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These are just a few thoughts that I have had:
You can easily divide LEGO fans into groups. first of all, the little
kids from about 0-9 that just play with LEGO. this group is becoming the
only group LEGO (r) cares about, if you look at the impact of
junorization. I can stiff remember being 8 or so and playing with LEGO
at my friend's. But about in the year before we got to high school, it
just died away (or was it earlier). I was about the only one playing
with LEGO. I soon discovered LUGNET and RCX-related stuff such as NQC
and brickOS. I noticed that there are also the AFOLs. In LUGNET, It
seems, almost everybody is an AFOL. I thought it was good that LUGNET
exists, but also never actually posted anything by or about myself. Just
like in alt.html, where I could just as well be a professiona[ web
designer to people who read my posts.
Now, where are the TFOLs? They don't really seem to exist. In the real
world, at school etc. we seldomly "out" ourselves as LEGO fans. We all
play cool. Go on, you do, too. In the net, we lurk in LUGNET, but don't
post anything because we really don't want to hear something along the
lines of "Quite nice for a kid.". IMHO, TFOLs are _much_ closer to AFOLs
that to LEGO-kids, but our normal skill level is nowhere near them. So
we hide, and new ones (maybe most of us) keep on lurking and think
"damn, I seem to be the youngest or worst lego fan here" and maybe try
to get better "in hiding".
So, I am very glad that there is l.p.teens. The few posts there are here
show that we do exist, but all of us "just lurk"
Please answer to this message and say what you think about the above
paragraphs, or I'll start thinking this group is as dead as
l.loc.de.by.mue, my local group.
Regards, Thomas
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Thomas-
As a member of SCLTC, I can tell you there are plenty of teenage Serious LEGO
Builders out there (forgive me, I dislike the term AFOL). I meet a lot of
visitors at our LTC shows who are teenagers and/or in college. The teenage
issues are two-fold: Too many things to do (school, work, dating, sports, life)
and the perception that LEGO is not “cool” at that age. I’m lucky that my sons
Thomas (17) and David (14) are building bigger and better things than ever, but
I recognize that there are a lot of pressures for their attention. Still,
building LEGO at 14 and 17 is considerably more acceptable with their age peers
and friend peers than it was when they were in 6th grade. Thomas has had a LEGO
watch for 6 years, and he wears it everywhere every day. In 6th grade, he was
more likely to get teased for it. Now it’s always a “Whoah! Where did you get
that? Cool!”
Hang in there!
-Ted
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In lugnet.people.teens, Ted Michon wrote:
| |
Still, building LEGO at 14 and 17 is considerably more acceptable with their
age peers and friend peers than it was when they were in 6th grade. Thomas
has had a LEGO watch for 6 years, and he wears it everywhere every day. In
6th grade, he was more likely to get teased for it. Now it’s always a “Whoah!
Where did you get that? Cool!”
Hang in there!
-Ted
|
Hi everyone,
I couldn’t agree with this more. Probably the only reason this happens is
because the mind of a 6th grader if far more sensitive to peer pressure and
teasing in general than a teen. Getting older as a person, a teen becomes more
comfortable with who he is, and so too his friends learn to accept that his or
her interests are different from their own, and different from the norm, but a
unique and neccessary part of bieng an individual. I have friends who think lego
is ‘for kids’ and they tell me to ‘get a life’ and ‘grow up’ but in the end I
stick with the brick because I believe in it, and will hopefully, continue to do
so in the future :-)
Legoswami Samarth (16)
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> Now, where are the TFOLs? They don't really seem to exist. In the real
> world, at school etc. we seldomly "out" ourselves as LEGO fans. We all
> play cool. Go on, you do, too. In the net, we lurk in LUGNET, but don't
> post anything because we really don't want to hear something along the
> lines of "Quite nice for a kid.". IMHO, TFOLs are _much_ closer to AFOLs
> that to LEGO-kids, but our normal skill level is nowhere near them. So
> we hide, and new ones (maybe most of us) keep on lurking and think
> "damn, I seem to be the youngest or worst lego fan here" and maybe try
> to get better "in hiding".
Ever heard of Ross Neil? :^p Even besides him, many of us TFOLs, I should
daresay, are as good as the adult builders in some cases. And for me at least,
I make no qualms (or however you say it) about being a Lego fan. Not that
anyone ever looks at it, but I wear my MichLTC hat every day at school. But I
don't interact much with other kids anyway, so I can't speak much to it beyond
that.
> So, I am very glad that there is l.p.teens. The few posts there are here
> show that we do exist, but all of us "just lurk"
We oughta try some sorta theme or something to assert ourselves as TFOLs within
the community. I have no idea what that something would be, but it's an idea.
-Stefan-
http://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=sastrei
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SNIPPY
> I make no qualms (or however you say it) about being a Lego fan. Not that
> anyone ever looks at it, but I wear my MichLTC hat every day at school. But
SNIPPY
WAIT! Your'e a teen??? and here I thought you were older :-)
> > So, I am very glad that there is l.p.teens. The few posts there are here
> > show that we do exist, but all of us "just lurk"
Yes, but it seems like there isn't much to say; I come here everyday, but hardly
ever post.
> We oughta try some sorta theme or something to assert ourselves as TFOLs within
> the community. I have no idea what that something would be, but it's an idea.
I agree. Maybe some sort of a contest? which is open only to teens/ makes it
easier for teens to display their MOCs? I'd certainly like to hear more about
this from others.... I'm tryng to think of something right now, but I can't
quite put my finger on what would be attractive to build for the lurking teen
(or any other teen for that matter).
Legoswami Samarth
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In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
> this from others.... I'm tryng to think of something right now, but I can't
> quite put my finger on what would be attractive to build for the lurking teen
> (or any other teen for that matter).
Spaceships.
~Kevoh
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In lugnet.people.teens, Kevin Blocksidge wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
this from others.... I’m tryng to think of something right now, but I can’t
quite put my finger on what would be attractive to build for the lurking teen
(or any other teen for that matter).
|
Spaceships.
|
Yeah right. Easy for you to say. We need something which will encompass ALL
themes. Teen builders lurking in all themes need to be woken. Else, I could just
as well say TRAINS! and someone else would say CASTLE and we’d all be in a
fine mess. ;-)
Legoswami Samarth
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In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Kevin Blocksidge wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
this from others.... I’m tryng to think of something right now, but I can’t
quite put my finger on what would be attractive to build for the lurking
teen (or any other teen for that matter).
|
Spaceships.
|
Yeah right. Easy for you to say. We need something which will encompass ALL
themes. Teen builders lurking in all themes need to be woken. Else, I could
just as well say TRAINS! and someone else would say CASTLE and we’d all be
in a fine mess. ;-)
|
Vignettes should be good. They cover all themes, and the small size allows
people of any collection size to participate.
~Kevoh
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In lugnet.people.teens, Kevin Blocksidge wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Kevin Blocksidge wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
this from others.... I’m tryng to think of something right now, but I
can’t quite put my finger on what would be attractive to build for the
lurking teen (or any other teen for that matter).
|
Spaceships.
|
Yeah right. Easy for you to say. We need something which will encompass ALL
themes. Teen builders lurking in all themes need to be woken. Else, I could
just as well say TRAINS! and someone else would say CASTLE and we’d all be
in a fine mess. ;-)
|
Vignettes should be good. They cover all themes, and the small size allows
people of any collection size to participate.
~Kevoh
|
Wonderful Idea Kevoh!!!
A small addition to that: We should also allow dioramas too, and put a size
limit on them so that teens with insane piece counts can’t rule the roost. The
reason I say this I so that anyone wanting to be more ambitious can be, and
also some themes like trains are trickier to vignette-ize (There is only one
train vignette I can recall, I think it was Josh Baakko’s) . I’m relatively new
here (at least by way of actively participating in discussions); would you be
interested in working offline with me on a contest? I know you’ve held the bot
contest with Tim Deering, which, I suppose, makes you the ideal candidate.
Legoswami Samarth
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would you be interested in working offline with me on a
| |
contest? I know you’ve held the bot contest with Tim Deering, which, I
suppose, makes you the ideal candidate.
|
Are you talking about holding a teen only contest? I’m not sure if this is such
a good idea. Most contests are held around a theme and reward building ability
alone - including age as a factor seems to be prejudicial for no particular
rationale.
-l
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Are you talking about holding a teen only contest? I’m not sure if this is
such a good idea. Most contests are held around a theme and reward building
ability alone - including age as a factor seems to be prejudicial for no
particular rationale.
|
Oh no no! course not! what I was talking about is merely a contest that would
allow teens to feel comfortable in displaying their MOCs, and not necessarily
exclude others in the process. I only don’t want the builders with higher skill
levels to discourage your average 13 yr old by making them think ‘I’m not good
enough to compete with them’ (which seems to be a common mentality from what I
understand was written earlier in the thread). Of course, I may be wrong here.
The trouble is, age seems to be directly related to skill-level and part
availability.
Legoswami Samarth
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Oh no no! course not! what I was talking about is merely a contest that would
allow teens to feel comfortable in displaying their MOCs, and not
necessarily exclude others in the process. I only don’t want the builders
with higher skill levels to discourage your average 13 yr old by making them
think ‘I’m not good enough to compete with them’ (which seems to be a common
mentality from what I understand was written earlier in the thread). Of
course, I may be wrong here. The trouble is, age seems to be directly related
to skill-level and part availability.
|
We want to dispel that notion that age and skill and parts are interrelated.
I’d say it’s more the ability of the person and their character. I’m only 17,
but I’ve got more bricks than some of the adults I know (85k to their 60k).
He’s a better builder than I, too (regardless of age).
I think a vignette contest might be a dandy idea. Actually, what if it wasn’t
so much a contest as a build project, like .space’s seed parts? That’d
eliminate the seeing who’s best feeling and be more of a way to introduce more
of us to the rest of the online community.
-Stefan-
p.s. Sorry for getting your name wrong, John. D’oh!
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SNIPPY
(sorry bout the late reply, I missed this post when the uncivil war started,
and then my net connection got lost, too)
| |
We want to dispel that notion that age and skill and parts are interrelated.
I’d say it’s more the ability of the person and their character. I’m only
17, but I’ve got more bricks than some of the adults I know (85k to their
60k). He’s a better builder than I, too (regardless of age).
|
Well, IMHO, whether we like it or not, thats the way it is. My logic is that a
builder who’s been around on planet earth for a longer time will simply have had
more time to collect neat sets and parts, and also have had the time to look
through other creations and ideas, and add to it the fact that teens don’t have
much time anyway, I think these three factors are a valid consideration. Don’t
get me wrong, I think that dispelling the notion that these factors are
interconnected is very important, and indeed, this should be the whole point of
having a contest in the first place, but at this point I’m just looking at the
cold hard facts.
| |
I think a vignette contest might be a dandy idea. Actually, what if it
wasn’t so much a contest as a build project, like .space’s seed parts?
That’d eliminate the seeing who’s best feeling and be more of a way to
introduce more of us to the rest of the online community.
|
A good idea, but what would be the seed part? you’d need something common
enough for most people to have, but at the same time, you could hardly use a 2 x
4.... Something interesting enough to be basing an MOC on, yet not too rare for
someone not to have in the average sized collection. Also, I think it’d be a
good idea if the part transcends all themes: for example, you could hardly use
the Han Solo carbonite brick in town (which is not to say it would be
impossible, even right now I’m thinking of a road roller flattening Han onto the
tarmac which would make a hilarious town vignette scene :-D) But still.... I’ll
try and have a think and come back to post.
Till then,
Legoswami Samarth
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In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
even right now I’m thinking of a road roller flattening Han
onto the tarmac which would make a hilarious town vignette scene :-D)
|
I’ll say!
You should do that one, it would be TRES funny. (or maybe the scene from the end
of “A Fish Called Wanda” where Kevin Spacey gets rollered into the cement?)
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In lugnet.people.teens, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
even right now I’m thinking of a road roller flattening Han
onto the tarmac which would make a hilarious town vignette scene :-D)
|
I’ll say!
You should do that one, it would be TRES funny. (or maybe the scene from the
end of “A Fish Called Wanda” where Kevin Spacey gets rollered into the
cement?)
|
You will find that was the decline of Kevin Kline (until then he was fine).
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.people.teens, Pete White wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
even right now I’m thinking of a road roller flattening Han
onto the tarmac which would make a hilarious town vignette scene :-D)
|
I’ll say!
You should do that one, it would be TRES funny. (or maybe the scene from the
end of “A Fish Called Wanda” where Kevin Spacey gets rollered into the
cement?)
|
You will find that was the decline of Kevin Kline (until then he was fine).
|
Spacey, Bacon, Kline, I can’t keep them all straight.
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In lugnet.people.teens, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
| |
In lugnet.people.teens, Samarth Moray wrote:
| |
even right now I’m thinking of a road roller flattening Han
onto the tarmac which would make a hilarious town vignette scene :-D)
|
I’ll say!
You should do that one, it would be TRES funny. (or maybe the scene from the
end of “A Fish Called Wanda” where Kevin Spacey gets rollered into the
cement?)
|
After reading your post at 12 am today I started laughing like a madhouse
patient. It was the middle of the night for gods sake. Anyways. I wish I had
that brick to do the vignette (believe it or not, I bought my first SW set only
a few months ago- a flash speeder, because when the line was first launched, I
began hating lego for the commercialisation, and the demise of my dear Spyrius,
Ice planet, Exploriens etc), but since I don’t CAD will have to do. I’m quite
intrigued by the idea too. As Ahnuld once said: “I’ll be back”
Legoswami Samarth
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still.... I’ll try and have a think and come back to post.
Till then,
Legoswami Samarth
|
I’ve had my think, and only one part keeps coming back to me (drumroll please)
1 x 1 Lever!
I think its perfect, mostly everyone has at least ONE, if not hundreds. And its
not as bad as the 2 x 4 (or the like), either. But if anyone else has other
ideas, I’m all ears.....
Legoswami Samarth
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1x1 Lever...Sounds Good!
So, 1x1 Lever, used in a vignette style scene? Or just 1x1 lever?
-Stefan-
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In lugnet.people.teens, Stefan Garcia wrote:
| |
1x1 Lever...Sounds Good!
So, 1x1 Lever, used in a vignette style scene? Or just 1x1 lever?
|
We could have a 1 x 1 lever contest with Vignettes as a subcategory. That way,
no one is specifically limited, but at the same time, the Vignette category
prevents anyone with a small collection from getting pwnzr’d or whatever by the
bigshots.
Now all we need is a host, prizes and a deadline. I’m looking for a member of
the audience to come up to the stage! :-)
Legoswami Samarth
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|
In lugnet.people.teens, Kevin Blocksidge wrote:
Something about spaceships
Small addition: If you want to see budding TFOL’s, mocpages.com is THE place to
be, IMO. Now I don’t have facts to prove it, but I do know that a large chunk of
builders there are teens, my guess is within the 13-16 group. I think what comes
into play here is the fact that you have a smaller number of parts, and a
limited budget for buying more, but you are also now more bothered about things
like technicolour schemes and poor construction (you wouldn’t care about that
stuff if you were a kid.
You may be right about the spaceship thing in a way, I guess it is an ‘in’ theme
to build in. But the idea behind any contest would (I suppose) be to draw the
attention of those who wouldn’t post in normal circumstances, including
minority themes, like say underground, and not just space.
We’re really lucky to have this newsgroup now, it was one of the reasons I
decided to delurk after nearly 2 years of lurking. If we took more steps to draw
attention of the lurking teens who follow this group, we may be able to have
that contest. So I’ll take the first step:
ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL LURKING TFOLS: I’m calling you out! if you have anything
you’d like to show, don’t hesitate! if you feel a bit shy about a crappy pic or
colour mismatch, I still want to hear from you! Post your MOCs to this group
and the appropriate theme. If you don’t feel like doing that either, EMAIL ME!
I want to know how many of you are out there! don’t let the AFOL-dominated
lugnet silence your MOCs!
Legoswami Samarth
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In lugnet.people.teens, Stefan Garcia wrote:
“Neal”:-)
Ross, I daresay, is quite a good builder, but he has never had the interest to
read LUGNET or even browsing Brickshelf for that matter.
JOHN
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|
In lugnet.people.teens, Thomas Jollans wrote:
snip
>
> Now, where are the TFOLs? They don't really seem to exist. In the real
> world, at school etc. we seldomly "out" ourselves as LEGO fans.
snip
> Regards, Thomas
Hello Thomas,
I read this thread and thought about my own son, pushing 15 and his friends. Of
course, just being his "Mom", I have no clue what they say at school (and truly,
I'm sure I don't want to know either) but he and his peers certainly build a
fair amount while they are here (in between cranking tunes and playing video
games, of course). I'm not sure if it's partly because we are from a small
town, and our house is filled with Lego, but none of his peers are every shy
about "outing" themselves around me. Along with that, I have seen some pretty
amazing builds from others that are under 19.
Then I also recalled one few first fans of lego I ever talked to (at Bricklink
Chat), Travis, who just happens to be a teen as well. I was impressed with his
mocs way before I ever knew his age. His age really was of no factor to how I
felt about his mocs, they are well designed, well executed and pretty darn cool.
He has in my opinion, mastered snot techniques and scale, has a presence on the
web, and heck he even does instructions for some his models. I do recall he
used lego for a science project at school so I'm sure his friends are well aware
of his hobby.
Anyhow I hope Travis doesn't mind me sharing a link of one of my favourites of
his http://www26.brinkster.com/tmamone/lamborghini1.html
I would recommend anyone check out his site, not because of his age, but because
he has some great mocs.
I think the only advantage most adults have over any younger builder is that
there is a potential for having more disposable income to buy more parts, oh
yeah, and you don't usually have your mom telling you to "CLEAN UP THIS LEGO
MESS!"
Janey "Red Brick"
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| |
|
> Then I also recalled one few first fans of lego I ever talked to (at Bricklink
> Chat), Travis, who just happens to be a teen as well. I was impressed with his
> mocs way before I ever knew his age. His age really was of no factor to how I
> felt about his mocs, they are well designed, well executed and pretty darn cool.
> He has in my opinion, mastered snot techniques and scale, has a presence on the
> web, and heck he even does instructions for some his models. I do recall he
> used lego for a science project at school so I'm sure his friends are well aware
> of his hobby.
>
> Anyhow I hope Travis doesn't mind me sharing a link of one of my favourites of
> his http://www26.brinkster.com/tmamone/lamborghini1.html
>
> I would recommend anyone check out his site, not because of his age, but because
> he has some great mocs.
He most certainly does, that Lamborghini is pretty nifty!
> I think the only advantage most adults have over any younger builder is that
> there is a potential for having more disposable income to buy more parts, oh
> yeah, and you don't usually have your mom telling you to "CLEAN UP THIS LEGO
> MESS!"
"Why is your room always messy!?!?"
"I'm building."
"*sigh*"
It's always neat to have a parent sit down and try to build with their kid.
My rather meandering and random 2 studs,
-Stefan-
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| |
|
Stefan Garcia wrote:
> > Then I also recalled one few first fans of lego I ever talked to (at Bricklink
> > Chat), Travis, who just happens to be a teen as well. I was impressed with his
> > mocs way before I ever knew his age. His age really was of no factor to how I
> > felt about his mocs, they are well designed, well executed and pretty darn cool.
> > He has in my opinion, mastered snot techniques and scale, has a presence on the
> > web, and heck he even does instructions for some his models. I do recall he
> > used lego for a science project at school so I'm sure his friends are well aware
> > of his hobby.
> >
> > Anyhow I hope Travis doesn't mind me sharing a link of one of my favourites of
> > his http://www26.brinkster.com/tmamone/lamborghini1.html
> >
> > I would recommend anyone check out his site, not because of his age, but because
> > he has some great mocs.
>
>
> He most certainly does, that Lamborghini is pretty nifty!
>
>
> > I think the only advantage most adults have over any younger builder is that
> > there is a potential for having more disposable income to buy more parts, oh
> > yeah, and you don't usually have your mom telling you to "CLEAN UP THIS LEGO
> > MESS!"
>
>
> "Why is your room always messy!?!?"
> "I'm building."
> "*sigh*"
for me it's more like:
"so, WHEN will you clear up your room??"
"I did so just this morning."
"No you did not, I can see that without even entering your room!"
"Well, I just started to build this cool car..."
> It's always neat to have a parent sit down and try to build with their kid.
considering that I have about 80+% of my LEGO ( a few k ) from my Dad (
on Day he came home from granny and grandad and gave me a BIG Ikea bag)
I could try that...
And... I actually built the car, but my friend "looked" at it too hard
and claimed I build too instably... (lack of plates *sigh*) but if I
find the photoes I made, I will post them!
Thomas
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In lugnet.people.teens, C. L. GunningCook wrote:
> I think the only advantage most adults have over any younger builder is that
> there is a potential for having more disposable income to buy more parts, oh
> yeah, and you don't usually have your mom telling you to "CLEAN UP THIS LEGO
> MESS!"
No, that's the our NLSO's job.
Steve
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