Steve Witt, the LEGO Community Relations Coordinator and also one of the three honchos overseeing the LEGO Ambassador Program, has a new blog he’d like you all to know about. There, you’ll find both LEGO and non-LEGO related posts, all so you can get to know better “the man behind the curtain.” Meanwhile, you can check out LAML Radio’s recent podcast interview with Steve here.
Given the target demographic of the site as a whole, I don’t frequently delve too deep on LEGO.com, but buried (heh heh) deep on the official Power Miners site, “Hippotam, Jr.” recently discovered a bunch of great videos of the LEGO Power Miners designers talking about their sets.
In this video, the lead designer introduces each of the designers for this new theme (click through the screen shot below to watch).
Yup, that’s Mark Stafford (Nabii) and Adam Grabowski (MisterZumbi), along with the rest of the talented designers for this theme. Don’t miss our recent interview with Mark, Adam’s take on what the Power Miners might have looked like had it been designed for adults, and check out more videos of LEGO Designers on LEGO.com.
In part 1 and part 2 of our interview with Mark Stafford, we found out how Mark (Nabii) got his job and what it’s like to work for LEGO as a Designer. In our final section, we ask him about the differences between being a regular fan and designing official sets.
Is it easy working with as many bricks as you want? Why aren’t official set designs more like the best designs from LEGO fans? Read on to find out…
The Brothers Brick: How does your hobby building affect your work building for the better? And the worse? And vice versa?
Mark Stafford: In the beginning it made my work building overly complicated, I’d build SNOT just for the sake of hiding studs.
Now I only do this at work when it’s the only way to make the shape I need. The LEGO Company is proud of its studs, and a model without any at all is actually frowned upon.
Of course the more you do anything the better at it you will become, and I think my fan models now use fewer elements, look cleaner and are more stable.
Also if I find an interesting parts combination at work that can’t be clearly explained in building instructions, or is an illegal build, or is just not stable enough to be played with, then it may end up in my fan MOCs.
TBB: Is there anything you think AFOLs should know about the difference in building style between work and play?
Mark: Only that TLG’s style is dictated by its target audience; we make the sets for kids and they have a different tolerance for frustration, amount of time it takes to find elements in the pile, lower manual dexterity and much reduced strength in their fingers in comparison to adult builders.
They also like shooting functions much more!
At home I can do anything. Huge areas of my MOCs can hang on one or two stud connections, whole models can be built in a single colour, sections can be built sideways or shoehorned into position and I can do unspeakable things to mini-figures!
TBB: How many people are involved in the complete process of designing a set from brainstormed ideas to the finalized product?
Mark: Wow, that’s a tough one. Especially for play-themes! First off there’s the idea for the theme, this might be generated internally at PMD (the building all the designers work in) or it may have been created in our concept labs, coming through Japan, America, Germany, Spain, and the UK before more polishing in Billund. This gets a universe to be as appealing to our target audience (normally boys from 6 to 12) as possible. The theme is then turned over to a group at PMD, here we will take some of the already successful ideas and “models” (often glued together and featuring found or created elements) and we will then build sketch models that are buildable in LEGO bricks. Sometimes just the essence of an idea from one area can be turned into a huge project elsewhere.
Once a theme has been given a go ahead the sketch models are roughly sorted into the price points that are needed. A model has to be carefully considered, it’s basic function and qualities looked at and if it needs to be reduced or increased in size in order to maximize its potential, the redesign and rebuilding at this stage is one of the toughest parts of the process.
Sometimes the sketch is your own, sometimes other people’s. We have weekly design meetings where the entire team gets to have input on what’s working and what isn’t on each other’s models, not to mention the constant advice we offer to each other every day. Then there’s input on buildability by our target age group from our building instructions experts, legality of our builds from Design Lab, and the overall consistency between models in a project is maintained by our Design Lead.
Then there are our Graphic Designers who make the mini-figures, printed bricks and stickers, Parts Designers who create any new elements and Packaging Designers who from day one are trying to make our models look as cool as possible when photographed. Above all this is our Design Directors maintaining a balance across all of Play Themes and above them Directors keeping a balance across all LEGO models in that half year.
And that’s just design; there’s also production, packaging and logistics to get the model out there, and sometimes consideration of these aspects can bounce back and affect the design process.
In fact it’s pretty egotistical to claim any design entirely as my own given the huge team behind every set, but I do, so I guess I must be hugely big-headed!
TBB: Does this give you much space to add your own personal style?
Mark: Well my old University lecturers tried to drum into me that designers do not have the luxury of a personal style, if you want a personal style become an artist!
But that’s a pretty lame answer because I think my building style and preferences do come through in the sets I’m Model Designer on and even given everything I laid out in the last answer there’s actually tons of room to create models to my liking. (And when I’m not too keen on the actual model idea I can at least try to get a lot of cool pieces into it!)
TBB: How about choice of colour scheme? Is this collaborative or ‘from above’?
Mark: It varies, if there is an overall colour scheme, like Power Miners, we come to a decision in our project group. For Power Miners (I know that one is controversial with AFOLs) we threw around a few ideas then changed a model in Photoshop into about thirty different colour combinations and carried out a little consumer testing to see which combination had the most impact against the dark underground backgrounds we had in mind for the boxes.
We had been to a mining museum in Germany and saw most mining machines were yellow or white with cutting tools painted red or orange, and a few were bright green or light blue, (mining equipment has to be bright because underground it is very dark!) then we looked at LEGO’s existing line up: Mars Mission was very white, and City’s construction was yellow and Coast Guard orange, and an underground theme in dark colours would disappear into the dark background. So we had already decided green was probably the main colour to focus on and most of our colour schemes revolved around a green main colour. Eventually the colours settled on were lime green and orange and I have to agree this makes the most impact and really catches the eye and jumps off the toyshop shelves.
8961 Crystal Sweeper Prototype
This early version of the Crystal Harvester shows much less orange, but as you can see the vehicle tool (the big wheel at the front) kind of disappears into the rest of the vehicle.
However in Exo-Force each set could be a different colour and so we had plenty of room to experiment. My 8115 Dark Panther was actually developed in black and red, then I built a version in Teal, Orange and another in Purple, and we eventually chose the purple.
TBB: Do you or other designers look at AFOL work when designing a product?
Mark: Not so much. Some of us keep up to date with the AFOL sites and postings. We like to look at cool MOCs and will often see a piece used in a way we have not considered, but we never look for ideas for specific products. We’re more likely to look at concept art websites, photographs and books to see interesting shapes or buildings and then envision them in LEGO bricks.
Besides, where’s the fun in copying someone else ideas? The whole point of LEGO bricks is to make your own creations!
TBB: Anything else you’d like to add about your job?
Mark: It really is as cool a job as you think it would be when you’re a kid!
Although after building all day at work, there is as many fans suspect, a lot less drive to build in my spare time and for many other designers no desire to do this at all.
I’d also like to clear up a misconception: We don’t get free LEGO bricks, and for home building we buy sets like everyone else. The staff shop has a discount of 50% off the Danish price, but that’s just down to about the US retail amount so we don’t have access to unlimited bricks at home any more than any other fan!
TBB: And finally, what MOC of yours would you most like to see converted into an official kit?
Mark: The Big Boys Toys is the only one of my MOCs I think has what it takes and that I could face revisiting and working on for four months, though the military aspect might need to be toned down before it could be a set, and a lot of the elements are no longer available so there would need to be considerable redesign.
It would be nice to make a completely new huge sized spacecraft set (Gothica sized or bigger)… but all you annoying adult fans keep asking for Star Wars, Café Corners, Volkswagen Beetles and Eiffel Towers! :P
A huge “Thank you!” to Mark, his boss Matt Ashton, and Steve Witt for working with us on this interview.
In part 1 of our interview with Mark Stafford, we talked with Mark (Nabii) about how he became a LEGO Designer. In part 2, we’ll talk to him about his work today.
The Brothers Brick: What sets have you made?
Mark Stafford: I’ve been model designer for Exo-Force 8115 Dark Panther, 8118 Hybrid Rescue Tank and the missing number 8116 (this robot’s-mecha was pulled from the line very late in the process).
Then Agents 8632 Swamp Raid,
8630 Gold Hunt,
and 8635 Mobile Command Centre
. A Mars Mission set: 7648 MT201 Ultra Drill Walker.
Power Miners 8957 Mine Mech
and 8961 Crystal Sweeper.
Later in 2009 I have another Power Miners model and three of the new space line [!] sets, and I’m already working on 4 sets for the first half of 2010!
TBB: What themes have you worked on? And which would you like to work on?
Mark: I started at LEGO on a theme that never made it through development, then went to Mars Mission for a few months, where none of my models made it into sets. Then Exo-Force, Agents, Mars Mission, Power Miners, the new space theme, along the way contributed sketch models to Castle, Batman, City and currently — I can’t say… but it’s exciting!
I like working on any Sci-Fi theme and Space is my favourite, but I like to change it up and don’t want to get bored, so if something new comes along I’ll complain like a wuss for a bit then knuckle down to getting the job done well.
TBB: How big a change was it to go from a hobby with limited restrictions to a job with many restrictions on your designs? Did you ever find it frustrating?
Mark: It’s a challenge, no doubt about it, the biggest adjustment is the obvious one of piece count/price.
We have to build to a price, we do this by making sure the cost of the parts does not exceed the price limit we’re given for that model and the internal price of parts is not always obviously logical either.
For example (and I don’t think this will help our competitors), internally a 4 stud long cross axle costs more than a 5 or 6 stud long one. This really bugged me for ages and I asked our Project Supporter to investigate why.
It took a long time to get an answer but it turns out the mould for the 4 long axles is an older one and every time it cycles it only produces half the amount as the 5, 6 or 8 long cross axles’ moulds. The machine has to run for longer, be monitored more and therefore it makes it twice as expense to make the part, hence the apparent discrepancy in the internal price. And every single part, all 6000+ of them have similar considerations, so getting a model to price can be interesting sometimes!
The most frustrating period was the first six months, I then began to accept why LEGO models are built the way they are, rather than the way fan MOCs are. I still have to keep reminding myself that if the model can’t be built from instructions by a seven year old and played with by his/her friends (who did not build it) without breaking too much, then I’m not doing my job!
TBB: I remember that you often built your personal models as toys as well as standalone models (the Big Boys Toys springs to mind). Do you think this helped you make the adjustment?
Mark: Definitely. I only began to move into a more AFOL style of intricate SNOT building in the last year or so before I was hired and my building style was still a very studs up ‘LEGO’ way of building, plus even as a fan I was building with kids in mind!
My favourite fan event is LEGOWorld in The Netherlands, because every day for six days they have 10,000 visitors and more than half are kids, from the first year I attended I always tried to build models that would make these kid visitors amazed, do something fun (like the Big Boys Toys) and illicit a round of applause (to the annoyance of neighbouring AFOLs).
I wanted to make models that would inspire and make kids happy, and now that’s my job as a toy maker!
In part 3, we’ll talk to Mark about some of the differences between building as an average LEGO fan and designing sets for LEGO.
Whether as a kid many years ago or an adult fan today, I know many of us have dreamed of working for The LEGO Group as a set designer. In our interview with Matt Ashton, we learned about one path to this dream job.
In this exclusive three-part interview with The Brothers Brick, Mark Stafford tells us about his own journey from AFOL (adult fan of LEGO) to LEGO Designer.
The Brothers Brick: Firstly, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Mark Stafford: My name is Mark John Stafford, I’m 36, and I’m British. My nickname on most fan sites is Nabii, which originates from table-top roleplaying games. (Though it turns out it’s also Swahili for “prophet”, which is nice.) I lived in The Netherlands (Holland) where I worked as a Marine Cargo Surveyor for five years before becoming a LEGO Designer in Billund, Denmark.
TBB: How long have you been building?
Mark: Since I was four years old. The first set I remember having is the 420/611 police car. I used to turn the two bricks with “police” engraved on them around to make it civilian, and then swap them back when a crime was committed!
TBB: Did you have a “dark ages” and if so, when?
Mark: Oh yeah. A long one. I stopped building when I was about 13 due to peer pressure, my parents telling me it was time to put away my toys and a growing interest in girls! I didn’t return to the brick until I was 26. Though LEGO seemed to stay in my life, two of the guys I shared houses with (one in Leicester, one in London) became avid LEGO collectors and I was surrounded by pirate and castle LEGO for around three years before I finally succumbed to the adult LEGO enlightenment.
TBB: What brought you back?
Mark: Star Wars. Getting the original LEGO Snowspeeder and the X-wing on the same day warped my tiny adult brain and within a year I recovered my childhood LEGO from my parents’ attic and was building MOCs again.
TBB: When did you find the online community?
Mark: Around 1999 I was pointed to Lugnet and Brickshelf by a friend. One of the first things I saw was Dan Jassim’s A-Wing Carrier…
I immediately needed to get more LEGO!
TBB: Could you list some of your favorite builders and why you like them?
Mark: I like so much by so many people I really can’t answer this because I’d forget people who deserve a mention. Plus some of the best builders I know have never posted a single thing online. For every ten models LEGO Designers build only one or two ever develop into sets that see the light of day, fans would weep to see some of the models that go from PMD to be ground up and recycled!
TBB: When did you first begin working for LEGO? How were you recruited?
Mark: My girlfriend Megan Rothrock (Megs) saw the job advertised online, I sent in my portfolio and was invited to a two day recruitment workshop with 26 others in early September 2006 – eight of us were subsequently offered positions. I started work on the 1st October 2006.
TBB: Were any other AFOLs recruited at the same time?
Mark: Yep. Adam Grabowski (Mister Zumbi). Though two other active AFOLs were on the recruitment workshop and didn’t make it through at that time. (I say “active” because many of the designers here were fans as kids and the job here is effectively how their “dark ages” have ended.)
In part 2 of our interview with Mark Stafford, we’ll talk to him about what it’s like to work as a LEGO Designer.
From time to time we will be featuring interviews with administrators from different forums and fan sites that we think you should know about. We have a small backlog of interviews and will be posting them on a fairly regular basis, in no particular order. All featured sites will be Lego-related (duh) and are places that you can go to immerse yourself even deeper in this highly-addictive hobby of ours.
To kick off our series, we bring you an interview with Mark Larson (aka Hinckley), one of the Admins of Eurobricks.
TBB: So, Mark, tell us little bit about yourself. What are you known for, other than being an Administrator for Eurobricks?
Mark: I live in Chicago with my partner, Jocko, and work as a graphic and web designer. I occasionally work as an actor but took a break over the last year. It started out as a voluntary break and has turned into an involuntary break as I can’t seem to get cast again. I am also the defensive captain & a linebacker for a flag football team, which is funny for anyone who knows me because I don’t look like a linebacker and I help coordinate a wrestling club…it’s not easy having a Napoleon Complex.
I also have my own LEGO site, BrickZone.net, where I tell a number of stories including Fabuland Housewives and The Many Adventures of the Whacker and the Walrus. It is one of the few places on the net where you can find Fabuland MOCs (although they’re becoming more common) and I also have a number of Castle and City MOCs and customs and set reviews.
TBB: How did you inherit Eurobricks?
Mark: Oh, excellent. I can’t wait to hear how JP reacts to this question. I haven’t inherited Eurobricks. It belongs to JP (EB member #1: jipay). He and EB member DoubleT founded Eurobricks in 2003 to provide a site where there weren’t as many strict rules and guidelines as there were on some other sites.
I was promoted to the Root Admin Group through hard work and participation or possibly by a long period of shameless Megablocks-kissing, depending on who you talk to. JP and Bonaparte are the other members of the Root Group and we make decisions about the site together with the rest of the staff. Despite the ranks, each staff member has an equal voice in site policy and other issues. Admins are the techies, Moderators help keep order and Regulators take care of our indexing.
TBB: What is your vision for Eurobricks?
Mark: Our staff views Eurobricks as an excellent community for LEGO fans. There’s a forum for every theme, a gaming forum, contests and great discussions of techniques, layouts & other topics that affect us as LEGO fans. Not to mention some great MOCs and WIPs, which are indexed in a pinned gallery topic in every individual theme forum. Personally, I enjoy seeing someone bring us a creation as a WIP and improve it over time to be an excellent creation through constructive criticism in the community. We also have a lot of great tutorials, a customization forum and the Reviewer’s Academy, which was recently created to help new users learn good posting habits and how to create good cohesive reviews and take good pictures. We also like to post news about new LEGO sets…
We have two theme-specific portal sites: Classic-Pirates.com and Classic-Town.net. These sites work not only as portals to EB but as exhaustive catalogs of each theme. Mister Phes pours a lot of work into Classic-Pirates while TheBrickster & WhiteFang keep Classic-Town’s blog updated with interesting MOCs, stories and activity in the world of LEGO Town. TheBrickster has a great personal site for Wild West MOCs.
Here is a quote about the future of Eurobricks from our esteemed ambassador CopMike:
“I think we are a bit different than the average LEGO community in the world – we´re the most “community” oriented one!!! We have raffles, both free & $$ for people to get cool stuff & help pay for the forum. We have the Reviewer’s Academy and things alike to really make people take part & evolve, and we have IRL gatherings each year where we meet and take part of each others real life also. And for that we have made exclusive sets & parts packs for the members, we have all kinds of games & fun and visit the LEGO people that works in the parks. We have had people flying/driving/going by train from almost all over the world to meet up. Granted, people do that all the time for LEGO things – but that´s for BrickCon, BW etc. This is an on-line community!
I think we´re ahead of a lot of the other communities here, and that´s something that we should take even further.
We´re among the broadest communities regarding different lines/catagorys – everything, even Fabuland is talked about here.”
TBB: Is Eurobricks only for European Lego fans?
Mark: Everyone is welcome at Eurobricks no matter what country you live in. I’m actually from the States and most of our staff and members are from outside of Europe as well. We recently changed our tagline to “Uniting LEGO fans around the world” to reflect that.
TBB: Eurobricks has an “interesting” reputation in the Lego community. Can you talk a bit about that?
Mark: A lot has happened in the past between Eurobricks and TLG. Admittedly, Eurobricks hasn’t always made the best choices. A lot of poor decisions on posting news were made but that has certainly changed recently. In defense of some of Eurobricks’s past action, the staff used to operate under a “Six month rule.” This rule stated that pictures found of a set six months or less before its release were fair game to post and was believed to be set by TLG Community Relations staff. In all the conversations I’ve had with TLG employees, this rule was never set by them. Apparently, it was a misinterpretation of an argument that preliminary pictures shouldn’t be posted because clone brands can manufacture a copy in as soon as six months-so they could beat TLG to the release date. I have no idea where this misunderstanding occurred as any research into the matter results in a cold trail.
I will say that due to some unfortunate decisions in the past, people think of us as “leakers” and a bandwagon seems to have formed for the community to think of us as the bad kids. That’s unfortunate as nowadays our picture posting policy is no different from other sites- say Brothers-Brick.com, for one example.
TBB: Are you trying to change that reputation?
Mark: Yup yup.
TBB: How are you going about that?
Mark: We now have 14 people on our staff, most of who have been added in the last year. JP’s original vision of a site with no rules has been modified to include posted guidelines about how we expect people to behave which makes it easier for us to set guidelines about posting and community interaction. One thing we are asking is that people don’t post pictures that are stamped confidential. While it’s exciting to see new sets and it’s also hard to stop super-fans from searching for them, when something is clearly not meant to be posted, we see it as our responsibility to take it down. We’ve also added guidelines for the staff to make sure that we are all behaving the same way and relaying a consistent message to members about behavior and posting.
Having our first ambassador, EB member CopMike, and having staff members that participate in real-life events we have started an open line of communication with employees at LEGO Community Relations. If we find something questionable posted, we bring it to them.
TBB: I know that many people join Eurobricks because of your reputation. Is it a shock for them, when they run into the new way Eurobricks is being run?
Mark: I’m not sure they notice, really. I think people expect news posts like that to be taken down. It’s part of being a LEGO fan. Our community is about so much more than news that most people are on the site for other community activities and see news as a bonus. And with the way things are posted on picture hosting sites, new images are usually everywhere by the time we see them anyway. And no matter where a picture is, people like to discuss it with people they know. A lot of times, “leaks” are posted on our site by members and the staff takes them down when we notice them or are requested to do so.
I will add that the way TLG recently released news of the 10193 Medieval Market Village was incredibly smart and it seems they’ve been listening to feedback from the ambassadors and I hope they continue to do that with news in the future. It will make things a lot easier for people who operate sites like Eurobricks and the Brothers-Brick if they continue in this fashion.
Many thanks to Mark for answering our questions!
I’ve been wanting to make a wrap up post about the year 2008, but it looks like LAML Radio has already done a fabulous job with their latest episode of 2008 in Review. Check it out as James and Aaron talk through the best creations of the year and other notable highlights. I should also mention that this is LAML Radio’s 100th show, congratulations!
New Jersey newspaper Asbury Park Press reports that members of the Chabad Jewish Center in Toms River, NJ built an enormous LEGO menorah for the beginning of Hanukkah this past Sunday:
Rabbi Moshe Gourarie said, “A lot of darkness can be dispelled by a little light. What this world really needs, more than anything, is light, positivity and goodness.”
Read the full article on APP.com.
We weren’t going to dignify this attack on BrickArms by posting it here, but we have been getting a flood of emails concerning it. So, here it is.
In the December 4th edition of the UK-based SUN, this article appeared.
Article Scan by Andrew Summersgill
The full text is as follows:
A RANGE of Lego-style fighting figures — including an al-Qaeda terrorist — has been slammed by religious leaders.
The masked follower of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden comes with a rocket launcher, assault rifle and grenades.
Mohammed Shaffiq, of Muslim organisation The Ramadhan Foundation, branded the toy “absolutely disgusting”.
He said: “It is glorifying terrorism — the makers should be ashamed.
“We should be coming together to unite against terrorism, but how is that possible when children are playing with toys like this?”
The £9.50 two-inch figures are customised from Lego toys by makers BrickArms, who hope for a Christmas hit.
They also include a Nazi major, bearing the chilling SS insignia, and a stormtrooper brandishing two grenade launchers.
Edie Friedman, director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said: “These distasteful toys are something we could all well do without, especially when there is so much tension around.”
LEGO UK today issued a statement saying it is not associated with the toys being sold by BrickArms which have been customised without its knowledge or permission.
It continued: “BrickArms is not licensed by LEGO UK to customise LEGO figures and has no links to the LEGO brand.
“LEGO UK is committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by encouraging imaginative and creative play – and does not endorse products that do not fit with this philosophy.”
Fox News, among other news sites, picked up the story. The only significant difference was that Fox contacted Will Chapman, owner of BrickArms. He was quoted as saying:
“We do not sell an ‘Osama bin Laden’ miniature figure. We sell a generic bad guy minifigure with a Ninja scarf head wrap, the same minifigure that we have been selling for over a year now, with no associated ‘outrage.'”
“It does not represent anything; it is simply a bandit — a bad guy for the good guys to battle. Attempt to assign it a ‘personality’ only serves to create controversy that does not exist.”
The article has sparked much indignation throughout the Lego Fan community. The overwhelming majority supports Will and BrickArms.
I personally believe that this spurious attack, by a disreputable tabloid, was merely to stir up trouble. Their pathetic attack on one of our own is aggravating, to say the least.
The Brothers Brick has an extremely positive and long-standing relationship with Will. He and his family are wonderful people. We firmly stand with him, his family, and his associates. Go BrickArms!
During November, Nnenn ambitiously set out to present a new variation of the Vic Viper each day of the month. While the LEGO fan community on Flickr has known Nnenn to be one of the most prolific builders, no one has ever seen a builder post one new medium-sized LEGO creation for each day of an entire month. In the end, Nnenn did it; the result was “Novvember.”
In this exclusive interview with The Brothers Brick, Nnenn shares his thoughts on the project and how he managed to get everything finished without losing his sanity.
This fighter map from Nnenn shows all 31 Vic Vipers unleashed during November.
The Brothers Brick: What gave you the idea for Novvember?
Nnenn: Novvember came about as an effort to populate the Vic Viper group Peter Morris and I created on Flickr. We had each built and contributed a few VVs (based on the Gradius shmup series) to the pool but then came a period of stagnation. Since I have little tolerance for the myriad of unnecessary (or redundant) community groups, I felt something had to be done to warrant its existence. Dedicating a month to the cause, and the play on its name, is a carry-over of something I’ve done with my family for some time: we have such things as ‘Fun Friday, Special Breakfast Wednesday’ etc.
TBB: How long was the planning process? Had you been building Vipers before the start of the month or did you build all of them during November?
Nnenn: The idea began to germinate some weeks beforehand and I began building VVs about mid October… so I had several done before the official month began. The ‘official’ announcements were simply fun afterthoughts that helped garner momentum.
TBB: Describe your thought process on coming up with so many variations of the Viper.
Nnenn: During a ‘slow’ time on a visit to my in-laws, I remembered what Peter had said in his LAML interview about sketching ideas before building (something I rarely do) so I picked up a pen and covered three sheets with starfighters… most of them with dual forward prongs. Many of those became the basis for later models (the original paper is now fairly ragged with use); the rest came about by my usual method of fiddling with piece combinations.
TBB: What was the most challenging part of the whole project from start to finish?
Nnenn: Getting a model posted every single day was, by far, the most difficult aspect of the project. Many times during the month I thought about refining or making changes to whatever I was building but couldn’t because I needed to be moving on to maintain my ‘daily’ goal. So quality definitely suffered (as some have noted) but overall I’m pleased.
Years ago, I learned the tremendous educational value of completing many small projects over laboring over a single work for eons: An illustration professor I had would assign his students the task of developing twenty or so thumbnail solutions to some visual problem. When we presented our ideas, he would demand thirty new and unique sketches, declaring that our first attempts would always be the weakest and the least innovative. He said it wouldn’t be until number fifty or so that we would be forced into completely new territory. I wonder what Novvember would produce if we had four more weeks…
TBB: What are your opinions on the public’s reaction, and what do you think of the other builders’ contributions to Novvember?
Nnenn: I predicted we’d initially have a handful of contributors and then see several more trickle in throughout the month. But I never worried about generating interest… I was too focused on doing my part, so-to-speak. The results, however, have been both surprising and wonderful: a ton of participants have helped my initial jesting about a flood of VVs become reality. A few with short attention spans have complained or thrown around some negativity but those types are inevitable and besides, nothing was done with malicious intent.
TBB: Name a few of your favorite Vipers from both your builds and those by others.
Nnenn: Though I’m not one for favorites, I actually went back and spent some time perusing the pool… but I found myself picking out positive aspects from them all. So go pick your own!
TBB: Do you have any plans after NoVVember?
Nnenn: Right now I’ll build anything but a VV; I guess I’m a little spent. Doing more variations might push me but my investment in the hobby is more grounded in fun than in work, so I’m done… until next time.
TBB: What are your overall thoughts on how everything turned out?
Nnenn: Funtastic.
Previous interviews on The Brothers Brick:
Lluís Gibert sends word that Spanish-language LEGO fan group Hispalug will be hosting an event early next month in Barcelona.
Hispabrick is a LEGO fan event organized by HispaLUG. The event will feature LEGO creations such as dioramas, models, and Great Ball Contraptions, as well as presentations about Model Team and Hispabrick Magazine. With building contests and activities for kids, it’ll be a full weekend of LEGO bricks in Spain.
Name: Hispabrick 2008
Location: Mall L’Anec Blau in Castelldefels (Barcelona)
Dates & Times: December 6 (15:00~20:00) and 7 (11:00~20:00), 2008
Admission: Free
Contact & More Info: Hispabrick.com
Finally, a few words for our Spanish-speaking readers:
6 y 7 de Diciembre de 2008 en el Centro Comercial L’Ànec Blau de Castelldefels (Barcelona)
El Encuentro Nacional de Aficionados de LEGO(R) organizado por HispaLUG. Exposición de dioramas, creaciones singulares, GBC… Presentaciones de MODEL TEAM, Hispabrick Magazine. Concurso y actividades de montaje para niños. Un fin de semana lleno de ladrillos LEGO en España.
La entrada es gratuita para el público los dos días.
Following quickly on the heels of our post about how to get your LEGO event announced here on The Brothers Brick, Adrian Florea has just announced the first-ever LEGO fan event to be held in Romania.
Here are the details:
Name: Lego fan Expo -First ever AFOL event in Romania
Location: Palatul Copiilor Republicii str. nr 23. Cluj-Napoca , Romania
Time: December 3-7
Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Contact: spacemonkey_adi@yahoo.com
And here are a few words from Adrian in Romanian:
Va invitam la prima expozitie de LEGO organizata de fanii LEGO din Romania. Evenimentul va include pe langa exponatele alcatuite din colectii si creatii personale, concursuri cu premii si activitati.