Ready to join Joel Robinson to watch the worst movies of all time! This week's 10K Club product idea LEGO Mystery Science Theater 3000, by LEGO Ideas member Joseph Beasley a.k.a. JMaster, recreates the famous and ever changing sets of Mystery Science Theater 3000 including all the iconic characters.
Help us congratulate Joseph, in the comments below, on joining the exclusive LEGO Ideas 10K Club and for sharing his story with us!
About Yourself
- Where are you from?
I’m from New Orleans [USA].
- How old are you?
I just turned 19 in April.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I’m in college currently. I’m divided as to whether I want to pursue a more artistic career or a science-based field. Currently I’m majoring in biology and minoring in studio art.
- What hobbies do you have?
I draw a lot in my spare time, I write from time to time, and I also enjoy listening to music while I work.
- How and when did your interest for LEGO come about?
The two themes that got me interested in LEGO were Aqua Raiders, namely the Angler Ambush set; and the BIONICLE sets at the time, the Creeps from the Deep Barraki sets. I got, Ehelk, Kalmah, and Takodox. I had some random spare BIONICLE parts from my cousin too, but eight year-old me just adored the way the Raiders and Barraki looked. Then came Fantasy Castle, Mars Mission, and Exo-Force, I was hooked.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set? Why?
Although it’s difficult to choose an absolute favorite, I would say some of the contenders would be Hyperspeed Pursuit; Tiger Shark Attack; Claw Digger; Shadow Snapper. There’s also the Swarm Interceptor, Vermin Vaporizer, Hive Crawler, Exo Suit, the Milano, WALL-E, my BIONICLE sets of the Toa Mata & 2015 Masters. I love sci-fi and fantasy adventure themes with inspired creature and vehicle design, and there’s so many to choose from.
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What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
I’d say the piece that’s helped me out the most is either parts number 6179812, the smallest slope piece, or part 473326, the 4-sided connector. Both were incredibly helpful in creating the ‘Bots’, and are just so useful in other creations.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
The two that stick in my head most fondly are Mark Stafford (the Mech guy) and Jamie Berard (the Creator and Modular buildings designer). Mark has made many of my personal favorite sets (Hyperspeed Pursuit, Undersea Explorer, the Samurai/Fangpyre Mechs, Exo-Suit), and Jamie was in many of the Designer videos and seemed incredibly nice, he was one of the faces behind many of the sets I was dying to get (Emerald Night, Mixer, Pet Shop, Sopwith Camel, among others).
- Is there one or more particular LEGO related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I frequent Brickset, FTTB, and the Eurobricks forums fairly often. I also browse LEGO-related Youtube channels like Jangbricks and TTV. Reviews by Nick on Planet Ripple, RolloutReviews, Photobrick Studios and Shadowgear6335 are favorites of mine, but those aren’t exclusively LEGO channels.
About Your Project
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
I came across MST3K a long time ago playing late at night on some random channel, and I was intrigued by what I saw. I looked it up on Netflix, and I loved what I saw. Each of the Bots had a fun and interesting design, and I thought the Satellite was a fun location to make. Not to mention it’s a fun show, and many of the quips they make throughout the films are often hilarious, they struck a chord with me.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
All of the ‘Bots were very difficult to make. On one hand, I wanted them to be small enough to fit in with the model, as I didn’t just want to make some WALL-E-sized ‘Bots. Problem was, I also wanted them to have a decent resemblance to the characters in the show, as all minifig-scale MOCs I saw online were only vaguely like the Bots, and used illegal techniques to boot! Even when I originally uploaded the project, the criticisms I got and my own reservations about the scale of the Bots led me to re-scale and redesign them in further updates. The last update I made for the project has my favorite designs thus far and are all almost minifig scale. Crow can’t open his mouth anymore, sadly, but everything else I’m now happy with.
- How long did it take to complete the model?
It took many weeks during high school to get the original upload. I also worked over weekends for each of the updates I made. Manos, Space Mutiny, the Revival, Pod People, Final Justice, and the Satellite of Love with Bot redesigns. They all took hours to design and render.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It felt awesome, of course! We were all so happy when it got to just 34 supporters, and I was surprised we got so many supporters in such a little amount of time, we got over a thousand in less than a week! After that, it was a slow burn to 10,000, and it took less than two years.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
The original model for the submission used 1241, while my latest update only used 517 bricks.
About LEGO Ideas
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
All I’d say is put time and effort into it, make it look presentable and pretty! If you’re on social media, post it! I got media attention and many supporters thanks to fan groups on Facebook, so that’s a suggestion especially if you’re making a licensed set.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas project (besides your own of course)?
Either Peter Reid’s Exo-Suit- since I loved the original design, the model, all of his other MOCs, and was excited to get the set leading up to it’s announcement and release- or WALL-E. He’s just too adorable, and is now parked permanently on my desk!
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
I’m excited by the notion of making, or at least inspiring, a product made from my childhood toy and based on a show I loved. Whatever idea you have for a product has to be something you are passionate about, and won’t mind dedicating your spare time to work on. Also, and this was a personal thing I did… reach out to your supporters! Thank them for their time and thoughts, it helps to be kind and courteous!
By
hasanjensen