<
This contest ran in March of 2006 - the challenge was to take a cheap LEGO set and make it something special. To Pimp My Mech. The original entry page is here if you'd like to get all the details.
The turnout was exceptional - 35 entries were received by the deadline (not counting my sample Mech) and things were turned over to a panel of volunteer judges.
The Judges:
My plan was to have non AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) Community Members judge the contest - that way there'd be no "name recognition" or "current style" issues. To that end, I polled my LiveJournal Friends List and suckered the following folks into the thankless job of filling out a giant spreadsheet for me:
 Aiela |
 Bec76 |
 Firinel |
 JenX |
 LexPendragon |
 Moominmuppet |
The final results were a bit different from what I would have picked had I been judging this myself - but I certainly can't fault the judges. The results were very, very close - less than a point separated the first, second, and third place finishes. (Results were found by totaling all the points and dividing by six)
Here's the Winner's Circle. You can click on the photo to be taken to the individual entries for more photos and details. Although I didn't have any say in the voting, I've added my comments here as well, just because I can. Neener.
Place |
Faithfulness to Original Model (50 Points) |
Pimposity (30 Points) |
Theme (20 Points) |
Total
Points |
Comments from the Judges |
|
 |
1st |
39.17 |
27.50 |
20.00 |
86.67 |
JenX: That's Brilliant! Aiela: Okay, this was too cool for words. I kept looking at the other ones thinking they almost looked like they could fold up a la transformers, but this one actually does! Moominmuppet: I'm insanely impressed with this, but it doesn't actually feel "pimped" Bec76: Lego transformers rule! Great animation, that sold it Chris: I love this model a lot, but I wish the car form had a bit more chrome on it. An awesome effort that deserved the win. |
 |
2nd |
38.33 |
29.17 |
18.33 |
85.83 |
Jenx: This entry totally understood the "Pimposity" concept. Aiela: Awesome different minifig, ipod, drink dispenser - I love it! Moominmuppet: Love it! Lost so much of the original, though. Bec76: Kick-ass! This man's pimpin in style… near-total pimpaliciousness. Chris: My personal favorite of the lot. So many of the entries focused on making the weapons bigger or improving the armor - but this Mech is pure PIMP. |
 |
3rd |
46.33 |
22.50 |
16.67 |
85.50 |
LexPendragon: Brilliant! Aiela: This was a pretty creative idea. It achieves it pretty well, too - the pieces all look like part of one fluid unit Moominmuppet: Great concept and execution, although I'm not sure it quite fits the theme Bec76: Interesting concept Chris: I like the nesting doll effect - fun engineering here. |
 |
4th |
42.00 |
27.33 |
13.33 |
82.67 |
JenX: Shiny! Aiela: This is the first one that seemed "pimped" to me - not much of a theme, but the chrome and the lights and the additional translucent lights seemed fitting Moominmuppet: Well done. Bec76: Well, they certainly succeeded on the lots of chrome and guns part Chris: I would have placed this a bit higher - it's the best example of taking the base model and Pimping it without making it into something entirely new. |
 |
5th |
40.83 |
19.17 |
15.83 |
75.83 |
Aiela: This one looked done up without being flashy, which appealed to me. Moominmuppet: Just didn't grab me. Bec76: Hardcore! Looks scary Chris: Of all the "Make the Mech More Mechy" entries, this was my favorite. It looks more like body armor now than just random bits of shielding. |
 |
6th |
40.67 |
20.83 |
13.67 |
75.17 |
LexPendragon: Love The Skull Aiela: I'm liking this one. It might be my favorite so far. Especially the chains, although the skull seemed gratuitous. Bec76: Love the droid with the blue Devo hat and the flame! But very cluttered, visually Chris: A good, solid entry. And the Support Droid adds a needed drop of humor to the mix. |
Here's the full list of entries. I've gone back and added the individual scores and Judge's comments (if any)
Click on the image to see the full entry! |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
Portions of this site make extensive use of Macromedia Flash. |
|
| Read updates on your 
Livejournal Friendslist