Miniland Comic Book Shop

Here is another of my earlier models. I made my Miniland scale Comic Book Shop over six years ago. This model was part of a set of models I designed for my portfolio to get my job in the Model Shop as a Model Gluer (one step below Model Builder, the position is now called Model Associate).

Before this, I had never built in Miniland scale and didn’t really appreciate how versatile it is. I have to admit, once I really mastered it I haven’t gone back to Minifig scale very often. I know everyone loves Minifigs and their cute expressions, but you can only do so much with a Minifig. Their legs only bend at the hips, their arms can only be positioned so many ways, etc. Even with some of the more unorthodox methods that are out there (such as disconnecting said arms and legs), you are still limited with what you can do in Minifig scale.

I loved Miniland from the moment I first saw it over ten years ago. The main reason I got into LEGO in the first place was because I loved miniature houses. However, even as a small child, I realized that normal miniature houses you build and decorate and then they just sit there. With LEGO, you could build, decorate and play with your house then take it apart and build something else. All I built when I was a child was houses, castles and Forestmen hideouts. 😉

During my time working at the LEGOLAND Model Shop Miniland continued to be one of my most favorite areas of the park. In fact one of my nicknames at LEGOLAND was the Miniland Mom because I took care of Miniland throughout my tenure at the park.

There are a lot of details in this model, something vital in Miniland scale building. I also made as many different types of Miniland people as I could so that I could show that I understood the scale. If you will notice, all of my people have yellow skin. The main reason for this is that I didn’t have all that much Tan in my LEGO collection back then. And here’s a fun fact, the original Miniland people built in Denmark at the first LEGOLAND park were all yellow. That was because at the time LEGO only came in a few colors and Tan was not one of them.

There are Micro scale models of an X-wing, AT-AT, Tie Fighter and a UFO, racks and racks of comics, a bin of Lightsabers, “Life-size” Jedi and Spiderman displays, and a clown to attract buyers to the huge sale at the front. You can’t tell it from these pictures, but he guy buying a Star Wars comic at the register is dressed as Luke Skywalker. 😀

I don’t have this model any more, mainly because my cat knocked it off the table a little while after I made it. 😦

It was a fun model to build, and it helped me land my job, so it holds a special place in my hear. 🙂

Tags: Castle, cat, Comic book shop, Comics, Flickr, Forestmen, house, Jedi, LEGO, LEGO bricks, LEGOLAND, lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, Master Model Builder, Micro Scale, miniature, miniatures, Minifigure, Miniland, Model Building Secrets, Model Shop, Spiderman, Star Wars, UFO