THE BRICKPICKER LEGO SET REVIEW/BLOG ARTICLE CONTEST IS HERE!!!

Jeff and I are proud to announce this contest for all registered BrickPicker members. It will be based on LEGO set reviews, Evalution Corner and Blog articles. We will judge the winners on several aspects, such as overall quantity, content and quality. We will take into consideration the quantity of reviews and articles you submit and the content and quality of those reviews/articles/blogs. Just because you pump out more reviews than other members, if your content and quality are subpar or very average, we can elect someone else the winner.

The basic BrickPicker Set Review will be accepted at 1000 characters. No less. Unlike the earlier Set Review version, you will be required to submit content for each of the 10 basic categories below:

First Impression(WOW Factor) & Introduction

An introduction and first impression of the LEGO set. Does the LEGO set "WOW" you? Is it or will it be an "iconic" LEGO set? When you see this set, you say to yourself, "I just have to have one!?

Unique Parts/Minifigures

Does the LEGO set have rare or unique minifigures? Are there rare parts/colors in the set? Does the set have a large amount of minifigures or parts that make it more desirable?

Playability/Build Experience

Does the set have elements that make it an extremely "fun" set to play with or to build, thus affecting it's popularity and future viability as an investment?

Value for money(new)

Is the set a bargain? Does the set give you a "bang for your buck" when considering piece to price ratio or is the price of the set extremely high priced for the amount of pieces included? This rating also plays into LEGO collectors/investors who like to "part out" LEGO sets to make money...Could the set be used to "part out for a profit"?

Theme Popularity

Is the LEGO set from a popular LEGO theme that sells well in the primary retail LEGO market and will most likely translate to positive growth in the secondary LEGO market?

Exclusivity

Is the set an "exclusive" set and is marked accordingly so? Is the set limited in production in any way? Is the set from a Toy Fair or Comic Con or other LEGO trade show that has limited production runs?

Packaging

Does the set have unique packaging that makes it stand out from the typical LEGO set? Does the set have special markings on the box that differentiate it from other LEGO sets?

Growth Potential

What is the potential growth of this set in the secondary LEGO market? Will this set appreciate or depreciate after being retired(EOL)?

Display Attributes

Does this set when built display well? Is it a topic of conversation when built and displayed in a office or den? Does it make for an impressive or unique set when compared with other LEGO set

Final Analysis & Conclusion

Your overall final impression of the set, taking into consideration all the above factors. A final synopsis or conclusion about the LEGO set. The numerical rating is for the entire set, with a 10 being the ?perfect? LEGO set, a 5-6 being about average and a 1 being the bottom of the barrel.

Each category can range from a sentence to several paragraphs if necessary. The combined total for all the category content needs to be 1000 characters to be accepted. You will be asked to leave a numerical 1 to 10 rank for each category as well, with 4,5 and 6 being considered "average" LEGO set rankings. You do not have to own a set to review one, but it would help and this will be noted on each review. Here is a sample of a REVIEW I did for the 10227 UCS B-Wing Starfighter. It is a 5000 character review and I would consider it an above average review. You can do more or less, but proper grammar and spelling is also important.

We will take a snapshot of the current review totals and start from there. A BrickPicker member can look over their personal reviews in our new REVIEW LOG. You will have the ability to resubmit an older review and improve it, with it counting towards the contest. Jeff and I will approve or disapprove each resubmission. What is neat about the new review system is that Jeff and I will be able to award BONUS BRICKPOINTS for above average and special reviews. A basic 1000 character review will be awarded 10 Brickpoints, but we can give up to 500 Brickpoints or more for some in depth and special reviews.

The contest will start immediately and conclude at 11:59 PM(Eastern Time) on July 3rd, 2013. There will be three main prizes:

1ST PLACE: 10228 HAUNTED HOUSE or $200 LEGO GIFT CARD

2ND PLACE: 10232 PALACE CINEMA or $150 LEGO GIFT CARD

3RD PLACE: 9516 JABBA'S PALACE or $100 LEGO GIFT CARD

We will adjust all prizes to the winner's country and situation. Jeff and I understand that some members have to pay more for LEGO sets and we will adapt to each situation. We have the right to change the prizes to equivalent LEGO sets if these become retired or out of stock.

There will also be four $25 LEGO GIFT CARDS given out to those exceptional reviews in which I can convert to content for the EVALUATION CORNER. One person can win them all. Look at my reviews for an example of what I am looking for. You do not have to go through the normal review processor if it is easier to produce a large and quality review and analysis on a word processor like OPEN OFFICE(which I use). If you are doing a "special" review, you can contact me. I can guide you. What I don't want is something I have to rewrite. It needs to be quality content and properly written. I can tweak it and help with data and charts, but the overall written content needs to be very, very good.

Depending on the response, we can throw in some other prizes along the way. Maybe some "Honorable Mentions" or some other prize for some review or content that tickles my fancy. This is a serious competition and Jeff and I want the content of the LEGO set reviews to become a very important part of our site. Unlike the quality reviews on top sites like Brickset or Eurobricks, I want our reviews to focus on aspects of LEGO sets that will affect its "investment" potential and value. You can discuss anything you want, but you should have a serious investment correlation in your reviews when discussing many of the categories. The basic categories are set up like an essay, with an introduction, body & content and then a conclusion. Think of the reviews in proper English class terms and you will do well.

That's about it. Good luck with your reviews and any questions can be posted below. Winners will be announced on July 4th, 2013. Thanks.

Ed Mack

EDIT: JEFF AND I WILL ALSO ACCEPT EVALUATION CORNER/BLOG ARTICLES TOWARDS THE CONTEST AS WELL!!!

I think the new system would make articles less repetitive and more original.

Err...What is the new system? I thought Jeff just said he had an idea.

Err...What is the new system? I thought Jeff just said he had an idea.

Jeff Mack said he was going to work something out.

Jeff Mack said he was going to work something out.

Sorry, maybe I should have made myself clearer. I was more asking how you knew that the new system would make things better, since he hasn't exactly told us what he's going to do.

Yeah, I've noticed people covering articles other people are also doing recently... for example I think that three or four people are working on/have done LOTR wave 2 LOL

 

Bigger stuff like this I think its ok to have several. Maybe not all front page, but you get several different perspective on same sets.

Bigger stuff like this I think its ok to have several. Maybe not all front page, but you get several different perspective on same sets.

It is okay to several different perspectives, but I think that there has to be a limit. I do not know what it would be, but I prefer a diversity of blog articles on Brickpicker.

Bigger stuff like this I think its ok to have several. Maybe not all front page, but you get several different perspective on same sets.

 

 

This is true, if someone reviews Jabba's palace and says yes it will be a winner, then can be many of you with reasons why it won't be.  I think that makes the site even better when you can get different perspectives.  We can then edit the articles to make sure people can see click the links to see the related articles.  Do we need 50 of each? No. But contrasting viewpoints make for good discussion.

Perhaps we should start a new breed of articles: collaborative analysis write ups, basically like the ordinary theme analysis except instead of one person providing their analysis for each set, multiple people do. It would be a long read, but more informative and it is what Brickpickers want (I did a poll in one of my articles and long multiple viewpoint articles recieved far more votes than concise ones so there is interest here). If anyone is interested in doing some collaborative articles with me, shoot me a PM - before I shoot you one LOL

Perhaps we should start a new breed of articles: collaborative analysis write ups, basically like the ordinary theme analysis except instead of one person providing their analysis for each set, multiple people do. It would be a long read, but more informative and it is what Brickpickers want (I did a poll in one of my articles and long multiple viewpoint articles recieved far more votes than concise ones so there is interest here). If anyone is interested in doing some collaborative articles with me, shoot me a PM - before I shoot you one LOL

 

Sounds great. I am actually in the process of writing an article with another member here, let's see how it turns out

 

I have been swamped by grad school applications and some other stuff I have had to stop most of my writing unfortunately...

Perhaps we should start a new breed of articles: collaborative analysis write ups, basically like the ordinary theme analysis except instead of one person providing their analysis for each set, multiple people do. It would be a long read, but more informative and it is what Brickpickers want (I did a poll in one of my articles and long multiple viewpoint articles recieved far more votes than concise ones so there is interest here). If anyone is interested in doing some collaborative articles with me, shoot me a PM - before I shoot you one LOL

 

 

It is a good idea and I know Ed and I would give Brickpoints to all the parties involved for having great content.  Remember though that people can also use the comments area to voice their opinion and keep conversations about the review/analysis going.  

Sounds great. I am actually in the process of writing an article with another member here, let's see how it turns out

 

I have been swamped by grad school applications and some other stuff I have had to stop most of my writing unfortunately...

 

Man I do not miss school. Been out for a little over two years and I have thought about doing my PHD, but I am just not sure I want to get back into all that.

Working on setting up a couple collaborative articles... let's get this ball rollin'!

Less than 48 hours remain to the Blog writing contest.  Please submit any article that is ready to publish by midnight tomorrow night to be counted for the contest.  We will not publish every new entry by tomorrow night because I want to save some content for later.  I don't want to flood the site with too many new articles because they would never get read.

 

Also, we just added a new blog notification feature that counts characters and lets you know what Brickpoints you received for your efforts.  

 

Good luck...Ed

Less than 48 hours remain to the Blog writing contest.  Please submit any article that is ready to publish by midnight tomorrow night to be counted for the contest.  We will not publish every new entry by tomorrow night because I want to save some content for later.  I don't want to flood the site with too many new articles because they would never get read.

 

Also, we just added a new blog notification feature that counts characters and lets you know what Brickpoints you received for your efforts.  

 

Good luck...Ed

 

Awesome! Let's see how many more I can get in.

 

Will in go back and count our old articles characters?

Awesome! Let's see how many more I can get in.

 

Will in go back and count our old articles characters?

No.  But I have an idea.

No.  But I have an idea.

 

Notifications worked perfectly. Thanks!

Here comes the flood.

Here comes the flood.

 

I know, I will be home at 6. Wanna get as many done as possible, but can't sacrifice quality.

Well, that's it. The blog contest deadline has passed as it is offically August 1st.

(Unless I made a mistake and the deadline would be 11:59pm later today, er, tonight?.... Dang it, timeframe mumbo jumbo! )

AND THE WINNERS OF THE 2013 BRICKPICKER BLOG WRITING CONTEST ARE...

 

After reviewing all the articles and blogs that were submitted for the 2013 BrickPicker Blog Writing Contest, Jeff and I came to the conclusion that three members deserved the First Place prize of a $200 LEGO Gift Card(or similarly priced LEGO set)...and they are:

• Donotinsertinmouth
• Fcbarcelona101
• Quacs

There will be no Second or Third place prizes, only two honorable mention prizes of $50 each to Grolim and Comicblast. 

 

All 5 members who won a prize wrote at least twice as much as their nearest competitors and their article quality and creativity was excellent.  There are still multiple blogs that have to be posted, one in particular, stands out.  It is a 50,000+ character collaborative creation by Fcbarcelona101 and Quacs that introduces people to the BrickPicker site.  This article will have a special location on the site so all new members can check it out.

 

So, all in all, fantastic job people.  It's been a long contest, but I think the results were worth the effort.  Don't stop writing them though, remember, you still get copious amounts of BrickPoints to use in the Brickpoints Store for writing blogs and LEGO set reviews.

 

Will the 5 winners please PM me with their addresses and choice of LEGO Gift Cards or similarly priced LEGO sets and we will get those out to you in the next several days.  Thanks..

 

 Ed

Congrats to the winners! Thanks for all your content that makes this site great!!

Congratulations to the winners! 

Congrats guys. Now I am going to read all the great articles you wrote. This may take a while.

Good job everyone!

Thanks to Ed and Jeff for getting me back into writing!  This contest has been a blast, and I will continue to write articles for the site.  I hope everyone enjoys them and finds them useful and/or thought provoking.