The most interesting parts of building the LEGO PlayStation

When set 72306: LEGO PlayStation was announced, the official reveal already showed off the build’s notable Easter Eggs, including two removable internal scenes of Gran Turismo and Ape Escape, as well as a brick-built PlayStation logo on the bottom of the console.

If you’ve been following this news, you’ve seen these features of the model talked about to death, so when Sony’s distributor in South Africa, Gamefinity, sent us over one of these sets, we wanted to find other parts of the build that haven’t been discussed as much.

Shock absorbers (but no wheels)

When you think of LEGO you think of plastic, but the Danish company does make some pieces incorporating metals. Most notably, metal springs are used in a range of shock absorbers which are usually used in a range of vehicles to give them realistic suspensions.

Here, however, they are used in a different way. Very early in the build you add two of these schlock absorbers with their function only made clear hours later near the end of the build: they provide a spring when opening the the top of the console, where you would place the game in the real device.

When completed the LEGO PlayStation has a functional “Open” button, which pops the top of the console open, just as you’d expect in real life. The shock absorbers provide that automatic opening action, which lifts the lid for you.

Finally, in this building step you can also see the PlayStation logo that we mentioned at the start. The logo actually has an additional function outside of looking cool: it helps orientate builders towards the left or right sides of the console, which can look similar during the building process. It’s form and function, which we really appreciate.

Print efficiency

There is a long-raging debate in the LEGO community around prints versus stickers for decorations in sets. Prints are more premium, usually last longer and don’t require careful application from builders. Stickers, on the other hand, help control the price of sets, allow for more customisation and give builders the choose to leave them off if they should so choose.

The LEGO PlayStation actually uses a combination of prints and stickers, but we have to highlight the use of the 2×2 brick used above the memory card and controller ports, indicating players 1 and 2.

Instead of using two separate printed pieces – which increases costs and administration back at the factory – LEGO simply uses one piece that has the two numbers printed on opposing sides. Simply flip them around to the right number, and connect the brick.

While this may sound like a tiny, inconsequential decision, it’s little optimisations like this, which you only appreciate after covering toy engineering for a long time. LEGO gets to keep costs and complexity down, the owner of the set gets a premium print and everyone is happy.

This set also contains a healthy amount of other printed pieces including the memory card port (as you can see above); logos for Sony and PlayStation on the lid; power, reset, and open buttons on the top; and another host of prints on the controller, including the symbol face buttons which are printed on an entirely new size of LEGO round tile.

Spears? No those are electrical contacts

In step 282 above, LEGO uses two pieces which resemble spears, arrows or harpoons. This inclusion is rather ingenious as the back bars of the weapons actually form the two electrical connectors for the console’s power connection.

This piece was uniquely perfect for this section as the weapon head acts as stopper, preventing the piece from slipping out. A normal bar piece, which LEGO makes several of, wouldn’t have worked.

The bar section is also the perfect length to be visible, but not stick out, just like the connectors on the real console.

Amazing angles

The LEGO System is a grid but, with some smart building, you can move off of the grid to pull off some interesting things. In the included controller, hinges are used to provide the left and right splay of the sides of the controller, to create the grips that you hold onto.

Using hinges, however, creates the problem of looseness in a build: if you don’t lock the hinges down after creating your unique angles, you have an unstable build.

In step 372 above, you can see a pair of hinges working together to create the angle, which is then locked in place with a white piece in step 373.

If you haven’t build a LEGO set in a while, you may be unfamiliar with that white piece, which is a round plate. These round plates have been around for many years, but the recent production of them in different sizes have allowed for many off-grid building opportunities, as normal (rectangular) plates would clip into themselves in similar situations.

A tiny, intentional gap

If you look at a real PlayStation 1, you will notice a small gap between the top and bottom halves of the console’s plastic shell. It’s very subtle and a simple consequence of how products are made out of plastic.

LEGO has put a lot of work into the design of the buildable version by replicating this gap. It’s an extremely impressive feat because, as we mentioned with the hinges earlier, a gap this small technically leaves the LEGO System grid.

If you’re making a a custom LEGO build, intentionally creating a gap like this is incredibly difficult to pull off. LEGO has outdone themselves by not only pulling it off, but also making sure the gap is constant across the corners and front of the console.

Like the printed 1 and 2 piece, this is something you may have never noticed, but it’s worth appreciating when you do.

If you want to build 72306: LEGO PlayStation yourself, it’s currently available in South Africa with a RRP of R3 199.

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