Event: Yoda Build

Created by Joe Meno.
Last Updated by Joe Meno.

Public Categorized as community, LEGO, LEGO Star Wars, Events, Public, Issue 8.

Tagged with georgia, joe meno, lego store, scott lyttle, star wars, yoda

Build, or Build Not - There Is No Try!

Building a
Larger than Life Yoda

Article by Joe Meno,
with Scott Lyttle
Photography by Joe Meno

The LEGO Outlet in Discover Mills Mall, Lawrenceville, Georgia, hosted a Yoda Build Event from April 27 – 29, 2007. Mall visitors and their families were invited to help LEGO Master Builder Dan Steiniger construct an eight-foot tall model of the diminutive Jedi Master.

Dan was assisted by staff from the LEGO Outlet and Caron Grandon, Marketing Coordinator for LEGO Brand Retail. The store also invited volunteers to help out with the event, from setting up and shutting down each day to helping the many families that came to participate. Scott Lyttle, one of the LEGO Outlet employees, helped Dan build Yoda. Scott recounts how he was selected and how Yoda was built:

I’ve been a LEGO Brand Retail employee since the Discover Mills LEGO outlet opened in 2001. In March 2007, store manager Linda Bryson informed me there would be an eight-foot tall Yoda build event with a master builder. I recalled the Yoda event from Star Wars Celebration, and wondered if it would be similar. Linda requested that I be the assistant to Master builder Dan. I was a little nervous if I would pass muster with a Master Builder--I mean, getting to work with a Master Builder? In the eyes of any LEGO fan, you can’t get much better!

As the materials for the Yoda build came in, I started to get excited. Several containers of tan, brown and green 2x4 and 2x8 bricks arrived, along with instruction sheets, and the two-foot tall Yoda base model. I was able to figure out how the Yoda build was to be done. The two foot model is made of 2x4 bricks. For each 2x4 brick on the model, event attendees would have to increase the volume of a 2x4 brick by four times. Each 2x4 brick would become a “maxi-brick”, with dimensions of 8x16 studs and four bricks high, using three rings of 2x4 bricks and 2x8 bricks laid across the top. This would create an 8 foot-tall Yoda.

Visitors built the bricks at building tables around Yoda. Each table had instructions and bins of bricks in the colors needed for Yoda. For most, it was an opportunity to build and also play. Children were not the only ones building, either – their parents and grandparents also joined in the fun! Scott also enjoyed himself:

Getting to know Dan over the three days, and already knowing master builders Erik Varszegi and Steve Gerling (some of Dan’s co-workers), I’m starting to think that being a Master Builder not only requires amazing skill with LEGO bricks, but also a great sense of humor and whimsy. Dan was rather funny...when children built one of the Yoda “maxi bricks” and turned it in to us, they got a slip that could be exchanged for a Yoda build certificate. Every once in a while, Dan would take the brick, hand the slip to a child and say, “it will have your name on it, and in you’re case, it’s going to say ‘Trouble’ right on it!” Almost every time, the child’s parents grinned or laughted at that comment.

Dan would also test maxi-bricks for balance – by juggling them! It was a pretty funny sight to see him juggle on his ladder and approve the ‘balanced’ bricks.

It wasn’t all building though, as Dan interrupted from time to time to give away LEGO sets and items. But in order to win, people had to answer questions from him. And for Dan, who is also a professional clown, the questions started easy, “What Star Wars character am I thinking of?” and got humorously more difficult, “How long have I worked at the LEGO Group?” Going from person to person, he made a show out of the answer, whether it was wrong or eventually right. It was a show that never made fun of the answers but rather made fun of the question, and the crowd reacted with growing laughter as the questions got harder and funnier. For a question about a volunteer’s age, he got answers like, “35,” ”40,” “20,” and “99,” and with each wrong answer things got funnier and funnier. And with each right answer a prize was given, until it was time to get back to work!

There were other interruptions, as Scott notes:

Every once in a while, Dan or I would drop a maxi brick, and at a height of more than five feet, onto a hard-tiled floor, the brick had no chance of staying together. As soon as the brick hit the floor, the signature sound of breaking bricks resounded through the area with a good portion of builders turning their heads to see what had happened. One fun moment was at the end of day two; Dan and I converted two of the standard “maxi-bricks” into a 2x8 maxi-brick in a head to head race. We finished at the exact same time!

During this time, what started as a couple of rings on the floor grew upwards and formed the robes and body of Yoda, with bricks from all the builders taken by Dan, and later Scott, put into place. The feet were first to be formed, and by the second day, the cane Yoda leans on took form, as well as his arms and body. Onlookers walked up to see what was going on, and many joined the building effort. The staff acted as hosts and guides, helping the younger builders and also making sure the brick bins were filled.

By Sunday, the last day, all that was left was the shoulders and head. With the help of some competitive groups, the shoulders were done in short time, and the head followed. By 5 p.m., one last brick was left and with a flourish and cheers, Scott placed the last brick into Yoda, completing the build!

The completed model remained on display for photographs by everyone who helped and the staff. After the mall closed, the model was moved, disassembled and packed for the next event in Chicago. Scott describes the packing:

While wheeling Yoda down from the food court to the LEGO outlet store,we positioned him in front of the store’s Darth Vader LEGO sculpture for a rather amusing face-off of Good versus Evil. Unfortunately, as Yoda is a traveling event, Yoda had to be broken down after the event and bricks shipped to Chicago for the build at the Northbrook LEGO store. For the next two hours, about 15 - 20 of the volunteers that had helped with Yoda were now tearing down and sorting. Now, sorting is never fun, but I think when you have a group sorting, it’s a lot more fun. We were shooting movie trivia questions at each other during the teardown and listening to Dan tell some fun stories about his kids.

Scott continues with some insights and reflections on the event:

Turnout was quite impressive, even for Friday when many kids are normally in school. I think Atlanta has a growing homeschool population. Thanks to the entire LEGO store staff, volunteers, and members from DixieLUG, NGLTC, and NCLUG all the help that was needed was available and it was much appreciated. We even had some children helping out by bringing bricks to each table.

All around, it seemed like families were having a lot of fun. Some were there multiple days and were excited to see Yoda get finished on Sunday evening. For me, the Yoda build was challenging, exhausting, exciting, and a lot of fun.