Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part IV

And now, the final results for the Pigs on the Wing Contest.

Class One was the most hotly contested category. There were 134 unique models submitted - that's an astounding total, even if you consider 20+ model batches can be attributed to single builders. (Boy, I'll never allow *that* again.)

The entries ranged from the completely awesome all the way down to leftover Iron Man competition models with cave racer accessories stuck to them. There were polished AFOL builds, energetic YFOL ("Young Fans"? Is that an accepted acronym?) models, and stuff that defied classification.

For me, it was cool to see the works of returning competitors. It's been a lot of fun to watch people become more skilled in the use of the brick. It was clear that everyone (well, okay, almost everyone) put a lot of time and effort into their builds. It's an honor to have had so many people willing to compete.

But...in the end...just like in Highlander....there can be only one.

Click to find out who that is.

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part III

Today we announce the winners of the three "Judge's Choice" awards in the Pigs on the Wing contest. First up, though, the long-overdue reveal of the "Mystery Racer" designed by Cave Racing theme-creator Tim Gould:

(Click the photo for a much larger view of the awesomeness.)

The idea Petri Racer came about while Tim and I were defining the scope of the contest - the exchange went something like this:

Tim: So what about brick-built animals?
Chris: Should be okay, but I can see someone getting silly and doing a 1x1 round as a "Slime Mold".
Tim: If no one enters that, I'm going to build it myself.

And so he did. And now someone has won it.
And someone won Brickforge's Pick.
And someone won the Reasonably Clever Monkey Award.

Who were they?

Click and see!


But who won the coveted Class One prize? You'll have to check back tomorrow and see!

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part II

Time to announce the winner of the Class Two portion of the Pigs on the Wing contest!

Class Two: Duplo Racer

The top builder walks away with a Brickforge White Pig and $10 gift card, LEGO set 8159: Racer X & Taejo Togokhan donated by Reasonably Clever. (That'd be "me".)

As there were only five models submitted to this Class, we'll be showing the ranking for all of them. (Winner and 2nd-5th place)

Ready to find out who won?

Then CLICK HERE!

Tomorrow: At least one of the Judge's Favorite Awards!

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners!

We're still waiting on the final scores on the massive Class One part of the contest...but since we have the rest of the results in, it's time to start revealing the winners of the Pigs on the Wing contest!

We'll work our way though the Classes in reverse order - so first up is

Class Three: The Dioramas.

The top builder walks away with a Brickforge Black Pig and $10 gift card, and LEGO set 8161: Grand Prix Race donated by Reasonably Clever. (That'd be "me".)

There were twenty seven entries in this class - the final grid shows the Winner and five Honorable Mentions (2nd-6th place.)

Ready to find out who won?

Then CLICK HERE!

Tomorrow: Class Two!

Pigs on the Wing: Update

I've received a few emails asking, so here's a public announcement.

Our judges are still working their way through the huge number of entries submitted for the Pigs on the Wing contest. So, no, I don't know who won yet.

I'm hoping to make an announcement at the end of next week if all goes well.

In the meantime, I'm looking for a good partner site/judges for the August contest - suggestions are welcome. Just post a comment.

Pigs on the Wing: CONTEST IS CLOSED

It's 3:33am here - that means submissions for the Pigs on the Wing contest are now all in.

THE GRIDS HAVE ALL BEEN UPDATED. If your entry doesn't show up, it was either disqualified (hint: Human skeletons are not animals) or I never got it. (hint: I told you not to wait until the last moment to send.)

What's next? I need to finalize the judgment spreadsheets, email them out, and start on my own round of grading. I'm hoping to post results next week, assuming the judges can wade through the nearly 200 entries by then. (Next time: One or two entries per person, max.)

Feel free to comment here with discussion of your favorite models - there's a very diverse field to choose from this time, and our judges are probably all going to be looking for different things. Who will come out on top???

Pigs on the Wing: Final Hours!

Remember! You only have until 3:33am EASTERN STANDARD TIME on June 30th (that's tomorrow) to get your entries into my e-mailbox. Don't wait until the very last minute - I'd rather not have to disqualify anyone for tardiness.

The Entry Grids will be updated today at 6:00 pm EST - right now I'm off to go see Wall*E.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Boy, the judges are really going to have their hands full when it comes time to score everything...

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again. We're over fifty racers in Class One - I doubt there'll be a racetrack/cave big enough to hold them all by the time we're done.

Great work so far, too - it's fun to see so many new names and styles popping up on the grid.

Pigs on the Wing: Entry Grids Updated

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Again, as of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

As of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

This is shaping up to be quite the contest!

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated.

As of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please let me know.

(But...be polite about it, ya? So far all the revisions I've had to make have been the result of mistakes on the part of the submitters. I'm not out to sabotage anyone's entry.)

Pigs on the Wing: Entry Grids Updated

The Entry Grids have been updated (Several new Class-1 and one new Class-3)

At this point, I've posted all the submissions I've received. Next scheduled update to the grid will be on Wednesday, May 28th.

Pigs on the Wing: More rule clarifications and Entry Grids

First up, the fun stuff: I just posted the starter Entry Grids. We're still clarifying rules, but there are already 10 examples to look at - some in compliance, some with a defiant spirit that refuse to be constrained by anyone's rules, and some inbetween.

Speaking of rules clarifications, here's what I hope to be the final words on the subject of "What is an Animal". I was going to go to the extreme of listing out all the LEGO part numbers, but, really, that's a bit much. I think the following shows what you can use freely - and where you're taking a risk.

From the rules page:

• The pilot must be a LEGO animal
  
  • Brickforge and other custom built animals are allowed
  • Megablok and competing major brands, however, are not allowed.
  • When wondering if a particular item counts as a LEGO animal, ask yourself "Does this figure look like a human wearing a costume"? If the answer is "yes", then odds are you're going to lose some points. If the item looks like the animal as you'd see it at the zoo, you're fine.
  • Monkeys are allowed, but be warned: The judges consider their use "too easy" so your build will have to be pretty spectacular to impress them! (Monkeys must be mounted as a "traditional" cave racer - they hang from a pair of handlebars by their front limbs.)

Yes, that's a flip-flop on Monkey use for those of you paying close attention. Since the animal-pilot twist was my contribution to this sub-theme, I figure I'm allowed to change my mind once early on. (Besides, having a Monkey-themed Prize doesn't make a lot of sense if you can't have monkeys in the contest, y'know?)

Anyway, that's it for now. Happy building!

Pigs on the Wing: Rules clarifications and a classy entry.

I've certainly been stunned with the volume of emails and posts about the rules for the Pigs on the Wing contest. I'm glad so many of you are concerned about getting your builds right, but, really, this isn't rocket science.

I've posted clarifications to the rules page, and will continue to do so as necessary.

But the best way to show you what needs to be done, I think, is to show you the rules in action. Tim asked me to showcase Polywen's Red TRCTR v2 (above) as a prime example of the rules followed correctly. Be sure to check out the full stream to see the clever way the cow is mounted without using the feet.

Remember the five main rules:

1) The engine must contain 2 1x1 round plates in trans-orange (or trans-neon-orange)
2) Between the pilot and engine there must be 2 1x1 slopes creating the "ribbed for pleasure" effect.
3) The front of the craft must have "hover thingies" (a shovel and a spear-like-piece)
4) The pilot must be a LEGO animal (be sure to check the rules page for a discussion on just what that means for this contest.)
5) The pilot must hang from the rear of the craft. (Again, check the full rules for a discussion on limitations.)

That said, your model doesn't *have* to match up with the above. I'm accepting (and will shortly be posting) all the entires I receive. Just remember that the "follows the rules" part of the scorecard is 40% of the total...

New Contest: Pigs on the Wing

From the Mind of Tim "Gambort" Gould came the cave racers.
From the strangeness of Reasonably Clever came the concept of making animals the pilots.
From the magic of Brickforge comes some swanky swag.
(And Prizes from Reasonably Clever and Tim as well!)

Click to read all about it.