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10K Club Interview: PIRATE TREASURE CHEST by Sparkos

The latest 10K Club Interview leads us to this Pirates Treasure Chest. Meet Nicholas, a.k.a. Sparkos, and their Pirate Treasure Chest project. Inspired by their love for history! Show your support, and find out more below.

ABOUT YOURSELF

  1. What is your first name + last name?
    Nicholas Brown
     
  2. Where are you from?
    Melbourne, Australia – but now live with my family in Los Angeles, California.
     
  3. How old are you?
    35
     
  4. What do you study or do for a living?
    I studied Civil Engineering & Commerce at Monash University, and now work in Sports Marketing in the USA.
     
  5. What hobbies do you have?
    Outside of LEGO (which is a big hobby of mine!), I enjoy woodworking, pickleball, boardgames, and hiking with my family.

    My biggest and best hobby is my family! My wife and two young children are originally from Australia, but we currently find ourselves living and having a wonderful adventure here in the USA.
     
  6. Have you created any LEGO MOCs (my own creations) that you’re particularly proud of? What is it, why are you proud of it and do you have a photo of it?
    In addition to being my first LEGO Ideas project to hit 10k, the Pirate Treasure Chest is also a special MOC of mine as it represents a very fond childhood memory.

     
  7. How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
    My introduction to LEGO is the inspiration for my Pirate Treasure Chest design. On my 5th birthday, my father and I went on a treasure hunt which led to a Treasure Chest (hand made by my dad) with the Sabre Island (6265) set inside which became my first ever set. Like my LEGO design, the chest had the ability to fold down on all four sides to become a surface for many hours of LEGO play as a child.


    Now in later life as a father, I rediscovered LEGO products through my 3-year-old son (Lewis) and 1-year-old daughter (Anna). The joy of building and playing LEGO with them was the inspiration to start creating my own MOCs and digital designs.
     
  8. What does the LEGO hobby mean to you? How does it fit into your life? E.g., build, display, meetups, play the games or 'just' watch the cartoons.
    LEGO as a hobby is one of my favorite ways to spend time with my two children where we are able to build and play in all the creative ways they discover.


    As an Australian, I’m also a huge fan of the TV Show ‘LEGO Masters’ and thoroughly enjoy watching Ryan "The Brickman" McNaught, Hamish Blake and all the amazing contestants build their incredible LEGO models. My brother (Douglas) and I one day dream of being a part of the show.

    Recently, I have enjoyed connecting with other members of the LUGOLA community and have enjoyed hearing and seeing other people’s wonderful LEGO creations.
     
  9. What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
    Easy - my favourite LEGO theme is Pirates! I enjoy everything that theme has to offer from all the various ships to the wide selection of forts.

     
  10. What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
    My absolute favourite design, and a big reason why I love the LEGO Ideas platform, is the Tree House project. I know many people also love this set, but the Tree House is such a wonderful build and playable design. Woodworking is a favourite hobby of mine, and like the Tree House set, nature and wood are somewhat of the inspiration and crossover for the LEGO models I enjoy creating.

     
  11. Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
    Yes – Aaron Newman! I have followed his journey for a long time and have deeply admired his passion for LEGO and pursuit of his dream to become a LEGO designer. If you haven’t seen his ‘Lost Boys Hideout’ design, then definitely check it out! It is one of my all-time favourites.

    Selfishly, if my Treasure Chest Design was to be approved, I would love Aaron to be a part of the team that brought it to life.
     
  12. Is there one or more particular LEGO websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
    LEGO Ideas has always been my primary go to LEGO website as to me it represents such a positive friendly community of likeminded LEGO enthusiast and is a constant source of inspiration. It is also hard to go past BrickLink for the wealth of information and MOC designs showcased on the site.

 

ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

  1. Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
    My father. The Pirate Treasure Chest design is inspired by the real-life version of a similar treasure chest used to play LEGO on while I was a child.
     
  2. How long did the process of making the project take and what did you have to research? What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?
    All up the process took me a solid 6-7 months, end to end as I really jumped into LEGO design with the Pirate Treasure Chest as my first foray into LEGO MOC designs. Having already got the inspiration for the design concept generally, the upfront research was dedicated towards looking at a number of treasure chest designs to work out what the chest shape and look should be. From there, I created paper and cardboard concept designs to understand the dimensions and size of the Pirate Treasure Chest design. Separately, I was also researching and prepping on paper what the layout of the internal island design could look like.  

    Initially, I was intent on building the MOC through existing pieces I had in my collection, but ultimately found that frustrating when I wasn’t able to find the right number of the exact pieces I wanted (or correct color). So relatively quickly I pivoted to creating the design within BrickLink Studio, which despite needing to learn a whole new platform, proved to be a great step in the process towards creating the final real-life design.
     
  3. What special challenges or frustrations did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
    The most challenging part of the model was creating the island details within the chest so that the sides of the model could fold up and not impact each other. I had to go through multiple iterations of the island design to ensure the terrain and trees did not overlap when all four sides were up, and the chest was fully contained.
     
  4. If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell him/her? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
    For this particular project, I would tell myself to take the time at the very upfront to create a simple replica of the model either with LEGO or cardboard before jumping into the project.

    For those wondering what not to do – don’t be overly eager at the start and jump straight into your design before planning out the look and dimensions of the model. For my chest design I was too eager to create something within BrickLink Studio and ultimately wasted a lot of time and money (doing a Pick A Brick order) on an initial version of the design that was not very successful.
     
  5. How long did it take to complete the model? Did you finish it fairly quickly, or did it take a long time? And how did the build time compare to the time you spent promoting your Product Idea to reach 10,000 supporters?
    This design felt like it took me a long time. The digital design component took at least 5 months noting that I was also learning how to use the Studio software at the same time. In this regard I probably have upwards of 20+ versions and iterations of the design as I kept refining what would ultimately become the final Pirate Treasure Chest design. Once the design was complete and parts ordered, the assembly was relatively quick and a highly enjoyable process that took about a week to assemble.

    Promotion of my project was relatively light at the start where I placed the link across a couple of Facebook and Reddit threads. For the most part I was content with the project running its own course through organic discovery and support.
     
  6. How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
    It was an incredible feeling hitting the 10,000 supporters and I am incredibly grateful to the LEGO Ideas community supporting my project. My intension for this project was never really set at achieving the 10,000-supporter mark, so for me every small milestone along the way was such an incredible experience. Getting to 100 supporters, then 500, then 1000 – each step was such a welcome surprise as I did not expect the project to be received so well!

    All up the project took over 12 months to achieve the 10,000 supporters. I remember reading an earlier 10k Club Interview where the designer spoke about each project running their own race. This was something that really spoke to me, so despite not achieving 10,000 supporters in a quick amount of time, I’m proud of the journey it took to get to the final milestone and thankful for the supporters who believed in my project.
     
  7. Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
    All up the design uses 2,500 pieces.
     
  8. What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
    The most enjoyable part of the design, and what I enjoyed researching the most, was creating the microscale island, boat and skull rock. Seeing all the amazing microscale designs out there provided incredible inspiration my design. In particular, I’m proud of the skull rock feature and credit my wife with the idea of having the design lift up to reveal some hidden treasure within.
     
  9. If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
    BrickLink Studio – I can’t speak highly enough of this program and the incredible renders it produced of my model once complete.
     

ABOUT LEGO IDEAS

  1. Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
    For me the best advice I can give is don’t discount the need to produce great renders, images and gifs of your design. After completing my Pirate Treasure Chest, I was exhausted from spending hours iterating within BrickLink Studio to get to the final design that I was happy with. What I knew from seeing other great projects was the need to take the additional time and effort to pull together great renders and images to give the project the best chance of success. I see a lot of amazing projects not do their wonderful designs justice through what materials they pull together on the project page.

     
  2. What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
    For all my LEGO Ideas project I like to promote them at launch on some of the main Facebook and Reddit threads to help get some initial engagement and support. I will also share with my friends and family so they can support my work. Ultimately, as the LEGO Ideas platform states, I feel that if the idea resonates with enough people across the community, then great projects will naturally find their way to people and achieve success.
     
  3. What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
    It's clear that there are SO MANY amazing projects when you scroll back through some of the overlooked projects. In recent memory I was very fond of the Ratatouille (by Brick Project), Old Western Train Station (by 2PPL) and Zoo (by Kodlovag) projects. There’s also anything done by Bricky_Brick which is always amazing and of the highest quality work.  

    The Tree House, Light House and Barracuda Bay LEGO Ideas project are my three absolute favourites – followed closely by the Jazz Quartet. All of those sets are incredibly unique and were such a pleasure to build and display (and play) as part of my collection.
     
  4. What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
    The platform is attractive to me for two reasons. Firstly, the incredible outlet for people’s creativity, talent and amazing designs! It is a continuous joy of mine to keep revisiting the platform to see and support all the new and amazing design. Secondly, the positive nature of the community and lack of competitive interest. I have found through my Pirate Treasure Chest project that the community has been incredible friendly, positive and welcoming!


    The practical tip I would give anyone is do the IP check on the LEGO Ideas platform before getting too far along with your project. But the best advice for someone who has an idea or is in the process of developing a design is just do it! I sat on my idea for a good 6 months thinking it was something I should do before really dedicating the time to actually submitting the project on LEGO Ideas. Trust me, you won’t regretting putting your idea up on the site. Whether it gets to 10k supporters or not, you will be impressed at how well your project is received by this wonderful platform.
     
  5. Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint what that might be?
    One of my favourite boardgames is Micro-Macro Crime City – if you haven’t played it then it’s definitely worth checking out! The way that game is designed to tell a story through a static image is really fascinating to me and something I believe could translate really effectively to a LEGO design and the way minifigures a great at capturing storytelling moments. I’m currently working on a design to replicate something like this but would also love to see others take this as an inspiration if other designs could be shared on the LEGO Ideas platform.  
  • 10k club interview
  • pirates
  • chest
  • map
  • tresure
  • waterfall
  • mountain
  • wood
  • mircoscale
  • skull
Published
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