Here at The Brothers Brick, we feature hundreds of builders each year. Many of those builders are familiar faces whose MOCs have been impressing audiences for years, but it can be especially exciting when a new account pops up with a fresh style and an eagerness to experiment and grow. RigWalker Mocs and Mechs is such a builder. Since joining the AFOL community one year ago, “Rig” has shared dozens of mechs, joined his local LUG, participated in collabs and challenges, and displayed at events. Rig’s bold mech designs have earned him many fans, including our guest-interviewer Zakar.ion who sits down with Rig to reflect on his first year of building with the community.
zakar.ion: Hello Rig! First of all, congratulations on a full year on LegoGram and getting 1400+ followers! First of all, what was your thought process when you decided to start your Instagram page? How did you come across the community?
RigWalkerMocs: Hey Z, thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure getting to participate in this niche part of the community.
As for how I came across the community-it sort of happened organically. I’m personally a huge fan of sci fi, big machines, intense stories and when I got back into LEGO these were the sort of things I gravitated too the most.
As for what motivated me to create my page – it was part of a year of getting back into LEGO. I had started developing a bit of a backstory for my earlier creations and that lead to the idea of chronicling these characters somewhere and Instagram felt like an easy place to do that. Flickr is sick too, I just struggle to juggle all of these accounts, between work, my personal life and my afol journey.
Z: You say you “got back into LEGO.” Were you a Lego builder as a kid? Did you go through a “dark age”?
Rig: Yee I did. I had LEGO bricks as a kid and always wanted new sets. Being born in 1995, I got my hands on Rock Raiders, Alpha Team and a lot of awesome Bionicle sets. I’m grateful too have been a kid who got to grow up building and making Mocs out of those sets at the time.
That being said, I eventually wound up discovering skateboarding and Halo and didn’t mess with LEGO as much as I used too. Eventually my family and I agreed to donate all my brother and my bricks LEGO to family members or value village or something like that.
Wish I decided to keep what we gave away – starting over wasn’t easy – but I’m sure those bricks and pieces are out there somewhere being appreciated by someone.
Z: I understand that feeling all too well. What would be the lego theme you’re most fond of? What are some sets from your childhood you would like to see Lego revamp?
Rig: Look, we both know what LEGO theme we’d love to see revamped: Exo-Force! Any of those classic sets would be amazing to see come back in 2026.
But if I had to pick one LEGO theme I’m most fond of, I have to go with Bionicle. It left the biggest impact on me as a kid and its stories affect can be felt in a lot of my character concepts.
That being said, I don’t build much in the theme anymore. I met some solid builders at my first Bricks In The Six fan event last year and their encouragement made me decide to work on something in the Bionicle theme.
Z: It would be awesome to see you tackle Bionicle more. I just loved your Lewa revamp from a while back.
Rig: Thanks man! That revamp was super fun! The idea was initially inspired by the work of @talegophotography‘s Toa Mata revamps. It was fun re imagining the details in Lewa’s Bionicle parts in system pieces.
Z: Exo-force would indeed be a treat to get from Lego again. I know you love mechs, a lot. Where did that passion for sci-fi and big robots came from? Any specific media that really inspired, or still inspire you to this day?
Rig: My initial love for mechs is 2000% attributed to transformers. I grew up watching the 80’s movie on repeat on VHS. That love for Transformers lead to me enjoying the tv shows, comics, and whatnot and that eventually inspired my love for Gundam and the mecha genre in general.
Another theme I’m grateful to have gotten to enjoy is the Titanfall series. I love the art style Respawn put into that franchise and I pray a third game eventually releases during my lifetime. Lancer is great too.
I love pretty much all mecha and I to draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources. Helps keep everything exciting and fresh when building.
Z: What other sources of inspiration do you use asides from sci-fi and mecha? Any great builders you like to take ideas from, or AFOL’s you’d like to give a shout out to?
Rig: I just keep an open mind. I find inspiration in industrial equipment and vehicular design in my Rigs. I also tend to draw inspiration from nature and animals when it comes to colourways and concepts. Most inventions are inspired by life on earth so it’s important to to use your inspiration sourcing skills to do the same.
As for AFOLs I’d like to give a shout out to, obviously yourself for giving me some spotlight on my work collaborating with @entertainingly_lame and I on that marchikoma collab we did earlier this year.
I gotta give a big shout outs to the good people in @officialTOROLug. My local LUGmates are very down to earth and a pleasure to nerd out with.
Special shout outs to the organizers of Bricks in the Six, Toronto’s local yearly lego convention. They do incredible work and gave me an opportunity to host a workshop on character design and that was a super cool moment to have experienced over the year.
I’d shout out more but I wouldn’t be able to cover them all. Love yall <3
Z: You call your creations “Rigs.” Where did RigWalkerMocs come from?
Rig: I haven’t posted the overall story behind my Mocs anywhere, but essentially in my LEGO universe-mechs are called Rigs and are built with a special art of machinery called RigTech. The pilots of these Rigs call themselves RigWalkers and the Engineers are called Riganeers. They focus on repairing/crafting these machines through the art of RigTech. It’s just a fun way to differentiate my universe from others. Allows us to explore some interesting story directions that we may not be able to if I stuck with typical mecha tropes. Not that those tropes aren’t awesome it’s just important to find a way to carve your own story out of all the works of art that influence you.
Long story short-RigWalker Mocs felt like a good title to fit the overall portfolio into. It’d be really cool to expand things further. Fingers crossed, right, Z? XD
Z: I know you will expand on that and i’m eager to see it. Any big moc plans in the near future?
Rig: Haha well I recently spent the year working on this absolutely wild piece. Ima make an effort to publish some awesome shots in a miniseries where I dissect some of the stories so people get some insight in the thought process.
I want to make sturdier, easier to transport Mocs. I got some ideas to make “convention grade” Rigs in the near future. I think my strengths are in character design so I want to lean into that more next Bricks In The Six and make characters that capture peoples attention. I think I’ll have learned a lot pushing my limits in the process.
Z: Okay, final question. What is your favorite build from this first year as a certified LegoGram AFOL? The one you’re most proud of?
Rig: That’s a good question. Out of everything I’ve published I’d say: my Wrebecca moc. It’s a recreation of a work from artist Kevin Neil Monti ( @neielmont on Instagram), and I really like how I captured some of the shaping of his original designs through LEGO. Especially the hips – that’s one of my favourite parts.
I really wanna up the anti this year. That may result in less Mocs being published, but more interesting designs when I do share. We’ll have to see. Like everyone now a days, we all got a lot going on so I’m going to do what I can to push my craft to its limits. Main thing is to enjoy the journey. This last year’s been super fun. Can’t thank this community enough. I got a lot of ideas for upcoming pieces though. I’m sure you do too!
Z: I’m glad we were able to do this interview together, it was fun! I wish you only the best for the next year, and the years to come. Continue your great streak of awesome and inspiring mocs coming, no matter how long they take to make!
Rig: Thank you brother i really appreciate you and the Brothers Brick teaming up to do this! That time you boosted my account way back when with the marchikoma builds brought a lot of awareness to my page. I’m going to make sure I pass that same opportunity along to other builders when I can! Appreciate you, buddy. Special thanks goes out to everybody who’s tuned in so far, stoked to see where we take it next!
More art OTW. #mecharoundandfindout
