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#2396 CHALLENGE WRAP-UP: Build Your Challenge with Justin Brady-Joyner

Our round-up of #BuildYourChallenge with @bradyjoynerbricks is here, featuring some of your powerful builds along with comments from our live wrap-up, and announcing the lucky prize winners who receive a LEGO set! Read on and don’t forget to follow @tipsandbuilds for our next challenge!


#2396 CHALLENGE WRAP-UP: Build Your Challenge with Justin Brady-Joyner Today we’ll take a look at some of the powerful builds that you shared with us. Image of 19 LEGO builds submitted for the challenge.

About the Challenge Thanks to everyone who participated in Build Your Challenge! We teamed up with our friend Justin Brady-Joyner (@bradyjoynerbricks) to encourage you to use LEGO to depict a challenge you have experienced. Dozens of you shared deep personal stories of struggle, trauma, grief, loss, identity, and other sorts of challenges. In today’s post, we’ll share with you some of these poignant and powerful builds—as well as those that showcased some amazing techniques and parts usage! To see all the contest entries, view the live wrap-up, and stay up-to-date on upcoming challenge announcements, be sure to follow Tips & Builds! *Look out for quotes from our live wrap-up with Justin and the T&B team! @tipsandbuilds Image of the Build Your Challenge mascot, a red LEGO minifigure holding a 1x4 plate.

Emotional Dysregulation by @artist_davs For years I’ve battled anxiety and depression. Expressing my emotions was my worst enemy. I bury them deep inside, leading to mental breakdowns. Alt text: The LEGO creation is built on an 18x18 base and features a brick-built figure with a distressed expression. This figure is enclosed within a larger body structure, symbolizing emotional confinement. The body appears to be exerting force, depicted by the breaking of chest bones, as if attempting to release pent-up emotions. The chest cavity is designed to resemble a skeleton cage, highlighted by a red outline representing tense muscle tissue. Surrounding the scene are small LEGO mini-figures, each representing a different emotion: orange flames for anger/frustration, black for fear/pain, white for stress/worries, and light blue tears for depression. Together, these elements create a visually striking portrayal of inner turmoil and emotional struggles. “a really powerful build.” “visually stunning and very impactful.” “tons of NPU in here.” “such a good visualization of internal pain.”

Coming Out by @captain_finn_64 One of the biggest challenges I have experienced in my life is coming out as gay to my friends and family. I've represented this by showing a grey monotone city representing how I saw the world while in the closet and right next to it a vibrant colourful city representing the LGBTQ+ community. My minifigure in the middle is making small steps every day into fully accepting his authentic, and gay, self 💖🏳️‍🌈 Alt text: a monotone grey city next to a rainbow city with a minifigure looking anxiously back at the grey city while walking forward to the rainbow one “lots of different pride flags are hidden throughout this build.” “intentional and very thoughtful.” “shows a really positive way of overcoming a challenge.”

Burning Down The House (2024) by @davekaleta Some challenges in life are huge, and some are as simple as preparing dinner. Putting food on the table can be a challenge for many, particularly with 34 million Americans dealing with food insecurity. While my family has never had to face that, I do remember the days of having a toddler at my feet while trying to make a delicious and healthy dinner by the time my wife got home from work - did I mention I was also just learning to cook? Thankfully, now I’m more comfortable around the kitchen and I even occasionally have short help. Image 1. Lego build of a kitchen in disarray. A man stands over a messy counter gesturing with uncertainty. A toddler is on the floor gleefully pulling pots and pans out of cupboards. A woman is entering the room with a backpack and a bag full of pumped milk. Her posture indicates chagrin. A dog is positioned at their food bowl looking expectantly at the humans. Image 2. Over the shoulder view of man toward woman and child. Image 3. Close up of toddler on floor. “such a fantastic visual storyteller.” “the brickbuilt characters are fantastic!” “incredibly detailed but focuses on the human story.”

Loneliness by @greenarj28 I have been struggling with loneliness my whole life. Even with family, two kids, and a good job, I feel like there is no one I can talk to. No one that will simply listen and acknowledge me without trying to give advice. I was hoping joining LEGO social media community will help, but it only provided more anxiety, constantly searching for likes and approval from strangers. Image: Person slouching in a corner of a room. A broken wooden chair is on one side, and a dead potted plant is on a window sill on the other side. “the posing of the figure is incredible” “I liked the honesty and vulnerability” “a really emotional caption and build” “the outpour of support from the LEGO community was really great to see”

Distraction by @heartofalegomaster I can often relate to Dug from Up who stops everything whenever a squirrel appears... and for me, the squirrels are EVERYWHERE! I get distracted so easily and will often move from task to task forgetting what I was "supposed" to be doing, or not even realizing I hadn't finished. Yet... when I sit down to do something I love, I can focus endlessly and do it for hours. Image: the scene depicts my SigFig in the center of the floor, completely focused on building a Lego castle with my cat watching on. Around the oversized habitat is a kitchen sink with half washed dishes, a table covered in art supplies, CD covers, and a soda can, a couch with a forgotten magazine on the arm and a stack of Lego boxes nearby with a brush on top, the bedroom displays clothes strewn on the bed. Images 2, 3 and 4 are close-ups of each area. “I love all of the clutter!” “I know I can relate to letting the dishes pile up in the sink.”

PTSD by @ladybricker July 27, 2022, my life changed forever when I was the victim of a random attack late at night by a complete stranger. That incident led to me suffering from severe PTSD, unable to go outside at night alone, unless I have no other choice. I have panic attacks, night terrors, anxiety, and am a prisoner of fear. The man who attacked me is currently out on bond, free to come and go at the moment. I have made some progress, but it is very hard pushing the fear back. Image: Due to a random attack, MiniMe is a prisoner to fear at night, staying away from doors and windows, holding onto her stuffie Panda Panda. Meanwhile, her attacker is able to move freely while out on bond. “I really appreciate the author sharing this in such a vulnerable way.” “that brightness gives a little bit of hope.” “adding something to the back of the (habitat stack’s) 8x8 grid is very clever!”

*Correction: the above build is by @ladybricker70

Chronic Disease I built a minifigure on stage. What people portray all day is not always how they are feeling truthfully. I am perceived as young, tall, fit and strong. I dont like to make a fuss or ask for help so many people will have no idea how I am actually coping with my ankylosing spondylitis. Some people have it much worse than me so my view is to not burden people or annoy them with how I am feeling. Most days with this chronic disease it have some amount of pain. It might just be as simple as sitting wrong in a chair and I get a little back spasm. @speedykiwi92 Image: A minifigure on stage holding a dumbbell. Perceived as strong, happy and young. Behind the curtains of the show backstage is another story. The same minifigure now sits down on the steps to take off her shoes. She has a sore back from bending down to things. She feels like an old person to say she has a form of arthritis. So one minifigure now has grey hair and crutches. These are visible signs of old age, arthritis etc that people view and give help to. Her chronic disease is invisible “my favorite part of this build is the back side.” “I love the colours here!”

Prize Winners @gub.sters, @msb_mocs, @mr_bonez_brick_builds, @omventklods, @artist_davs, and @fearlessmocs_collecting with images of their LEGO builds. Congratulations to the six lucky builders who were selected in a random draw during our live recap! Each winner receives a new LEGO set as a token of our appreciation. Stay tuned for our next challenge!

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