Built-Together Builders: Lego Fans
How can a simple plastic building brick capture the hearts and minds of children and adults alike? Is it because of their simplicity? Or is it due to some pretty colors and fun minifigures? Lego being a platform for expression has allowed for all kinds and personalities to find enjoyment from building with Lego. One can build by instructions or imagination, a color-splosion or color-coordination, but ultimately how to build with Lego is up to each individual. We choose how to express ourselves, and we can shape Lego to coincide with that. Lego could rightly be considered a well-meshed combination of art and engineering that succeeded in becoming a platform in itself. Whether expressing may be through engineering feats such as the GBC(Great Ball Contraption), artistic pieces, or just simply a play house for a child, Lego offers a space to create what you want and how.
Now besides the offering of seeing eye catching creations from people around the world, one could wonder what else draws someone to share their (or someone else’s) creation? That answer would come from a more subjective point of view, as peoples preferences are quite varied. One could enjoy the sleek designs and smooth movements as the Akiyuki modulars for the GBC video above, or a movie-accurate recreation of scenes or battles. Some people enjoy creating large Lego-cities, murals, recreating architecture, a list of what people create could be almost endless. Others can have the competitive spirit in them, driving them towards sleeker or more efficient designs and pushing the limits, figuratively and (quite) literally, of the Lego brick.
Now how might these builders come to share their ideas? With some quite common forms of communication in fact! As with most communities now touched by technological advance, Lego fans can share their passion in a multitude of ways. Many fans of Lego share pictures and videos of their sets and creations online whether through Imgur or Flickr, Reddit or Youtube, blogging sites and some even promote on Instagram! Even the most popular 3rd-party aftermarket Lego site, Bricklink.com, has a CAD-like program to virtually build and a space for sharing the projects!
Other areas of the community focus on custom Lego-like creations, such as custom minifigures or specialized pieces. A large group of AFOLs enjoy recreating wartime subjects such as tanks, battles, dogfights, and numerous other aspects of war. One of my favorite builds in this manner would be this stunning recreation of the USS Missouri. Lego, for practical reasons, has not created official sets that involve real-world conflicts or distinguishable firearms. For example, Lego has not based a set on an existing military or a 1911 pistol, however persons in the Lego community have taken it upon themselves to create these pieces for use with Lego. Most of these 3rd party pieces are held to a high standard themselves, as the fans creating these pieces want fluid use with standard Lego.The MOCS created with third-party pieces are visually quite stunning, however the use of these pieces is not adored by all Lego fans. Lego Purists, as they are called, prefer the use of only Lego bricks in a MOC. I myself am somewhat of a Lego Purist. In the past I have owned alternate brick building brands, and the height difference on the pieces were more than enough to prevent the off-brand bricks from comfortably integrating with the originals.
While the normal way for someone to make a creation from Lego is with a pile of bricks, imaginations can create grander ideas needing many bricks, especially the ones one never has enough of or in even numbers. That is where Stud.io comes to the rescue. The program has every Lego piece created in its library, as well as every possible color for a piece. (However same pieces come only in specific colors). In this virtual space one can draft up any design that burns within their mind unrestrained by physics, to both benefit and detriment. My favorite features about the program are the ability to create step-by-step instructions for a project, so you or someone else could follow, and its piece-list feature. If you actually want to build the Stud.io project, a list can be made to track each piece needed, how many, and the approximate cost to acquire all the pieces. I even have a part list of my own, as I created a project to visualize a Jurassic Park style fence that I wanted to build.
Bricklink is a cornerstone in the AFOL community, as its connects all collectors/ sellers across the world. Its marketplace in tandem with Stud.io gives artists a place that not only supplies what is necessary for their art but also a platform to share their creations with other builders. It sustains the Lego community, and its international trade allows for any builder access to the pieces required, old or new.
AFOLs can over time develop localized groups to build together on projects. These local groups helm the majority of larger MOCs displayed at conventions across the world. Group MOCs and individual creations are the bulk at any Lego convention. Often these conventions hold contests and award prizes, such as the one that this wonderfully built dragon had been given.
Some enjoy going to these conventions to see what others have creations, and then they in turn share what these people have made to the world. BeyondTheBrick is the definitive content creator for showcasing Lego fans as well as interacting with Lego and other large names in the Lego community. The channel, ran by two brothers, has held interviews with other Lego Youtubers, Lego employees, and even received tours at the Lego House in Billund, Denmark and the artists who have had their artwork displayed there. Yearly the two trek the globe to Lego conventions and share what people have to create on their channel. While BeyondTheBrick doesn’t create artwork, it showcases and highlights through their content what people build in a unique way.
While BeyondTheBrick focuses more on video content such as conventions and interviews, there are other Lego fans that create more news-like media. The German group Zusammengebaut runs a blogging website, on which a group of AFOLs writes about their own MOCS, announcements from Lego, insights, alongside many other topics as well. This creator also uses Youtube in a similar aspect to BeyondTheBrick, in which Zusammengebaut goes to international conventions and interviews attendees about their creations.
This compares slightly different with the Youtuber, Jangbricks. Jangbricks (lit. JANGBRiCKS) posts videos on his personal projects, such as the massive undertaking that is a Lego City, as well as offers rounded and objective reviews of Lego sets as they are released. He was actually interviewed (full interview) by BeyondTheBrick, and this highlighted discussion between them was insightful. In contrast with BeyondTheBrick, however, Jangbricks sells Lego on the marketplace of Bricklink in addition to creating review/creation content on Youtube, whereas BTB sells their own branding of items and providing exposure for others. For those more interested in Behind-the-Scenes- of a channel like BeyondTheBrick, this short(er) interview of themselves gives an insight along with an apt title, “How do we make money? Do we build MOCS?”.
The spark that stirs fervor in a fan’s heart, Lego or otherwise, runs through the veins of every person that shares their passion. Age holds no power in the Lego community, as Teenagers such these builders or even younger children can rival or surpass much older adults and their MOCs. This open and friendly community knows no bounds, as the love for Lego brings about an abundant overlap of other interests and pastimes all merging under a roof of creation. A community that prides itself on creation and innovation. A community that will always ‘leg godt’. (Danish for “play well” where Lego derives from)
