>>11035117The humble LEGO sausage element (33078) has been around since 1998. But is there still untapped yumminess there despite being so long-lived? Personally, it’s one of my favorite oddball parts with a wide variety of uses. Yet, I don’t think I ever actually used it as a sausage, hot dog, or other tubular meat stick of your choosing. I find it so much more interesting.
At its heart, it’s really just a bar that’s curved. It has all the connection possibilities of a bar but with the added functionality of having a more organic curved shape. It’s almost perfectly versatile, with one exception that does get in the way that I’ll get to later. And it’s had an explosion of colors in the last five years in particular, with nine colors currently available on LEGO’s Pick a Brick service.
So let’s dive into this odd little part that has had such a lasting and tasty presence in the LEGO part portfolio. And then, we’ll explore its multitude of uses in MOCs.
LEGO calls it a sausage, although I’ve always referred to it as the hot dog piece. It all started in 1998 with the long-defunct LEGO Scala theme of large dolls. The first sets to feature it were picnic and kitchen sets.
Some people think of it as oddly shaped for a sausage, but you have to remember that it is based on a Danish hot dog. Take a look and tell me that LEGO designers aren’t inspired by their surroundings:
