Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth is TWO

[Inquisitor General]

That's right guys, this contest is back. There will once again be hot prizes provided by the funky cool LEGO corporation. The rules are being tweaked slightly, to make the categories more similar to LEGO set sizes. In addition, the categories have changed, they're the other

Mark Stafford is back with his gang of fellow designers to judge this thing!

The RULES:

1. We are using weight to determine set size. If you don't have a postal scale, go to the post office and use theirs.
2. The categories (micro scale is permitted):
$7,99 - between 140 and 165grams - including 1 to 4 minifigures. (army builders with 4 figures your top weight should stop at 150g!)
$14,99 - 220 to 260g - including 1 to 3 minifigures
$29,99 - 350 to 385g - including 2 to 4 minifigures
$59.99 - 800 to 900g - including 3 to 5 minifigures
$89,99 - 1100 to 1250g - including 5 to 9 minifigures
3. Custom stickers ARE allowed!
4. Custom parts ARE allowed! Real designers can get new molds, but they cost em. We will be setting up a "what will this cost me" thread, where you can ask how much of your "budget" the custom element will take.
5. All entries must be posted in the entry thread on CSF! That's here.
6. The deadline is SEPTEMBER FIRST.
7. Your entry must be sci-fi. It doesn't have to be a space ship, but I'd better be able to tell that it's science fiction.
8. No official themes. Mark requested that we try to keep nostalgia out of the factors we're judging on.

Some notes from Mark:
"Note that these are rough figures, and do not correlate precisely to LEGO products in the stores. They are extrapolations based on the last few (and next) years sets and they do not take into account building instructions or packaging costs of large elements - this is supposed to be fun!

Dan will be judging in whatever way he sees fit, and half the result is his, however as before when judging this contest I will be considering the following criteria:

1. Stability - how likely is this model to last a reasonable amount of time in the hands of a 7 or 8 year old that may not have played with LEGO bricks before.
2. Buildability - is it possible for a 7 year old to build this model from pictures on a flat surface. Are there any 'illegal' LEGO building techniques?
3. Playability - what other added aspects are there to the model to encourage kids to create a further play scenario then the obvious one.
4. Swooshability - pure coolness, this is also a MOC competition and it should look as funky and excellent as you can make it, sometimes 'cool' can overule the other criteria!

Those who are paying close attention will notice I am no longer judging on 'realism' this is because I believe weighing the models rather then counting the number of elements will take care of this for me, but I will still mark down anyone who thinks they have found a loophole - this is putting your money where your mouth is: if you think you can do better then a LEGO Designer then prove it, however if instead you want to mess about bending the rules I'm going to hammer you with my 'taking the mickey' score modifier!

Also please note, I'm doing this in my spare time, it is a fan competition, it's not a way for you to break into TLG and it's definately not a job interview, I don't have hiring power and even if I did I think you all suck. (Prove me wrong - enter the competition! :P )

I also reserve the right to consult my LEGO colleagues on final judging and to help with any tie-breaks.
Good luck.
Mark."

[ted @ndes]

Awesome. Looking forward to the challenge.

[mdilthey]

Hooray!!!

[Ninja_Bait]

Where should we post entries? Do we need to design a box?

[_zenn]

Sounds interesting and fun!

[Blake]

I'm glad this plan came to fruition. May I be so bold as to suggest an announcement on TBB?

[legosammy]

What are 'illegal' LEGO building techniques?

[thebatman_104]

You forgot the most important part. What are we playing for? Prizes?

[ted @ndes]

As the kids might say, "Rough figures are rough."...

The prices for the weight categories seem off to me. Are the category prices in US dollars, or something different? Are they meant to be the "on-the-shelf" price-point, or internal cost?

I built something up, and it weighed 155g (and I made certain the scale was calibrated). So this would would mean the "$7,99" category (140-165g)... However, I also counted up the parts at 225 (10 of which were for 2 minifigs), which is the typical count for a non-licensed $19.99 set, or even a $29.99 set, here in the US...

I just want to make sure I optimize my set ideas appropriately.

[ted @ndes]

... while waiting for a reply, I'll break the ice with my first entry anyway. It weighs in at 155g (so it's for the 140g-165g category). Introducing...

SKY RAIDERS



These were inspired by the "skimmers" (semi-transforming, flying motorcycles) from the show Storm Hawks. Combined weight is 155g (white bike 85g; black bike 75g). Each bike also comes with two detachable, hand-held laser guns.

Pictures of wings folded in "Cycle Mode" are shown below.





Let me know if you need further images showing construction. The engines on the white bike are attached to a bar/rod through a technic pin (the connection type I asked about in the other thread). For the shield stickers, want to credit Anthony Sava for the baseline shield .jpgs that I altered.