Brick Brites Blinking LED Plastic Building Brick Review

A couple weeks ago, The Gadgeteer had a news post about Brick Brites, clear plastic LEGO-like building blocks.  They’re different from regular LEGO blocks because they have motion-activated blinking lights built-in to add some excitement to your LEGO constructions.  How do you improve upon the LEGO brick?  I had to see what this was all about.  

Brick Brites come in three different colors:  White/Red, White/Green, and White/Blue.  They come in packs of two.

They’re exactly the size of two stacked 2×3 LEGO bricks.  I thought this was a bit of an unusual size, but they had to put the batteries somewhere. I suppose if they used smaller batteries, it just wouldn’t last long.  Brick Brites says the batteries are good for about 100 hours of flashing.

To start the flashing, simply tap a brick.  I wouldn’t say shake; it requires a light “jolt”.  Some bricks came alive with a simple finger tap.  The two green ones must have been from a bad batch.  They wouldn’t turn on unless I really whacked ’em.  Turns out both springs were bent somewhat.

And in case you’re wondering, I already tried to open it up.  It’s definitely adult-proof.  The two halves seemed glued together really well.  Once the batteries are flat, that’s it.

I gave a handful of these to my 6 year old son and we set off making some crazy vehicles.  Here’s what we produced before bedtime, on location at his City of LEGOs.

The Brick Brites are a lot of fun and add a new creative element building with LEGOs.  No, you can’t replace the batteries.  The plastic feels a little different than the familiar feel of Lego bricks.  And, if you’re one of those engineering types who is SERIOUS about model building, keep in mind that the tolerances of the Brick Brites are a little off vs. the precise nature of LEGOs:  I found that if you stack a few together, you really notice they’re a little “off” by a fraction of a hair, which I suppose could add up if you’re going to build a half-size replica of the Death Star.

Otherwise, Frankenstein really likes his new ride.