In my last article (MOC TALK: How to Cultivate a Local MOC Building Community), I discussed the issue of displaying LEGO sets at a fan convention and the plans I made to create a local MOC-building community to help change the situation. The grand plan was to create a MOC TALK series of small “show-and-tell” sessions, requiring attendees to bring something with them that they have designed and built themselves to talk about and show off. But would it work?

Bring a MOC and Let’s TALK!

The first MOC TALK was held in March 2019. Attendance levels started slow at first, with only two other people showing up at the first event; Charles was a regular to the store and had brought in a Jurassic Park jeep he had been working on. Ryan brought in a segment of the Star Wars “Battle of Hoth” rebel base layout that he had just started. I had learned that Ryan had just come out of his Dark Age four months prior and had been to the 2019 BrickUniverse Louisville show as a public attendee. We all had a great conversation, talking about SNOT work and custom stickering tricks. However, I still left that day wondering if the light attendance was a sign of how the rest of these events would play out.

Thankfully, the low attendance of that first meet-up turned out to be an anomaly. The Bricks and Minfigs store was still at its old, back-alley location at that time, which was out-of-the-way for most people. Prior to the next MOC TALK in April 2019, the store relocated to its more central location. We had a much better turnout from then on. Twelve people showed up in April, fifteen people in May, and the attendance held steady from there - some days even overflowing the back room. The community was coming together.

*“Pictures? Who said anything about pictures?”*

Over the duration of the “MOC TALK” series, we uncovered at least 15 MOC builders that were new to the group. People brought in all kinds of MOCs in all kinds of genres; small cars, spaceships, large Star Wars layouts, even larger castles and Duplo cities, huge mechs, remote controlled technic trucks, sailboats, and shadow boxes. Every meeting there was something new to see and share.

The MOC TALK meetings inadvertently re-engaged many of the known MOC builders in the area too. Stu Pace did an awesome job hosting with me, many times taking the lead. One of Stu’s fortes is integrating all kinds of motorized functions and pneumatics into his creations. His in-depth discussions about their engineering design principles felt as if we were attending a Technic master class. The most memorable event for me was when he demonstrated his remote-controlled, European style racing truck that can do a drift. Its drifting ability had been an unintended effect, and he went into the design principles of how he thought that effect came into being. Another time, he demonstrated how he was using linear actuators to strengthen the leg joints of a huge freestanding Warhammer mech he was in the middle of building.

*Stu putting his remote control vehicles through the paces, and Ryan looking on.*

The dynamics of the MOC TALK also provided the attendees with the perfect microcosm of a “convention experience”—the setting-up and tearing down of displays, talking with others about their builds, and the enjoyment of interacting with fellow AFOLs. By the time the scheduled MOC TALK series ended, many of the new attendees felt that displaying their custom creations at the next BrickUniverse was within their reach. With the show just two months away, they prepared themselves and built, built, built!

A Convention of Custom Creations

The big payoff for these efforts to grow the community finally arrived at BrickUniverse Louisville 2020. We had 14 local displayers in total, five of which were displaying for their very first time! Ryan, who was my first MOC TALK attendee, displayed his huge “Battle of Hoth” layout just 16 months after coming out of his Dark Age. Another attendee, Taylor, displayed his equally large “Attack of the Clones” battle scene. Brandon displayed a plethora of his small builds, including a diorama of Louisville that he built into a shadowbox wall frame. Stu also made his own LEGO convention debut, displaying his Warhammer inspired space SHIP alongside his other creations.

The 2020 show also marked the first time that any awards were given out in Louisville by the BrickUniverse staff, and these new builders represented! It was certainly a testament to our collective efforts to grow the local AFOL and MOC building community. (I personally felt a lot of pride in that accomplishment.) The biggest win of all was seeing the people uncovered through the MOC TALKS displaying and winning awards of their own (Ryan, Taylor, Brandon, and Stu were all award winners).

Another win was seeing many of the already established displayers winning some awards as well. Nate won the coveted “Best in Show” award for his Duplo "Ninjago City" that you can see in the video below, along with some cameos by the rest of the group.

The group that liked to display sets in their layout also received an award themselves, for the “Best Town Creation.” Their award was truly earned and also aptly named. It takes all kinds of diverse people to build a local LEGO building community, engaging with the hobby in different ways. Without their enthusiasm in getting a LUG started in Louisville, we would still be a bunch of disparate AFOL’s with little-to-no interaction. Instead, their “Everything is Awesome!” attitude is what brought us together, and their group layout was the hub of activity at the show.

And remember the displayer I mentioned from the very first BrickUniverse Louisville in Part 1 who had set the precedent for “set displaying” within his train layout? He has since added some spectacular MOCs of his own. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring his updated layout to BrickUniverse that year. He did, however, contribute his replica build of the “Madhouse of Bricks” store to the group’s train layout. His creation received the award for “Best Large Building”… completing the circle of this tale.

Epilogue: Where We Go From Here

Local enthusiasm was at an all-time high after the show. Displayers were already talking about their new collaboration ideas for next year, and even more new people were talking about becoming first-time displayers. 2020 had different ideas, unfortunately. BrickUniverse Louisville would turn out to be one of the last public LEGO fan conventions to be held in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has since curtailed large mass public gatherings. Those future public displaying plans will just have to wait until in-person conventions can make a safe and responsible return. At least people have time to build!

There was also enthusiasm towards resuming the MOC TALK series in 2020, but those plans were also curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions. People have asked about creating virtual MOC TALKS for 2021, though it is hard to replicate the feelings of community and bonding we experienced as a group in an online format—plus seeing photos or video of LEGO creations isn’t quite as thrilling as being able to get an in-person look. I hope for the best in the future to get the series up and running again.

I started MOC TALKS as a way to cultivate the local MOC building community in the Louisville area, and I am overjoyed that people responded. Now I am excited to take on this new mission of cultivating the MOC building community on a much broader scale—by writing here at BrickNerd. We’re here not only to tell stories about the MOCs you build but also about the communities that you are building along the way. I’m looking forward to the journey.