LEGO Masters NZ - week 3 exit interview

LEGO Masters NZ episode five is done! This week's challenge: teams were given one Technic brick suspended from a wire and asked, "to build the coolest thing that you can think of hanging from just one brick."

Each week we'll be bringing you an exit interview but to avoid spoilers for those of you watching on catch-up or via some illicit website in other countries we won't reveal their names above the fold.

If you're in New Zealand, these episodes can be downloaded from the TVNZ website.

I am thrilled to see Andrew and Georgie - Father and Daughter - win this challenge with their flying pink pig!

Sadly, one team had to go home, and this week it was Amy and Adam.

AMY AND ADAM

MARRIED COUPLE

David: I'm really sorry to be interviewing you because the tragedy is that you've been eliminated.

Adam: It actually happened so long ago. We sort of get used to it, and then you see it on TV, and it just brings it all back.

David: Do you look at it on the TV and think it's not going to be us; Like there’s an alternate reality.

Amy: I think it's a bit like the whole Schrödinger's cat Maybe it will happen – maybe it won’t.

Adam: Yeah. It’s not official until it’s aired.

Amy: It was like when Titanic came out, and I was about 13 And I went to see it twice and maybe Jack and Rose survived.

David: And so, the Titanic doesn't sink and in reality.

Adam: They do that in movies. Film different endings.

David: I think that on reality TV shows they have filmed alternate endings where everyone wins and everyone loses.

Adam: I’ve heard that.

David: So maybe in an alternate universe, you win LEGO Masters. How does it feel to watch yourself on TV?

Adam: I actually quite like it. I quite enjoy it. Some people that watch themselves and go, ‘oh, I didn't realise like that. That's not me.’ I stare at myself into being, and I go, ‘yep, that's me.’

Amy: For me, I find it quite strange because I look exactly like my sister, and I've always known that, and I don't see it in photos, but I see it on screen like you wouldn’t believe.

David: I'm a little bit sad to see you go because, in the earlier episodes of the series, you were one of the stronger teams because on the first episode you did the Club Croc, which was commented on. That's what we were talking about in our first interview, and the crocodile and the jaws and the teeth.

You won the second episode with the kangaroo on the beach and that had some really interesting Easter eggs in it. There were some details on that. And unfortunately, TVNZ hasn't got any close-up photos of that model.

Of the models that were destroyed by the cricket ball, you deserved to win. It was a no brainer. It was like Robins ten-three-one thing. From a distance, you knew what it was. It was at the easier end of the spectrum. We're in an ANZAC country doing a cricket LEGO model, and you can throw anything at it.

Adam: We were lucky with that draw.

David: And you can throw anything at it and be as cheeky as you like because Australia steals all of our icons.

Amy: Absolutely. We had actually thought that challenge would have been perfect had Dan and Jono just made a huge Pavlova. It might be lost on the international audiences, though.

David: It would not be lost on anyone on either side of the Tasman Sea and because of that rivalry, you're a New Zealand team building an Australian cricket model to be destroyed by a cricket ball. I was surprised the ball didn't roll along the floor like an underarm bowl.

Amy: I was glad that came up.

David: I liked that sandpaper came up and all of those references. You deserve to win that and when were last talked, you did not reveal what the benefit of winning was because that hadn't been revealed yet.

And then the next episode you had the power to allocate the cutaway builds to teams in the in competition. Here's what Liam and Emily said when I interviewed them the other day because I was very specific about how they got allocated the cutaway globe.

Liam said, ‘I really do have to say Amy and Adam are two of the nicest people I've ever met. Wouldn't you agree Emily?’ And Emily went, ‘Absolutely. They're really, really nice people.’

It appeared to me as an observer watching the TV show that you had actually put thought into matching up the teams versus the cutaways to make the best choices for them. It didn’t look like other reality shows where you could create chaos.

Adam: It’s kind of half right. Because it was an elimination. We were thinking that we don't want to go home. So I gave what I thought would be the more difficult tasks to the teams that I thought were a bigger threat.

Amy: So, Emily and Sarah, we gave them the bigger size as we thought it will give them a challenge and Glenn and Jake as well. We thought that the drum and barbecue were probably the most challenging items.

Adam: I actually tried to be quite mean to everyone except Emily ad Liam because we were living with them at the time. I don't know if you know this, but they had three Airbnb houses with two teams to house, and we were with them. And we got on really well with them, and so I thought the globe would be a really good one for them.

David: So, have I got this right: there were a little bit of strategic choices?

Adam: We tried to but it was difficult. Very, very difficult.

Amy: I think everyone was happy with what they got in the end.

Adam: In a way, it was more of a symbolic advantage.

David: I certainly felt watching the show that the pairings were appropriate. The people were happy with what they were being given. Even if you had put some thought to try and create a little bit of chaos, they were all happy with what they got.

Amy: I think there's actually a lot to be said for being given something rather than having to choose it. We really saw that as more of a disadvantage than a bonus.

Adam: It's like if you get given something you think, ‘right. Okay. I've come up with some ideas of what to do with this.’ But what we had was we had to come up with ideas for all of them, and then try and work out what was the best one in order to choose, and I think we had like a couple of minutes to do it.

David: You chose the lawnmower, obviously.

Adam: The lawnmower was the only one that I had what I thought was a good idea for.

Amy: Our original idea for that was to do anthropomorphic flowers, but it switched over to the bugs That was really what we were going to do.

David: I think maybe Robin picked up on that and that the intention of the cutaway wasn't to make the other side the same as the original idea but to create a story and develop that a little bit further.

Of the cutaways, the lawnmower and the suitcase had a frame, and you had the opportunity of building something up onto the frame on the handle of the lawnmower or the handle of the luggage. So, it had something like a scaffold.

Adam: We really should have done that.

Amy: That was a light bulb moment and Robin only said it in the judging, so we just thought, ‘oh my goodness, why didn't we think of that. It would have been perfect.’

David: After that show, I was thinking of maybe having a couple of hands that are cut off at the handle of driving the lawnmower and then killer ants climbing the handles onto the hands. That is how I thought I would have done that.

Amy: Yes. Ideas after the fact because I come up with a lot of ideas for other people. Which is fun.

Adam: That's what that's what we've been doing for years. We've all seen the other versions of LEGO Masters and as they have announced a challenge, and you sit there and go, ‘right that's what I’d do.’ It's been an interesting experience actually being on the show and being in the situation where we’re the guys. We have to come up with the ideas.

David: In the nautical industry the phrase is ‘Armchair Admiral.’ Someone sitting on a balcony with a pair of binoculars looking down at the Yacht Club and criticising someone who's just hit a buoy or run aground.

It does appear to me as if there has been a really tight-knit community amongst you. There are twelve of you in six teams, and you get on really, really well.

Adam: Absolutely.

David: And it also appears as if you get on really well post-filming.

Adam: We’re still in touch.

David: You’ve lived it in shared Airbnb accommodation and minivans and buses to get to the set.

Adam: We got on well from day one. We're all just LEGO people, and they're just the nicest group of people.

David: And until last night, you had to keep tight-lipped about where you got in the show.

Adam: It's a bit of a relief now. Okay, so a lot of people watching the ads before the episode might have noticed that I dropped that build.

David: I was going to come to that. So, if we talk about that, in the middle of that show it was almost as if you had a reset. You had to start again because it was all . . .

Adam: Yeah. It wasn't like it dropped, and a bit fell off. It dropped and it exploded. It just disintegrated into a million different pieces and there was very little salvageable.

Amy: I’m pleased they didn’t film me running around the studio looking for all the pieces because it was everywhere!

David: And Dai Henwood with his broom sweeping it all up. It was in the Brick Pit. It was everywhere.

Amy: Rebuilding it wasn't probably the drama that it looks like. I think it took us about twenty minutes to get back to where we were because we had made it before, and we had all the parts there. The hardest part of the build is deciding what parts to use, selecting them and then putting it all together. We didn’t lose too much time.

Adam: The hard part is the trial and error. Working out what's going to make this thing work. I had been through that process; I knew how it had to be. It was just a case of putting the bricks together.

David: Has being on LEGO Masters changed the way you build.

Adam: Yeah, I think it has, actually.

Amy: It’s cost us a lot because we are ambitious, and we now want bigger and better things. I don't mind sharing this doing this. I've had a trip down from $2,000 on BrickLink.
$2,000 on bricks because we want to build more now. It means we can take part in the Brick Show. We wouldn't have had the bricks to do it beforehand.

Adam: And everything you buy for that kind of building you've got forever.

Amy: It’s an investment.

David: I'm towards the end of my questions: where to from here? Where do you see this taking you now that you are a LEGO celebrity? Are you at the Christchurch Brick Show?

Amy: Yeah, we will. We haven't had any part of the LEGO community before. We went to one of these shows a year ago. So now we’re going to join up with the local LUG.

Adam: I love it. I'd never realised that there was this huge community. If you asked me a year ago, or two years ago and mentioned the word ‘LUG’, I would have thought you needed help lifting something heavy. I just didn't know that was a thing.

David: The Christchurch LUG 4/2 is the oldest LUG in New Zealand and the biggest. And they've had great community engagement for a long time. The Christchurch Brick Show is the biggest brick show in New Zealand, however, it depends on how you determine ‘biggest.’

So, you're those people that are just out of the woodwork.

Amy: Way back when we auditioned, we auditioned alongside another couple and I remember them saying, ‘Oh, they must be so many people from the community.’ And Robin saying, ‘well they’re some other people who aren't part of your community.’

Adam: I think Robin said, ‘over the other seasons, they usually find about 40% or so . . . just, “home builders.”’

Amy: We go to the show to look. We never thought that we'd be part of it.

Adam: I think that's one of the things that LEGO Masters has given us is that we’re a bit more confident. Because in the past I would have gone to the Brick Show and on that's amazing.

David: Now people are going to go to the Brick Show to see you.

Adam: Yeah, that's worrying. That’s pressure!

Amy: We were we don't have years and years of built-up bricks. So, our builds won't be the biggest. They won't be the most impressive.

Adam: They might be!

David: What are your interests in LEGO? What do you build?

Adam: Well, that’s interesting. I love building stuff that's minifigure scale. So, I like to build big things that have a lot of little stories. That kind of thing where you look at it, and you can sit there looking at it for ages because it's got so many little stories on it.

That's why I was amazed that we actually won that second episode because it was not minifigure scale. That's not my type of building at all. If you've told me beforehand, that I was going to have to make a big, giant kangaroo I would have said, ‘Gosh, that's going to be rubbish.’

David: Did you prepare for the show?

Amy: We did.

Adam: We did a little bit. We had some friends of ours that were just texting us challenges to say, ‘right we've got a day to build this,’ and so we had a little bit of practice.

Amy: Adam is more natural. He can put together wild creations. Whereas I build more from the rules. So, I've learned techniques, and I've learned all sorts of things. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos.

Adam: Amy got really better than me very quickly because she actually did proper training. She was watching all the YouTube videos of all the special techniques. So, you know, a couple of weeks, and she's showing me stuff that she's made. And I’m like, ‘how do you do that?’ Because otherwise I just make it up as I go along.

Amy: I just studied LEGO. Adam watched as I just studied it.

David: Next time, Adam, let Amy do your Power Functions bit?

Adam: You’ll notice a pattern with a lot of our builds when people say, ‘that's amazing. Shame about that.’ It's usually Amy that does the amazing bit. The head on that penguin was all Amy; the bit that fell on the floor was all Adam.

David: You've come to terms with that?

Adam: I've come to terms with that. Yeah, I've been coming to terms with that over many years.

David: Well, it's been really great to catch up with you guys. I'm sorry that you've been eliminated from the show.

Amy and Adam: Thanks a lot.

LEGO Masters NZ

LEGO Masters NZ every Monday and Tuesday at 7:30 pm on TVNZ 2.