Two lifetimes ago, in the late 90’s, when I was working at Disney Feature Animation, I met a young digital animator who was working on the 3rd floor on the movie “Dinosaur” that was as big a Star Wars fan as I was. We became fast friends and spent many a lunchtime running out to area stores looking for toys together. This talented young man was Ethan Marak, and while he was working on a digital animated feature film at the Disney studio, his real love and passion was always for stop-motion animation. In those days there wasn’t a lot of stop-motion work happening out out in the world, because of the expense and how time consuming that style of animation can be. Dinosaur wrapped in 2000 and as is the case with animation the journeymen animators move onto other project at other places and Ethan an I lost touch. Then jump to 2005 when Stoopid Buddy Studios started up a little TV show known as Robot Chicken. It was a show with stop-motion and action figures, so I was on board as a viewer and I was THRILLED to see a familiar name in the end credits. My pal Ethan had found his people!
Ethan has been working in stop-motion ever since as an animator, director and producer on some big projects like Robot Chicken, Super Mansion and even the Lego Movie! You would think moving all those little figures around with multiple micro movements just to fill one second of air time wouldn’t leave a man with much time for hobbies, but Ethan’s recent Lego re-awakening has forced him to take up the bricks and start designing awesome custom Lego sets that appeal to his love of the 1980’s!
One such set is currently up on the official Lego Ideas website, and if it gets enough votes it can become a REAL Lego set that we can ALL buy and build! This rad, awesome, tubular set is a 1980’s arcade, complete with games, a change machine and even a bubble-gum machine!
Here’s the official pitch for the set:
This project will appeal to anyone who loves the classic arcade games of the 1980’s. It includes five machines that could be sold separately or grouped together into a larger set.
This includes:
Stand up arcade machine with joystick control
Stand up arcade machine with driving wheel control
Cocktail arcade machine with stools for seated playing
Classic change machine with dollar slot and coin tray
Classic gumball machine filled with 1×1 round plate gumballs!
If licensing was acquired, Lego could theme the arcade machines to existing classic games such as Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Zaxxon, and include stickers for the marquees. This could expand into a larger theme that includes many famous games that still have a following today.
These machines would really stand out on display shelves and attract a lot of attention from Lego enthusiasts of all ages. Many Lego builders like myself grew up obsessed with video games and would naturally gravitate towards kits that feature nostalgic arcade machines from their childhood.
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Come ON! How AWESOME is that?? Look at the details! The coin returns, the different controllers, the gumballs in the machine and the tokens in the change machine!! When I saw project this I knew I wanted to help make this set a reality! The 80’s Arcade project is currently sitting at just under 3,000 votes and he needs 10,000 for Lego to consider it as a real set, so I sat down with my old buddy Ethan, who for his custom Lego projects goes under the name “BreaksBricks” to talk about this set, his favorite professional Lego gig and all things Lego!
Action Figure insider: When did you start doing your own original Lego builds?
Ethan Marak aka BreaksBricks: It was pretty much right after the LEGO Movie came out in 2014. I was the Animation Supervisor on the stop-motion end credit sequence and working with all those awesome models inspired me. I hadn’t really thought about LEGO since I was a kid and then something just clicked.
AFi: How do you start? Do you have a program that helps you out or just start with a big bucket of parts?
BreaksBricks: For some of my models I use LEGO Digital Designer- a free CAD program which puts every possible piece virtually in your hands. I used that to do my first arcade machine. Other times I have an idea for something and will go at it freestyle- literally just dumping out a bunch of different pieces on the table and seeing what works.
AFi: What prompted you to do a vintage arcade for your project?
BreaksBricks: I’m really nostalgic about the 1980’s and like most nerds who grew up during that decade I’m a little obsessed with certain objects that had an impact on me.
I wanted to create a LEGO arcade machine that had cool proportions that were more realistic and felt like a classic 1980’s icon.
AFi: What scale are the final builds? Are they in scale with the standard Minifigures or a bit taller?
BreaksBricks: They are bigger than the Minifigure scale and are closer to the Miniland scale that you’ll see in many of the displays at LEGOLAND. The arcade machines are about 7 inches tall. I like to build at whatever scale works best for the object and sometimes I’m also influenced by the parts I have on hand.
AFi: On your Flickr page you have several other custom built cabinets with other side art and controllers and even a pinball machine, were those all created after the original project was submitted or did you just have to make some creative cuts?
BreaksBricks: Yeah those came after the initial set was finished- I got kind of carried away and built an entire arcade. The pinball machine was the hardest to figure out and it features some connection methods that wouldn’t be allowed in an official LEGO set. It’s pretty fragile and wouldn’t make it past their stringent safety and durability tests.
AFi: I love the fact you included a change machine, a vending machine AND a cocktail table machine with stools! Can you talk about the decision to include those in this set?
BreaksBricks: Well for anyone who frequented arcades in the 1980’s that style of change machine is very iconic. At our local arcade you’d get six tokens for $1 if you got there early, and they had awesome UFO designs on them! The cocktail table was something that I’d never seen attempted and I liked the idea of providing some variety in the set. The gum ball vending machine was a fun technical challenge, to figure out how to get the little 1×1 round plates contained inside. The set provides everything you need to make a really cool shelf display.
AFi: How long did it take you to create this set?
BreaksBricks: I think I worked on it casually over the course of 6 months or so, and didn’t plan on submitting to LEGO ideas until I saw all the finished models together.
AFi: While you are creating a set like this are you also writing instructions for the set so it can be duplicated?
BreaksBricks: Nope. The creation of LEGO instructions is an art in itself, and super time-consuming. It really makes you appreciate how good a job LEGO does with the instructions in their sets.
AFi: You mention in your Lego Idea proposal that Lego could obtain some actual cabinet/game licenses and include stickers to customize the cabinets into real games. Are you excited that Lego has already partnered with Midway games for the Lego Dimensions game and the Midway Retro Gamer Level Pack?
BreaksBricks: Yes! It seems like it could open the door to some cool Midway-themed sets.
AFi: If there was ONE video game YOU could pick for them to license for this set what would it be?
BreaksBricks: Oh man- having a LEGO Galaga machine would be amazing!
AFi: You have directed quite a few official Lego shorts at your day job at Stoopid Buddy Studios. Do the Lego folks know what a fan you are and that you currently have a project running on the Lego Ideas site?
BreaksBricks: I get way too excited and happy when I’m doing those projects so it quickly becomes obvious I’m a fan!
AFi: What’s it like getting to do official Lego video projects for your day job after being a fan for so long?
BreaksBricks: It’s the absolute best! There’s something really immediate and freeing about animating with LEGO. It has a built in set of limitations that force you to come up with fun creative solutions to tell the story. It takes me back to when I was a kid experimenting with stop-motion using Star Wars action figures.I have also been lucky to work with some people who are established bad-asses in the LEGO community, builders like Jeff Cross and Bill Vollbrecht and animators Forest Whaley and Sean Willets. These guys have been doing amazing things with LEGO for many years and it adds so much to the projects.
AFi: Do you have a favorite of your Lego shorts you have directed so far?
BreaksBricks: I really love the episode of LEGO Scooby-Doo titled Donuts Save The Day. It’s action-packed and features all of the Scooby-Doo villains. We had the actual cast doing the voices on those which adds some great authenticity.
AFi: Anything you’d like to say to the Lego fans out there that haven’t voted for your project yet?
BreaksBricks: If you like what you see please vote your support! It only takes a minute to sign up and it’s not a crowd-funding site so when you give your support you aren’t obligated to buy anything. Thank you!
AFi: Any hints on what your next BreaksBricks custom build will be?
BreaksBricks: Sure! It’s a cartridge-based game system but not an Atari.
Thank you Ethan for taking the time and answering our questions.
Now – for you the reader, I urge you, IF you have a Lego Ideas log-in, then head over and VOTE FOR THIS SET!
If you DON’T have a Lego Ideas log-in, get one! They are free and easy to get and they won’t spam you with a bunch of crap. Once you have it THEN go vote for this set!
Then everyone spread the word about this set! If you know any Lego fans, tell them. If you know any other blogs, websites, Facebook pages or Instagram feeds that would dig this set – TELL THEM!
We have 71 days left to reach the 10,000 vote goal. We can do this!
