LEGO Studies

<p>Since the "Automatic Binding Bricks" that LEGO produced in 1949, and the LEGO "System of Play" that began with the release of Town Plan No. 1 (1955), LEGO bricks have gone on to become a global phenomenon, and the favorite building toy of children, as well as many an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). LEGO has also become a medium into which a wide number of media franchises, including <i>Star Wars</i>, <i>Harry Potter</i>, <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i>, <i>Batman</i>, <i>Superman</i>, <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, and others, have adapted their characters, vehicles, props, and settings. The LEGO Group itself has become a multimedia empire, including LEGO books, movies, television shows, video games, board games, comic books, theme parks, magazines, and even MMORPGs.</p><p>LEGO Studies: Examining the Building Blocks of a Transmedial Phenomenon is the first collection to examine LEGO as both a medium into which other franchises can be adapted and a transmedial franchise of its own. Although each essay looks at a particular aspect of the LEGO phenomenon, topics such as adaptation, representation, paratexts, franchises, and interactivity intersect throughout these essays, proposing that the study of LEGO as a medium and a media empire is a rich vein barely touched upon in Media Studies.</p> <p>Prolegomena <i>Mark J. P. Wolf</i> 1. The Cultural History of LEGO <i>Lars Konzack</i> 2. Adapting the Death Star to LEGO: The Case of Set #10188 <i>Mark J. P. Wolf</i> 3. Middle-earth and LEGO (Re)creation <i>Neal Baker</i> 4. Myth Blocks: How LEGO Transmedia Configures and Remixes Mythic Structures in the Ninjago and Chima Themes <i>Lori Landay</i> 5. Chicks with Bricks: Building Creative Identities Across Industrial Design Cultures and Gendered Construction Play <i>Derek Johnson</i> 6. (Un)blocking the Transmedial Character: Digital Abstraction as Franchise Strategy in Traveller’s Tales’ LEGO Games <i>Jessica Aldred</i> 7. Playset Nostalgia: <i>LEGO Star Wars</i> Video Games and the Meta-Experience of Fandom <i>Robert Buerkle</i> 8. Brick by Brick: Modularity and Programmability in MINDSTORMS and Gaming <i>Christopher Hanson</i> 9. Building the LEGO Classroom <i>Michael Lachney</i> 10. The LEGO System as a Tool for Thinking, Creativity, and Changing the World <i>David Gauntlett </i>11. LEGO: The Imperfect Art Tool <i>Nathan Sawaya</i> 12. LEGO Art Engages People <i>Ed Diment & Duncan Titmarsh </i>13. The Virtualization of LEGO <i>Kevin Schut</i> 14. Bright Bricks, Dark Play: On the Impossibility of Studying LEGO <i>Seth Giddings</i> 15. Afterword: D.I.Y. Disciplinarity: (Dis)Assembling LEGO Studies for the Academy<em> Jason Mittell </em>Appendix: Resource Guide for LEGO Scholarship</p>