Stuck in Plastic is now a recognized LEGO users group or a RLUG for short!

You’re probably wondering what a RLUG is. Here is The LEGO Group’s official definition:

Recognized LEGO User Group

  1. A group of individuals who are passionate about the LEGO experience and have formed a group. These groups are divided into two subgroups, “Physical LEGO User Group” and “Online LEGO User Group”
  2. Becoming a Recognized LEGO User Group qualifies the group to gain access to various community support programs

When we where approached last month to apply to be a RLUG the invitation came with the following: “I would love to stimulate your activities and therefore I invite your community to join the LEGO Ambassador Network.” Kim Ellekjær Thomsen

It seems that the powers that be over at The LEGO Group have decided that we “are creating value to and having impact on the AFOL community by providing activities that are meaningful and of interest to the general AFOL community.” – from the LEGO AFOL Relations & Program Overview.

Wow!

Certainly we’ve always felt that what we do here at Stuck in Plastic has value. Now it’s pretty cool to know that our efforts have not gone unnoticed. All of us here at Stuck in Plastic have tried to share with you our own experiences and knowledge in an effort to inspire our readers to be both proud of this hobby and to be better photographers. We’ve had art shows in galleries, we’ve sponsored toy photography meet-ups and we’ve engaged in a dialog with you nearly everyday. Now as we move forward into another year of amazing toy photography goodness we will have the support of the LEGO Company.

I couldn’t be more proud of this community or humbled by this opportunity.

In my quest to educate myself about what might be in store for us I have been surfing the LEGO Ambassador Network for information. As I was looking at all the other members groups I noticed something amazing: we are the only group focusing on the mini figure and the only group that is creating art, not MOC’s (my own creations). There are other on-line RLUG’s such as Brothers Brick and Blocks Magazine that have been recognized by LEGO and receive support. But we appear to be the only on-line LUG group that focuses on photography. We seem to be breaking new ground for the LEGO Group.

I want to be very clear that this is not only our success; this is your success too. This is something we should all celebrate. A large corporate entity (even one as awesome as LEGO) has decided that by pursuing our passion of toy photography that we have value and they want to help us to continue to grow.

I felt it was important to hare this news with you our wonderful community. AS far as I can tell we will continue to bring you the same awesome content that we always have. We will continue to discuss issues important to the toy photography community and hopefully we will each continue to inspire each other.

Some changes that you may see as we move forward as a RLUG are reviews of LEGO sets. We will keep these reviews focused on sets that pertain to this community. We will review them with an eye towards the mini figure and their story telling capabilities. We may also receive support from LEGO for our upcoming toy photography meet-up. We also have the potential of designating LEGOLAND Billund for an upcoming European toy photography meet-up. For now we’re in a wait and see mode.  As I outlined above, I think we’re all in some uncharted waters here and I for one want to move ahead cautiously. As Captain Kaos mentioned yesterday, it doesn’t take much for a good experience to loose its charm. I don’t want that to happen to this community. (I will respond to Captain Kaos’s post directly, no fear.)

None of us here at Stuck in Plastic know where this will take us; but we’re all willing to give it a chance. So thank you for your continued confidence and support as we all take another leap of faith.

I think the future just got a little bit more interesting.

~ xxsjc

What do you think? Is this a smart move on our part? Or have we just sold our souls for a few pieces of free plastic? 

Pigs can fly, sunrise

Pigs Can Fly!