Let's talk about prizes! These are the prizes so far:

Modest sets. I like the Creator 3 in 1 sets as prizes as they aren't tied to an IP- much as you know I love Star Wars Lego it feels not quite right to offer licensed sets as a prize for my own writing. I'm an independent author and not affiliated with any of those mega-conglomerations. Anyways, I'd love to get even bigger sets and have these as second or third prizes. But I just need to make sure I don't get carried away, you know? So spread the word! The more people that get on board the more prizes I will be able to get! Cheers!

Contest!

 

Contest time!

Super excited to announce a Lego building contest based on the stories and poems in my book, The Ursus Verses! It's pretty simple- build something out of Lego based on anything in The Ursus Verses! A wizard bear who conjured salmon trees! A plasma dragon. An ancient abomination. A squobster! Make a custom mini figure or a diorama or a creature. Heck, make a movie! Anything goes for the most part. It needs to be made from our beloved name-brand bricks, not knockoffs, and please don't pass off others' work as your own. 

The contest opens now, and will close on January 31, 2023. Lots of time to get your reading in, and then building. But wait! "How do I get my hands on your book?" Excellent question. The ebook is available right now here and here. Physical copies are available in quite a few places in Edmonton: most of the larger Remedy Cafes have copies. Rolling Tales on the south side, Pe Metawe Games on the north side, and my two awesome co-judges for the contest also carry copies. So let me introduce them to you:

First we have Travis from The Edmonton Brickyard (4228 66 St NW, Edmonton). I love that store so much and Travis is such a great guy. In fact, if you go there and buy two cups of bulk Lego you will get the book for free! How's that for a deal?

And then we have Aaron from High Top Bricks at the Super Flea market 12011-111 Ave. Pop in and say hi! 

And yes, there are prizes! We will have two categories, for builders under 13 and those who are 13 and older. Both categories have prizes. which are Lego sets! Two of them are on their way to me right now- and I will post more about them as they arrive. 

So, to enter, send photos or whatever- plus a brief description of  how it relates to The Ursus Verses- to me, either through email ( nwaddell at gmail dot com) or on instagram- use the hashtag #theursusverses - and we will post them on our social media. If you prefer anonymity or a username just let me know, but we will need your real name for the judging. 

Finally the small print stuff- this contest is not affiliated or endorsed in any way by Lego or the Lego Store or any of their affiliates. It's just me. There is no purchase necessary- and in fact you can read The Ursus Verses on EPL's Overdrive app, or if you have a different library, request that they carry it on their e-reader app of choice! Please don't pass another designer's work off as your own, though using elements such as a diorama stand is allowed, so long as you credit the designer.

Have fun and happy building! Feel free to ask any questions, I want to be as transparent as possible, and I am sure I will make mistakes as this is the first time I've ever done anything like this.

Hey Nathan looks like you paid a hundred bucks for that sweet book stand!

Nope I just made it out of Lego. ;)

Although I'm a long way from calling myself a Lego designer, I am pretty proud of this book display stand I made today all out of my head. Us AFOLs call this a MOC. (Us Adult Fans Of Lego call this a My Own Creation). 

It's a little bright, I admit. But look how it looks with my book in it:

Pretty sweet hey? I made this for a very specific reason, which I will talk about more very soon. 

Jawas of Doom!

 

I could've sworn the caption on this issue read "Jawas of Doom" but I guess not. Maybe I got mixed up with another issue? Anyways. All I know is I need more Jawa minifigures since I only have two! From the little battle pack that came out some years ago now, 75198. I didn't get the big UCS sandcrawler though I was sorely tempted at the time. I was able to make these two little builds from pretty much spare bricks- and a healthy dose of Edmonton Brickyard bulk finds. So cool! Love these little microfighters and customs speeders!

The little microfighter in the foreground is a modification of a Star Wars Celebration Exclusive set that I didn't even know about, but I found this MOC on Rebrickable and it was easy enough to build without spending hundreds of dollars on eBay or whatever. And the super cool speeder with treads in the background is by Mr Tarproman. The stand, too, actually. Brilliant stuff! 

 

I know there's been a million Star Wars mashups, but I don't think I've ever seen this done before, exactly. There was an AT-AT done up in Caterpillar colours, which was pretty cool, but not sure I've ever seen mining equipment done up in Star Wars colours. I feel like I am the right guy to do it, given my four-plus decades of Star Wars fandom and my not quite three decades of mining experience. I drove big haul trucks and loaders and shovels and drills and dozers . . . and I should stop talking before I commit myself to a years-long Lego project lol. But I am pretty pleased with this quick build! I just searched up a mining truck that Lego put out, to see what they have, and this set 4202 popped up. Kind of the perfect size, not a huge Technic build. All I really needed to get was the tires (Thanks Edmonton Brickyard!) and a couple of technic arms. Easy peasy! Oh yeah the TIE canopy was one of my very first finds at the Brickyard, and I've been trying to think of ways to use it. Mission accomplished! Fun little goober. Here's some more pics:

 

Here is a photo montage that looks like it was made with a  1997-era photoshop competitor that has gone the way of AltaVista. And I'm ok with that! I'm all about 1997, which is when Crimson Empire came out. I loved those covers! Not enough to buy the series, apparently. I don't clearly recall why I didn't just buy them when I saw them on spinner racks- maybe I flipped through them and didn't care too much for the 90s era story-telling. I have a memory, which I don't totally trust as accurate, of being on my Cross-Canada hitch-hiking trip and seeing one of the issues in a gas station, and if that's the case, I definitely would have left it there as there was no way to transport a comic in my backpack without hopelessly crumpling it. 

Anyways. Not too many people remember ole Kir Kanos nowadays. And that's ok. I've always loved the Royal Guards and their various iterations- the Shadow Guards from The Force Unleashed were especially cool, and might have looked to the Kir Kanos/Carnor Jax stories for inspiration. I was at my local used Lego store (aka the best store ever, but actually known as The Edmonton Brickyard) and they have a table there where you can build a minifigure. One section for helmet/hair/head, one for torso, one for legs, and one for accessories. So I pretty much kit bashed together this Kir Kanos form there. I made his little pike staff or whatever with parts from home. Wish I knew where his legs came from- Ninjago maybe? Not an exact match but a good enough rendition. 

I also made a Lambda-class shuttle for him! Because why not, right? I love my Tydirium, especially now that I have a stand that shows off its full glory, so I thought I would build a whole nother one with Royal Red colours. And, mission accomplished in that I was totally able to replicate a set 75094 out of spare parts I had on hand, the bulk bins at the Brickyard, and not a terrible amount of specific BrickLink orders. It's maybe a bit more candy caney than I had envisioned but I still think it looks pretty cool. They make great bookends!

Since I am a very wee independent writer, with neither the resources nor the catalogue to really manage an online shop, I am just going to make a semi-sticky post that will always be at or near the top of my feed here so that at least the option to buy my chapbook is almost always readily available and findable. Why is this Paypal button so big? Probably has to do with the htmlios being out of whack somewhat.

Price with shipping to:

Canada $10.00 USD USA $15.00 USD Elsewhere $20.00 USD

And for the Kindle edition, which still has the old cover but where shipping isn't a factor, and it's even cheaper: