Talking LEGO with Moto and Paras from LEGO MASTERS

Last week on LEGO Masters, we got to see some incredible LEGO fashion as the contestants had to build amazing hats to wow the judges in 12 hours. Sadly, one team had to go and this time it was Moto & Paras who went home. Their Serpent Safari Hat was absolutely incredible, but fell apart in the end. I got to ask the duo a few questions and you can check out their responses below, I think I was most shocked to learn that LEGO Masters cut the entirety of a twist to the challenge from the show.

Tommy: Your build was absolutely amazing. I noticed that since you two are engineers, the aesthetic and story challenges seemed to be a little more of a challenge to meet the judge's expectations. Which of the challenges was your favorite? I'm assuming it was the tower which you guys did incredibly well at. If I'm correct, which was your favorite of the other challenges?

Paras: Thank you! Our castmates are absolutely exceptional, world-class LEGO artists, so certainly compared to them, you are absolutely correct in that the aesthetic and storytelling of our builds were nearly not as compelling as those of the others. The other important aspect was the extraordinary time pressure. As Engineers, our priority is to create a robust structure; which as we saw in our Skyscraper Tower, didn’t leave us enough time to finish out the aesthetic aspects of our build. And in response, on the Fashion Show, we tried to compensate by focusing more on the creativity and storytelling; but we obviously went too far the other way and the structural integrity just wasn’t there. Still, the Tower was certainly my favorite of our builds because we specifically designed it to withstand anything that the Shake Table could throw at it, and to see it actually perform as we expected it to was incredible.

Moto: My favorite was the Serpent Safari Hat from the Hat's Incredible challenge. It was a great build and I think was a great story for the tab color prompt.

Tommy: During the modeling challenge, I noticed that everyone had some extra LEGO bling like Paras' stylish glasses. Did you have to create that as well during the challenge, did you build them after the challenge, or were they just provided to you?

Paras: The challenge of the Hat’s Incredible Fashion Show required that we build a wearable hat at least 2-ft high and 100-studs long. At some point, the judges added a twist and required us to include accessories to go along with our hat. This part didn’t make the final editing that was shown on TV; but that’s where the glasses, etc. came from. I didn’t know it at the time, but Moto is a closet Fashionista and I think he created some spectacular spectacles for me to wear down the runway!

Moto: The accessories were made by every team for the challenge as a requirement that just wasn't aired due to time.

Tommy: At home, do you build many sets or are you more about building your own creations? What are your favorite builds you've done at home?

Paras: I own an educational non-profit organization called NextGen SmartyPants. At NextGen, we use LEGO and Technic components to teach kids (and adults) Engineering, robotics, coding, circuits, photography, animation, Garageband, and other fun, engaging STEAM education programs. I am completely committed to helping to inspire kids to make, create, design, and build with LEGO. So, when I build a set, I am thinking about what is going to inspire our students. What LEGO set could we use to showcase the application of symmetry, rule of thirds, gearing mechanisms, building techniques, etc. Ultimately, we want our students to learn how to design and to realize their ideas in a physical form. And I find that creating my own MOCs as examples of how to apply techniques learned from the sets helps them to make the transition, as well.

Moto: I mostly build sets with my Small Art Director. He loves getting sets as gifts and usually likes building them together. I mostly build My Own Creations (MoCs) but I do buy maybe six sets a year. My favorite builds are a wolf sculpture, a cat mask, and a massive spaceship dome shaped like an egg.

Tommy: Has your LEGO building changed since being on the show? If so, how?

Paras: My LEGO building has definitely changed. I learned a ton from my castmates and am continuing to try to apply as many of the inspirations I gained from them as possible. I love their creativity and storytelling abilities. They are so incredible and I wish I could just learn how to do my own version; but I find it really difficult to do just with how my brain works. But I guess that’s why they are considered such masters.

Moto: I oddly did the reverse! Building LEGO art at home usually takes me 80-120 hours per build, and I use techniques that take a lot of LEGO math and are very complex. For competitive speed building, I completely changed the way I built ahead of the start of filming to work on repeatability, basic brick sculpting, and rapid shaping using plates. After the show, I have found I'm a bit faster and I've simplified some of my work to look more like illustrations rather than packing in a ton of detail into everything.

Tommy: What is a LEGO building tip that you would give to a new builder?

Paras: The most significant LEGO building tip I could suggest is to not be afraid to try new things. As I said at the end of Episode 4, there is no shame in failure; only failure in not trying. All of us on LEGO Masters really pushed our abilities and tried to create things that we had never done before. Many of our builds broke multiple times off camera; but that’s how we learn to iterate and improve ourselves and become better at something we just love so much to do.

Moto: Keep building and Play Well. If you just keep building the skills will follow. Play well with yourself and others and the positivity will help you lead a great life.