Day 10-3
Michelle Krokosz
The City Block
- PICS -click here & scroll ↓
- Video Interview
- Description
- BIO
- About the Display
- Interesting Facts
- Find Mr. Brick
- Set Number
PICS -click here & scroll ↓
Michelle Krokosz
Video Interview
Description
It’s opening day of City Zoo!
Alongside the hustle and bustle of downtown, a new zoo has finally opened. Many species from all over the LEGO® world are on display and are cared for by the best zookeepers that green 100 dollar tiles could buy. There’s even a face painter and balloon animals for the kids so come on down!
BIO
LEGO® for me is a chance to escape the stresses of everyday life. When I get time to build, I temporarily stop thinking about the chores, commitments, finances and all other worries that at times keep me up at night. I fidget if my hands aren’t busy so this is the perfect solution.
I lack imagination – life is very black and white for me so I really struggle to MOC (My Own Creation) any builds. I do though get great satisfaction from taking an actual set (ie a Modular) and landscaping around it and this is why I enjoy setting up city layouts. When it is all finished, you break it down and start again! For me, building something and putting it on a shelf doesn’t bring the same joy, I especially want my kids to be able to play and interact with what we put together.
Growing up, my brother and I loved our LEGO® and it was the gift of choice for every birthday and Christmas for many, many years. We spent many holidays and weekends making ‘caravans’ that were so large they couldn’t turn (but had every homely comfort you could imagine) so our people could holiday or making hospitals that really were the centrepiece of town because they were so large. We were big into the Pirate theme and I loved the Paradisa line, of which I displayed my childhood sets at Bricktober in 2019.
I rediscovered a love for LEGO® when my daughter was born and went a little overboard buying up sets when she was still an infant! It has continued to grow over the past 8 years and both my children share the passion with me – my husband not so much!
I get a lot of sideways glances when people find out my love for the first time but when they see what we put together, there’s a moment of disbelief. The collection pales in comparison to many other AFOL’s and I always use this as the excuse to my husband that “we need more LEGO®!”
About the Display
We generally take about 1 year to complete a layout with the current city started in July 2019. The previous layout was a residential/commercial hub however my children wanted a zoo so a zoo they got!
I try not to think about how many parts there are or how much was spent on acquiring the extra parts that were needed outside of the modular and creator sets. There are thousands of round plates and tiles for the zoo path alone.
There were a few tricky elements such as the angled wall and entry booth, no matter where I seemed to start and finish the ‘angle’ it never seemed to work. We also changed the BBQ area idea 5 or 6 times before finding something that worked in the space well.
Interesting Facts
It will soon be demolished! It will stay intact for another month or so then be deconstructed ready for our next journey. Like this one, the kids decide what the next ‘theme’ is and we are preparing to include a wharf and beachside setting.
If anything like the last setup, packdown should take about 4-6 weeks though this one has thousands upon thousands of tiles and plates to remove so may take a little longer.
Find Mr. Brick
Try to find Mr. Brick in the photos and if you can’t then scroll down to find out where he is.
Hint – in this display there are 2 Mr. Bricks!
Mr Brick 2018 is cooking a BBQ.
Mr Brick 2019 is hanging out at the penguin enclosure.
Set Number
The City Block Set Number: BT2020-103
