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The Summer Joust – LEGO Castle Building Contest

by Thita (admin) on August 23, 2021

The Summer Joust was born in 2016 as a multi-category LEGO community contest challenging builders to bring their best skills to the medieval theme. With 130 entries in the first Joust, the contest was a decided success and it has continued to be an annual summer highlight for castle builders.

Each Summer Joust runs for two months and has 6 categories. Besides first and second place for each category, there are also awards for the highest scoring entry, the builder with the highest average score across their three best entries, and the entry with the highest presentation score. Some of the prizes are official LEGO sets, but some are brick-built trophies donated by well-known builders (often frequent participants of the contest) like this trophy below by Jonah Schultz.

Every year, the quantity and quality of castle themed LEGO creations built for the Summer Joust is astonishing, but this year I was especially impressed. So let’s take a look at some of the 2021 Summer Joust winners!

The 12×12 Vignette category is an annual favorite. Entries are expected to fit the medieval theme, but aside from that size is the only restriction. With only a 12×12 stud base to work with, builders get very intricate and very creative with their parts usage. This year Markus Rollbühler won the 12×12 Vignette category.

One of this year’s most unique and exciting categories was Creating an Atmosphere. Builders were challenged to create a piece that would be instantly associated with an emotion of their choice. The winner of this category was Caleb Saw with Returning Home.

I was very excited about this category because I knew it would inspire lots of beautiful creations. Sure enough, there were half a dozen masterpieces! I highly recommend taking a look at all the entries but for now, here’s the second place winner, W. Navarre with Asia.

For several years now, the Summer Joust has included one category focused on a specific culture. This year the category was Asian. Once again, there were a variety of stunning entries. Second place was one by First Order Lego with his Golden Clifftop Pagoda.

Another category that brought out a lot of talent was the Monastery category. The first place winner was Joe (jnj_bricks), with Sanctuary.

The second place is so unique and my brother borrowed so many of my bricks to build it, that I just have to mention it. This is “Samye Monastery” by W. Navarre.

For those who weren’t inspired by the realistic Asian or Monastery categories there’s High Fantasy. The second place High Fantasy entry, “What We Do in the Clouds by Dan Ko, particularly impressed me with its incredibly creative use of little pieces!

Last but not least, every year there is a team category for the Summer Joust. For this category, 2-4 LEGO builders come together to build 2-4 creations around a single theme. This year’s theme was called Through the Seasons, and the winning team illustrated the lifespan of a castle, from springtime construction to a final abandoned ruin in winter.

Another team also had a terrific idea; Life on the Edge, a village of dragon trainers living on a cliff.

And that brings our look at the 2021 Summer Joust to a close. We’ve only scratched the surface of the more than 150 entries though, so there’s plenty more to see in the Summer Joust group if you’d like to dig a little deeper.

LEGO competitions are a great way to challenge and motivate yourself for a new creation. Contests run by members of the LEGO building community, like the Summer Joust, tend to be some of the most inspiring, most friendly, and most exciting competitions. The winning bar is incredibly high, but the participating community is very friendly and ready to share comments and suggestions with all the participants. Even if you don’t get inspired to build for the Summer Joust, it’s a great competition to watch from the sidelines. You can be sure there will be plenty of creations on display that will make it worth your while!

What do you think? Have you participated in or followed the Summer Joust at all? Are you inspired to build something medieval or maybe even participate in next year’s competition? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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

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LEGO Ideas Puzzle Contest – Beautiful Entries!

by Thita (admin) on August 20, 2021

in Featured LEGO Creations

The LEGO Ideas team recently ran a contest for creative LEGO photography, with the winning entry becoming featured on the front of a new 1,000-piece puzzle produced and distributed by Chronicle Books. There were several categories to enter; Space & Astronomy, Nature Scenes, Retro, and Architecture. LEGO Ideas judges selected 10 of what they felt were the best entries (40 total), which then went to the crowd vote phase. There will be winners in each category as well as a grand prize winner, but they weren’t announced just yet.

However, I would still like to talk about this contest, because the entries are so impressive. The trick is that this isn’t just a standard building contest, but also a photography contest. In other words, contestants had to build something impressive, then arrange it and present it in a well-composed picture. And not just any picture, but a picture that could potentially become a puzzle. That’s a lot to think about and plan for!

Chronicle Books gave some guidelines of what works well for puzzle pictures. They advised contestants to feature a clear unifying theme or storyline, and make use of patterns, gradation, and/or repetition. They should also include a variety of different colors and not too much empty space or large borders. The picture should have enough variation to be challenging as a puzzle for fans 9+, and of course, have sharp image quality.

Below, I have included some of my favorite designs in the four different categories, and if you would like to see the full list, visit the LEGO Ideas Contest Page.

LEGO IDEAS PUZZLE CONTEST – SPACE & ASTRONOMY

Minifigure Logo by aido_k

“The closer you look, the more you will see! I thought that the iconic space logo would be a great candidate for a puzzle. I wanted to create something that would be challenging but not boring, so I have packed this image with dozens of things for a puzzle builder to discover along the way. Within this image, there are minifigure accessories, spaceship parts, lots of mini scenes, and things that you might not even notice until you see it on a puzzle piece, such as a blue spaceman with yellow hands/no gloves, or a guy with his helmet stuck on backwards. I chose this scale because I wanted the minifigures to be life-size in the image when the puzzle is built. They may look tiny in this picture, but if this was a 25 inch puzzle then the minifigures would actually be 1:1 scale. Having them this small also allows for them to still look detailed in a 350dpi render.”

Entering the Universe of Creativity by AJBuster

“Come take a seat in my rocket ship and let me take you to a wonderful place. I’ll take you to an entirely different universe. A universe where you can forget about your troubles for a while, where you can creatively express yourself in any way you wish, where imagination runs wild, and where friends are aplenty. Let me take you to the universe of LEGO.”

LEGO IDEAS PUZZLE CONTEST – NATURE SCENES

Snow and Peacock by MoMoLam

“In this oil-painting-like LEGO creation, I present you the scene with a colorful peacock standing on a plum tree during the first snow. You may have spotted that the peacock is made by using LEGO plants, flowers, grasses, and leaves. I think using nature elements to make the shape of the peacock demonstrates that animals and nature are interrelated and interdependent. Why I choose to present the scene of first snow with plums? Because it shows the strength of nature; even in the snow, plums can bloom. Be strong, is the message I got from it. The peacock is one of the most beautiful animals in the world. The beauty of peacock is multiplied when it spreads its wings and shows its true colors. Each peacock feather is flawed, yet together they create something beautiful. It reminds me not to be afraid of who you are; be strong and proud of yourself, beauty is just that simple. To me, the beauty of nature is as simple as it can be.”

The Deer by Les Briques de Loïc

“My inspiration for this construction comes simply from the art of cut paper.”

LEGO IDEAS PUZZLE CONTEST – RETRO

Venetian Lagoon by Albrick

“Venice and its magical environment have always been sources of inspiration for all forms of artistic expression. This is my little contribution to the long list: a LEGO render inspired by Burano, a picturesque old-time island of the Venetian lagoon, near Murano and Torcello. The town is known among artists for its brightly colored homes. Thanks to the vivid colors and the vintage atmosphere, I think this subject would be perfect for a LEGO jigsaw puzzle!”

Retro Roller by Indiaislemon

“With bright, joyful colors and a fun free-wheeling vibe, Retro Roller invokes the ecstatic energy and loud expressiveness of the 1970’s and 80’s. With Retro colors in fun, arcade-style patterns, the speedy focal inline skate, and a gorgeous warm sunburst horizon, puzzle enthusiasts and Lego lovers will lose themselves in nostalgia for a bigger, bolder, brighter time!”

LEGO IDEAS PUZZLE CONTEST – ARCHITECTURE

The Rising City by JeffWorks

“A city rises beside the shore, moving through architectural styles as it climbs ever higher towards the sky. The essence of LEGO, jigsaw puzzles, and cities is putting something together piece-by-piece. Enjoy the many themes of building in this puzzle.”

The Arts and Quilt Building by WhyWall

“The Arts and Quilt shop that occupies part of the lower level of this building has inspired the whole building. After many years the whole building has transformed into a work of art all of it’s own. The building resembles a patchwork quilt full of colors and patterns.”

As you can see, this contest is full of creative and beautifully designed projects that would also make enjoyable puzzles. Again, if you would like to see the other entries, visit the . And you’re also welcome to share your favorites in the comment section below!