LEGO SNOT: Modern Elements for Stud Reversal and Sideways Building
Today, BrickNerd features another deep dive into the pool of SNOT. This is the fifth article in our LEGO SNOT series. I suggest reading the previous articles about SNOT (Studs Not on Top) and sideways building first to get the most out of this article:
In the series so far, I’ve covered some of the most common SNOT elements and techniques for how to use them. But many new SNOT elements have been introduced to the LEGO system since then, so I think it’s time to make an update on some of the more interesting elements released during the last few years.
So let’s begin looking at some of the modern elements with the most SNOT potential.
New SNOT Elements
SNOT Blaster
Design Number: 44709
Name: Minifigure, Weapon Gun, Blaster with Studs on Sides, Bottom, and Front.
Year Released: 2019
This minifigure accessory was first released in LEGO Overwatch but has appeared in many other themes since then. I’m always on the lookout for new SNOT parts, so this blaster caught my eye immediately. It has a total of four studs on equally as many sides. That, combined with how small/thin it is, makes it very useful for sted reversal techniques. It happens to be precisely 1.5 plates thick which is a property it shares with some other minifigure tools.
Minifigure tools share some interesting features
1.5 plate thickness
Square SNOT configuration using blasters
It’s not very often you need a 1.5 plate distance but when it happens you now know which element to use. Maybe you would like to secure technics bricks in a configuration like this sometime:
connecting two technic bricks bottom to bottom
The SNOT blaster has also been used in some official LEGO sets as a way to invert building directions, such as in the LEGO Architecture 21057 Singapore to connect two sides of a tower.
Centered SNOT Bracket
Design Number: 41682
Name: Bracket 2 x 2 - 1 x 2 Centered
Year Released: 2019
First released in the Minecraft BigFig sets, this element was a welcome surprise! I don’t think any of us had ever thought about getting an element like this. I really like this part and often use it in my builds due to its unique geometry and structural stability. One of the most useful features of the centered SNOT bracket is for transitions between stud directions. Like this:
Smooth transition
But an even more useful feature is how you can use it for seamless stud reversal:
Stud reversal
As an example, here is a little bench that you could build using the stud reversal technique:
A bench and a trashcan designed with the new bracket
Monkie Kid Hilt
Design Number: 66909
Name: Minifigure, Weapon Hilt Smooth Extended
Year Released: 2020
2020 brought us a new LEGO theme, Monkie Kid, and with it came this new hilt. Why is this significant? The old lightsaber hilt is also basically a bar with two studs in each end, but it has a weird length that makes it hard to use. This new element though is more “in system”:
These dimensions might be useful if you ever need to attach bricks but don’t have the room for regular SNOT bricks.
Super SNOT
Design Number: 67329
Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 2 x 1 2/3 with Studs on Side and Ends.
Year Released: 2020
This element showed up in the first wave of Super Mario collectible figures—we are already up to Series Six! The designers needed to build small figures with studs outwards in every direction and this part made that easy. I honestly haven’t found that many uses for it so far. It would be super useful if you could place them oriented bottom-to-bottom in a SNOT construction, like in the photo below, but that is not recommended because it actually puts the elements under a lot of stress.
nope
However if you place four of them together at 90-degree angles, it works really well and you get this 4x4 base with studs on all four sides and a smooth underside. Maybe that can be of some use?
4x4 square assembly
A small circular base with a lot of connection points
Thin Inverted Bracket
Design Number: 73825
Name: Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 2 Inverted
Year Released: 2021
A year later, when it was time for some new Super Mario sets again, this very useful bracket showed up which was half of the larger version that has been around for two decades since 2002. If you’ve read the entire SNOT Series on BrickNerd, I think you already know why LEGO builders like brackets so much, but here are some examples to freshen up your memory:
Same dimensions as a 1x2 brick
Smooth transition between slope and tile
Useful Stud reversal
Thin Bracket
Design Number: 79389
Name: Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 2
Year Released: 2021
Later that same year, this element was inevitably released which hangs down and is just as useful as its counterpart.
Same dimensions as a 1x2 brick
1/2 plate transitions
Stud reversal
Mirrored BrickHeadz SNOT
Design Number: 80796
Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 2 x 1 2/3 with Studs on Sides
Year Released: 2022
Only ever released in a single (!) Monkie Kid set, this fascinating SNOT part should be useful if you need to build something that is only 1 stud thick. It only comes in trans-orange which makes its usefulness somewhat limited, though it is better to have the option if you need it.
2x2 studs
Centered SNOT
Design Number: 86876
Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Stud on Side
Year Released: 2022
Minecraft once again brought us a new SNOT element that no one expected: a centered SNOT stud on a 1x2 brick. This has been a part that in the past many builders have created using a Technic brick with a half-pin insterted, though this new element makes that technique less “illegal”.
I personally don't find this element very useful. It is basically a jumper SNOT brick so it is nice to have if you want to SNOT with half a stud offset. That has been possible since the 70s if you use the Technic brick technique. Nevertheless, the SNOT brick family is now complete (or is it?).
(Please let me know if there are some unique SNOT techniques using this element that I’m totally ignorant about.)
1/2 stud offset SNOT
Transistions between slopes
Swivel SNOT
Design Number: 3386
Name: Brick, Round 1 x 1 x 2/3 Half Circle Extended with Side Stud
Year Released: 2023
This small NOT element was a total surprise! Last year, such a small SNOT brick was introduced as an April Fools joke, when unexpectedly it was released in the Speed Champions product line a few months ago. This two-plate high element has similar properties compared to other two-plate high SNOT elements:
Twoa plate high SNOT elements
And when we use these type of elements we get a 1/2 plate gap which makes it very useful for stacking with regular SNOT bricks:
Stacking
I try not to complain when we get new SNOT parts, but for me, it would have been a lot more useful without the rounded back. I get that this feature makes it possible to place at any angle you want, but I have found myself in many situations where I would have needed an element with a square footprint more than a rounded one. I suppose the rounded back was to help distinguish the part from the new 2-plate tall “blates” of the same size.
Since we now have a SNOT element with a rounded back we might as well explore how to use that feature. Let’s try other elements with that same shape, like the tooth tile and the 1x4 curved “loaf” slope. Here is an example:
Example of use with other rounded elements
SNOT With Non-SNOT Elements
We’ve looked at some useful new SNOT elements, but what else is possible for stud reversal? I want to highlight some other useful LEGO parts from recent years that might be more helpful than you expect. I use them a lot in my builds and they also have some SNOT uses although they might not fit that category at first glance.
AxLE Brick
Design Number: 73230
Name: Technic, Brick 1 x 1 with Axle Hole
Year Released: 2021
We’ve had the 1x2 brick with axle hole for several years now but the 1x1 is more useful for SNOTting in my opinion. Sometimes if you want a really rigid SNOT connection then a Technic axle might do the job.
Fixed SNOT with technic axle. Antistud connections with Inkwells
Technic Friction Half-Pin
Design Number: 89678
Name: Technic, Pin 1/2 with Friction Ridges
Year Released: 2022
I can’t believe how obvious this element seems yet it took 45 years of LEGO Technic element design to realize we needed a half-pin with friction! The regular half-pin has long been used by builders to attach elements sideways. But the frictionless design has mostly made these builds a bit flimsy and fragile. Now we can position technic elements in fixed angles in a way that was impossible before. Like this:
Angled SNOT
You can also use it for joints with other technic elements, like this:
Friction joints
Bar and Blate
Lastly I want to highlight two new elements at the same time (because they work so well together).
Design Number: 86996
Name: Brick, Modified 1 x 1 x 2/3 with Open Stud
Year Released: 2022
Design Number: 78258
Name: Bar 2L with Stop Ring
Year Released: 2021
The two-plate high brick (which some are calling a “blate”) with a hollow stud is useful in many ways. Firstly, the fact that it is two plates high makes it useful for me because when you build SNOT you often need to stack two plates for correct spacing and this element makes that process easier and better looking overall (no more stacking 1x1 plates, yay!).
Stacking
But the best feature of this element is the hollow stud which makes it very useful for stud reversal in small spaces. This is where the 2L bar comes in handy as well:
Stud reversal with 2L bar
You can also use the 2L bar with other hollow stud elements with similar result depending on the situation.
That is my update on elements that can be used for SNOT released in recent years. I hope you found some ideas that you can use in your builds. Please let me know what you think or if I missed some obvious elements or techniques in the comments. Until then, have fun with your SNOT!
What other modern LEGO elements have SNOT potential? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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