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Oky

EBSW Forum Blog Interviews

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Alright, so we Rebel Bloggers sat together and thought about ways of making the EBSW Forum Blog even better, and we came up with this: Blog interviews! From now on, we will be interviewing important members of the Lego Star Wars fan community and post it here on the blog! And who better to interview first but our great leader, Star Wars moderator KimT!

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INTERVIEW: KimT

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[cover photo c/o Oky]

For starters, a little background info - how did you start out here in Eurobricks? And how the heck did you end up becoming staff? :tongue:

How did I start? It's been a while since I joined EB, so it's getting kinda hard to remember.

As I recall I was searching the internet for a LEGO related fan site (at that time I had no idea what a forum or internet community was) and the search came up with Eurobricks - which was a quite new site back then. I read through the few pages of topics and decided to join. Mostly because they were planning an Event in Billund and I thought it would be fun to go along with my friend Morten. We did - it was the first EB Event and I recall us being 6 persons in total :laugh: I believe it was; Morten, Ras, Snefroe, Xwingyoda, DoubleT & me. Please correct me if I'm wrong :blush:

Anyways it was great fun and I kinda just stuck around since then.

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What are the ups and downs you've experienced as the SW Moderator? What has been your greatest challenge so far?

Well most of all I'm really surprised by the positive feedback I've been getting since I was staffed. A lot of members have pm'ed or emailed me, saying that I was doing a good job and that the forum was moving forwards qualitywise and also becoming much friendlier than other forums on the internet. Such feedback really makes me happy, it's friggin' awesome being appreciated for what you do - especially when you do it "for free" and out of pure "liking".

Also hosting contests is a fun thing to do - I really love the amount and general quality we get in the entries. A lot of members put a lot of effort into making great MOCs for us all to enjoy and for that I'd like to thank them: "THANK YOU!" At the same time, I must admit that sometimes the contests nearly choke me - it's a hefty task setting them up and then check all the entries and handle the final votings. I promise myself every time that I'll never ever do it. Which I fail at miserably :laugh:

My greatest challenge was taking over the Star Wars Forum.

The guys who left was indeed iconic at the time and the epitomy of what the Star Wars Forum was. When they left, there was a vaquum that sucked in a lot of kids and the forum turned into a mess. Mostly because noone was there to take over and keep it clean. After a while I complained to the EB staff and they instantly threw me to the wolves a regulator badge and told me to do what I thought was best. I did and I'm sure I pissed off more than one member in doing so. I never meant to step on anyone's toes, but the Star Wars Forum needed a spring cleaning and I was the guy who did it. I got quite a bunch of angry pm's back then - some of them quite threatening :sceptic:

After a while the forum straigthened up and I could lean back and relax a bit more. It wasn't fun, but it turned out just fine.

A bit nerdy, but I actually liked making all those indexes that now pester the Star Wars Forum and other forums that accidently didn't have a review index or such. Perhaps I'm just like that? A little systematic and neurotic at the same time? In a good way though :laugh:

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What noticeable changes/trends have you seen over the years on Eurobricks, especially the Star Wars forum?

Well primarily the whole site (Eurobricks.com) has changed from being the Black Sheep - primarily focusing on leaked info and "not playing ball" into a site dedicated to our mutual hobby and several cool facets of it. I'm definately liking this newish approach. We've got the Reviewers Academy going strong for several years now, making great reviewers. It's an awesome addition to our site and I believe it's been affecting all LEGO fan sites. Also the topics have become more focused and with more mature and interesting stuff than earlier. I like the article-like topics where members dwell on details and facts. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then just go through the years in the Star Wars Forum Index (pinned) or have a quick look in the Technic Forum. (I have no idea what they talk about - but it's clear that they are talking serious technic-geek stuff on a high level).

So to keep it short - the kids in the Star Wars Forum have either grown up or just become more mature in general :laugh::wink:

Plus there's plenty of great things being discussed and shared. I love the Star Wars Photography and Single Pane Funnies topics. Members give each other great feedback and sometimes even hints on how to improve photography. - What's not to like? That's what it's all about :wub:

We get so many great MOCs these days too - and I believe that the high quality of reviews and MOCs tend to keep kids from posting crap as much as they used to. We have become a mature and well structured forum with a lot of dedicated members - again "THANK YOU!"

Without them, Eurobricks' Star Wars Forum would be nothing.

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Why LEGO Star Wars? How did you get into the hobby? (How young/long...)

Why LEGO Star Wars? That's a joke right? In 1999 what else was there to pick?

Rock Raiders? Adventures, Ninja, Aquazone, City (:sick:) or Bionicle? No thanks! :laugh:

Nah seriously I wasn't into LEGO from 1989 (my last set was the 6085 for X-mas 1988) to 1999. I was into girls, rap and being young :blush:

Then in 1999 TLG launched the Star Wars line and I was immediately hooked.

And since then I've been buying every single Star Wars set. Except that I hated the Phantom Menace enough to reject buying the sets. Which cost me a fortune when I finally decided to buy them. This is where Ras and Morten probably will comment on the price I ended up paying for Watto's Junkyard :sceptic:

Only having a 56K Flex Modem at the time left me in the dark when it comes to internet stuff for another 4 years or so.

How much time do you spend on LEGO? What do people around you (such as the Missus!) think of your being an AFOL ?

Well I don't spend that much time on building - most of my LEGO has been stored for ages as I lived in a 3 room appartment until December 2011 and now I live in a 4 room appartment with the wife and 2 kids. One day I'll buy a house and the wife's promised me a LEGO room then :wub:. I do spend quite a lot of time online instead. But it's mostly when the kids sleep. I don't do watching TV much, so the wife watches TV or reads a book and I sit in the living room, tapping away on the keyboard. So we're not in seperate rooms or anything :laugh: She accepts my hobby, but sometimes complain that I spend too much time or money on it - which is true most of the time. Don't tell her I said that! :angry: People around me have always been accepting my hobby. My family is cool with it and so was my work. Even the kids that I taught found it quite cool - perhaps they found it cool that I was cool about having a "childish" hobby? My advice to anyone would be: Be cool about it - it's your hobby and if people mock or dislike it - then they probably shouldn't be your friends anyway, should they?

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Aside from LEGO, what other hobbies do you have? - How has the LEGO hobby changed/impacted your life? Do you have any practical use of LEGO in your daily life?

Well I love Formula 1 and I hope to find the money time to finally go to a Grand Prix some day.

I can spend hours and hours just reading through F1 related sites to find technical info or paddock gossip.

Did you know that Kimi is going to race for "my team" this year? :wub:

It's going to be a blast this season - and Ferrari's chassis just failed the crash test *huh*

But enough on that - I've got a topic going in community on Formula1 already.

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It's probably pretty obvious for those who know you, but for those who don't, why KimT? And why the "Santatrooper" SigFig?

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Yes why KimT - it's an abbreviation of my full name, or at least it was before I got married.

Kim Thomsen - slap it together and it makes KimT.

Plus since childhood a lot of people called me that.

Something to do with the fact that Kim alone feels "unfinished" when you say it and adding the "T" (a full stop) makes it complete.

As for the sigfig, it was an X-Mas avatar that sticked around for too long and eventually turned into my permanent avatar.

This was my avatar before the Santatrooper and I actually prefer the latter.

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Where did the idea of a Star Wars forum blog come from, and when? (Were you getting bored of the SW forum and wanted something new to "explore"? :tongue:)

Yes actually I was a little bored with the Star Wars Forum. Everything was running so goddam smoothly and Kiel was taking over a lot of the stuff that I used to do. For that I am thankful - it was all getting somewhat of a burden when Kiel stepped in. He's a great wingman and he carries the load these days. I did the initial work and he keeps the engine smooth and running. Can't you hear the silent satisfied humming of it all?

So I needed something new to keep the forum moving forwards into 2011. What would it be?

I'd already launched a twitter, a facebook (now dead) and a flickr account.

So I went for the blog option.

Classic Town and Classic Pirates were both doing good and I wanted a place of our own to flash everything interesting from the Star Wars Forum. What would be better than a blog? I could have flooded the frontpage, but decided not to. Instead I launched the blog and tried to keep the EB frontpage updated with news and reviews.

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How were you able to deal with the first few months of the blog? Who helped you at first? Any growing pains?

It was hard work. I did the blogging alone and got some tech help from Shadows (Thank You :wub:).

And it all just grew from there - I wasn't sure about keeping the blog.

It was a test at first, but the views kept growing and it was time to lure in the first bloggers.

They're all doing a great job and right now we keep a constant 1000 views per day *huh*

There's been more than 130.000 views since the launch.

How do you feel now that the blog has been around for a year? Were your expectations met? - What does the blog have in store for its avid readers this year (and in the near future)?

Hell yes, I was hoping for a few thousand views per month - we had 120.000 in the first year.

It's growing real fast now - so it's time to push it even further with reviews and more Star Wars stuff that isn't alone focused on our own forum or LEGO for that sake. My dream is to do an interview with the LEGO Star Wars designers in Billund. An interview based on questions made by our members. That would be something. Plus the Rebel Bloggers most certainly have great ideas of their own on how to make it all better and bigger.

Alright, Interview's over. Back to work!!

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Well, there you have it. Our first EBSW Forum Blog Interview! We hope you enjoyed it and will join us again next time! Leave any comments or additional questions you might have!

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This is great and a great idea! It's nice to get to "know" the head honcho himself! :laugh: Great stuff! Can't wait to see who you interview next...

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I grew up in the 80's riding BMX (FREESTYLE).. I belong to a few of those forums as well and they have interviews with members and staff and it was a good idea. This is a good idea also, it lets you get to know the people behind the screen and some background on them. I have been a member one other BMX forum for about 8 years and made a good name for myself. This is a good chance to let staff and possibly other members find out a little about each other. even though i've only been here since OCT 11 i think you are doing a great JOB , keep it up. :classic::thumbup:

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This is a great idea, and I really enjoyed KimT's interview. It's nice to get someone's perspective on things outside of a normal thread. I think its also nice to get to know about someone's life outside of Eurobricks in a way that they don't have to share too much "personal" detail. The way this was done really does that. Keep these interviews coming!

By the way, one question, though... is it pronounced as one word, "Kimt" or two, like "Kim T?"

Edited by Churchill

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I like the interview Oky. Its nice to know a little more about our EB staff and where they came from.

I cant help thinking every time I see KimT's avitar he is holding a Koala bear. I know its a clone helmet but maybe some of my Aussie members can see this as well. The first time i saw it I thought he was from Australia.

I have PM KimT befor thanking him for his tireless work on the SW fourm. As well I also made a purches from him a few years ago through ebay and he sent me out a free poster with the Lego I purchased. See he is a awsome guy that dose alot for the Lego SW community. Keep it up :thumbup:

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I cant help thinking every time I see KimT's avitar he is holding a Koala bear. I know its a clone helmet but maybe some of my Aussie members can see this as well. The first time i saw it I thought he was from Australia.

:laugh: That's funny! I'm from the US and when I see it I think the same thing!

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Nice interview, though you gave KimT the wrong legs! His avie clearly has Dark Bley legs, yet you chose to give him Dark Grey! What is your reasoning, might I ask? Was it simply a misunderstanding, or is there something more sinister at work here? :look:

...

...

...

:tongue: A question: Do you sit down with the people you're interviewing in real life, or is the interview done via PM or some other private means?

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I cant help thinking every time I see KimT's avitar he is holding a Koala bear.

:laugh: That's funny! I'm from the US and when I see it I think the same thing!

You're not the only ones - that dang bear-lookin' clone helmet has fooled the best of us. :laugh:

Great! I ready for the next one! (Who will it be?)

Stay tuned! :wink:

A question: Do you sit down with the people you're interviewing in real life, or is the interview done via PM or some other private means?

Here's the general interview process:

- We contact the person if he's interested doing the interview with us.

- Once we get confirmation, all of us bloggers adjust our schedules accordingly to accommodate the interview.

- We book a flight to the country of destination (in this case Denmark).

- We go to the interviewee's house, set-up the interview room with all our hi-tech cameras and other equipment (and don't forget those Death Star throne chairs!)

- We do the actual interview...

- After the interview, the interviewee, out of hospitality, serves us lunch/dinner, and if we're lucky we could get a couple of LEGOs here and there from his collection.

- We leave, say our thanks to the interviewee, and catch our flight back to our Rebel Base.

- We post-edit the "footages", run through a final screening, before publishing/publicizing the interview.

Quite a complicated and tedious work isn't it? :wink:

:tongue:

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You mustn't leave out the part where we make costumes for all of our sigfigs. I've had that X-wing suit sitting in my garage for about six months now.

:tongue:

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You mustn't leave out the part where we make costumes for all of our sigfigs. I've had that X-wing suit sitting in my garage for about six months now.

Getting that thing through airport security is a pain in the MegaBloks, by the way. :hmpf:

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By the way, one question, though... is it pronounced as one word, "Kimt" or two, like "Kim T?"

It's pronounced as "Kim T"

I cant help thinking every time I see KimT's avitar he is holding a Koala bear. I know its a clone helmet but maybe some of my Aussie members can see this as well. The first time i saw it I thought he was from Australia.

I have PM KimT befor thanking him for his tireless work on the SW fourm. As well I also made a purches from him a few years ago through ebay and he sent me out a free poster with the Lego I purchased. See he is a awsome guy that dose alot for the Lego SW community. Keep it up :thumbup:

And we're back to the bear discusssion :laugh:

Thanks for your kind comments :blush:

:laugh: That's funny! I'm from the US and when I see it I think the same thing!

A lot of people do :grin:

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Very nice idea, I enjoyed the reading and the comments from members that have been here for a longer time. Love the koala thing and it's good to know I was not the only one. I was 100% sure there's a firefighter helmet with a black line on the floor, but I didn't recognize the animal from any set. :S Also thanks to KimT + all the bloggers and keep up the good work!

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Oh the X-Wing is meant to be Fallenangel :laugh:. I've never noticed the Koala bear thing before... until now :hmpf_bad:.

Great interview though. Thank you to KimT for the brilliant SW forum :thumbup: :thumbup:, IMO the beast organisation of any of the sub forums on EB's, I wish other themes would have a review index like this one.

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With SW being my main focus when I first joined I looked up to Kim and irritated him regularly, it's fun to know more about the infamous santa trooper.

Very reminiscent of the EB interviews. I like it.

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Sadly you never succeeded at irritating. :grin:

"We shall double our efforts My Lord."

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Here's the general interview process:

- We contact the person if he's interested doing the interview with us.

- Once we get confirmation, all of us bloggers adjust our schedules accordingly to accommodate the interview.

- We book a flight to the country of destination (in this case Denmark).

- We go to the interviewee's house, set-up the interview room with all our hi-tech cameras and other equipment (and don't forget those Death Star throne chairs!)

- We do the actual interview...

- After the interview, the interviewee, out of hospitality, serves us lunch/dinner, and if we're lucky we could get a couple of LEGOs here and there from his collection.

- We leave, say our thanks to the interviewee, and catch our flight back to our Rebel Base.

- We post-edit the "footages", run through a final screening, before publishing/publicizing the interview.

The second option, then. :laugh:

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Great interview, very informative! :thumbup:

According to brcikset there is almost 200 SW sets now - KimTs apartment must be jam packed :laugh:

Can't wait until you interview me :tongue: Although I wont give up any of my LEGOs! :angry::laugh:

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According to brcikset there is almost 200 SW sets now - KimTs apartment must be jam packed :laugh:

Well yes it is! :blush:

Or not really. I can't wait to get a LEGO room at some point.

But for now, living in a 4 room appartment, leaves me no option, but to store it all.

So all my sets are carefully stored in cardboard boxes in a storage facility :thumbdown:

And yes those 200+ sets and my "regular" LEGO collection does take up a lot of space, even when it's carefully packed. :grin:

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i thought the interview was great! lots of insight n info on a fellow collector! plus it puts a face to a nick!

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