It's Friday, and that means another 10K interview! Today we welcome back an old friend of the 10K club, Marc a.k.a. Minibrick Productions. Inspired by his friends and family, Marc has recreated the iconic Polaroid OneStep. Check out Marc's creation here!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
My name is Marc, but I go by Minibrick Productions on LEGO Ideas and social media
- Where are you from?
I currently live in California.
- How old are you?
I’m 21-years-old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I am an incoming fourth-year university student studying Mechanical Engineering.
- What hobbies do you have?
My biggest hobby is definitely LEGO building; I love designing anything LEGO-related, including custom minifigures, sets, MOCs, etc. I also love to play video games with friends and travel.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
You can find my work on Instagram at @minibrickminifigs, as well as on YouTube at Minibrick Productions where I post videos of custom sets, figure drawings, and much more.
- 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?
My favourite MOCs are my LEGO Ideas projects; I especially love my latest Mystery Shack project, which is a complete remake of a previously rejected project of mine. Toplego8 and I were able to make it much smaller while keeping it perfectly playable and displayable.
I’ve also designed a few sets for my YouTube channel, with one of my favourites being the Wandavision Vision residence.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
My interest in LEGO products came at a very young age when my brother and I were both given LEGO sets as children. We loved building sets and playing with them - our favourite theme was by far Star Wars, and we would constantly recreate battles of good versus evil. Since then, the LEGO hobbby has always been a part of my life. I still buy several display sets a year (especially anything prequel-era or with fantastic figures) to expand my collection
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
My favourite LEGO theme is by far LEGO Ideas; every set is so different and is always perfected by the team. It’s also always interesting to see what gets accepted and what doesn’t.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
My favorite sets are the UCS Millennium Falcon and the Saturn V rocket. They’re amazing display pieces and are extremely detailed.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
My favorite element is #4457. It’s not a very useful piece for building MOCs, but I’ve always liked how the mould creates a smiling face when it’s flipped upside down - that’s why I chose it for my profile picture.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
I visit Instagram the most - the community is huge on Instagram, and there are so many different kinds of LEGO accounts, such as MOC-only accounts, photography, minifigure drawings, etc.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
My friends and family played a big role in inspiring this model. My younger sister is a big fan of instant photography and her room's walls are full of Polaroid pictures. Similarly, lots of my friends also love taking instant pictures and decorating their rooms with them.Aside from that, I’ve always loved the design of the Polaroid OneStep. It’s incredibly iconic and shows up everywhere, in places such as the past Instagram logo.
- How long was the process of making the project, and what did you have to research as well. What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?
The OneStep took a little over a month from design to completion. I actually started designing it while on vacation in France since I couldn’t wait to build it.
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
From the very start of the design process, I knew I had to make this more than a display piece – it had to include a mechanism for “taking a picture.” I initially tried using some kind of elastic material to sling the picture out, but the mechanism would not be small enough to fit into the frame I wanted for the camera. I then figured that I would use rubber wheels to slide the picture out, and it took a while to figure out a proper size that would grip the picture. This all required real-life testing to ensure that it would work effectively and repeatedly.
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
It’s not a specific technique, but I’m glad about how polished the final model turned out – very few studs are shown which not only makes it look very good on display but it also makes it very easy to hold and play around with.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
To build the set, I used Mecabricks and Stud.io. To render the model I used Blender.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I used Inkscape to design decals for this project.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
It’s critical to make a project based on something you’re passionate about and would love to see in LEGO from. It makes it much more fun to create a project and it shows in the final product.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
Advertising your project is much more than simply posting: “Check out my new project - support it please!” You have to think about how to keep people interested in your project. What I have found successful previously was to pose different aspects of projects in different ways, such as creating memes with the figures, recreating iconic scenes using the build, and much more. Each post should be different - repeatedly posting different angles of your project without much variation will stagnate support.
- Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint of what that might be?
I’ll soon upload a model I’ve been working on for a while, but I already have Mr Bean* published which I’m super passionate about. Please check it out!
* Project has since expired.
