It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of building LEGO speeder bikes (LSB; a.k.a. flying motorcycles). Sometimes I even host building contests for them on Flickr in the LSB - LEGO Speeder Bikes group. The LSB contest is currently on hiatus, but that hasn’t kept people from building some really awesome speeder bikes in the meantime… and even hosting building challenges of their own!

I first noticed Dan Ko (Instagram / Flickr) while adding his recent speeder bike line-up into the photo pool of the Flickr group. Here are two of his builds that really caught my attention:

“Looking for a speeder bike that handles well around sharp corners, and has them too? Then look no further than the P1 MarshMallo!” With this bike’s unconventional cubist design, that “P” in its name must be in honor of Pablo Picasso. If not, the lines and color combos of the bike are still pleasing to an artistic eye. Those pop-out panels for the bike’s propulsion/steering are a perfect fit for this stylishly futuristic machine.

Another bike in Dan’s collection is actually Scott’s Bike. Who is this “Scott,” you ask? From what I can tell he looks a little ill, but at least he knows how to wear a mask when he goes out in public. As for his bike, the integration of the surfboard is just perfect in this compact design. The main chassis is built off the surfboard in a “studs-down” orientation, with the “Travis brick” near the nose being the key to pulling the rest together. “Surf’s-up!!!… Uh… I mean “Studs-down!!!”

It’s always great to discover another speeder bike aficionado like me out there in the world. I reached out to Dan to learn more about his speeder bikes, and how he got into the LEGO hobby:

Dan Ko: Thank you very much for writing about my speeders and for the nice words about my other builds for Space Jam and Iron Forge! I'm happy to share more details.

Ted Andes: So I am curious, where do you live?

Dan: I'm from Bulgaria and I live in Sofia, which is the capital city. Unfortunately, we don't have an official LEGO store here and we can't make orders from LEGO.com. I'm not buying huge amounts of LEGO, but it would be nice to be able to get the gift with purchase sets (like the Ideas Vintage car, which is awesome). Now the only way is to buy such items from BrickLink.

Ted: Wow, that must be very challenging. Being able to buy from LEGO.com is something a lot of us take for granted in other parts of the world. I see that you work as a "designer" from your Flickr profile. Can I ask what kind?

Dan: After I finished school and had few jobs, I discovered graphic design and then web design. I learned the basics by reading on the internet, and a few years after that I started a company with my girlfriend. Now we do both graphic and web design, but graphic design is my passion. Now I'm more passionate about LEGO, but I can't make a living out of it... yet!

Ted: Ah-ha! I noticed that you have a really polished presentation style, so the graphic design background certainly makes sense. I also noticed that you created your Flickr account last May 2020. Was there anything specific that inspired you to create the account (a contest, a community group, etc.)? Had you been active on any other LEGO social media before that?

Dan: I came out of my dark ages in 2015. I was under a lot of stress and had some sort of small panic attacks. I needed something to distract me and puzzles didn't do the trick. I loved LEGO as a child and this seemed like the right choice. I went to a toy store and bought a Star Wars set. I found two Bulgarian forums, where most of the Bulgarian LEGO community is. Then I found Flickr and created an account back in 2017. I had issues with the email that I used for the original Flickr account, and eventually I stopped using it because I was unable to login. I created a new account in 2020 and like many of us living in the global pandemic, I started building more and more. I am more active on Instagram now, as more people seem to use it.

Ted: Is there anything else about the two bikes that we highlighted above that you want me to mention?

Dan: I built both speeders for a speeder bike challenge that I started on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIVTRhupcV6/ The idea was to just have fun and build speeders with the community. I had a few speeders built before that, and I wanted to inspire people to get creative and build some cool things. The challenge was under a month and I was able to build around 12-13 different speeders. I've posted all of the instructions as well on Instagram, so everyone can build them.

Dan and Parker (from The Hidden Side) striking a pose together.

The P1 MarshMello Speeder was inspired by the vibrant coral 2x2 tiles that I got. The color is so nice in person that I knew that I had to build a speeder with it. Because I had only these tiles and the bow 2x2 tile I didn't have a lot of options and came up with this blocky type speeder. This is the only speeder that I haven't disassembled yet, maybe it's the color or the shape, but I'm loving it.

Ted: Oh, me too. I’m glad to see that it is still together and that you have been sharing the instructions as well. I need to build myself one of those.

Dan: Scott's speeder was inspired by a blue surfboard. I got the 76898 Speed Champions set with the two Jaguars, where the same azure blue color is used on different bricks. It was a perfect match. This is one of my quickest builds, but also one of the most liked. People seem to either like the speeder so much or the minifigure that I chose.

Ted: Well, I like both. Thanks so much for sharing, Dan!

Dan: Thank you again, Ted!