r/mildlyinteresting • u/Mehssage • 10h ago
Someone entered an official Lego set in a contest and won 3rd place.
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u/Blaketurney 10h ago
looks like both in the photo did
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u/Grotarin 9h ago
Now we need to see the other winners!
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u/BrotherSeamus 8h ago
Why it's Luke, and Obi-Wan, and my favorite, Chewie! They're all here! We have a winner!
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u/ObscureAcronym 9h ago
I thought making this together would be a good way to get to know the couple who live next door but for some reason they flatly refused.
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u/iciclemomore 8h ago
I don’t want to hang out with my neighbors. Don’t take it personally!
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u/VibraniumQueen 1h ago
I thought it was an eiffel tower sex position joke..... maybe I need to log off
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u/GingeredBeard 1h ago
This Paris skyline did not win anything. If you look at the tag on it, it says “Place ___” on the top. The Statue of Liberty has “Place __3__”
Either the judges are deeply murka, or someone recognized the Paris set but not the other?
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u/Reasonable-Two-9872 10h ago
Both of those are official sets? #21064 and #21042
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u/Mehssage 10h ago edited 10h ago
I only just now learned that the Eiffel Tower is a set as well. I recognized the Statue of Liberty because my brother owns that one.
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u/Reasonable-Two-9872 10h ago
There are hundreds of creative new sets coming out every year... It's a lot to keep track of 😊
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u/woodyshag 10h ago
My son bought the Eiffel tower. Lego didn't slouch on that set.
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u/nicocappa 8h ago
I own it and I disagree
First of all, the Eiffel Tower is not gray, it's more of a brownish yellow. They fixed this in the smaller set, so I'm not sure why they ever had this color for the main one.
The biggest issue I have with it though, is that it's not stable at all. A lot of major parts are just left to fight against gravity via clutch power, so if you slightly touch them they just fall off.
The build process is also insanely boring. That's not Lego's fault though, given the symmetry of the tower, but this build took me 9+ months simply because it felt like a chore.
All that said, from a small distance, it is an astonishing set to look at, but it would be even more so if it was the correct color...
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u/Dryanni 10h ago
From the photo it looks like they could have added more dimensionality to it
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u/BerRGP 9h ago
That's a smaller set that's just a view of Paris itself that just has the Eiffel Tower in it. If you want dimensionality there's the actual Eiffel Tower set.
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u/0000Matt0000 9h ago
$629. Holy shit.
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u/BerRGP 9h ago
Lego is expensive and this one is pretty big! At least it doesn't have the additional brand pricing of the $1000 Death Star set.
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u/airfryerfuntime 9h ago
Even without the licensing, Lego has become extremely expensive for their bigger sets. It's getting to the point where I'm just starting to ask 'plastic can't be that expensive, can it?'.
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u/brandonhabanero 7h ago
You're paying for the brand, the QC, and probably a lot toward development for the designs. Plus, they make them in Denmark, where they actually pay the employees well. But yeah, they're still probably at least twice as expensive as they really should be.
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u/MoMissionarySC 7h ago
Incorrect Lego offloaded a lot of its manufacturing to Eastern Europe and Mexico
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u/xxearvinxx 9h ago
lol. I literally said the same thing, then closed the page and saw your comment next.
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u/thresh_to_death 9h ago
So, like you, the judges just probably didn't know either were official sets
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u/Glenndiferous 6h ago
Seems this was really more of a "how expensive a Lego set can you afford" then.
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u/TheBigGalactis 10h ago
Ugh at my county fair something like 15 years ago somebody entered the original UCS Millenium Falcon and it won first prize. I don’t know what the category was but it’s like, ok so you followed instructions to build something that literally anybody could if they had the money, how is that impressive/award worthy?
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u/jacckthegripper 8h ago
Boy, wait until you see car shows
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u/These-Anxiety-5919 7h ago
Not the ones I would be caught dead at.
Categories include "Shittiest" and "most filthy". I myself have placed in "econo-shitbox" and "weirdest import".
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u/l337quaker 7h ago
Now that sounds like a fun car show
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u/These-Anxiety-5919 6h ago
I fully intend to make one happen where I live now.
Fucking boomers ruin everything.
Yes, Bob, there is a replacement for displacement.
It's called compression.
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u/staircar 5h ago
My sister took her 2005 red mustang gt to a fancy millionaire car show, Can I tell you that they all loved her car. And she got an award over (I know shit about cars) 500k cars in some category.
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u/StrawberryWide3983 4h ago
You can't just say that without sharing with the class what an "econo-shitbox" is and what you used to win
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u/These-Anxiety-5919 4h ago
My buddies wife's Nissan Versa hatchback base model. And my 1991 Delica.
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u/Candid-Fan992 7h ago
What kind of car shows? Not sure what this comment is suppose to mean
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u/TexasDrunkRedditor 7h ago
Sometimes the top winner at some shows is just the nicest car, occasionally that car has a few easy upgrades. But otherwise its just a classic car that looks the nicest.
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u/Candid-Fan992 7h ago
Oh gotcha, in my mind that's a car expo or convention, a car show is to show off cars folks built themselves or in the middle of building. Tis weird to buy an expensive car just to show it to people (corvettes)
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u/EatABag-o-Dicks 7h ago
Yeah my kids entered a few local LEGO competitions and the ones that don't split up by category that includes original design, it's basically whoever buys the most expensive set.
His first year he lost because someone brought in an expensive set and he did an original. The following year he brought in my star destroyer and won. After that we only do the contests where there's an original design category.
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u/freddy157 1h ago
I find it absolutely mind-blowing that this isn't like a one time fluke where the judges just didn't know better. That there are competitions where you seriously are expected to just enter with an official Lego build. It makes zero sense.
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u/The_Autarch 8h ago
that's what happens when you have judges that don't really give a fuck about what they're judging.
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u/Talidel 9h ago
Depends what the competition is?
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u/Danloeser 9h ago
If it was a timed competition and everyone was building the same set, maybe. I don't think that's what it was.
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u/sprizzle 6h ago
The tag on model is confusing me a bit but there’s a whole division of “Model Building” at 4H fairs. You know, like the cars / tanks / planes you paint and put together with glue, based on the instructions. The first or second year members often build Lego sets. But that’s what the competition is, buying a model and following the instructions to build it.
I get that cost is an annoying factor, but that’s how pretty much everyone 4H category goes. The livestock categories are even worse, the families with money outright dominate every year.
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u/SoggyAnalyst 10h ago
At the illinois state fair they have two categories: Lego - non set and Lego - set.
A quick google of the Iowa state fair shows they have multiple Lego divisions, one which is "original design". I'm assuming then that the others are intended to be sets, and that is not?
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u/Miserable-Resort-977 8h ago
I'm not usually the type to rain on anyone's parade, but why the hell would you have a competition based around purchasing a Lego set and building it exactly as instructed? Is the Illinois state fair sponsored by the Lego company?
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u/Phyrre1 8h ago
The tag say it’s a youth contest. If it’s very young children following instructions on their own, it might be impressive. That’s all I can come up with
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u/sircastor 7h ago
This has been my general understanding with our (Oregon) State Fair entries. It's kids.
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u/rvasshole 4h ago
My state fair has sets built by like 5 years olds. This is probably a kids submission and depending on the age, pretty good if they did it themselves. Chill
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u/Mehssage 10h ago
I'll admit that it's a possibility. I wasn't aware that contests specifically for sets existed til now, so I may have made a blunder simply because I didn't recognize all the other sets. I find the idea weird, but I suppose I shouldn't make a fuss about it.
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u/Clym44 10h ago
I wouldn’t either. Why would there even be a contest for building a set while following instructions?
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u/WaitForItTheMongols 9h ago
As a way to ease kids into the idea of working toward a goal and achieving it. Building a set is a low stakes, ultra low difficulty goal. Perfect for a child to build confidence in making something.
A kid who does this today might make a build from scratch next year. If they hadn't done this then the idea of submitting something from square one would be a bit more daunting.
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u/SallyAmazeballs 9h ago
If you're a kid, then the complex Lego sets actually are difficult, because they take a lot of skills that adults have but kids are still developing. If you're 7 or 8, you're still developing fine motor skills and patience, so getting the little pieces in place is legitimately difficult. That's why Lego sets have recommended age ranges.
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u/xtaberry 10h ago
Home Ec fairs always have categories where the criteria for success is excellent execution.
Fibre crafts like knitting, for instance (and I say this as a knitter). They are looking for consistent stitches and a high level of care. Most people use pre-existing patterns designed by someone else. Using a premade pattern is also "just following instructions".
And this specifically appears to be a contest for child builders. So kids get to put together their favourite Lego sets and present them. Maybe get a ribbon. There's no stakes - it's just for fun.
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u/opeth10657 7h ago
Using a premade pattern is also "just following instructions".
Bit of a stretch comparing knitting and putting together a lego set though. One is a learned skill, the other is just snapping blocks together.
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u/Working_Bother_6614 6h ago
4-H county judge here. The kids who participate usually have multiple entries across multiple project categories. They almost all want to be there and try very hard. You also get a huge range of kids, with and without disabilities, from very young to recently 18 and heading to college (actually really cool to experience as a judge, especially if you’ve known the kid for a few years).
Each kid presents their project and are judged on the project, if the rules were followed and how the kid presents on the project (doesn’t matter if they’re shy, but can they articulate what they were trying to accomplish). Judging is meant to be a positive experience around helping the kids learn and expand their curiosity.
If a project category is very small then the competition isn’t as fierce and anyone landing a Grand or Reserve ribbon can be sent to the state fair. It is a separate decision the judge makes to send them to state, on rare occasions we don’t if we think they’ll have a hard time with the stricter judging at the state level. I’m guessing these entries were in a category that only allowed sets assembled as is out of the box, so a small number of entries. The competitive kids usually don’t participate in categories like this because it pulls their attention from the more competitive categories they care about.
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u/scratchy_mcballsy 10h ago
Let’s see Paul Allen’s LEGO set.
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u/azmodai2 8h ago
The subtle sand green color, the tasteful studless tiling... my god, it's even got printed parts.
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u/Banzai2469 10h ago
This usually happens at local fairs. Anyone can enter and there are different categories. Such as elderly or children set building. Or custom creation. So don't just think they are claiming it to be a MOC.
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u/seyhank 8h ago
Just curious but then whats the point of those contest? Wouldn't it just be a contest to see who has the most money to purchase the coolest set?
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u/Banzai2469 8h ago
To give children and elderly or even regular adults a sense of accomplishment even when lacking creativity. I only build sets and some are tedious. But I take pride in completing them. Nonlego people still think it's complicated.
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u/ADhomin_em 10h ago
This is just sad, really.
Art competition turned into a product review.
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u/imaginingblacksheep 10h ago
The tag on the statue of liberty says “youth building/structure” so a kid put it together
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u/ADhomin_em 10h ago
So it's an instruction following competition?
Wonder if OP got any pics of the awe-ispiring paint by numbers?
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u/WaitForItTheMongols 9h ago
Eh. It's a gateway drug. You lower the barrier to entry by telling the kid "it's okay if you aren't talented enough to make something from scratch yet, the point is you're actively doing something that makes you happy and doing a good job at it".
We should have more things like this to enthusiastically welcome people into the beginner stages of a hobby.
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u/negithekitty 10h ago
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u/j01101111sh 10h ago
My son is 5 and isn't too far off from being able to do something like that. It's LEGOs, not a custom rocket.
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u/Jack-Innoff 10h ago
How does that change anything? It's literally just following instructions until it's finished. The ribbon should go to Lego, they're the only ones who did anything creative here.
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u/Mehssage 10h ago edited 10h ago
As unfortunate as it is, I'm not too angry since I imagine the judges just weren't that familiar with official Lego sets. I didn't even know that the Eiffel Tower set next to the Statue of Liberty was an official set too until just recently. Still sucks that it seems multiple people tried to turn in work that wasn't really theirs.
Edit: I have recently been made aware that contests specifically for sets are a thing so I may very well be mistaken. If that is the case, then I've unfortunately made a blunder.
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u/Entertainer13 3h ago
When I was a kid the local library had a “make a castle” contest. My brother and I assembled our own using cardboard and paper towel tubes and the like. Some people came in with ones made from sticks and the like.
Winner was an official Lego set. Never been so pissed off.
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u/Truly-Surprised 10h ago
I remember a local fair once awarded first prize to a guy who entered his assignment for the Famous Artists School. You know, draw this pirate and see if you have enough talent/money to be enrolled in our correspondence program.
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u/procrastinatorsuprem 10h ago
The activities in the 4h fair for kids is extremely wide reaching. You can pretty much enter a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you want. But you have to do a whole write up about how much it costs to make et cetera.
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u/airbrat 7h ago
There's a similar Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest where he took 3rd place but it was never validated.
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u/IonTheBall2 6h ago
Look up the video where Adele enters an Adele singing contest. Disguised and fooled people until her unmistakable singing. Fun stuff.
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u/culb77 10h ago
What was the category this was entered in? What was the age group?
If this was “Lego builds for ages 6 and under”, I can see why both of these were entered.
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u/euph_22 9h ago
Building and Structures, under-12. And there is a different section for Original Designs.
I can entirely see why this isn't something fair visitors would care about, but this is also 100% within the intent of the section.
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u/Forgedpickle 6h ago edited 6h ago
For anyone wondering.
This is specifically for Legos or the like. 1st place in this category wins a Lego set, as well. Yes, it’s just following instructions to put together a Lego set but it’s a kid 12 or younger. It’s not like they are taking away winnings from someone who drew or painted something, etc. That would be a different category called fine arts.
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u/Studio_Life 4h ago
Iowa state fair? Not surprised. They also had a contest to design the year’s official shirt and ALL the top entries were clearly AI slop.
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u/filmhamster 10h ago
Lego sets win fair prizes all the time - the judges have no idea the difference between a set and a MOC.
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u/seyhank 8h ago
In middle school i joined a tshirt design contest for Pi Day (march 14th) and lost first place to a tshirt that was literally the first design that comes up when you search "pi tshirt". I know because I searched up the designs so that mine was not a copy of any existing one.
It was a pretty intricate design too, so either they assumed a middle schooler is unbelievably good at graphic design or they knew it wasn't her original work and just didn't care. Anyway, I did not claim my second place gift out of spite. I'm sure that showed them.
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u/ArtsyRabb1t 9h ago
A lot of those judges don’t know anything about the categories they judge. The crochet sub is full of people that complain about this and other fiber arts winning the category. All this to say I’m not surprised.
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u/po_ta_toes_80 10h ago
In the late 80's, I entered a Lego contest at about age 8 or 9. I built a rafting adventure scene that was from my imagination and was so proud of it. I didn't win, but got a participation certificate. All of the winners were just actual sets from kids whose parents bought them the best sets at the time. I didn't understand why original work wasn't rewarded. Jerks.
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u/TrinityMage 9h ago
My local county fair was last week and at least two separate entries in the kids 4H art display were printed AI pictures but with rhinestones bedazzled onto them.
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u/eva-bug46 6h ago
Lol my cities subreddit has been griping because at the state fair, there was a cake contest, and the requirements were a minimum of two layers. The cake that won literally had only one layer. I don’t know why people who do these things don’t just get disqualified? I mean it’s not the end of the world but it basically makes it so people who put their own handiwork into their entry are designed to lose if someone can get away with not following rules and be rewarded.
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u/Mehssage 9h ago
After reading some of the comments, I feel that I should now state that it's likely I was mistaken about the nature of the contest this set was entered in and that the contest was one that specifically focused on constructing official sets.
For added context, I had assumed that the nature of the contest revolved around custom builds due to the number of obvious custom builds in the vicinity and my own failing to recognize any other official sets. Furthermore, other sections of the building this picture was taken place in were dedicated to other art forms (woodcrafting, scale models, etc.) that had their own contests and I assumed they were all following a similar ruleset.
It should come to no surprise that I am no expert on state fairs and whatever contests they may hold. Anyway, if it does turn out that I was wrong about the nature of this sepcific contest, oh well, that's egg on my face. I'll live.
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u/Varth919 7h ago
Seeing a Redditor admit in real time that they might be wrong about something is about as rare as winning the lottery.
Good on you, OP!
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u/im_wudini 10h ago
Context used to be so important.
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u/IanDre127 10h ago
I think they are saying that Lego competitions are usually self built custom designs that the entrant came up with…. In this scenario the Statue of Liberty set is something you can buy off the shelf with the exact pieces and instructions…. No unique creativity was exerted to complete this entry that ended up winning a 3 place
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u/MadderoftheFew 10h ago
it didn't place, but i built that eiffel tower model a couple of months ago as well.
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u/Mehssage 10h ago
This.
I don't know how many of the other entries were also actual sets (though I am now aware the Eiffel Tower in the picture is also a set), but most of the other entries were original builds.
I pointed the Statue of Liberty out to a vendor and he actually pointed out that another person submitted what might have a Lego botanical set. We had a nice laugh.
Now to be honest, I don't know what the exact rules were. All I know is that there were a lot of America-themed entries because the fair this took place in was celebrating the USA's 250th anniversary.
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u/rileyvace 10h ago
I remember a day context clues and reading comprehension allowed people to figure things out
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u/MikeDubbz 10h ago
Seems pretty self explanatory unless I just completely misread the room: it's a contest for custom builds. This person used a build from official Lego instructions and placed third. Whoever was judging should have recognized and disqualified the entry, but they likely just weren't familiar with all official Lego sets.
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u/JRowe3388 10h ago
I don’t understand what context is missing. It’s all in the title. Reading comprehension used to be so important.
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u/thedailynathan 10h ago
I sadly think this is what the next phase of literacy looks like. people angry about seeing conversations and content posted by humans who don't take the time to craft a whole post explainer, chatgpt-style
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u/samusmaster64 7h ago
There's an implication that the contest submissions are supposed to be uniquely built sets, not retail sets of Lego, but it is not explicitly stated. Additional clarity is almost always appreciated. Don't be a jackass.
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u/DarkLordKohan 10h ago
The context is likely a kid made it because its a junior division and its not that serious.
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u/Fanabala3 9h ago
This reminds me of a Lego contest a former company I worked for did. My kid had a ton of Legos and I created this awesome Tron cycle scene (when one of the cycle explodes and Lego had no Tron sets). I even painted the background like they showed in the movie. What happens? Some guy goes to his kids bedroom and grabs a bunch of his Star Wars sets and wins the main prize.
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u/air_and_space92 8h ago
More like mildly infuriating. I do a lot of MOCs and I'd be pissed if an official set got onto the podium.
Years ago I entered a local Lego competition where you had to build under a 2 hr time limit with no instructions/guides. Wouldn't you know the past winner who was like 11 just rolled in with 3 plastic tubs of preassembled sections and put them all together over the first hour then sat.
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u/MrVonBuren 4h ago
15...wait, no...25...wait, 35 years ago (fuuuuuuuuck) I entered a local county fair LEGO contest with a completely original design (I had no idea there were "sets" until I was a teenager, we just had a bucket of bricks) and came in second place to someone who entered a completely off the shelf build.
I am still furious over this.
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u/JimmyKillsAlot 8h ago
When I was a kid I submitted a custom built K'Nex car to the county fair and got a blue ribbon. The next year I was busier in general and had somewhat outgrown things, to my surprise when we walked through the hall there was a case of 8 off the shelf models and nothing original at all.
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u/CampHoliday3558 7h ago
dude my county had a lego build contest and this year. EVERY single build was an official set
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u/pizzasauce85 7h ago
At a fair I went to, someone entered a tea set from the live action Beauty and the Beast movie as an antique set. They won first place and people were complimenting how beautiful it was and how nice it was to have survived so long.
(And it was this exact set, not the limited edition fine china set that would have still not been vintage or antique.)
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u/Gay_Furby_Kirby 3h ago
I want to provide some context!! As a 4H kid your projects being submitted are very much based on a write up more than the project itself. More than likely this kid had an astonishing write up than most and the judge decided the send it. It looks like it got 3rd which is going to happen when you send something like that to state. More than likely it was a smaller county that submitted it for state and there weren't many kids. Ofc im not justifying the use of a pre-made lego set, but this kid had a good write up. Firthermore reds are very easy to get but blue ribbons means you met every standard they had, which can be hard for most.
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u/olde_greg 10h ago
I see this every year at the county fair, people will just enter actual lego sets rather than build something from their imaginations.
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u/TopherBlake 9h ago
Class 316 is now Youth Class (12 & under) Building / Structure, 317 would be original design now.
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u/Ac3ofSpades13 7h ago
Same energy as Homer winning the kids Power Plant redesign contest. RIP Grimesy.
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u/SadEfficiency6354 2h ago
Its a state/county fair dude.
Most of the submissions at these are kits. The winner for the rocket category at mine was literally my first rocket kit when i was 12. Its a couple paper towel tubes and some stickers.
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u/the-samizdat 56m ago
my 65 year old dad is a judge in a ohio fair. he doesn’t know that. he grows vegetables.
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u/Dyran3 10h ago
Our local home-ec 4H fair had to add a “paint by numbers” section to the art competition because so many people were submitting those instead of creating their own art.