The Mystery and Legend of the White Brick

In the lead paragraph of my MOC TALK article last month, I made mention of a few “anonymous white brick trophies being placed around convention halls” at LEGO fan events. I’ve written about this mysterious occurrence a couple of years ago elsewhere, but I think it is a tale that merits a retelling.

The Age of Discovery

In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, a large black slab of extraterrestrial technology is discovered by our presumed hominid ancestors, causing a shift in their evolution and marking the dawn of humanity. Thousands of years later at Brickworld Chicago 2017, another significant discovery was made—a number of “White Brick” monoliths mysteriously appeared around the display hall sometime during the dawn on Sunday morning. They appeared yet again at both Brickworld 2018 and 2019. What were these mysterious white bricks? Perhaps they were a harbinger of another shift in our evolution? An evolution of both the LEGO convention experience and the community of builders at large?

“I think that the White Brick is really the heart of what we all want the community to be and represent, rather than manufactured recognition that pretty much all awards have disappointingly come to be.” – Matt Rowntree

Best Train award given to Brian Williams at Brickworld 2012

The White Bricks were the same size and shape as the red brick trophies that are awarded at Brickworld. As with the monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey, these White Bricks also contained many mysteries. Though I didn’t realize it at first, these bricks were actually hollow boxes containing a surprise brick-built MOC inside personalized to the receiver. So where did they come from? What did they mean? Why did they start showing up? And why were they so meaningfully personal?

Since the White Bricks appeared to be replicas of Brickworld trophies, one might first assume that their purpose is to recognize noteworthy LEGO displays that were somehow passed over for an awards nomination. If you haven’t attended Brickworld Chicago, the award nominations are largely selected in predetermined categories: Best Vehicle, Best Spacecraft, Best Mech, Best Building, etc. People certainly build MOCs to purposefully compete in these categories—and sometimes even modify their MOCs to fit into them (of which I am guilty). As one might expect at such a large convention as Brickworld where so many amazing builders congregate, many epic models fall through the cracks when it comes to receiving a nomination. It typically is not on purpose. Perhaps they don’t fit well into any category or they get overlooked by the sheer number of awesome displays that year.

In 2017, the White Bricks first appeared next to such unnominated builds. Andrew Mollmann found one placed in front of the large pink façade of his “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Another was found by Graeme Dymond in the middle of the life-sized game room display he designed. (For those who don’t know Graeme, he is the mastermind behind creating wonderfully engaging life-sized displays built out of Duplo—including life-sized mini-golf courses, carnival games, and even a working bar.) His builds are always a hub of activity at every show and bring joy to the faces of builders and attendees both young and old. It was discovered that his White Brick opened and contained a MOC of an arcade game that appeared to be a scaled-down version of the one he built for the game room display.

I’m not sure which of Cecilie Fritzvold’s many builds her White Brick was placed next to. She actually had a banner year at Brickworld 2017—she received a Brickworld award nomination for best vignette, won a blind build competition, and was a key contributor in yet another “Best Group Layout” win for the Eurobricks collective. She even defeated Chris Maddison in the Iron Builder competition earlier that year, which was no small feat (and she has yet to be defeated). The tribute MOC inside of her White Brick was an ant, likely in recognition of all the amazing things that she dutifully built, carrying a building load 100 times more than expected.

“So, what’s in the box?” - Cecilie Fritzvold’s Goomba on Flicker

Uncovering the Significance

In 2018, however, there was a new development in the mystery of the White Brick! Several were discovered in other areas and not only placed near unnominated builds.

One such White Brick was discovered by Victor at EclipseGRAFX. At first, he thought that a customer had accidentally left it behind at their vendor booth. When he opened the box, however, he discovered their EclipseGRAFX logo placed inside. Victor and his wife Maggie have been great supporters of the building community (not to mention one of the key sponsors of BrickNerd), especially as one of the go-to vendors for custom printed brick badges and tiles at conventions. EclipseGRAFX receiving a White Brick had to mean something more than just an overlooked MOC. It seemed more like a special recognition for all that they do for the community. I know receiving the White Brick meant a great deal to them.

Learning who else had received White Bricks led to an important discovery regarding their true intent. The White Bricks recognized people who made the Brickworld experience special—not only through creating innovative displays but also through meaningful engagement within the community. They expressed appreciation and gratitude. The mystery was being solved, but who was giving these White Bricks away?

Fellow BrickNerd contributor Simon Liu received a White Brick, although technically it wasn’t white. It was built using trans-clear bricks surrounding a red beating heart referred to as the “Heart of Brickworld.” There is no doubt that this brick belongs on his shelf of trophies. From my very first Brickworld (and probably from his first), I noticed he set a positive paradigm for other attendees to follow. He exudes inclusiveness, generosity, and kindness while always building something new and fun.

Matt Rowntree received a White Brick that year too, but the MOC hidden inside was SO personalized that its meaning would be lost on the casual reader (and its NSFW design likely misinterpreted). The true meaning was relayed to Matt via an anonymous source—it was a deep appreciation of how he continues to be a voice in the building community who “keeps it real.” The MOC was very symbolic of the way in which he does that.

Bringing People Together

“This is cool. The concept has come a long way from the butcher paper two years ago.” - Christopher Hoffmann

My own personal connection with the White Brick came in 2018 as well. I was honored to find one placed in front of the “Race at Shadowlands” collaboration I led. My vision was to improve upon the Tech-West Speeder Bike rally collab from my first Brickworld in 2016 by creating a speeder race that actually moves. We didn’t receive any award nominations for the achievement, but we certainly had a good time putting on “one great show!” I thought the White Brick was a great recognition of all our efforts, creativity, and innovation in bringing the display to life.

However, I later learned that the White Brick was in recognition for much more than that. The inside of the brick-box contained a cool little Portal MOC. I hadn't thought that deeply as to why that was the MOC inside my specific brick, but I was later anonymously informed that it was a metaphor for how I opened up a portal for others to join in the fun. It is true that I could have done the speeder bike race as a solo layout, but I find it is much more enjoyable at a convention to collaborate with others and share the building experience. I also try to look past any perceived LUG boundaries at the convention and search out people who I want to build with regardless of their affiliation.

For context, I strive to recruit at least one new person to collaborate with at Brickworld each year and learn from their unique artistic vision and talents. It puts into practice a question that Keith Goldman used to always close his blog interviews with: “If time, money and proximity were not an issue, what two builders would you’d like to collaborate with on a project?” For my first Brickworld in 2016, it was Christopher Hoffmann who joined me in creating the impromptu “Tech-West Speederbike Rally” layout placed onto brown butcher paper hiding the tabletops. In 2017, it was Jen Spencer who I had convinced to come to her first Brickworld. She provided an outstanding hive-town as a backdrop for the “Great Steambug Migration” collaboration.

For the “Race at Shadowlands,” I tapped into the skills of some Brickworld veterans I had always wanted to collaborate with. It all started with a conversation with Dan Church after Brickworld 2017, as we share a similar sci-fi aesthetic. Once we honed in on having the speeder race set on a shadowy, alien world we just had to get Barbara Hoel involved and incorporate her wonderful skills at LEGO botany. She actually considered many of her plant sculptures as “space” creations, so it was serendipity. The collaboration was rounded out by people across multiple LUGs, contributing their fan vehicles to the infield. Everyone's efforts and support really turned this display into a crowd favorite. The White Brick was a recognition of bringing people together. Special thanks also goes out to Dennis Price who captured it all in this wonderful video.

From A Secret Admirer

As of today, the anonymous distributor(s?) of the White Bricks has yet to be discovered. But the mystery of the White Brick has now become more of a legend. Seeing how personalized the MOCs inside of the bricks are to their receivers, you would think the distributor is someone that all of the recipients collectively know personally—or perhaps there is a “White Brick Illuminati” watching over Brickworld. Though solving a mystery can be fun, in this case, I’d prefer that the anonymous distributor(s) remain anonymous. The mystery is what makes them even more special.

The custom, personalized interiors of the White Bricks have never been repeated. Even more impressive, the distributor must build the custom MOCs on-site! This was confirmed when a White Brick was placed next to Rob Hendrix’s Malört train—Rob kept his build a secret until he displayed it at the show. Below is a quick run-down of the other known White Bricks that have been given away. Having met most of the receivers, I can say that the trend of recognizing people that make the Brickworld experience special is a valid hypothesis.

Bart Larrow’s son, Alex: Galaga space invader interior, placed next to his mosaic of the “Seal of the Twelve Colonies” in the VirtuaLUG Battlestar Galactica display (2018).

Adrian Drake: Fake moon landing interior, placed by his Tesla roadster (2019).

Nick Della Mora: Gun of Thrones interior, placed by his micro-games (2019).

Rob Hendrix: Alcohol train interior, placed next to his actual Malört train (2019).

Samuel Hatmaker: Infinity Gauntlet with "Oh Snap" tiled inside of the box (2019).

Daniel Ross: Luke's X-Wing making the Death Star trench run interior, placed by his Millennium Falcon (2019).

So that is the legend of the White Brick. It isn’t about whoever builds the biggest or who is the most popular. They are given to people who make a difference, who go out of their way, who build the community. Those custom, thoughtful MOCs on the inside are what make the White Bricks all the more meaningful. You just have to look beyond the white surface and see the deeper symbolism within them. I admit that I originally judged these bricks by their cover when they first appeared, thinking they were just another award. I was blind, but now I see. They highlight the best the LEGO community has to offer.

It really is true that it is better to give than to receive. I hope that non-official, personalized trophies like these continue to proliferate in the community. They encourage us to keep following our own visions and forging our own paths. They offer a quiet acknowledgment of hard work that many times go unnoticed. They cement the feeling of community and belonging. Rather than falling into the self-centered trap of an awards competition, we all should be sure to show our appreciation of each other’s creativity and contributions—even if it is just a simple White Brick.

What kind of unofficial recognition have you seen at LEGO fan conventions? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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