Simon Liu: A Sci-Fi Titan and Community Champion
Today’s guest article comes from Casey McCoy, an AFOL from Chicago. You can find him online on Flickr and Instagram.
The Decade of Awesome
Today on BrickNerd, we’re continuing our retrospective on our very own Simon Liu—an AFOL whose reputation precedes him. If you missed our last article:
Go back and read it!
To recap, we learned about his early life origins, early days in the AFOL world, and how a LEGO fan convention experience from over a decade ago inspired him to go on and lead his own part of the LEGO community.
When we left off, Simon was using his Brickworld Master 2012 title as a blank check of goodwill to do a whole lot of awesome for the LEGO community over the next decade. Now, Simon has done a ton of incredible things in his LEGO career, and if I sat here and talked about all of them, we may run out of words in the English language. So, for the sake of time, I’m just going to focus on one highlight per year. It won’t be as exhaustive, but we will certainly try:
2013 - Inventing SHIPtember
Most AFOLs have heard of SHIPtember, but for those unfamiliar: SHIPtember is an annual LEGO community sci-fi building challenge. The rules of SHIPtember are simple. Starting on September 1st and ending on September 30th (no cheating!), you must create a SHIP (Serious Huge Investment in Parts) that is at least 100 studs long.
Simon’s very first SHIPtember: RS Amyers
Cheating the timeframe was subsequently allowed to ensure school kids could partake more easily (‘cause he’s Canadian and nice). The point is that it will challenge any LEGO shipwright’s ability to build big, work under pressure, and innovate in the sci-fi genre. In addition to inventing the challenge, Simon has participated personally in almost every year with a few exceptions.
Even by mid-month, Simon and ToroLUG (which he co-founded) were already making the craziest build.
While the term SHIP had been around in the community, Liu’s 2013 event launched this evergreen challenge into the exosphere with many recognizable builders participating. Now over a decade later, as of July 2024, there were 11,100+ results on Flickr for SHIPtember and 4,215+ posts on Instagram using #shiptember—which is insane to think it all originated from one Flickr post.
Curious? You can participate in 2024’s SHIPtember! Read about it on BrickNerd, see some highlights from TBB, and join the action with the Flickr group.
Some other highlights from 2013: Simon was an Iron Builder participant, invented the “Gugick” tradition at Brickworld Chicago with his Frogpod (more on that coming soon), and participated in the original BroLUG Cybercity.
2014 - Classic Space Love Letter
If there was any confusion about Simon’s affinity for space, this build should clear it up for you. This is a declaration of love for the classic space genre that has been the throughline of Liu’s career.
Check your monitor: this is NOT minifig scale.
While the entire display is composed of several separate builds, I love the galaxy explorer in particular as it packs in extreme Simon greebling while never being overpowering. The display takes up an entire table at 6.3 feet long. The SHIP itself is 100 studs wide and over 160 studs long. The UCS Explorer was ultimately and collectively enough to take Best Spacecraft at Brickworld 2014.
Also in 2014: Simon joined the Brickworld Coordinator team, started OrphanLUG, coordinated the quad convention GARC circuit, and participated in the BroLUG sequel to the CyberCity, CyberDocks.
2015 - LEGO Collab World Record
With his later escapades, the size of this display seems tame compared to where we’re going. However, the MOC you’re looking at is a current world record holder for “Largest-scaled LEGO model based on a videogame map,” per the Guinness World Records. Uncontested for nearly 10 years, Simon and his team have retained their record, with Simon himself probably the most likely person to break this record.
Taking “Construct Additional Pylons” too seriously…
Read more about it on the Guinness World Records page, or watch the video here.
Also in 2015: Simon invented Simon Drafts, created the Classic Space Moonbase Collab, launched Operation Olive, and created the life-size lovable Claptrap - CL4P-TP!
2016 - You Sunk My BattleSHIP!
As if the world record wasn't large enough, Simon's 2016 highlight would break trends—and MOCs—in a wonderful new collab: BattleSHIP.
Day 2, survivors of the havok of BattleShip
An enormous sci-fi LEGO take on the classic Milton Bradley game, each playfield would span six feet by six feet, not to mention the splash damage zones. By harnessing fleets by Tim Schwalfenberg, Caleb Wagoner, Connor Lill/Tyler Halliwell, GamerLUG, & El Barto/Tim Clark, Simon drew crowds and turned heads at Brickworld Chicago. Why? Whenever someone's ship sank, you would really sink it—for good.
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I could wax on further about BattleSHIP, so instead, read the full recap by El Barto here on BrickNerd, and of course, enjoy the glorious slow-motion video.
Also in 2016: Simon co-founded GamerLUG and participated in the Overwatch and Borderlands collabs.
2017 - A Crash and Creations for Charity
At first glance, 2017 would look like an off-year for Simon. The volume of MOCs Simon put out this year began to slow as his building momentum began to shift. Nothing outrageously special happened like years prior. However, of the quality MOCs he did put out this year, it would include his most favorited and viewed Flickr photo with ~75,000 views at the time of writing: Star Wars: Rogue One - Star Destroyer Crash.
However, ever since Simon joined the AFOL community, he’s always been a consistent fundraiser for Creations for Charity which was started by Nannan Zhang. After accidentally selling a MOC twice, the Olive C17 Globemaster, Simon seized this crisis and made it an opportunity. Instead of building a second Olive plane, he created a whole collaborative effort instead. Enter the Metal Kombat Hanger where participants built mechs in a modularized mechbay in lieu of a plane, all to get LEGO into the hands of underprivileged kids during the holidays.
This marked the fifth year of Simon volunteering with Creations for Charity by donating, coordinating, and, of course, buying MOCs from AFOLs like you! (Learn more about getting involved with Creations for Charity this fall on their website here. Consider buying a MOC or donating a MOC—it’s easier than sorting!)
Also in 2017: Simon attended his first European LEGO convention at Skærbæk Fan Weekend and made Commander Carrots (which might be a focal point later on…).
2018 - Birth of the OrphanLUG Mascot
Simon’s building slowdown continued in 2018 since he built almost nothing “for himself.” Simon’s yearly recap for 2018 is dwarfed by every other year. But 2018 was a notable year for many other wayward souls as this year would cement one of Simon’s many fake LUGs: OrphanLUG. Simon had collected misfit AFOLs without “homes” at conventions for years, but this year the practice would finally metastasize into something substantive.
The MOC below has never been publicly posted online, but it was the first official OrphanLUG collab and featured the use of the baby element (which maybe isn’t nearly as synonymous as frogs with Simon, but still a very common trope).
Original design concept from Kevin Wise
The baby mech combat ring was mostly a collab between Alec Doede and Simon, but the rest of the members of OrphanLUG all made baby mechs to fight in the arena. (Y’know, for kids!) While this would be the second of four and counting yearly ‘Baby’ collabs at BrickFair Virginia, this MOC symbolized OrphanLUG’s expansion, which would only balloon in the coming years for disparate AFOLs and international wherever Simon would go.
Also in 2018: Simon helped with GamerLUG’s Rainbow Six Siege Collab and shockingly did NOT build a SHIP for SHIPtember(!!!).
2019 - No Escaping Simon
At the inaugural Bricks in the Six convention in Toronto, Simon premiered his craziest creation yet: a LEGO escape room. As far as I’m aware, it was the very first of its kind. Other puzzle games and boxes had long existed, but never something at this scale built entirely out of LEGO.
Anyone who knows Simon knows he loves escape rooms. Having completed 45 at the time of this article, the main appeal for Simon is that escape rooms are a “life-sized video game.” Simon says, “There’s a certain amount of adrenaline rush when working as a team with friends to accomplish a goal.” To this day, Simon says this is a contender for his best build ever, or maybe the one he’s the most proud of. Check out the video to see the build and how it’s solved (Simon “solves” his own room at 7:55).
Anyone who completes an escape room with Simon is drafted into his honorary EscapeLUG. EscapeLUG has only failed a room ONCE.
I say in the video that it will probably be my “first and last escape room.” How naive in hindsight, as I’ve done several escape rooms since (usually dragged in by Simon). An equally naive statement was made by Simon in the video: “Hopefully if I can think of more puzzles, we’ll do another one next year”… words spoken right before the room was dismantled and the beginning of a global pandemic.
Also in 2019: Simon joined the coordinator team for Bricks in the Six, did another unposted Overwatch Collab and went to Star Wars Celebration!
2020 - M.C. Escher Era Begins
While the world ended (temporarily) and Simon was trapped in his little apartment, he channeled his free time the best way he knew how: art. This time, however, he took his endeavors in a brand new direction with some of his best and most esoteric work to date.
Inspired by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, this series of quarantine builds cover tessellation, confusing perspectives, reduced color, and emphasis on form and shape. As a part of InnovalLUG’s Style it Up contest, Simon would impose his own additional rules to the contest to push/punish himself even harder. As we all felt the effects of being cooped up indoors, he dipped outside his typical cadre of nonsensical animal mech pilots and spaceships—and it paid off. While these builds would eventually shine in person when shows resumed in 2022, Simon would make waves online as COVID reached a fever pitch.
Also in 2020: When everyone was looking inward during the Pandemic, Simon and Markus Rollbühler —his European counterpart—kept looking outwards. With their powers combined, Simon ran eight contests in the 2020 calendar year, including several made up specifically to help people fill time during those bleak days, including Assemble The Fleet, Eye Spy, Iron Forge, Vignweek, Iron Builder, SHIPtember, MECHtober, and Space Jam. He has co-led Iron Builder ever since. (And he finally posted on Instagram!)
2021 - LEGO House Display
When LEGO opened its museum-meets-activity-center called the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, eyebrows were raised. But ever since they invited fans to compete to display there, jaws were dropped and the ante was raised dramatically. The inherent appeal by fans to have one of thier own MOCs displayed on official LEGO property for the world to see is tantalizing, to say the least. Simon, coming hot off his M.C. Escher year and feeling the continued effects of lockdown, entered his wonderful Hexahedral Planetoid and was selected to display.
What I appreciate about this build is the intense focus on form and shape. In a build with only one color, every shape and brick selected matters. The smallest choices, like finishing off the facades of the cube with 1x1 tiles help tell the story of this desaturated, micromanaged world. It’s also a boon that the presentation in the main photo, allowing the world to just appear out of a “bley” void, is visually striking. This was a build well worth displaying in the LEGO homeland.
Hexahedral Planetoid was on display in Denmark at The LEGO House from January 15th, 2022 to January 15th, 2023, and then moved to Legoland Billund for another year. (You can enter 2024’s LEGO House contest here.)
Also in 2021: Simon joined the relaunched BrickNerd, started MarchTember, was named Mr. RebelLUG - Builder of the Year, and celebrated ten years of ToroLUG. (Markus Rollbühler also had to rebuild the Hexahedral Planetoid MOC from scratch due to Simon’s poor shipping skills to Denmark.)
2022 - M.C. Escher Era Ends
As Simon was building momentum and leading the community with renewed vigor, he took an “off year.” Starting the convention season with travel back to the US, it was primed to be an adventurous year before personal tragedy struck when his father suddenly passed away. But the show had to go on, and Simon still showed up to his conventions for healing (or out of stubbornness), all the while adding a new ambitious Escher project to display alongside his previous work.
Post more of your builds simon - photo courtsy of Denyse C
Also not officially shared online, Simon would cap off his Escher series with a 48x48x48 M.C. Escher Relativity-themed Soma cube puzzle (quite the mouthful) that required a whole table to play with.
Also in 2022: Simon participated in the first large New Hashima collab at BrickFair Virginia which would lay the groundwork for next year…
2023 - New Foundations
But Simon came back with a bang! The 200 sq. ft. New Hashima cyberpunk metropolis dominated the convention skyline at Brickworld Chicago. Simon called in every favor and juiced every drop of his goodwill in order to pull off one of the craziest, logistically difficult builds ever alongside Stefan Formentano, Michael Willhoit, and Mason. (Where was the Guinness World Records when you needed them?)
Simon would shoulder the building of a lot of the “boring” and monotonous support structure to let the other builders in the project shine through. His contributions by volume were mostly hollowed-out cubes—about 72 of them (plus some cars, a SHIP, a crane, 100 shipping containers, and six more SHIP-sized slopes). Simon describes the experience as the hardest thing he’s ever done. The results were breathtaking:
Simon says, “Volumetrically, the logistics of it, the running of the group during all this—New Hashima is by far the most complicated thing I’ve ever done. But the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, I would argue.”
If you haven’t already, you can read the full story of New Hashima on BrickNerd along with many other New Hahima articles from their themed week of coverage.
Also in 2023: What, New Hashima wasn’t enough!? Simon still went on to build more frogs and returned to Europe for his first German convention.
Lessons to Learn
What I think is interesting when looking back on Simon’s Decade of Awesome™ is there are some key observations we can learn from:
Constant Evolution - Simon was able to improve his building capabilities by always pushing the envelope with concepts. There might have been some yearly staples like building SHIPs every September, but year after year, he would innovate by building something insane and crazy that no one would dare to do, like a LEGO escape room, a mega-game of BattleSHIP, or a 200 sq. ft. 13 ft. tall metropolis. If you had told 2012 “Castle Simon” that he would go on to make artsy fartsy M.C. Escher builds, I imagine there would be a lot of doubt and speculation. I wonder where he’ll go next.
Taking Breaks - If you compare Simon’s 2012 recap to his 2017/2018 recap to his 2020 recap, you may notice that there are peaks and valleys in his MOC output. Even the highlights around his late ‘10s era are dwarfed by his other accomplishments around the start of each decade. I think it’s healthy to remember that it’s natural to go through cycles like this with anything in life, and that’s OK.
Building For Yourself - To pull off New Hashima in 2023, Simon didn’t build anything outside of cyberpunk for almost two full years. Simon would only build for himself when he could. And maybe that’s not OK? Simon reflects, “Don’t forget to build for yourself, as it’s an important part of maintaining the love of building. Collabs, be it through guilt or not, can be great motivation, but ultimately, always build what you enjoy. That said…. ”
simon and stefan tired, but happy it’s up
Invite Others and Collaborate - Building by yourself is entertaining enough, sure, but building with others is WAY more fun and rewarding—just don’t forget about your own needs. This lesson is something Simon has taken to heart throughout all his real and fake LUG affiliations, innumerable collaborations, and evergreen online contests. All of these community activities derive from Simon’s drive to create community, build bridges, and create lasting memories for everyone… something that we will expound upon and cover more in-depth in my next article.
So the story will continue with an analysis of Simon’s building style, a reflection on his influences, and how to build a legacy. Until then, go build something that you want to!
What was the craziest thing you’ve done for a LEGO collaboration? Let us know in the comments!
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