Anyway, I always like to learn more about the LEGO vendors and custom accessory makes who populate the brick “ecosystem,” so it was great to run across an interview with Kyle Peterson on one of my favorite non-LEGO blogs, MAKE.

I hear some 3rd party manufacturers of Lego accessories recycle old bricks in their ABS, grinding them up and adding them to the molten plastic. Can you talk a little about this?

Obviously the ABS has to come from somewhere. BrickForge deals with very large production runs – thus we use specifically dyed ABS pellets during the self-contained, automated injection process. Other vendors may use a smaller, lightweight injection press for smaller production runs. This requires a manual feed of plastic into the hopper. Either the artisan has to purchase pre-mixed pellets (that match the LEGO color palette) or simply grind up and smelt existing LEGO brick. The first option is expensive, the second option is time consuming (not to mention having to deal with toxic fumes).

Read the complete interview on the MAKE Blog.

The online community has been a bit overdue for an update, so I was very pleased to receive a link to this interview by the Portuguese-language Comunidade 0937. They’ve asked a lot of great questions, and Mark has included several prototype design photos in his answers.

Most of the “spacers” of 0937 are advocates of a more peaceful approach to the theme than space-based conflict…. We also think there is a market for products placed in a more exploratory theme. Is there any chance of the LEGO one day to embark on a theme such as this?

First I want to point out that LEGO space has rarely been peaceful, talking to the original designers of the classic space sets during its concept phase they envisioned it as a competitive ‘space race’ between astronauts in white and cosmonauts in red. Those probes and radar dishes looked a bit like weapons because they knew exactly how most kids would play with them!

That said, I understand your point, and of course LEGO City has just released a space port line with vehicles inspired by today’s peaceful space explorers and their space agencies.

Read the full interview with Mark Stafford on Comunidade 0937 website.

Gerard agreed to sit down with me and answer some questions about the ship and how he builds.

TBB: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Gerard. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself. How long have you been into Lego and what themes do you build in?

GJ: I have been into Lego since just before my fourth birthday, when I got 1464 Pirate Lookout. I have never been into a dark age, and my older brother said I’m the biggest AFOL in my family of 7 kids. I mostly build in Pirates and Space, with Castle a bit behind those. Though I dabble in almost anything, except for Steampunk.

TBB: You have two older brothers who are adult Lego fans. Do you feel that their influence and your early exposure to the online Lego fan community has had an impact on your builds?

GJ: They certainly had an influence. Dan built a ship in 2008, a bit before the pirates line came out, that really opened up my love for Pirates. Dan has also pushed me into doing more realistic stuff.

TBB: So why no Steampunk?

GJ: I am just not a fan of steampunk. I think the idea of spaceships and mechs powered by steam to be silly.

TBB: Fair enough. You said you’ve been into Lego since you were four. So how many years have you been into Lego now?

GJ: 15 years and it doesn’t look like I am going to slow down at all.

TBB: So is Pirate your favourite theme?

GJ: Pirates and Space are always competing for first, but I think Pirates has a bit of an edge, simply because I build better sailing ships then spaceships.

TBB: You are becoming well-known for your large, detailed ships. How is this one different from your previous builds?

GJ: Well, this is my second time using reference material, and my first time basing it on a real ship. Also, this is the first time I have built a ship in minifig scale, and used proper cloth (As opposed to paper) for the sails.

TBB: Did using reference material make this build more difficult?

GJ: Somewhat. Using reference material meant I couldn’t be as loose as I normally would be. The hull especially took a lot longer since I had to match it up with something.

TBB: Is this your biggest ship so far?

GJ: It isn’t my longest, but I think it might be the tallest. The HMS Brunswick was 124 studs long, but a bit heftier. But the Lynx is wider and that has to count for something. I would have to say this isn’t quite my biggest, but it is close.

TBB: What was the most difficult part of this build?

GJ: I dunno. I think making the sails, since my scissors sucked. Can’t really say if any part of the actual build was harder then the rest.

TBB: What part of this ship turned out exactly how you envisioned it?

GJ: The angle of the masts. I got the idea how to do it, and it worked perfectly.

TBB: They do look really good. One thing that stands out on your ships is the custom sails and rigging. What do you use to make them? How much string went into the rigging on the Lynx?

GJ: In this case, I used cloth that I bought at Walmart. I usually use paper, but since the sails on this were larger then your regular sheet of paper, and since I wanted to raise the bar for myself a bit higher, I went with cloth. As for how much string, I don’t know at this point. By the time I dismantle this, I’ll know.

TBB: Are you going to start using cloth on all of your future ships?

GJ: I already converted one of my old ships to cloth sails, so I think it looks like it could happen, though paper is cheaper, and I am a bit of a mizer.

TBB: Where do you get inspiration for your ships?

GJ: Generally I just feel like building a ship, and I build one. In the Lynx’s case, Caylin challenged me to build a minifig scale tall ship, so that’s what I did.

TBB: As far as I can tell, your rigging is very accurate. How important is historical accuracy to you?

GJ: It is important whenever I feel like being historically accurate, which is happening more and more often these days. And since this ship was based on an actual ship, it was pretty obvious that I would have to make the rigging accurate.

TBB: Is there anything you want to mention that I haven’t asked about?

GJ: Whenever I build a sailing ship, I like to compare it to my first sailing ship I got, 6250 Cross Bone Clipper. In this case, there isn’t even a comparison.

TBB: I have to agree! Thanks for taking the time with us.

GJ: No problem!

Some of you may have noticed by now that over the past six months, I have constructed a full size Lego costume of the Master Chief from the Halo series. It was by no means easy, and I had to put a lot of time and effort into completing it. It required more thought and patience than any of my previous LEGO projects, not that I have done that many anyway.

But I didn’t decide overnight to build a Master Chief costume out of LEGO bricks. The very base of the idea was probably inspired by Simon MacDonald’s (SIMAFOL) Boba Fett costume. Then it was after I saw some really amazing LEGO creations at my first LEGO convention, Brickworld, that I really seriously started thinking about it. At first it was just a fantasy, which is reasonable enough, I mean, come on, a full-blown LEGO Master Chief costume? It is pretty ridiculous. But when I started to take it seriously, I finally realized that it was possible, and I committed myself to it.

I put a surprising amount of thought into which part I would construct first, and I finally settled on the helmet because I thought that if I could do a convincing MOC of the Master Chief’s helmet, and be able to wear it, I could do the rest of the suit.

The helmet took more planning than any other element. I started in late October and spent many hours getting the necessary resources and devising what size to make the helmet in order for it to be proportionate with the rest of my body. I think that if I hadn’t done so it wouldn’t have looked nearly as good as it does. But after much planning, I finally started building. I’m generally a pretty slow builder, and I went through a lot of experimenting with parts while building it, particularly for the vents on the “cheeks”. I had decided to use a non-LEGO piece for the visor long before I started building, and I had already purchased a sweet looking motorcycle helmet visor with a nice gold sheen to it, and with a few modifications, it fit like a glove.

So, I had at last finished the first part of my suit, and it managed to garner a lot of attention. I had never really been blogged about before so I was overwhelmed. It was one of the most memorable moments in my LEGO building “career”, and I jumped for joy when I saw I was on the Wall Street Journal’s blog, and then GIZMODO, and a host of other websites including the good old Brother’s Brick.

After the initial reaction died down and all the bloggers finally stopped, I got to work on the most time-consuming part of the project: the torso armor. It was one the most challenging in that it had to be able to take a lot of punishment and look good at the same time. I tried strengthening it where I could, but it still wasn’t enough. After many catastrophic accidents, in which many naughty words were uttered, I decided that I had to use glue. Yes, it was a lazy thing to do, but I just thought “screw it all” and went ahead with it. But it worked, so I don’t see a problem!

I then managed to squeeze the belt in before Christmas break, but I still had a problem: how was I going to achieve the concave shape of the thighs and forearms? It was one day on the bus back from school when I had nothing to do that a solution came to me, and boy was I pleased when it did. It was actually really simple: construct two rings, but make them different sizes, and then construct supports between them that I could put different aesthetics onto. This would achieve the proper concave shape, as it causes the shape to narrow. But before actually building the thighs, I built the arms first and applied my newly devised technique on them.

I’m not entirely satisfied with the upper arms, as they appear a little small when compared to the Chief’s. But I couldn’t make them any bigger, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to flex my arm (plus I couldn’t bear the extra weight). And besides, it still looks good as it is.

The forearms actually came out surprisingly well, though they were prone to coming undone. The reason why was that I had made them a little too small, and so whenever I flexed they would come undone. To solve this particular problem, I attached three rings of Velcro to the inside of one section that could wrap around my arm, keeping the section in place. But, it also would squeeze my arm together, so it wouldn’t bulge as much when I flex, and the other section now stays snuggly attached.

Afterwards I bought a pair of nice Master Chief looking gloves, glued some plates to them, and then built the thighs. The thighs ate up more tiles (smooth plates) than I can count!

At this point the suit was getting pretty close to completion, although there were unexpected delays (Spring break, a small LEGO convention, me getting sick). But in between I managed to get some work in. I always knew that the legs would be difficult on account of their odd shape (take a look at them and you’ll see what I mean). The Master Chief’s leg armor bulges in the back in order to shape itself around the calves, and this was something I had feared doing since starting the project. An idea that I had thought of but didn’t believe would work was to first build a frame for the legs that would follow that actual shape of the Chief’s. Although it appeared crude, I had no other good ideas. So I went about building this frame, and realized that it could work. Yes, it took me several variations, but that was what I ultimately settled on.

It was the next week that the suit’s first trial came: the “LEGO fun at Lyndhurst” festival, a small local event organized by Arthur Gugick, which I have been attending for quite some time. I originally planned to just display the suit and not wear it. Not only did I wear it, I walked around the entire event. This proved that I could move in it without too much damage occurring (one lost piece and one part that came undone). Also, it stood up pretty well against LEGO’s main adversary, the hands of small and curious children. Also, the helmet went through quite an ordeal, having to be placed on the heads of around 100 children.

Now, there was only one thing left to do: the feet, the least interesting part to look at. But I still wanted them to be of the same quality as the rest of the suit, so I went about making the toe look nice and curved by using segmented plates. But you can’t expect me to not loosen up a little bit. If you look closely you can see bits of red and yellow showing through the gaps between plates. Also, for the rest of the foot, I seriously lowered my quality standards, but you can’t really tell because, like I said, who looks at the feet?

I have to say finishing it was sort of anti-climactic, especially considering I had built the coolest part of the suit first, and was finishing with the feet. I’m actually a bit relieved it’s done because I was getting pretty tired of it, and I’m not sure how much longer I could have gone on. But I am glad I did, because now I can say that I’m the only person to (successfully) build a Master Chief costume out of LEGO. :)

For more pictures, visit Ben’s Flickr gallery.

Plastic Bricks Direct (BL PBD): Plastic Bricks Direct is a privately held company with one mission, to bring LEGO brick products direct to your door. We pride ourselves on friendly customer service, and having one of the largest selections of parts to choose from.

Missing Brick (BL MB): My store on Bricklink started in March of 2001 initially to sell used surplus pieces I had no use for. A few years later, I also started selling new pieces from sets I bought for my own use, and again later I started also selling sets. About 2 years ago, I almost completely did away with selling used pieces, the only used pieces I am selling nowadays are either rather rare pieces, or minifigure/minifigure-related, as well as some old used complete sets.

Toy Brick Brigade (BL TBB): We are a family-run business, our inventory and the main part of the operation is in North Texas. Payments are processed in Idaho, so it can be confusing for customers sometimes, but it works well for us. We are grateful to be able to make a living from home, working for ourselves, and doing something we enjoy.

Brick-A-Thon (BL BAT): Brick-A-Thon, Inc., is a Florida based business comprised of Tracy & Chris Dale who are both AFOL’s. Tracy loves Fabuland, Star Wars and Technic sets, primarily, while Chris really likes the Exo-Force line, Sponge Bob and minifigs (and loves the new Collectible Series). They also collect shot glasses, baseball cards, baseball memorabilia, are avid Tampa Bay Rays fans, and Chris was born and raised a Cheesehead (Packers fan). They are hoping to attend at least one LEGO Event this year, but haven’t determined which, yet.

How did you decide to become a Bricklink seller?

BL PBD: I originally came to Bricklink as a buyer to complete some old sets. I was extremely frustrated to have to buy a minimum of $5, $10, or $20 worth of parts when I only needed one 5 cent part, even though I was willing to pay shipping/handling to get it. I knew I was not the only one who was willing to spend a few bucks on shipping to get a 5 cent part. I opened our store with that basic premise of letting people purchase what/how much they want, and the rest is, well, you know.

BL MB: I started out as a LEGO train collector. I was buying lots of unsorted parts on eBay to complete my childhood models. Once I stumbled on Bricklink, I mainly used Bricklink for my purchases, and after a few months, I signed up to sell the pieces I did no longer need or want. I started building MOCs, and needed more bricks, so I bought more, and had more leftovers, and my store grew.

BL TBB: Lego is fun, and seemed to sell pretty quickly. It seemed like a great business to get into, so we gave it a shot.

BL BAT: I came out of the “Dark Ages” at the age of 33 and discovered BrickLink. I started buying and then realized I could sell off the parts I didn’t need on BrickLink to help fund my hobby – that’s how it all began, and it snowballed from there. Chris joined the store officially in 2007.

Is it your full-time job? Do you hire others to help you?

BL PBD: Yes, I spend about 60-70 hours a week staying on top of it, and it is also a full time job for a handful of other people. After a year of begging, I was able to convince my wife to leave her full time professional job with a nation-wide employer to join me as our COO. We have two other full time employees and a handful of part-time staff. By the end of 2011 our goal is to have 10 full time staff running various functions throughout our organization.

BL MB: No, this is purely a hobby for me. I have a great regular job. I spend nearly all money I make from selling LEGO on Bricklink (unlike most other big Bricklink sellers, I only sell on Bricklink, nowhere else) to buy more bricks, I primarily sell to make money to buy the bricks I need for my models. I work alone, but have friends that do some sorting now and then.

BL TBB: Yes, it is our full time job. We have had hired help in the past, but not right now.

BL BAT: Yes, this is a full time job for both Chris and me, and we have employed “Contract Workers” (friends) to assist at times with sorting and odd jobs, but we don’t have anyone full or part time that we keep on staff.

Where do you get your inventory?

BL PBD: LEGO, and a handful of other distributors. You’d think one could go straight to LEGO and be constantly supplied, and I guess if it were that easy then there would be much more competition.

BL MB: The bulk of my inventory comes from buying sets on sale at local stores, such as Target, Meijer, Toys’R’us, and Walmart, or when LEGO Shop at Home has good deals, I buy there too. In addition, since last year we have a LEGO store in Columbus, and I often buy inventory from sets on sale or Pick-a-Brick items.

BL TBB: Wherever we can. People email us wanting to sell their collection, or we find them on eBay.

BL BAT: We buy primarily from retail stores, LEGO Shop at Home, the LEGO Store in Downtown Disney, eBay, BrickLink and individuals looking to sell their collections.

Where is everything stored and how are things organized?

BL PBD: We currently have a completely stuffed 2,500 square foot warehouse, by the end of January we will have double that space! Sealed sets are stored in isles of Gorilla racks, and all of the parts are stored inside plastic bags or drawer liners, and then stored inside drawers. It’s like a hardware store stocked with LEGO.

BL MB: I have all items for sale stored in my basement. I have parts in zip-loc bags, stored in stackable drawers. Sets I have on storage racks. Nothing is labeled, so I rely on memory, and somewhat of a system, to find the parts. I keep related parts together, so all tiles are closer to other tiles, all bricks close to other bricks.

BL TBB: We have a 1,200 sq ft shop building next to the house. We have our own inventory system, and custom shelves to store everything.

BL BAT: We have product in our house in 3 rooms at one end which are the Office, Pulling Room and Sorting Room. We also have a storage unit on our property to hold sets and overflow product. Most everything we need for orders is in one room (in bins/bags) with some items (sets, mostly) in the office. There’s also product being sorted in the “Sorting Room”, of course. We’re thinking as we keep growing we’ll need to get another storage unit since we can’t easily expand the house.

What’s the most time-consuming aspect of selling?

BL PBD: Picking and packing. Sure, you could just throw all of the pieces in a bag or two and call it good ala LEGO Online PAB, however we take a more meticulous approach. Parts are organized and packaged neatly so that when you receive your order you can go right to building, not more sorting.

BL MB: Most time consuming is picking the orders. Especially those high lot counts with large variety, I have to go all over the basement to pick 1 here, 1 there. Because the large variety of buyers and orders, and the occasional inability to swiftly locate a part, I spend 80% of my time on 20% of the orders, and often within an order, I’ll spend 80% of my time on 20% of the order. Parting out sets for sale takes time too, so I only do that when I have at least 10 of the same set.

BL TBB: Most time consuming? Probably either the sorting process, or pulling orders that have many many lots.

BL BAT: Parting out sets, sorting product and counting/preparing it for sale – and then listing it all; that and the bookkeeping.

What do you think makes your store successful?

BL PBD: Friendly customer service, expeditious processing on every order, no limit purchasing, and having a large inventory with very competitive prices.

BL MB: Reliability, and a serious attitude. I ship orders quick, because that is how I would want my own order shipped. I pack my order well, because that how I would want my own order packed. I hardly ever have a backlog, I ship 99% of all orders out within 24 hours of payment. If you look at my customer base, I have a low percentage of first time buyers, but have a very high percentage of seasoned AFOLs. I am not always the cheapest, but consider myself one of the fastest and most reliable sellers, and that gets me much repeat business (that and that all repeat customers always get a coupon for use with their next order).

BL TBB: We try to have a great selection, a big variety and quantity of parts. We also try to be as quick as we can.

BL BAT: Two words: Customer Service – That’s what makes any business a success, is good, solid customer service. If you don’t make sure you have happy customers, you won’t have any coming back. We back that up with continually adding new and different items which is essential to draw people in.

Do you build with the bricks you have?

BL PBD: Not with anything that is kept at the warehouse as that is property of the business. I have a room at home that is used for play. If I want parts to use I have to buy them!

BL MB: Absolutely. I sell mainly so I can buy bricks to build with. As a builder, I like to build large structures, like skyscrapers, and I have build several in which I used over 30,000 pieces. I recently finished my largest MOC ever. Once I have that completely finished, and populated, it will be over 1 million bricks (actually mainly plates and tiles)

BL TBB: Not with our actual inventory, but yes, we do build occasionally, either with the kids or on our own.

BL BAT: Yes! I try not to take too much from store stock, but sometimes I see something and my brain gets going and I decide that not only do I need what we have in stock but I also have to go and buy a ton more on BrickLink. I have at least 4 projects in the process of being built right now. Chris has a passion for making up new minifigs with the parts we have and displaying them in the office.

What is something that you think most people don’t know about being a big-time Bricklink seller?

BL PBD: The amount of time that needs to be devoted to run a successful operation. Contrary to popular opinion it is NOT a get rich quick scheme.

BL MB: Particularly for me, for all my LEGO related activities, I would say I am an AFOL first, and Bricklink seller a distant second. Most probably see me as a seller that does this to make money, but if you see what I build, you know my true passion is being an AFOL.

BL BAT: That we really don’t make very much money. A lot of people think that we’re making hand over fist but we’re just scraping by, and we do it because we love the product. People don’t realize just how much work it takes to make a store like this function on a daily basis. I know I didn’t have a clue when I started and if we weren’t passionate about this then Brick-A-Thon wouldn’t still be in existence.

It goes without saying that Jordan Schwartz is a very talented builder for his age; even so, it may surprise you that he already landed an internship as a LEGO designer in Billund. Fresh out of high school, Jordan is heading to Denmark, early in 2011, to begin his work helping the company design new products. Below is an interview on how he got there and where he’s headed. You can learn more about Jordan on his website.

Nannan Zhang: What’s the process that led you to work for LEGO?

Jordan Schwartz: I compiled a portfolio and had it in the mail post-haste after being reminded by some friends at BrickWorld that TLG was looking to hire product designers. Shortly after that, I received an e-mail inviting me to the interview/workshop in Billund at the end of August. Naturally, I accepted. I went to the workshop/interview and went home. In the meantime, I had to start school (my first semester of college in Boston, MA) – and then, about a week into it, I received another e-mail and was offered a one-year internship as a starting point. I called the folks at LEGO to get the wheels in motion, took a leave of absence from school and now I am slated to begin said internship at the beginning of January 2011.

NZ: Can you tell us about your first visit to Billund for the workshop and interview?

JS: This wasn’t just my first trip to Billund, it was my first time in Europe, period. I have spoken with LEGO employees who worked there before, and almost all of them have told me that it’s a pretty… “boring” place, so I had my expectations and conceptions of it before going.

Anyway, the few of us from the U.S. who were there, were flown in a little earlier than the others so that we could adjust to the time difference, and we had a great time meeting and greeting people who were flying in from all over Europe (some of them prominent AFOLs, no less!). I tell you, that workshop was one crazy think-tank of artists and designers. It was a little intimidating since I was the youngest person there (fresh out of high school) and everyone else was already out of college; despite the competitive nature of the event, everyone was incredibly warm and friendly. Simply hanging out and chatting with the other attendees, hearing where they’re from, learning of their design experience, and flipping through their portfolios was absolutely fascinating and gave me insight into what TLG is looking for in a product designer. Obviously I cannot divulge too many details about the workshop itself, though as you can imagine, it was intensive. Oh, and we got a tour of the Idea House and tickets to LEGOLAND, so that was pretty cool too!

NZ: What will you be doing for your internship?

JS: I have been told what line(s) I’ll be designing for, but I’m going to have to bite my tongue on this one (at this point, I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say. Sorry!). But yes, I will be doing design work for the internship.

NZ: What are your thoughts on turning your hobby into a job?

JS: This is an interesting question, especially because this topic gets tossed around different forums all the time and everyone seems to have a different take on it. Some people would never want to turn their hobby into their job; some people would do it in a heartbeat. I happen to fall in this second group. Yes, LEGO is a hobby of mine, but why is it a hobby of mine? I can confidently say I still love LEGO because it takes me back – it is nostalgic; every time I build something with LEGO elements, I think about the good old times when I’d “play” with LEGO, and not “design” with it. Literally, some of my best memories have to do with LEGO; at the risk of sounding pretentious or cliché, these memories are very important to me, as I am a nostalgic kind of guy. This doesn’t go just for LEGO, but anything from my childhood (like now defunct Walt Disney World attractions, or those awesome Nickelodeon cartoons that I’ll never see again). And it is for this reason why I want to work for the company – I want to help create the products that children will enjoy now, and might have an affinity for, years down the road. I am moving from designing for myself and/or for the viewing pleasure of my fellow AFOLs, to designing for kids. And that’s an honor that has certainly validated my own affinity for LEGO and the work I’ve put into my creations over the years! Furthermore, being a product designer for LEGO is a dream job of mine (I’ve got a couple others, too, but this tops the list) – it’s not like I’ve been building for a few years in the online community and then just applied for the job just for giggles. I’ve always wanted to do this work – in fact, my mother dug up some old papers from grade school, and when prompted to write “What (I) want to be when I grow up” I always answered “I want to work for The LEGO Company.”

NZ: What are you looking forward to the most in Billund?

JS: Taxes! No, ok, not taxes. As far as TLG goes, learning how to design a good set, learning what sells, et cetera, et cetera. These guys are the best, you know! As far as living in Billund goes, being on my own for the first time. Ever since I started looking into schools, I’ve been getting really anxious and restless so I’m lucky that this opportunity has come so that I can kick myself out of the nest! (Oh, Southern New England for 18 years and an extra 4 for school, that’s refreshing). Though when I would talk about moving far, far away for school, I don’t think my family completely believed me…but I guess I’ve put my money where my mouth is!

NZ: Will there be a change in your involvement in the fan communities?

JS: Well, I hardly ever say anything anywhere online anyway…so no. And if I can somehow get to conventions, I will. Those are always a blast. My MOC output is going to virtually stop for a little while, that I can promise. If I have the opportunity to build a MOC, I will and I will post it, but I’d imagine those chances are slim. I hear some designers can’t stand building more than they have to at work, and others can’t get enough, so I’m curious to see where I’ll stand on that issue (I honestly have no clue whether or not I’ll be ‘all LEGO-ed out’ on account of work…time will tell).

NZ: Will you still contribute to BrickJournal?

JS: I have already spoken to Joe Meno, and I plan on staying as a contributor. Given my answer to the previous question, my articles will probably focus more on technique rather than an individual MOC (my article for the next issue already moves to this format anyway, with a small variety of MOCs to illustrate what I describe). BrickJournal has been a fantastic place for me to talk about some of the creations I’ve built, and I am so grateful to Joe for the opportunity to contribute. So I will try my best to offer something for future issues. After all, BrickJournal combines my two passions – LEGO and writing!

NZ: What are your future plans regarding LEGO?

JS: Only time can answer this question. If the folks at TLG are happy with my performance and decide to offer me full employment, I’ll probably take it. If not, then I would have worked for a year and had an utterly fantastic experience in the highly competitive world of design. It’s a win-win. As far as my education goes, my going to college is a matter of “when” and not “if”. As soon as I can go, I plan on going, but it will be delayed at least a year (which is funny, because I was the studious valedictorian nerd at school…people from my high school, who have found out I’ve left school, have been pretty surprised). I want to eventually major in either architecture or industrial design (most likely the former). I used to daydream about where the future might lead me, and becoming a product designer for TLG has always been #1 on my list. So I’m pretty darn happy (and lucky) this dream has come true for me so soon.

Nannan Zhang: Talk about what you like to build.

Alex Eylar: I tend to just build whatever I feel like, whatever inspiration hits, without really sticking to one theme or another. I admire the people who can stay in one theme and just put out hit after hit, but I’ve got a total LEGO-ADD that keeps me bouncing from theme to theme. I even had to title that one folder “The Unclassifiable” because the things just didn’t fit into one theme or another.

NZ: So it’s really just the spur of the moment?

AE: Oh, absolutely. I keep a Word Document on my desktop that has all sorts of random ideas in the shortest of shorthand. I get an idea, I jot it down, I build it or try to build it and fail miserably.

NZ: It’s interesting that you keep an actual list of ideas, how long is it?

AE: Generally about four or five projects long, but that includes things I’ve been thinking about for years and will probably never get to finish. Purgatory from Dante’s Inferno is a great example.

NZ: That list is actually much shorter than I expected, I know someone who has over 120 ideas on his list.

AE: Mind if I ask who?

NZ: I heard this from “Big Daddy” Nelson a few years ago. You’re on a building streak lately and cranking out some great models, what’s the occasion or inspiration?

AE: The occasion is free time thanks to summer and zero social life, and the inspirations are movies and internet. Big movie geek, so I’m always seeing things I want to build, and spend as much time online as I do and you’re bound to see things that pique your interest.

NZ: I’m guessing you liked Inception?

AE: Oh my yes. Best movie of the year so far, in my opinion.

NZ: And you built some MOCs based on that?

AE: I had to. Any movie with visuals as good as that has to be built. A tilted, spinning hallway; come on.

NZ: How long did it take you?

AE: Maybe three hours from start of the build to the last shot taken.

NZ: What about photography, was that a huge process?

AE: It can be; it depends on the project. If it’s something small like that, and only requires one shot, it won’t take that long, but if it’s enormous – “Containment” enormous – it’ll take its sweet time.

More of our interview with Alex after the jump:

NZ: What’s an example of a MOC that required extensive photography?

AE: The desert sunset signs (Bowl-o-Rama, Lou’s Café). Photography and lighting go hand in hand, and those two projects took forever just for the effect.

NZ: What did you do for the setup, and how much editing was involved?

AE: The setup was just a piece of red poster board taped to the wall, and then an IKEA lamp positioned just right to create the illusion of a setting sun. I’ve got no Photoshop, so editing never goes beyond adjusting brightness and contrast in iPhoto, and a few more touches in Flickr’s Picnik. The same goes for about everything I do.

NZ: That’s quite interesting, so a lot of skills for the setup then.

AE: Equal parts skill and luck.

NZ: Tell us about your latest project, what were you thinking when you decided to build a Lego Rube Goldberg machine?

AE: A Rube Goldberg machine was one of those ancient ideas I never thought I’d get around to, but then I got a summer assignment for grad school this fall: an introductory video. No idea what to do for that, plus I’m camera shy, so a Rube Goldberg machine was the best option. It was originally going to be a self-destructing Rube Goldberg machine. At the end, a giant LEGO wall would come down, smashing the entire layout, with the words THE END written in the brick. But that never happened. Would’ve been nice though.

NZ: What were the requirements of the video assignment?

AE: No longer than two minutes, and I couldn’t appear in it.

NZ: So you mentioned grad school, what are you studying?

AE: I’m going into the screenwriting program at Chapman’s film school in Orange, California.

NZ: What did you study in college?

AE: I studied film, majoring in film and digital media.

NZ: Have you thought about your plans after film school?

AE: God no. I’m heading into one hell of a competitive industry, so my plan is probably going to be: start small. Grunt work. Running to and fro, internships, whatever I can find.

NZ: Will Lego continue to be an ongoing hobby?

AE: Absolutely. I’m packing it all in my car and taking it down with me.

NZ: I’m glad to hear that. How much do you have to pack?

AE: It all fits in a 2000 Prius, so it’s not that big a collection, but it’s enough to let me build what I want to build.

NZ: You work with a much smaller collection than one might expect, but you’re able to do great things with it.

AE: It’s probably because there’s an unspoken assumption that anything I build, I keep forever, but that’s not true. Once it’s finished and the pictures are posted, it’s destroyed. People have been shocked to hear that.

NZ: That’s the complete opposite of what I do. I almost never take apart my MOCs. Have you ever kept any intact?

AE: Only the ones I intend to bring to cons. The Rocket Caboose and the Clockwalker are still intact, sitting on my shelf, waiting for BrickCon. But everything else is mercilessly slain. I always think of that final line in “Annie Hall”: “..but we go through it because… we need the eggs.” Building takes a while, photography takes a while, taking it all apart takes a while, it’s all very slam-bang and build-em-up-tear-em-down, but I do it because, well, I need the pieces.

NZ: Well put and well justified. So what’s your favorite creation that you built in which you then had to take apart?

AE: One of my recent favorites was Infection because the lighting sold it. Dusty, red Martian atmosphere: I got really lucky with that one. But the people’s favorite is Relativity by a mile. It was the first project to get 100 favorites, then 200 favorites, and it’s still climbing. People love it.

NZ: Relativity was truly quite something.

AE: I’m glad it worked out as it did. That Escher print was another ancient project I never thought I’d get to. Maybe the Space twist was the spark I needed.

NZ: I noticed you tend to mash Lego themes with pop culture classics.

AE: It’s always fun to do. Pop culture is one big well of inspiration, and mashing it together with all things LEGO always gets a good response. Though, it’s less creativity and more mix-n-match and see what works. The Pulp Fiction/Space Police scene, for example, started out as just a strict illustration of the original scene, but that was too boring. So what can I add? Well, there’s a Space Police theme that could work well. Two cops up front, alien criminal in the back. And boom.

NZ: Things are better with a twist.

AE: Totally.

NZ: How did you see yourself develop as a builder from when you first joined the online community?

AE: Well, lighting played a big part, obviously. That was the niche I carved out for myself and the reputation that’s stuck with me. Lighting made me known, so I’m glad I figured it out, I just hope I didn’t pigeonhole myself too severely. But hey, Relativity was a big hit and that was broad daylight, so maybe it’s all worked out in the end. Not to mention the Holy Hand Grenade, whose popularity has always amazed me.

NZ: Was it your original intention to make a reputation of yourself through your Lego photography?

AE: Not really. Like everyone else, I’m a comment whore, so as much as that could be an incentive, I didn’t set out to get famous. When I started, I didn’t even know fame was a possibility. LEGO was and is just a hobby; recognition is a lovely by-product.

NZ: That’s good to hear, so do you have other interests besides Lego?

AE: Film, for one. Screenwriting, specifically; I’ve got loads of scripts in various stages of completion. But no real other hobbies. Used to be a magician, though, so maybe nerd hobbies flock together.

NZ: I noticed that quite a few of your MOCs are film-based or inspired.

AE: Well, the simplest answer is: movies are easy. Like, with Inception, I had the source material right there in a promotional still that was released online, so it was easy to recreate. Same with Pulp Fiction: it’s an iconic scene.

NZ: That makes sense, but I see that you also build completely original scenes and the like.

AE: When I think of a good idea, totally. Original ideas take a lot of forethought, though, and if a project isn’t completely thought out before I start, I’ll flail somewhere in the middle and give up. That’s why a lot of my stuff is movie-centric: they’re harder to mess up.

NZ: So you never plan and build as you go?

AE: Rarely. There are times when it miraculously all comes together, but I can rarely just start building with a blank slate and end up with something post-worthy.

NZ: You’re a very rationally calculating man.

AE: I’ve gotten a lot of flak for it, yes.

NZ: So for every creation that we see from you, how many never see the light of day?

AE: For every 2-3 projects that do get posted, there’s one that fails halfway through.

NZ: That’s quite a significant ratio, we should not take your masterpieces for granted.

AE: Masterpiece is an overstatement of the highest degree.

NZ: So do you have future plans with the hobby?

AE: Not really. I’m just going to keep building things I like. No real need to go bigger, and no real need to expand the collection; I’m maybe one of the only LEGO fans who doesn’t want any more right now. Not even Tower Bridge; the amount of cheese slopes alone would overflow my bins. I’ve basically got all I need.

NZ: Has anyone played an import role in the hobby for you?

AE: Keith Goldman and Brendan Powell Smith were the two that brought me out of my dark age. I saw The Brick Testament on a bookshelf; loved it. Tried to build my own Last Supper; failed. But his work was a great inspiration. Keith’s Zombie Survival Guide was one of the first things I found on MOCpages, and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I’d say those two were responsible for bringing me back into the hobby.

I actually blurted that out to Brendan at Bricks by the Bay; got a flattered, but weirded look. But both of these guys were enlightening illustrations of what could be done with LEGO.

NZ: Keith has certainly played a role in my inspirations and Brendan’s works were also among the first I noticed. I’m sure you’re also becoming quite an influence on many builders. When’s the next time we’ll see you at a convention?

AE: I’ll be at BrickCon this year; I’m sure it’ll be a blast.

NZ: Great, I’ll see you in Seattle next month. Thanks for your time!

AE: My pleasure, Mr. Bley.

Via FBTB

They say that our hobby is dominated by mannkinder, and the closest we come to the feminine touch are our beloved bevy of gay men and the unfortunate epidemic of man-boobs. Our community meetings and events are virtual sausage festivals, with only the occasional long-suffering wife or girlfriend to break up the monotony. Even my own beloved interview series has been as they say in the armed forces “a mile of %&#@”, and with that in mind I sought out not only a great builder…but a real live woman. Many of you are familiar with Deborah Higdon for her outstanding architectural models, minifig scale furniture, and hatred for capital letters.

I sat down with Deborah at the Palladium where the Ottowa Senators were tied going into overtime in round one of the NHL playoffs. We talked about how the O-Train got its name, high-sticking and how to assemble a Frojista from Ikea without an allen wrench.

The Build

Keith Goldman: In your Flickr profile you mention that you’re a frustrated architect at heart, a condition that is not unique in our hobby, how does that influence your subject matter or building in general?

Deborah Higdon: oooh, we’re starting off with a serious question. ;-) considering i mostly choose to moc buildings, i’d say the influence is pretty strong. strangely, i admire historic architecture most, probably equally for the craftsmanship that went into the details as well as the design of the building itself. i say strangely because i don’t tend to build historic styles. when admiring architecture, i prefer historic. when designing a complete house, i prefer modern, and not just because i find lego lends itself more “easily” to modern styles, it’s not about “easy”. modern building allows more leeway for an active imagination. on rare occasions, i think it’s fortunate i didn’t become an architect – i don’t think i could put up with the physical limitations of engineering (what do you mean i can’t have a waterfall flowing between the 2nd and 3rd floor, falling out of the wall to the sea below?) i’m not sure that i’d have been all that good at satisfying the client 100%. compromising something based on æsthetics would be very difficult for me. the influence also comes from the design blogs i’m addicted to. i’m trying to quit, looking for a blogs anonymous group, know any? the first step is admitting the problem.

KG: You’ve built extensively in both minifig and microscale. What do you like and dislike about each scale and would you ever consider mixing the two?

DH: i don’t think there’s anything i dislike about any scale. i might dislike the infamous proportions of the minifig, (i tell myself, it’s just a toy) but as all my afol friends know, i’m not fond of the minifig itself in my mocs, (blasphemous talk, i know. i know how tbb originated, sorry andrew!) so no problems for me. but all the houses and furnishings that i build are built with the minifig in mind. microscale building is my spouse’s favourite – it costs less, takes up less space to store and less time to build – he wins in all ways. as for what i do like about these scales, i like replicating. i think of the miniatures i used to collect. i looked for high quality representations of handicraft (shaker furniture, farm tools) but i never wanted a doll house for them, and certainly never the dolls to go with them. i see the houses that i build more as architectural models that happen to be in minifig scale. i’ve seen others mix the scales with great execution, but i’m not tempted yet.

KG: On both Flickr and Facebook you quote Einstein on curiosity:

The important thing is not to stop questioning. curiosity has its own reason for existing. one cannot help but be in awe when (one) contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. it is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. never lose a holy curiosity.

What role does curiosity play in your building and what do you think about most often when you build? World conquest? Work? Freddie Mercury? The mysteries of the universe?”

DH: curiosity is huge for me, bane of my mother and father’s existence i was. i’m always looking at buildings, doors, windows, stairs, furniture and design elements and asking how can i make that in lego, what pieces can i use? can i make it on a smaller scale? can i make it look realistic. how can i make it stronger, can i get it to a fest? can i think of a new use for this piece? needless to say, i talk to myself a lot. thinking you ask? i think about dessert, martinis, new shoes, what makes people tick, what makes people not tick, what makes clocks tick. oh, sorry, i digress. you mean when i’m building. hmm, i think about chocolate, dark chocolate, which leads to dark chocolate bricks, and then leads to me lamenting that lego doesn’t make cream bricks, then the lack of earth colours in the palette comes to mind then i forget what i was going to build.

i certainly don’t think of world conquest, i’m canadian, we don’t have that gene in our makeup. i never think about work, never, not while in the building zone. who’s freddy mercury? never mind, i can google him. sometimes the mysteries of the universe cross my mind.

More of Keith’s interview with Deborah after the jump:

The Community

KG: Many builders seem to have a low-grade form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: some need to make sure the hands and faces on their minifigs are in alignment, some know the set-numbers for all their kits, and I get antsy when I get more than a shoe-box worth of unsorted parts. Do you have any of these tendencies, or come across any in other builders?

DH: some friend (a self-confessed geek) said i was just a geek wannabe. i wash, i style my hair, i wear makeup and jewellery, i was terribly insulted. i know no set numbers. i don’t care a fig about figs. my sorting rules are based on usage – all green plates here cause i’d mostly only use them for grass. all grey brick there cause i’d only use them for rock and stone or metal. all dark colours are revered and go in drawers for details and furniture building. but each colour of 1×1 tiles gets its own little drawer.

i revere 1×1 tiles. i revere all tiles. i will revere macaroni tiles when they finally get around to making them. but i do have some ocd tendencies. my well sorted drawers are identical, no mixing of styles and brands. they are all the same size, though sub-divided. they are all labelled, in a very particular manner, with a label making machine. the blue tubs are all facing the same direction, and labelled in three places, so the contents are also readable no matter what direction they face. i inventory all my pieces: drafts, pab, s@h orders, bricklink orders and the rare set that i happen to buy. i know how much i own, and how much i paid for my brick. i like spreadsheets and databases.

i like afol friends who write inventory software so that i can track my collection. i wish i could write that software. but unless i stop wearing earrings and necklaces, and clothes that always match, i won’t be a geek, i guess.

KG: How did you discover the fan community, do you have a routine when visiting LEGO related sites, how many do you frequent and is there any current trend in the hobby that chaps your ass?

DH: 10 years ago when i interrupted buying lego for my nieces and nephews to buy some for myself, someone suggested i check ebay for used lego. i made my first and only ebay auction bid, got a ton of classic 1x2x3 doors and classic windows for a pittance and through ebay, i discovered brickbay (bricklink’s predecessor). with my sad little collection, the addiction began. i built some sorry mocs with my one blue tub and the classic doors and windows. the brickbay orders made me dare to dream, *sigh* . later through brickbay, i discovered lugnet and brickshelf. i lurked for years, many years. i found the courage to create accounts, post my work, and finally contact my local lug. i went to one meeting, bringing another female for support, and didn’t look back. she didn’t stay around long, i did. this was what i was looking for. i found the means to support my need to build, to create, to figure out, and to show it to others. i found people who understood the “eureka” moment, those who grok the brick. some afol friends became friends beyond those of a shared hobby.

i was so hesitant to make the virtual community part of my real community but no regrets now. as to the virtual community, i check out 12 or so sites on a daily basis, and a few others much less. it’s a double-edged sword, having everything at your fingertips. i don’t want to see something that will influence my building too much, i want to come up with my own ideas, yet i want to take in all the incredible work and talent out there. i’m very curious about other people’s talents. how did they get a brain that thinks like that? i want a brain that thinks like that. i’m always amazed at the infinite ability to combine a bunch of plastic bricks.

KG: How many conventions have you attended, and what do you like best about the experience? Matters of finance aside, how do you decide which one to attend, is it based on who else is going? Time of year The theme? The City? Is there any real difference between conventions?

DH: not enough, in answer to your first question. i’ve been to five large lego related events and no matter how many afols are there or how many mocs are shown, for me it’s always for the same reason. i have found the people who get me, who care about the details and how they were achieved, who want to share their ideas, and let’s face it, who want some attention for all their work and creativity. if a public display is involved, i want non-builders to be inspired to sit down and make something – with popsicle sticks, with match sticks, with q-tips, with bricks, just make things. we don’t allow enough time for creativity. that’s my soul food. decisions to attend are based mostly on time of year and my job. i can only travel greater distances two months of the year, and of those two months, i want to spend three of them on vacation travelling in europe. unfortunately my mocs don’t travel well in suitcases and no european fests have coincided with my summer vacation plans.

The Future

KG: Our evil overlords have graciously bestowed upon us the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal. As an architecture fan, what else would strike that balance between profitability and cool-factor?

DH: did i mention i fail as a lego fan? did i tell you i have no idea what two sets my parents bought when i was a child? did i hint at my complete inability to recall set numbers? did i mention my uncoolness? i’m not the person to put profitability and cool-factor in the same sentence but any detailed well known landmark would be appreciated by me. nothing that i think about at the level of detail that i crave and the colour palette i yearn for would ever be profitable.

KG: What’s going to keep you interested in the hobby for the next say 5 years?

DH: my sanity. if i don’t create, i get grouchy. my sanity and macaroni tiles, in dark tan.

KG: Will the green movement eventually kill LEGO as we know it, driving builders and conventions underground to avoid the stigma of conspicuous petro-chemical consumption? Would you be willing to build with disposable, edible corn or soy based building systems? Imagine for a moment this dark future and give us your position.

DH: this discussion in one particular flickr group has made me rethink the issue, but so did the current disaster in the gulf of mexico. i can’t point fingers, i drive an ancient suv (albeit to get through the deep snow on the driveway beside my igloo) with a lot of cargo space to lug my many giant plastic totes containing my large mocs made of plastic bricks, wrapped lovingly in plastic bubble wrap. using our creativity, we as afols might be able to find a way to offset our carbon footprint when we gather at fests. i will not volunteer for this job, but i would willingly participate. as for abandoning the abs in favour of corn and soy, if they add suitable flavours, it would make for a tasty treat when trying to pull the bricks apart with your teeth. being a little ocd, i would never do this, but i have seen it with my own eyes. grown man with large teeth, separating my bricks. *shudder*

would i build with it? if it smelt like lego (or better) and felt like lego and looked like lego and worked like lego, then i’d definitely use it.

if every single piece came in dark tan and cream, and chocolate brown (did i mention i like chocolate?) then you’d have a hard time keeping me away from it.

5 Boilerplate Questions

KG: If you had to pick only one of your models to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

DH: yeah, i knew this one was coming. doesn’t mean i was ready for it. ask me when i’m wearing burgundy, it’ll be sliding house. ask me when i’m eating chocolate, it’ll be the baronial doorway. ask me when the moon is full, it’ll be the grey stone doorway. you get the picture. but if pushed to choose, probably st. paul de vence. it’s the first i was really proud of. i like what i did with it, and i loved the inspiration from which it came. i cried when i took it apart, it exists now only in my doorway series.

the pedant in me says, if it’s dismantled, then it can’t go into a time-capsule, can it?

KG: If you could design an official set, what would it be?

DH: this has never been a dream of mine. in this area, i lack complete creativity. maybe an ikea store. i think i could handle that. not cool, not profitable, but probably fun to do. i could put my initials on the license plate of the delivery trucks. someone else would have to design the trucks.

KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?

DH: oh, keith, you’d come to the far north to build with me? do you have a parka, can you build with mitts on? i’ve heard we have snow year round up here, somewhere up here. bring your skates, we all play hockey like pros. again, i digress. in your restrictions, you didn’t mention time travel. ole kirk christiansen comes to mind. i’d love to see what he’d do with a brick or two now. not sure if he got any joy out of building with this toy, but it would be great to experience the joy of building with him. the second builder would be someone who had never seen or touched a lego brick in his/her life, a complete neophyte, not technically yet a builder. all the clichés come to mind, a fresh eye, blank slate, an untouched canvas. but i think that experience would be pretty eye-opening for most of us. sorry, were you hoping i’d name my favourite builders? you’re out of luck there!

KG: Name a famous person living or dead who would have made great LEGO nerd.

DH: eistein comes to mind, for some reason or other. not that i know a great deal about him, or his work (i’m not a geek, remember) but given his quote, i’m sure he could have done something wonderful with a brick or two. a non-famous person would be my mom. she’s almost 80. she’s never built a set, i doubt she’s done more than push a brick or two together for me when i was 7 or 8, but i see her eyes when i show her my stuff. she’s fascinated, and curious, and thinks lego is neat, and she seems to understand what i’m all about, what it’s all about.

KG: And finally, good lady, who controls the action?

DH: at about 10 years of age, i developed this theory: two dudes/dudettes in white lab coats, pushing buttons, pulling marionette strings, pushing around weather systems, from on high, laughing (and crying) at our antics. i’m almost sure i saw that years later in the far side. at 12 or 13 i heard “spin the bottle” controlled the action, not that i would know (a much more innocent game in the early 70′s than now, i can imagine). for a while i’m sure that volcano in iceland thought it was doing a pretty good job. i’ve heard up here in the great north, it’s the polar bears. when they’re calling for their dinner, you have to feed them. but i’m sticking with my grade school theory. i always liked the thought of living in miniature.

Unlike previous entries, this week’s builder isn’t a crusty 10-year veteran of the hobby, media magnate, self-stylized reverend or even Australian.

Instead I bring you an everyman from Anytown, U.S.A, who might be known better for his quick wit and devil-may-care attitude than for his growing library of great models. Dave Shaddix isn’t exactly a noob, but he also hasn’t been around long enough to be as jaded and rigid in his way of thinking than many of us gray-beards.

I sat down with Dave 2 miles from the US/Mexico border in Dave’s home state of Arizona. We talked about the Gadsden Purchase, Sabbath with Ozzie vs. Sabbath with Dio and what really happens to all those tourists who go missing every year in the Grand Canyon. We also talked about LEGO.

The Build

Keith Goldman: Like many builders out there, you’ve got a long term project going on. How long has your Papa Roach stage been in production and what are the challenges of a long term build from a relative newcomer’s perspective? Is your cousin and Papa Roach front-man Jacoby Shaddix involved in the process?

Dave Shaddix: I’ll first define ‘relative newcomer’ so that we’re all on the same page as far as timelines are concerned. I started building again about nine years ago with my oldest son; yeah it’s the DUPLO brick that brought me out of my dark age. As he grew, I started buying and building more age appropriate sets with him which eventually led me to the internet where I quietly trolled sites like Brickshelf and MOCpages from around 2006 to 2008 when I started posting on MOCpages. Arizona’s first LEGO retail store opened in the summer of 2008 and our LUG formed up immediately after. In short, 2008 is the year I became an actively-engaged AFOL who was fully out of the closet. Now that we have my own private definition of ‘newcomer’ out of the way, let’s move onto the question.

I started planning the Papa Roach project in October of 2009. It was pretty vague at the time and I was heavily leaning towards minfigure scale. I realized that the project needed to be all about the motion and mood of a live concert early on and I decided on a scale that is about 2x miniland. I began putting bricks together around October when I started building the band members.

The more I worked on the project, the more I learned and the more I had to build. Project creep started taking its money-draining grip on me and before I knew it I was looking at a structure that is more than 150 studs in width and almost 70 bricks tall and making whirlwind trips to Los Angeles to talk to the band and get detailed photos of them, their equipment, and the crowd. Given the scale of this project, you can guess that money plays a huge role and has slowed me down considerably. I guess the biggest obstacle that I will need to overcome is how to decide when enough is enough.

As far as the guys being involved in the project, they’re busy men and I try to leave them alone to do their jobs. That being said, Jacoby, Jerry, Tobin and Tony are some of the coolest guys you’ll meet and have answered every call and question I have asked. Whether you like their music or not, they are a kick-ass band and incredibly down to earth. I am lucky to have what little of an inside track as I do. I was given full access to the stage during sound checks to photograph the equipment; I mean I actually got to sit at the drums. When they were touring with Motley Crue, I was actually given a ‘Crue Skag’ for my birthday. Skags aside they are pretty excited about the project and want to see it finished as much as I do.

KG: I think it is fair to say that everywhere except LEGOLand (who just refuses to get on board) the all powerful minifig, and minifig-scale rules both the product line and the hobby in general. As the outspoken leader of the anti-minifig movement, would you care to outline your patently ridiculous stance?

DS: Anti-minifig, Keith? How could you do this to me? Twist my words… I thought we were friends! Saying I am anti-minifig is like saying that someone who is pro-life is anti-choice. I love those little dudes as much as the next guy! And I really like seeing the new diversity LEGO seems to be finding with its torso types and new flesh colors. I’ve done more than my fair share of vignettes like my armed robbery and ‘LifePod 23” and minifig only posts, ‘Blackstronauts’, “Boy Band” and even a concept for your ‘Fear the Black Planet’ contest. There is really a lot more fun to be had with the minifigure, and I am not going to count myself out of that action.

My gripe with the community is how much they seem to embrace minifig scale and none other. And even then, I think they have the scale all wrong. LEGO is a great medium and it often seems a shame to me that the majority of builders out there limit themselves to the worship of a little plastic doll. I would love to see more miniland scale MOCs and more sculpture produced on a regular basis.

More of Keith’s interview with Dave after the jump:

KG: As a builder, I jumped the shark with the Omicron Weekend… and many say that you did the same with your Gillgan’s Island radio. How do you top your greatest model, do you even worry about such a thing? Throughout these interviews I’ve have yet to read anyone copping to being disappointed when a model doesn’t do well in terms of hits or review. As a builder who’s had his fair share of bombs, do you care Dave? Do you?

DS: Gosh Keith… My fair share of bombs? Fuck you. How do you like that? How about I drop an ‘f-bomb’ too? Is that a good enough answer? No? Well allow me to address the question then… Asshole.

I am always wondering why a model doesn’t get the attention I think it deserves, especially when I put a lot of effort into them. I’m not a stats whore. Hell, I’m too cheap to buy myself a Pro account on Flickr, but I do look for comments and such. Not that I dwell on the feedback or stats, but they’re important — we all seek recognition from our peers. So yeah, I often wonder what’s up. That being said, I would have to define the bomb as: the measurement of expected feedback vs. my perceived level of coolness or accuracy of a model. Sadly, far too many of my MOCs seem to fall into that category. The cooler the model, the bigger the bomb seems to be.

I mean, there is a lot to be said about validation. Getting blogged is fun but it doesn’t always seem to generate the comments or views that I might expect. Most recently “March Out of the Darkness” was blogged here, but it got very little notice on my photostream. I even posted it on Eurobricks and got only two or three responses to it. Even MOCpages drew only a few sympathetic comments. That lack of response often gives me serious pause; I take long hard looks at my creations when things bomb like that. Then I decide that the rest of the world is obviously smoking crack, and keep building the way I want.

As far as topping my greatest model, I don’t even know what my greatest model would be. I do try to kick the crap out of my last model when I start work on a new project though; I think I typically tend to only mildly contuse it though. Though I feel a little embarrassed when I look back at my earliest work that I thought was shit-hot at the time, I realize that one day I may look back on my current projects with that same embarrassment. At least, I hope I do…

The Community

KG: Talk about AZLUG, Dave. Why would you choose a name that could so easily be perverted to ASSLUG, and how does AZLUG differ from other LUGs? What is the best and worst part about being the “new guy” in a LUG?

DS: Our LUG is actually CactusBrick, which is based out of the Phoenix/East Valley and is currently the sole member of AZLUG which would ultimately act as a parent LUG. The logic being, as new groups emerge, we would have one place to exchange information, plan events, and even have local representatives. AZLUG has no power or control over the lugs; it’s more of a LUGLUG. Sort of like how the Federal Government should be.

There is a second LEGO Brand Retail Store opening in the Valley sometime this year or next. We are anticipating another group of AFOLs coming out of the woodwork (this happened in 2008 when the first one opened; our LUG formed immediately), and it would be nice to have the framework for a new LUG set in place, even go so far as to coordinate meetings for alternate weekends so that both could be attended if one so chose to.

Hopefully the known AFOL community will grow in the Phoenix area in the next couple of years. I think there are people out there who just aren’t involved with the internet community (good for them) but are tremendous builders. I have a sinking suspicion that most of them are train heads though.

KG: I recently deleted my account on MOCpages because of things like persistent viruses, invasive often pseudo-pornographic advertisements, impossibly long load-times, unchecked youth and the slow erosion of both my photos and text. As a former inside-man at MOCpages and someone who shares my former loyalty and affection for the site, give me a way to fix it, and why it should be fixed.

DS: WOW… I suppose we’re all either expecting an honest answer here or a fluffy one about how great MOCpages is. I wish the answers could be one and the same (I’m going honest if you didn’t catch on). I think you and I see eye to eye on a lot of the issues about MOCpages, so maybe this would be a good platform to clear the air.

Before I start casting stones, I need to say that Sean does a wonderful service to the community. My opinion of what MOCpages has become has nothing to do with Sean, it’s about the community and how it has evolved, or rather devolved. I know that the issues with MOCpages can be fixed with enough money and programmers and that Sean is only one dude who is running that show pretty much by himself (and two chat moderators). If I had a skill that Sean could put to use on MOCpages, I would be more than happy to throw down and try to make things better. I’d also note that there are exceptions to every rule. I am lumping an entire community into a few paragraphs, so the squeaky wheels will get the oil.

Like I said earlier, MOCpages is where I first came onto the scene in early 2008; it was a great place with a cool culture. I have been more and more disenchanted with the Pages over the past year or so to the point where I took most of my MOCs off and jumped ship …though I didn’t go as far as you did and delete my account.

I have always seen MOCpages as a child/teen friendly site, mostly because of the high volume of kiddos who are registered users and active members. I love that the kids have a place to show off their work and be proud of what they have built and who they are. Unfortunately there is no filter or barrier between the adults and the kids; they interact without hesitation or shame. This is a powder keg just waiting for that spark. Keith, you asked Peter Reid in an earlier interview about pedophiles at conventions, I think there is a far more real danger of them existing and lurking online and interacting with children on sites like MOCpages with no parental controls or user restrictions.

Back to the kiddos on MOCpages: They run amuck, make neat little clubhouses using the group feature and hide behind anonymity of a cool username like eleetComandur69 while they lash out at each other and everyone for any reason or no reason. I think it boils down to a much larger cultural issues of entitlement and the internet age. Seriously, go outside and get some sun …play some fucking sports and learn how to smack talk in a creative and meaningful way! Go mouth off to someone bigger than you in real life and get the living shit beat out of you, see how that feels and learn your place. Stop lashing out from the safety of your keyboard, you can’t just jump on that smack talk band wagon without a little bit of life experience under your belt. Besides, MOCpages is about LEGO creations, less talking – more building.

The AFOLs who still dwell on MOCpages don’t always seem to care (and I am not just talking about ONE of you) that kids have full access to what they write and build. I liken it to showing an R rated movie on Nickelodeon or something of that nature. Personal accountability would be the first move to make MOCpages a better place, accountability by both AFOLs and YFOLs. It really is up to the AFOLs to lead by example however, but how much can really be expected from mankinder? …and we’re all mankinder here.

I know that Sean pays for MOCpages by letting ads run on the top and right margin of the site. I don’t think he controls what ads show up, but most of them aren’t family friendly …though I was a fan of the pseudo pornographic ones. I remember complaining about an ad that sold cigarettes; I also remember never seeing that ad again after I complained. In fact earlier this year, I had to reformat and reinstall windows due to a virus from an ad on MOCpages. Not Sean’s fault, just another thing that helped to push me away from the community. As for load times, I still have a tab open from August of 2009 that is still trying to load… any day now.

As a father, I could no longer allow my kids access to a potentially dangerous situation. I don’t hover over them at all times, but I am going to make damn sure they make informed choices and learn from the mistakes they make. As an AFOL interacting with other people’s kids, I chose to largely withdraw from that mine field. I nearly deleted my account earlier this year, but gave pause and thought it through. Instead I changed my settings so that I received no more emails and I only post creations. I no longer leave feedback on anything for any reason, I don’t participate in the groups, or the conversations, nor do I add my creations to groups. I’m not going to win popularity contests for it, but I don’t care, it’s better to keep that lit firecracker at arm’s length and watch the fallout from a safe distance.

That’s all I want to discuss about the squeaky wheel. I prefer to think of MOCpages as a new and wonderful place that gently lifted me out of my dark age into a new era. A place where Chris and I planned the first MOColympics and where I killed Rory in a bloody death at the fast hands of Chuck Norris in MOCTAG. I think of MOCpages as a place of profound disappointment when I learned that not one, but BOTH Shannons were actually dudes! …but somehow it was still cool, even if one is really hairy and one is really bald (really really bald). I’d like to see MOCpages heal its wounds. I miss what MOCpages was but I know better than anyone that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t take the pee out of the pool. So the question is what’s next for MOCpages? I say it’s time to gas the nest.

KG: The LEGO 16+ group over on Flickr is sort of the bastard child of J-LUG, Stajinaria, and various chat-rooms, specializing in free-speech, one-liners and all around jackassery. For the more casual LEGO nerd or the newcomer, who should come check out the mayhem, who should stay away, and make a case for 16+ being a community worthy of having an Ambassador?

DS: OK… Stay out of LEGO 16+ if you are under 18 or faint hearted. It’s a bad, dark place filled with (and I’ll quote myself here) “high-functioning social misfits, smug Europeans, over eaters, communists, alcoholics, and three Republicans who are drawn here for the sole intent of bitching aimlessly about nothing important. It may feel right and fun for all those involved (though awkward and frustrating at times), it would be painful and possibly embarrassing for a ‘normal person’ to watch.”

(Cartoon courtesy of Jordan Neves)

I love the group; it’s totally dysfunctional and filled with people who I mostly disagree with. The primary goal of the group seems to be to stir the pot and engage in conversation for the sake of conversation. I think a secret goal of the group is to piss me off, but that’s cool. I can hang! Like MOCpages, there is a lot of drama here too, but it’s a much more refined form of it, more suitable for adult consumption. I guess it’s a place where all mankinder can come and be comfortable with who they are and what they think. We’re all douchebags there, and it’s OK. What happens in 16+ stays in 16+.

Do we need an Ambassador? My vision of a LA representing 16+ is The Comedian, straight talking, hard hitting, and always considers violence as the first option. That being said, no I don’t think we need one. Though I think it would be a lot of fun to watch us try! 

The Future

KG: If you are able to complete your Papa Roach project, what will you do with it? Will you tear it down, sell it, trade it to a Papa Roach groupie for…?

DS: Well, I have the last name, so I think I could get what I wanted from a Papa Roach groupie on that alone… Maybe I should ask some of those random fat chicks who I don’t know on Facebook who keep sending friend requests due to ‘mutual friends’. …not that all the groupies are fat chicks, some are pretty hot, its just the fat ones that seem to stalk me. *sigh*

As for the fate of this project, I don’t honestly know. I originally started it to give to the band, but it grew too large. It’s far too expensive an endeavor to just give away. I would sell it if I had the right offer, but I will more than likely show it at a couple of conventions and then reintegrate it into my collection. Although I have A LOT of new brick that I bought just for this project, so that integration will likely redefine the structure and layout of my collection. So be it.

KG: What would you like to see our evil overlords do with the retail stores in the years to come? What do you like about the stores and what chaps your ass?

DS: Having really only experience with one LEGO Store, I think I have a limited perspective. Our store has just barely been open for two years now. I can say that I have seen a big change in the store when the management changed late last year. We thought that the store was just fine (we didn’t know what to expect) until corporate put new management in place. Kevin, the current manager has really turned the store around and set a high standard. We’re all pretty happy with how it’s run today.

I think that the Pick-a-Brick wall often has selection issues, but I have come to understand that is an issue which is out of the complete control of the individual store, so we take what we get. They are really good about trying to get us what we ask for though. I really do have to take my hat off to these guys!

KG: Is building going to be enough for Dave Shaddix, or are you hoping to carve out your own piece of the action? What’s next for Diamond Dave?

DS: Building is not enough for this cat. I don’t know what piece of the action I am going to bite into, nor do I care. I’m all about the ride; it’s not about where you go, but how bloody you are when you get there. I’d like to work on getting a convention in Phoenix in the next five or so years. I would love it if that convention did not have the word ‘BRICK’ in it. I was thinking that ‘Southwest Studs’ would be an awesome name for a convention, but I do fear that we might attract the wrong crowd. The best case scenario is a bunch of good looking, horny, rich cougars; I don’t want to think about the worst.

5 Boilerplate Questions

KG: If you had to pick only one of your models to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

DS:  The Radio. The logic is that maybe in the future, someone can make it work using an actual coconut. I’d like to think that maybe it can help to rescue some space castaway on some far off planet.

KG: If you could design an official set, what would it be?

DS: I would like to see a miniland theme introduced into the LEGO product line, so I would think about designing a nonspecific miniland set. Maybe something cool like a ‘Bill & Ted Action Set’ or something.

KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?

DS: I’d like to get together with Iain Heath — he does a lot of great work in miniland scale (or larger) creations and has a talent for capturing motion. I think it would be a blast to flex my sci-fi muscles and work alongside the talented Whopper Junior… though I’m hardly worthy.

KG: Name a famous person living or dead who would have made great LEGO nerd.

DS: I’m thinking that Benjamin Franklin would have been an amazing LEGO nerd.

KG: And finally, good sir, who controls the action?

DS: That whore Nancy Pelosi controls it.

My next guest is an Australian builder who loves long walks on the beach, kittens, and seafood. Although he would never admit it, Shannon “Ocean” Sproule has quietly become a household name in the hobby through his ‘less is more’ style and often comedic models, and enjoys a big following on both MOCpages and Flickr. Shannon also created the ‘Cyborg Racers’ fad that swept MOCpages and abroad.

I sat down with Shannon Sproule in my hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, backstage at the Excalibur Hotel showcase where he was performing with a dozen of his countrymen in the Thunder from Down Under all-male revue. We talked about how Vegas consumes 60,000 pounds of shrimp a day, studded thongs, and the horrible truth of what really happened to Paul Hogan. We also talked about LEGO.

The Build

Keith Goldman: Describe your strengths and weaknesses as a builder. What have you gotten better at over the years, and what remains a challenge?

Shannon Sproule: It might sound funny but I don’t consider myself to be a very good builder; I think ideas are my strength and I force them into mocs through lazy building or sheer stubbornness! Patience, or lack thereof, is definitely a weakness of mine. I can rarely be bothered finishing a model properly; it’s enough that I achieve the essence of an idea in a build and the viewer can fill in the details themselves. I’m like a LEGO impressionist, or so I like to think! Random studs here and there, no-matter, it’s the spirit of the creation I focus on. Minute changes to details can alter the appearance of the whole model which can be a slippery slope.

KG: When is a creation ever really “finished”?

SS: I’ve gotten better at general building skills I think through experimenting and receiving great tips and advice from other builders. I’ve got more tricks up my sleeve these days as far as technique goes and although I rarely try anything too advanced, it’s nice to have them there when and if I need them. Large and highly detailed mocs are a challenge. My mind wanders a lot and it’s hard to stay committed to one project for a decent amount of time so most of my stuff ends up quite simple and uncluttered.

KG: It seems pretty clear that you were inspired by the completely awesome toys of the 1980’s: what are some of your favorites, and is it just nostalgia that drives your interest?

SS: Ahhh, toys of the 80’s…

As a loner through my school years imagination was a great comfort to me, so my toys and my drawings played a big part of my childhood; if I wasn’t playing with or building toys I was sketching designs for cooler ones. My uncle has been an avid toy collector most of his life and always had way more toys than me, the childless bastard!

I guess it’s nostalgia that drives me and there’s a cute and innocent feeling with LEGO that I like to tap into, that playful look I really enjoy.

KG: Do you find that building affects your mood or vice versa? Do you have to be in the right mood to build?

SS: I’m always in the mood for building but if I get stuck for a few hours (or days) on something it definitely gets me down. I feel like I have to achieve something every time I sit down to build or it’s wasted time (which it isn’t really because learning comes from mistakes. Or so I try to tell myself…) Music really helps me create, especially aggressive music like metal. LEGO bricks are a listless bunch, lying around all day, they need some discipline. One has to attack them if one is to achieve anything, you see?

More of Keith’s interview with Shannon after the jump:

The Community

KG: Australians, like Americans, have a unique understanding of the art of smack-talking. I think this is due mostly to the fact that Australians are all sons of inmates, and the US has the largest inmate population in the world. In that spirit, give me something about the community that deserves a little smack.

SS: What kind of smack do you want? The kind about the guys with too many bricks and not enough talent? Or the one with the dudes who build one moc a year but somehow feel the need to voice their opinions every three seconds?

KG: What’s the coolest community-type thing you’ve seen online, be it a MOC, a contest, a video, anything?

SS: Chris Phipson’s ‘MocOlympics‘ and Shannon Young’s ‘MOCtag‘ were both very cool interactive online events. The MocOlympics because it involved a large number of builders across all ages and for getting many of us, myself included, to try building outside our comfort zones, often with very cool results. And Youngy’s ‘MOCtag’, the adventures of brave Rory, was so much fun to build for and exciting in anticipating the next instalment. Unfortunately I think Rory died a premature death; I’d like to see MOCtag resurrected someday.

KG: Do you have statistical expectations (hits, comments) when you post a model? If so, do you think of the model differently based on the numbers? If numbers hold no interest, do you have any particular people you get constructive criticism from, or do you go it alone?

SS: I don’t really have any expectations when I post something; it’s always interesting though to see what is popular and what isn’t — often it’s contrary to how I feel myself about the MOC! I guess I mostly go it alone with my building although I do get the odd suggestion if I post something I feel has failed, which is cool. I love posting failures and seeing other people’s abandoned projects, the creative process is every bit as interesting as the finished product I think.

The Future

KG: When the Star Wars contract finally grinds to a halt, what would you like to see take its place? What are we up to now, 10 different X-Wing kits?…do we really need more?

SS: Yes I think it’s time to bury the Star Wars cash-cow, it’s starting to stink. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a huge SW fan, always have been — but enough is enough.

I’d actually like to see Technic get a makeover. I used to love the Technic sets as a kid but the current ones are just missing something, maybe it’s those new Meccano-esque studless beams or the fact that Technic’s under-represented due to the SW mania? How about merging System and Technic to create detailed models with cutaway sections or something?

KG: Do you think we’ll ever see photos of the often rumored “secret” Indiana Jones set from the 3rd film where Indy gets an autograph from Hitler? What other Hollywood blockbuster (or Bollywood for that matter) do you see LEGO getting into?

SS: Hopefully not, for cringe factor that would be up there with a Sarah Palin LEGO set…. Hopefully we could get a rest from the licensed lines for a while. I feel like kids are just buying LEGO to re-enact their favourite movie scenes. Any old plastic toy could fill that role, LEGO has so much more creative potential, I’d like to see some themes that encourage kids to bring their own dreams alive with their imagination.

KG: If the Mayan apocalypse takes everyone out except you in the year 2012, would you still build?

SS: Ah sweet, I always wanted to be The Omega Man.

Yeah, building LEGO will still be on my to-do list although somewhere further down; there’s a few things I’d love to enjoy first, like cruising around naked in a stolen Ferrari…

5 Boilerplate Questions

KG: If you had to pick only one of your models to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

SS: My “Overconsumption” sculpture, just for the “I told you so!” factor.

KG: If you could design an official set, what would it be?

SS: I’d love to design a weird Castle LEGO set…

KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?

SS: Oh man, I could name 30 guys off the top of my head I’d love to work with, but it would be awesome to collaborate with Mladen Pejic. Accidently stumbling across his mechs were what ended my Dark Age so yeah, it’d be great to build a large diorama with him as a way of saying ‘thanks’, if even only to get him building again at the very least!

KG: Name a famous person living or dead who would have made a great LEGO nerd.

SS: Jesus. He could summon me all the purple bricks I want.

KG: And finally, good sir, who controls the action?

SS: Er, I have a gun in my back and a masked goon wishes me to answer “Shannon Young” to this question. I have to go now!

Although my next guest prefers to build in one genre, he is a bit of a Renaissance man in the hobby. Dan “Happy Weasel” Rubin has been an Ambassador, Administrator for CSF, convention coordinator, Brother Brick, active WamaLUG member, contest sponsor… And the list goes on. Dan and I have twice shared the low-budget convention experience, and the abject terror of a fellow AFOL emerging from the bathroom in a pair of too-tight red briefs… and nothing else. Dan is also a lawyer, but we won’t hold that against him for the purposes of this interview.

I sat down with Dan Rubin during my trial for manslaughter in the nation’s capital. During a recess for a witness to compose himself, we talked about art-school chicks, Gymkata vs Rexkwondo and the horrors of Kentucky. We also talked about LEGO.

The Build

KG: How early in your build process do you decide the color scheme in a build?  You’ve publicly declared a foot fetish and admitted that this MOC was based in color scheme, off of this sneaker, is there any other garment, item, or device you have taken inspiration for your palette?

DR: The color scheme of a build is a very early choice for me.  Usually, I’ll decide on a shape/style, and then the color scheme is the second choice, before I put two bricks together.  That is, unless I want to try to create a shape that I’ve never attempted before, and I have to prototype it. Sometimes I’ll change the exact placement of stripes, and finer details of a color scheme as the build progresses, but the color combination, and general color blocking are early decisions.



As far as inspiration is concerned, I suppose that it can come from just about anywhere.  The shoe-inspired ship is definitely the most explicit example of an inspiration for a color scheme among my builds, though.  I built a police ship once that drew its color scheme from the ubiquitous “black and whites” of the LAPD, but since that was intended to be a lineal descendant of the inspiration, I’m not sure it’s what you’re looking for. 

Right now, I’m working on something in dark blue and lime, which is a color scheme I cooked up playing around with the colors while sorting.  As you may have noticed, I like contrast between the colors of my models.  I’ll usually use one neutral color for greebles, and then two more colors that will set each other off, or possibly just one color that contrasts with the greeble color (dark bley is a lot less neutral than old light gray, for instance).

KG: Can you think of any attitude towards building that you used to adhere to that you no longer do?

DR: This is a tough question, it’s going to take some thought.  Generally speaking, I’ve had to make LEGO building a far smaller part of my life lately, as real life issues have taken hold, but that’s not really an attitude towards building as much as it’s a forced change in priorities.  Lately, I have been trying to embrace colors that I once disliked.  I’ve tried to take on orange and red in particular, as well as lime, to which I used to be ambivalent. 

When I first joined the AFOL community, all the spacers were building in themes, and I jumped on that bandwagon.  Lately, I’ve been trying to cast my net wider, and embrace any idea that I find, rather than trying to force another creation on a theme that’s likely already stretched thin.  That’s not to say that I don’t build things into a theme on occasion, but I am trying for more variety.
 

KG: Do you have a different approach for building models for a convention as opposed to a standard internet posting?

DR: Absolutely!  There are a lot of considerations that arise when you’re building for a convention, rather than for posting on the internet.  Stability is a pretty major difference, as you have to be prepared for tables to be jostled, or worse, your creation to be grabbed in a fragile spot.  Viewing angles are also important.  Building a diorama for internet posting, you can leave large spans of back-side completely un-treated.  When you’re going to display a diorama at a convention, you have to consider where people will be able to view your creation from. 

When Nick and I built the Faded Giant, we decided on a triangle shape, which would allow viewing from a much wider angle than a rectangle with three tall sides.  It also allowed us to force our own background on more viewing angles, rather than leaving the chaos of the convention hall visible behind the display.

Transport is also a huge factor.  When building something to post on the internet, it doesn’t have to be able to fit through the door of your legoratory, or into your car.  I built the landscape and most of the vehicles for the Faded Giant display, and they all come apart to be transported.  The entire landscape splits into a series of 48×48 baseplates, which all fit in a box about 16 inches tall.  The details all got thrown on for the first time at the convention.  Similarly, Nick built the building to split into more manageable sections for transportation.  After all, nobody wants to carry something six or more feet long.

More of Keith’s interview with Dan after the jump:

The Community

KG: As a site admin for Classic Space forum you are uniquely qualified to answer the question; are forum based LEGO fan-sites a dinosaur in the age of Flickr, or are they waiting in the wings to make a triumphant return in some mutated form?

DR: What a question!  I think that forum based fan-sites still offer a useful function not filled by flickr, though it often goes unused.  That’s the ability of the forum to act as a central location for conversation, whether it be about works in progress, new creations, convention or theme planning. 

Conversations on flickr are spread to the four winds in various groups and creation threads, and it can be tough to keep track of, or know when a thread has been updated.  At least with a good forum system, the recently updated threads float to the top, and it’s easy to scan for changes. 

Of course, as people migrate away from these sites, they become less useful for those left behind, and a snowballing death can take place.

KG: You’ve been a theme-coordinator and inside-man for several east-coast conventions, what does that gig entail and what are the best and worst parts of the job?

DR: I think that these roles can provide a tremendously varying level of work, depending on who has taken on the role, as well as the theme involved.  I think that for any theme, a big part of the job is drumming up interest in attending the con, and getting people to bring creations, especially if there is a community build, like moonbase, involved. 

The recruiting aspect is increasingly difficult and unpleasant as the community continues to create more fan conventions, and folks have to be picky about what they attend.  The first time I was space theme coordinator for a convention was back when there were really only two conventions in the US, BrickCon and BrickFest, and BrickFest was far larger, and where everyone wanted to be, making the recruiting part of my job largely non-existent.  



Both the best and worst parts of the job for me seem to involve interaction with the fans.  The best part of the job for me is probably being able to meet and hang out with so many builders.  As the coordinator, you meet everyone displaying in your theme, as you organize the display, and this can be very rewarding. 

The flip-side is dealing with egos.  There are a LOT of people who can be very needy about where they want their creation to be displayed, what they want to be near or far from, etc.  This can vary from the justified, “my creation is big, and should probably be towards the back of the table,” to the ridiculous, “my crappy creation is very important, and should be on top of this big attention-grabbing display that someone else built.”  It can be a lot of work to arrange a bunch of creations in a way that leaves everything visible, and safe from little hands, and the last thing you need is some clown trying to buck the system for their own perceived gain.

KG: I’ve been openly critical of the Ambassador program, give me something seriously wrong with it, and if must, something tangibly positive about it.

DR: Lately, the program has been run in large part by the Ambassadors themselves, the intent was to allow the Ambassadors to communicate to the LEGO company what their constituents want.  Instead, this regularly devolves into a bitching session by the new Ambassadors about the lack of stores in their country, the unavailability of certain old elements or colors, and other standard gripes.  This usually happens at the start of each new cycle, with the new Ambassadors chiming in with moans that have been repeatedly communicated to the LEGO company, and often been publicly addressed.  This has an added effect of causing many of the veteran Ambassadors to check out mentally for awhile, to ignore this action.



If I had to choose one tangibly positive outcome of the Ambassador program, I think I would point to the Medieval Market set.  The Ambassadors were very involved in the creation of this set.  We were asked to suggest ideas for a castle set at that price point, and a great number of the suggestions made it into the set.  I don’t know how many of these ideas were also independently developed by LEGO designers, but it at least appears that we were heard.

The Future

KG: What is the future of collaborative builds at conventions?  Is Moon-Base effectively lost to German overlords where it still thrives at conventions?  Is it true to say that you shared my profound disappointment when the German contingent at BrickFest PDX refused to sing drinking songs even when plied with the best available beer?

DR: I think that the future of collaborative builds at conventions, at least in the space community, is in builds by small coordinated groups, rather than the masses.  I think that Moonbase died out in the US in part because of a lack of cohesion, as modules became more and more inharmonious in style in color.  Coupled with a fairly restrictive standard, it has turned a lot of builders off.  I’m often surprised to see the concept still thriving in Europe. 

The future instead lies in builds like the Omicron Weekend and Faded Giant.



While I did not attend BrickFest PDX, I do share your disappointment.  If your homeland has created a wealth of drinking songs, I say that they must be shared and enjoyed!  I have heard Jan Beyer help out with a song or two in the States, though.  Perhaps this wound can soon be healed.

KG: Do you see the aftermarket vendors specializing in weapons continue to enjoy popularity?

DR: As long as there are kids, teens and tweens interested in LEGO, these vendors will continue to thrive.  Young guys love guns (and collecting them in insane quantities) and they are the key demographic for LEGO products.  The fact that these products seem to carry a pretty healthy profit margin also indicates that they’ll thrive for quite some time. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think that many of these products are very well sculpted and manufactured.  They usually look good, and fairly authentic.  They cross the purity line for me personally, but I seem to be in a shrinking minority on that.

KG: Give me a builder on the verge of a breakthrough, who will we be talking in the next few years?

DR: This too, is a tough question. A couple of years ago, there were several builders that I thought were on the verge of break-through, but who instead withdrew from the community entirely.  It’s tough to predict which builders will remain LEGO nerds in an uninterrupted fashion, and which ones will discover girls (or boys) and disappear for years or forever. 

I’m going to roll the dice, though, and say that Danny Rice (BigX) is due for a return to the limelight.  He was building some fantastic stuff when he went away to college, and if he returns to the brick with an adult’s budget, he’ll probably blow us all away.

5 Boilerplate Questions

KG:  If you had to pick only one of your MOCs to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

DR: I don’t think I’ve built my greatest MOC yet.  If I’m forced to choose from among the creations I’ve already posted, I think I might go with the Mephistopheles Courier ship that you mentioned earlier. I think that the color scheme will continue to stand out in the crowd, and that the compound angles will remain of interest.

KG: If you had to pick only one of my MOCs to go into the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?

DR: I should probably chose the one you dedicated to my admission to the bar, shouldn’t I?  Should I go with the Ghoul?  It was ground-breaking for its time, and even at several years old, it stands up as a top-notch SHIP. No, I will stand my ground as the long-running champion of the Lo-Pan.  It has always been unloved, even by you Keith, but I’m a huge fan.  That action has a cool shape, interesting colors, and some serious mojo.

KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?

DR: I’ll leave out folks that I’ve already collaborated with, don’t be offended guys, and go with new people.  Peter Reid, whose ability to focus on detail even over a large creation.  I’ve also hung out with him enough to know that he’s a fun and laid-back guy.  The second person would be Chris Edwards.  He brought some rocky islands to BrickFair last summer that showed a great mastery of the organic. 

A lot of my creations tend towards the smooth, as I seem to prefer working with shape rather than texture.  I think that the interesting textures those two builders bring to the table would allow for a collaboration with a lot of contrast and visual interest.


KG: What’ is your favorite comment or review you’ve ever received on a model?

DR: For a long time, it was when Mark awarded me a Brammy for building a monastery built into an asteroid.  More recently, there was Thwaak’s comment here which really struck the right nerve with me.  It’s very important to me to make my creations new and different, and continue pushing the envelope, and it was greatly rewarding to hear that recognized.
 
KG: And finally, good sir, who controls the action?

DR: I control the action M-Fer!