theBrickBlogger.com — Sharing the Passion of the LEGO Hobby!

Community survey: are you a LEGO addict?

by Thita (admin) on February 10, 2015

in Community News

LEGO is such an awesome hobby, and LEGO fans are such a curious bunch, that “outsiders” often want to learn more. Although this blog has been around for only about four years, we have been interviewed and questioned many times, and I’m sure other LEGO fans who interact with the public have similar experiences. This time we got contacted by a student, who wanted to hear not just from our regular writers and contributors, but the broader community. If you would like to help out with an interesting school project, please read on to find out the details. 🙂

Here is a message from Aakanksha, the student who is working on this project: “My name Aakanksha Shah, a 4th year student in graphic design from Ecolé Intuit Lab in Mumbai, India. We are currently working on an editorial project featuring LEGO, and while I was on my earlier stage of research I happened to stumble on your community and an article by William Reed titled “A Lesson in LEGO Obsession…”. The article gave me the idea that it would be very beneficial to interview members of the LEGO fan community for our project, instead of just doing generic surveys with people who use LEGO casually. So I thought to ask you, the ‘LEGO addicts’, if you could spare a few minutes of your time to answer some questions to help with our research. Thank you!”

Below you will find the questions Aakanksha have prepared for us. If you would like to help her with this project you can answer the questions in the comment section below, or if you would prefer to answer the questions privately, you can also email your responses to me here and I will forward them to Aakanksha. You do not need to answer all the questions, just the ones you feel inspired to, however if you can answer all of them that’s great.

Are you an AFOL (Adult-Fan-of-LEGO), TFOL (Teen-Fan-of-LEGO) or KFOL (Kid-Fan-of-LEGO)?
When did LEGO enter your life? Do you remember the first time you got your hands on LEGO bricks? Did you like LEGO instantly, or did it take some time?
When you are creating something out of LEGO elements what are the emotions that you experience?
Do you have a specific plan and starting point when you begin building? Or do you just pick up random bricks, start doodling, and something comes out of it?
Do you only build official LEGO sets according to the instructions or do you build your own designs? How many official LEGO sets have you built so far? And how many of your own designs? Do you keep them together once you build them? Or recycle them for something new?
How many shelves/rooms have you had to empty to store your LEGO elements and showcase your LEGO sets and own creations? Do you have trouble with running out of space?
How often do you purchase LEGO? What’s the least you’ve spent on LEGO per month and what’s the maximum? And what’s the longest period you have not purchased LEGO?
Are you a part of any local LEGO Users Group (LUG) or club where you get together and share the hobby with other LEGO fans? Do you showcase your LEGO creations at LUG events or any other public venues (like schools, libraries, conventions)?
According to your own experience, what are the pros and cons of the LEGO hobby? Would you recommend it to others?
Do you believe you are a LEGO fan with reasonable limits on investment of time and money in the hobby, or are you hopelessly addicted? Explain.

Interesting questions, aren’t they? As I have mentioned, if you would like to participate in this project, you can answer the questions in the comment section below, or you can also email them if you prefer to keep them private. Aakanksha has a deadline a week from now to make a presentation based on your answers, so if you would like to take part, please do so soon. Thanks for helping out! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO Ideas: Doctor Who & WALL-E coming!

by Thita (admin) on February 9, 2015

in LEGO Exclusives

A few days ago exciting news was posted on the LEGO Ideas blog: the LEGO Ideas review team had made their decision and have chosen the next LEGO Ideas set from eligible candidates. And there is more great news! 🙂

You may remember that in the previous review announcement it was indicated that LEGO was still evaluating the two LEGO Doctor Who projects that reached 10,000 votes in that period. Decision has been made on those as well. This brings the number of models chosen from the November 2014 review up to three: LEGO Ideas #9 Bird Project (already have been released as #21301 LEGO Ideas Birds), LEGO Ideas #10 The Big Bang Theory (still no update on this project although it has been selected), and LEGO Ideas #12 Doctor Who and Companions. And from this review period we can welcome LEGO Ideas #11 WALL-E! See video-announcement and other details below!

“Over the past months, the LEGO Ideas Review Board has been evaluating eight spectacular projects. In the end, only one outstanding design made it through this review and will become an official LEGO product. We are happy to welcome the following concept into the LEGO Ideas product family: Big congratulations to Angus MacLane who created this blocky version of everyone’s favorite hopelessly romantic robot. MacLane is a Pixar animator and director, who actually worked on the WALL-E film. He created the model during the WALL-E production, and submitted it to LEGO Ideas in hopes of it becoming a set. Your hopes and dreams for WALL-E have come true, as the creation will become the next LEGO Ideas product.”

“During our last review announcement in November 2014, we indicated that we were still evaluating two timey-wimey projects: “Doctor Who and Companions” and a project simply named “Doctor Who.” After much consideration the LEGO Review Board has come to a decision about these two projects: YES! The LEGO Group will produce a “Doctor Who”-themed project and the LEGO Review Board has chosen the “Doctor Who and Companions” project by LEGO Ideas member AndrewClark2. Andy Clark is an artist at a gaming company by day, and a LEGO builder and pretend run-away Time Lord by night. For those following closely, this makes Doctor Who and Companions the third project from the First 2014 LEGO Review period to become an official LEGO set! We are absolutely thrilled to share this news with you, and we only wish there were a real TARDIS so we could transport you straight to the set’s release date. We’re still working out the final product design, pricing and availably for both the WALL-E and Dr. Who and Companions LEGO sets, so check back on LEGO Ideas later this year for details.”

“The LEGO Review Board has evaluated each project according to our decision criteria. We’ve decided that all other concepts in the Second 2014 review period will unfortunately not be produced as LEGO sets. This decision, however, does in no way take away from the incredible talent put into these projects or the passion supporters have shown. Getting 10,000 votes on a project is an extraordinary accomplishment in and of itself but it’s really just the beginning of a journey. After reaching 10,000 votes the project will enter the LEGO Review stage. During the LEGO Review, a team of specialists within The LEGO Group – including LEGO set designers, marketing and business representatives, and other relevant team members – investigate and evaluate the project to determine its potential as a LEGO set. This involves analyzing the votes and information you give us about your project as well as looking at things like playability, safety, and fit within the LEGO brand. This takes a while and the timing varies because of all the different factors involved in the decision process. Every potential LEGO product, including those developed internally, goes through a process like this and must meet the same standards. The LEGO Review Board makes all final decisions on which new sets the LEGO Group will release based on LEGO Ideas projects.”

“The third 2014 LEGO Review is well underway, and you can expect results late spring/early summer. Remember we have updated our review schedule to three times per year. We’re very excited about bringing you both the WALL-E and Doctor Who And Companions sets and look forward to considering more of the amazing projects reaching 10,000 supporters and thereby qualifying for the LEGO Review.”

I was pretty sure that the LEGO WALL-E project was going to be chosen. It is a perfect fit for LEGO, in line with previous LEGO Ideas sets, and is just a winning model overall. As far as the LEGO Doctor Who set, I know many LEGO fans are very happy! I have also heard rumors that there may be other LEGO Doctor Who sets in the future, even besides the one that was approved for LEGO Ideas. Kind of like the expansion of LEGO Minecraft, which also originally came out of LEGO Ideas (then LEGO CUUSOO).

I’m a little concerned that there has been no updates on the LEGO Ideas Big Bang Theory sets that was approved in the previous review period. It is a project that requires a license, so perhaps that’s where the holdup is. Or maybe they are holding off the set until the next review announcement, as I don’t really see any projects in that period that will likely get approved; some have already been made into LEGO sets (LEGO Helicarrier, and LEGO Jurassic Park), some are too large, and some just unlikely. Although I would like to see the LEGO Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith project made into an official LEGO set, I’m not holding my breath…

So what do you think? Are you looking forward to the LEGO WALL-E and LEGO Doctor Who sets? Which one are you planning to get, if any? And which one of the upcoming projects do you think will make it through the next review period? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! Also, if you would like to see the currently available LEGO Ideas sets, visit the Online LEGO Shop.

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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Community survey: are you a LEGO addict?

LEGO Ideas: Doctor Who & WALL-E coming!

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