BrickNerd has recently (re)joined the LAN (LEGO Ambassador Network) as a recognized Fan Media. This means that, like many other communities, we now have an Ambassador (Dave!) who interacts directly with The LEGO Group (TLG) through the AFOL Engagement Team. Nowadays as LEGO fans, we all tend to take the LAN for granted, but how did this relationship between TLG and fans start?

To get to the bottom of that we need to go back in time a little, so prepare yourselves for a trip down memory lane. If you’ve been around for a while you might remember some of these facts and people!

How It All Got Started

Everything started on LUGNET, of course. LUGNET was a “Usenet for LUGs” created in the late 1990s. “What’s Usenet?” I hear you asking (and I suddenly feel old). Let’s just say it was a network of newsgroups about many different topics. Like mailing lists, but on a dedicated network. And LUGNET was something similar, meant for LEGO User Groups and LEGO communities in general.

The complete message from Brad Justus, LUGNET.

So, December 9, 1999, seemed to be a pretty regular day; people on LUGNET were discussing things like new releases for the year 2000 and some leaked images from the dealers’ catalog (nothing really changes, does it?) and suddenly a bomb was dropped: at 21:37:17 GMT. Brad Justus, Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct, wrote a post titled “Introducing LEGO Direct”.

Like most of the posts I’ll refer to, it’s still there, go read it!

Here’s the core of the message, anyway:

“For those of you who have felt that your love for LEGO was unrequited, this is a new day. With this missive, the LEGO Company asks to open a dialogue with you, our consumers. Whether you are an AFOL, or a parent purchasing a first DUPLO set, or a KABOB (Kid with a Bunch of Bricks – we just made that up), here are some words that should gladden your hearts: We are listening. And more than that, we will endeavor to be very responsive to your needs and desires. We want to have the best possible relationships with all of you who want to have a relationship with us.”

The message even went on to mention possible “bulk orders” (!) in the future.

A Paradigm Shift

This was obviously huge and of course, the very first thing that happened was that some prankster on rec.toys.lego (an actual Usenet newsgroup) posted, posing as Brad Justus, that it was all a scam… and many people started believing that. At that point, the actual Brad had to post that everything was, indeed, real… reading all these posts looks extremely funny today, but imagine the drama back then!

Once it was established that LEGO Direct was a real thing, Brad Justus was obviously flooded with requests… and a few days later he replied with a second post full of information. And then another one. It seems that back then the main thing people were interested in was the bulk, and we can understand why; for us today it’s a given, but for them back then, it was something that was brand new.

In April 2000 a new .lego.* area was created on LUGNET specifically to discuss things with Brad Justus and the LEGO Group. At this point, Brad and other LEGO employees would participate in the discussion once per week. Here are a couple of posts with details about the first bulk.

Let’s now move on from Brad Justus (who decided to leave LEGO in 2004 but at least wasn’t fired during those turbulent times) and start talking about someone else… Jake McKee! He was an AFOL (who managed the long-defunct bricksonthebrain.com website) and he was hired by LEGO Direct in November 2000 as he announced on LUGNET here. He’d quickly become the main liaison between the LEGO Group and AFOLs.

On May 11, 2004, Jake announced that a new young colleague had joined his team, a German guy called Jan Beyer—someone we all know very well and who is still a part of the AFOL Engagement Team today! Before Jan, Jake also worked with Katharina Sutch (they were known as “Jake and Kate”) who moved on to another department but is still in LEGO today. I can’t find her first post, but I’m assuming some posts have gone missing over the years (or maybe I’m just thick!).

The Great Bley Color Change

We’re quickly getting closer to one of the biggest tsunamis the AFOL world ever witnessed… The Great Color Change of ‘04. Apparently, it all started with a post by BrickJournal’s Joe Meno at the end of 2003 that mentioned some of the first 2004 sets sold early and that the colors of grey had changed. Just check all the replies—people went mad.

It mustn’t have been nice for Jake, who knew nothing about it because those sets weren’t supposed to be on sale yet and nobody had told him at that point. In January, he asked for feedback about the new colors and later followed up with a final update. Or at least what he thought was a final update, because after a couple of days he came back asking AFOLs how to make the transition smoother.

The image from Joe Meno’s post on LUGNET. 2004 parts from a 4492 mini star Destroyer set released early.

The other huge thing that happened in those years was the creation of the “Ambassador” role. Today an Ambassador basically represents their recognized community with The LEGO Group, and interacts with other Ambassadors to grow, and create new opportunities and new collaborations. But Jordan Paxton from the AFOL Engagement Team as it exists today recently summed up what being an Ambassador today means, so I’ll just link to that detailed description.

Back then, the concept of Ambassador didn’t exist… until January 6, 2005. With a post titled “Announcing LEGO Ambassadors,” Jake introduced the concept. And it was a bit different from today. The main difference was that at the beginning, Ambassadors weren’t strictly representing a particular community, they represented “the” community, in general. So it wasn’t communities who’d choose their ambassador—it was LEGO that chose from among AFOLs who’d applied to become an ambassador.

Ambassador Appointments

Ambassadors were to be organized in “cycles.” At first, the cycles would last about six months. 60 people applied the first time, and on February 1, 2005, TLG chose 15 of them. (If lists of names don’t interest you, you can scroll down to the conclusion of this article and the birth of the LAN.)

Huw Millington - UK
James Trobaugh - USA
Jon Furman - USA
Kelly McKiernan - USA
Paul Janssen - USA
Richard Morton - UK
Todd Kubo - USA

Akos Kostyan - Hungary
Chris Giddens - USA
Eric Kingsley - USA
Eric Brok - Netherlands
Felix Greco - USA
Pierre Normandin - Canada
Mark Sandlin - USA
Holger Matthes - Germany

On September 2, the second cycle was announced:

Pierre Normandin - Canada
Todd Kubo - USA
Steven Combs – USA
Volker Draschka – Germany
Knud Richardt Hoj Thomsen – Denmark
Lenny Hoffman – USA
Luis Baixinho – Portugal
Mark Bellis – UK
Jeff Van Winden - Canada

Akos Kostyan – Hungary
Chris Giddens - USA
Eric Kingsley – USA
Mark Sandlin - USA
Holger Matthes – Germany
Huw Millington – UK
James Trobaugh – USA
Kelly McKiernan – USA
Paul Jassen – USA (but Dutch)
Eric Brok – Netherlands
Richard Morton – USA (but British)

Many of those names are still familiar in the LEGO community today. Some even became LEGO employees. The next year, the third batch was announced on March 2, 2006:

Ben Ellermann - USA
Mark Bellis - Great Britain
Mark Sandlin - USA
Didier Enjary - France
Eric Kingsley - USA
Richie Dulin - Australia
Dan Rubin - USA
Andrzlej Szlaga - Poland
Mark Neuman - USA
David Tabner - Great Britain

Lenny Hoffman - USA
Eric Brok - The Netherlands
Chris Giddens - USA
Knud Tomsen - Denmark
Kelly McKiernan - USA
Volker Draschka - Germany
Todd Kubo - USA
Luis Baixinho - Portugal
Paul Jansen - USA
Jeff Van Wynden - Canada
Steven Combs - USA
Pierre Normandin - Canada

You may notice a few repeated names as ambassadors returned to the role. The fourth cycle was announced on September 1, 2006.

Dan Rubin - USA
Ben Ellermann - USA
Mark Neumann - USA
Jeremy Spurgeon - USA
Nelson Yrizarry - USA
Ryan Wood - USA
Marco Chiappa - Italy
Richie Dulin - Australia
Jakob Bindslet - Denmark
Juan Macias - Spain

Stephan Sander - Germany
Volker Draschka - Germany
Diana Wong - Singapore
Jeff Van Winden - Canada
Pierre Normandin - Canada
Caper van Nimwegen - The Netherlands
Eric Brok - The Netherlands
Peter Reid - Great Britain
David Tabner - Great Britain
Didier Enjary - France
Chris Giddens - USA

And the fifth on March 1, 2007. Now ambassadors lasted a whole year!

Felix Greco – United States of America
John Langrish – Canada
Mark Neumann – United States of America
Jean-Marc Nimal – Belgium
Casper Van Nimwigen – the Netherlands
Jason Railton – the United Kingdom
Peter Reid – the United Kingdom
Dan Rubin – the United States of America
Stephan Sander – Germany
Mark Sandlin – United States of America
Barbara Werth – the Netherlands
Jeff Van Winden – Canada
Paul Wolters – the Netherlands
Diana Wong – Singapore
Nelson Yrizarry – United States of America

Tania Baixinho – Portugal
Andrew Becraft – United States of America
Caspar Bennedsen – Denmark
Jakob Bindslet – Denmark
Eric Brok – the Netherlands
Lluis C. Gibert – Spain
Marco Chiappa – Italy
Ross Crawford – Australia
Adrian Drake – United States of America
Volker Draschka – Germany
Richie Dulin – Australia
Doug Eaton – United States of America
Ben Ellermann – United States of America
Didier Enjary – France
Chris Giddens – United States of America
Felix Greco – United States of America

With the sixth cycle, they added two new rules; Ambassadors now were not to be nominated more than twice in a row and wet, more importantly, now proposed by their community. The role started looking like what it is today.

The sixth cycle, on June 3, 2008:

Daniala Martyakhin, Russia – DoubleBrick.ru
Magnus Lauglo, USA – WAMALUG
Roy Cook, USA – TWINLUG
Steve Barile, USA – GPLR, ILTCO, BrickFest
Aaron Andrews, Australia – Classic-Castle, The Builders Lounge, MOCPages, Flickr
Nannan Zhang, USA – BrickLink, The Builders Lounge, MOCpages, The Brothers Brick
Sue Ann Barber, Australia – Melbourne LUG (MUG)
Ildefonso Zanette, Brazil – LUG Brazil
Tania Baixinho, Portugal – Comunidade 0937
Alistair Disley, UK – the Brickish Association
Fernando Correia, Portugal – PLUG
Matija Puzar, Norway – Brikkelauget
Mickael Sjöstedt, Sweden – Eurobricks
Marco Chiappa, Italy – ItLUG
Andrew Becraft, USA – The Brothers Brick, Flickr, Classic-Castle
Adrian Florea, Romania - FBTB
Keith Goldman, USA – MOCPages

John Langrish, Canada – VicLUG
Milcan Bikics, Hungary – MALUG
Didier Enjary, France – Railbricks, FreeLUG
Patrick Begin, Canada – QueLUG
Verena Schaden, Austria – LGOe
Svend Erik Saksun, Denmark – Byggepladen
David Eaton, USA – NELUG
Mike Crowley, USA – FBTB, NELUG
Tsang Yiu Keung, China – HKLUG
Stephan Sander, Germany – 1000steine
Lluis Gibert, Spain – HispaLUG
Tim Gould, Australia – Ldraw, LUGNET, The Brothers Brick
Matjaz Selic, Slovenia – Kocke Klub
Marcin Danielak, Poland – LUGPol, e-Klocki.com, KMFL
Paul Wolters, the Netherlands – De Bouwsteen
Tony Sava, USA – Classic-Castle, TexLUG
Peer Kreuger, the Netherlands – LowLUG
Dan Rubin, USA – Classic-Space
Jean-Marc Nimal, Belgium – BeLUG
Doug Eaton, USA – ParLUGment
Fradel Gonzales, USA – MechaHub
Jordan Schwarz, USA – TN Valley LTC

The seventh cycle was announced on July 8, 2009:

Christian Krutzfeldt – 1000Steine – Germany
Tuomas Kukkamaa – Palikkatakomo – Finland
John Langrish – VicLUG – Canada
Igor Makarov – DoubleBrick & Phantoms – Russia
Lino Martins – LUGNUTS & SeaLUG – USA
Matija Puzar – Brikkelauget – Norway
Don Reitz – FBTB.net – USA
Wagner Cavalli – LUG Brasil – Brazil
Harald Roossien – LowLUG – The Netherlands
Dan Rubin – Classic-Space.com – USA
Kazuyoshi Saito – AFOL Japan – Japan
Svend Erik Saksun – Byggepladen – Denmark
Verena Schaden – LCOe – Austria
James Shields – Brick.IE – Ireland
Josephine Shih – TWLUG – Taiwan
Mikael Sjostedt – Eurobricks & SweLUG – Sweden
Pedro Silva – Comunidade 0937 – Portugal
Ludo Soete – BeLUG – Belgium
Stacy Sterling – MOCpages & TwinLUG – USA
Saso Tomat – Slobricks – Slovenia
Jenn Wagner – BrickLink – Canada
Marcin Witkiewicz – LugPol – Poland
Cagri Yuz – TurkLUG – Turkey

Sebastion Arts – De Bouwsteen – The Netherlands
Sue Ann Barber – MUGs – Australia
Patrick Begin – QueLUG – Canada
Heiner Berg – MBFR – Germany
Norbert Black – ParLUGment – Canada
Pitsanu Boonyarit – Thai Brick Club – Thailand
Andrew Bulthaupt – BZPower – USA
Pijarn Charoensri – T-LUG - Thailand
Marco Chiappa – ItLUG – Italy
Ben Coifman – Railbricks, ILTCO & COLTC – USA
Fernando Correia – PLUG – Portugal
Yvonne Doyle – Brickish Association – the United Kingdom
Ben Ellermann – Classic-Castle.com, GatewayLUG & ForbiddenCove.com – USA
Adrian Florea – RoLUG – Romania
David Furphy – CALG – Australia (not a real person, long story)
Lluis Gibert – HispaLUG – Spain
Tim Gould – Brothers-Brick.com – Australia
Matija Grguric – Klub Kockice – Croatia
Philip Heinrich – Bricksinmotion.com – USA
Tom Jacobs – Classic-Pirates.com – Belgium
Tsang Yiu Keung – HKLUG – Hong Kong
Sung-Wan Kim – BrickInside – South Korea

After this, I can’t seem to find any more cycles announced publicly… it appears that Ambassadors moved to a different private platform.

The Meaning Behind the Names

I reported all the names because I think it’s fun to see how many of these people are still in the LEGO universe today. I can recognize a bunch of people here—LEGO designers, website owners, LCPs, train experts, Classic Space experts, and a lot of friends! I’ll just mention my friend Marco Chiappa who was then the president of my LUG for many years (and is definitely responsible for me coming out of my dark ages, 11 years ago) and Sue Ann Barber since she’s a fellow BrickNerd! It is clear to see that even from early on, it was all about the people in the community.

Going back to LUGNET, in 2006, Jake McKee had left TLG (you can read the reasons in a couple of links from the Internet Archive backup of his long-gone blog… no, there were no controversies, sorry!) In his posts, he mentions Jan (for Europe) and Steve Witt (North America) as his possible successors, and that’s what seems to have happened.

There’s another person I’d like to mention that was really important for us AFOLs, and that’s Tormod Askildsen. He was appointed Head of LEGO Community Development at the beginning of 2008, but he had already been in the AFOL department for a few years, since 2004/5. And he had been with the company since 1983, working in the 90s on MINDSTORMS and the FFL. He’s been very important to all of us, and this is the right moment for us to thank him since he stepped down from that role a couple of months ago. (We’ll publish an interview with him very soon about his career and the AFOL world, so stay tuned!)

The Birth of the LAN

At the end of 2014, the LAN was created, Ambassadors stopped being called “LEGO Ambassadors” (which constantly created misunderstanding) and turned into “LUG Ambassadors” (or RLOC/RLFM Ambassadors.) That’s when I became the Ambassador for my LUG, ItLUG. For a couple of years, we were on a private platform that was basically a blog and wasn’t very functional for a community, but eventually, in 2017 we migrated to an Invision forum that works perfectly.

But that is a story for another day! Today we celebrate the people that started everything, on both “sides”—The LEGO Group and the fans. We’ve all come a long way since then, and may the collaboration stay strong and live long.

What do you think of the LEGO Ambassador Network? Do you think they should have immunity from prosecution for illegal connecions? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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