Comments on: Build your name in Lego

By: Jean C

Jean C — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 07:01:51 +0000

Of course, fans can just ise the preview function on the site to get a plan of how to build it. It’s a clever piece of programming, certainly, but I’m disappointed by how some of the letters look. X and Z, particularly (though neither is in my name).

By: einglis

einglis — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:19:47 +0000

I like the idea, but the font is all over the place. Is this is particular stylistic choice?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:15:16 +0000

@Curtis: Gotta agree with Eli on this. While I’m certainly not the best builder out there, my involvement here on TBB makes me a pretty common target for custom LEGO model requests. More out of curiosity than anything else, I’ve done quite a bit of research to see what pricing a custom model of any sort from scratch might run the buyer (all-new parts, sourced from Bricklink), and it’s pretty surprising. $120 for a custom-built nameplate isn’t bad at all.

By: retracile

retracile — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:32:19 +0000

Curtis, I’m sorry you feel that way.

Please consider that this isn’t for just “some bricks and plates”–this is for the parts and the step-by-step instructions for whatever you want in your own custom nameplate. It supports 50 different SNOT-built characters.
I wrote the software that takes text as input and creates the model and instructions from that, and the web interface for it as well. To make that worthwhile, I need to earn a profit on that (very significant) effort. (See https://retracile.net/wiki/2011/08/20/15.00 for a bit of the behind-the-scenes.)

You may be in a position to build a nameplate for yourself out of your own collection and comfortable with bricklink, but most people aren’t. brickbuiltnameplates.com opens up the possibility of giving a custom LEGO nameplate as a gift or reward. I expect that those who know an AFOL are more likely to be a customer than AFOLs themselves.

(Oh, and the term “characters” includes the space between “JOHN” and “ADAMS”, which is why it isn’t “per letter”.)

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:05:26 +0000

Wow, that’s not a good deal at all. I’m sorry but $120 some bricks and plates… it’s a rip off. “but keep in mind that a lot of time goes into assembling each order” I’m glad Bricklink shops don’t run their business’s like this. By the way “JOHN ADAMS” is only 9 characters.