BricksMcgee

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Posts posted by BricksMcgee

  1. Posted

    On 12/16/2023 at 4:31 PM, Sven J said:

    The "Winner Brick" arrived yesterday.
    A big "thank you" to all who were involved in organizing the contest!
    Looking forward to the BTA 2024!

    53401981490_87b6c29181_b_d.jpg

    Glad to hear it arrived, and thanks to HA Bricks for the winner bricks! Congratulations again for winning. 

  2. Posted

    16 hours ago, Commander Wolf said:

    I would like to suggest a "purist" category, thank you for your consideration :classic:

    I like that idea, thanks! I will add it to the list to discuss for next year. Our main limiters for new categories are sponsors and the likely number of entries we’d receive. I don’t think the latter would be an issue for this! 

  4. Posted

    2 hours ago, Sven J said:

    First of all, thank you @BricksMcgee for running the competition!

    May I suggest a modification for the future?
    For large-scale builders like me, @Spur II aus Klemmbaust or @Bensch55 , it's a pity that we can only enter in the "Best Other Locomotive" category - no wagon, no consist, nothing.
    So how about creating categories like "Best non-L-track Locomotive", "Best non-L-track wagon" etc? Or maybe allowing non-L-track models in the regular categories?

    (I know it would make judges' work even moretime-consuming, so it's really only a proposal, of course. Nevertheless, it would really be great for us large-scale builders!)

    Edit: corrected mistake regarding digital models

    Thanks for the entries Sven, love seeing them! 

    We've considered a lot of categories over the years including something like you suggest, but are limited a little by the sponsors, and also by the likelihood of a reasonable number of entries to present a good competition - this is why we’ve previously merged Asia and Australasia regions as some categories had previously received just one - or even 0 - entries in last years!

    We do review categories each year and could consider opening up the “L gauge” categories to other gauges, so I’ll put it back on the list for discussion once this year is done!

    Thanks again for the entries - keep them coming!

  6. Posted

    F3zWwWuW8AALeMH?format=jpgGood news train fans - The Brick Train Awards are back for its fourth year this September. An annual virtual event for LEGO train fans around the world, the awards showcase what the LEGO train fan community has been building in the last two years and is a great opportunity to see the variety prevalent in the hobby. 

    The awards are split in to 15 categories including awards for best steam, diesel and electric locomotive, best freight, passenger and special wagons, group or individual display, and 3 categories for TFOLs (Teenage Fans of LEGO). There are also 3 categories reserved specifically for digital models created in Bricklink Studio, Mecabricks or LDD!
     
    Each category is judged at a regional level in one of three regions - Americas (including both North and South America), Europe and the Middle East, and Asia & Australasia. The winners of the categories at this level are then discussed by a panel of judges to nominate one global winner in each category. 
     
    Each winner will receive a Brick Train Awards 2023 winners brick, and the 15 global winners will receive a $100 voucher from global sponsor Trixbrix.eu. The event is also supported by HA Bricks and Brick.is. 
     
    You can enter for free at bricktrainawards.com, and follow all entries on the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for the awards. can’t wait to see what people have been building this year! 

  7. Posted · Edited by BricksMcgee
    Sp

    On 12/31/2022 at 12:20 AM, Jack Sassy said:

    That's just me, I am sure most people will find yer questions easy to answer.

    We tried to cover every eventuality, but that’s a bit of a losing battle. Thanks again for completing it!

  8. Posted

    8 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

    Just did the survey, 'twas a bit hard answering few questions as my city isn't of the usual type (focuses more on forests and beaches rather than highways and rows of buildings), but all in all a good survey. :pir-thumb:

    Thank you! Much appreciated.

    Open to ideas to make the questions more relevant to folks - pm me or email playtime@bricksmcgee.com if you like. This is the first year, I’m hoping we can make the questions / answers more relevant over the years whilst retaining enough consistent queries over the years to track any trends.  

  9. Posted · Edited by BricksMcgee
    Add link

    the-big-brick-city-survey_lego-city-quesHello! Been a while since I’ve lurked here. 

    I have a survey about LEGO cities around the world called the Big Brick City Survey, which I’d love as many LEGO fans to complete as possible; it should take 5 - 15 minutes to complete depending on how in-depth you like to be, and we’re offering a £100 / €100 / $100 LEGO prize for an entrant drawn at random (if you want to share your details - you can still complete the form without giving me those).  

    We’re hoping to be able to spot a few trends, and present some fun facts about LEGO fans’ towns and cities around the world once we’ve processed the entries, hopefully around early March next year. The questionnaire asks about your city name, and any meaning you have associated with it, the size of it, how your city is governed, and if you have any notable landmarks.

    The survey form closes on Monday 30th January 2023. More information and the form are at Bigbrickcitysurvey.com

    Look forward to seeing your cities!

    Richard 

  10. Posted · Edited by BricksMcgee
    Forgot posts got merged!

    On 8/25/2022 at 11:32 AM, Ashi Valkoinen said:

    Hello!

    Do we know something about the judges, and the judging criteria?

    Like how the LEGO-build matches an existing prototype, proportions, scale, brickbuilt solutions over sticker and printed parts, etc?

    Last worldwide competition seemed to be really heavy on "british style" train winners. 

    All on the website, to a degree. 

    We’ve switched judges this year in many regions, as it is quite judge dependent on what they like. 
    —

    A final prod on this - entries (via website only this year please) close at midnight in your timezone on 30th September. 

  11. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Duq said:

    What's the judges view on 3D printing and modifying parts? In the FAQs it reads "... permit LEGO® elements which have been cut or modified". Is there a limit to how much modifying you can do?

    The reason I'm asking is that I've noticed an entry that appears to contain more than its fair share of customised elements. Before finalising my own entry, I'd like to be clear on what will be allowed.

    Good question, to which we don’t have a perfect answer for! There probably is a line somewhere, but we leave that to the judges discretion. I suppose it also depends where the cut parts are - it’s unlikely judges will see something in the centre of a boiler, or in the undercarriage, I suppose. 
     

    I’d certainly say some of the entries are past what I’d consider minor modifications, but I’m not judging this year, thankfully - a lot of superb models to chose from again this year 

  14. Posted

    On 9/2/2022 at 3:48 PM, Barduck said:

    actually, entered a digital too, diner coach for the COD consist UP 10303. The others are uploaded, the M10005 "City of Denver" and one of it's coaches "Ogallala". For next year I think I should manage to get the full consist build, already have the decals for it thanks to OKBrickWorks

    Excellent! They should be published in 2 - 3 days, seems to be a bit of a backlog at the moment (as I’m on holiday and Enrico, Henry and Levi are picking up my slack). 
     

    We’ve made a few improvements to the website too, which should hopefully improve the quality of some images on social which have been appearing very blurrily. 

  16. Posted

    5 hours ago, Ashi Valkoinen said:

    Hello!

    Do we know something about the judges, and the judging criteria?

    Like how the LEGO-build matches an existing prototype, proportions, scale, brickbuilt solutions over sticker and printed parts, etc?

    Last worldwide competition seemed to be really heavy on "british style" train winners. 

    The judges are listed under the about section of the website. There are also judging criteria on the category pages that are used as a rough guideline for judges. 

    We have a few changes for judges this year to shake things up again, so we’ll see what happens. 

  17. Posted

    2 hours ago, Duq said:

    I see prizes are sponsored/ donated by TrainedBricks and TrixBrix but can you give us an idea of what those prizes are likely to be?

    I need to update the website with those. $200 USD TrixBrix voucher for global winners, and there is a voucher for steam loco category winners from TrainedBricks which I think is $50 USD, but I will check. 
     

    Plus winners bricks. I know some winners didn’t receive these in the Americas last year, so we’ll try and sort those too. 
     

    But of course, we don’t do it for the prizes ;)

    On 8/23/2022 at 11:38 AM, Sérgio said:

    Finally! 

    I will attempt something :)

    I’m really glad we’re trialling this category. Lots of great models lost out in loco / wagon categories in previous years. 

  18. Posted

    On 8/13/2022 at 9:09 PM, dtomsen said:

    BricksMcgee, nothing about clone parts this time? Allowed or not in a physical build?

    We talked about this for a long time, and the consensus is still that the majority of parts should be LEGO bricks, but a small minority of clone bricks (if they don’t exist as LEGO elements) would be allowed.

     

    This may change in future years, we try to be adaptable!

  20. Posted

    2 hours ago, Vilhelm22 said:

    I may participate this year, but only digitally.  Couple of quick questions:

    1) I modelled a coach thinking it was real but turns out that paint scheme didn’t exist, only fictionally as an H0 model - is this unenterable?

    2) In a digital model, do all the pieces have to exist in that colour in real life?  Could I for example use dark red seats, despite that part not being produced in dark red?

    3) Where would I enter a digital full consist?  Say I was entering a full LNER Coronation service digitally, or something similar from elsewhere?

    1. That’s fine, they don’t have to be prototypical!

    2. They don’t have to exist but I suspect the judges may pick up on that if it’s obvious

    3. Good question. I think we’re aiming for built consists only, so digital models would need to be go in relevant loco / wagon category this year  

    As you can see, we’re trying a few new ideas out this year so there’s still a little to work out before entries open

    5 hours ago, legonerd54321 said:

    Awesome, so glad it's back! I don't have anything to submit this year, but if you need another NA judge, I'll volunteer :wink:

    Thanks! I think we’re sorted for all regions now this year 

  21. Posted · Edited by BricksMcgee
    Spelling

    3 hours ago, Hod Carrier said:

    Just a quick question.

    There appears to be a small inconsistency in some of the info. Electric multiple units (EMUs) are included with electric locos but there is no mention of other multiple unit types. Would it be correct to infer that a diesel multiple unit (DMU) would be included in the diesel loco category or should all MUs be caught by the consist/full train category?

    I appreciate that there is some variation in railway parlance depending on where in the world you are which may cause some confusion, and that the term "multiple unit" has different connotations in the US and elsewhere than it does in the UK and Europe. For the avoidance of doubt and to be entirely clear, what I'm referring to are railcars or self-propelled passenger trains without a separate locomotive formed of one or more vehicles together in a permanent or semi-permanent formation.

    I've been working on a couple of things for a while now but there's no way either will be ready before the deadline, so I may have to enter something older.

    A good question. Now we have a category for consists, I think I’d expect DMUs and EMUs to go in there. 
     

    We still have quite a bit of content to review on the website, will be ready for 1st September (I hope!). 

  23. Posted

    2 hours ago, XG BC said:

    one question @BricksMcgee: is a suspended mountain railway like this allowed (in the digital section)? it technically is a railway just doesnt fit any of the categroys.

    Yep, that would be fine in the digital loco category I think. 

    If it was built, you could enter it in the "other loco" category otherwise.

    14 hours ago, XG BC said:

    most likely digital and one of the locomotive ones.

    excellent, look forward to seeing them!