Harry Potter Winter Break Contest

[Ogre]

I have NO hope of winning this, since I don't have/read the HP books and I am certainly not the accomplished builder that some folks here are but, those prizes are VEEEEEEEEEEERY tempting (especially since they're all sets that I want!).

[RoryoCox]

Oh!! I have not been on for two days now and I was really shocked when I saw the skin. I will be taking part in this contest and anything else that happens during this time as well.

I had a feeling staff wouldn't let Harry Potter pass without one contest

[Hinckley]

Am I allowed to do Azkaban? If I am, I will enter this contest with my recreation of it.

Lord Embo

Azkaban is a non-Hogwarts building, so yes. But, you can't enter an MOC that was created before this contest was posted.

One quick Question : Custom Parts are not allowed. But are we allowed to use Stickers and stuff ? ( including Self-made Stickers of course ) Or does that go into the Custom Parts rule ?

No custom stickers please. That could be an unfair disadvantage. Not everyone has that skill to create or capability to print specialized items.

I'm in !

My son and yourstruely will design and build something.....hey a change to win that sweet mega set - Ow, YEAH !

Forget the keep on......just get building !

Cool! A father-son team!

Do entries need to have the trio in them?

I probably won't make Azkaban as I first said because I haven't got enough dark bley bricks.

Lord Embo

The three characters mentioned in the contest description do not have to appear in the entry. Since the contest focuses on the buildings, there is no need for any characters to appear in your entry if you don't want them to, or don't have the figs.

1. What do we have to choose from now? One of the three places given (Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, Hogsmeade)? Or are we free to choose any scene of the Potter books including Harry, Ron and Hermione during winter holidays? Or are we absolutely free to choose any place and time including all the Potter minifigures that we want to us? - You don't really make this clear,... Are there restrictions except for "not Hogwarts" and "1000 pcs"? (please also tell me whether the trio has to be part of the scenery!)

As the rules state, any location in the books that isn't Hogwarts. Again, the trio don't have to be part of it, please be patient. You don't have to repeat questions. I am busy, but I will get to them. Please, that's very annoying. And the rules are very clear: Not Hogwarts, 1000 pieces. Don't overthink it. It's meant to leave few restrictions. Perhaps the title of "Winter Break" is unclear, but it's more about us being in "Winter Break." You can build any place any character in the books ended up in during any season.

2. Do I have to tell you now, that I will join, or can I start building and then join the contest, say... end of january?

You can build it on the morning of February 1st if you want to. No need to declare intentions beforehand.

3. How much custom is allowed? Are custom minifigures, decals, stickers; printed pieces of tissue O.K. or are there restrictions as well?

No custom minifigs, stickers, printed tissue, etc... Only official LEGO parts. The reason is, not everybody has the software or hardware necessary to create good customs. Is this not clear in the official rules? I'll make sure it is. This is the second time someone has asked...

4. Is there something like a minimum size?

There is no minimum size.

I take it this does not have to be a canon scene? And I know Jango already asked, but other locations are allowed?

Canon? You mean official JK Rowling stories? The answer there would be yes. It should only be something from the books, not from fan fiction or whatever other non-canon source there would be. Do you want to make something up? I guess that would be all right. I'll think about this and discuss it with the staff. I suppose creativity is a good thing.

Woohoo! A HP contest at last! And a new skin to boot! Does this make it a semi-HP month? Either way, I'm very happy! The new banner keeps nicely with the not-in-Hogwarts theme and looks nice. Too bad the thing in the top right corner covers Fenrir and Bella up.

Nice idea for a contest, and very generous prizes! I have so many ideas... There's no overhang limit, right?

Is the user info covering them on some screen resolutions? I will move them then...

I have NO hope of winning this, since I don't have/read the HP books and I am certainly not the accomplished builder that some folks here are but, those prizes are VEEEEEEEEEEERY tempting (especially since they're all sets that I want!).

Cryin' won't get you anywhere. Get out your bricks and build!

[Sandy]

I feel obliged to enter, even though I have one of the prizes (Hogwarts Castle) and should be getting another (Hogwarts Express)for Christmas from my fiancé.

The 1000 piece limit is aggravating, but on the other hand it makes the contest fairer to those with more limited collections - that way nobody can win just by having an enormous entry with every fig imaginable in it.

I'm looking forward what other people come up with, too!

[buddy]

Great contest with amazing prizes!

But I doubt that I will be entering because my budget probably won't stretch that far.

Good luck to all who enter.

~buddy~

[Matn]

Wow, great surprise! I knew something was coming, and although it's not a themed month, I'm also very happy with a contest. I also like the new board style and the banner, great job.

Well, seems like I have to enter this contest. If only I had waited with building the Burrow... But it means I have to come up with something else. Perhaps the biggest pub from Hogsmeade, or something completely different. Like Sandy said, it will be tough to not pass the 1000 piece limit, but it makes the contest more fair. The prizes are really great (I don't own any of them yet), but if I'm honest I'm just really looking forward seeing all new LEGO Harry Potter creations, I can enjoy that. I hoped for a revival of great Harry Potter creations with the release of the film and this contest will certainly get out the best of the participants.

[Oky]

Is the user info covering them on some screen resolutions? I will move them then...

Yes, that would be appreciated. And I know you said that we shouldn't ask things twice, but you didn't answer my actual question about overhang.

that way nobody can win just by having an enormous entry with every fig imaginable in it.

Wait... Is there a minifig limit? Do they count as pieces?

[yumiyoshi]

What a contest!

I should open all my bricks... too bad it took me a month to store them all :D

Ok, I'll try to think about something! Mumble,mumble...

[Hinckley]

Yes, that would be appreciated. And I know you said that we shouldn't ask things twice, but you didn't answer my actual question about overhang.

I thought that was a joke. Overhang of what?? Oh, the 32 x 32 baseplate... hmmm... Well, I deleted that rule.

Wait... Is there a minifig limit? Do they count as pieces?

Sigh... Minifigs count as 4 pieces. Hair or hat, head, torso, legs. 4 pieces each. Are they holding a wand? Five pieces. Pieces are pieces so they should be counted as pieces...

[Oky]

I should open all my bricks... too bad it took me a month to store them all :D

Don't worry, you only need to take out less than a thousand of them.

I thought that was a joke. Overhang of what?? Oh, the 32 x 32 baseplate... hmmm... Well, I deleted that rule.

Cool, thanks!

Sigh... Minifigs count as 4 pieces. Hair or hat, head, torso, legs. 4 pieces each. Are they holding a wand? Five pieces. Pieces are pieces so they should be counted as pieces...

Okay, okay, just making sure.

[Izzy]

I thought that was a joke. Overhang of what?? Oh, the 32 x 32 baseplate... hmmm... Well, I deleted that rule.

So now we can have it on any sized base plate so long as it is still 1000 pieces?

That is frikkin sweet. I am already working on mine and having heaps of trouble trying to squish certain secrets things next to other certain secret things on a 32x32.

Does a torso still count as one piece if it only has one arm?

[Darth Jar Jar]

Does a torso still count as one piece if it only has one arm?

Well it should really count as 3 pieces the main torso the hand and the arm

Edited December 6, 2010 by Darth Jar Jar

[Hinckley]

Well it should really count as 3 pieces the main torso the hand and the arm

Not to be harsh, but shut up.

[Mr.Brick]

Wicked! This will force me to build Harry Potter sets once again! Too bad it must be outside of Hogwarts, since I've already built the Great Hall on minifig scale once... :)

But Diagon Alley... O_O Or the other sets... I MUST participate!

[Yatkuu]

I never built anything with a brick count limit, how do you guys manage to do that? I find this rule very disturbing as I never paid any attention to how many bricks are needed to make a scene look nice... Any advice would be appreciated!

[Izzy]

Think small, then add in extra details.

That is what I am trying at least! I guess we will all find out if that works sometime before Feb! Hah!

[indyman09]

I think I'm going to build the Quidditch stadium from the 4th book. That's a great scene. But in that way, 1000 pieces are not enough

[Geertos13]

I think I'm going to build the Quidditch stadium from the 4th book. That's a great scene. But in that way, 1000 pieces are not enough

Could be a great idea. However, if you want to make it great, and I suppose you are, you'll easely reach the 5000 bricks, Yep, it goes that fast ! But Quidditch world cup is a very good idea. The stadium is going to be impossible I guess, but you wanna give a go to a little souvenirs shop, the Top Box, or you could just try out The Weasley's tent ! That could turn out great too. But I guess you won't be the only one trying to do a quidditch thing... But who cares ? I mean the best creation wins anyway. Good Luck

BTW MODs, Does making an ORIGINAL creation give us a more positive judgement or something like that ? Do you have more chance to win and stuff ?

[Izzy]

Making an original MOC for a competition means that everyone who enters has the exact same amount of time to work on their Entry. So someone will not enter something that they have had the past 6 months working on until it is perfect.

[Oky]

I never built anything with a brick count limit, how do you guys manage to do that? I find this rule very disturbing as I never paid any attention to how many bricks are needed to make a scene look nice... Any advice would be appreciated!

You could build a rough draft of your entry in LDD first, constantly checking the piece count.

Cutlass Iz's suggestion is good too.

I think I'm going to build the Quidditch stadium from the 4th book.

You mean the third Tri-wizard challenge? Yeah, that would be very hard to do with all the hedges and traps. Why don't you just make the regular Quidditch pitch with a team practicing on it?

Edited December 9, 2010 by Oky Wan Kenobi

[ADHO15]

I design my MOCs on LEGO Digital Designer before using real parts. It tells you the brick count, and lets you work with all kinds and colours of parts, before refining the build to just use parts you have/want to buy.

You mean the third Tri-wizard challenge? Yeah, that would be very hard to do with all the hedges and traps. Besides, I don't think that that took place during winter break. Why don't you just make the regular Quidditch pitch with a team practicing on it?

Surely he means the stadium for the Quidditch World Cup, no?

Does the chosen scene have to take place during Winter Break?

Edited December 8, 2010 by ADHO15

[Izzy]

As the rules state, any location in the books that isn't Hogwarts. Again, the trio don't have to be part of it, please be patient. You don't have to repeat questions. I am busy, but I will get to them. Please, that's very annoying. And the rules are very clear: Not Hogwarts, 1000 pieces. Don't overthink it. It's meant to leave few restrictions. Perhaps the title of "Winter Break" is unclear, but it's more about us being in "Winter Break." You can build any place any character in the books ended up in during any season.

Read the thread people! So Hinck doesn't have to answer the same questions over and over.

[Oky]

Surely he means the stadium for the Quidditch World Cup, no?

That would be even more impossible to make than the maze challenge!

As a hint: You don't have to recreate the whole stadium, you could just make a part of it, and focus on making it look great.

[The Soup Nazi]

Can I make a Quidditch Field? I'd like to know NOW, because it is actually part of Hogwarts (I'm already working on it!).

[Oky]

Does the chosen scene have to take place during Winter Break?

Read the thread people! So Hinck doesn't have to answer the same questions over and over.

Yeah, sorry for the confusion; I didn't see that Hinck wrote that and was assuming it had to be something during winter break.

Can I make a Quidditch Field? I'd like to know NOW, because it is actually part of Hogwarts (I'm already working on it!).

That should be fine. I think the rule only regards the castle.