and I notice this set:
It has a TRANSPARENT baseplate!!!
so the Mosaic sets will be disappearing from the stores where AFOLs go:-)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Hey cool!
So I'm looking at the new images of new sets from here:
and I notice this set:
It has a TRANSPARENT baseplate!!!
so the Mosaic sets will be disappearing from the stores where AFOLs go:-)
and I notice this set:
It has a TRANSPARENT baseplate!!!
so the Mosaic sets will be disappearing from the stores where AFOLs go:-)
Communiy and the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group has going through some changes in the past few years.
Originally (about three or so years ago), the company was a bit standoffish about working with the community. To be fair, the community wasn't so gracious either - both sides looked warily at each other. The company was worried about being taken advantage of, and the community was worried about how much control the LEGO group would want for use of products and support.
Things turned around with the beginning of AFOL help with LEGO projects. From LEGO Factory to the present MINDSTORMS project, AFOLs have become a more active voice in determining the direction of products developed by LEGO. Before that, there were fan sets that were sold at LEGO shop at home and at the stores.
It's a good time to be an AFOL - if you are good enough, you will be noticed both the fans and the company. That would have been much more difficult in previous years, but there is an active effort by the company to find builders.
How do I know? Well, having coordinated BrickFest 2006, one of the points that was made to me was that LEGO is looking for people to help them from time to time.
So what does this mean?
Well, it means that if you build well and post online, who knows? Being positive online really helps to. That's how I got started. My brickshelf account was noticed, and I was contacted to do what became LEGO Factory. And that was a FUN project - I had six weeks to work on building micro items. For the company! How cool is THAT?
People in the community have this opportunity, especially with the company becoming much more open. And there's a lot happening.
And one more thing - make SURE you have a contact e-mail on your photos online!
Joe
PS. Since BrickJournal began, three writers and contributors have been employed or are in process to be employed by the LEGO Group.
Originally (about three or so years ago), the company was a bit standoffish about working with the community. To be fair, the community wasn't so gracious either - both sides looked warily at each other. The company was worried about being taken advantage of, and the community was worried about how much control the LEGO group would want for use of products and support.
Things turned around with the beginning of AFOL help with LEGO projects. From LEGO Factory to the present MINDSTORMS project, AFOLs have become a more active voice in determining the direction of products developed by LEGO. Before that, there were fan sets that were sold at LEGO shop at home and at the stores.
It's a good time to be an AFOL - if you are good enough, you will be noticed both the fans and the company. That would have been much more difficult in previous years, but there is an active effort by the company to find builders.
How do I know? Well, having coordinated BrickFest 2006, one of the points that was made to me was that LEGO is looking for people to help them from time to time.
So what does this mean?
Well, it means that if you build well and post online, who knows? Being positive online really helps to. That's how I got started. My brickshelf account was noticed, and I was contacted to do what became LEGO Factory. And that was a FUN project - I had six weeks to work on building micro items. For the company! How cool is THAT?
People in the community have this opportunity, especially with the company becoming much more open. And there's a lot happening.
And one more thing - make SURE you have a contact e-mail on your photos online!
Joe
PS. Since BrickJournal began, three writers and contributors have been employed or are in process to be employed by the LEGO Group.
Dang, already got a story...
Just got an event report for LEGOFest Torino, in Turin Italy!
That was fast:-)!
Thanks!
That was fast:-)!
Thanks!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Weekend fun...
so I had a busy weekend.
Very busy.
I did two events with the WamaLTC gang at DC - and both were really fun and strangely enough, relaxing.
It wasn't all that relaxed before, though.
The first event was on Saturday at Reston Town Center in Virginia, not far away from Tyson's Corner (a Very Important Reference Point since a LEGO Retail store is there), and lasted from noon to 4.
For me, though it started earler in teh week when I had to build something. Something that was different for me but tied in with the Autumn bit, sorta.
So I built a haunted house. While I wanted all sorts of moving things, I was frustrated by a couple of factors:
I procrastinated - so I had very little time, and I had no idea where my scary minifigs were. So I did a rush job over two long nights..
and ended up with this:
the eye moves from side to side, which I was pretty proud of. The back is open (incomplete) as I thought that it would be cool for kids to put stuff in (and I wasn't ablet to finish it:-) ). That didin't work out, but the good thing about the openness ofthe back was that the interior was lit naturally, so people could see in the rooms, so that was pretty nice.
Other members of the club brought in stuff, including a maize maze, Bourbon Street on Halloween, a graveyard and a large pumpkin. And there was a freebuild area tha was constantly busy. I and another builder started building things like planes and bugs and frogs and robots.
It's always fun for me to be in these events to show people what we can do and play with them. It's outreach, and it's something that I think is very important for us to keep community growing. And we should be figuring ways to make our community a part of other people's lives in some way, by events, community service, or whatever else is thought of. I'll touch on that thought in a later note.
After that, I went with he gang to Tyson's Corner and shopped and relaxed....
and then on Sunday, I went to Westfield Mall to help out with a LEGO Building Blitz at the local mall. I was really surprised and impressed by the event, as it was a team competition build that was started by a young man - Habitat for Humanity helped out, but the idea came from a boy too young to volunteer with HfH.
The event was a timed build - each team of two or three boys and girls had 300 random parts and had an hour to build a house...and it was really cool to watch. Even though the sound system didn't work, it didn't matter. There were over 20 teams who took aprt in this event, and their registration fee went to HfH as well as donations. Bricks were also donated to go to the Building for Tomorrow brick campaign for Hurricane Katrina victims' schools.
The mall was supportive of this, and there were clowns painting faces and walking around. On top of that, there was a TV station taking footage of the event, and there was already a newspaper story in the local paper. And it was a fun event!
So why aren't there more events like this?
Very busy.
I did two events with the WamaLTC gang at DC - and both were really fun and strangely enough, relaxing.
It wasn't all that relaxed before, though.
The first event was on Saturday at Reston Town Center in Virginia, not far away from Tyson's Corner (a Very Important Reference Point since a LEGO Retail store is there), and lasted from noon to 4.
For me, though it started earler in teh week when I had to build something. Something that was different for me but tied in with the Autumn bit, sorta.
So I built a haunted house. While I wanted all sorts of moving things, I was frustrated by a couple of factors:
I procrastinated - so I had very little time, and I had no idea where my scary minifigs were. So I did a rush job over two long nights..
and ended up with this:
the eye moves from side to side, which I was pretty proud of. The back is open (incomplete) as I thought that it would be cool for kids to put stuff in (and I wasn't ablet to finish it:-) ). That didin't work out, but the good thing about the openness ofthe back was that the interior was lit naturally, so people could see in the rooms, so that was pretty nice.
Other members of the club brought in stuff, including a maize maze, Bourbon Street on Halloween, a graveyard and a large pumpkin. And there was a freebuild area tha was constantly busy. I and another builder started building things like planes and bugs and frogs and robots.
It's always fun for me to be in these events to show people what we can do and play with them. It's outreach, and it's something that I think is very important for us to keep community growing. And we should be figuring ways to make our community a part of other people's lives in some way, by events, community service, or whatever else is thought of. I'll touch on that thought in a later note.
After that, I went with he gang to Tyson's Corner and shopped and relaxed....
and then on Sunday, I went to Westfield Mall to help out with a LEGO Building Blitz at the local mall. I was really surprised and impressed by the event, as it was a team competition build that was started by a young man - Habitat for Humanity helped out, but the idea came from a boy too young to volunteer with HfH.
The event was a timed build - each team of two or three boys and girls had 300 random parts and had an hour to build a house...and it was really cool to watch. Even though the sound system didn't work, it didn't matter. There were over 20 teams who took aprt in this event, and their registration fee went to HfH as well as donations. Bricks were also donated to go to the Building for Tomorrow brick campaign for Hurricane Katrina victims' schools.
The mall was supportive of this, and there were clowns painting faces and walking around. On top of that, there was a TV station taking footage of the event, and there was already a newspaper story in the local paper. And it was a fun event!
So why aren't there more events like this?
Friday, October 20, 2006
So what's up for Issue 6?
The theme is Trains.
and it's the year-end issue, so event reports will be coming from all around.
and it's the year-end issue, so event reports will be coming from all around.
Thanks to...
all the writers for this issue of BrickJournal. Also thanks to the many people who contributed photos - I am learning the importance of large pix to crop.
BrickJournal is now 5 issues, over 400 pages of copy, hundreds of photos, and is still growing. Since the first issue, there have been over 300,000 downloads and the magazine has gotten the attention of people outside of the AFOL community and the LEGO Group. It's amazing to see so much happen in so little time.
And it's exciting - the partnership that BrickJournal will have with TLG is groundbreaking, and is already leading to new opportunities for the community to grow.
So thanks need to go out to everyone who has helped out with BrickJournal, from the beginning staff, to the new writers that have come in since. Thanks also to the LEGO Group for their support.
And thanks also to those people who host the mirrors that keep the BrickJournal PDFs -
Dan Boger (Peeron),
Kevin Loch (Brickshelf),
Rob Hendrix(Brickmodder),
Rene Hoffmeister (LUGNET and 1000steine),
Dan Sabath (Rustyclank),
and Kelly McKiernan(BZPower and LEGOFan).
Darn, even this list is a who's who of the community:-)!
BrickJournal is now 5 issues, over 400 pages of copy, hundreds of photos, and is still growing. Since the first issue, there have been over 300,000 downloads and the magazine has gotten the attention of people outside of the AFOL community and the LEGO Group. It's amazing to see so much happen in so little time.
And it's exciting - the partnership that BrickJournal will have with TLG is groundbreaking, and is already leading to new opportunities for the community to grow.
So thanks need to go out to everyone who has helped out with BrickJournal, from the beginning staff, to the new writers that have come in since. Thanks also to the LEGO Group for their support.
And thanks also to those people who host the mirrors that keep the BrickJournal PDFs -
Dan Boger (Peeron),
Kevin Loch (Brickshelf),
Rob Hendrix(Brickmodder),
Rene Hoffmeister (LUGNET and 1000steine),
Dan Sabath (Rustyclank),
and Kelly McKiernan(BZPower and LEGOFan).
Darn, even this list is a who's who of the community:-)!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
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