Like building with LEGO® bricks?  Like vehicles from World War 2?  Then Brickmania’s the place for you!  At least, that’s the company’s reputation.

This is a matter of an organization having evolved and narrowed its focus as Brickmania, L.L.C. originally made a product line of medieval civilian buildings that supplemented the LEGO® Castle theme before it developed military-themed vehicles, and formerly also had product lines that included supercars, powerboats, locomotives and railcars, and vehicles from famous science fiction films.[1]  Even so, the company continues to offer a few products that are not connected to 20^th and 21^st Century warfare, including sets inspired by historic N.A.S.A. missions and a few items marketed to LEGO® model railroad builders.

Founded by Daniel Siskind in 1999 (and effectively re-founded by him ten years later), Brickmania, L.L.C. is a firm known for designing, making, and selling custom sets of historically accurate military vehicles comprised of LEGO® bricks to A.F.O.L.s (adult fans of LEGO®) and T.F.O.L.s (teenage fans of LEGO®).  These Brickmania® sets are chiefly vehicles from the Second Great World War, but also the First Great World War, as well as more recent wars.  To make those sets, Siskind and other designers at Brickmania, L.L.C. design models of military vehicles built entirely of new-quality LEGO® pieces (or mostly with LEGO® pieces supplemented by a few pieces that LEGO® does not make).  They do not rely on software and always build a prototype.  Then, to make the sets and sell them to customers, they must purchase the necessary LEGO® pieces on the open market, package them with instructions, and then sell the kits (a) online or (b) at three retail shops.  In some cases, Brickmania has partnered with aerospace companies, including Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, and Textron, to produce officially licensed sets.  In addition to custom sets, Brickmania, L.L.C. is known for selling custom-printed military-themed LEGO® Minifigures™; and aftermarket accessories that are compatible with Minifigures™. 

Brickmania also sells books and e-books that are plans for the sets as well as custom Minifigures™.  With these Minifigures™, they aim for accurate uniforms and weapons or other accessories.  They use UV printing to achieve the appearance of the facial expressions and clothing.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: Brickmania TV interviews Brickmania, L.L.C. founder Daniel Siskind.

Credit: Beyond the Brick Caption: In a video uploaded on October 23, A.D. 2018, Brickmania founder Daniel Siskind shows off a display of 100 World War II Brickmania® model tanks, warplanes, and other vehicles that were either in sets or were exhibited somewhere.

Brickmania® kits are not cheap. This is because Brickmania, L.L.C. designs sets to be made of LEGO® bricks but cannot acquire parts for these sets directly from The LEGO® Group the way A.F.O.L.s and T.F.O.L.s can order pieces to build their M.O.C.S from the Pick-A-Brick or Bricks & Pieces services of the LEGO® Shop (formerly called LEGO® Shop-at-Home) via either phone or Internet or from the Pick and Build wall (formerly called the Pick-A-Brick wall) at LEGO® Shops.  [M.O.C. is short for “my own creation” and means an original model designed and built by an A.F.O.L. or T.F.O.L.  (or a group of A.F.O.L.s or T.F.O.L.s) with LEGO® pieces rather than simply following instructions from one of The LEGO® Group’s kits.]  This is the case due to the fact that The LEGO® Group does not support the production of military-themed sets.[2]  Consequently, Brickmania, L.L.C. must acquire new or like-new pieces on the open market.  The packaging of Brickmania® kits incorporates original art and there is a cost to making that art, too.  Understandably, Brickmania, L.L.C. also wants to pay employees a living wage commensurate with their skills.  Brickmania® calls its fans “Brickmaniacs.”

In addition to developing Brickmania® sets, Brickmania, L.L.C. has a table-top strategy game called Micro Brick Battle™ that employs Microscale Brickmania® kits.  Another Brickmania® product line consists of aftermarket stickers and building instruction books. 

Beyond its own product line, Brickmania, L.L.C. sells Minifigure™-compatible weapons and other accessories produced by the Redmond, Washington-based firm BrickArms®, the Taiwanese firm Minifig.Cat, and the Wilmington, Delaware-based firm BrickWarriors.  [These three firms all have their own online stores, but sometimes it is more practical to go to one source.]  Brickmania, L.L.C. sells three products produced by Brick Mini. These are chess pieces, Nano Soldier Figures that are compatible with Microscale M.O.C.s, and base frames for Nano Soldier Figures.  Furthermore, Brickmania, L.L.C. also caters to the LEGO® model railroad market by selling products produced by Brick Model Railroader (B.M.R.), BrickTracks, and Studly Trains. 

Daniel Siskind is the “commander in chief” of Brickmania, L.L.C. as the founder, owner, and main designer.  Siskind founded Brickmania as a brand in 1999 by selling parts online before Dan Jezek (1977-2010) founded BrickLink in April of 2000.  Although Brickmania, L.L.C. is now known for models of modern military vehicles, Siskind’s first sets were compatible with the LEGO® Castle theme.  Siskind’s goal was to supplement official LEGO® Castle sets with custom model sets.  The first four sets were the Blacksmith Shop (Brickmania Set #001), which was a blacksmith’s workshop and home; the Crossroads Tavern (Brickmania Set #002); the Country Mill (Brickmania Set #003), which was a windmill on a hill (raised baseplate); and the Guarded Church (Brickmania Set #004). 

The Blacksmith Shop was released on March 30, A.D. 2000.  It came with two Minifigures™.  Twenty-three kits were made.  Siskind sold them on his Website and eBay. The Blacksmith Shop was hinged so the owner could open it up like a dollhouse. With some alterations, The LEGO® Group manufactured this Blacksmith Shop under license from Siskind in 2001 as Set #3739.   

This was the brainchild of Brad Justice, a Vice President with The LEGO® Group who had purchased one of Siskind’s kits.  The LEGO® Group’s version was 20% cheaper, Siskind explained in 2019, because to get LEGO® pieces Brickmania had to purchase pieces on the open market.  That LEGO® Blacksmith Shop (Set #3739) was effectively a forerunner of the LEGO® Design byMe theme (originally known as LEGO® Factory) which allowed fans to use Lego Digital Designer software to design a model, upload the design to the LEGO® Website, design a box, and then order the kit.  Some of the sets were available for sale, the most famous example being Market Street (Set #10190), which was The LEGO® Group’s second modular building set.  LEGO® Design byMe was itself a forerunner of the LEGO® Ideas™ theme (originally known as LEGO® Cuusoo).  In 2019, to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the original Blacksmith Shop, Brickmania, L.L.C. issued the Bricksmith Shop set, a limited-edition Microscale replica with a printed brick that had Siskind’s signature and a second printed brick with a number to indicate which of the limited number of sets it was.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: Danial Siskind discusses the release of the original Blacksmith Shop in 1999, how the licensed kit The LEGO® Group released in 2001 differed from it, and the release of the tribute Bricksmith Shop in 2019.

The Crossroads Tavern was released on June 12, A.D. 2000.  It came with six Minifigures™.  Twenty-five kits were made.  On the same date that Brickmania, L.L.C. released the Crossroads Tavern, it also released the Salty Anchor Tavern, which was a variation on the Crossroads Tavern that was compatible with the LEGO® Pirates theme.  It came with twelve Minifigures™.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the Crossroads Tavern + Salty Anchor Tavern Digital Building Instructions for $15.

The Country Mill was released on March 12, A.D. 2001.  It came with two Minifigures™.  Fifteen kits were made.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the Country Mill Digital Building Instructions for $10.

The Guarded Church + Expansion Modules was released on December 17, A.D. 2001.  The Guarded Church Module F was released on June 19, A.D. 2003.  With all the modules, the Guarded Church came with over seven Minifigures™.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the digital plans for the Guarded Church for $15 and the Guarded Church Expansion Modules Digital Building Instructions for $10.

The Ballista was released on November 22, A.D. 2002.  Thirty-five kits were made. 

The Tower of Vlad Dracula, a model castle keep, was released on February 5, A.D. 2003.  It came with twenty-two Minifigures™.  Ten kits were made.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the Tower of Vlad Dracula + Ballista Digital Building Instructions for $15.

As Daniel Siskind recently recounted, around 2002-2003, customers who had seen pictures of his military vehicle models started to ask for him to release sets of those, too.  At the time, he needed about six months to put together a kit.  He had a job at the time, so Brickmania was more of a hobby that generated an income, a side hustle.  Siskind bought the pieces he needed by buying LEGO® kits that were on clearance at Toys R Us and Target. 

In the spring of 2003, he released the Brickmania® CD-ROM, which included instructions for seventeen models.  The cover image depicted a line of German tanks rolling past the Crossroads Tavern, as if to suggest the conquest of, oh, say, Luxembourg.  Siskind made 500 these CD-ROMs and intended for that to be the final Brickmania product.  He left the Website up but removed his contact information. 

Effectively, Brickmania ceased to exist between 2003 and 2008, the time he sold out of the CD-ROMs in 2003 and when he began to upload pictures of his LEGO® military models on flikr after a publisher approached him about writing a book, though that deal eventually fell apart.  As he explained in a recent Brickmania TV video, while he was working on the book, he attended the Brick World convention in Chicago in 2008 or ‘09 with his LEGO® Users Group (L.U.G.),[3] and he met BrickArms® founder Will Chapman (with whom he had previously corresponded) at Brick World. 

When he told Chapman about the book project, Chapman gave him a bag with hundreds of BrickArms® customized LEGO® Minifigure™ soldiers to use in photos.  Fans of his flikr pictures asked Siskind to start making sets again and he founded an instructions club.  By the end of 2009, Brickmania started to release kits again.

The Highland Keep, which was a model Scottish tower house, was released on February 7, A.D. 2011.  It came with eleven Minifigures™.  Ten kits were made.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the Highland Keep Digital Planning Instructions for $15.

The Pagoda: Medieval Japanese Temple was released on August 23, A.D. 2011.  It came with one Minifigure™.  Twenty kits were made.  Currently, Brickmania® is selling the digital plans for this set online for $10.

There are two other old sets that Brickmania® has begun to sell instructions for online where I do not have the release dates for the sets: the Japanese Castle the Country Farm.  The Japanese Castle consists of a black-and-white tenshu (castle keep) with dormers and gables typical of traditional Japanese castle architecture.  It compliments Brickmania’s Pagoda set as well as The LEGO® Group’s short-lived Ninja theme from 1998-99, which may be a LEGO® Castle subtheme, and is not to be confused with The LEGO® Group’s long-running Ninjago theme, which is set in modern times and owes very little to Japanese history. The list price is $15.  The Country Farm consists of a single timber-frame L-shaped farm building with a fenced-in yard in the remaining corner of the baseplate.  The price is $10.

In 2021, Brickmania® returned to its roots with the release of a Viking longship and several limited-edition ancient Rome kits.  The Drakkar – Viking Raiding Ship, designed by Andreas Eggen and Umar Akmurzajev, consists of 1,059 LEGO® and Brickmania® elements.  [A Viking longship was called a “drakkar.”  Norsemen used these longships to carry out raids, to undertake trade, and carry out voyages of exploration, as well as to make long-distance journeys.] The list price is $990.  It comes with a crew of thirteen custom Minifigures™.  All of them look great, but, but six of the crew members are warrior women, which is simply ahistorical.  Brickmania® never released any free-standing or loose Viking Minifigures™ apart from the Drakkar set.  Currently, it is sold out. 

In another nod to its roots, Brickmania® has begun to sell a set with a French triangular shield and flag.  Both feature the yellow fleur-di-lis on a blue field, used in heraldry to denote something belonged to the French monarchy.  The list price is $6, but it is out of stock.  If you like this set, KTown Bricks periodically releases Minifigures® that represent historical figures from Medieval France and England.  

The ancient Rome kits are the Praetorium – Fort Commander’s House, which was the largest kit yet to be released by Brickmania®, with a list price of $6,115; the Principia – Roman Fort Headquarters, with a list price of $2,325; the Castra – Roman Fort Barracks, with a list price of $1,475; Porta – Roman Fort Gatehouse, with a list price of $915;  the Roman Chariot – Two-Wheeled Racing Cart, with a list price of $105; and two free-standing or loose Minifigures™.  These Minifigures™ are the Roman Legionary with a list price of $45 and the Roman Auxiliary Archer with a list price of $26.  Combined, they constitute a fortress, its commandant or a provincial governor, his family and servants or slaves, and part of the garrison.  The rich or upper middle-class man who can afford to buy all the kits and assemble them and display them together will find himself the owner of a realistic model fortress comprised of modular buildings. The Praetorium, which is a provincial governor’s fortified villa, consists of 9,987 LEGO®, BrickArms®, and Brickmania® elements and weighs 51.12 pounds.  It comes with seven custom Minifigures™: the governor, his family (a wife and two minor children), and three servants or house slaves, as well as a white horse.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: This is an animated flythrough of a Roman fortress as depicted by Brickmania® with the buildings that are (or were) available for sale labeled.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: In this video, posted on July 16, A.D. 2021, Daniel Siskind shows off the outer wall for the fortress, which he predicted would be sold first, and the prototype for the Praetorium. A few of his colleagues show off World War 2 vehicle models and one custom Minifigure™ German officer from Operation Barbarossa. 

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: In this video, posted on August 6, A.D. 2021, Daniel Siskind shows off the prototype for the Praetorium, which he describes as being “like a giant dollhouse” because not only can the rooves be lifted off the second floor and the second floor off the first floor, but also parts of the first floor can be detached.  He suggested it could be used for stop-motion animation. Mary Wilson shows off a fully functional model trebuchet she designed, which, like many of the early sets designed by Saniel Siskind, supplements the old LEGO® Castle theme (product line).  Brennan shows off a fully functional model ballista designed by Greg Nation.  The Brickmania TV host shows off the presidential limousine (called “The Beast”) with three Minifigures™ representing a Secret Service agent Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden.[4] 

The Principia, which is sold out, consists of 4,568 LEGO®, BrickArms®, and Brickmania® elements, and weighs 25.12 pounds.  It comes with three Minifigures™: a Roman standard bearer, a Roman trumpeter, and a statue. 

The Castra, which is out of stock, consists of 2,005 LEGO® and Brickmania® elements, and weighs 9.20 pounds. It comes with a single Minifigure™: a Centurion. 

The Porta, which is out of stock, consists of 1,510 LEGO® and Brickmania® elements, and weighs 3.98 pounds.  It comes with a Roman Auxiliary Archer. 

The Roman Chariot, which is out of stock, consists of 66 LEGO® and Brickmania® elements.  It comes with a single Minifigure™ – a Roman legionary – and two horses.

Credit: Ru La Caption: This video, posted on September 26, A.D. 2021, is a review of the Brickmania® chariot kit.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: The Brickmania® Roman Legionary has more 3D-printed parts than any other Minifigure™ released by Brickmania®.  The Minifigure™ is spray-painted by hand.  The tunic is painted to look wrinkled.  His weighted belt fits over his hips (between the torso and legs).  The breastplate (that represents lorica segmentata armor) slips over the neck as with a breastplate released by The LEGO® Group (or BrickWarriors). It, the helmet, and shield boss are matching shades of metallic gray. The Legionary comes with a pilum that is similar in shape to those released by BrickWarriors and Brick Forge but differs from them because it realistically has two colors: reddish brown to represent the wooden shaft and metallic gray for the iron spearhead.

Brickmania® is also selling the Onager – Torsion Powered Weapon.  Designed by Tasha O’Donnell, this is a working replica of a siege engine, specifically a heavy catapult, used by the Romans in late antiquity. It consists of 130 LEGO® elements and is 1/35^th scale to match other Brickmania® sets.  The list price is $50.

Furthermore, in March of 2022, in honor of Women’s History Month, Brickmania® released a custom Joan of Arc Minifigure™. The list price is $45.  Is this the first saint Minifigure™ Brickmania® has released?  In any case, she has sold out.

She has printed chain mail armor and 3D printed plate armor.  In one hand, she carries a BrickArms® Damien sword and in the other carries a standard topped by a golden globus cruciger, an object that consists of an orb surmounted by a cross, exactly like the Imperial Orb that is part of the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire.  The sword is not in its original monochrome steel-gray state as released by BrickArms®, L.L.C. as it has been customized with a black handle and five crosses on the blade to resemble the sword that St. Joan of Arc carried.  The fabric banner is as impressive as the Minifigure™ and carries imagery of God flanked by angels, the names Jesus and Maria, and a group of gold fleur-de-lis on a white field, as Saint Joan of Arc historically carried.

Credit: Brickmania TV Caption: In this video, posted March 18, A.D. 2022, Mary Wilson shows off a prototype (Ukrainian) BTR-4 armored car with a Ukrainian rifleman Minifigure™.  She also shows off the prototype model (British) Scorpion /Scimitar light tanks two-in-one.  Brennan shows off the prototype (French) model AML-90 armored car (designed by George Hicks).  Nate shows off the “Syrian Technical,” a YPG pickup truck with an artillery piece mounted in back with two Minifigure™ women gunners.  Also for Women’s History Month, several people talk about the new custom (Saint) Joan of Arc Minifigure™. 

Today, in addition to its own product line, Brickmania sells Mininfigure™-compatible weapons and other accessories produced by the Redmond, Washington-based firm BrickArms®, the Taiwanese firm Minifig.Cat, and the Wilmington, Delaware-based firm BrickWarriors.  These three firms all have their own online stores, but sometimes it is more practical to go to one source for everything one needs at the moment.

Brickmania® sells three products produced by Brick Mini. These are chess pieces, Nano Soldier Figures that are compatible with Microscale models, and base frames for Nano Soldier Figures. 

Furthermore, Brickmania® also caters to the LEGO® model railroad market by selling products produced by Brick Model Railroader (B.M.R.), BrickTracks, Studly Trains.  Lastly, Brickmania sells apparel, bottle openers, cigarette lighters, etc. that are emblazoned with the Brickmania logo.

The Brickmania Website has an online shop.  In addition, Brickmania has retail stores in Minneapolis; Chicago; and Chantilly, Virginia; and.  Thus, it has one store on the East Coast, two in the Midwest, and two on the West Coast.  The two stores in California opened in time for President’s Day in 2022, while I was working on this and related articles.  Brickmania formerly had a store in Washington, D.C., but that one has closed, as has the one inside the Mall of America. 

The one in Minneapolis is called the Brickmania GHQ Store. It is called the GHQ Store because it is in the same building as the Brickmania General Headquarters.    The Brickmania GHQ Store opened on Saturday, April 13, A.D. 2019 in the southeast corner of the historic Thorp Building in northeast Minneapolis.  It sells the full range of Brickmania products and a large selection of BrickArms weapons.  The Brickmania GHQ Store features models of the U.S. Navy’s battleship U.S.S. Missouri and the destroyer U.S.S. Nicholas.

Credit: Beyond the Brick Caption: Joshua Hanlon of Beyond the Brick tours Brickmania’s GHQ Store with Brickmania founder Daniel Siskind.

The one in Chantilly is called the Brickmania Capitol Store.  According to the Website, “Brickmania’s Capital store features a complete line of products from Brickmania, BrickArms®, Citizen Brick, [6] Eclipse Graphx,[7] Brickstuff[8] and other producers of quality after-market add-ons for the LEGO® building enthusiast.  We also feature a selection [of] official LEGO® minifigures and sets.  We do not sell knock-off brands or any previously used products.”

The Brickmania Chicago Store is situated in northwest suburban Schaumburg, Illinois.  According to the Website, “Brickmania’s Chicago retail store features a complete line of products from Brickmania, BrickArms®, and other producers of quality after-market add-ons for the LEGO® building enthusiast.  We also feature a selection official LEGO® minifigures and sets.  We do not sell knock-off brands or any previously used products.” 

It used to be inside Woodfield Mall (which, before the construction of the Mall of America was the biggest American shopping mall) in Schaumburg but in 2019 it moved to another location in Schaumburg.  I will be profiling it in a separate article.

Brickmania, L.L.C. is opening two retail shops in California this year.  Both shops will have their grand openings next month.

The Brickmania Miramar Store will open in San Diego on Saturday, April 9, A.D. 2022.  The address is 7340 Miramar Road, Suite 108, San Diego, California 92126.  The next week, Brickmania Mare Island will open in Vallejo on Saturday, April 16, A.D. 2022.[9]  The address is 350 George Street, Vallejo, California 94590.

Each of the two new shops will have an exclusive Minifigure™ pack (while supplies last).  Also, each location will have exclusive badge bricks with purchases of $50 ore more (while supplies last).  All Brickmania® kits with a list price of $100 or more will be 20% off all day long during that store’s grand opening.  Note this offer is valid only on-site.  There will be exclusive shirts, games toys, and official LEGO® Minifigures™.  Dan Siskind, Lead Designer Mary Wilson, Minifig Artist Landon Reimer, and SitRep Host Dilan Czech will be present to greet fans, sign autographs, answer questions, etc.

There are four authorized Brickmania resellers overseas.  These are BRiCKiZiMO in Europe (outside of Russia), Neva Brick in Russia, MOMCOM in Japan, and Ministry of Arms in the city-state of Singapore.

Brickmania Toyworks was the name of an event that Brickmania formerly hosted in its warehouse in conjunction with local L.U.G.s.  The Brickmania Toyworks event consisted of two parts, (a) displays by Brickmania and others and (b) and the sale of Brickmania and LEGO® products. 

This event is no longer being held and Brickmania converted the warehouse where it was held into the company’s production facility.  Brickmania replaced it with World War Brick conventions at locations throughout the U.S.A. including in the production facility where the company formerly hosted the Brickmania Toyworks event.  

A Brickmania representative explained, “World War Brick is a convention dedicated specifically to the LEGO Military community and their creations, whereas Brickmania Toyworks was an event for LEGO users of varying themes and ages.  Our production facility is… the space we have utilized for these events, as it is a large WWII era warehouse originally built for military production.”

After a hiatus of six years, the next World War Brick event will be held at the Brickmania General Headquarters this year – from the 10^th to the 12^th of June, 2022.  World War Brick 2022 will be held in the Brickmania GHQ Store & Brickmania Toyworks.  The address is 1618 Central Avenue, Suite 110, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413.  If you buy a weekend pass by Thursday, March 31, A.D. 2020, it will cost $75. [Children three and under get in for free.]  If you buy a weekend pass between the 1^st of April and the 31^st of April, it will cost $100.  If there is still space after that, a weekend pass after Tuesday, May 31, A.D. 2022, it will cost $125.

ENDNOTES

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[1] For the sake of clarity, I am referring to a structure, be it a building or a vehicle, comprised of LEGO® pieces as a “model;” a product sold or given away by LEGO® such as a LEGO® model castle with eight Minifigures™ as a “set;” and an individual set in its box as a “kit.”

[2] It would be more accurate to say The LEGO® Group does not produce or support the production of sets that depict modern warfare.  The LEGO® Group now or in the past has designed and produced Minifigure™ soldiers, warriors, bandits, and pirates armed with swords, spears, lances, polearms, bows and arrows, crossbows, flintlock pistols and rifles, cannons, and single-action pistols and rifles for the LEGO® Castle, LEGO® Vikings, LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™, LEGO® The Hobbit™, LEGO® Prince of Persia™, LEGO® Pirates, LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean™, LEGO® Ninja, LEGO® Ninjago, LEGO® Nexo Knights, LEGO® Western, and LEGO® The Lone Ranger™ themes.  Also, The LEGO® Group has made science fiction energy weapons for the LEGO® Space theme and the licensed LEGO® Star Wars™ theme.  Further, The LEGO® Group has produced armed soldiers, bandits, and pirates in the Collectable Minifigures™ theme that are compatible with the old LEGO® Castle, LEGO® Vikings, LEGO® Pirates, and LEGO® Western themes or represent ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire.

[3] There are two types of LEGO® User Groups (L.U.G.s).  Firstly, the most common type is a group of A.F.O.L.s or T.F.O.L.s who live in the same region and meet once a month to share their love of LEGO® and organize public exhibitions.  Secondly, there is a type of L.U.G. that is not confined to a geographic region but rather is concerned with building a certain kind of thing, such as castles or trains.  If a L.U.G. meets certain criteria, it can petition to be recognized by The LEGO® Group.  If it wins that kind of recognition, it is called a Recognized L.U.G. or R.L.U.G.  Once a L.U.G. becomes a R.L.U.G., it can appoint one member to be its representative to The LEGO® Group as an “Ambassador.”  Any A.F.O.L. can access the LEGO® Ambassador Network’s Community Locator, Calendar, and Blog, but R.L.U.G. Ambassadors can get additional support from the LEGO® Ambassador Network, as can LEGO® Online Communities and LEGO® Fan Media.

[4] Brickmania® had released a Beast kit before, so this was a reissue.

[5] “Black Friday” is what Americans call the second day of Thanksgiving.  Americans treat it as the first day of the Christmas gift-shopping season and retailers have traditionally opened hours earlier than normal and offered special sales and giveaways to make customers more excited.  Black Friday 2020 was Friday, November 27, A.D. 2020.

[6] Chicago-based Citizen Brick customizes LEGO® Minifigures™.  According to its Website, “It all started with a very dumb dream… Well, more unusual than dumb.  In 2010, Chicago artist Joe Trupia thought it might be interesting to take the iconic LEGO® minifigure and print his own wildly inappropriate unique designs on them.  After a year or so of experimentation, the formula for the finest custom toys on the planet was perfected and Citizen Brick was launched.”   

[7] Eclipse Graphx is based in McDonough, Georgia and customizes LEGO® Minifigures™ and other LEGO® pieces with printed graphics such as Christmas sweaters on torsos and movie posters and television screens with images from famous movies with Minifigures™ substituted for the actors and actresses.  They sell a wide variety of accessories that turn LEGO® pieces into products readily recognizable from the grocery store or fast-food restaurant chains with name brands altered with the substitution of the words brick, blok, or stud. 

[8] Brickstuff BrickScreens are OLED LCD video screens that can play pre-loaded animations or the owner’s own videos to add a level of realism to M.O.C.s that depict modern life.  Brickstuff also has an extensive product line of lighting systems to illuminate either official LEGO® sets or M.O.C.s.  Fans of Brickstuff can also purchase merchandise (t-shirts, hoodies, and tank tops) emblazoned with Brickstuff graphics.  Brickstuff is a trademark of Enthusiast Enterprises, L.L.C., which is headquartered in Rosemount, Minnesota.  

[9] Vallejo is northeast of San Francisco.  It faces San Pablo Bay.