Gidro aho, Dearest Readers!

As you know, I am the intern for The Brothers Brick. Yes, I am a lemur and I’m here to answer your questions regarding LEGO, the fan community and inner workings of The Brothers Brick. Talking to you all is truly a highlight for me. I look forward to it all week long! I have finally gotten caught up on my backlog of lemur loot. I just put the last pile on Simon’s desk and will ask him to mail it out tomorrow on his way to the airport. He is heading out to get ready for his weekend with the lucky winner of our “Win a Weekend with Simon” promotion. It was one of our most popular events yet. We had to set aside the conference room for entry overflow because the mail room couldn’t handle the flood.

Remember to post your questions in the comments. Each week I will be sending some loot out to the people who ask my favorite questions!

Now on to the good stuff.

Are you aware of any plans for a new brick separator tool?

I am not aware of any plans for a new official brick separator. LEGO upgraded their separator recently and I doubt they would change it again so soon. But, really, you never know. The new version is interesting. It feels a bit more flimsy than the old one but it has new features, such as being able to use the end of the handle to remove tiles and having a short technic axle on the back so you can push pins out.

I recently found out about a third party brick tool called The Brick Popper. I haven’t gotten my paws on one yet but it looks like it could be rather useful, especially for removing plates. Anyone out there have one? I’d like to hear if it is any good. I’ve been using my teeth to remove really troublesome plates and the contributors are getting irritated by the teeth marks.

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Noana aho, friendly readers!

Another week has gone by. I’m hoping it was a good one for you. It was a great one for me! This week the contributors held their annual five day conference to figure out the vision for the year and such things. I wasn’t too interested in the meetings themselves. Andrew said that there were lemur issues on the agenda, which got me rather concerned. I looked it over and didn’t see anything. Maybe some got on his copy. Anyway, the real highlight was the catering. It was so incredibly scrumptious and they just kept bringing in more and more! They even had a table in the corner just for me! It was set up in the middle of a lovely blue tarp, which made it so much easier to take the leftovers back to my room at the end of each day.

I love this place!

Anyway, enough about me. Let’s get to your questions.

What is a LEGO Certified Professional?
LCPs are builders who have made a full-time job out of their LEGO building and are jumped through the proper hoops to be certified by LEGO. They are not employees but have a business relationship with the company. I believe there are currently 12, but the number is subject to change. Each LCP runs their own business but it has to fit within certain guidelines from the company.

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Salutations and Salivations, Dearest Readers!

It is I, the TBB Lemur! Here, once again, to answer all those questions about the LEGO fan community that you have been too afraid to ask. There are no stupid questions here.

You know this week was pretty exciting. We got in a truckload of Lemur Loot! I have postcards with my handsome self on them, TBB pins and custom-printed bricks! The gnomes down in the mail department will finally be able to catch up on the backlog. They’ve been sending out some rather nasty memos. Hopefully those will stop now. Not much can give me indigestion but those memos tasted funny. Josh will be contacting the people who have asked the questions that I have answered, to get their addresses. I will personally be signing postcards to each one as well as sending them each a pin and brick. It’s so exciting! I’ve never signed autographs before. The contributors often get mobbed by autograph hounds when they leave the compound but this is a first for me!

Anyway, onward and upward.

How should I go about [running] it so that the LUG meetings don’t drag on and get boring?
The first thing to remember is that LUG (LEGO User Group) meetings aren’t about you. It’s about whatever the entire group wants. Meetings generally get boring and drag on for one of two reasons.

The first is if one person hogs the time and won’t be quiet. I get really hungry when that happens. The second is if no one is talking at all. Find out what your group wants to talk about and figure out some activities that most are interested in. For example, talking about local LEGO Sales and Deals for an hour won’t go over well if no one is planning on buying anything new right away, but it could be really interesting if people have money to spend. It depends on the group.

Personally, I find LUG meetings with agendas and such to be a real downer. I prefer time to talk and catch up, perhaps a “show and tell” time to let people show off the features of whatever creations they have brought and an activity or two. Good activities might be drafting a small set or running a build challenge such as 101 bricks. Just remember to find out what your members want and then do that.

Another thing that helps LUG meetings along is snacks. Lots and lots of snacks.

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Greetings, My Friends!

I’m so happy to speak with you again. This week has flown by and it was all very fun and exciting! Though, to be honest, I’m quite worn out from all the activity. As fun as it has been, it will be nice to get back to normal life. How are your holidays going? I hope very well and tasty. I swear that I must weigh all of twelve pounds now! It’s so hard to turn down all the bits and such laying about. And the wrapping paper! Oh, so very yummy. I’m still stuffed.

I finally got the office cleaned up and everything back in its place, which is refreshing. We had a bit of a holiday bash last night and it took its toll on the facilities. The worst were the reindeer hoof-prints all over the ceiling. I hope we don’t invite them again next year. You can’t really comprehend the phrase “There arose such a clatter” until you’ve heard Simon and eight tiny reindeer singing bawdy drinking songs until all hours of the night.

Anyway, enough about me! On to your questions!

Is the Lemur going to any conventions? What conventions will be graced by The Brothers Brick contributors?:
I plan to attend as many conventions as I can this year. Conventions are a ton of fun! I don’t know which conventions each of the contributors plans to attend but I’m sure most of them plan to attend at least one. Ralph tends to represent us at various British and European conventions, though he has attended some conventions on the east coast of the US in the past. I know Simon attends as many North American conventions as he can. There is usually a large contingent of contributors at BrickCon and BrickWorld. Keep an ear to the ground as your favorite conventions come nearer and we may have more information as to who will be appearing at which venue. If you see me at a Con, please feel free to say hello. Conventions can be overwhelming and it would be nice to see some friendly faces!

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Tonga soa e, Dearest Readers!

I’m so glad to be able to talk with you again. It is really the highlight of my week. Don’t get me wrong! Interacting with the people here in The Brothers Brick compound is a great honor and privilege. It is just that they are so far above me that it is nice to talk to some normal folks. Plus, every time I try to start a conversation with one of them, I usually end up with more work. Not sure how it happens, but I’m noticing a trend. My schedule is pretty full as it is.

So what has happened in your world this week? Mine has been rather chaotic. The timer broke on Carter’s tanning bed and he ended up looking rather par-boiled. I couldn’t help laughing. That was a mistake. I’m not sure how the malfunction was my fault but he says it was. I’m sure I’ll figure that out soon. Anyway, right after I replaced the timer, Caylin came looking for me. Her “kitties”, Loki and Athena, needed fed. That’s what she calls the two Saber-Toothed Tigers she had cloned. She said it was for “research” but I don’t think anyone believes her.

Oh, there was some good news! Josh came home from his vacation at “Happy Acres”. The first thing he noticed was that the bowl of roasted peanuts on his desk was empty. That really was my fault. I feel bad. Now every time I see him, he bursts into tears, starts sobbing and crying “Why?” over and over again. I think he needs another vacation, poor guy.

Enough about me! On to your questions.

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Hello again, friendly readers! It’s the TBB Intern Lemur here, ready and willing to answer your questions about LEGO, the fan community and The Brothers Brick!

Sorry for the delay. I will be trying to write these posts every Monday morning, if my workload allows. The contributors generally sleep late on Mondays, to recover from the weekend, and that gives me a chance to catch up. Today it was even quieter than usual because Andrew is off on his yacht, doing some research on penguins for the next TBB collaborative build. Oh, that reminds me, some of you asked about his car. Apparently I’m not allowed to talk about Master Andrew’s personal possessions on here any more. Which will be hard because there are a lot of them. He probably won’t be happy that I mentioned the yacht. Let’s keep that between ourselves, shall we? The other reason it is quieter around here right now is that Iain is off on a Wingsuit Tour of the French Pyrenees. He’ll be back in a few days. Anyway, on to the questions! A couple of these are from our contact form and some are from the comments on last week’s post. Here we go!

What is a MOC?
MOC is an acronym that stands for My Own Creation. It generally refers to anything that you make from your own imagination that isn’t an official set. Some people use it as a word (sounds like ‘mock’) and other people just say the letters (EM-OH-SEE). Either one is correct. The catch is that the thing you build has to be made from LEGO. I once made something here in the office and showed everyone my “MOC”. They were not impressed and told me to clean it up. That is when I discovered that only things you make from LEGO are called MOCs.

What is the correct way to refer to LEGO bricks?
There is a lot of debate about this. The LEGO company would like you to capitalize the word “LEGO” and refer to bricks as “LEGO building bricks” or “LEGO elements” and not to use the term “LEGO” as a generic term for their product. Some people pluralize the word into “Legos” and for many hard-core fans this is heresy. No, seriously, they really flip out. You should try it at a big fan convention some time. The LEGO grammar police come out of the woodwork. Scared the MOC right out of me the first time I saw it. Regardless of how you refer to them, we should stop arguing about it and just build with the yummy little things!

Can you build with your tail?
Of course. What else would I use? However, sad to say, most lemurs cannot build with their tails, as their tails are not prehensile. Sorry, but that is a myth! I’m actually the only lemur that has one. Chris thinks it has something to do with my diet of TBB mail, which might also account for the color. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that.

Well, that is all for today. I have other work to do and Miss Caylin is giving me the ‘eye’. Oh, yes, I have news! I have been given some Brothers Brick loot to share with you! If I use your question in next week’s post, I will contact you and send you a little Lemur love in the mail. Don’t worry, no MOCs. Have a great week and remember…the lemur cares.

A. Lemur