Do you contribute to Lego public displays?

[Legoist]

I'd love to make it a poll for quick counting, but I couldn't find the option to.

It would be good to start your reply with a quick answer: a) regularly, b) occasionally, c) never.

Think a) if you have done it more than once, last time was fairly recent, and you very probably will have the chance to do it again

Think b) if you have done it but either only once, or last time was more than a couple years ago, or you don't see more opportunities in the near future

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Add some extra information in your reply, such as:

- how often do you contribute to public displays with a MOC or layout

- what kind of events/occasions (incl. shop displays), and who organized it (TLG, local Lego club, a specific shop)

- in which way do you contribute, e.g. layout design, MOCing, technical support etc.

- how much did you share your task (e.g. in MOCing: did you build one thing alone or with others; in layout planning: were you the only designer or did you share the job)

- how did you get involved, e.g. you belong to a Lego club

- did you have an assignment or were you free to choose, or how much freedom did you have

- did you use your personal Lego material or were you given the bricks by the organization of the event

[David Thomsen]

I was in a local library last week and my eye was caught by a couple of Lego displays in cabinets. They weren't very advanced displays, just a few random sets, and after closer inspection I learned that they were owned by a seven year old.

This got me thinking... if they'll put up some random sets owned by a seven year old, surely they'd put some of my collection up. When I get next two modular buildings, the fire station and the emporium, I could make a nice street scene with all four of them. Or I could put up the Imperial Flagship, when I get that. It could be fighting Brickbeard's Bounty in a nice tableau.

I have a couple of reservations, though... for one thing I'm only of those people who won't let ANYONE touch their lego. What seems like perfectly acceptable Lego behaviour to other people, like unnecessary use of the fingernails, is completely horrifying to me. What if one of the staff wanted to 'adjust' one of the sets while I was away? What if someone had been eating icecream and didn't wash their hands before handling my lego with their sticky fingers? Yes... it's a toy, most people think you're SUPPOSED to be treated this way. And some people might not take my request seriously, since it's just a toy, and play around with the sets anyway.

And lets face it... if you were working in a library, and you had the keys to a lego display, and it was a set you had always wanted but had never seen built, wouldn't YOU be tempted to open the case up and have a closer look? Because, you know, the owner would never find out...

The other thing is transportation. This isn't so much of a problem, since I'm sure I could sort something out.

If I can sort something out with the staff, for example NO ONE touches my lego but me, I might be tempted to put up a display.

Edited January 11, 2010 by David Thomsen

[Ralph_S]

I'd love to make it a poll for quick counting, but I couldn't find the option to.

It would be good to start your reply with a quick answer: a) regularly, b) occasionally, c) never.

Think a) if you have done it more than once, last time was fairly recent, and you very probably will have the chance to do it again

Think b) if you have done it but either only once, or last time was more than a couple years ago, or you don't see more opportunities in the near future

Interesting topic. I hope that I can answer it without inadvertently insulting anybody.

The reason why you can't add a poll is because that option isn't available to 'Citizens'

I contribute to public displays regularly. In the last few years I've done it as often as three or four times per year. It's all done through the LUG that I'm a member of (The Brickish Association). We have an agreement with the staff at the official Lego stores in the UK to have models on display in their 'Window into the Community' display cases in store and some of my models have been in there on a few occasions. The model stays in there for a few months typically and might move to another store after that. They tend to be on the road for quite a while. I also display models at public shows. I tend to build MOCs and am sometimes involved in the design of a particular display, but I am generally not involved in organising the event itself. I'll display a collection of my own MOCs and/or contribute models to collaborative displays. The latter models are usually built specifically with displaying them in mind. The parts are all my own. Now, rather than trying to place everything in a category, I'll give examples of some of the shows I've been to.

-In 2008 the National Space Centre in Leicester in the UK had a science fiction movie weekend. They had people dressed up as characters from various movies and an exhibit of props, for instance and Brickish had a LEGO display. I helped to design and build two tripods for a small 'war of the worlds' city display. We also had a display of models of space ships from different movies, to which I contributed a model of a Viper from BattleStar Galactica and a model of Thunderbird 1, from the Thunderbirds TV series. I built both of them specifically for this event.

-Last year I attended Brighton Model world. This is a general convention type thing for model builders. It's not just LEGO. I displayed a collection of airplane MOCs and provided a series of cafe corner compatible buildings and a large number of minifig cars for a collaborative town/city layout. It was a lot of fun to get reactions from people who are into regular model railways and such. The next one is in February and I've already booked my trip.

-Brickish organises a massive annual LEGO show in the Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon in the UK. I've been there three times as well and hope to go again this year. In 2008 I contributed minifig scale vehicles and buildings to a collaborative cafe-corner city display. I also had a large display of my own, with all the aircraft and helicopter models I had at the time (and a few by a friend of mine). Here is a small part of it:

In 2009 I built several minifig scale buildings and boats, about 30 cars, a sea plane, a helicopter and various other bits and bobs for a massive city display called 'Bricksboro Beach'. It was a collaborative project. A good friend of mine coordinated it, although I was closely involved in coming up with the ideas for it. We'll be taking parts of it to Brighton this year. I also had a few large-scale cars on display as well as several aircraft MOCs as part of a '100 year of British flight' time-line.

This hobby for me is mainly about building, but knowing that the stuff I build will go on display and will be appreciated by hundreds or even thousands of people really adds a lot to the fun. If you've never done it, but there is a local LUG that organises shows, I can highly recommend getting in touch with them and putting something on display yourself. It is a blast.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Legoist]

I hope that I can answer it without inadvertently insulting anybody.

Uhm... why so defensive? You are subtly suggesting that this thread is meant to provoke you to make you insult someone. Is that innuendo or plain sarcasm? I feel so insulted! (...kidding )

The reason why you can't add a poll is because that option isn't available to 'Citizens'

Thanks for the info, I should have thought about that.

[Modulex Guy]

All the time... thats why I joined NILTC, Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club!

[tedbeard]

Answers

- a) regularly

- minimum four times per year

- VicLUG events (public hobby show, model railroad show, local museum show) and BrickCon

- MOCing, layout design, logistical support (tables, event planning, etc)

- MOCing done alone (often to a cooperative display standard) all other tasks shared

- All I have done in LEGO fandom has been because of/in conjunction with my membership in VicLUG

- all volunteer

- I have never even heard of being given brick to use to build for an event. What a strange idea.