THIS MONTH, WE MEET CODY WELLS, one of the newest I LUG NY members, but who is certainly not new to LEGO. This 34-year-old Queens resident and dad has been collecting and building with the fabled toy brick since he was four years old, and his MOCs run the gamut from Ghostbusters to the WWE to – author’s personal bias here – Star Trek. Throw in some mosaics and historical scenes and you’ve got a true Lego fan in Cody, whose personal website, c3Brix.com, showcases works for our ILUGNY Builder Of The Month. (Interview by Sid Dinsay)
SD: What does the “C3” in C3Brix stand for?
CW: I have two younger brothers named Charley and Casey, and my kids’ names are Colton and Cydney – so It just made sense to include the three “C’s” in my love for Lego.
SD: Judging by what you build — TMNT scenes and vehicles, WWE championship belts, and Starfleet ships, to name a few — it seems safe to say you have diverse interests. How do you decide which project to tackle?
CW: My motto when it comes to Lego in life is “rebuild your childhood.” I am actually not a big fan of Lego sets anymore – anyone can buy a set! I make my own sets. If I see something I think is cool, I automatically start designing it in my head in Lego. What I decide to build comes from many different avenues, just like it did when I was a kid. I loved Star Wars but Lego only had Space sets, so I would make what I wanted with the pieces that I had at the time.
I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 80’s. When a commercial would appear featuring a toy I wanted, I found out early on that I would rather build it with Lego instead of asking my father to buy it and hear a 20-minute lecture on how he lived in a dirt-floored house with no shoes!
SD: Your TMNT subway scene is one of the most detailed builds I’ve ever seen.
Thank you! I built it to satisfy the traditional 80’s fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also created the Turtle Blimp, Turtle Van, and the Technodrome.
SD: And Lincoln at Ford Theatre — what inspired that?
CW: I am a huge fan of Lincoln. When I build something, it is my way of paying homage to the inspiration it provides me in life!
SD: Is the WWE belt wearable?
CW: It can go over your shoulder like a regular belt, but due to the weight of it, it cannot fasten and cannot be worn. (Ed. Note: see the belt in action here.)
SD: What was your first LEGO set?
CW: My first Lego set was number 1617 – a red bucket of Basic Lego. I loved the old Classic Space sets and Forestmen sets.
SD: How did you come to take up this hobby?
CW: My parents moved out to the country when I was five years old. I was terrified to sleep upstairs by myself for fear of ghosts, so my father suggested I make a Ghostbusters ghost trap out of Lego. I made the ghost trap out of my 1617 bucket of parts. And whenever it was dark, I carried that Ghostbusters trap with me – especially when I would walk up the stairs. I also rested the trap on my chest at night while I slept.
SD: When did you start building? What would you consider your first MOC?
CW: I started building when I was four or five, and except for a four-year hiatus in my 20s I have not stopped! And I guess my first MOC was that Ghostbusters trap that I made when I was five. I also still have a Johnny 5 robot from the Short Circuit movies that I made in 1988.
SD: What do you do for a living?
CW: After getting out of the auto industry in 2010 and going through a divorce, I went back home to Missouri from Michigan to really do some soul searching.
I spent a year and a half devoting all my spare time to enhance my passion of Lego artistry. I decided to take my dreams to New York City and see what life would bring me. Now, I offer custom designs and mosaics to people who would like their memories captured in Lego. I also offer copies of sets I have if they would like one or create a set in a theme not offered by Lego.
SD: How often do you build with LEGO?
CW: I would say I build five or six hours on average every day! Some days I build from 7 A.M. until after midnight! It just depends on the work I am doing at the time.
SD: What is the one LEGO piece that you consider essential to building? Your favorite piece?
CW: It’s a tie for both: the 1×1 brick – and whatever the next new Lego piece in development may be!
SD: Do you keep your MOCs intact? I imagine that the Titanic and the Enterprise are battling for shelf space. 🙂
CW: Yes they are all intact, LOL! For example, the Titanic sits on a bookshelf in the living room and the Enterprise is in the bedroom!
SD: What’s your advice to anyone who may be thinking of LEGO as a hobby?
CW: Lego toys are the elements of imagination, and the best set instructions are the ones that exist in your mind. When you’re young, Lego allows you to use your mind to create a toy that makes you so proud that you run and show it to your parents. And here’s a message to children: Lego is toy that you can “break,” and not only can you put it back together, but your parents won’t get upset and have to buy you another one!
And as an adult, when you complete a project – whether a MOC or a set – you still get that same feeling that you had as a kid. And the Internet becomes your parents, so to speak, that you run and show your creations to!
SD: Any last thoughts?
CW: I cannot describe how humbling it is every time someone acknowledges a design that I created! I am so proud to be a part of such a creative group in the ILUGNY community. Thank you for this opportunity!
