Token Observation: The Impact of Tokens of Appreciation at LEGO Conventions

Tokens. Like Tolkein’s One Ring, these precious little LEGO things can change the trajectory of a little hobbit and can hold great untold value when forged correctly. 

Yesterday’s article discussed the Token of Brickworld: the Gugick, which is built and distributed by the Brickworld Master which has its own set of rules. Today, I’m going to talk about Tokens of Appreciation given from builder to build at LEGO conventions—and my personal rules for them.

Tom - frequent Febrovery builder - and his rover Tokens

The Origin of Tokens

While I'm squarely to blame for the Gugicks, you can’t blame me as much for tokens. Tokens of Appreciation (or whatever name you want to call them) started long before Arthur invaded our displays with Scorpions, so it’s not something that he or I can be blamed for.

KC Ross’s signature snails - Magic Card for scale

I believe KC Ross has been doing it the longest, well beyond myself, with her two-piece snails customized to individual displays and bigger snails. But I also know that since my Gugick year, I've been giving out tokens or gifts ever since. (Of course, not at the same level as the Brickworld Master in Chicago’s official duties with the Gugicks, but I get around; and I absolutely love giving out little builds to people.)

So this is where the topic of LEGO convention tokens gets a bit delicate. I’d like to remind readers that these are my thoughts and my views and my opinion, I know some people share a similar perspective about them, and I know some don’t; but I think the token tradition needs to be looked at. 

And like any good school report, I’ll break down the subject into the 5 W’s—Who, What, Where, When and Why, though not necessarily in that order. I’m not saying anyone should necessarily follow in my footsteps (unless you’re a Brickworld Master), but this is how I see LEGO convention tokens and my general rules for them.

What Is a Token?

Technically, a token is any LEGO build that you want to give to anyone else. But this is the important part… what makes it a GOOD token? I asked recent Brickworld Master Nick Jensen (2017) and Casey McCoy (2023) for their thoughts on what makes a good token.

Brickworld Masters (L to R): Casey 2023, Nick 2017, Dan 2024 - i love these guys

Nick Jensen tells us:

“Although I don’t consider Gugicks and tokens to be the same thing, they share one common goal to me: be unmistakably you. For tokens: put in effort. There is a big difference between a token of appreciation or respect and what amounts to leaving junk on someone else’s layout they worked hard to present. Business cards are not tokens. I can hear Anthony Jeselnik mutter, “Don’t forget about me,” as I see someone else’s business card next to an amazing build.”

More gift than Token, these were Trophies given out by Nick in 2018

Casey McCoy gives us the simple bullet points for great Tokens: 

Casey’s first token, should take advice from present Casey

“It’s easily recognizable as to who made it. Either because it’s a miniaturized version of one of their iconic builds, in their known style, or directly references the person in some way

If not easily recognizable, it’s able to stand on its own as a unique, whole, and complete micro-build.

While nice to receive any token, the tokens that do not stand out are ones that can’t be easily identified as to who made it, what it’s supposed to be, or looks to be 100% sourced from PAB wall elements.”

Both Nick and Casey hit the point in my opinion: the token should not be a generic token of appreciation. It is YOUR token of YOUR appreciation, so it should be identifiably YOU. Past Simon was more inclined for some anonymity. But as I see more and more tokens pile up at LEGO conventions and also see how meaningful it is to know who gave the token and why, I have definitely changed my stance on making tokens identifiable and unabashedly you.  

But as a newer builder or if you are new to the LEGO con scene, this might be a bit daunting—what is “unabashedly you?” Well, there are two obvious paths: the harder one for a newer builder is to build something iconically you, or the simpler path is to just build something that ties into your build that year.

Simon’s Brickworld 2024 tokens

This year at Brickworld Chicago, I made four separate Tokens (please remember that bit about me loving to make tokens—don’t go overboard like me): 

A variant of the classic FrogPod that matched the colour scheme of my SHIP.

A Smash Bro collab - (wrong) Simon character.

A chonky space cat in monochrome bley mech suit.

A stuffed Hobbes that matched my 1:1 replica of stuffed Hobbes I built.

While the frog pod and mech suit are pretty iconic and obvious where they came from—or at least with a very high suspicion—the stuffed Hobbes one isn’t. But most people who walked around the exhibition hall would likely figure out that it goes with the MOC I brought for display.

So, I would recommend to new builders who aren’t sure: keep it simple—do something associated with your MOC. Did you build a moon base with some rovers? Make some tiny rovers. A giant dragon attacking a castle? A tiny dragon. It’s simple.

Frogs sound cheap, but thousands of Tokens add up

Or commit to the bit! Randomly choose something and make it your own, like how the cheapest animal, the frog, became my whole hilarious branding (though I do warn of the devastating costs of this strategy with a future article on that to come). 

And there’s nothing that says you can’t change it over time, because hopefully whoever you gave your token will know and remember specifically who gave it to them at that point in time. (“Oh, I got this when Simon was in that crazy frog era before he moved onto hedgehogs.”)

Rule #1: Tokens should be builds that are very ‘You’—either an evergreen build that is always you or something tied to your build that year, Or at least sign orlabel them!

As for business cards and stickers, these are probably best personally handed to folks (I love it when people give me a sticker and I can then decide where it goes on my LEGO bin or water bottle). If a sticker or button is left on the table, it’d be kinda rude to move it (lest the gifter think it’s stolen). That also means that I can’t use the cool sticker or button until after the con!

three pieces - blueBrick’s token is a perfect example, a 2x4 and 2 eyes - is so much fun - bonus points for placement

Business cards as tokens are also a bit odd, as they conflict with the business cards intended to be handed out by builders and can confuse the public. But if you write a note on it, it’s probably best to tuck it under the MOC card, as it’s a private comment between you and the builder.

[Editor’s Note: That said, even BrickNerd is guilty of handing out stickers as tokens. Ever since the accident last year, we haven’t been able to make new printed Nerdly tokens, so stickers have been more of a stop-gap solution. This is why these token rules are more like guidelines anyway.]

Who Should Make Tokens? 

Honestly, anyone should make a token to give away! Everyone or no one! Don’t think that you HAVE to give out tokens. Tokens aren’t for everyone. Not everyone likes getting them or giving them out, so don’t feel pressured to join in because you saw some influencer do it. A common refrain in this article is “you do you.” 

Monkey Business - pre Manchester Tokening

I love making and giving tokens. Even during my first ever Brickworld, I specifically built and gifted a MOC to Mark Larson before I even had met him (sounds like another article topic!). He asked for things to contribute to a memorial for his dad, and I went out and built him a copy of the actual ship his dad served on. Over the years, I have built many, many, many tokens, gifts, etc., to hand out because LEGO, to me, is pretty fungible. I can always buy more (and giving away is easier than sorting).

I can’t buy friends. I can’t buy heroes. But I can give them something that represents my love and appreciation for them and for what they’ve done. A token of my appreciation, if you will. 

Who Should Receive Tokens?

This is a very debatable and very, very personal question—so I’ll simply tell you how I give away tokens, which absolutely has evolved and changed over the years. As you know, I’ve done the “give to everyone’” approach before. Now, with all the LEGO cons I go to, I have to be a bit more selective. And this is where it’s definitely the “pot calling the kettle black.” I do love tokens and gifts. It’s a nice feeling and sometimes that’s returned—but that’s not how it SHOULD work. A gift is a gift, at least to me. I do not want or expect anything in return.

GamerLUG friends with pews - with possibly my favorite token-gift

In my mind, I categorize folks broodingly into two categories: “friends” and “to be friends".” Friends are folks I know already, that I’ve probably interacted with at previous conventions or extensively online. They’re more in the group where I might build a specific gift for them, and less a token.

Gamer LUG Chiefy Token-award-gift?

I actually tend to avoid or skip giving my standard tokens to friends because, frankly, they already know I love them. They don’t need a constant reminder (or maybe they do?).

Then there are new friends or random and new folks. These are the ones who get the most special token that year. They’re generally folks that I didn’t know before, first-timers, folks that just wow me in some way, or even acquaintances I finally get to know more. 

magic puzzle cubes … what’s inside? hmmmm - a sneaky Pikmin token from Jarren?

That’s right, I usually don’t give tokens specifically because a MOC is awesome—there are awards for that. Instead, I give them to people that I’ve made a connection with. A great example this year at Brickworld was Noah, a YFOL attending along with his father who asked me a question about my Calvin and Hobbes MOC. In the conversation, I told them to play with my cube puzzles. Noah was possibly the fastest to solve all four difficulties.

Once the ice was broken, Noah asked me a bunch more questions and hilariously kept interrupting his dad with more questions, to the point that we hiked across the hall to look at his Star Wars display. Was it the best SW build there? No, but it was nice. I made an effort to always wave and say hi to Noah every time I saw him. I ended up gifting him a FrogPod and Puzzle cube. To me, that’s what LEGO conventions are about: connecting with builders and being reminded of when I was a newbie at my first convention and someone was nice enough to share their build with me and show genuine interest in what I brought.

It’s great to see cool stuff and learn from the fantastic creators about how to build, but it’s really those small moments that matter to me, so I tend to focus on those. 

Brickcon token invasion

That said, if I do see a build overlooked, I absolutely will try to plop down a token. Conversely—and sorry if you’ve ever felt I slighted you and didn’t give you a token—it was probably because your stuff is awesome and both you and I know it. You know it’s awesome and many others have already pointed that out! I’m not one to give out a token just so I’ll make someone’s highlight reel, but I'd rather try to enforce bonds I’ve made. 

Rule #2: be picky about who gets your token. Tokens mean so much more when it's a continuation of a budding bond with someone.

I know that it’s not always easy for builders to talk to other builders, and it seems so easy to leave an anonymous token and drop it off, but do consider trying to talk to the builder. It makes that token so much more meaningful to the individual. And “Hey, you’re awesome, I want to give you something” is the best icebreaker possible at a LEGO convention.

Where Should Tokens Go? 

Tokens can be at any convention. It’s not a Chicago thing, and it has definitely grown in popularity. But really, this section probably should be titled “What’s the etiquette on where to place your tokens?” With the exception of the Brickworld Master at Brickworld Chicago, you should never put a token into someone’s display (without permission). It should be put outside of the build area in a respectful and neat spot—don’t block the MOC! While it probably won’t bother most, some people are very particular about how their builds are set up, so definitely try to keep the area uncluttered and neat. 

Rule #3: Be mindful of where you place your Tokens.

Tokens in front of Chris Doyle’s wonderful Moth man - Brickworld 2024

One builder I saw this year actually took the time to rearrange his tokens in a straight line, which I thought was pretty neat. I’ve heard of some conventions thinking of deposit boxes for token swag to keep the display area clear since big piles of tokens can distract from the public’s experience. Whatever is your preference, make it purposeful and intentional.

When Do You Place a Token?

You can place your token at anytime, really. It can happen whenever you want. I’m a traditionalist and I tend to stick to the Gugick timeline of Saturday night, but that’s more out of procrastination than purposeful intent. But I actually appreciate it when people put theirs out early so I can scope out which builders got missed!

The only real rule is to not place tokens during public hours. Even if you’re an attendee, it looks weird to have people reaching over the stanchions to drop things off, and it can easily look like you’re taking things as well. (Or even worse, convey the impression to the public that those little tokens are take-home items!)

Rule #4: Avoid placing tokens during public hours—it’s confusing to the public… or security.

If you’re a member of the public (not a convention attendee displaying MOCs) and want to give out a token, generally try to talk to the individual (or someone around) and ask them to put it on the build for you.

Why Tokens? 

This is a hard question and probably the most personal of all. The reasons for tokens vary from person to person. I can definitely see some people targeting cool builds, others their friends, others giving them to individuals who have done wonderful things in the community, and even those playing a game to see who can give out the most. 

But for me, it goes back to the Who. The reason I give out tokens is simply because I feel like they’re manifestations of friendship and memories. In my earlier years I was a set collector. I collected some cool sets and employee exclusives, but really they never meant much to me at the end of the day. 

Creations for Charity | Annual Fundraiser

Then I stumbled on Creations for Charity (C4C) run by Nannan Zhang, and a whole new world opened up. Owning a one-off custom build by someone is amazing and special. I’ve also been a donator of my own builds… because donating is easier than sorting! While C4C is a great cause, it’s not exactly a cheap method of obtaining MOCs from the best builders in the world. Which is when I discovered a trick: bring a bin of bricks to a con, sit around, and voila! Instant super cool builds.

But then I realized something… it wasn’t the build that was meaningful. It was what the build represented. The time together, the laughs, the fun, and over the years, I have collected many of these, as well as other gifts and tokens along the way. Each one a strong memory of the person and the time.

Take my first such haul:

I can tell you a story about each one of these little treasures. From the random bin builds we built together; being at O’Grady’s bar in dim light and the horror of dropping a piece on the floor; to using soon-to-be LEGO Masters Tyler’s stolen parts (at the time precious sand green); or the Krispy Kreme cube, one of the most original gangsters Spacer gave me; or possibly my most star-struck moment of walking around with Blake and not knowing what to say after he handed me his Spaceman Spiff and awkwardly carrying it around as we walked around the hall. 

I can go through almost all my previous convention hauls and have similar stories or memories of the people involved. Which brings me back to Rule #2. It’s so important to ME to know who gave me the token, so at worst, if it’s not someone I’ve met or talked to, I can make sure I do that at the next con.

Why do I give out my Tokens? They are a token of our friendship. I know how important these little things were to me. I go out of my way to create these so that when they are given out, hopefully the recipient will have similar thoughts of me when they see it on their shelf. And even if we didn’t have a meaningful interaction, it’s an invitation to talk to me next time since hopefully it’s pretty obvious who put it down. 

For me, giving tokens is totally not about the anonymity, which is why I put great care in my tokens to make them “super me” or directly tied to my build that year so that, looking back, people can be remembered of that moment: 

Oh the Stuffed Hobbes, that was Simon from the “Let’s Go Exploring” year. I remember that great scavenger hunt!

Oh the tiny Escher cube, that’s the year Simon did the giant Escher puzzle with all the other fun Escher stuff and had way more bley than I thought possible in a build.

Oh the Blockade Runner, that was the year with the crashing ISD ships with missing turbo lasers.

Meredith's (Pinkwheels) token display of awesome

But caution: tokens come at a cost. I clearly can’t have as many as I’d like to, but I’d much rather have a few, really special ones than a lot of filler ones. It’s always better to have fewer high-quality tokens than too many smaller, less-personal ones. And it’s more special when, well… it’s a special token. If there are hundreds of copies out there, is it as special as if you got 1/100 or 1/5? 

Rule #5: With tokens, Quality matters. Quantity doesn’t. Tokens will sit on people’s shelves forever. think about what would make you proud and how they remind them of the token giver.

Favorite Tokens - Bonus Round

I asked Nick Jensen, a long-time Brickworld attendee and Brickworld Master, what some of his favorite Tokens were:

“I’m a big fan of Krystle Starr’s signed paintings and Dan Lachcik’s ‘high score build’ pinball machines. Fine examples of tokens where I know who left them.”

Krystal’s signed paintain, Dan’s Pinball, and Bricknerd Nerd of Note

I also asked if there was there a super meaningful token he’s received:

“That would be the BrickNerd community building one (the Nerd of Note) presented by Dave Schefcik at Brickworld 2024 for the Super Smash Bros Ultimate collaborative led by Casey McCoy, Dan Church, and myself. It answered what I really want to know out of a token: who left it, and why did you leave it? I want to talk with you all! Leaving a token and walking away doesn’t form a bond, a new friendship, or provide feedback. Come on, let’s chat! That’s what I got out of Dave’s token: the reason why he gave the token to us.

Wrapping It Up (As In This Article, Not Your Token)

Hopefully you can see that tokens given at LEGO conventions mean so much more than a pile of mini-builds, stickers and business cards to see who is most popular. They are meaningful expressions from builder to builder.

Some tokens even border on “gifts” (which can come wrapped!) or even small kits given away—we can cover these another time. But I hope this article gives at least some insight into how I view tokens as less of a ‘thing to do’ but instead a meaningful activity to connect with others.  

Because tokens should be your token of love, a token of friendship, a token of respect, or token of admiration for a fellow LEGO fan. It is a special bond between you and them which requires time and effort. It should be a work of art that lasts the test of time, like the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

What tokens shouldn’t be is a token gesture.

Have you ever made a token? what was the favorite one you received and why? Let us know in the comments below.

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