I just learned about The Brick Train Awards. There are various categories and winners are chosen for each region, and those winners then move forward to the global competition.

We definitely have some skilled MILUG train builders ( @sema4 @MikeS @Ptrotter ) as well as other skilled builders who may want to try making a train so I thought I would share this. The 2020 awards were just announced so there is definitely time if anyone wants to create or refine an existing train they have for the 2021 awards (looks like the submission window is in June).

Just added MosaiCon photos!

Our website has been updated with a few new blogs and a couple of photo albums have been added to our Facebook page with some of events from earlier this year.

It was announced today that the LEGO Ideas site and LEGO Rebrick site will be merging and Rebrick will be shut down in September to create more of a one stop shop that will serve as "the crowdsourcing and co-creation hub for teen and adult LEGO fans".
There will be some improvements to the functionality of the site as well as a few small changes to the Ideas program and the structure of contests.

Our monthly AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) meet-up is the first Wednesday of every month.
We will be meeting Wednesday October 7, 2020 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we will NOT be meeting in person. Instead we will be meeting online.

Come and join us, have a drink (beer, wine, spirits, pop, coffee, tea or whatever is in your kitchen), and chat about LEGO!

This is an open event for anyone 19yrs+ interested in LEGO. Any AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) is welcome whether you collect sets, build sets or build your own creations. Come share your love of LEGO with us. We love to meet new folks!

For members participating in our MONTHLY BUILD CHALLENGE, please have your build challenge MOC ready to show off (see the post ‘MILUG Build Challenge September: Halloween!‘ in the Events & Activities forum). If you are new to MILUG or want to see what we’re all about then you can sit back and enjoy looking at everyone’s MOCs!

Membership is not required to attend your first meet-up so come out, meet our members (we’re really friendly), have a drink (not required) and find out what LUGs (LEGO User Groups) are all about!

Where: Online meeting via Google Meet. Please contact us in advance by replying to this post, or you can contact us at MidIslandLUG@gmail.com or message us on Facebook (@midislandlug) for the link to join the meeting.

Our monthly AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) meet-up is the first Wednesday of every month. We will be meeting Wednesday March 3, 2021 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we will be meeting online.

Come and join us, have a drink (beer, wine, spirits, pop, coffee, tea or whatever is in your kitchen), and chat about LEGO!

This is an open event for anyone 19yrs+ interested in LEGO. Any AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) is welcome whether you collect sets, build sets or build your own creations. Come share your love of LEGO with us. We love to meet new folks!

Membership is not required to attend your first meet-up so come out, meet our members (we’re really friendly), have a drink (not required) and find out what LUGs (LEGO User Groups) are all about!

Where: Online meeting via Google Meet. Please contact us in advance at MidIslandLUG@gmail.com or message us on Facebook (@midislandlug) for the link to join the meeting.

There is a pretty cool prize for this LEGO Ideas contest:

"We invite you to show us your LEGO moment in space! Use your imagination to create the ultimate space model – make it as sci-fi or realistic as you wish, just stay within a base of 16 x 16 studs. One lucky winner has the chance to have their entry transformed into a new Gift with Purchase set, and will win a collection of past exclusive Gift with Purchase sets!"

What an honour to see the MILUG collaborative Bavarian Village MOC (my own creation) being featured on The Brick Show's YouTube review of top MOCs at BrickCan 2018! You can find us at the 2:45 mark.

There is a new LEGO Rebrick contest with some great prizes! Create an ultimate NEXO KNIGHTS mech and submit your photo/s on LEGO Rebrick. Contest ends June 27th at 7pm pst.

The next cmf series will be the 2nd wave of Disney characters. There are definitely some must-haves for me including Chip 'n Dale, Jack Skellington and Sally, and the black and white Mickey and Minnie (although different than the Steamboat Willie figures I am happy I can get these for $5 each rather than having to buy the overpriced set that's $120 for 751 pieces).

Our monthly AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) meet-up is the first Wednesday of every month. We will be meeting Wednesday March 3, 2021 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we will be meeting online.

Come and join us, have a drink (beer, wine, spirits, pop, coffee, tea or whatever is in your kitchen), and chat about LEGO!

This is an open event for anyone 19yrs+ interested in LEGO. Any AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) is welcome whether you collect sets, build sets or build your own creations. Come share your love of LEGO with us. We love to meet new folks!

Membership is not required to attend your first meet-up so come out, meet our members (we’re really friendly), have a drink (not required) and find out what LUGs (LEGO User Groups) are all about!

Where: Online meeting via Google Meet. Please contact us in advance at MidIslandLUG@gmail.com or message us on Facebook (@midislandlug) for the link to join the meeting.

@vdog my experience the last 2 or 3 times I called was about a 40-45 minute wait and the reps I get aren't usually very knowledgeable or helpful. I'm not sure how everyone else always seems to have such positive experiences calling them. I tend to put it off as I don't often have 45 mins to wait on hold and the "help" I get has been frustrating.

The new voting list is out. Here's an excerpt of the announcement:
We realize and take full responsibility, that we made the mistake of splitting the Castle vote. So we are going to have our second vote, increase from three options to four to include Castle. As to not push out Pirates.

This will mean that the second fan vote will kick off with the following options:

• Bionicle

• Classic Space

• Pirates

• Castle

@vdog thanks for the heads up. We were hoping to get the two Chinese New Year sets but both are currently unavailable. If we decide to order something else then we will check definitely the confirmation. I just loathe calling their customer service though. How long did you have to wait on hold?

Our monthly AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) meet-up is the first Wednesday of every month. We will be meeting Wednesday February 3, 2021 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we will be meeting online.

Come and join us, have a drink (beer, wine, spirits, pop, coffee, tea or whatever is in your kitchen), and chat about LEGO!

This is an open event for anyone 19yrs+ interested in LEGO. Any AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) is welcome whether you collect sets, build sets or build your own creations. Come share your love of LEGO with us. We love to meet new folks!

Membership is not required to attend your first meet-up so come out, meet our members (we’re really friendly), have a drink (not required) and find out what LUGs (LEGO User Groups) are all about!

We will be doing a sigfig build activity in the second half of the meetup. If you want to participate please have the following ready:

• a sigfig (a signature minifigure that you have pieced together to look like you - think about hair colour/length, facial hair, glasses, expressions, hats, etc.). Please do not show your sigfig to anyone as there will be a quiz component to this activity.
• accessories that help represent who you are
• 8x8 plate (colour doesn't matter but you may want a colour that you identify with)
• 1x bricks and tiles, snot (studs not on top) bricks, jumper plates

Participation in the activity is not required. You are free to just hang out.

Where: Online meeting via Google Meet. Please contact us in advance at MidIslandLUG@gmail.com or message us on Facebook (@midislandlug) for the link to join the meeting.

Less than 24hrs to go for the first round of voting!

@Ian you would think they have advanced modeling but the more I learn about their internal systems, processes and challenges, the more I realize they are severly lacking in that area.
@Ptrotter that's a good idea. Maybe they'll consider that for the top 3.

@MyBrickYard and @scott read the article. They do a rudimentary analysis of what it would look like if all the castle, space, and pirate themes weren't broken into all the subthemes. Bionicle falls to third.
TLG reserves the right to choose the winner out of the top 3 anyway so all is not lost even if bionicle gets the most votes.

A very interesting article has just come out that found a way to pull user data to get interim results.
https://www.stonewars.de/news/lego-ideas-umfrage-zwischenstand/

Here is a snip of the top 10 (well top 11 since we all know how much I love Model Team!). Even though I've shared some results, the article is worth the read.

@MyBrickYard this has been shared with TLG via the LAN. I think a lot of Abassadors are tired that they constantly say they'll consult the AFOL community (via Ambassadors) and then things like this happen without consultation (and are poorly done). So we are left to tell them reactively that they missed the mark. It is unlikely they will adjust the categories now but hopefully they will think through things better next time, or at least consult with Ambassdors so we can help them think through things in a proactive way.