Dear fellow AFOL,
We apologize for the radio-silence of the last couple of weeks. We have been dealing with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on both personal and professional levels. Some of you have contacted us and we still need to answer those emails. We’re sorry about that, we’re going to try to get back to you as soon as possible. It has been a period to reflect on the future. We started 4DBrix because we had several ideas to increase the playability of LEGO® creations by combining 3D printing, electronics and programming. We're proud of what we achieved and we're grateful for all the support and wonderful feedback we got from many of you. Unfortunately not everything is awesome in our AFOL community... One of the first things we did was launching a kickstarter campaign to introduce our modular switches. The campaign was successful... too successful actually. Before we had shipped out the tracks to all our backers there were already copies of our modular system being sold. It didn't stop there, in the following years that same company started systematically copying our train products. It has become clear that copying our ideas is their core business strategy. To our surprise this is not only condoned by a part of our community, some prominent members of the AFOL community are actively supporting this. In the long run, this is not a sustainable situation. We've always focused on what’s in the best interest of our community, e.g. our nControl software has always been available to everybody for free, and want to continue to do so. One of the main concerns we found in your feedback was the cost of our products. We’re located in the US so our production costs are high, there’s not much we can do about that. That’s why we decided to transform 4DBrix into a Do-It-Yourself platform. We will release our 3D print models so you can print the parts yourself. We’ll also release building instructions for the automation components so you can build your own automation system from readily available off-the-shell components. We understand that some of you don’t have a 3D printer and/or don’t have the skills or interest in assembling electronics. That’s why we’re looking for 3D print and electronics enthusiasts who want to set up a micro-business and start producing for their local AFOL community. Like that we can also get rid of long distance shipping. If you’re interested in this, please let us know. It’s a radical change and we believe it’s the best way to move forward. We’ll start by updating our website site: adding download links to the models, assembly instruction and all the other information you need to build your dream layout, so stay in touch!

Tom (aka Lowa)