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I saw Jesus in my LEGO bricks, and now I'm selling them

Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:55 pm

For your reading pleasure:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0059400871

hehe

Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:54 pm

...and people have actually bid?

Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:38 pm

The auction has a reserve price of $1,000.00. If this price is not met, the item will not be sold, period.



$1000..is he insane? I wouldn't pay much for that at all.

Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:45 pm

benladesh wrote:$1000..is he insane? I wouldn't pay much for that at all.

The website wrote:(the frame alone is worth $550)

$1000 is silly, and putting a $550 frame on it is also silly!

It does look cool though ... but not that cool.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:03 am

Let us figure out what is a reasonable cost.

Not only is the frame expensive, but LEGO bricks are expensive too! Generally 1 x 1 bricks run from 5-6 cents a piece, and baseplates are around $10 a piece. $368.64 in bricks + $60 in baseplates + $550 frame = $978.64 total value.

Estimated eBay fees ~ $15.00 listing + ??? final value fees = at least $30.

Shipping is covered by the buyer.

$1000 - $1008.64 = 8 dollar loss at the reserve price.

So I'd say $1,000 is a fair reserve considering cost. Plus 8 hours of work by three people (24 man hours). Even at minimum wage (for Washington State) that's $183.12. $1,000 is super-fair.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:20 am

Artists almost never make minimum wage.
Lego bricks generally aren't that expensive for the amount used in this project. 20x30 for 1x1 pieces of lego? This is something anyone could do, and I hate to say it but I don't consider it art. There's a boy in my university who made a mondrion piece out of lego, he got 85 bucks for it and it was 20x20. Asking 1000 for this is foolish, and to be honest, disgusting. 550 for the frame? *shakes head*
Stuff like this ticks me off.
This is something anyone could do with a pattern. Red square here, blue square there. It's not difficult. It's a printed pattern. It's just another money making scheme. It wasn't done to be artistic, it was done to be a profit.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:02 am

It actually was done to be artistic. In a sad turn of events it had to be sold (read the story dude). I wish I could keep it hanging in my living room where it belongs, but I'm entirely strapped for cash and getting married soon. I don't need a profit, I need to liquidate an asset with inherent value.

It is for fun, and is artistic if you look at it that way. The pattern had to be made, and though I was able to do it mostly through a program I wrote, I still had to go back and do touch ups by hand one pixel at a time.

As far as cost of LEGO bricks, you are confused. 20x30 is in inches. 1x1 is in brick size. 32 brick pegs = 10 inches. So in bricks it's 64 x 96 or 6144 bricks. And bricks are SUPER expensive.

I agree that the frame was too expensive, but it was because they had to make it custom sized. LEGO bricks aren't standard American sizes, so it was a really hassle to get it framed right, and the cost was very large.

I did it for the fun of mixing three things I enjoy: the bible, computers, and LEGO. If it ticks you off, you probably have an anger problem and should go into counseling.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:33 am

I knew that 20x30 was in inches, and I was aware of the brick size. I did the math when I was looking it over. (amazingly coming up with the same answer you did for amount of bricks). I was helping a friend look up bricks for a lego project he's working on. And so I am very aware of the prices of lego bricks. He's working on amassing nearly 10 grand worth of lego. So I am highly aware of how much they cost.
I've had custom made frames made at Michaels, and nothing i've had made there has ever been that expensive. And perhaps if it was so expensive you should have shopped around more.
You may have written a program to do this, but I could achieve the same effect by overpixelating and editing a picture on photoshop and then printing it out. I've done dot based projects before. I'm aquainted with the process.

I did it for the fun of mixing three things I enjoy: the bible, computers, and LEGO. If it ticks you off, you probably have an anger problem and should go into counseling.


I have no problem with why you did it in the end, I do however have a problem with the price you are asking for it. I do believe it is too much to ask for the amount of work put into the piece. Perhaps I was too harsh in saying that it wasn't artistic and I should not judge on that because I know that there are people who believe things that I do are also not art or conceptual.

As well, I should state this is not a forum in which to advertise personal sales.

And of course a rule of our forum...

"Flaming", is when somebody attacks somebody else over the internet, normally in the form of insults. This will not be tolerated. You do not have to agree with every other member of PPT ( And you wont at some point. Believe me). You do not have to like every other member at PPT. You do, however, have to respect every other member of PPT. And when I say respect, I mean respect their right to have their say just as you have the right to yours.


So please, if you feel the need to insult me again, take it to private and PM me.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:43 am

This does indeed belong in Promos & Plugging, since this is your own item. Moving from Misc. Discussion.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:07 am

@ahoteinrun

Excellent choice in being civil and attempting to take the high ground. However, your insult did come first and in response to good fun with no mal-intent.

You have insulted my artistic prowess, my ability to shop around, my technical skill, and my knowledge of internet etiquette.

I do not appreciate your condescending tone ("if you feel the need to insult me"), and I do not appreciate being spoken to as an outsider ("our" forum"), and your general inconsiderate nature. This forum would be better served if those quoting its policies would not do so immediately after violating them.

As far as your friend. I'm happy for your friend that (s)he was able to find a great deal, however that was not the case here. Considering what I personally put into the project, the cost is more than fair. Heck I would've paid $85 for his 4,096 brick piece ($0.02/brick + 4 free baseplates), that's a great deal for LEGO bricks. However, that in no way represents a realistic cost, or valuation of the piece either.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:13 am

It is a really cool ..lego art thing, but it's something I'd pay like MAX $100 for, but if you can get someone to pay $1000 + shipping, awesome for you.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:30 am

I'll level with you on this one.

I'm in my fourth year of my BFA, at a school that is all about conceptual art. I'm not conceptual in the way that they are, i'm technical. I have experience in this area and it's frustrating to me to see things like this go up for sale. I see it at my schools sale every year. I don't believe you'll get your 1000 on it. If you asked for less you might.
I'd honestly suggest offering it up for sale and asking for the people who buy it to frame it themselves, then you may at least get 500 for it. But for now, people who are bidding probably won't bid as high as 1000. Keep the frame for yourself, make it into a multiple picture frame and put it towards your wedding, fill it with photographs. And be happy with the frame. Ebay may not be the best venue for sale of this piece of work unless you can get enough exposure on the internet for it.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:39 am

hey...personally, I don't see the issue with asking that much for the piece. If that much was financially put into it and if that many man hours were put into it, then he should ask what he wants. I applaud him for being willing to separate with something that took him so long to raise money for his wedding. That shows real love and commitment. Personally, I find it odd that someone could consider that not art. If someone can make thousands by throwing paint at something and calling it "modern art," then I don't see the problem with calling this long drawn out procces involving putting his personal creativity and time into it and pricing something like this at this price. Granted, I'm not an artist, but that's my opinion on the matter.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:29 am

Sorry spudge, for the "silly" comment. If we'd known it was your artwork, I imagine we might've been slightly more polite with our comments (for better or worse!). The price surprised me, though... but the cost makes more sense in light of why the frame was so expensive. I suspect ahoteinrun's suggestion that you might get a better overall price for it without the frame is a good one, though. You could keep the frame (for yourself) to use for another Lego artwork of the same size, if you made another one.

Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:16 pm

mazil wrote:Sorry spudge, for the "silly" comment. If we'd known it was your artwork, I imagine we might've been slightly more polite with our comments (for better or worse!). The price surprised me, though... but the cost makes more sense in light of why the frame was so expensive. I suspect ahoteinrun's suggestion that you might get a better overall price for it without the frame is a good one, though. You could keep the frame (for yourself) to use for another Lego artwork of the same size, if you made another one.



yeah, same - i didn't know it was yours either. i thought it was somebody who sincerely believed that jesus was in their lego, like the lady who sold the toast with virgin mary in! i didn't mean to insult you and your art...but i do agree with inrun.
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