What rules do you life by while MOCing?

[Bennemans]

Hi all!

I was wondering; what rules do you guys live by while creating your creative creations? Do you refuse to mix used and new bricks? Is a certain color banned from your household? Are all your buildings the same height? Do you only want flesh colored minifigs? What about mixing in Friends or Fabuland? Is only the original trilogy of Star Wars allowed? Stuff like that...

I have certain rules and guidelines for my modular building MOCs:

-Everything has to be functional:

All apartments need at least a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and lounge area

All shops need a toilet and preferable also a stockroom/canteen/backoffice

All floors need to be reachable by stairs (seriously Lego, what's up with the one-way escalators in Grand Emporium??)

-I only use yellow minifigs

-I wanna see studs as less as possible, but I'm not hating on them

-NO mixing of old dark gray with new dark gray, old brown with new brown (except for trees, then I don't mind the mix of hues), etc.

Sometimes I mix the light grays if I don't have enough of one or the other, but will change it when I get more

-NO other brands / third party bricks (like BrickForge)

-Primary colors are only allowed as accent-colors and in non-visible places; NO fully red buildings for me

I'm really interested in hearing what kinda rules and guidelines you guys live by. And do you have a reason for certain rules? Or are you a rebel without a cause and do you do whateva you want?

Edited July 9, 2014 by Bennemans

[Chilis]

As I should say it myself. No mixing old/new parts in the same MOC or in any other way. If a part/brick is damaged it will be banned from the collection for lifetime. Everything* (as you have listed) have to be functional and realistic. No StarWars or other themes in my CITY, that is the main rule, but nobodys perfect ait :)

*is awesome

[Andy D]

No rules for me. It's all LEGO. I mix themes to add a bit of whimsy, I figure they all live in a diverse LEGO universe.

Andy D

[LEGO Guy Bri]

No mixing old/new parts in the same MOC or in any other way. If a part/brick is damaged it will be banned from the collection for lifetime. Everything* (as you have listed) have to be functional and realistic. No StarWars or other themes in my CITY, that is the main rule, but nobodys perfect ait :)

Same here with the added of similar colors, even if both look/are new, light grey and bley typically don't make it into same MOCs. Although there was one exception where the technic piece I was using for a differential only came in light grey. I will admit mixing the old and new lt/drk grays make for more realistic rock faces

Edited July 9, 2014 by LEGO Guy Bri

[MstrOfPppts]

Interesting topic. I must say it all depends on what I'm building. For example for SoNE, I decided to go as studs free as possible and of course licensed theme requires fleshy heads. This is for the style but some general rules aply everywhere:

- I don't mind to build in either fleshy or yellow color but mixing them is a no go!

- same goes for the Friends / Fabuland. MOCing in their universe is acceptable as long as no mixing is done.

- Any old or used elements in any colors are acceptable as long as they're not chewed or damaged.

- For now I'm a purist but all these armor and weaponry might soon get hard to resist ...

[AFOLguy1970]

So far....

(1) All parts must be Lego

(2) new and used mixed together are fine as long as all pieces are presentable

(3) Minifigures can have yellow or flesh faces. Friends would probably not blend in well.

(4) I might consider custom made stickers for tiles for accenting certain things.

[Sir Brickalot]

I've started to open up my horizons recently. More SNOT building, more base building, I've been doing a lot of one set MOCs and I am no longer a purist thanks to my custom Hawkman minifig.

[Orange Leader]

Rules, Schmules. I try to be as anarchistic as possible when mocing. Doesn't mean that I'm making 'rainbow' creations though.

[Paul B Technic]

Easy, "Would TLG do this"?

[Sir Walter Maugham]

Hm.... I guess I'm fairly strict now that I think about it:

-No fleshies

-No old colors

-No using badly damaged pieces

-Keep illegal techniques to a minimum (and some are off limits)

And the most importantly:

--Only official pieces--

I'm 100% purist. That's the one rule I'll never bend.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Sir Walter Maugham

[N-4K0]

I don't have any particular rules, other than allowing myself to modify any part if I need to.

[Peppermint_M]

One rule- it has to withstand existing. If touch or movement collapses it then that MOC is a failure.

[Loki]

Only rule I have:

Have fun.

I'm not really a picky MOCist, tbh, I just sometimes do it to relax or to think about something for a while ('specially if I get all stumped on a creative writing endeavor), also why I don't think I've ever really shared my creations... at least like, not in the last... err... eight.... years... >.>;;

[legoman19892]

Never MOC sober.

[Im a brickmaster.]

Well as far as personal creedo to MOCing the BrickMaster way: Only official parts, no 3rd party stuff whatsoever, creative building is encouraged and of course, have fun! Lately I've been trying to make my builds more sturdy, as peppermint m pointed out, it is a toy and should hold up when being moved or played with.

[GallardoLU]

My rules are short but concrete as they come.

1st. No old and new of a color set. (No new brown old brown, but new grey and old brown is fine)

2nd. No modifying pieces in any way shape or form. (This includes painting)

3rd. NO STICKERS!!! Printed are fine but used sparingly (I extend this to official sets as well)

4th. Lego only!

There is one other guidline I try to follow: build something no one else has (if it’s not an original idea)

Note: I do have (2) 3^rd Party Figs: 1 from Arealight (Shea Vizla) and a US Marine in Dress Blues from Citizen Brick. But I don’t count these as MOCs, so rule 4 didn’t apply.

Edited July 16, 2014 by GallardoLU

[rodiziorobs]

For me, in regards to others' rules:

Color mixing (old/new) is okay, unless I decide not to for a particular build. They are sorted together, and often end up built together.

Damaged pieces are okay so long they still clutch together and don't detract from the build.

Fleshies and yellows could mix, I suppose, it just never works out that way.

The only off-brand allowed is Tyco, because they are identical (or superior) to Lego in every way, they are not available any more, and I have a bunch of them. Plus, its mostly just basic bricks anyway.

Occasional sculpting or cutting is okay, but it has been years since I've done it.

Sturdiness is important, but can sometimes be compromised for function or aesthetics' sake. For example, stretching the tolerances of bricks (such as connecting plates at odd, almost-legal angles) is totally allowed.

The only "rule" I have is to never use the illegal connection where you insert a Technic pin into the bottom of a brick. I just don't like doing it.