Are Star Wars MOC Builders becoming a dying breed?

[HJR-Holland]

Dear all,

I have been a Star Wars LEGO collector from the start in 1999 (for the young ones here: that was when Apple shares were still affordable *sigh*), and whilst gradually building up my collection,

I noticed LEGO as a company could not really satisfy my needs for figures and vehicles, so I did what I thought anyone would do with LEGO: I started building what I wanted.

I started making my own SW-figurines, my own SW-vehicles, and throughout the years made about 40+ vehicles of my own (and sometimes that of other people’s) designs and about 80 unique minifigs which I still have on my shelves today and enjoy very much.

I have been out of the running of MOC building for a while now, and upon my return to the world of LEGO Star Wars, I confess I was shocked to see what has happened:

The Eurobricks Star Wars page consists more of Clone Wars episode reviews these days than MOC showcases, which I can’t really blame as there are hardly any new MOCs in the forum anymore! Look at the hot topic these days:

- What did you buy lately

- What should LEGO bring out next

- What did LEGO bring out recently

- What minifigs should LEGO make

- Show your enormous minifigs collection

- Where can I find building instructions of a LEGO set so I can rebuild it

- Look at my recreation of a LEGO set with parts I hunted down from Bricklink

And so forth.

People, I ask you; why?

Not only here on Eurobricks, but also on FBTB.net, Imperiumdersteine.de and so forth I find an entire dip in creativity and ingenuity of MOCs, hardly any Star Wars MOC builders display their skills, and it seems the only thing that runs the MOC sections are single pane funnies and photographs of minifigs in the real world (Stormtroopers in the living room, Scout troopers in the woods, Snowtroopers in the snow etc.). I see pictures of LUG meetings, and Star Wars MOCs seems entirely vanished…

I really wonder where that came from? With the Clone Wars and TOR there are tens of vehicles and hundreds of characters which could / should inspire the Star Wars LEGO fans, and with LDD there is an extra tool (next to Ldraw) that enables anyone to create without any limits, but it seems hardly anything derived from any of these sources. Why I that?

Is it maybe laziness as LEGO churns out so many sets that it’s better to wait out and beg for sets rather to create your own? Is it lack of creativity? Is it because of the costs of building MOCs? I see endless streams of people complaining of what LEGO doesn’t do, but why not starting doing something yourself? Believe it or not, but you can build virtually anything out of LEGO, so why don’t you all do exactly that?

I look forward to read your reactions concerning my worries J

With kind regards,

HJR, (fellow) Star Wars MOC builder

[deckard9]

I see what you mean... The reason in my opinion is simply, that there are so many got Sets from Lego. Why would you build a tie fighter MOC if there is such a good set available. Why build a MF, when there is the UCS version... Its hard to find a model to buildt, that isn't a set or that hasn't already been build perfectly.

[HawkLord]

I would agree that there are very few worlds left to conquer, so to speak. At best I find myself making dioramas and combining elements rather than starting from scratch.

[Masked Builder]

Personally, it's a ton of work to build an accurate MOC that's 1:1 scale. (All I want to build) And usually I find myself wanting to build something larger than what I have pieces for.

[Borex]

I always was more like getting a kick out of the SWminifigs who are becoming more and more diverse and detailed than making new stuff from scratch. If i had the amount of bricks, and the wanted bricks i needed, i would make me some nice SW-dioramas though. But i just don't have the money to buy me all those bricks. And the bricks that i allready have are from the 80ies, so that would make MOCs in red, yellow, blue, white or black: Boringgggg!

[mechamike]

Im still building Star Wars MOC,s and MOD's (OT) but not posting it on the net anymore.. Feels like most things has already been done, by lego or by someone else with a lot more bricks and or skills..

Have posted some MOC's only to get a ," look at this instead ---link--. , it must be 50 000 bricks more than the moc you posted..

Have started building things UCS style a few times only to have had lego or someone else beat me to it...

But Im anyhow currently building 2 SW OT dioramas (both on about 20 33x32stud baseplates, one Hoth with UCS AT-AT in Wookipedia, minfig size and one Tattoine diorama, for the latest Im building houses and also putting togheter a lot of "civilan" minfigs and some own Star wars:ish things from my own and not Lucas Arts imagination .. its a slow process and Im not posting any WIP's pics..

[cavegod]

I'm still building mocs i just don't post them on here.

[Erdbeereis]

For me, I generally don't make SW MOCs because I prefer using my imagination to create new things, rather than trying to replicate something that has already been made in one way or another.

I'm still building mocs i just don't post them on here.

Why is that? I think we would enjoy seeing them.

[HJR-Holland]

For those who do build MOCs, but do not post them here, do you post them at all? And if so, where do you share your creations? Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places for MOCs...

[Werlu Ulcur]

Not taking into consideration parts costs, what I think is the principle reason that SW-themed MOCs have become scarce is that Lucas (and now Disney) saturated the market with almost everything out there. As said above, there's not much point of going through the hassle of gathering a whole bunch of parts (and waiting eons for everything to arrive) when you can go to a store and get basically the same thing ready and packed and with instructions. Why do you have so many MOCs in the City or Trains themes? Because there's still so much to build that you can't find as a set. I feel that the SW cow has been milked to the bone.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Werlu Ulcur

[Legofin2012]

I post my Star Wars MOCs here? And it takes a lot to get blogged on the EB Star Wars Forum, I've only seen really good MOCs on there.

[Masked Builder]

I post my Star Wars MOCs here? And it takes a lot to get blogged on the EB Star Wars Forum, I've only seen really good MOCs on there.

I think that has a bit to do with the bloggers being a bit behind.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

EB can be a little intimidating to new members

I am seeing some great MOCs in all the sections but they are huge and I would not know where to begin to make something like that

[Fuppylodders]

I agree with a53021.

By the time I came to build and completed my minifig scaled AT-AT which is one of my most fav vehicles, it had already been done a dozen times, recognition for the achievement of doing something different/difficult starts getting even more tougher because the standards are constantly being raised and eventually there becomes this point where someone has created pretty much the best version where it is difficult to improve upon and so the wow factor of anything else just slips away.

Id like to do a Republic Shuttle, but Cavegod has already made one which I feel surpasses anything I could achieve (other than adding a minifig scale interior :P)... as for doing things unique, well, I prefer vehicles over dioramas (at this point in time, anyways) because my imagination to create is quite limited as I get a lot of mental blocks...

So for me, vehicles worth MoCing, most already been done, that I feel I wouldn't gain much satisfaction out of making my own attempt...

Although Im only on the second season of the Clone Wars boxed set... so perhaps my imagination and thoughts will change as I progress further through the series :P

[TWP]

My problem is time...

[Empire911]

I'm following this forum for years and years and indeed always the same topics are comming back. Can't there be a different section for MOC building so that people that are only interessed in MOC's don't have to search for something they like to see. I'm always looking for idea's for MOC building and I'm never interessed in all the topics that are not building related. Don't repeat topics for years and do something new, that's what I think.

[naugem]

I think there's a general decline in SW interest. I've only been into Lego for about 3 years (mostly buy SW), but I get the impression that SW in general has moved from the top to somewhere in the middle in the 'Lego ladder'. A couple of years ago TRU sales excluded SW, now they exclude Ninjago and Chima. A lot of Star Wars sets get big discounts on Amazon shortly after being released. Even FBTB didn't run a single SW-based contest all of last year, focusing more on other themes.

[M<0><0<DSWIM]

I, personally, have been mocing (mostly in the SW theme) for around 10 years now! I tend to build in uncommon scales (other than minifig) and try combining odd themes (like Gundam and SW), so I personally think, alot of people are turned off or don't understand what I'm doing. You also have to consider that this site is mostly discussion-based. If you want to look at peoples' builds, check out Flickr or Mocpages. I can assure you that there are MANY builders, like myself who are building strong and constantly.

[Brickdoctor]

I think part of the problem that I'm seeing a lot lately is that it's becoming harder to convince members that LEGO sets aren't really that accurate. You take the fact that TLG has really stepped up their game, and the fact that eventually most MOCers want to take a break and build in another theme*, and the fact that most people first discovering the online LEGO community are fans of set or minifig collecting and not of building, and all those factors combined leads to a general assumption that collecting a bunch of sets or minifigs is more rewarding that MOCing. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular nor can I really single out any members; that's just the overall sense I get reading the discussion in this forum lately.

*This is the case with me. I'm by no means satisfied with the sets' accuracy and there are a bunch of things I want to build for Star Wars, but my building time and pieces are limited, and I've been building a lot of Historic/Heroica lately. Not because I'm disinterested in Star Wars but because I'm interested in Castle, too.

I think that has a bit to do with the bloggers being a bit behind.

Actually, at least in my case, it's my trying to make sure the blog keeps up a very high standard of MOCs that get blogged.

[DrasticPlastic]

My problem is the £500 quid involved each time...

[Calanon]

I have certainly noticed less Star Wars mocs than there were a few years ago. I agree with the other points; TLG has made so many excellent and varied sets that it seems difficult to make something truly stand out.

[Clanure]

I have a few different ideas as to what is happening. I also think it's a healthy dose of all of them that is creating the shortage.

1. As has been said before, unless you build it with at least a few thousand pieces, create something very accurate and in scale, or come up with some amazing new technique, you aren't going to get noticed. Why do people show off their stuff? To get noticed. Let's be honest, that's what it's about. You want kudos from people who share an interest in the things you are interested in. If you aren't interested in getting noticed, you MOC, but you don't post. It's about that easy.

2. The first reactions a new builder gets to their MOCs shapes, imho, their feelings towards the process. If I spend hours and hours on something, post it, and then have that MOC criticized for any of the myriad of things we criticize for, I don't think I would want to post anything else. The creative process has then been stifled for that new builder. I'm not saying comments should be all fluff and no substance, but it seems once you've achieved a level of moderate building skill (which anyone can achieve with just a little effort), you fall into a void of being too good to be noticed for how bad you've done, and too bad to be noticed for how good you've done. That's the problem with mediocrity. Nobody notices you, period.

3. The SW universe and it's fans are a peculiar and particular bunch. The vast majority don't appreciate non-canon subject matter being tied to SW. Even if I build a perfect MOC of perhaps some sort of TIE variant, if it hasn't been seen in the movies, shows, books, etc. then it really is nothing more than another sci-fi vehicle. Regardless of how much I stick to the aesthetic of the canon TIE ships. Going back to #1 and #2, if it isn't going to be well received and I'm not going to get some notoriety for it, why post?

4. As with every hobby (and really just about everything), there are elite members. These folks could stick a chewed up brick on a turd, and they would receive praise because of their past achievements. Right or wrong, it's not my place to say, but it happens. The rest of the community envies and desires that same praise, but it just doesn't happen that way. That also leaves new builders with a bad taste towards the process.

5. There's obviously the time/financial (not to mention talent) constraints that keep most of us from building in the "uber-UCS, more accurate than the 'real' thing, fully functioning repulsor lift" scale that as mentioned before is what gets noticed.

6. I think SW Lego has transcended normal Lego and is now more on par with SW Action Figures. There's a contingent of the fan base now that really has no interest in the Lego aspect of it. How many of you out there cringe to think that my UCS MF has been disassembled and the parts all sorted in with the rest of my Lego collection? That contingent would have no interest in any MOC really.

7. Lastly, there's that contingent of the fan base who doesn't care how cool/well built something is, if it didn't come from TLG, then it isn't acceptable. Just like some fans don't count exclusives because of the limited availability, or count clone bricks etc. So, if it isn't legit in their eyes, they aren't going to comment. No comments means no motivation to post MOCs. No motivation means less and less MOCs on EB.

If this seems like a rant, I don't intend it to be one. These are just the observations I've had as well as my own personal experiences. YMMV.

It might be nice if every posted MOC had significant constructive feedback, but that just isn't reality. It requires a lot more work than most are willing to give to constructively provide feedback on MOCs that are mediocre.

[ShaydDeGrai]

I think there's a general decline in SW interest. (snip)

I kinda have to agree with naugem here. Rather than spurring interest in SW, I think the saturation of sets, Clone Wars on TV, video games, LEGO movies, Family Guy parodies, comic books, novels and now the threat of a new movie on the horizon, I'm not "interested" I'm burnt out.

Don't get me wrong, I was wearing a Darth Vader belt buckle and toting a Star Wars lunch pale a LONG time before it was cool and I like the franchise as much as the next fan, but it just doesn't engage me anymore. When it comes to MOCs, I just don't have a passion for SW as source material anymore. Why take the time to design a snowspeeder (my favorite SW craft) when I already own (at least) four official variations on the theme ranging from puny to UCS. Official kits are done and redone and redone again, CW kits are coming out for things I don't even recognize. And every now and then when a new SW MOC does surface, it is usually stunningly over the top, beyond anything I'd be attempting myself or anything TLG would consider trying to market even under an UCS label, so I don't really feel I have anything to add to the conversation as it were.

I don't feel the need to build _another_ AT-AT or my umteenth TIE fighter, or any one of a dozen Clone War ships that resemble minor reworkings of designs from more iconic vessels from the movies. Personally I'd like a classic UCS style Star Destroyer that DOESN'T rely on magnets to hold it together, but I'm not irritated enough by the fragility of that particular model to bother MOCing up my own. I can't speak for anyone by me, but it just doesn't seem worth it; I don't have infinite time or an unlimited brick supply and the rewards of investing my time money and effort at MOCing in the SW universe just aren't there for me anymore. I still buy and build the kits, but a MOC represents a level of investment that just doesn't pay off at this point.

There are lots of other franchises vying for my MOCing time (LOTR, Stargate, B5, Star Trek, Dr. Who, BSG, etc.) where there aren't (and probably won't be) a constant stream of official kits saturating the market and (most) subjects haven't been definitively done to death.

[cavegod]

HJR and others, this is what I've been working on for nearly a year now, any ideas or suggestions for the rear half I'd gladly appreciate as it's bloody difficult!

See still building!!

Edited April 4, 2013 by cavegod

[Lobot]

I have a fairly decent collection, but it's all safely kept in its own boxes away from the risks of sunlight or dust, so when I build something myself I normally hit Bricklink for parts, which can be an expensive way of doing things! I've tried to use LDD, but I find it too frustrating (and I already spend 8 hours a day looking at a PC screen for work, so it isn't that appealing).

There are many amazing builders on the net (cavegod, Anio, Brickplumber, marshal banana etc etc) it's just best to leave it to them! Also my standards are far higher than my ability; i.e. I know what I want my builds it to look like, but I find it impossible to acheive it. I've spent several years debating building a large Cloud City, but it's driven me nuts each time I tried!!

Bricklinking sets though is fun, it's more of a challenge to me than building a conventional set, and it's a good way of keeping the grey cells ticking over.