Great Ball Contraption
Great Ball Contraptions (GBCs) are a type of Lego design popular at fan conventions comprising a machine built with both regular and Technic bricks that continuously transports Lego balls through different modules using chain reactions. They are sometimes compared to Rube Goldberg machines,[1][2][3][4][5][6] and have been featured multiple times by the Guinness World Records.[7][8][9]
The term was coined by Steve Hassenplug on LUGNET in 2005. After this, many people began to create ball contraptions of their own, beginning the trend.[10] They are often collaborative, with different designers creating different modules. They can consist of several hundred modules and take nearly an hour to complete their circuit.[9]
Further reading
- Ruge, Christoph (2023). Das LEGO®-Kugelbahn-Handbuch: Ideen und Techniken für eigene GBC-Module. Heidelberg: dpunkt.verlag. ISBN 978-3-98890-003-6. Search this book on
References
- ↑ "Watch a Giant Lego Contraption Endlessly Move Balls". Popular Mechanics. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
- ↑ "Watch: The Most Epic Lego Contraption Of All Time". Fast Company. 2012-09-24. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2026-01-13. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Chris (2016-09-16). "Turning the cogs of industry, one ball at a time [Video]". The Brothers Brick. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
- ↑ "The LEGO Great Ball Contraption | Clutter Magazine". www.cluttermagazine.com. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
- ↑ Strauss, Paul (2019-04-18). "This LEGO Great Ball Contraption Blew Our Minds". The Awesomer. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
- ↑ Baichtal, Floyd Kelly, John, James (2015). "Project: Ball Contraption". Hacking Your LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Kit. ISBN 9780134217468. Search this book on
- ↑ Guinness World Records 2016. Macmillan. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-910561-06-5. Search this book on
- ↑ Guinness World Records 2017. Guinness World Records. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-910561-66-9. Search this book on
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Holmes, Stephen (2018-08-09). "WATCH // Record breaking 'Great Ball Contraption' build". DEVELOP3D. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
- ↑ lange, Noah de (2025-10-18). "GBC Beginnings: The Birth of LEGO Great Ball Contraptions". BrickNerd - All things LEGO and the LEGO fan community. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
External links
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