No entanto, consegui fazer com que tudo voltasse ao normal  e a partir daí, tudo entrou nos eixos.
Tomar LEGO aparece no horizonte e as coisas tinham de ser preparadas, bem ou mal, as coisas apareceram e só por isso e pelo esforço demonstrado por todos é uma grande vitória.
As Bulk Orders foram as palavras daqueles dias e a verdade é que conseguimos ter acesso a elas.
Não só estas, mas outras como “Petit, Confraria dos Petiscos, Paraíso, etc…”

Tomar foi a nossa grande concentração e a nossa grande vitória que acaba a ser festejada no Porto Alto!!
Como AFOL as coisas começam a sorrir, Mini-Encontros em Viana, Porto, Vila Praia de Âncora.
Um GRANDE encontro na casa dos nossos GRANDES amigos, Maria Sofia e Fábio, no Porto Alto.

Não havia razões para as coisas não sorrirem. Organizei a minha colecção ou melhor que isso, o stock de peças para poder construir.
“Tenho” um espaço onde posso construir e estar à minha vontade as horas que quiser… umas das grandes vitórias do ano, sem dúvida.
Investi dinheiro em arrumação, que valeu por tudo.
Comecei a poder construir e inventar sem ter de me preocupar com o que estava arrumado ou não 
construir em TECHNIC e experimentar Model Team está na ordem do dia. Procurar, pesquisar, esquematizar está nas folhas e nos papéis que me acompanham na mochila.

Uma viagem até Londres, na companhia do “El_Gordo”. Fomos até à LEGO Direct, Slough fazer um trabalho de “RP” (Relações Públicas). Só podemos tirar coisas boas desta viagem.
Toda a experiência resultante desta viagem foi gratificante apesar de ter sido cansativa para ambos.
Em 2 dias andamos perto de 400 km porque… queríamos comprar LEGO em Londres… Brutal.
Conduzir pela direita, meter mudanças com a mão esquerda, ter de parar no meio da Autoestrada porque… não podia mais e ter de correr para uma colina…, será uma coisa que eu não irei esquecer tão cedo.

Viagem até Madrid com o Marcos,o F.Alves e a Miriam. Mais uma vez, muito bom. A representação foi bem feita e conseguimos a atenção de quem queríamos. Fiz/Fizemos um excelente papel de Relações Públicas da 0937.
Viajar com o F.Alves e com a Miriam bem disposta é uma coisa que não se pode perder, se um é divertido… imaginem os dois a dar conversa!!!!!
Experiência para repetir de certeza!

Após variadas insistências, ajudei a  trazer de volta o Agnelo. Companheiro de peças e eventos como todos os outros, mas mais que isso, um amigo. O companheiro que desde 2007 sempre me acompanhou e dedicou tempo para que as minhas construções se tornassem melhores.

As compras este ano não foram muitas… Tirando alguns set´s que foram comprados, o dinheiro foi gasto e bem gasto na Loja do Sr. Martins. As peças que tanto me vão dar jeito para as coisas que vão aí aparecer.

O início da preparação para a viagem a Billund, uma enorme dor de cabeça. Mas como diz a Tânia, nada se faz sem trabalho. Se queremos uma coisa em condições temos de fazer as coisas como elas são!!!!

Esqueci-me do BLOG. Mão de ABS, aparece o blog que andava a pensar há tempo tempo nele.
Coloquei-o no ar e até hoje as coisas vão correndo. Com um interesse em mostrar aquilo que mais se destaca e sempre a fazer entrevistas aos construtores e afol´s do nosso mundo! Mais uma excelente experiência.
Com isto tenho conhecido muitos afol´s e muita gente boa que anda neste mundo fora.

BUILDERS LOUNGE : a entrada para este grupo restrito de construtores… e que construtores.

Cerca de 20 pessoas estiveram mais uma vez juntas para discutir todas as novidades que tem aparecido.

A viagem a Billund e o 3º Tomar LEGO (r) Fan Event foram os temas quentes do encontro onde se começou a preparar novos moc´s , novas ideias para os displays.

A loja BL do Sr. Martins e do Francisco esteve presente e foi mais uma coisa que animou a tarde (hehehehe).

Ficam aqui as fotos do evento tiradas por mim, rupi e Einon.

Hello Nathanael. I thank you deeply your cooperation in this session of questions and answers!

You’re very welcome Americo. I will try to answer the questions as good as I can.

-Tell me a little about yourself, where you are, your occupation, how old are you and what are your hobbies besides LEGO?

30 years ago I was born in The Hague in the Netherlands. After a few years in Denmark I have now moved up north in Scandinavia to Sweden.
Here I work as a product developer in a company called Tectubes, that produces aluminium and plastic tubes in the packaging industry. In my spare time besides LEGO I enjoy to play a videogame or be a bit more active with bowling, skateboarding or playing darts once in a while.

With ‘Dark Age’ I suppose you mean the period that LEGO wasn’t an active part of my life. Well yes, I have been through that time as well. The ‘darkest’ period was in my teenage years between 16 and 20. School, exams and study were more important at that time.

It’s a rather lengthy story if I include all the details so I try to summarize a bit.
It all started because of my studies industrial design and engineering. My interest in LEGO came back (also because of the more interesting LEGO designs) and I started to experiment with new bought sets like 8458 and 8466. At that point the idea came up if I could get in the LEGO Company for an internship. This was however unsuccessful.
After my studies I applied again and this time was invited for a workshop. Again I was turned down, but learned a lot about the company and their philosophy. From that point I started to buy and build  more models which I shared publically on the Internet and with the community that I had discovered.
Eventually I got some interest from LEGO personal who had seen my models. My education, the workshop experience, and particpation in the LEGO Factory competition (I was surprisingly chosen as one of the winners) have likely helped with that as well.
They offered me a freelance project, because they lacked resources and very soon after I started, they offered me a job.

It all started when I didn’t want to mix my LEGO bricks from before and after my ‘Dark-Age’. That meant that I didn’t have so many new sets/ elements to buid with. So it was at that point when I started to build one-set MOC’s. Not only did I find it to be very enjoyable and a nice challenge, but I was also able to show others that you don’t need many elements to be creative and build something cool. I wanted to create models that inspire others, so they had to look as good, but preferably better than official models. Often I had to use unconventional ways of building to achieve something nice, which added another dimension to the challenge.
Sometimes I like to believe that it’s because of some of my models, that have inspired more people to make one-set MOC’s today.

As a designer I’ve learned that I should be able to design anything that is asked from me. So I don’t mind taking up, and actually appreciate new challenges. Probably my specialty is vehicles, because I’ve always had an interest for those.

In my youth I didn’t have much with Technic, and was system my favorite, but since I’ve been working more with the Technic from nowadays, I actually can’t say I like one more than the other. In a way I think the systems complement eachother, but still have their own challenges and ‘rules’. They just ask for a different approach and I like them both.

I tried to build it in the same spirit as the LEGO ‘supercars’ from the past. So in the endresult you get a 5+R gearbox, a V12 that you can either put in the front or rear and an independant suspension system where you can choose to let the V12 power either the front wheels or the rear wheels. All these elements are connected to a framework which is also the main structure of the car.
Because the framework is the central part of the car, I started with this in the development. This is quite different than most times, in which the mechanics are done first. So there was a bit of planning involved where I needed to have the connection points and where important axles would be. Once I had figured that out, surprisingly, it was not that difficult to make the rest of the structure, including mechanical modules.
The most enjoyable bit was saved till last which is the styling of the car. This was done totally freestyle, so no sketches, no real car design, just experimenting with elements. It’s the artistic part after the engineering.

- All of it was built in modules, for some reason in particular?

I had the idea for several years, but never had the time or chance to do it. I wanted to see if it would be possible to make a ‘supercar’ with all the usual mechanics, representing real car manufacturing as close as possible by building it in a similar modular way (so it’s possible to customize),  and with the Technic system as we know today. I was inspired a bit by 8448, a set I unfortunately never had, but then going a step further in modularity, where you can design and build other mechanical modules as well. So basically the modulair structure was one of the key concepts for this model.
It would be great if new modules could be presented in the future…

The Cherrypicker is for me my best official Technic model, because I think I was able to make the least compromises on this model. The challenges I was facing were also bigger and more difficult then with other models. That’s why I’m very happy with the result in which I was able to deal with all the challenges, without compromising too much. Another reason why this model is special to me is because I designed it pretty much from start to finish, from initial concept model to alternative model. When I read then that this model has brought some people out of their ‘Dark-Age’ and has given so many others a nice experience, I feel very fortunate that I was able to contribute to that.

My freelance project was the 8674 F1 Ferrari. Further I designed the 8271 Wheelloader and 8261 Rally Truck, and  8272 Snowmobile was one of my concepts. I also designed alternate models for Creator, among which the truck in 4939, the bobcat in 4993, and the hovercraft in 4997. Further I have contributed to several other models in some way.

It was a very difficult decision. The opportunity came up to try something new, and because working for LEGO was my first official job, I just felt like I had to give this a chance as well. However I would definitely not exclude the possibility of me going back at some point in the future if I get the chance…

Up to now I can say that my time at LEGO was the best so far. Many kind people, good atmosphere and nice working conditions. Those things I miss today.

It’s difficult to mention a few, because there are so many amazing builders out there. Probably I feel most connected to people who have a similar interest or view, because those are the things I can relate to and thus appreciate most. But that wouldn’t be fair to all the other great builders. So instead I won’t mention anyone in particular but have this to say in general:
Any MOC is better than an official LEGO model, as long as it’s made with passion and creativity!

Nathanael, thank you very much.
Again, it was a pleasure to do this.
I am very grateful for your help and hope to come back to upset another time.

And…SPLASH…PLASH… another hand has hit this blog !!!!

E a minha careca é visível no cantinho dos Tecnicistas