Meet a member: Yorick
Posted by Huw,
Our meet a member subject today is Will Hafner, aka Yorick, who's a student in Seattle:
What is your first LEGO memory?
I remember going out on a Friday evening to a local toy store with my father, and I picked out 8561 Nuhvok, the black Bohrok, an early Bionicle set. At the time, my father worked at as a tester in a global tech company, and we went to his office and built it. I remember being wowed at the functionality of the ball joints, as I was too young to get any of the Throwbots (Slizers). The rubber band head bash function was pretty darn cool as well.
Did you have a dark age and if so, what caused you to emerge from it?
I was fortunate to never have a total dark age, although I didn’t do too much LEGO building in middle school, as I was furious that Bionicle had been discontinued at the time. I picked up maybe 10 sets from 2009-2011, but when Lord of the Rings came out in 2012, I got back into building, and have almost every set from the entire LOTR/Hobbit lineup.
Which set or theme has been the most influential upon you, as a LEGO fan?
It’s gotta be Exo-Force and Castle. Bionicle would be a third, but I don’t make that many Bionicle MOCs any more, but I’ve getting back into it.
Galidor is 100% my favourite theme, although I don’t think it’s too influential.
What are you building right now?
I am currently making a castle Golem, a Fire elemental that is a blend between mecha and castle, just waiting on a few Bricklink orders!
How do you store your LEGO?
It’s a mess, I don’t have the space to have an effective sorting method yet, so I got like 20 bins in my favourite colours (Sand Green, Dark Turquoise, Dark Red, anything weird), and some large bins that are full of elements that make sense together. One has castle elements, another has vehicles, a few of basic bricks, and two full to the brim of CCBS parts (Bionicle/Hero Factory/Constraction).
I got like 20 tackleboxes full of minifigs and their accessories.
Do you build MOCs? If, so what?
I make many different things. Lately I have been doing microscale castle stuff, mecha, castle, Star Wars, Space, and I’m getting into gbc.
My brother and I have been making LEGO Battlebots for about a year, which is crazy fun, but super difficult. It's an emerging theme that started on the West Coast, mostly at Brickcan, Brickcon, and Bricks Cascade.
I have a few of my builds available for download on Bricklink’s Studio Gallery, so stop by if you need inspiration, or want something cool to make!
What is your favourite part?
Its gotta be this element, a slope that came in a Happy Meal toy in 1999. Its too comical not to love!
I also like any misprinted elements, or LEGO pieces in the wrong colours and mould mistakes!
What theme would you like LEGO to produce?
Man, I need castle back. I didn’t acquire any of the 90’s castle, but I loved the fantasy era and LOTR sets, and feel left out when it comes to that theme. Ideally, LEGO would make a new castle theme that has influences from every past castle theme; a peaceful elven village, some dwarves, some evil trolls, a traditional kingdom, and lots of dragons.
What is your favourite official LEGO set?
I have been mildly obsessed with Galidor (just like Huwbot) for a good long time, and my favorite set has got to be 8324 Euripides!
I love the awkward moulded elements, but I really appreciate how Galidor brought dark green back from the grave, as it hadn’t been produced since the 60’s!
Do you have a presence on Instagram, or elsewhere?
Yes, I do! I have just started posting LEGO on Instagram in the past few weeks, but I have been using Flickr for almost 10 years. Don’t mind my early builds on there, I wasn’t a very good builder at 14 years old.
How long have you been visiting Brickset?
I have used Brickset since the early 2000’s, I wanted to look up all the Bionicle sets, so I could see which ones I had missed, and needed to ask Santa for. I became a member in mid-2014.
Are you a member of a LUG? Which ones?
I have yet to take the dive into any lug, although I have done events with both PSLTC (Puget Sound Lego Train Club) and SEALUG (Seattle Area LEGO User Group).
If this counts, I just so happen to work at the LEGO Brand Retail Store in Bellevue Square Mall!
Have you been to any LEGO event? Which one(s)? Do you have a favourite?
I have been to Brickcon, Brickcan, Brickfest, Bricks Cascade. I don’t pick favourites, I love all these cons dearly!
My father was very active in the LEGO community when I was small, and he has built for every Brickcon so far. I was like a minion for early Brickcons, following him around, but I have been attending those as a builder since 2009.
Brickcan up in Canada is another fun one to attend, I have been to both the 2018 and 2019 events. Unfortunately, this year was cancelled due to the current COVID-19 situation, but I cannot wait for next year!
I attended one Brickfest at the Oregon Convention Center, most likely in 2004.
This past month, I attended my first Bricks Cascade! It was an awesome con, with some crazy builds, awesome builders, and lots of silly brick-built games!
Thanks Will!
60 likes
17 comments on this article
Very nice MOCs! That tentacle book is excellent.
(Good to see a fellow Sand Green fan too!)
Nice reading Will. Look like you have a dream job. Is it possible to resist buying a lot of sets when one is working in a brand store? :-)
Nice MOCs. I had no idea about that Mc’Donalds piece.
Huh, I never realized Euripides was the first set to re-introduce dark green...
More Star Wars MOCs please! And Legend of Zelda! And......And......And....
That McDonald's piece is both hilarious and creepy at the same time. Love it!
Galidor is absolutely influential. Just, you know, not in a good way. It can clear out a room, get stuff thrown at you, start people ranting...
After this bio, I can say about Yorick that I knew him well.
@guachi:
Poor Yorick...
^alas, forsooth
Hi Will! Looking forward to happy BattleBots destruction with you at the next convention after the pandemic.
@guachi said:
"After this bio, I can say about Yorick that I knew him well."
Dang it, you beat me to it.
@AllenSmith said:
"Hi Will! Looking forward to happy BattleBots destruction with you at the next convention after the pandemic."
Yeah, I gotta get working on that! Joe hasn't done much with his BattleBot since Brick on, but I've slowly been amassing the pieces i need for something fun!
I'm glad a lot of you guys like my stuff, it's encouraging!
@ChicoCheco said:
"Is it possible to resist buying a lot of sets when one is working in a brand store?"
It's not that bad for me, as my LEGO storage is pretty limited now. Most of my sets (at least by quantity) are collectible minifigs. It's hard sometimes to pick cause of the space issue haha.
Oh yeah, the tenticle book, very nicely done...
I've been the Bellevue store a few times, so I've probably seen you before!
@Teriyaqi said:
"I've been the Bellevue store a few times, so I've probably seen you before!"
That's pretty rad!
@Yorick those are great MOCs, & yes those McD’s printed tiles were funny. Finally, YES; someone else into Exo-Force.