With regard to contests being available outside of the US -- that is not my call to make, BrickMaster or no BrickMaster. That is decided by the LEGO Club Managers in those regions, who determine what the content will be in their magazines. BIONICLE content in the EU magazines tend to skew younger than it does in the US, with more focus on activities and such, because the BIONICLE audience is a good deal younger in Europe. Where most BIONICLE fans in the US are 9-11, in Europe they are 6-7 years old.
That said, UK did feature the BIONICLE Insiders section, where some fans got to review sets ahead of time, which is something that's not available in the US. In general, though, the EU magazines tend to feature fewer contests overall because they do not have the same manpower available to judge them.
One further note -- I think it is a little unfair to compare the DH and Rahi contests, only because Rahi is such a broad subject -- whereas most people think of DH as "humanoid" in appearance, which limits a bit what they can build. We saw the same thing in the Makuta contest, where most of the models looked very similar to each other.
Wow, help! Great! Noticed that you made a couple points about kids in the shot and problems with showing that image, and about creativity. That gives me a question about Cool Creations in the Lego Mag- why are almost all the pictures in it these days of unoriginal models and/or their child makers? Shouldn't that page be for creations that are actually cool? Don't get me wrong, I'm not just whining, if BrickMaster was available internationally and its Cool Creations actually had good models I'd buy it, it just seems a bit against the spirit to simply show a bunch of five-year-olds and their Axonn-with-Kalmah's tentacle on the foot models when there are thousands of good models out of sites like Brickshelf.
Nice. Does size matter though? As in, if I made a super huge and still custom model, would it be disqualified because it is huge and you can't make out anything?
Thanks for the advice Greg! Though I must say, I already do that stuff to begin with. It is great that you are doing this for those that don't think of these things though. I do have a question or two.
You said,
one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free.
What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.
How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?
Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?
If you submit a photo, please do not fold the photo up. We get a lot of that, and again, the photo will then not reproduce correctly in the magazine. If we can't display your winning model in a way that will make it look good in the magazine, then you won't make first cut.
Does this mean that if we folded up our entry picture we lost? I had to fold mine up to fit it in the envelope, so that'll be a bit annoying if that's why I lose.
~GreenBioGuy~Thanks for the advice Greg! Though I must say, I already do that stuff to begin with. It is great that you are doing this for those that don't think of these things though. I do have a question or two. You said,
one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free.
What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.
How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?
Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?
~GreenBioGuy~Thanks for the advice Greg! Though I must say, I already do that stuff to begin with. It is great that you are doing this for those that don't think of these things though. I do have a question or two. You said,
one 15-year old BZPer is a BM and consistently wins building contests, both in BM and in free.
What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.
How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?
Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?
Thanks!
I think its Chocolate Frogs
No... I'm 18 and only won one contest. (Thanks though)
I am interested in the answer too. I have a few thoughts on who it could be....
-- To the question about Cool Creations -- I am sure there are tons of cool models on Brickshelf, but if they are not submitted to Cool Creations, I can't use them. I can only work from what is mailed in to the magazine for use in that section. As for the online Cool Creations, I believe that everything that get submitted for that pretty much gets up there, as long as it is appropriate and using LEGO pieces. If we go purely on, "Only the absolute best stuff gets posted!" then all that would be up there would be AFOL models -- because they tend to be the best builders. Most AFOLS do not mail in entries for Cool Creations in the magazine because they realize this is a magazine aimed at 9 year olds, not 35 year olds (they have things like BrickJournal to show their models off in).
-- Building a really big or really small model does not disqualify you, no, as long it fits the theme.
-- Winners of the Makuta contest should be notified in the next couple weeks.
That said, UK did feature the BIONICLE Insiders section, where some fans got to review sets ahead of time, which is something that's not available in the US. In general, though, the EU magazines tend to feature fewer contests overall because they do not have the same manpower available to judge them.
One further note -- I think it is a little unfair to compare the DH and Rahi contests, only because Rahi is such a broad subject -- whereas most people think of DH as "humanoid" in appearance, which limits a bit what they can build. We saw the same thing in the Makuta contest, where most of the models looked very similar to each other.
Greg
and what was that about european fans being 6-7 years old?
make me feel old, why don't you?
You said,
What might his name be? You can PM me the answer if you like.
How soon will the winners of the Makuta building contest be notified? If I (hypothetically speaking) have won, when should I get a letter?
Also, am I correct in assuming that you guys don't just look at how good the MoC is, but at how good the story is behind it and the essay?
Thanks!
Does this mean that if we folded up our entry picture we lost? I had to fold mine up to fit it in the envelope, so that'll be a bit annoying if that's why I lose.
I think its Chocolate Frogs
I'm 18 and only won one contest.
(Thanks though)
I am interested in the answer too. I have a few thoughts on who it could be....
-CF
But then you can't enter from Australia! There are no Brickmaster mags here. It sucks, especially if an OOMN one happens.
-- Building a really big or really small model does not disqualify you, no, as long it fits the theme.
-- Winners of the Makuta contest should be notified in the next couple weeks.
Greg