Posted by
Dan
at
4:56 PM
| Name of Model: Collapsible Building |
| Created by: Duane Hess (Legozilla) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legozilla/sets/72157629083690682/ |
Details:  Ever feel like it takes up too much space to store and transport your large town buildings? There's now a solution for that - collapsible buildings. This model looks great on it's own, but it's also a nice proof-of-concept for bigger and more complicated things. Now that hinge bricks (in white) are a common Pick-A-Brick part, it's pretty affordable to handle modularity this way. There's nothing stopping us from dropping floors into a design like this - and those floors could be taken out at shows without dismantling the whole building. For the first time, I think we have a real challenger to the Cafe Corner standard for town creations - and there's nothing stopping anyone from making a building like this also conform to the CC standard. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:43 PM
| Name of Model: Galaxy Diner and Empire Theater |
| Created by: sonicstarlight |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26864031@N00/sets/72157626344290071/ |
Details:  In a bit of a retro/deco-ish feel, this pair of Cafe Corner-standard buildings gives us something we don't see enough in this modular style. It's easy to get wrapped up in the time period that we see in the official sets, but these feel a bit more 1950's or 1960's. Many of the techniques used are what you'd expect (the cinema in particular seems to borrow a bit from set 10184 Town Plan), but there are some great surprises. Plates with rails give the diner a surprisingly convincing impression of texture. The mix of three different styles of mosaic-based lettering gives a realistic feel, breaking up the impression that you're looking at something whipped up based on one person's preferences - the combination of blocky letters for the "Galaxy" sign and curvy letters on the "Empire" sign is a brilliant touch. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:39 PM
| Name of Model: Little Grand Emporium |
| Created by: Puddleglum |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew_raehl/sets/72157626302398766/ |
Details:  I've previously covered half-size versions of the Fire Brigade and Cafe Corner, but now two new installments have been added to the series: the Green Grocer and the Grand Emporium. Both do a stunning job of capturing the look and feel of the original.
The interesting thing about going for half-size instead of just a generic "microscale", is that there's actually a scale factor involved to dictate what some parts should be. In both of these, you can see how 2x2 tiles on the sidewalk become 1x1 tiles to create the same mosaic-style patterns. A pair of skeleton legs on the grocer becomes one 1x1 tile with a clip on top. Doors and windows can be tricky, since LEGO hasn't made windows in some of these sizes. You're still required to fill some details in in an impressionistic manner, but not everyone can pull that off and still have things end up looking fairly accurate. | | Yes, we're sneaking in a double-header again - these are Tuesday and Wednesday's models of the day. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: A building complex started in 1991 |
| Created by: aror |
| Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=463229 |
Details:  Every once in a while, you come across a gorgeous large layout that feels like minifigs could actually live in it. It's less like looking at a model, and more like seeing a little world. This minifig-scale model clearly meets that criteria - the four large buildings are flanked by smaller buildings, vehicles, and landscaping, in a way that resembles a well-maintained professional or academic campus early in the morning (before the crowds have come about). This project was started in 1991, and the colors reflect that - note how red and white are the main colors, and green is used sparingly. Back then, large plates and plants were the only widely available (non-DUPLO) parts in green. In spite of the limited palette, there's still a colorful ceiling pattern and plenty of other subtle details. The tall windows make this interpretation of minifig scale very close to that of the Cafe Corner set. The details around the windows aren't filled with tricky techniques, but they still take on a grand effect when repeated over these large walls. Don't miss the use of grey goblets on the chimneys, or the fantastic use of Imperial flags outside of a Pirates-based setting. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:55 PM
Since we've clearly been failing at trying to catch up lately, I think it's time to fill you in on what's been going on behind the scenes.
First, we need to make our accidental February hiatus official - there's just no way we can reasonably make up the time now. We'll return to the of-the-day format in March, and actually be on time for a while.
Seeing that events in my personal life can still interrupt the blog a bit, I think it's time we look again into bringing new contributors to this blog. Let me know if you'd be interested in doing something here. While I'd like to pick off a few writers from other LEGO blogs out there (it seems there's a new one every day lately), we're open to trying out new ideas as well - if you have any suggestions, feel free to send them in to legomodeloftheday@gmail.com
We're actually already looking into some new features, but you know how us LEGO fans are - we like to stop writing and actually build something once in a while. It's better to have a few more people involved and more ideas in the pipeline.
I prefer not to bore my readers with my personal life, but here's a quick rundown for the interested: about a week after my hand got better, I came down with a really nasty sinus infection. Somewhere in the middle of that, my main laptop died. After warranty-covered repairs were done, it came back without an operating system - I've been trying to get my regular tasks going in Ubuntu over this past week.
Oh, and did you know I build? I'm planning on debuting a sculpture and some new Cafe Corner style town models at this year's LEGOPalooza - where I'm also coordinating a town/train layout. If you're near Chapel Hill, NC, USA on March 5th or 6th, you might want to check it out.
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Posted by
Dan
at
4:58 PM
| Name of Models: Various, see links below |
| Created by: Marcos Bessa |
| Found at a few different places, see links below |
Details:  Recently, LEGO set designer and frequently featured builder Marcos Bessa has made available for free download the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) files (useful as building instructions) for five of his models. Two of these models have previously been featured here as a model of the day, and all of them were built before he was brought into the LEGO company. Several of these models can be found in the portfolio used when he applied to join the company. Here are the links to the page for information for each model (each page includes information on the model, a link to photos on flickr, and a link to download the LDD file - along with a brief note regarding reuse of these designs):
No word on if/when we'll see a virtual version of the Ancient Lady's Museum.
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
6:33 PM
| Name of Model: Modular Market Square |
| Created by: Cole Brickman |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4590645414/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4590025357/in/set-72157623945360158/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4590025357/in/set-72157623945360158/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4591718909/in/set-72157623945360158/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4592340006/in/set-72157623945360158/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/colebrickman/4591719381/in/set-72157623945360158/ (this is why you should use tags or sets to organize your photos...) |
 Details: When the 6242 Soldiers' Fort set came out, it introduced a new building standard for modular minifig-scale models. That standard, known as the "Soldier's Fort" standard or the "Three and Ten" standard, was hailed, documented, and supported by LEGO Pirate fan sites, but sadly did not catch on. While having LEGO kits that follow a standard can help that standard gain popularity (note the Cafe Corner standard, which started with one set and is now used for other sets and nearly every original creation blogged at Brick Town Talk), not all official standards really catch on. Even some great modular systems, like the old Blacktron spaceship modularity, often just don't stick. While the fort standard seems to be destined for the unsorted-parts bin of history, this model matches the standard and fits in with the style of the Prince of Persia sets. Putting a rocky surface where the dock/water line was originally works surprisingly well to make this standard work away from water.
Perhaps this will inspire more people to try building small modules in this standard that can be part of a larger fort layout.
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Posted by
Dan
at
2:12 PM
| Name of Model: Lego Christmas House | | Created by: zaberca | | Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15902478@N02/tags/christmas/ | Details:
 I like to focus on some pretty clever techniques here, but sometimes you can build a very detailed and pleasing little model without getting too fancy. This one still features some nice tricks ("headlight" bricks to use tiles as a realistic brick texture, pairs of round 1x1 plates stuck with string in the middle to make lights, rows of parts used to get architectural details, wheel well elements as window arches, etc.) but is largely built with standard bricks, standing up straight in a simple and elegant pattern. The scale is perfect, too - the house is the right dimensions to fit with "modular buildings" like Cafe Corner and Green Grocer, but the dark red section only goes up to a more classic town height of 7 bricks tall. The remaining three bricks' height before the roofline is done with various architectural details. | | This is Thursday's model of the day |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
8:09 AM
You'd think that, thanks to the announcement that LEGO Atlantis 2010 kits were actually coming out November 24th, new sets would have been the biggest news in the LEGO world yesterday. You'd be wrong. There was Bionicle news big enough to outweigh the line of 6 new canisters on the shelves ("Stars" of the line being reissued in a different new form). Yesterday, the LEGO company announced the end of Bionicle.
Bionicle originally came out in 2001. 9 years is a pretty decent run - long enough to compete with many of the "classic" themes we keep saying LEGO should make more of instead of Bionicle (think about it this way - factions in "Space" only lasted from 12 years, 1987-1998. Pirates only came out in 1989 and was pretty much phased out by the late 1990's. No Wild West or underwater themes lasted more then a few years. For this generation, Bionicle and Town - er, "City", are the only two themes that have reliably been released year after year). Although much of the line was devoted to the all-original storyline and ways to build related action figures, there was a decent share of classic kits in the theme over the years. New, rare, and often exclusive parts and colors frequently popped up in Bionicle kits, and we'll continue finding new uses for those elements in the future. For now, though, I've decided to highlight some of my favorite Bionicle kits from these past 9 years.
8534 Tahu (2001): When the Bionicle line originally came out, there were just the 6 "good guys" - the Toa. At this point, they were expected to be yet another flash-in-the-pan action figure line. This wasn't the first time LEGO had tried to make Technic more appealing to kids by adding an action-figure style concept - the late 90's had brought "Tech Play" and "Cyberslam" (that's "Competition" for those of you in Europe), and we had also seen the "Robo-Riders" and "Throwbot"/"Slizer" lines come and go. The simple gearbox torso elements brought into the Bionicle line made these a bit more enjoyable as action figures (OK, fine, the storyline helped too), and also gave additional gearing and simple animation possibilities for those of us more technically inclined. The unusual characters - controversial back then for their use of Malaysian Māori words as names - turned out to be surprisingly popular, but in the end Tahu was everyone's favorite (the fire sword remains one of the "coolest" weapons we've seen, although I'm sure I could make a separate list of interesting weapons we've seen over the years). Pohatu also deserves a few points for being the only one in the original line to use the torso element upside-down (thus showing us how to control leg motion with gears instead of arm motion).
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 8557 Exo-Toa (2002): In the earlier years of the Bionicle range, the various accessories and factions were all Technic contraptions, usually capable of one or two simple actions - which, frankly, is reasonably respectable for a $10+ toy. Larger, more technically advanced baddies meant that the good guys had to grow in scale to match the threats against the Island of Mata Nui. In later years, we settled for simpler action figures that happened to be taller than the original line of Toa, but in 2002, this beautiful mecha/armor was the way that the smaller heroes could fight the bad guys. Rare and exclusive parts added to the cachet of the kit, but the play features are what made many of us who bought this for parts actually keep this one assembled. Strangely, though, only Tahu seems to completely fit inside this exosuit even though the Bionicle storyline claimed that all 6 Toa had similar armor.
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8759 Battle of Metru Nui (2005): We all doubted the LEGO company's sanity when they announced that they'd be releasing "System" Bionicle kits. Sure, they'll be "juniorized", they'll have obnoxious fake "minifigs", etc. All those complaints turned out to be fair. These kits also included a number of rare or even exclusive elements, generous amounts of parts in rare colors, and some interesting features. Those of us who like dark red slopes for our town layouts tend to think of Cafe Corner as the first great LEGO kit in the world of dark red parts, but this kit came first and gave you a better variety of dark red parts for considerably less money.
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 8755 Keetongu (2005): After many of us had given up on Bionicle due to too many straight action-figure kits (gears became increasingly rare in the sets as the years wore on), LEGO gave us this delightful surprise. An incredible parts pack in the rare color of bright light orange, this set gave us an unusual physics lesson as a weapon. Yes, even without gears, Bionicle can still bring serious educational value! Spinning the axle in the middle of the weapon doesn't just engage the knob wheels, it also brings in conservation of angular momentum, which makes the entire weapon spin as a whole even while the knob wheels move the outer parts of the weapon. A review that shows the weapon can be seen on YouTube.
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8941 Rockoh T3 (2008): I decided to try this set out on a whim, thinking that the dark green round Technic panels could come in handy sometime. I was incredibly surprised by how advanced a construction this wound up being - I still haven't finished figuring out how the unusual geometry lines up (to add to the fun, there's one place where things actually don't quite line up but a beam is "locked" into place by other beams nearby). We also got to see some great uses for knob wheels (I believe this is the only kit to feature them at an obtuse angle), and did I mention that this thing doubles as a giant handgun for Bionicle zamor spheres? Yes, a set can be interesting as a Technic kit, a geometric wonder, and still have play features most kids will love (oh, and this came with some sort of action figure character too).
The Rockoh T3 kit is still available from LEGO Shop at Home - I'm afraid the other sets here are no longer available. One of them (Tahu) will be available in a decidedly less interesting form in 2010, or at a LEGO Brand Retail store location near you in the United States, United Kingdom, or Germany. |
An error in this article regarding the language controversy was corrected on September 18th, 2016. We regret the error.
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
10:27 AM
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Posted by
Dan
at
7:08 PM
| Richard at Brick Town Talk recently got his hands on the new Fire Brigade kit (so have I, but I didn't say much about it) - and he is live blogging the experience. The first four installments are already online. He's finished the "1" bags already and will be finishing this model tomorrow morning (in the UK). Of course, you're already following Brick Town Talk, right? BTT is the best source for Cafe Corner inspired MOCs and the latest news on this series of modular buildings designed by Jamie Berard. |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
2:40 PM
Earlier this week, Google announced that Blogger would finally be supporting tag clouds. I tried experimenting with this for a little bit yesterday (in between adding links to our latest BrickFair page) - and it looks like there was a brief incident (about a day or so) where the tag cloud was unintentionally live in the sidebar.
This looked pretty bad in the layout, but I thought it was interesting enough to post here as a regular entry. There is no automatic "only use the x most used tags" option, but I whipped up a quick cloud grabbing most of tags (or labels) that were used here 3 or more times and most tags that represent themes, scales, etc.
Here's the current result:
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Posted by
Dan
at
1:22 AM
The weekend of October 2nd-5th was BrickCon (formerly NWBrickCon) in Seattle, Washington. I wasn't able to make it this year (I've actually never made it, even when I lived nearby), but there are tons of photos to look at from this year's event. The big headline was the awesome new set that the LEGO company announced there (already covered here), but there were tons of great models to see as well (and countless more fun things for attendees that aren't available to visitors - as far as I know, no one was recording any of the speakers, and there's no way to show online what some of the fans-only events are like).
Below are a bunch of links to photos. I should warn you, though, if the phrase "violent zombie apocalypse" sounds scary or unfamiliar to you, you might want to just skim some of these. One of the more adult-oriented blogs for LEGO fans coordinated a truly unique exhibit that combines Cafe Corner-style town buildings with horror/fantasy storylines - and since the layout is filled with (along with clever models and techniques) violence, movie references, video game references, and other silly in-jokes, much of it went over my head.
The place to start looking for pictures is the Official flickr pool for NWBrickCon (which includes photos from previous years if you dig far enough).
In the interest of not delaying this post any longer, I'm posting this now and adding links to it as I get to them.
More photos at:
Memory's BrickShelf gallery (Space and Mecha only)
joshh's flickr set
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Posted by
Dan
at
10:08 PM
| Name of Model: Medieval Market Village | | Created by the LEGO company, including LEGO employees Matthew Ashton and Nick Groves | | Found at: http://brickjournal.com/news/2008/10/4/brickcon-special-report-keynote | Details:
  In the 30 years since the first LEGO castle set came out, we've had knights, kings, dragons, the occasional queen or maiden, and even trolls and dwarfs - but never a decent set with common people (never mind common women). Now, at long last, they've introduced a kit that shows commoners, an aging man, two women, and even a child in a traditional marketplace. The marketplace is beautiful in its own right - two gorgeous buildings that are comparable to sets like the Cafe Corner in terms of detail (in terms of scale, they're more in league with other Castle sets). It's very hard not to think of this set in terms of rare parts as well - fish, cows, a whole roast turkey, a new water wheel, Fabuland barrels, bricks in tan and medium blue, a staircase, windows, food, new fire/feather elements, a new table leg/telescope element, and a variety of detail pieces in rare colors.
Please read the full article on BrickJournal's website for more details about this exciting new set (if only we could order it before January!)
I'd like to say more about BrickJournal. Since they're now fairly large (within the LEGO fan community) and available in print, they're starting to pursue bringing LEGO news to a wider audience and getting some decent scoops directly from the LEGO company. I've written here about most of the news stories on their site, but I encourage you to cut out the middle man and add the BrickJournal News Articles webpage to your regular online reads - pretty much every post on there is must-read for anyone with any interest in LEGO (they have an RSS feed and post one news article per week on average). While BrickJournal editor Joe Meno is aiming the magazine towards adult hobbyists, he is making sure that it's accessible and appropriate for all ages - so I'd highly recommend getting a subscription for your kids, family, school, library...you get the idea. I can't say enough good things about the magazine, and I think anybody interested in reading this blog would be interested in reading it (or at the very least, the online news articles on the magazine's website).
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Posted by
Dan
at
10:03 PM
| Name of Model: Futuron Labs | | Created by: ME | | Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/sets/72157607275256729/ | Details:
 I'm a bit surprised that the other LEGO® fans blogging out there haven't pointed out the bizarre lack of properly shown models online coming from me. Well, at long last, you now get to meet me as a builder and not just a critic (although I, for one, think I am fascinating and reasonably clever).
I started building the Futuron Labs building a little while ago, but I decided to properly put it into the Cafe Corner style and add some more vignettes to prepare it for the Reasonably Clever Brick Science Contest. The contest ends Monday morning at 3:14 AM EST.
If you haven't been following LEGO for the last 22 years or so, you'll probably miss a few of the in-jokes I've put in the descriptions of the photos. I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I did include a few set links to explain some late-80's Futuron references, but it's kind of hard to find just one link to explain some of the other things. Feel free to send me questions.
There were a few neat techniques here, and I tried to give enough inside and partially-assembled shots to make them all obvious. Most of the studs-not-on-top stuff was pretty simple, but I don't think I've seen the large panels used this way before. I'm really happy with my microscale monorail, and I liked the street vendor with the "spaceships" that are really binoculars.
I don't know if I'll use flickr to publish my models in the future, but I think that the "note" feature on there - which allows anyone with a flickr account to mark a section of the photo and leave a comment - will be useful for these photos. I really tried to pack tons of detail into this model - I highly recommend looking at all the photos, although I do have less of a impartial view on these photos than I usually do (I know my photography skills need work, at least...)
By the way - I've decided to try to relaunch this site on October first. The break will give me a chance to catch up (primarily) on more high-priority things on my schedule. Also, I'm hoping to build up a buffer of models by using Scheduled Post Publishing more often. I don't know if/when we'll see another one of my models properly written up (or featured), but hey, at least I'm trying to get a little time in for LEGO fun. My internet connection remains a bit erratic, but getting off of a day-to-day schedule for this site should offset that (and of course, thanks to my friend Matthew, who caught me up on a few newer MOCs during a break on this past Monday).
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
12:24 AM
| Name of Model: David Stott building, 1929, Detroit. First 3 stories displayed at GTE 2006. Completed as a 31 story skyscraper for NMRA 2006. Completely rebuilt in April 2008 to make it more accurate with 37 stories. | | Created by DecoJim, Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/decojim/ Brickshelf: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=DecoJim | | Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/decojim/sets/72157604761140171/ and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=170584 | Details:
 That picture to the left really is the model and not the life-size building. I think it's safe to say that when you take a model this size outside and find a camera angle that good, you're probably as much of a photographer as a builder - not that this looks like it was easy to build at all, but you know what I mean. Obviously, quite the dark orange collection was required here. It looks to me like a half-stud offset for the windows and inner archetectural elements, and those windows look solid black to me (which isn't a technique I'd think to try, but it looks good here - although those could just be smoke-colored windows too, which do occasionally appear in sets). While the scale is a little bit lower than many other minifig-scale models I've seen (6 bricks high per floor versus 7 in most sets or 10 in Cafe Corner), this is still technically minifig scale. The life-size David Stott Building in Detroit, Michigan, USA, is 133.1 m (437 ft), while this LEGO® model stands 2.286 m (7.5 ft) tall. This is one of several buildings featured in the Flickr gallery above - the whole gallery is a beautiful representation of what must be some of Detroit's finest buildings. The Brickshelf links above include work-in-progress pictures. This is the second version of this model - it was first built for a show in 2006, but this April 2008 revision features some improvements in scale and accuracy. |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
1:42 PM
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Posted by
Dan
at
1:44 AM
| Name of Model: CC Style Pizza restaurant | | Created by: Brickmann | | Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=273642 | Details:
 Here's another brilliant town building modeled after the Cafe Corner set. This one is a bit different though - it's a sort of avant-garde pizza shop in an old building with realistic colors. It can be tempting sometimes to make all houses out of brightly colored bricks - especially when the grey shades can be hard to find and properly match. The color of the walls wasn't actually the biggest hurdle for this model though - that would be the large amount of smooth tiles used on all of the floors and stairs. It's too bad, though, that this type of thing requires so many different specialized parts from different eras of the LEGO company - classic space computer panels are mixed in with newer dark green tiles and that's all on top of the old gray bricks. This is a beautiful model, and for the reasons mentioned above, it's probably one of the most ambitious layout-sized city models you'll ever see. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
10:31 AM
| Name of Model: Modular house created from parts in the 4954 | | Created by: misc2006 | | Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=273214 | Details:
 Now this is a great project that you can probably try at home - it's a beautiful modular house (similar to the Cafe Corner set) that was made as an original alternate model for the 4954 "Model Town House" kit (which, by the way, you can get free shipping on if you order through Amazon) . The nice thing about little projects like this one is that you can easily determine if you have the parts or not - in fact, when I was little, the LEGO® club magazine (I think it was called Mania Magazine at the time) used to feature instructions for models that could be easily built from just one widely-available kit. Enough of the "marketing" type stuff though, truth be told this is also a very well-designed original house too. I love the architecture here, that upper balcony, the awnings for the door and windows (the ones on the top look like the part that goes over the car wheels in the main model!). There's even a flower bed and outdoor lighting here (creative ways of doing both of those, too). The bench in the back is a great use of studs-not-on-top parts in this scale, and there's even a proper staircase featured. I would have preferred some furniture (wasn't the original point of modular building to make it possible to show off furnishings?), but oh well. It's difficult enough to get things like that textured studs-not-on-top front to work well. |
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Posted by
Dan
at
6:07 PM
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I haven't explained very well the recent news that I'm starting a LUG. Here's something of an explanation, in hopes of answering some of the questions people have brought to me so far. Feel free to send in any additional questions you may have - for now I am coordinating this from the blog's current e-mail address: legomodeloftheday@gmail.com
Why start an online LUG?Because location-based LUGs don't cut it for an alarming amount of people. There are many reasons for this - maybe your nearest LUG is quite some time away, or has few members and never really got off the ground. Perhaps you've left a LUG because of some disagreement with other members of that LUG. Maybe someone or something in a LUG has scared you off. Maybe you're too young to meet an AFOL cut-off, or you prefer to build in themes that people near you are not supportive of. Maybe you just want to be more involved in "big things" at conventions and your LUG isn't interested in collaborative convention displays. The fact of the matter is that there wasn't a catch-all LUG that could cover everyone who feels left out of traditional LUGs, and there needed to be one.
One online LUG that has been successful is BioniLUG, which is part of BZPower. I joined that LUG some time ago and have found it to be very well-run, and an excellent way to connect fans across the world for the purposes of participating in group builds, coordinating convention activities, and the support of a LUG. The only "problem" is that it's very much a part of the Bionicle community, which unfortunately does not include all that much of the general LEGO fan community. At some level, that's a strength, but it means that BioniLUG can't be the catch-all LUG that everyone without a LUG should join (although if you do build with Bionicle elements, I highly recommend joining both BZPower and BioniLUG).
Why now?Truthfully, this is a really bad time for me. I probably shouldn't be doing this now, when my personal life seems to be bottoming out and my main LEGO-related blogging outlet is in disrepair. This sort of LUG is something that the LEGO fan community desperately needs, and I'm very passionate about making it happen. Additionally, the community team at LEGO is in the process of rolling out improved guidelines for becoming a registered LUG. Under the new system, a LUG must be around for a full year before LEGO will recognize it and consider providing any support to the LUG. That was a major incentive for starting sooner rather than later, even if it does mean a bit of disorganization upfront.
So what's this LUG called?That's our first order of business - figuring out an appropriate name that gets the point across without being antagonistic towards traditional LUGs. Sure, I'm launching it from LMOTD, but I'm not vain enough to make this about me (DanLUG?) or this blog (LMOTDLUG?). Other suggested names include USA LUG (too national) and ANTI-LUG (too antagonistic), but I'd like to see us settle on something a bit more neutral.
Do you have a mailing list? Yahoo! Group? Google Group? Facebook group? Some other kind of group?That's our second order of business - deciding what to use for internal communication. I am certain it will not be a Facebook group, because many people (including myself) have very firm negative beliefs about that company's behavior and approach to the web. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we'll settle on - it'll be something accessible and easy to browse the archives of.
So how do I get involved with this nameless LUG without an internal group yet?For now, make sure I have your e-mail address. I'll keep you in the loop as things move along. So far, you haven't heard much because things have not moved along much. You can probably help push things along by shooting me an e-mail with your opinions and advice on the name and what to use for internal communication. Until the LUG has a proper website of its own, I'll keep posting any announcements about it here at LMOTD.
Seriously, though, how will the LUG work?There will be some form of internal communication, and some sort of collaborative build for large events (which will probably be just US LEGO fan conventions at first). There will be dues - likely $10 the first year and $5 per year after that (we're still copying ideas from BioniLUG), which will primarily cover the costs of mailing things to LUG members. That higher price in the first year will cover the cost of a pretty engraved or printed brick with the LUG name (or logo) for your name badge.
Since I'm mostly planning this as a service to the general AFOL community, expect group builds to lean (at least initially) towards existing collaborations - Great Ball Contraption, Micropolis, Moonbase, Mini Con, Cafe Corner-standard town, etc. We'll likely pick one theme per year, and then try to transport as many modules as possible to various conventions. This does mean that LUG members will need to focus on building things to be sturdy and easy to set up, but that should be manageable.
Meetings will take place whenever it makes sense to do so (maybe you'll luck out and meet other dedicated LEGO fans who are local to you), but will primarily happen at/around existing conventions.
Some sort of opt-in exchange program will be arranged to transport original models to smaller shows, to better allow individuals without the support of a local LUG to run LEGO displays (say, at their local library or a Mini Maker Faire). This will allow Joe AFOL in the middle of no where to run larger displays (augmenting his own creations with models on loan) and to advertise his/her displays as the work of a LUG instead of just being "Joe AFOL". Should a solid local group emerge from such events, members will be encouraged to start traditional regional LUGs (either instead of or in addition to being part of this catch-all LUG).
Materials given to the LUG will be distributed in as fair a manner as possible (with the exception that priority will be given to members involved with displays) - think raffles for sets and "everyone gets a bag" for loose brick. This will be handled in a transparent and democratic manner on the group's internal forum. Items will be distributed at conventions when possible, and will be mailed in other cases.
Some additional benefits for members will be arranged for but not announced outside of the group. This is partly because LEGO does not allow information about any pilot programs to be shared with the general public, and partly because offers made to a LUG are intended to support the LUG and LUG displays (and not be used for personal enrichment).
Are there any ground rules?Not really, because we want this to be as open as possible. I guess "void where prohibited" - for instance, in the US, there are privacy laws against collecting personal info from people under the age of 13. We want this to be fun and open to as many people as possible, though, so if you're too young, ask a parent to get involved on your behalf. If there's another obstacle you know of, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help. To the extent that rules are needed, we'll firm them up as we go along. Any idea is a good idea, except for the not happy ones, right Unikitty?
We will encourage members to be active in the LUG's internal communications and strongly encourage members to get involved with displaying original LEGO creations in public settings. Understandably, not everyone is comfortable with displaying their models publicly, but running LEGO displays is the most important thing a LUG does to grow the hobby.
For the sake of tracking LUG activity, promoting events, and preventing abuse of the LUG's name, any display run in the LUG's name will need to be announced internally to members of the LUG. We'll also expect that all members will abide by the inclusive spirit of the LUG - we want to unite all LEGO fans who are not already in a LUG, and encourage everyone to get more involved with the larger LEGO fan community.
What's a LUG, anyway?It stands for LEGO Users' Group, and if you didn't know that, you might not be ready for one. The standards for what makes a LUG are fairly loose, but generally it's a group of LEGO fans who do LEGO-related things together. Common activities include running LEGO shows, assembling group builds, and drafting out sets. LUGs often also run collaborative layouts at conventions, support individual efforts among their members, and participate in other activities to grow both the LUG and the larger LEGO fan community.
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