In the beginning

This blog started as the official site for the "In Search for Brickadia" Lego space building campaign.  While a number of us are closet AFOLs (adult fans of Lego), none of us are full on 24/7 enthusiasts.  But here we simply had a chance (Ed. Note: excuse?) for a bunch of mutual friends, along with their sons and daughters perhaps, to play with some of our ABS plastic blocks and share our creations with others we know.   


For the sheer joy of it.

The original Space Challenge had the following guide:

The nuts and bolts is as follows. Roughly every thirty (30) days, a challenge round will be announced here (and I'll will send an email prompt as well). These challenges will be broad in scope, but will follow a common theme which links them in a story arc. As of last year, Lego Space is 30 years old and so that is the backdrop we will be using.


For each challenge, a person/team must complete a build in the allotted time and send one/or more pictures to Carl by the end date. A short paragraph or two can accompany the pictures to help narrate their individual story. All the pictures will be posted on the blog and over the next few days everyone can vote on which the like best. After tabulating the results, the winner of the best build will be announced. What the voting criteria will be is still be determined, but we may have a few actegories such as 1) most original, or 2) most interesting, etc.. Winning a challenge round gives nothing more than bragging rites.


Any team can decline to participate in any round if they foresee an inability to complete due to lack of time in the upcoming month with no penalty. However, if a team simply fails to produce a build on time without notice (or puts something together truly half arsed), they will be penalized and will be asked to pay 1 Lego brick of their choosing to the winner before being allowed to continue.


A couple of other rules:

1. Paper backgrounds for photos can be used, but must be of a single, matte colour. No star fields, landscapes etc.. However, if you want to build a star field background out of bricks fro example, that is totally acceptable;
   
2. All challenge builds must be built of Lego. The use of occasional self-made stickers/decals is allowed if they are not the focus, and if another brand of bricks is used no one is going to complain (well, one guy might grumble :) ). However, the use of other toys or models (i.e. action figures, My Little Ponies, etc..) won't be accepted;
   
3. A maximum size may be assigned to challenges. This will be measured in dots/nubs. This size will correspond to base plate sizes and is simply to keep someone with a huge collection from building a Taj Mahal when the rest of us are building one room shacks;
   
4. Lego Space does not mean “only Lego Space sets are acceptable”. If you have some vikings that want to fly into space, and you describe why in a paragraph, that is fine. If the girls from Lego Friends want to join in the fun, all good. Everyone's entire collection is open to use and it is up to the individual teams to interpret the challenges to fit them;
   
5. If you want to form a team with your kids, that is obviously fine. But if you want to form a team separate from you kids (or viceversa) and enter twice, that is fine too. You can still help them with their builds as well... if they let you;
6. Anyone can join up at a later date if they want, as long as they complete Challenge #1; and,
7. At any time, if someone builds something not directly related to a challenge but a part of their story, feel free to send it and I'll post it up to share it with the group.
   

So that is the campaign in a nut shell. Any questions/concerns can be sent to Carl and we'll (the royal we) update things here as needed.


Ready! Set! Create!