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Channel 4 (UK) The Secret World of LEGO televison programme

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Comments

  • stevemackstevemack Member Posts: 934
    He also compared it to a good holiday and you can buy a car for ~6-8k new these days :) I'd say 20K would be optimistic tbh
    andhe
  • richoricho Member Posts: 3,830
    Yep, just the show lego needed and Afols. Excellent.
  • snowhitiesnowhitie Member Posts: 3,078
    edited June 2015
    I thought that it was quite a good program (liked hugh bonneville as narrator). It was not to much of a making fun of people documentary. Too bad brickset did not get a mention as the place to get your legonews fix! Anybody know what the new designer built as first set? The music stand is a great idea, I ' be been using a cookbook stand for a while (less of a crick in the neck) but a music stand would leave more working space on the table :-) going to get mine down from the top floor now! Ps-whenever I type a message on my phone the paragraphs seem to blend together, sorry!
    AndyPol
  • MinifigsMeMinifigsMe Member Posts: 2,844
    Think there's an article somewhere saying he's got 20k?
  • SirKevbagsSirKevbags Member Posts: 4,027
    How come they didn't use any of the northern interviews from the party!? (Oh that's right they were to busy taking advantage of the open bar to make a comment) ;-)
    roxioLostInTranslationShibTheBrickLadddino_girlCapnRex101
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,825
    SirKevbags said:
    How come they didn't use any of the northern interviews from the party!? (Oh that's right they were to busy taking advantage of the open bar to make a comment) ;-)
    Or maybe they just couldn't understand them?  ;)
    LostInTranslationSirKevbagsCapnRex101
  • VenunderVenunder Member Posts: 2,655
    The Birds set was a very neat idea though, with several crossover markets.
    AFOL's,
    Parents,
    Birders/Twitchers,
    etc.

  • SirKevbagsSirKevbags Member Posts: 4,027
    edited June 2015
    ^^ Come on now, you can do better than to go after those with a slight regional accent. Tsk Tsk ;-) 
    Legoboy
  • AndyPolAndyPol Member Posts: 402
    @Huw - shame you weren't mentioned, but it gave the impression you were Mark's very own security / reputation manager! Great programme 
    LostInTranslationLind_WhispererLegoboyShibAdeelZubairCapnRex101andhesnowhitie
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,825
    It's always the quiet ones.
    AndyPol
  • Ian_SIan_S Member Posts: 71

    It felt to me as if the documentary didn't really know who its intended audience were.  It seemed that the elements such as the interview and product design processes weren't covered in sufficient detail to excite most AFOL's (well, this AFOL at least), and there was nothing new in the details of the manufacturing process that hasn't been covered many times elsewhere.  Half of the screen-time that Mark got for Bricks Culture seemed wasted with him building the Helicarrier, surely that could have been better used showing more of the trials and tribulations of setting up the magazine(s)?

    I presume it was down to Equity rules that Huw was relegated to a non-speaking part!

    I felt like the documentary spent too much time chasing the "is lego cult-like?" angle and trying to create an impression of a secretive company while nudging the viewer to conclude that "secretive" equals "sinister" somehow.

    Pity really, I was looking forward to the programme but having watched it I'm struggling to think of anything revelatory contained in it.  Certainly I don't think those in outside the UK are missing much!  Did anyone else learn anything substantively new about Lego from it?

  • AndyPolAndyPol Member Posts: 402
    You can't expect too much from an hour, but I think the audience it was aimed at was a more general one. Us AFOLs make Lego part of our life therefore the dedication shown would not be a revelation to us, but maybe to the general viewing public it would be? The big plus for me was that fans did not, IMO, come across in a nerdy way.
  • CapnRex101CapnRex101 Administrator Posts: 2,364
    edited June 2015
    I thought it was great, exactly how I was hoping the show would be pitched. I found the bit with the shutters closing a bit grating as that was obviously scripted but that is the nature of a documentary like this one.

    Of course it didn't hurt that I made a few cameo appearances, so I'm happy with that :)

    @snowhitie - I struggle to believe that Justin would already have a set on the shelves so soon after his employment began, although we don't know exactly when that first interview section was filmed so it could be over a year ago, in which case he may well have a set out now. For his sake I just hope it isn't #76037 Rhino and Sandman Supervillain Team-up.
    dino_girlandhedrdavewatfordLostInTranslationSirKevbagssnowhitieAdeelZubairparadisia
  • dino_girldino_girl Member Posts: 107
    I enjoyed the show. It was fun pointing out to my hubby who the people were at the party. Luckily I could only be seen for a second as it wasn't just the northerners making full use of the free bar
    drdavewatfordSirKevbagsLegoboy
  • MrGudzMrGudz Member Posts: 210
    My other half thoroughly enjoyed the program. Considering she finds my collecting/building bemusing, I'd say that was a result!!
    drdavewatfordSirKevbags
  • bluemoosebluemoose Member Posts: 1,716
    edited June 2015
    Quite enjoyed it, but the tone seemed as bit ... odd; can't put my finger on why though.
    Also, not quite sure how so many of us that were at the magazine launch managed to avoid getting any on-screen time ;-)
  • andheandhe Member Posts: 3,915
    I wasn't so fussed with the interviews of the business type people. Of course they're going to give the company line so was a bit pointless pressing them on the 'cult' agenda. (And it annoys me when people don't just call something what it is... If it's hot desking, just call it hot desking!) but I did enjoy the more human angles of Justin and Mark and the birds guy. And it did make me want to buy the birds set! (Though not at Hamleys prices! Even if it was signed!).
  • SirKevbagsSirKevbags Member Posts: 4,027
    edited June 2015
    Birdy Tom will be in Manchester in August so buy your set at rrp and bring it with you for a signature without mark up ;-) 
    Shib
  • drdavewatforddrdavewatford Administrator Posts: 6,754
    edited June 2015
    Drone said:
    My other half thoroughly enjoyed the program. Considering she finds my collecting/building bemusing, I'd say that was a result!!
    .....and in response to @Ian_S, I'd say that's exactly the point.

    The documentary was appearing during a primetime weekend evening TV slot on a major terrestrial channel, and was therefore very much aimed at the general population rather than the likes of us. It certainly didn't set out to provide anything which might be considered "revelatory" from our perspective.

    I'd feared that it might be a bit of a hatchet job, if I'm honest, but other than the rather forced "secrecy" angle (which might have been more interesting if they'd actually explained WHY LEGO are so protective of their IP) I thought those responsible for the documentary did a decent job. I've had a bunch of messages from non-AFOL friends and acquaintances over the past 1-2 hours and most said that they enjoyed the programme, so job done from Ch4's perspective I'd say. I wonder how many viewers it got?
    SirKevbagsandheLobot
  • legofanfromleedslegofanfromleeds Member Posts: 418
    Is there any links you can share to put some names to faces etc from who where featured  on the programme. ? 
  • LostInTranslationLostInTranslation Member Posts: 5,572
    My mum watched it and said she found it very interesting!!
    SirKevbags
  • nexandernexander Member Posts: 908
    I didn't watch it as my closet afol wife wasn't interested but had most of my family texting me about it as they know my interest so they were curious. They all seem to enjoy it. I plan to watch tomorrow morning with the kids. It should be better than paw patrol!
  • PeteMPeteM Member Posts: 445
    edited June 2015
    drdavewatford said:
    Drone said:
    My other half thoroughly enjoyed the program. Considering she finds my collecting/building bemusing, I'd say that was a result!!
    .....and in response to @Ian_S, I'd say that's exactly the point.

    The documentary was appearing during a primetime weekend evening TV slot on a major terrestrial channel, and was therefore very much aimed at the general population rather than the likes of us. It certainly didn't set out to provide anything which might be considered "revelatory" from our perspective.

    I'd feared that it might be a bit of a hatchet job, if I'm honest, but other than the rather forced "secrecy" angle (which might have been more interesting if they'd actually explained WHY LEGO are so protective of their IP) I thought those responsible for the documentary did a decent job. I've had a bunch of messages from non-AFOL friends and acquaintances over the past 1-2 hours and most said that they enjoyed the programme, so job done from Ch4's perspective I'd say. I wonder how many viewers it got?
    My Facebook feed has a fair few positive comments from people I would never have expected to be interested, including one who has gone straight into his loft to pull out some of his old classic space and Futuron sets and is photographing his building progress as he goes!
  • bricktuarybricktuary Member Posts: 986
    I enjoyed that, shame Huw wasn't allowed to speak :) or that we didn't find out a few secrets.
  • mikedotcamikedotca Member Posts: 14
    Funny about the design house window shutters. When I was in Billund and the tour bus went by, someone specifically asked if they were 'security' shutters and we were told they were in fact to help keep the building cool (temperature wise, it's already hip enough). 
    andhe
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,825
    LostInTranslation said:
    My mum watched it and said she found it very interesting!!
    Sarah found it interesting too - she stayed awake.  Go figure!  This program could be just what I needed.  :smiley: 
  • bricktuarybricktuary Member Posts: 986
    My wife also enjoyed it. PLUS when compared to 40 sets in a month and a Helicarrier in a single sitting, I now seem quite restrained :wink: 
    To be honest I could have done without the Bricks Culture bits, or else had it covered in more detail, there's a great story there but it was rushed I felt. It was basically.... man wants to launch magazine, man launches magazine, friends at the magazine launch are happy with magazine. What happened next?!!!! [Yes I know we know]
  • legomattlegomatt Member Posts: 2,543
    edited June 2015
    bricktuary said:
    ...could have done without the Bricks Culture bits, or else had it covered in more detail, there's a great story there but it was rushed I felt. 
    The irony. ;oP
    dougtsAndyPolandhesnowhitie
  • andheandhe Member Posts: 3,915
    edited June 2015
    mikedotca said:
    Funny about the design house window shutters. When I was in Billund and the tour bus went by, someone specifically asked if they were 'security' shutters and we were told they were in fact to help keep the building cool (temperature wise, it's already hip enough). 
    Yes, the Roar guy seemed to have a dry sense of humour and he's probably chuckling to himself having seen that clip. But I guess it played into their 'secrecy' angle, even if they new he was kidding. And there's probably an element of truth in both answers. I also enjoyed the whole fake design meeting about the hotdog man.
  • MiniFigHunterMiniFigHunter Member Posts: 113
    Well that was awkward for Mark Guest and gang. . . . . Showing how he was Getting brick culture off the ground in one scene then the next reporting for Blocks... 
    #C4editing  :D
  • ShibShib Member Posts: 5,459
    For the most part I thought it was pretty good. Let's be fair there was very unlikely to be anything in the program that was big news to the AFOL community.

    My only real criticisms are that I didn't really like that they started with the beach combing...has anyone on here gone and done that? I live closer to that beach than the chap from London and never once have I even considered going to look for some really rough old weather worn LEGO (no matter how often I get sent links about the story on social media) so it seemed a little like an 'obsessive weirdos' type starting point - as in they put in something very extreme to start off. There were also a couple of comments made by the fans that they interviewed that played to that a little...it was only a couple of comments though so I don't think the community came off too badly as a result. 

    I also think it's a shame that there was nothing about AFOL run events - considering how many there are now and given that a lot of them do a lot for charity it seems to me that it would have been a nice way to show the best side of the community.

    I do appreciate that as has been mentioned this was initially planned as a multi part series and had to be reduced down to a single one hour slot, but it could have shown a wider range of the community - not all of us want to be LEGO set designers...I know I sure don't want to!
  • PeteMPeteM Member Posts: 445
    edited June 2015
    Shib said:
    My only real criticisms are that I didn't really like that they started with the beach combing...has anyone on here gone and done that? I live closer to that beach than the chap from London and never once have I even considered going to look for some really rough old weather worn LEGO (no matter how often I get sent links about the story on social media) so it seemed a little like an 'obsessive weirdos' type starting point - as in they put in something very extreme to start off. There were also a couple of comments made by the fans that they interviewed that played to that a little...it was only a couple of comments though so I don't think the community came off too badly as a result. 

    !

    That's sadly a part of all documentaries about a 'group' - any news or documentary cameraman filming coverage of a Doctor Who convention for example completely ignores the vast majority of attendees and instead makes a beeline for the grinning loon dressed as Tom Baker offering everyone jelly babies...!
  • ShibShib Member Posts: 5,459
    ^Says the man from Gallifrey ;-)

    In all fairness I was expecting more of it as well, so in that respect it really is a minor criticism. 
    CapnRex101PeteM
  • XefanXefan Member Posts: 1,148
    It's probably worth bearing in mind it was a fairly prime time documentary on a fairly major channel.

    As such, I suspect it was more intended as an introduction to the world of Lego and it's adult fans to the general public more so than it was aimed at giving us AFOLs something interesting.

    To us AFOLs pretty much every bit of information in it was old hat, but to the general public it probably opened up a whole new world of knowledge.

    For this reason, a focus on quirky personalities is typically thrown in to keep the general public interested even if that person is a bit of an outlier to everyone "in the know".

    The biggest revelation to me was that TLG would hire someone who'd created and proudly displayed something as hideous as a set of Wils and Kate Lego busts, so maybe he is responsible for Rhino and Sandman Supervillain Team-up after all @CapnRex101 :smile: 
    drdavewatfordCapnRex101snowhitieAdeelZubairRedbullgivesuwind
  • snowhitiesnowhitie Member Posts: 3,078
    ^I really did not like his 'homework' either and thought, there goes your job, so was amazed when he was offered it. Anyhow, we only saw a small glimpse of his model so maybe it was actually really good!
  • bluemoosebluemoose Member Posts: 1,716
    edited June 2015
    IIRC, Justin's royal busts were done in the "house style" used at LL Windsor, and they are pretty good "in the flesh"; he was working in the model shop at Windsor for the last couple of years, something I'm surprised they didn't mention.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8479930/Pictures-of-the-day-28-April-2011.html?image=12
    ShibXefanAdeelZubairandhe
  • ShibShib Member Posts: 5,459
    @bluemoose - the way it was edited it did seem like there was some explanation about them that was cut. I wonder if they didn't mention it because the average viewer might think that having worked at LL gave him an unfair advantage.
    andheAdeelZubair
  • legomattlegomatt Member Posts: 2,543
    edited June 2015
    Probably so. Though I felt the whole job-seeker segment to be very contrived... ooh, look we just happen to be here when the phone call comes through, oh how serendipitous! *roll eyes*

    If I ever attend a group interview, and spot a camera team following one of the prospective candidates, I'm grabbing my coat and leaving. LOL
    One couldn't help but feel sorry for those other candidates, (assuming they weren't also a bunch of stooges for the docu-team's benefit).

    Lind_WhispererSuperTrampXefan
  • AanchirAanchir Member Posts: 3,014
    legomatt said:
    Probably so. Though I felt the whole job-seeker segment to be very contrived... ooh, look we just happen to be here when the phone call comes through, oh how serendipitous! *roll eyes*

    If I ever attend a group interview, and spot a camera team following one of the prospective candidates, I'm grabbing my coat and leaving. LOL
    One couldn't help but feel sorry for those other candidates, (assuming they weren't also a bunch of stooges for the docu-team's benefit).

    Not all of the other candidates were rejected — my friend Corvin got hired for the LEGO City team after participating in that same recruitment workshop as Justin. Recruitment workshops like this often hire for multiple openings, and sometimes they even hire multiple people for each of those openings. It all depends how many people they think will fit on the teams they're hiring for.

    I got to meet Justin when I was in Billund this February for a recruitment workshop (I was applying for a job in girls' play themes, but I didn't end up getting it), and then got to see him again during the LEGO Inside Tour. Nice guy. Unfortunately I can't remember which Super Heroes set it was that he designed — sorry, I know a lot of you are curious!
    legomattandhe
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    Aha! So this is what all you Lego cultists are raving about for the last four or five days now!
    Thanks @Legoboy for uploading and posting that doc.

    I thought it was entertaining and interesting. To me it was not all 'old hat' info as it appears to be to other Lego fans, having seen and read already a little bit of stuff about the business philosophy of TLG etc. not all of it was totally new either. Though I have never been to Billund. Nor have I ever attended some AFOL event, so it was nice to catch a glimpse of the release of the magazine, as well as what goes on in Billund and London.

    Of course a documentary just like a fictional film, also relies on a narrative, so things portrayed in documentaries are not only edited but even sometimes staged, and worse sometimes/often manipulated to such an extend that they to varying degrees distort the things which are portrayed in them. It would have been more honest if the makers of this TV program disclosed to the viewer that Justin Ramsden (this guy from London) already worked as a model maker at Legoland Windsor. At least they were candid about the re-enactment of the collectable Minifig Series 13 development meeting. But I suppose that is because that fitted in with the docu.'s chosen angle of highlighting the company's secrecy. BTW I love seeing how those elements are sculpted in clay, I remember seeing this older/middle-aged Danish women also in a clip on youtube or Lego.com working on the The Hobbit Warg (wolf) animal, while back. Really fun to see how much bigger these clay figures are, and then scanned and digitally shrunken down to actual Lego size.

    Those faults where all the sets from history are stored are so cool! I would really love for TLG group to re-release some of those classic space and castle sets from the eighties I never had as a little kid!
  • jason1976jason1976 Member Posts: 309
    TheBigLegoski said:

    Those faults where all the sets from history are stored are so cool! I would really love for TLG group to re-release some of those classic space and castle sets from the eighties I never had as a little kid!
    If you liked the lego archive you might like this video (though you may well have seen it before!) http://lego.gizmodo.com/this-secret-underground-facility-guards-all-lego-sets-e-5018990

    TheBigLegoski
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    @jason1976
    Thanks! Yes I believe I have already seen that clip, or there might even be more clips where they visit the fault/Lego archive. Great nostalgia!

    Didn't National Geographic also do a Lego documentary a couple of years ago?!

    That space monorail #6990 , and that #928 or/and #497 Space Cruiser are so cool, and Blacktron #6987 of course! (Did they even show that set?!) As well as all those big Castle sets from 1984 and upwards untill about 1993. I probably would not pass on that 1970's Yellow Lego castle either if they were to re-release that set. Even though when they did release that Yellow Castle and #928 back then, I was still playing with Duplo and Fabuland.
  • jason1976jason1976 Member Posts: 309
    @TheBigLegoski I have the yellow castle (well 99% of it) it's still great fun building it, I may have to build it again just to check no more pieces have gone missing before I clean the bricks ;)

    Getting back on topic, I loved the visit to the archive in the C4 show, especially as they seemed to focus on sets I owned! Anyone fancy joining me in planning a heist to raid the vault? :)
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    @jason1976
    Yes a heist! Totally! Lets open up Cookie store next door in Billund, and in the meanwhile during after-hours dig a tunnel to that vault, utterly fail, but yet unintentionally become multimillionaires from baking and selling cookies to all those sugar starved Lego employees, and with the profit buy out the Christiansen family and end up with the whole Lego group. Sort of like Woody Allen in 'Small Time Crooks'.
    jason1976Vortex
  • legomattlegomatt Member Posts: 2,543
    edited June 2015
    @Aanchir, was the recruitment workshop your friend attended the final stage of a much longer multiple stage application/proving process, or was it a much simpler process - applying for and getting an (this) interview? It would be interesting to hear about each of the various stages of the full process... (shame there wasn't a team of people willing to cover this whole getting-a-job-at-lego process in a television documentary... oh wait...lol)
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    Oooh BTW are those sigils on the shields from the Yellow Castle printed or are they stickers too, like the construction worker vests / body armour pieces from the minifigs?!
  • jason1976jason1976 Member Posts: 309
    @TheBigLegoski - they are all stickers
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    Ooh that is too bad. Stickers often do not stand the test of time very well, and probably less well compared to printed pieces.
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