The Unexpected Journey Into the LEGO Community: A Builder Spotlight on Leonard Von Wolcker
Still being a relative newbie to the LEGO community, I didn’t quite have a solid understanding of what the “community” actively entailed. Sure, we all share a love for the brick, but did it go deeper? I wasn’t aware of master builders, influencers, and the broader culture that exists within the LEGO world. After I restarted this hobby, I was building for myself at home, and I didn’t realize how much more there was to discover until I went down the rabbit hole.
While navigating this rabbit hole, two thoughts stood out in my mind. The first, though internal at first, was a little jarring: “Rar, most of these shows, I’m the only Black builder here.” The second thought was a refreshing realization: “Damn, everyone is so welcoming and supportive.” It was a pleasant surprise, considering I didn’t know anyone in the community. I was used to working on my own, but this was different—people truly seemed to embrace each other, regardless of where we came from.
As time went on and I grew more confident within the community, making friends with other AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO), I was introduced to someone who would quickly become a friend—Leonard Von Wolcker. A proud Swede with a flair for the dramatic, sporting a mean mustache and a customary kilt, Leonard is not only an incredible builder but also a person I’m proud to call a friend. And that friendship, I’ve learned, goes beyond just building with bricks.
It wasn’t until I spent a day or two in Leonard’s company—along with a drink or four—that I found out from other AFOLs that he was a contestant on the Swedish LEGO Masters series. He’s a celebrity in the LEGO world. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t know this sooner. My approach to him might’ve been different had I known he was a LEGO Master. The beauty of not knowing—or rather, ignorance being bliss—was that our interactions remained natural and untainted by his fame in the brick world.
What stands out even more, though, is that Leonard never mentioned his past on LEGO Masters to me other than me asking questions about it. He’s never once held it over my head or treated me any differently because of his status. If anything, he’s been one of the biggest supporters of me, the BlackLUG community, and my journey as a builder. Whenever I’ve needed advice, inspiration, or just someone to talk to about life, Leonard has been there—an unwavering pillar of support. It’s that kind of attitude that helped me realize that the LEGO community is vast and inclusive, with room for everyone.
I wanted to dig deeper into Leonard’s experience as a master builder, so I asked him if he would be willing to do a “Builder Spotlight” to share what it’s like being a master builder, how he processes ideas, and how he brings his creations to life. What follows is my interview with Leonard Von Wolcker, a true LEGO talent and an even better friend.
What inspired you to start building with LEGO?
I started building LEGO as a child, and I don’t really remember anything more then it is cool to build with bricks. I build a lot of space sets and some pirates, made some MOCs cars, with guns and stuff, it wasn’t called MOCing by that time, more like playing around with the bricks, I do still have a Skull’s Eye Schooner and an Armada Flagship always displaying in my room.
As an adult I started by building my old set to sell. It ended up with me just buying more LEGO sets, there are so many new cool sets that didn’t exist when I was young. I guess I started out as a collector as an adult but soon got me into MOCing. At my first event I went to I was like “WHAT! There are one other people liking LEGO”. It ended up being like 100 AFOLs there and around 10 000 visitors. My first MOC was shit, mainly Star Wars Endor sets put on baseplates and some green leaves here and there. I did get a “check this out kids, it’s the Adventures of the Gummi Bears”. The other AFOLs gave me hints, told me how they think when building and that was 2016. Now it is 9 years later, and I still build and enjoy it.
What’s your creative process when designing a LEGO masterpiece?
I wouldn’t call them masterpieces but what I like most to build is scenes from movies. So, it normally starts with me daydreaming and want to be productive, so I put on a movie I haven’t seen in a while. That scene would be cool to build. To change the medium from screen to bricks you get the same problem as from book to movie. You must change stuff to make it work in the new medium. You have to make a caricature of the scene. To get the feeling you want to display. A kid will see a MOC different from an adult, at least at first, height difference mainly. I try to take all of that into when I build. I have built stuff, so the kids see one thing and adults another. I do try to add fun stuff to my builds, that has nothing to do with the scene just to make a laugh out of it. I build fast so sometimes a MOC be done in some hours or even less, but then it is put on a shelf, and I come back to it and redo it. Sometimes someone on an event point something out and I have to change it a little.
What’s your favourite LEGO element or piece to work with, and why?
I like 35480 or Plate, round, 1×2 with open studs. I call it the Hanna brick. Hanna is a Swedish LEGO Master builder that uses this brick to build animals, making them round and fluffy. I like them because I can use them for a lot of stuff, they can make a damaged wall, you can use a rigid 3mm hose in it and form the something. Or the roundness makes it good as a base for a tower. I’m sure I use it in most my builds.
What motivated you to apply for Lego Masters?
Bored! No, I was asked for season 1 and they called for season 2, but I had a small child and didn’t want to leave. Also, for season 1 I didn’t think it was going to be fun TV, more like Outsider or some shame on these nerds TV program. Then some other Lego Masters encouraged me, and my wife told me, this is the 3rd time and you going to regret it if they don’t make a 4th season.
What was your favourite part of being on the show?
I guess the building part was fun, stressful but fun. The best part was never shown, and I think it’s the part that is best for most of the cast. It is being in the hotel later, talking to other people in the show and trying to figure out a problem for one or more teams. As we are a community and our love for the brick is stronger than the rivalry of the show, we do love to help out those in need, sometimes it was my team, sometimes it was a rival.
Other good part of the show is what it does to the community. I came out of the dark age or the closet in 2016. I got a lot of “Oh you play with LEGO”, I don’t play with LEGO, I build stuff and the stuff I build with is LEGO. When LEGO Masters was shown on TV, it become more acceptable and we got more people into the community. I love to met people at shows, the kids come and say one or both parents build something, really proud of their parents. The parents on the other hand try to be modest and maybe feel a little embrace. Then some time later, I met them again on a AFOL meetup. In Sweden we got a big uptake of new builders that started to show their MOCs.
What’s a dream project or idea you haven’t tackled yet but want to?
LEGO ideas. I would love to get a set to be sold by LEGO, probably never going to happen as a lot of people are so much better than me. But I will try. One day.
A more realistic dream project is to build something really big, I don’t know what it is but so far I haven’t done anything really big. Like Gondor or Jurassic Park in minifig scale. Something that will take like six tables to display and I can’t see over it.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a better LEGO builder?
Build what you want to build, ask for advice, but don’t take them all, look at what you like. It is important to try to challenge yourself. You might be able to listen to music but that will not make you a musician. Playing an instrument will give you a good foundation. Same is with LEGO, you might be good at building sets but if you stay in that lane your MOCs will not be as good as you want them. You can always learn more. New bricks comes every year. Talk to other builders, ask them questions, show your stuff, ask for advice. Most MOCers have their own style, I have my style, but you should try to figure out your style and expand it. Never grow old, don’t settle. If you have no new ideas to challenge yourself or feel like your struggling, a small build with no special new stuff is also good.
I do also think that knowing other stuff will make you a better builder. I like taking pictures and combining LEGO and photography is lovely. But also taking care of ourselves is important. Exercise, listen to music, dance, have a good time will fuel our inspiration.
What made me a better builder after LEGO Masters or during, was the lack of bricks. At home I have a small amount of many bricks, at LEGO Masters it was a lot of a small mount of bricks, I think we had around 100-200 elements (one brick in two colours are two elements). You can make the same thing in different ways, I have stopped buying bricks if I it is not a must must have brick. If I can do it with something I have I will use that brick and maybe more bricks to get the same effect.
I have also challenged myself to try out new technics. I found this stuff online and I build it. Then two years later I need to build something and you have that technic to go back on. You don’t need to build a new MOC just to test a technic.
You can follow the United States of Wolcker at
www.wolcker.com
@wolcker on instagram
