It all clicked for newest Lego master builder
Dream jobs really do come true. Sometimes they just take several thousand little plastic bricks to build them.
Kevin Hintz of Michigan became just the 12th Lego master model builder in North America after winning a raucous weekend competition Sunday at the Shops at Rivercenter.
The two-day Brick Factor event drew Lego buffs from across Texas and beyond, as applicants young and young at heart clicked together creations while clicking with kids across several timed and themed rounds.
Hintz, 25, reports for duty at the new San Antonio Legoland Discovery Center, an official Lego attraction that opens at Rivercenter in May. There he will get paid to play with Legos all day long as a master builder, as well as a workshop head and media ambassador.
“It’s so awesome!” Hintz said after a Gatorade-style shower of Legos, a hardhat on his head and a Lego trophy cup in his hand. “I’m so glad that I did it and I went for it and I got it.”
Sunday’s finale saw the top 10 applicants scramble to make Lego creations that best represented themselves in just 60 minutes. Hintz won with a tableful of wonders that included a starting line symbolizing his
love of marathons and a depiction of the Great Lakes state from which he traveled to compete. Hintz added an extra interactive element with a path of falling Legolike dominoes to chart his journey.
Other finalists’ works Sunday included a Lego version of the Waco Suspension Bridge, a Lego spin on a giant AT-AT walker from the “Star Wars” film “The Empire Strikes Back” and a giant Lego hamburger with french fries.
Saturday, Lego master builder contestants had to zip through a 20-minute challenge featuring a sea-life theme and a 30-minute challenge with a Texas theme, which yielded builds that included Lego stingrays and Alamos.
Throughout the competition, judges looked for who best captured that Lego-building spirit in both their creations and in their interactions with children, who were encouraged to help the master-builder hopefuls so as to gauge their more intangible skills.
“Kevin just had really, really great interaction with all the kids,” said Toronto Lego master model builder Noel Straatsma, one of the judges. “He was really, really kidfocused, which was great. All of his builds were really very well thought-out, very meaningful as well. He just kind of fit the whole package.”
Hintz, who works at the Michigan Lego Discovery Center, was one of just a few out-of-state finalists. Most of the Top 10 master model builder contenders called Texas home.
San Antonio finalists included Amanda Miller, who crafted Lego sandals as an ode to the Flying Chanclas, the puro San Antonio name for the Missions minor league baseball team, and Mario Salazar, who built three Lego bears to represent his family.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Salazar, who rocked a black baseball cap with Lego figures on it and an “eat sleep Lego” T-shirt.
In addition to holding Lego workshops for Discovery Center guests, a Lego master model builder must know how to read Lego model designs and sketches for any designated builds, as well as display equal enthusiasm and know-how in front of the camera for working with media outlets.
Lego master model builders do not require a background in computer-aided design or architecture to put their best bricks forward. Straatsma earned a degree in psychology at the University of Toronto before he found his true calling as a Lego master builder, a job he won several years ago when he competed for the gig in a similar fashion at the Toronto Legoland Discovery Center.
Straatsma also stressed that the Legoland Discovery Center is an attraction, not just a store.
Café and retail space aside, the San Antonio Legoland Discovery Center will feature 10 Lego build and play zones. Those include a 4-D movie experience, a couple of interactive rides and a Miniland display of San Antonio built with more than 1.5 million Legos that includes the Alamo as well as the Alamodome and the Tower Life Building. And of course, plenty of hands-on fun with Legos.
That fun has been a big part of Hintz’s longtime love of Legos. He recalled how much he enjoyed taking apart his first Lego set and rebuilding it in different ways.
His advice for any would-be Lego master model builder: Lots of practice with those little pieces could land the perfect job.
“Just build your own creations,” Hintz said. “Don’t stick to the box, don’t stick to the set. Just go outside the box and keep up the creativity.”