The latest 10K Club Interview invites us to go out for dinner with the Simpsons! Meet Anthony, a.k.a. FastBrickStudios, and their The Simpsons: The Krusty Burger project. Inspired by their love for the iconic TV show! Give your support, and find out more below.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
My name is Anthony Garibian.
- Where are you from?
I’m from Sacramento, California.
- How old are you?
I’m 19 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I’m a LEGO YouTuber!
- What hobbies do you have?
I love watching movies. My favorite genres are action, sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, drama, horror, and mystery. They’re always entertaining. I also enjoy acting and photography.
And of course, building LEGO.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
Yes! I post my MOCs on YouTube and Instagram.
- 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?
Yes! Back in 2019 I have created one of my most iconic builds to date. Using over 20,000 LEGO bricks, it was a LEGO Life Size Spider-Man Sculpture. The amount of effort and time that went into this MOC was ambitious to say the least. Using no glue or steel armatures, he held up his own weight!
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I got my first LEGO set when I was 4 years old, it was the 6187 Road Construction Set. A very simple collection of construction vehicles, but yet allowed for plenty of creativity. The alternate builds plus all of the additional pieces included, really got my imagination going. This was the beginning of a new chapter in my life.
- 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 means a lot to me. It makes me think outside the box, it allows me to be creative and use the same shaped LEGO piece in many different ways, achieving the organic and or geometric angles that I was intending. Building LEGO on a daily basis has given me the experience and understanding of it that now lets me create whatever I want without instructions.
- What is your favorite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
LEGO The Simpsons is my all-time favorite theme. Despite its very short life span, I love the show and enjoyed putting together and displaying both official sets alongside the two Minifigures series to compliment them. The Simpsons House and Kwik-E-Mart translate really well into LEGO form, given the show’s cartoonish nature. The minifigures have phenomenal head molds making them instantly recognizable. And I’m very happy LEGO decided to take this route. In terms of building style, my Krusty Burger model was greatly inspired by the two official sets and heavily influenced the final design of my MOC. From the exterior aesthetics, to the interior details. This design style will stay consistent throughout the Springfield MOC that I’m building!
- What is your favorite official LEGO set ever? Why?
Tough question! I would have to go with set 75192, The UCS Millennium Falcon. Despite not yet getting around to picking up this LEGO set, it is my favorite set. It’s so iconic and manages to include so much detail. As well as, it’s simply nostalgic to me. I was a huge fan of the Falcon growing up.
- What is your favorite LEGO element? Why?
I’d have to say the classic 2x4 brick. I find myself using it quite a lot. It’s a very useful piece regarding the size and structure that it provides, especially in my larger scale creations.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
Yes! I’m inspired by many LEGO designers. Two of my favorites are Hans Burkhard Schlömer and Tiago Catarino.
Hans Burkhard Schlömer has made some phenomenal LEGO Star Wars sets in the past, and LEGO Star Wars is my second favorite theme. The new UCS Venator, UCS Slave 1 and UCS Millennium Falcon speak for themselves.
Tiago Catarino does a really good job as well, creating some awesome Minifigure scaled models and being very clever with his building techniques
- Is there one or more particular LEGO websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
Social media is where I get most of my inspiration. The Brothers Brick is another useful website that I use.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
After seeing LEGO discontinue The Simpsons theme with so much potential left, I decided to take it upon myself and recreate The Krusty Burger, the set that should’ve come after the release of The Kwik-E-Mart.
- 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?
The Project took over 2 months in total. Designing, building, and graphic designing the stickers. Research was done by rewatching many of The Simpsons episodes and placing together the key moments where The Krusty Burger appeared. This was a very important step in order to get a solid understanding of how the building looked all around.
- What special challenges or frustrations did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The biggest challenge was definitely with the roof panels. I wanted to capture the right texture on the roof while still maintaining the correct shape of the model.
- 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?
Now, I would maybe update some of the building techniques used for the roof. But other than that, the model stands the test of time.
- 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?
The model took over 2 months to complete, which was longer than I initially anticipated, but I’m proud of the end product, so it was worth it! Promoting definitely took up a lot of time, but I wouldn’t say it took as long or longer than building and designing the actual model.
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes, and how long did it take?
I felt accomplished! This is in fact the second time The Krusty Burger reached 10,000 votes, which is crazy! The project took less than 2 years to reach the magic number.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
2996 pieces.
- What is your favorite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
The Krusty Burger sign.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used LEGO Digital Designer, Bricklink Stud.io to build, and Mecabricks to render.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them, or where did you get them?
I took note of LEGO's sticker style and then graphic designed my own in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, basing them upon as many reference images as I could find.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
Besides the Project itself, presentation is a very important factor to consider. Having good pictures and visuals make the Project look even better, increasing your chances for success.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
To promote my Project, I’ve used multiple social media platforms, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Many people shared it around from there as well, which gave it a huge boost.
- What is your favorite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
I have two favorites, the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 and The Office. Both are simply classic.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
The potential of creating an official LEGO set. There’s no other way around making this happen besides LEGO Ideas. My tip would be to think the idea fully through, ask yourself if you would support it and why.
- Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint as to what that might be?
Yes! I do plan on posting more Projects in the playscale size, but I don’t want to give away too much!
By
BrickSon