Old to the forum?

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hugandkiss
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Old to the forum?

Post by hugandkiss »

A few new members have introduced their selves.... Maybe it's time for you veterans to do the same?
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AC
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by AC »

Nikki, that's a great Idea. I'll go first. I have been an AFOL now for about 10 or so years starting out with space stuff and quickly turning to the town theme. It all started with Shane (Soundwave) getting me back in when he was showing off this large collection he scored. My wife can blame him. I've been on the Forum now for over 4 years. I have not been around since the beginning but I like to think I have found some good friends here in the club. I am a Town and Train guy at heart but will not close my mind off to the other popular themes when challenged. This is my second term as the VLC President and I hope I have done some good during my time as such (I had some tough shoes to fill). There are a lot of great builders in the club that I can say I have learned from. I hope to be able to one day build the town layout that I have in my head. It is an ambitious goal but I like to think big.
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Andrew »

Hi,my names Andrew ,and I'm a legohaulic.Seriously though I've been collecting Lego since '95 just after I got married.Probaly James on the Island and Barry of shanryn hobbies have more track and trains than I do.I need to be more of a builder and less of a collector,I believe you should use the lego you've collected.I love donig the public shows and seeing peoples reactions,some Adults think your just big kids,but I think the creativity and sheer amount of bricks is alot of fun to look at.
I've been with the club since early 2001,Allan right you can make some good friends that understand your addiction,and its fun to talk lego with people that understand.(you ever drive down the street and see something,that would look great out of lego)
Hope to see you soon at a meeting.

,Andrew :wink:
Lego trains are just the best!
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by timtosino »

I'm Tim, I've been with the club since 2000. I loved playing with my small collection as a kid and I remember picking up a Aerial Actorbats set at a garage sale. Needless to say I was hooked but started buying sets on my own at the wrong time when Juniorization was at its height. Mainly my collect is Town and some trains, for club shows I like building vehicles like trucks, buses, and cars.
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by DeGobbi »

Hi Nikki , I'm Dave . I have been building since I was kid then enter my dark age when I was 14 and was out of it until 1999 when Lego picked up the Starwars films and at 19 I got back into it. Found the club on the internet in 2002 and been building ever since . I would say my building skill doubled in a few months from joining the club as I was able to learn alot of new skills and techniques . As well I wanted to impress the more experienced builder so I found I really tried to ramp up. I build what ever needs to get built for shows usually which means a hell of alot of landscaping lol. But when I build for myself I like building big steampunk MOCs and traction cities.
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hugandkiss
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by hugandkiss »

How many of you guys will be at the Chilliwack Train and Hobby show on Saturday?
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Gumby
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Gumby »

I'm Bryan, and I've also been here since the beginning in early 2000. Got out of my dark ages in 1997, and added to my childhood collection by buying online as well as from retail stores that had big sales back when LEGO over-produced their sets. I cut back dramatically when LEGO switched their colours in 2004 and stopped purchasing sets in large quantities (to bulk up in parts). Now I only buy sets that can be displayed as is (stuff like Green Grocer, Cafe Corner, etc). Favourite theme is Castle, with Town a close second.

I find that my collection is quite large (over 200,000 pieces), and yet I haven't built very much with it - so my collection size and building skill are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I used to be more active when I lived with my parents and had time & space to build. After getting married and moving out in 2004, I no longer had the space, and after the birth of my son in 2008, I no longer have time! Now you'll see me mostly on the forum, but once in a blue moon I'll show up to a meeting. :)
-Bryan
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Platypus »

I think there are three of us here from the beginning. I was at the Second meeting of the VLC in March 2000 and most of the folks that were there at the time have moved on to other aspecs of their lives, though a few like Gumby (Bryan) and TFM (Dean) still pop in on the forum now and then. And I guess that Tim and I are the only active members from the early days, Though BrickBaron (Paul) was around in the early days too, I think.

Anyway, I never really had a dark ages, though I played more with my computer from age 14-17 than I did with my LEGO. Luckily, the club started when I was 16 and I was the youngest member at the time. Ten years later I guess I am still the youngest (active member), and still build a fair bit, though almost always when the pressure of an event is driving my to do something. I rarely build without external motivation, though I consider LEGO to be my main art form.

As for my likes, I grew up a Castle guy with Town a close second, and I had major buying spurts into Pirate and space. Technic was the forgotten theme for me, until I realized how awesome it was to have moving/working elements on models for public shows and starting thinking about buying more Technic and building more mechanically.

I think I am at about 350,000 pieces and I am pretty much maxed out. If I buy too much more LEGO I will need to move, which may be on the horizon anyone as my girlfriend and I plan out where we want to live together. And having her around will also put a damper on my buying as it will be much harder to just fill my room with new LEGO and deal with it a week later. :?
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soundwave
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by soundwave »

I'm Shane aka Soundwave. Transformers are my second passion to Lego thus the name. Growing up I went through phases. First space, then pirates when the first wave came out, then castle. never town or train. I donated my Lego to some family friends when i was in my teens. I got back into Lego around the time I got married. I purchased Randall's childhood collection (now a new member himself). I build a model bc ferry when i had enough pieces which was featured on tv. a few VLC members saw it and reached out to me and Allan already had 1 foot in the VLC door. I collect and build star wars sets but am mostly into town and train now. I like to dabble in space and other gentres. my goal in life is to build something worthy for the brothers brick.

also i should mention. recently the family i donated my childhood collection to donated it back 15 years later after their family was done with it. after picking a few key pieces out i have given a full bin to my 2 young boys to start them on their way.
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AC
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by AC »

hugandkiss wrote:How many of you guys will be at the Chilliwack Train and Hobby show on Saturday?
I know that I (AC or Allan) will be out there. Dave (Brickhead) & Paul (Brickbaron) are a maybe.
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Brickbaron
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Brickbaron »

I'm hoping to make it out on Saturday to Chilliwack.

Anyway Nikki, I'm Paul. I've been around this club since 2001. I've been collecting Lego since 1991, but didn't really discover I could build stuff until I joined the club. It was participating in one of the train shows that really showed me the possibility of Lego. I would recommend getting involved, even in a small way. You can learn so much from building for different projects. Each time you build a new set, or take on a new creation you usually learn something new.

As for building, I'm into pretty much everything. If I had to pick, architecture would be my favorite. I'm brickbaron on flickr.

Maybe see you at a meeting soon!

Paul
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Pascal
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Pascal »

Friends, I'd like to sing a song about my LEGO dream.
About me, about you, about the way our LEGO brick hearts beat way down in the bottom of our chests. About the special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, maybe below the cockles, maybe in the sub-cockle area, maybe in the liver, maybe in the kidneys, maybe even in the colon. We don't know...

(SUNG)
I'm just a regular Joe with not a regular job.
I live right here, the Vancouver punjab.
I like hockey and Star Trek and books about Potter.
I rent a nice house, SCUBA in salt water.
My girl and my job, my kids and my truck.
My feet on my table; I'm a loyal Canuck.

But sometimes that just ain't enough to keep a man like me interested (oh no) no way (uh-uh). No, I've gotta go out and have fun at my bank accounts expense.
(oh yeah) yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

I build really slow on the ultra-fast team,
While people around me are starting to scream.
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, such an AFOL)

I build LEGO towns, with off colour bricks.
I'm still trying to learn, new building tricks.
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
I'm an AFOL (He's the world's biggest AFOL)

Sometimes I park in Toys R Us spaces,
I walk away slowly, making unhappy faces.
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
I'm an AFOL (He's a real freaking AFOL)

Maybe I shouldn't be singing this song
Ranting and raving and carrying on
Maybe they're right when they tell me I'm wrong
NAAAAH!

I'm an AFOL (he's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
I'm an AFOL (he's the world's biggest AFOL)

(SPOKEN)
You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna get myself a 1967 LEGO Transport Truck, bright yellow, with red knobby hubcaps and trans-clear interior and big yellow side doors on the back. Yeah! And I'm gonna drive that baby around at .01 miles an hour, in my LEGO town, sucking down diet cokes from Superstore in recyclable aluminim cans! And when I'm done suckin' down that diet coke, I'm gonna rebuild the Transport Truck into a spaceship and then toss it right it right across the room, and there ain't a thing my boy can do about it. You know why? Because I've got the LEGO, that's why!

Two words--MY LEGO, OK? Space, Town, Creator - I can't get enough of the LEGO I want. I could have a LEGO cakewalk right through the middle of Walmart and it won't make a lick of difference, because LEGO is too expensive, OK? Knights' Kingdom is not dead - it's changed! And when we find a cure for stupid LEGO sets, we're gonna revive the old colours. You know why? You ever taken a cold shower? Well, multiply that by 400 billion times. That's how many bricks they've produced.

I'm gonna get Jørgen Vig Knudstorp and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and we are (Hey) going to get rid of (Hey) "bley" (Hey) and bring back old space sets (Hey, Hey, Hey)

(Hey you know you really are an AFOL)
Why don't you just shut up and sing this song pal.
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
I'm an AFOL (He's an AFOL, what an AFOL)
A - F - O - L, A - F - O - L
Everybody, A - F - O - L.

Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf
voksen fan af plastik blokke rock på

(SPOKEN)
I'm an AFOL and I'm proud of it!
Last edited by Pascal on Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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soundwave
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by soundwave »

epic ^

i told you they wrote a song about you, Pascal
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AC
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by AC »

Oh my. :roll:
hugandkiss
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by hugandkiss »

AC wrote:
hugandkiss wrote:How many of you guys will be at the Chilliwack Train and Hobby show on Saturday?
I know that I (AC or Allan) will be out there. Dave (Brickhead) & Paul (Brickbaron) are a maybe.

Great! I'll be sure to say hello!

It's nice to read all your introductions! Seems like this is a male-dominated type of hobby, huh?

Do all of you have photos online? I'd love to see your creations! I've seen a lot of your stuff Paul... and it's amazing! I can't say that I'm a very confident builder... I like to think that I used to be. I'm hoping around Christmas I'll be able to sit down and play around a lot more. These past few months I've been accumulating sets, but haven't had the time to actually sit down and build them.
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soundwave
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by soundwave »

Hi Nikki,
We do have a group on flickr for the VLC that has some indivicual photos and links to our personal photostream

try this link

http://www.flickr.com/groups/867268@N23/
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AC
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by AC »

It was great meeting you today. As you live out in Chilliwack I guess you won't be turning up at too many meetings, but I will keep you informed of the ones we have in Surrey just in case. When you start building your own creations be sure to post pictures or links to your folder. As for the hobby being primarily a male thing, yeah there are more men than women fans. In Seattle there are a number of female fans but at this time the VLC has no active female members, there are a few on the forum that have not come out to meetings yet. I guess they are all waiting for one woman to step up and make it cool to be a FFOL here in the Vancouver area. :lol:

As a note there have been active female members in the past that have drifted away from the hobby but that was before my time in the Club.

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Platypus
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Platypus »

And boy do I miss Alex, and Jenny! One day, Alex (founding member and wife of other founding member Dean) might be less crazy busy with work and come back to building with us. I miss her space brothel, Gothic building style and humour, and delightful female touch. And Genny was super cool and likely our youngest member ever cause she took off when she hit her teens and likely got too cool for LEGO, but she might come back too. She was an amazing Bionicle builder who made non-Bionicle things (mostly animals) with all Bionicle pieces.

But until LEGO gets their head out of the sand and starts making more than 10% of the figures female, girls won't pick it up as kids, and won't be likely to continue as adults. However, if seems to be company policy to make most of the figures male, because the current male consumers aren't interested in playing with female figures.

I would argue, however, that the AFOL scene is not at all "male dominated". The put it that way implies some machismo on the part of male builders, which I have never seen. Most AFOLs are delighted to see women picking up LEGO and quite encouraging when they see a spark of interest in any female builder (thus the response you've seen on this post).

At the core of the female disinterest in LEGO may be the general perception (true or not) that LEGO is mechanical and that women don't like mechanical things. While a horrid generalization, it seems to be true across cultural lines that women take less interest in mechanics. And coming back to LEGO, we can see again where the company has failed to market to women, since LEGO is not all mechanics and can be sculpture, nature, role play, and theatrical, which are all social aspects often more appealing to women.

And that's my LEGO VS Gender rant. :oops:
David Gagnon - (AKA Daveed or Platypus)
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by hugandkiss »

AC wrote:It was great meeting you today. As you live out in Chilliwack I guess you won't be turning up at too many meetings, but I will keep you informed of the ones we have in Surrey just in case. When you start building your own creations be sure to post pictures or links to your folder. As for the hobby being primarily a male thing, yeah there are more men than women fans. In Seattle there are a number of female fans but at this time the VLC has no active female members, there are a few on the forum that have not come out to meetings yet. I guess they are all waiting for one woman to step up and make it cool to be a FFOL here in the Vancouver area. :lol:

As a note there have been active female members in the past that have drifted away from the hobby but that was before my time in the Club.

My Flickr acount is. http://www.flickr.com/photos/43902575@N04/


Great meeting you too Allan! How did you enjoy the show? We really liked it, though were disappointed that there were only two Lego displays! Weren't there 3 or 4 last year?

I'll definitely try to get building soon and once I'll do I'll set up a flickr account. In the meantime I'll just admire all your guys work!
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AC
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by AC »

hugandkiss wrote:
Great meeting you too Allan! How did you enjoy the show? We really liked it, though were disappointed that there were only two Lego displays! Weren't there 3 or 4 last year?

I'll definitely try to get building soon and once I'll do I'll set up a flickr account. In the meantime I'll just admire all your guys work!
I really liked the show. My favorite part is the reaction to our layout. In the number of years I have taken part in this show I have not known there to be more than two lego layouts. There has in the past been a playmobile layout. :D
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Platypus
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Platypus »

The Playmobile people weren't there? Are they Samantha and Richard? I love all their Playmobile.

In some years the VLC has done two separate layouts beside each other. And Barry has had his own LEGO display there for several years now.
David Gagnon - (AKA Daveed or Platypus)
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Robin
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Re: Old to the forum?

Post by Robin »

Hi guys, I thought I'd chime in here as well. Really nice to read a bit of an update as to where you guys are all at these days. Although I'm no longer an active VLC member, I'm still a very active AFOL! I still count all of you guys as friends, and it was great to spend some time with some of you at Brickcon.

Anyway, like Platypus, I was one of the very first VLC members. After a prolonged "dim" age during my late teens (the LEGO never actually got "put away" - I just didn't build quite as often, and only ever in private), I found a ton of other AFOLs like me online, and the VLC was born. That started a buying, building, and skill-improving period of years, with lots of club activities, fests, events, train shows, displays, and of course, lots of meetings. Great times! In 2004, I decided that I wanted to somehow ramp up my own LEGO activity, and find a way to make a living with LEGO. Long story short, I started Brickville DesignWorks with fellow club members Paul and Scott (Paul and Scott both eventually decided that they did not want to pursue the professional LEGO angle, and remain very active AFOLs). Since then, I've had the opportunity to do a ton of cool events, and visited various LEGOLand parks, visited LEGO HQ in the U.S. and Denmark, worked with Master Builders and designers, toured the factories, vaults, design studios, and more. Love it!

When I build for me, I prefer castle and other historical type builds. I absolutely love the club's recent Pirate layout. Brilliant! I have a large LEGO studio in my basement where all my building happens. At any given point, there's probably almost a million pieces on hand. It's a bit of continual sorting nightmare ...

I do miss hanging out at the local club. I travel all across Canada, doing events in lots of cities across the country, and I push for involving the local clubs whenever I can. It's been great to get connected with AFOLs all over the place, from Halifax, to Ottawa, to Edmonton, to Victoria.

I notice, hugandkiss, that you're in Chilliwack. I don't know if you noticed Graham's post about an upcoming AFOL get-together here in Abbotsford on November 20th. So far, there's about 5 or 6 people coming. I think there's at least one other person coming from Chilli. Email, or PM me or Graham for details, if you're into it (or find the "AbbyLUG" group on Facebook).

Cheers,
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