Consider this, though -- if you are a BrickMaster, your odds of winning a contest shoot up, because there is a smaller pool of entrants. And since BIONICLE contests are among our most popular, it only makes sense to put a few in BM, since we are trying to make that publication as appealing as possible to paid subscribers, the same way BZP reserves certain things here for premium members to drive subscriptions.

I also wouldn't be so fast to dismiss BMs as bad MOCers -- one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free. The Landmark Building Contest we held last year in BM produced some of the best MOCs anyone at the office had seen in ages. Yes, there are younger and less experienced builders in BM, but they also exist on BZP and in every other fan forum out there.

BioHero - But if they "leave it alone," how do they ever get any better? Is every MOCer an expert from the time they start, day one? Or do they learn and get better through practice? Should a kid not put his entry up on display and feel that sense of pride, just because it doesn't happen to meet your standards? At the end of the day, LEGO building is an art, and that makes LEGO models a matter of taste -- what you think is lousy, someone else might like, same as with paintings or sculpture or any other art form. Should we set some sort of standard and then ban all builders who don't meet it from having the thrill of knowing their work is being viewed by their peers?

Greg

I think I might not sure I did enter the Marsmission contest

...And i expected the worst we heard about to be Antroz with a random mask... but it's Mutran. Setaccurate. Yipes.

Say, when will the winners know if they won?

Antroz with a random mask? Woah. And I thought a Maxilos rip-off with a Rahkshi head was bad.....

Can I still enter the contest?

Thanks for the tips, Greg. I've been contemplating on what to enter for the Mars Mission contest, now these will help me out.

While I, of course am anoyed with the poor DH MOCs that won, I understand what has been said. In general, it is fair.

And on contests only being in BrickMaster mags, I understand I'm perfectly fine with it. Problem is, it is only available in the US. There should be a way for other countries (such as the UK? ) to get involved.

I didn't even know about the DH contest while it was on, or Makuta Building Contest.

And seeing as it's been over a week Greg, i'l assume you didn't recieve my PM. I'll type it up again.

Can I still enter the contest?

No, It's over.

But if they "leave it alone," how do they ever get any better? Is every MOCer an expert from the time they start, day one? Or do they learn and get better through practice? Should a kid not put his entry up on display and feel that sense of pride, just because it doesn't happen to meet your standards? At the end of the day, LEGO building is an art, and that makes LEGO models a matter of taste -- what you think is lousy, someone else might like, same as with paintings or sculpture or any other art form. Should we set some sort of standard and then ban all builders who don't meet it from having the thrill of knowing their work is being viewed by their peers?

Yeah. I'm not that good of an MOCer yet, but I would have been even worse if I did not enter the 2 contests that I lost. But now I know a little more about creativity and originality. It used to be where I would combine the instructions for 2 sets and call it done. But now I've improved a little, and if I didn't try, I couldn't have gotten to the fairly normal position that I'm in now. My chances are a little better for the Makuta contest, though I really don't expect to win.

Cool I will definitly try the sugestions.

on a seprate note: Does anyone know the next contest is? Or does no one know yet?

All this seems commen sense to me. Still, was the percentage of "set accurate" entries high, or just an irritance? Oh and any plans for the overall head of Brickmaster disrubution to let all those non-American residents in on these bm-exclusive contests, since you are shutting out a lot of creativity this way.

Why are the Bionicle contests always in Brickmaster? It really bugs me...

 

BtB

Presumably so that people will buy the Brickmaster magazine.

That's silly. Now they have a smaller pool to pull the winners from = the winner probably won't be as good as it could be.

 

BtB

acctually, a smaller amount of competiton means there is more of a chnce, so thik of it like this:

what is the better ratio(estimated):

1:10,000,000(normal mag)

1:10,000(brickmaster mag)

now do you see?

oh, and also less entries=less work for lego

Is it too late to join? 'Cause I'm working on a Makuta MOC right now! That's convienient.

Is it too late to join? 'Cause I'm working on a Makuta MOC right now! That's convienient.

It's over.

Just checking for clarification:

-Is this contest still open?

-Do you have to live somewhere to enter? (eg. US residents only)

-Do you make a Makuta already existent or can it be fan-made?

-If it is already existent, Can it be one not already made? (e.g. Spiriah)

-Who do I give my entry to?

-k-

With regard to contests being available outside of the US -- that is not my call to make, BrickMaster or no BrickMaster. That is decided by the LEGO Club Managers in those regions, who determine what the content will be in their magazines. BIONICLE content in the EU magazines tend to skew younger than it does in the US, with more focus on activities and such, because the BIONICLE audience is a good deal younger in Europe. Where most BIONICLE fans in the US are 9-11, in Europe they are 6-7 years old.

That said, UK did feature the BIONICLE Insiders section, where some fans got to review sets ahead of time, which is something that's not available in the US. In general, though, the EU magazines tend to feature fewer contests overall because they do not have the same manpower available to judge them.

One further note -- I think it is a little unfair to compare the DH and Rahi contests, only because Rahi is such a broad subject -- whereas most people think of DH as "humanoid" in appearance, which limits a bit what they can build. We saw the same thing in the Makuta contest, where most of the models looked very similar to each other.

Greg

Wow, help! Great! Noticed that you made a couple points about kids in the shot and problems with showing that image, and about creativity. That gives me a question about Cool Creations in the Lego Mag- why are almost all the pictures in it these days of unoriginal models and/or their child makers? Shouldn't that page be for creations that are actually cool? Don't get me wrong, I'm not just whining, if BrickMaster was available internationally and its Cool Creations actually had good models I'd buy it, it just seems a bit against the spirit to simply show a bunch of five-year-olds and their Axonn-with-Kalmah's tentacle on the foot models when there are thousands of good models out of sites like Brickshelf.

The people who built Mutran probably thought it was to build one of the Makuta currently released, instead of making their own Makuta.

Thanks Geg for your awesome advice!

thank you for the info, even though i won't be using it (No UK brickmaster ¬.¬)

and what was that about european fans being 6-7 years old?

make me feel old, why don't you?

Nice. Does size matter though? As in, if I made a super huge and still custom model, would it be disqualified because it is huge and you can't make out anything?

Thanks for the advice Greg! Though I must say, I already do that stuff to begin with. It is great that you are doing this for those that don't think of these things though. I do have a question or two.

You said,

one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free.

What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.

How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?

Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?

Thanks!

Thanks for this Greg.

If you submit a photo, please do not fold the photo up. We get a lot of that, and again, the photo will then not reproduce correctly in the magazine. If we can't display your winning model in a way that will make it look good in the magazine, then you won't make first cut.

Does this mean that if we folded up our entry picture we lost? I had to fold mine up to fit it in the envelope, so that'll be a bit annoying if that's why I lose.

Thanks for the advice Greg! Though I must say, I already do that stuff to begin with. It is great that you are doing this for those that don't think of these things though. I do have a question or two.

 

You said,

one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free.

What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.

 

How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?

 

Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?

 

Thanks!

 

I think its Chocolate Frogs

Cool! Thanks for sharing that with us!