You're used to leaving space in your laptop bag for a power brick, and now you’re gonna have to make room for other bricks, too. The Brik Case is a pop-on plate for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air that lets you jazz that back up with Lego creations.
Is the Brik Case a stickers-killer? For Lego-lovers, absolutely. This ABS plastic panel clips onto the back of your laptop's screen, covering the Apple logo and the hodgepodge of stickers you've slapped all over your hardware. It works with more than Lego bricks, too. The cross-platform modular case will also work with Duplo, Mega Blox, K’nex, Tyco Super Blocks, Built to Rule bricks, Kre-O, Nintendo’s short-lived N&B blocks, PixelBlocks, Rokenboks, and generally every Kiddicraft brick clone you can throw at it. They all ape Lego closely enough that they'll fit, no dongles or adapters required.
The guys behind this cool accessory say there are functional prototypes for all 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pros released since 2012, and current 13-inch and 11-inch MacBook Airs. If the project takes off, they may well develop versions for the new slimmed-down MacBook and popular Windows laptops.
That's assuming they can get them built in the first place, but it's looking good. Brik Case is swiftly approaching its $30,000 Kickstarter goal with several weeks left in the campaign. Co-creators Brett Miller and David Dripps---collectively known as Jolt Team---say that dough will help cover the surprisingly steep manufacturing costs. Ten grand alone is needed to make ABS molds for each size laptop, and that’s before you get to the bulk materials costs and design fees. Keep in mind, too, that these aren't officially licensed, so you'll have to cross your fingers that the Lego Group doesn't intervene.
Assuming all goes smoothly, a $30 pledge will get you a limited-run “early builder” pack with your choice of case and a “Bag O’ Bricks” containing 100 1-by-1 bricks. Once that limited run of 500 runs out, the price for the same package jumps up to $35. Pledging $65 lets you double up on Brik Cases and Bags O’ Bricks. Dropping $300 will quintuple your haul, while an even $1,000 gets you a 20-pack and your custom logo in bricks.
The cases are slated to ship in August. Assuming these things hit the retail market, figure on spending $40 for a case. Which still sounds like a pretty brickin' good deal.
