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#2394 FAVORITE BRICK FRIDAY: 11010 Ring - Revisited!

Alt text / image descriptions are available for the images in this post.


Our week-long tribute to Lord of the Rings is a perfect opportunity to check in on an old favorite, the minifigure ring! We first looked at this part back in October of 2022, and there has been a ton of clever uses since along with some ones we missed the first time. Check them out!


Post Number 2394 - FAVORITE BRICK FRIDAY: 11010 Ring – Revisited! One part to rule them all! Today, we continue Lord of the Rings week with another look at – what else? – the Minifigure Ring! Image of brick-built engagement ring in display box by @ibrickeditup Image of fancy cupboard with rings for drawer handers by @peedeejay_lego Image of fictional city skyline with ring accents by Aegir on Rebrickable Image of jazz singer with rings for earrings and microphone handle by @anderson_brick_art Each image surrounds a chrome gold minifigure ring at the center.

Featuring builds by:

@foreversorting @evo_maynard @anderson_brick_art @peedeejay_lego @brick_artisan19 @ibrickeditup @_pixeljunkie_

circdec, Seraph, Aegir, Lagat_of_Legion, Chricki and Mobilox Studios on Rebrickable


About Part 11010 The part’s name on BrickLink is “Minifigure, Utensil Ring 1 by 1”, however on LEGO Pick a Brick it is called “Ring Ø.7.5 Number 1” It first debuted in 2012, appearing four sets: two Lord of the Rings sets and two Hobbit sets. Image of Bilbo Baggins minifigure holding ring. To our dismay, it has ONLY ever appeared in Chrome Gold. Image of chrome gold ring. Over the last 12 years it has appeared in 41 sets, across themes such as Disney, Friends, and Ninjago. It even appeared in a Botanical set! As a vase accent in Disney Castle (set number 71040). Image of ring being added to base of vase in the Disney Castle instructions. As axle spacers in Bird of Paradise (set number 10289). Image of ring being place on axles in the Bird of Paradise instructions.

Versatility The ring has a few different characteristics that make it super useful: 1) The inner diameter is the same as a stud. 2) It is just a bit less thick than a plate, so it can be held by a clip or minifigure hand. 3) It can even be worn on the “wrist” of a torso! Three images demonstrating the characteristics as described. While not an approved technique due to its weak connection, the ring can be used for stud reversal without adding extra thickness. Image of two one by one bricks, connected stud-to-stud by a ring. Image of habitat with pepper and carrot collectible minifigures in a giant salad bowl, by @foreversorting The salad bowl on this CMF habitat has FOUR rings connecting it to the tile floor. Image of interior of photo store, centered on a camera with a telephoto lens by circdec on Rebrickable Inside this photo store, a ring enables a camera to connect to two 1x1 round studs, creating a telephoto lens.

How about a Lord of the Rings build where it isn’t even a ring? In this Barad-Dûr MOC, the ring provides JUST enough axle spacing to allow the eye to move and rotate as if it is looking around. Images of Barad-Dûr by @evo_maynard, featuring a callout of how the ring is used: a short axle with a ball joint on the end, followed by the ring, followed by a 2 x 2 round black plate, followed by a black technic connector with black horns in either end. When placed into the trans-neon orange eye, it looks like an eye slit.

These builds by @peedeejay_lego feature the ring as an accent piece on various furnishings inside modular MOCs. Image of interior of a tailor's shop. Two cupboards are called out, each using the ring as drawer handles. Rings used on the cupboards in this tailor’s shop give the drawers fancy gold handles. Image of the interior of a casino, with a slot machine called out. The slot machine has a ring on the very end of the handle. They also add interest to the end of the slot machine handles inside this casino!

Micro-scale The look, size, and versatility of the ring make it useful in micro builds. Here are a couple of examples! Form meets function in “Micropolis Japanese Garden”, where the ring is not only a beautiful accent, it also helps with stud reversal. Image of a japanese garden in microscale by Seraph on Rebrickable. Two areas are called out. In one, a ring connects a red 1 by 1 round plate and a black 1 by 1 round plate stud to stud for decoration. In the other it connects a trans-neon orange 1 x 1 round plate to a black 2 x 1 inverted 45 degree slope, forming part of an elaborate arch. This fictional cityscape, “Eu-tops skyline”, includes seven rings. Can you spot them all? Image of a skyline in microscale by Aegir on rebrickable. One ring is used to top a garden-like microbuild. The other six accent a tower building - two on each side and two more at the base.

A Jazzed-up Mod! The last time we featured this part (Post number 1818), we included set 21334, the LEGO Jazz Quartet. @anderson_brick_art combined TWO Jazz Quartets to make a Jazz Sextet. In the original, the rings make up a different piece of jewelry – the pianist’s earrings. Image of a woman playing the piano from the original LEGO jazz quartet, pointing out her earrings. In this mod the pianist is now a vocalist, and the extra rings have been redeployed as a fancy microphone handle! Image of the modified jazz sextet. The singer is called out. She wears the rings as earrings, and her microphone includes three rings for decoration.

Rings as Rings To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a ring is just a ring. Here are some awesome builds that showcase the ring as it was originally intended! In “High Street Boutique”, six rings are placed inside a Trans-Clear 1 x 2 x 5 brick, which is then laid on its side to make a cool display case. Image of one floor of a modular boutique by @brick_artisan19. The display case as described is called out. Whoa! Here’s a ring that uses the ring piece as the setting – NOT as the ring itself! Image of brick-built engagement ring in display box by @ibrickeditup. A closeup of the ring reveals that the ring part encircles the base of the diamond where it connects to the actual ring.

Check out some other “precious” uses of the gold ring that add decoration and personality to different builds! The ring makes for fancy door handles on “Havana House”. Image of a pirate scene in front of a yellow house by Lagat_of_Legion on Rebrickable. There's a close-up of a set of doors where the ring is used as knobs. The cowl lights on the side of this highly accurate Model T combine a ring with a trans-clear headlight brick. Image of 1915 Ford Model T by @_pixeljunkie_. There's a closeup of the lights on the side as described.


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