Brickworld Virtual: A Bricknerd Exclusive Interview

I sat down the other day with Brickworld’s Mark Larson. Actually, it was just a Zoom meeting. Social distancing, you know, safety first!

ElBarto!: So, this is your first year at the helm of Brickworld. What a challenging time to take over this massive operation!  Do you hold a grudge against Bryan?  I know I would.

Mark Larson: Not at all.

EB: Not even a little?  Be honest.

ML: OK, yeah. A huge grudge. How dare he know the future and sell me the company anyway? He TRULY got out at the right time. Luck was on his side, not mine. Bryan has been amazingly supportive during all of this. He has several times expressed how terrible he feels that this is happening in my first year of ownership. The last thing it is is his, or anyone's fault. And it's only the first year. I purchased a strong brand and the shows are already amazing. It was a good investment, even if it's not immediately paying off. Or even if it's immediately making life incredibly difficult. :D Bryan is the structure behind all of the virtual shows. He's spent a ton of time building the website to have the capability to host the virtual shows and learning a lot in order to make them operate smoothly. I couldn't be doing this without him, but I'd be dead without Kathie.

EB: It's called Brickworld Virtual.  As a member of VirtuaLUG, it seems fair that we should get some sort of cut of the proceeds, you know, with the name and all.  What do you think?

ML: What percentage of 0 would you like? These virtual events, while I do plan to incorporate them somehow into future in-person shows and even do some virtual events in the future, once this is all over—whenever the Jack Stone that will be—they're no replacement for the live events. These events are great and I'm happy to be continuing to connect the community but they're not a profit-making model quite yet.

EB: I see that the event is going to feature some of the contestants from the Brick Masters TV show. What's all that about?

ML: They will be doing some really fun activities all day. At 11am, 1pm, and 3pm CDT they'll be competing in challenges designed by fans. Stop in and maybe you'll get a chance to design a challenge for them. At noon and 4pm, they will be building #MessagesOfHope for Wish Kids. The Make-A-Wish network is running a social media campaign since #WishesAreWaiting. Stop in and build some messages of hope for them to post on social media for all the Wish Kids who aren't able to have their wishes fulfilled due to social restrictions right now.

EB: Is Amy Corbett going to be there?  I really dig her accent.  Do you have her contact info?

ML: I love her too. I have a platonic crush on her. I could listen to her talk for days.

EB: I hear that Dave Kaleta is going to be showing off his Alphabet Fighters, and Bart Larrow is presenting his worlds famous Battlestar Galactica.  Those guys are so cool, right?

ML: Who? Dave and Bart are doing something else really cool, besides just presenting their amazing MOCs in great detail and sharing their creative secrets with the community, they're doing a build challenge every hour. So, stop in at any hour and participate in a cool challenge and maybe get to show off what you built!

EB: Anything else you want to mention?  Are you presenting? I hear you're a pretty decent builder.

ML: Meh, I'm OK. Because I'm at the help desk, I'm not displaying. I designed the Escape House game which will run at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm CDT. Maybe some day I'll find somebody to cover the help desk for me and I'll do some stuff.

So there you have it, folks! Exclusive behind the scenes content on the upcoming Brickworld Virtual. Click on any of the pics in the slideshow to find out more.

Colonial Viper, MK II

Mark Kelso’s back with a modified version of his Viper built for the VirtuaLUG Battlestar Galactica display at Brickworld 2018. He’s got all sorts of nifty custom decals, including some convincing score marks, and of course his call sign; Pookie Muffin. He also admits to modifying several parts- egad! But that’s artistic license, and it’s paid off nicely! So Say We All!

Editor’s Note: As Mark was unable to attend Brickworld that year, my son was lucky enough to reassemble it for the display, where it was positioned front and center, the sharp point of the Colonial Fleet. We also got to swoosh it around!

Riddle Me This...

Ryan Howerter has come up with a way to keep us entertained (and occasionally frustrated) during the world-wide pandemic lockdown. Every day he presents us with a new conundrum for us to replicate on his Instagram page. My son and I have been working on them independently, and it’s been interesting to see him use parts I didn’t even know we had, and vice versa. Good luck, and don’t forget to wash your hands!

Jam Session

Lego 7 seems to be a man of few words, and this build certainly needs no explanation. But since most of you, I would surmise, have plenty of time on your hands, there’s lots to learn in this build. Enjoy!

It's Easy As A B C

Well, maybe not so easy…. My old pal Dave Kaleta has finally finished his A-Z starship project. For those of you who weren’t paying attention in school, that’s 26 ships! Check out the individual posts for all the details and playability features. I especially like how the Y ship can transform from a consonant to a vowel. When the fleet is on patrol, I always stays ahead of E, except when C is in the air. And believe it or not, with all of those powerful engines, more than half of the ships can run silent. Excellent work, Dave!

And check out his new contest on Flickr and Instagram. Just click the picture.

Nerds Need Love, Too!

Alright, Gang- It’s not too late to get out there to your local Kwik-E-Mart and grab the last batch of flowers. Or better yet, get out your flower/plant LEGO bin and do what Emmet did. Lucy looks thrilled!

Nicely done, Leot! (Hope you fare better tonight)

Happy Valentines Day, everybody!

Cigarettes and Coffee, Man, That's a Combination

Even if you don’t know who these two guys are, you can appreciate timofey_tkachev’s level of skill required to reproduce such a scene in LEGO. But if you do recognize these cultural icons, Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, then you realize what an extraordinary piece this is.

2020 Bugatti Centodieci

There are lots of cars posted on the various LEGO sharing sites these days, but nobody builds ‘em like Firas Abu-Jaber. The Centodieci is the latest from Bugatti, an homage to the EB110 from back in the 1990s. The updated version, revealed here, comes with 1600 brake horsepower for a whopping $9million (plus tax). Only ten will be produced, which is just slightly less exclusive than the one-of-a kind shown here. Nicely done, Firas!

Dragon Combiner Mech

The French Bricks Junky has come up with a new spin on a familiar theme. Similar to the Mega Mechs we all know and love from Saturday morning cartoons way back when, and of course the official Voltron set I reviewed a while back, this combiner consists of Chinese dragons. Each one is occupied by a minifig pilot, and the entire rig is decidedly more posable than Voltron. I appreciate the intricate details put into this, too; horns, moustaches and the like. You can watch it in action in the video. Okay, now let’s see a battle!!

Tennis, Anyone?

The world of sports is filled with legendary venues: Fenway Park, Lambeau Field, The Brickyard, The Palestra, and this place; Centre Court at Wimbledon. My old pal Dave Kaleta was commissioned to build this venerable arena and ship it to the UK. Somehow it survived intact, considering all the nifty, irregular connections. Nicely done, Dave- it’s a real home run! Oh, wait…

USS Jefferies

“To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before!” (Except nebulae, because they really mess with the equipment). With four, yes, four, warp nacelles, Ben Smith’s USS Jefferies can navigate the nastiest nebula. Since transporters can be a bit dicey in there, too, he’s got the Mary-Ann landing ship which slips snugly onto the dorsal hull just above the shuttle bay. Well, Ben, that’s some serious three-dimensional thinking!

Akira 2019

My old buddy Thorsten Bonsch, in honor of the story of Akira, set in the year 2019, has come up with this stunning scene: Off to the Containment Unit. A real pioneer of the genre, Akira was the first widely distributed serious Japanese Anime in Europe and North America, unlike the usual Saturday morning cartoons for kiddies (still love Tranzor Z, though). Click on the images to see all those tasty greebles up close. Awesome!

Soon... Beginning of the End

It’s expected that over one billion people around the world will tune in for tonight’s premier of Game of Thrones’ final season. Those are numbers not seen since OJ took a ride in his Bronco, or somebody shot a guy named JR. It’s certainly not a show for the faint-of-heart, and the chances of it ever being an official LEGO theme is about the same as safely navigating an asteroid field. I know, don’t tell you the odds…

But Markus 19840420 has paid a fine tribute to the legendary show with this nicely composed still shot.

Hoonicorn V2

If you don’t immediately recognize this car, or if you don’t know who Ken Block is, watch this! Lachlan cameron obviously does, recreating the 1400 brake horsepower, four wheel drive monster. The LEGO version is also radio controlled, complete with it’s own action video. The only thing missing is the smoking tires.

KA-9

A wise man once said: “There's a reason you separate the military and the police. One fights the enemy of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.” But I say: “Sometimes people act like idiots!” That’s why we need police support units like this bad-boy, the KA-8 by Red Spacecat. Throwing rocks, burning tires; it’s simply ridiculous for our officers in blue to have to deal with things like that. It’s not their fault someone forgot the honey barbecue sauce with the McNuggets.

Bad Robot!

“How many times have I told you not to scuff up these floors with your traction plates! We just had them installed!” Although I’m a big fan of edited photos, where a mech such as this might be tromping through some inhospitable alien environment, I decided to go with this shot, with a grown woman for scale. Yeah, that’s right, it probably weighs more than she does. Iomedes!… has really outdone himself with his Zorin class heavy bot “Butch Bunny” inspired by Walking War Robots video game. Check out the other high-res pics in his photostream to see the phenomenal details. There’s one with minfigs for scale, too, but I prefer this one.

We're Going to Need a Bigger Flu Shot

There are those who believe that Life Here Began Out There. Recent scientific studies have shown that our atmosphere is full of viruses all the way to the edge of space, and perhaps beyond... You may recall the Invader T3 Phage a while back. Now check out the second phase of Dwalin Forkbeard’s Galactic Virus series, the Heavy Transport M11 Phage. This rig has some serious cargo capacity, and clearly means business. And if you’ve ever had a sinus infection, you can relate to one of these suckers landing right on top of your head.

Arm Made of LEGO!

David Aguilar, born without a right forearm due to a genetic condition, has built one for himself out of LEGO bricks. In fact, it’s mostly from set #9396. He’s an engineering student in Spain and has been creating his own LEGO arms since age 9. The latest version, inspired by Iron Man, has a bendable elbow and gripping hand. Check out the video. His goal after he graduates is to build affordable prosthetics for people in need. Excellent!

How about a repulsor on the next one, David?

Various Variants OHP-S

I’ve been a sci-fi fan my whole life, almost as long as Tommy has. I’ve also followed the progress of actual space exploration, from the Voyager missions, to the Space Shuttle, to the ISS. Throughout that, there’s always been talk of the private exploration of space, especially space tourism and space mining. And every year it seems to be getting closer to reality. So when I saw these workhorse ships by Finn Roberts, which include some serious physics explanations behind their structure, function and propulsion, it makes the future not-so distant.

Plus they’re really cool!

LEGO 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster

Engineering, design, and technology are always evolving, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they get better. Because I can’t see anything to improve upon with Firas Abu-Jaber’s latest creation: the 1936 Merc 500K. It may not do 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. It probably doesn’t have Apple Car Play, either. And don’t even ask about miles to the gallon. But when it comes to timeless style and craftsmanship, this car is hard to beat, in both metal and LEGO. Nicely done, Firas!