe). These might have their own SKUs, or be introduced as special collector-edition offers.

Building instructions for the block itself could be included with each set. However, given the large number of face designs that could be created with each SKU, including printed instructions for each is probably impractical. Instructions could instead be included digitally on a minidisc, made available on the LEGO website, or accessed via a distinct QR code for each face design, which would allow the builder to immediately access directions anywhere on a smartphone or tablet.

These alphabet blocks (classic) are perfect for an Adult Fan of LEGO, any geek, or a kid at heart! In fact, AB(C)s make a great gift for anybody - and for any occasion! Desks, shelves, and bookcases alike are brought to life with vibrant colors and a customized message rendered in an over-sized combination of the world's two most perfect building toys: LEGO bricks and the enduring wooden alphabet blocks.