I did see this! I'm not sure why I didn't comment on this though. :) Anyways, this is very creative. I think my favorite would be fall. Love the colors! Thanks for all your comments on my builds. -LB Senior

Whoa. This is absolutely stunning! The color on "Spring" and the snow on "Winter" are some of my favorite details.

I missed this one. The piece usage on the winter tree is outstanding. The concept for he MOC is very interesting, and I can see it really pushed your building techniques.

It almost feels like the forest is on fire when you´re out walking in the autumn. Strangely it kind of looks more alive than summer with all the different colors and shadings :)

Autumn was my favorite as well. Out of all my MOCs I am most proud of this one and it is nice to see it is still getting some attention.

Autumn is my favourite...excellent!

Very original build and approach ! Too bad for MO, but that doesn't affect the quality of the MOC... having the same brick supply problems, I have to say this is very inventive !

While the piece choices you used may have come from a lack of parts, they lend an extraordinary artistic feeling to what otherwise may be an interesting, if unremarkable, MOC. Kudos to you for making this far above average!

Thank you so much for the kind comment. As I was building I was not sure how it would turn out. It was the foliage and snow that really filled it in and gave it it's shape. I am really limited in blocks in general but especially brown and green (almost no landscape plants) so I had to really think out of the box. If you look close the main trunk are duplo blocks I had to borrow from my three year old. Overall I am really happy with the composition and all the great response I have gotten.

These trees are genious! If someone told me they would be using crates and ladders in a tree, I would have laughed at there ignorance. But you seem to show me my own ignorance, you used the parts in very quality ways. Well done!

Hey! You should join this side game for the Games! http://www.mocpages.com/group.php/18342

Okay, I see what you mean here. And it crossed my mind, actually, when I was looking at Dennis' collection. However, I would suggest that the emotional involvement of his builds are more in tune with the Fire category, the best example being the Cash vig. I will stick to my previous comment that yours are really more about the seasons, in my mind. That's the vibe I was getting, and still do. But your uncle's idea was really clever. Reminds me of something I saw where, I think it was two brothers, had to get along well enough to use gifts from their dad to find their inheritance, or something like that. Ever look behind the frame of your photo? Maybe a treasure map?

awesome!

Thanks for the comment. I am already out of the contest though. I didn't score that well with the judges.

Amazing work here! Captured so well, so well indeed. Good luck!

El Barto! So good to hear from you! Seriously thank you for taking the time to evaluate everyones builds. I also, want to thank you for giving me at least some incite to why you judged my MOC the way you did. The other comments I have gotten are "it was nice but didn't fit the category" At least you are telling me what didn't work for you. Now I can defend it. If you look in the pictures the tree is one single tree. I didn't build four trees. All I did was change the leaves of the tree to tell the story of a single rotation of the EARTH around the sun. This story is told visually by the seasonal changes. The way I told my story is no different then say how Stormbringer moved figures, creatures, and landscapes to change his whole configuration of the MOC to tell his story. Not to take anything away from Stormbringer, that build was great. It is just one example of multiple examples that I could give. I guess that is why knowing the judging criteria would be helpful. If I would have known that write ups and stories would have been part the overall score I would have included a more detailed one. Is this going to change anything, I hope not, but at least I feel a whole lot better about my MOC.

Okay, an excellent, high quality build here! Interesting design for the trees with very creative parts usage. I didn't have an issue with the category as much as the fact that you've got four different builds. It's a theme, but more about the seasons than the Earth. If they had been tied together in some way, I think it would have worked better. Anyway, I know, judges, what a pain. Still a great piece of work, and there's no disputing that!

Hey H, Thanks for the invite but I have a lot of travel for work coming up and to be honest with you I am kind of discouraged with the whole contest system. If I would have made it into the MIT on my own merits that would have been another story. I am currently building something that is my area of interest to get back on the proverbial horse.

I see you still have not joined the MIT Group and hope you'll reconsider. As the first alternate, I can almost guarantee there's gonna be a spot (knock on wood =P). So come on over and sign up in the 'Alternates sign-up' thread by Friday. There is a 1st and 2nd place prize...Hope to see you there! ~H http://mocpages.com/group.php/18342

Thank you for your comments Mr. Xenomurphy. Yourself and a few other Judges have commented that they liked my entry very much but it didn't fit the category well enough. Could you help me to understand why showing the cycles of earth was not acceptable compared to some of the other interpretations of categories that I have seen?

I loved your entry, so I'm very sorry that you didn't make it this year. Yes, I believe the category was the problem, not the MOC itself. The winter tree is my personal favourite and shows a high level of creativity. I'm 100% sure you'll do very well next year or in some of the many other contests in between.

Hey Brody, sorry to hear this didn't get through :( this was one of my favourite entries, but i did have doubts about the categoty issue. Your uncle sounds like hes a great man a it's very important to appreciate nature. It's the best thing we've got :) I am also a keen amateur photographer and have taken photos of my favourite tree from the same position through 4 seasons.

Nice!!!!!

Thanks Matt. It makes that 18 a little easier to swallow (and I stress a little). I almost would have like to be scored higher and DQ'd. I felt good about the build and will admit my interpretation of the rules was loose but not out in left field.

Yeah Brody, you were tough on all of us judges! It was ultimately felt that the build didn't hold strongly enough to a single category, which was unfortunate. This really is a very unique piece. The parts usage is some of the oddest and best-looking I've seen in a while. A well-built visual stunner. I'm afraid you're simply a great builder who fell victim to a technicality, it happens every year.

Your total score was a 18. I'm sorry but you did not make the top 64. Thank you for playing in the MocOlympics and we hope to see you again next year! ~ Chris

Very interesting and creative use of parts, here. Quite impressionistic, I really like that. Best luck! ~Cheers

Very very clever, and an excellent idea with the paintings. Good luck with the judges!

That is a really unique idea of your Uncle's and to give one to each of you is inspiring. The Lego representations of the photos are really well done. I think Fall is my favourite.

Any way I can clear it up for you?

interesting trees.Confusing but interesting.

Good job! People tried to do this, but thought it would be for 4 of the categories. Good job!

That is astonishing.

Wow, Bro, really jumping out of your confort zone here, and I like it a lot! The composition and spacing of the branches and the "leaves" is very nicely thought out and really conveys the feel of the seasons of the earth. Altogether, this entry stands as one, and it's a great homage to our Uncle. This must have been a lot of fun to make. Best of Luck to you!

Thank you for the kind comments on mine and suggestion. I think you saved me from being DQ'd! I didn't think I wanted to enter but decided last night at 11:30 to start (I went to bed at 3:30AM). I thought about the rules as I was lying in bed but was too tired to do anything. I made the changes and hopefully it will meet the requirements.

Very good! I love trees and you did a great job with these! I would recommend to do what is said below or you might be DQ'd. Good luck

Quality entry. I suggest 'Earth' as the category as this portrays one Earch-cycle. Good luck!~H

Hope this doesn't get DQ-ed... Seasons isn't really a category... See how I fixed the problem on my page... Anyways, the creation looks really good! Good luck!~Jelle

Amazing! A bit too bulky maybe, but it looks well constructed.

cool i love the trees but you are only allowed 1 topic but this is still stunning i love the winter tree would you mind looking at this

cool i love the trees but you are only allowed 1 topic but this is still stunning i love the winter tree would you mind looking at this

While this MOC covers 4 of the 8 categories, "seasons" is technically not a category. It has been discussed in the convos that you may only pick one as your official category even if the MOC covers more than one. So make that change ASAP! Good luck! --- http://www.mocpages.com/group_conversation.php?id=18033&topicid=72498#comment-820169

Excellent idea! Great work!