This Side Up: The Travels and Tribulations of a MOC
This is the story of my New Hashima build for Brickworld 2023. Technically, it’s all Simon’s fault. And a deer. But we’ll get to that later…
Let’s Start At The End
You may recall our fearless leader, Dave, on his way back from BW Chicago, had the misfortune of hitting a deer, and then being hit by a tractor-trailer. Miraculously (and thankfully), he was unscathed, but his car and LEGO inside… not so much. But if you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see the one box with some big letters on it that survived. That’s mine! I mean, yeah, I was concerned with Dave and all, but dude! What’s the deal with my build!?!?!
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Back To The Beginning
Let’s go back a few months. My old pal Simon was recruiting people for this New Hashima Cyberpunk (whatever that is, I’m still not exactly sure) collaboration for Brickworld. I already knew I most likely wouldn’t be there, but I’ve sent MOCs all over the place, so I was up for a contribution.
I got to work first by building the cube to the specifications. Then the brainstorming. I looked to Ted Andes’ cubes for inspiration. It didn’t take me long to settle on a dental clinic… being a dentist and all… and I figured nobody else would bother. The flower shop was just a random thing to fill some leftover space, and I thought it added a nice color contrast. I also ordered a bunch of lights from Brickstuff. Here’s a gallery of how it all came together.
The Handoff
Satisfied and getting everything cleared by Simon and Stefan for the official Cyberpunk Certification, I packed it up and ready to go. My wife and I met up with Dave for the handoff at the giant outlet center in upstate New York. We had a nice lunch, did some shopping, and that was that. It turns out it was the first official Brickworld 2023 New Hashima MOC handoff, or so I was told.
Little did I realize at the time what an adventure my build was about to embark upon! (Can you tell which side is supposed to go up?)
The Big Show
I’m sure you’ve read about the collab, especially since we did a whole week of coverage! Simon was kind enough to find my dentist cube a high-profile spot atop a tower. It’s always nice to get your teeth drilled while enjoying a view! Here are some nifty pics that Caleb took.
The Journey Home
Following the crowds with mouths agape, contributors high-fiving, and multiple awards, the whole city was disassembled and packed up. My box was returned to Dave, and he hit the road to head home. But, as we saw in the pictures at the beginning of this story, things didn’t go all that smoothly for our fearless leader on a lonely highway in Indiana… The deer and the semi had other plans…
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Jumping ahead to late August, it was finally time to meet up again, this time at Brickhouse Resellers near Poughkeepsie, NY. The box and Dave seemed to be in fairly good condition, aside from the shards of glass that worked their way under the tape. But I’d wait until I got home to see what remained of my build.
(The underground AFOL shipping network needs to step up its game!)
All Will Be Revealed
I suppose I should have known that all that rattling was a bad sign… When I opened the box, I was greeted by this view:
Okay, well, let’s see what we’ve got in here. Those big trans light blue pieces I thought most likely to get smashed were somehow intact. Score!
What can you find in the rubble?
Next up was the whole cast of characters. Turns out they were all okay and rolling around on the floor! Must be the laughing gas tank leaked.
But should they rebuild?
The last item was a bit of plastic that I couldn’t quite figure out. It didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t LEGO. It was a tiny piece of Dave’s car that somehow ended up inside the box.
Try explaining the physics of that since the box was still sealed!
Perspective
So there you have it, BrickNerd fans, the story of how a contribution to a giant collaboration traveled from Vermont to Chicago and back again… in almost the same condition. Overall, I’d say it was a success from a LEGO perspective. The MOC made it out there, and I would suspect it faired better than if I had shipped it. Even though it didn’t survive the return trip, most of my Brickworld builds didn’t make it back either. Back in the day, my VirtuaLUG buddies and I had a tradition of smashing our convention builds anyway.
What is most important, though, is that Dave was okay. And my large trans-blue pieces were okay, too. They’re pretty pricey! I would also suggest that if you live in an area with a lot of deer (or kangaroos for our Australian readers), get some deer whistles. Just stick them inside the grill of your car. They might just save your life! And your LEGO!
Have you ever had a LEGO MOC utterly destroyed? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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