Small MOCs, BIG Nostalgia
/Most adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs) just have one Dark Age, if any. That’s the period between when you play with LEGO as a kid then leave the hobby until you rediscover it as an adult. But Rick Peckham aka (Rick Brickham) has had two.
His first Dark Age happened around the same time most of us went through one—those teenage to young adult years, perhaps emerging in 1999 to get a sneak peek at that infamous first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets. He almost got back into the hobby, according to this quick story from him:
“I purchased several ‘original trilogy’ sets with the intent to build a Death Star Trench Run MOC...but it never materialized. I had them displayed for only just a few months before boxing them up and entering my second Dark Age.”
We have Rick’s wife to thank for bringing him back to the right side of LEGO and out of his second Dark Age. She surprised him with a “Force Awakens” set for Christmas in 2016 which re-awoke his love of LEGO:
“It was the Force Awakens version of the Millennium Falcon (set 75105), and it brought me right back to my childhood and that amazing feeling of building a new LEGO set. There were so many new technics and pieces I hadn’t seen before, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the build.
Fast forward a couple of weeks into 2017, and there I was, building all of my first wave Star Wars sets so that I could see them all together. Naturally, after that, I decided to dig out and rebuild my old childhood sets (mostly space sets from the ’80s). After rebuilding every LEGO set I owned, I began to wonder what sort of LEGO there might be out there for sale on the secondary market. After searching a couple of my favorite online marketplaces, I was amazed to see what was available, and my journey down the rabbit hole began.”
And what a rabbit hole it is! I’m delighted that it was just one set that sparked Rick to rebuild his childhood collections and take that first leap that all AFOLs do… right into the deep end of trying to figure out how to get hoards of cheap LEGO to start building MOCs. And what kind of MOCs does he build? Well, Rick has an interesting perspective on the classics and knows how to literally build nostalgia.
So he’s built four vignettes on classic LEGO themes (with two more on the way) that make any true LEGO fan long for days and themes gone by. I sat down with him for a chat about his LEGO journey and these delightful nuggets of nostalgia.
Keith: Looking at your classic theme vignettes, did you grow up with these themes or was it a simple homage to the greats?
Rick: I was into the Space theme as a child and received sets from subthemes like M-Tron, Blacktron 1, Space Police 1, and a few other space sets. I had only an average-sized collection with just a handful of sets but my favorite set of all time (still do this day) is my Cosmic Fleet Voyager (set 6985). I still have my original! This was what inspired the vignettes. Looking back, I wish I had stayed in touch with LEGO so that I hadn’t missed out on so many of those great sets and themes. If I could go back, all four of these classic themes would be on my shopping list.
Keith: Why did you pick those four sets specifically to recreate?
Rick: Arguably Space, Castle, Pirates, and Western are four of the greatest themes ever to be produced by LEGO. After finishing the Cosmic Fleet Voyager, I decided to continue the series and chose one iconic set from each of the other three classic themes. From Castle, I chose the “King’s Castle” because of its nostalgic design and coloring.
Next, Fort Legoredo as an homage to Western, and finally the Imperial Flagship from 2010 to commemorate Pirates. While perhaps not the MOST iconic set from the Pirates theme—and not exactly a pirate ship either (rather Imperial)—it is the largest and most impressive of my vignettes in my opinion. Each of these sets presented a great challenge for me to design in microscale, and I love a good challenge.
Keith: You’ve been an AFOL for only a short time—only about two years. Were you a fan of LEGO as a kid?
Rick: I have been a fan of LEGO for nearly all my life. My earliest memory of the brick is somewhere between the ages of 6 and 8 when my father would, from time to time, build his own MOCs from our LEGO and leave them somewhere in the house for us to discover in the morning. He would build houses, cars, and even robots (these were my favorite) and they were all great!
Sadly, my father passed away in 2005, but I will always have those memories, and I’m sure if he was alive today, he would love my collection and would want to MOC with me. I am convinced that LEGO led me down the path to becoming an Architectural Technologist (my current professional occupation), and those acts of inspiration and creativity from him are part of that journey.
Keith: Circling back to when you came out of your Dark Ages, did you have a fear or hesitation about sharing your MOCs publicly for the first time?
Rick: Before I became a MOCer and entered the social media circles, I spent the first couple of years buying up bulk lots and discovering the treasures within. This acquainted me with Bricklink which helped me identify parts and sets, and print parts lists. I also immersed myself in LEGO YouTube content where I learned a great deal about the hobby. 2019 was a turning point for me, and my thoughts shifted to creating and sharing my own works. It was then that I started MOCing, and the first thoughts of my YouTube channel were sparked.
My initial MOC inspirations came from movies, and my first MOC was the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I wasn’t nervous or hesitant to post it to social media (my wife suggested I start with Instagram), but more so curious to see the reaction. The Ark got just a few likes and only one comment, but that was enough to make me want to try again.
My next MOC/post, the M577 APC from the movie Aliens, was shared on Instagram and Reddit. It performed extremely well on Reddit gathering over 6,800 upvotes and over 300 supportive comments. I was astounded by the reaction and spent most of the night answer messages—I barely slept. Many asked for instructions, and this led me to Bricklink’s design software Studio where I honed my designs and developed the instructions for some that I now sell on my website. These days I do a little of everything, from MOCing to set building and review every now and then on YouTube, it’s all great fun!”
Keith: Regarding your YouTube channel and website with instructions, how much work goes into setting up one of those?
Rick: Creating a website is an involved process and requires a lot of research to choose the right site host and URL—then decide on templates and layout style. With absolutely zero website design experience, I found it challenging to learn about the templates and figure out a little basic programming to get the page layouts correct. But once you’ve laid the groundwork and set all of that up, adding photos and descriptions is a piece of cake.
A YouTube channel is a completely different venture. Starting the channel is easy, you just sign up and create the channel. Adding the content is where the work comes in. Anyone can make a video and upload it to YouTube, but I want my content to be high quality, so I spend hours upon hours setting up and filming my content, then editing the final cut in a software program where I add audio and visual effects and rearrange as needed until it’s just right. It’s all worth it in the end!
Keith: Do you have any advice for people thinking of starting their own website or channel?
Rick: My advice for both ventures is to dive right in! If you plan and plan and plan, you’ll never get started. Every moment you have is precious, so just get started. You’ll find that once you’re up and running, it’s easy to add to both your website and YouTube channel, and you’ll get more efficient and comfortable with the process which means you can get more content out sooner.
As for the LEGO hobby itself, I would say pick up a set or two to see if you like it. If you do, try taking those sets apart to build something of your own. If you find that fun, try it some more,—one way or another you’ll figure out how you enjoy LEGO and where you want to take it.
Rick also has an Ideas Project you can check out, but I’m curious if you know anyone who went through two Dark Ages. Leave your comments below.
Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, and Paige Mueller to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.
