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Who is eligible to be invited to join the SJSLT? Junior builders, ages 8-14 (as of April 1, 2022) are eligible to be selected for our team. (Older builders, ages 15-17 are eligible to be offered membership to our adult Lego club, SJLUG).
Builders are selected from the Mini Master Builders classes hosted by our adult builders from the South Jersey Lego User Group (SJLUG). We evaluate builders from their participation & behavior during the Mini Master Builders classes. All participants must live within the greater Philadelphia area / South Jersey. Not all students who express interest will be selected. Likewise, students who are invited are under no obligation to join. This select team is limited in size, is invite-only and builders will be selected based on their interest, creativity, skill-level, eagerness to learn, their ability to behave appropriately within an environment that involves focused building, open and accepting brainstorming and cooperative team work. |
What does the Lego team do?
The members of the SJSLT (South Jersey Select Lego Team) will be building large-scale Lego displays similar to the ones created by our adult club. The team will meet in monthly (and we'll host a Discord Server) on which the students can discuss the plans and ideas for the builds. We'll select members to act as Project Managers for each of the builds we'll be doing.
The build(s) created by our Select Juniors will be displayed at local events, as well as, at MINIMUM, three National Lego Conventions throughout the upcoming year, such as Philly Brickfest (October 2023), Brick World in Chicago (June 2024), Brickfair Virginia (August 2024) and more! Students will also be eligible to enter to compete & win awards at the Lego shows we attend. Their build(s) may be displayed at as many as twelve other smaller Lego shows and events within a 6 hour drive of our area. (Team members are not required to travel to any/all of the national shows but the group's project will be transported and displayed by the South Jersey Lego Club (SJLUG, the adult Lego club). Families are welcome to independently register, travel to & attend any of those shows at their own cost, the club will offer discounted tickets for Lego shows & Events to our Select Junior club members and their parent/guardian(s) whenever available.
The build(s) created by our Select Juniors will be displayed at local events, as well as, at MINIMUM, three National Lego Conventions throughout the upcoming year, such as Philly Brickfest (October 2023), Brick World in Chicago (June 2024), Brickfair Virginia (August 2024) and more! Students will also be eligible to enter to compete & win awards at the Lego shows we attend. Their build(s) may be displayed at as many as twelve other smaller Lego shows and events within a 6 hour drive of our area. (Team members are not required to travel to any/all of the national shows but the group's project will be transported and displayed by the South Jersey Lego Club (SJLUG, the adult Lego club). Families are welcome to independently register, travel to & attend any of those shows at their own cost, the club will offer discounted tickets for Lego shows & Events to our Select Junior club members and their parent/guardian(s) whenever available.
What Benefits do Team Members get?
First- the basic stuff:
The Seriousness & Privilege of having access to the Clubhouse
In addition to the physical "STUFF" that each builder gets shortly after they join - there's another VERY BIG DEAL: Up until this point - only adult Lego builders have had access to the Lego Clubhouse and it's nearly limitless Lego collection - every part you could ever hope to build with, literally millions of bricks, on top of thousands and thousands of sealed sets, Lego instruction manuals - there's nearly 16,000 lbs of sorted Lego with which to build anything you can dream of. For the first time, our kid builders will be allowed access to this collection - which is one of the reasons our Select Team is such a serious thing. Our clubhouse is a SANCTUARY to our SJLUG club members. It's a peaceful, organized Lego HEAVEN and we take the idea of allowing kids into that space as a very serious thing - so we are only willing to allow kids who are serious, and willing to work hard, who will take the privilege as serious as it is - We constantly have a multitude of builds going on at any given time, so we need to know that our builders are respectful and careful, that they will be willing and able to work carefully not to disturb the other projects that are ongoing while they remain focused on the club's objective. Members must be respectful builders who are able to be mindful of their work space - and who are both willing and able to clean up after themselves as they go, to remain aware of their surroundings and who behave calm enough to know that while the building is technically full of "toys" - we use library/classroom behavior not playground behavior - meaning that we use our inside voices, we always walk and never run - and we can't be bouncing, dancing, flailing around - because there are fragile build projects going on in every corner and workspace, and we don't want any accidents. Team members must keep a high level of responsible behavior as a top priority.
- Each team member will get a team T-shirt to wear to public events, to show that they are part of our team of select builders.
- Each team member will also get an engraved brick with their name on it - that they can wear as a necklace, or keep as a keychain.
- Finally, each team member will get a personalized Sig-Fig - a minifigure made to look just like them. Every serious Lego builder - yes - especially the adults - had a Sig-fig, and our Select Team will be no different. We'll help each builder select a minifig that best matches their look & personality.
- Finally, each builder will get a 1x8 badge-brick that indicates that they are an SJSLT member. Badge bricks are what serious lego builders display along with their name-tags at Lego shows, often builders will collect these 1x8 printed or engraved brick for each Lego show, convention or event that they take part in. For our Select Team members who grow up to be AFOL (Adult Fans of Lego), they'll have these awesome bricks to display for the rest of their lives - showing just how far back their passion for Lego went!
The Seriousness & Privilege of having access to the Clubhouse
In addition to the physical "STUFF" that each builder gets shortly after they join - there's another VERY BIG DEAL: Up until this point - only adult Lego builders have had access to the Lego Clubhouse and it's nearly limitless Lego collection - every part you could ever hope to build with, literally millions of bricks, on top of thousands and thousands of sealed sets, Lego instruction manuals - there's nearly 16,000 lbs of sorted Lego with which to build anything you can dream of. For the first time, our kid builders will be allowed access to this collection - which is one of the reasons our Select Team is such a serious thing. Our clubhouse is a SANCTUARY to our SJLUG club members. It's a peaceful, organized Lego HEAVEN and we take the idea of allowing kids into that space as a very serious thing - so we are only willing to allow kids who are serious, and willing to work hard, who will take the privilege as serious as it is - We constantly have a multitude of builds going on at any given time, so we need to know that our builders are respectful and careful, that they will be willing and able to work carefully not to disturb the other projects that are ongoing while they remain focused on the club's objective. Members must be respectful builders who are able to be mindful of their work space - and who are both willing and able to clean up after themselves as they go, to remain aware of their surroundings and who behave calm enough to know that while the building is technically full of "toys" - we use library/classroom behavior not playground behavior - meaning that we use our inside voices, we always walk and never run - and we can't be bouncing, dancing, flailing around - because there are fragile build projects going on in every corner and workspace, and we don't want any accidents. Team members must keep a high level of responsible behavior as a top priority.
What kind of cost and commitment does joining the team involve?
Joining the club should be considered a one year-long commitment. Invites are valid for one year - and may be extended at the end of that time, depending on the amount of space we have, considering new students who may be joining. Priority will be extended to members who have been most actively involved, present at the most events and activities, etc. Participation in any one year of the club does not guarantee an invite to the next year. Members should keep in mind that their behavior, effort and level of participation has a heavy influence on our decision to extend an offer to re-join the team.
Members may leave the club early if absolutely necessary - but we ask that members should join only if they intend to participate for the entire season, starting the month that they first attending a club meeting/build day, and continuing the end of the season (In Nov each year). Our first year, 2023, will be a partial year as we'll be starting in the Spring, and so all invited participants will be asked to remain for the 2023-2024 season.
It is at the discretion of the SJLUG members to decide if we wish to add any additional membership spaces to the team. As of 2022, the team will start with 12-15 available spots, but we may not fill them all.
Members may leave the club early if absolutely necessary - but we ask that members should join only if they intend to participate for the entire season, starting the month that they first attending a club meeting/build day, and continuing the end of the season (In Nov each year). Our first year, 2023, will be a partial year as we'll be starting in the Spring, and so all invited participants will be asked to remain for the 2023-2024 season.
It is at the discretion of the SJLUG members to decide if we wish to add any additional membership spaces to the team. As of 2022, the team will start with 12-15 available spots, but we may not fill them all.
What events & activities will the team participate in? (AKA: What is the time commitment)
Team Meetings - Monthly (At the Clubhouse, West Berlin NJ)
Each month we will hold one 2-hour meeting on a Friday Evening, a Saturday or Sunday. Meeting dates will be announced approximately 3 months in advance, but may be scheduled farther out if possible. We may also select the date of a minor holiday when students are off from school (such as Columbus Day, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Junior Day, etc.) We'll try to make Team Meeting dates & times accessible for students to keep meetings from interfering with school. All meetings will end no later than 8pm, even on non-school nights.
Team Build Days - Open-House Style days, 2-6x a month (At the Clubhouse, West Berlin NJ)
Build Days are held at our extensively stocked Lego clubhouse in West Berlin, NJ. There, the team will have thousands of Lego sets and millions of Lego parts available in order to build one or more large-scale impressive Lego projects. (see sjlug.com for ideas of what our adult club builds - our junior club will be building similar style projects). There will be at least one 2-hour meeting, and at least 2 (but as many as 6) 8+ hour "open house" style build days each month, where members are invited to come to the clubhouse to work for any amount of time that they are available, each month.
Local Area Events - TBA (within 1-hr of West Berlin, NJ)
The club may plan and hold events, such as a public display of the club's project(s) at a local mall, or we may attend local events such as holiday street festivals, or other activities. There will be no additional cost to team members to attend these shows, but members will be encouraged to attend, to show off their builds to the public, to talk about what they've built, and to encourage other young builders to get involved with our Mini Master Builder classes & the SJSLT! We'll announce upcoming events at meetings, and discuss the club's interest and level of possible participation. We also welcome members to notify the club if they know of any events that they would like the club to take part in.
Lego Shows & Conventions (Voluntary travel & additional expense may be involved)
This team's Lego builds will travel to and be displayed at multiple HUGE Lego conventions. These are fully optional events that the club members families may or may not choose to travel to or attend such as Brickfest (Oct 2023 in Oaks PA) Brick World (June 2024 in Chicago, IL) & Brickfair (Aug 2024 in Chantilly, Va). Attendance at these conventions is completely optional, it is up to each member's family to decide if they wish to expend the funds & time commitment involved with traveling to & attending these four-day long Lego events. Regardless of the team's attendance, their builds will be taken to and displayed at these events, garnering an audience of thousands upon thousands of people who will see the team's hard work displayed prominently beside displays built by talented adult builders from all over the world. We encourage team members families to consider coming to any of the shows, even if they only wish to attend one of the public-facing event dates. The club will offer free or discounted tickets for attendance to Team Members whenever it's possible for us to do so!
What is the cost to join & take part in the SJSLT?
There's a one time fee of $75 to join, which covers the child's registration for Brickfest (as a displayer), their team t-shirt, Brick Badge, their customized Signature Minifig and printed name brick. The additional cost is for the team's dues, which helps us cover the cost of the project(s) the team will be building (as we often need to order specialized parts, sets, and figures, as well as buying additional bulk Lego, and covering the cost of the two spaces that we use for the club to meet/build).
Dues are collected monthly from members on the 1st of each month, starting the first full month after the member has been invited to join the SJSLT & has accepted the invitation. The club dues are $35 per member, per month. (Making the total cost for the year-long session $75 to join plus $370 dues (if paid all once) OR $75 to join, plus $35 a month (which works out to $420.)
Parents may choose to sign-up for monthly reoccurring payments of $35 per month, to be charged automatically, or to make a single payment at the beginning of the season. For those who choose the option of paying for the entire year at one time, there is a savings of $50, making the total cost of dues $370.
All funds are used to support the cost of the team's projects. South Jersey Lego User Group is a not-for-profit organization, and we have no paid employees. 100% of what we collect is used to improve our club, by means of purchasing things needed to support the club's ongoing projects.
Additional Optional Costs - Opportunities to Build-Up your Lego Collection
On occasion, the club may hold events that would allow your family to actually take home Lego to add to your personal collection at a GREATLY discounted cost. We know that Lego is not an entirely inexpensive hobby - and as a club, we are always on the lookout for ways to help our members get more parts and pieces to make it easier for them to keep on building.
Another opportunity is your chance to take part in discounted Lego hauls. Several times a year, as stores are preparing to clear-out their current stock to make room for new items or as they are clearing out remaining stock from the holidays, our Club members will find GREAT deals on sets, marked down anywhere from 40-70% off of retail cost. We'll often purchase cart-fulls of clearance sets all at once. The club will then offer up this large stock of sets at the significantly discounted prices to our SJLUG & SJSLT members. You might not have time to hunt down these bargains or even know when and where to look - but by being part of the South Jersey Lego Club family - you'll be invited to get in on these huge Lego hauls, stocking up on Lego at a much lower cost. It's a fantastic way to find sets that have been wanting, or to get multiple copies of a set that you really wanted parts from - and all for far LESS than it would typically cost you. This past year alone, we've spent more than $1500-$2500 on discounted Lego sets and shared them among our club members, multiple times!
Another Lego-collection boost is that we will sometimes buy large collections from private sellers - coming "home" to the clubhouse with hundreds of pounds of parts. We may allow members to chose to buy-in to the bulk purchase, for example, you might choose to buy 15 lbs of Lego - usually these bulk-buys are great opportunities to add lots of new and interesting parts to your current collection. You may get pieces of sets that are new or many-years old, you may find great mini-figures or lots of cool accessories and pieces you never knew existed. Our adult club (SJLUG) OFTEN has bulk Lego available for $4-$6 a lb, depending on the current availability - so always ask if you're looking for parts!
One other potential optional cost would be participation in a Parts Draft! A Parts Draft is held like this: Each member who wants to participate buys & brings a copy of the exact same set that was selected in advance. (Sets can range from $20-$50). The group then opens and sorts all of the minifigures & Lego parts from the sets, grouping together the like-pieces (for example, one pile might be three windshields, another pile might be 8 1x2 red bricks). A system, like rolling dice, is determined to choose an order for the Draft. We then go around, according to the order of the Draft, round-robin style, and each person selects which single minifigure, or which small pile of parts you would like. We continue going around the group, selecting parts until all the parts have been claimed. Part Drafts are an extremely fantastic money-saving way to build up your Lego parts & Minifig collection, and its a great-deal of fun!)
Additional Optional Costs - Charity Projects
We may have times during the year when there are optional fundraising projects that our clubs help to support (such as Project Christmas, which supplies toys and supplies to families in need each holiday (www.ProjectChristmasNJ.com) or SJLUG's Brick Angels Program. The Brick Angels program designs and creates our own home-made Lego sets, fundraises and collects the parts necessary to package the sets, and then we distribute those sets to those who could really use some joy & fun in their lives. Some of the groups we plan to support art those with chronic or serious health problems, such as women with breast cancer, kids who are hospitalized, or those suffering from chronic neurological or physical health problems. We've also discussed supplying sets to organizations that help older kids and young adults with Autism, those with learning disabilities, organizations that support kids who suffer from bullying, or to support existing charities that collect supplies for underprivileged schools or after-school programs as well as domestic violence shelters that support families with children.)
SJLUG feels VERY strongly about being a welcoming organization and we are passionate about inclusion. Our adult club has such a HUGELY diverse community - we have members with chronic health conditions, physical disabilities, neurological differences including multiple members on the Autism Spectrum, we have members overcoming mental illness & various learning disabilities, our membership includes multiple members of the LGBTQIA+ community and of course, we welcome members of ALL backgrounds and beliefs - as well as all ages and abilities. As a result of our diverse membership - we are very passionate about supporting a MULTITUDE of different communities, bringing joy to everyone we possibly can - by sharing our passion and love of building with Lego.
Additional Optional Costs - Travel & Attendance at Lego Conventions & Shows
If possible, SJLIG will provide free or discounted tickets for SJSLT Team Members to attend Lego Events, Shows or Conventions where their projects will be displayed. The cost of displaying at Brickfest in Oct 2023 will be covered as part of the child's fee to join the Select Team. There will be some events, however, where it is not possible for us to get free or discounted passes, and it will be up to individual families to decide if they wish to travel to shows that are outside of our area, and if they wish to spend the money to travel, to stay in a hotel and to register for the actual convention. The cost to display the team's projects will be covered by member's dues, but some shows require each participant to register separately (Such as Brickfair Virginia, whos registration cost is approximately $85-$125 and is required separately for each person who plans to attend.) Attendance and participation in these multi-day events is NEVER required, although we do welcome and encourage families to consider attending at least one show throughout the year.
Our Club's Philosophy & Goal
SJLUG Members firmly believe that EVERYONE'S lives can be made better by embracing creativity, fun and the need to continue to PLAY - at EVERY age. Lifelong PLAY and creativity are the cornerstones of a happy and healthy life, and we want our junior members to be encouraged by the fantastic support our SJLUG members show for one another - we want the kids to see adults who care about and support each other, who work together and problem-solve, all while using HEALTHY communication and ALWAYS showing kindness for one another, despite our many differences. Our adult members hope that by being good role-models, we'll show our Junior Members that you're NEVER too old for fun and that life is better when you welcome those who are different from yourself, to be a part of your circle of friends.