Mariann Asanuma

Greetings all from California! My name is Mariann Asanuma. I've been a huge LEGO fan for over 25 years. I never had a Dark Age, heck I even took my brothers' LEGO when they stopped playing with thier's. I achieved one of my childhood dreams at 25 and became a Master Model Builder. I worked at LEGOLAND California for 5 years, 4 of them in the Model Shop. If you've been to any of the parks, you've probably seen some of my models. I've never been to any of the other parks, but I've seen pictures. I made the Miniland Las Vegas Sign and the MGM Lion at LEGOLAND California, I also made a copy of the fat flute playing pirate (from 65-70 pictures) from the Pirate Band in Windsor and I designed Patches the Pegleg Pirate Puppy (at least that's the name I gave him) which seems to have been copied in the Denmark park. I build all styles and types of LEGO models, but my specialties are mosaics and Miniland Scale models, I was even known as the Miniland Mom by my fellow Model Builders. I posted about my Batman Mosaic recently here on Eurobricks. I quit working at LEGOLAND in March of 2007. Now I am the first and only Female Freelance LEGO Artist in the world (at least that I know of). I do commission LEGO models for companies and individuals. I also wrote a book -- "How to Build a Round Ball with Square Bricks!" -- it is the start of a new series of LEGO instruction books that I am writing -- "Building Secrets from the Masters." Currently, I am writing the second book, and I hope to have it available early next year. I have lots of books planned, but if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. I also write and do instructions for BrickJournal. You can check out my website www.modelbuildingsecrets.com so you can see some of my models and info on my book (p.s. if you want to order it outside of the U.S. you can't go through the store, you have to use the Contact form and email me). As for Non-LEGO interests. I love Capoeira. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a Brazilian martial art that combines dance, gymnastics, and martial arts in a fight-dance style. I even made a LEGO mosaic of my Mestre's (Capoeira Master) logo design as a Christmas gift one year. I also love quilting, reading, writing, singing, origami, watching movies, and playing video games (just to name a few of my hobbies). I plan on posting several of my creations here, probably a mix of my old models from the park, and newer models that I've made in the past year or so.

Thanks Grevious, I'll add a post in the "Hello, my name is. . ." soon. To answer your question Oky Wan Kenobi, yes they are stickers, I mention that in the original post. I've had lots of people ask me what software I used. I actually don't use any software. What I do is print the picture out the size I need it to be, then I lay see-through brick paper over it, and draw out the design from there. I use lots of SNOT techniques, but to be honest, I don't really like that term. I call what I do "brick manipulation" since that is a more accurate term. You can kind of see the drawing on the table in the picture. It was taken in New York during the event. And to answer djo question, I don't honestly know exactly how many pieces are in the model, but I would estimate at least three to four thousand pieces. I've done lots of mosaics, both at LEGOLAND California, and on my own. You will be seeing more of all my models in the future.

Thanks for letting me know about this. I completed the survey. My one gripe that I added is that LEGO is still not actively trying to really get girls and women into LEGO as a hobby. A one of the minority of women out there, it saddens me that more girls don't know enough about LEGO to be interested in it. I have to admit though that LEGO is getting better in that respect too. With sets like the Taj Mahal and the upcoming Medieval Market Village I see a small, but bright light. If they didn't focus on the fact that everything for girls has to be pink, and focused more on girls actual interests, LEGO might finally get the other half of the population. At least LEGO is finally asking us what we want, although my other grip with the survey was that you could only pick 5 choices and not pick the whole list and add your own ideas. Hopefully some good things will come from this.

For those who don't know me, my name is Mariann Asanuma. I am a former Master Model Designer at LEGOLAND California. Now I am a Freelance LEGO Artist, the first and only female in the world, at least that I know of. Its a few months old, but here is my LEGO Batman Mosaic. I was hired by Warner Brothers Interactive to make this for the LEGO Batman Video Game Launch Party in New York City. It was quite a challenge to get all the details right. The mosaic is 2 feet by 2 feet, it has 14 different colors, and I used every SNOT technique I know to make it. It took me about two weeks to design and make this mosaic (twice -- once for the prototype and once for the final model). The little bats, the bat logo on Batman, and the logo and belt on Robin are vynil stickers that my brother Mike Asanuma (he is a Graphic and Special Effects Artist in Los Angeles) made for me. I also made the LEGO Batman Video Game Logo. This mosaic took me about a week to design a build. If you would like to check out more of my models you can see them at my website modelbuildingsecrets.com or on Flickr.

Thanks! That means I'm in

I'd like to be in, but I joined on November 1st!

Great review. I saw this at Toys R Us, but I decided to go with the Loot Island set instead. The crazy thing is that this set is $6(USD) while the impluse sets are $5!! After seeing both, I'd much rather spend the extra dollar and get two minifigs and a cannon.

I'm glad you like my site. Tell you the truth, I don't know much about bandwidth, etc. I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to computers. But that is why I like the Website Tonight program, its just type and click, you don't need to know anything about HTML. There are probably lots of programs out there like it, but this is the one my friend recommended and showed me how to use.

I got my domain name from one company, and then I went with Godaddy. My website is http://www.modelbuildingsecrets.com I use it for my freelance LEGO business. Two things I should warn you about if you don't already know: 1 -- Don't put LEGO in your website name, the LEGO lawyers will be on you for that. 2 -- Somewhere on your site you have to put a disclaimer saying that it is an unofficial site and that LEGO does not authorize it in any way. (or something to tha effect). Go daddy has a nice feature called Website Tonight which is a website builder program. It is pretty simple and comprehensive. I don't know if its the best out there, since I am still pretty new to making a website myself, but it serves my perposes pretty well. I like Godaddy a lot, except for one thing, their Shopping Cart feature only does shipping for within the US! If you are planning on selling things on your website, I don't recommend them since you are outside of the US. Hope that helps.

Great review! I saw the set along with the new pirate ship at LEGOLAND California. It looks like a good set to me, but I still think its a little pricey for what you get. I do love all the details and printing on the Minifigs though