BrickBubbles
Metallic Gold Technic Liftarms
Recently got these stunning liftarms! Lacquered and chrome parts are always weird because determining authenticity is very difficult, here is where they came from according to the seller:
"[the supplier] said that they were involved with LEGO [Mindstorms] in Denmark for a few years. They did special beams officially for a contest and/or media stunt. These are the extras."
"LEGO was invited to be a founding partner of the Google Science Fair (GSF), an international competition for students to present innovative ideas and win big awards.
Marketing manager Steven Canvin, in charge of the LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics platform, was the point of contact for the GSF, and was tasked with putting a prize package together for the future winners.
All winners would receive a LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics kit, and to make the prizes more exclusive, a limited amount of gold TECHNIC beams were produced, to go with each kit."
This story is pretty detailed, even naming the marketing manager. After some digging, the only thing online I was able to find was some vague details about the prizes:
"The finalist winners (Kohn and Iván Hervías Rodríguez, Marcos Ochoa and Sergio Pascual in the 15 to 16 age group) all receive a $25,000 scholarship, a Google Chromebook kit donated to their classroom, an assortment of Lego-related gifts, a Google goodie bag, a “prize experience,” and one year of digital access to Scientific American archives for their schools. Wenger, the grand-prize winner, gets a 10-day trip to the Galápagos Archipelago, a $50,000 scholarship, a set of Lego Mindstorms signed by the design team and Lego’s CEO and owner, first pick of prize experiences, and everything else that the finalists receive."
[from Fast Company]
The excerpt above is referring to GSF 2012, but similar lines can be found for GSF 2011 and 2013.
Considering the scope of the fair and the other awards being scholarships and opportunities, these parts are the probably the least interesting thing to the finalists, so if they were actually given out, verifying that would be very difficult. I have tried to contact Mr. Canvin, but have been unsuccessful.
Ultimately, I think the authenticity of these parts is likely, the story lines up pretty well, if anyone wants to continue investigating this topic, that would be awesome! And these parts are still available on bricklink if anyone wants to pick some up, the price is a little high, I was able to work out a discount from the seller and maybe you can too :^) The seller did have some other non-production parts, like a Magenta 44728 and some trans-clear slopes, which I think adds some credibility imo.
I do find lacquered liftarms to be a strange idea, they would probably get worn out really fast if you were to actually use them in a build!
[I am not sure if a 1x9 liftarm was also made]
Metallic Gold Technic Liftarms
Recently got these stunning liftarms! Lacquered and chrome parts are always weird because determining authenticity is very difficult, here is where they came from according to the seller:
"[the supplier] said that they were involved with LEGO [Mindstorms] in Denmark for a few years. They did special beams officially for a contest and/or media stunt. These are the extras."
"LEGO was invited to be a founding partner of the Google Science Fair (GSF), an international competition for students to present innovative ideas and win big awards.
Marketing manager Steven Canvin, in charge of the LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics platform, was the point of contact for the GSF, and was tasked with putting a prize package together for the future winners.
All winners would receive a LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics kit, and to make the prizes more exclusive, a limited amount of gold TECHNIC beams were produced, to go with each kit."
This story is pretty detailed, even naming the marketing manager. After some digging, the only thing online I was able to find was some vague details about the prizes:
"The finalist winners (Kohn and Iván Hervías Rodríguez, Marcos Ochoa and Sergio Pascual in the 15 to 16 age group) all receive a $25,000 scholarship, a Google Chromebook kit donated to their classroom, an assortment of Lego-related gifts, a Google goodie bag, a “prize experience,” and one year of digital access to Scientific American archives for their schools. Wenger, the grand-prize winner, gets a 10-day trip to the Galápagos Archipelago, a $50,000 scholarship, a set of Lego Mindstorms signed by the design team and Lego’s CEO and owner, first pick of prize experiences, and everything else that the finalists receive."
[from Fast Company]
The excerpt above is referring to GSF 2012, but similar lines can be found for GSF 2011 and 2013.
Considering the scope of the fair and the other awards being scholarships and opportunities, these parts are the probably the least interesting thing to the finalists, so if they were actually given out, verifying that would be very difficult. I have tried to contact Mr. Canvin, but have been unsuccessful.
Ultimately, I think the authenticity of these parts is likely, the story lines up pretty well, if anyone wants to continue investigating this topic, that would be awesome! And these parts are still available on bricklink if anyone wants to pick some up, the price is a little high, I was able to work out a discount from the seller and maybe you can too :^) The seller did have some other non-production parts, like a Magenta 44728 and some trans-clear slopes, which I think adds some credibility imo.
I do find lacquered liftarms to be a strange idea, they would probably get worn out really fast if you were to actually use them in a build!
[I am not sure if a 1x9 liftarm was also made]