Subject:
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LEGO Dreams
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 31 Aug 2005 12:56:27 GMT
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LEGO Dreams
It was nearly 10 years ago that Dan Parker, Steve Barile and I sat around a
table dreaming of things that may be. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could talk
directly to LEGO? Influence product designs? Have LEGO clubs all over the
country doing the same thing we were just starting to do? And here we are, 10
years later and so it is. At the time, these things sounded like pie in the
sky.
Now I find myself dreaming again. I look at all the AFOL talent that is out
there – in terms of building talent, organizational ability and
entrepreneurship. I take this moment in time to share some of the dreams in my
head for the next ten years.
Ten years from now:
- When people design or remodel their homes, they will make having a LEGO room a requirement much like many people now have media rooms.
- will be able to sign up for LEGO building classes in their community, much like they would take a pottery or drawing class.
- will be a monthly print based AFOL magazine.
- will be regional, all LEGO shows much like Antique or Train shows that travel the country.
I suspect others have dreamed of these or similar things.
Elaborating further:
Perhaps one of the Architects or similarly talented people in the AFOL community
will design the ultimate LEGO room for an AFOL. Everything from a building
tables to the storage system and lighting. Browsing the web I’ve seen some very
impressive LEGO rooms
With all the sessions given at regional LEGO conferences, much of the material
for LEGO building class has been broached, pulling all that information together
into a class format, convincing schools to offer the class, finding people to
teach the classes are all challenges that lie ahead.
BrickJournal is off to a phenomenal start. I was so impressed I ordered the
print version from lulu.com. Congratulations to Joe and everyone else that are
working hard to make this happen. I suspect, however, the AFOL community may
need to double or triple in size before a offset print magazine can be
sustainable.
Enough talent is growing in the AFOL community where all LEGO regional shows can
start working. Specifically, I’m talking about a shows where LEGO is the
headline and people pay a fee to get in. Vendors give a cut to the show
organizers. Some of this is already happening, but most of it is hinging on
volunteer effort. To make is sustainable, a revenue generating model needs to
become more established.
All of these dreams are fully within the reach and control of the AFOL
community. LEGO will continue to do what it does – make the best construction
toy in the world. These dreams could certainly be facilitated by LEGO and it is
certainly in their interests to see these things happen and be successful. But
these dreams do not require LEGO to participate. Those with the right mix of
Passion, Stick-to-it-iveness, Acumen can make these happen – or perhaps their
own dreams.
Admittedly, my contributions have been limited in the last few years. 2.5 years
ago I married a beautiful woman I’m grateful to call my wife. We have a
beautiful baby boy and another on the way. For the near future, my LEGO time
will be limited as I prioritize my family.
Right now, my biggest dream is to raise a healthy family and I leave these
dreams to others. Perhaps you will find some inspiration in what I’ve written
here.
And that gets me to my final point. I’ve been involved in the LEGO community
long enough to see so may dreams realized. But sometimes, those dreams took so
much work that the fun left LEGO for them. I do not wish that on anyone. So my
first dream for everyone is to keep the fun.
Play well.
Ben Fleskes
Part of the AFOL community since 1995
co founder of PNLTC
Member of GPLR
Owner, Big Ben Bricks LLC
And a pretty good LEGO builder
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: LEGO Dreams
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| (...) Comments inline... (...) I would term it more of a play room, but that's me :-) (...) This is an idea that I had considered for a college curriculum - I graduated from a design school, and using LEGO elements as a 3-D prototyping medium is (...) (19 years ago, 31-Aug-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: LEGO Dreams
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| (...) I have a dream one day of opening a Lego Catalog and going to the "Adult" section, where I can buy 1,500 - 3,000 pc town models made of non-juniorized bricks. Banks, Gas Stations, Apartment Buildings, Skyscrapers, Firestations-- sort of the (...) (19 years ago, 31-Aug-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: LEGO Dreams
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| I think that you don't do yourself justice. Certainly in my little world the BBB range of train wheels has been the biggest thing for a long time. Tim (19 years ago, 31-Aug-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: LEGO Dreams
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| (...) Greetings, Earth Mortals! Though I live in an apartment and can only dream of this right now, it is something I'm seriously considering for when Ginger and I get a home of our own. I've for a long time kept a text file listing things I want to (...) (19 years ago, 7-Sep-05, to lugnet.general)
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