Brickshelf: Difference between revisions

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| website_type      = [[Wikipedia:Image hosting service|Image hosting service]]
| website_type      = [[Wikipedia:Image hosting service|Image hosting service]]
| language          = English
| language          = English
| traded_as        =
| founded          = <!-- or: | foundation = -->
| founded          = <!-- or: | foundation = -->
| dissolved        =  
| dissolved        =  
| predecessor      =  
| predecessor      =  
| successor        =  
| successor        =  
| headquarters      = <!-- or: | location = -->
| headquarters      =
| location_city    =  
| location         =  
| location_country  = <!-- or: | country = -->
| location_city    = [[Wikipedia:Reston, Virginia|Reston]], [[Wikipedia:Virginia|Virginia]]
| location_country  = [[Wikipedia:United States|United States]]<!-- or: | country = -->
| country_of_origin =  
| country_of_origin =  
| locations        =  
| locations        =  
| area_served      =  
| area_served      =  
| owner            = James Browning (since 2025)
| owner            = James Browning (2025–present)
| creator          = Kevin M. Loch
| creator          = Kevin M. Loch
| founder          =  
| founder          =  
| editor            = <!-- or: | editors = -->
| chairman          =
| chairperson      =
| president        =
| CEO              =
| MD                =
| GM                =
| key_people        =  
| key_people        =  
| industry          =  
| industry          =  
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| subsidiaries      = <!-- or: | subsid = -->
| subsidiaries      = <!-- or: | subsid = -->
| url              = {{URL|brickshelf.com}}  
| url              = {{URL|brickshelf.com}}  
| ipv6              =
| advertising      =  
| advertising      =  
| commercial        = <!-- "Yes", "No" or leave blank -->
| commercial        = <!-- "Yes", "No" or leave blank -->
| registration      = Required to upload files
| registration      = Required to upload files
| num_users        = <!-- or: | users = -->
| num_users        = <!-- or: | users = -->
| launch_date      = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| launch_date      = {{ubl| {{Start date and age|df=no|1998|04|20}} {{nowrap|(KL.Net/scans)}} | {{Start date and age|df=no|1999|08|31}} (Brickshelf)}}
| current_status    =  
| current_status   = Online
| native_clients   =  
| content_license  = <!-- or: | content_licence = -->
| content_license  = <!-- or: | content_licence = -->
| programming_language =  
| programming_language =  
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}}
}}


'''Brickshelf''' is a LEGO [[Wikipedia:Image hosting service|image hosting service]].
'''Brickshelf''' is a LEGO [[Wikipedia:Image hosting service|image hosting service]] created by Kevin Loch. The site was initially launched in April 1998 to host scans of LEGO instructions before becoming its own website in August 1999. In February 2000 Brickshelf began allowing user uploads.
{{As of|January 2026}}, Brickshelf contains over 4.9 million files in 430 thousand folders.
{{As of|January 2026}}, Brickshelf contains over 4.9 million files in 430 thousand folders.


== History ==
== History ==
Kevin Loch, a software engineer from [[Wikipedia:Reston, Virginia|Reston, Virginia]],<ref name="Bender 2010"/><ref name="KLNet"/> started what would become Brickshelf in April 1998 after seeing numerous requests for scans of LEGO [[building instruction]]s on [[rec.toys.lego]]. Loch posted to the newsgroup on April 19 asking readers to email him scans of instructions for discontinued sets, stating that he had "essentially unlimited" [[Wikipedia:Disk storage|disk storage]] and [[Wikipedia:Bandwidth|bandwidth]] to host the files.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-19"/> Upon receiving his first submission, Loch publicly launched his instruction scan site on April 20.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-20"/> The first version of the site was a basic [[Wikipedia:Web server directory index|directory index]] on Loch's main website, KL.Net.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-19"/><ref name="KLNet"/> To avoid potential legal issues with the [[LEGO Group]], Loch only accepted scans from LEGO sets that were no longer being sold through retail outlets, initially restricting submissions to sets released before 1996.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-29"/>
On April 22 Loch set up an [[Wikipedia:FTP server|FTP server]] users could anonymously upload to as well.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-22"/>
By April 23, the website had over 60 megabytes of images for around 40 different sets, and had been viewed by over 200 people.<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-23"/>


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Bender 2010">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/legolovestory0000bend/page/107/mode/2up?view=theater |title=LEGO: A Love Story |first=Jonathan |last=Bender |year=2010 |pages=107-108 |publisher=[[Wikipedia:John Wiley & Sons|John Wiley & Sons]] |location=[[Wikipedia:Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], [[Wikipedia:New Jersey|New Jersey]] |ISBN=978-0-470-40702-8}}</ref>
<ref name="KLNet">{{cite web |url=http://www.kl.net/ |title=Kevin Loch's Net Server |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981111191618/http://www.kl.net:80/ |archive-date=November 11, 1998}}</ref>
<!-- rec.toys.lego -->
<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-19">{{cite newsgroup |title=instruction scans |first=Kevin |last=Loch |date=April 19, 1998 |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/XFKw_SWooeA/m/4T1Skduj9CgJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216115708/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/XFKw_SWooeA/m/4T1Skduj9CgJ |archive-date=February 16, 2025 |url-status=live |via=[[Wikipedia:Google Groups|Google Groups]]}}</ref>
<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-20">{{cite newsgroup |title=scan site |first=Kevin |last=Loch |date=April 20, 1998 |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/XTCCYMdxDuk/m/4oa7Jqa8TS4J |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250219012306/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/XTCCYMdxDuk/m/4oa7Jqa8TS4J |archive-date=February 19, 2025 |url-status=live |via=[[Wikipedia:Google Groups|Google Groups]]}}</ref>
<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-22">{{cite newsgroup |title=instruction scans site |first=Kevin |last=Loch |date=April 22, 1998 |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/86xecxUCboo/m/Ts4ht0EAQHAJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219101152/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/86xecxUCboo/m/Ts4ht0EAQHAJ |archive-date=February 19, 2025 |url-status=live |via=[[Wikipedia:Google Groups|Google Groups]]}}</ref>
<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-23">{{cite newsgroup |title=Re: instruction scan site |first=Kevin |last=Loch |date=April 23, 1998 |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/86xecxUCboo/m/d1E4DzPHy6QJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219104340/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/86xecxUCboo/m/d1E4DzPHy6QJ |archive-date=February 19, 2025 |url-status=live |via=[[Wikipedia:Google Groups|Google Groups]]}}</ref>
<ref name="rec.toys.lego Loch 98-04-29">{{cite newsgroup |title=Re: Everyone Give a Big Thank You to Kevin Loch |first=Kevin |last=Loch |date=April 29, 1998 |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/7kRahKvhKrQ/m/9ondGLH1oDQJ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250219222032/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/7kRahKvhKrQ/m/9ondGLH1oDQJ |archive-date=February 19, 2025 |url-status=live |via=[[Wikipedia:Google Groups|Google Groups]]}}</ref>
}}
}}


Revision as of 00:46, 16 January 2026

Brickshelf
A simple drawing of a red 1×1 LEGO brick with two smaller shapes, one blue and one yellow, leaning against it
A simple website showing a gallery of images and options to log in, search the gallery, or browse certain tags. The six images shown are in a "Recent Folders" section.
Screenshot of the Brickshelf home page on February 16, 2025
Type of site
Image hosting service
Available inEnglish
Headquarters
Reston, Virginia
,
United States
OwnerJames Browning (2025–present)
Created byKevin M. Loch
ParentBrickshelf II, LLC
URLbrickshelf.com
RegistrationRequired to upload files
Launched
  • April 20, 1998; 27 years ago (1998-04-20) (KL.Net/scans)
  • August 31, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-08-31) (Brickshelf)
Current statusOnline

Brickshelf is a LEGO image hosting service created by Kevin Loch. The site was initially launched in April 1998 to host scans of LEGO instructions before becoming its own website in August 1999. In February 2000 Brickshelf began allowing user uploads. As of January 2026, Brickshelf contains over 4.9 million files in 430 thousand folders.

History

Kevin Loch, a software engineer from Reston, Virginia,[1][2] started what would become Brickshelf in April 1998 after seeing numerous requests for scans of LEGO building instructions on rec.toys.lego. Loch posted to the newsgroup on April 19 asking readers to email him scans of instructions for discontinued sets, stating that he had "essentially unlimited" disk storage and bandwidth to host the files.[3] Upon receiving his first submission, Loch publicly launched his instruction scan site on April 20.[4] The first version of the site was a basic directory index on Loch's main website, KL.Net.[3][2] To avoid potential legal issues with the LEGO Group, Loch only accepted scans from LEGO sets that were no longer being sold through retail outlets, initially restricting submissions to sets released before 1996.[5]

On April 22 Loch set up an FTP server users could anonymously upload to as well.[6]

By April 23, the website had over 60 megabytes of images for around 40 different sets, and had been viewed by over 200 people.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Bender, Jonathan (2010). LEGO: A Love Story. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-0-470-40702-8.
  2. ↑ a b "Kevin Loch's Net Server". Archived from the original on November 11, 1998.
  3. ↑ a b Loch, Kevin (April 19, 1998). "instruction scans". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on February 16, 2025 – via Google Groups.
  4. ↑ Loch, Kevin (April 20, 1998). "scan site". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025 – via Google Groups.
  5. ↑ Loch, Kevin (April 29, 1998). "Re: Everyone Give a Big Thank You to Kevin Loch". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025 – via Google Groups.
  6. ↑ Loch, Kevin (April 22, 1998). "instruction scans site". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025 – via Google Groups.
  7. ↑ Loch, Kevin (April 23, 1998). "Re: instruction scan site". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025 – via Google Groups.
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