LEGO(R) Basepates- What to Build On?- There are many sizes, colors, shapes and 3-D effects of LEGO baseplates available.  Often a baseplate is truly the capstone to a successful LEGO auction bid because it will be the foundation for all your future building efforts.

When thinking about buying baseplates it is handy to break them up into 3 categories:

1. Flat Baseplates
2. Raised Baseplates and Foundations
3. Platforms

Flat Baseplates

Flat baseplates are very thin, with LEGO studs on top, but no attachment holes on the bottom like regular LEGO.  They are thinner than regular plates, which are 1/3 the height of 1x1x1 brick.  When talking about baseplates, it is customary to describe their dimensions in terms of the number of studs in length and width.  They range in size from 48 x 48 square monster baseplates (15 inches by 15 inches) down to 8 x 16 rectangular baseplates. 

Flat Baseplates are great for building buildings on, enacting battles, or building roads.  They come in a variety of solid colors (green, yellow, dark gray, tan, etc..) as well as some multi-colors, and road or street designs.

Raised Baseplates and Foundations

Raised baseplates are similar to flat baseplates in their thickness, length and width dimensions.  The diferrence is that they have been injection molded to have a raised profile, for example a cliff over a river, reefs under the ocean, moon craters and so on.  These really add creative touches to your LEGO.  The primary dimensions on raised baseplates are 32 x 32 studs and 32 by 48 studs, there are no smaller dimension raised baseplates. 

Foundations are a type of raised baseplate, specifically designed to support buildings like a castle with moat, pyramid, or Western fort.

Platforms

Platforms are really LEGO bricks, with large dimensions ranging from 8 x 8 studs to 12 x 24 studs and sometimes larger.  Platforms are structurally solid and allow insertion into the bottom of the brick, just like regular LEGO.  These can be used similar to baseplates, but they also work great when building buildings that require some structural strength from beams or solid flooring. Platforms come mainly in the solid traditional LEGO colors, with very few mult-coloreds or designs.

Here's to your future success buying Baseplate and Platforms on Ebay! 

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This article remains copyright 2006 BrickSale.  The author does not represent and has no affiliation with the LEGO Group.  The author, in the spirit of fair play, chooses to respect the LEGO(R) trademark and fair use guidelines.