Tonight is the night. After weeks of incredible LEGO building we find out just who takes home the title of LEGO Masters for 2020.
Will it be Trent & Josh, Damian & Andrew or Jackson & Alex? Let’s find out.
Obviously this is going to have major spoilers if you haven’t seen the episode yet.
We start with a recap of what has been an absolutely outstanding season of LEGO building.
The door is up and in comes our final 3 teams. Alex is first in. Doesn’t win him anything but it’s still the first win of the day. Perhaps a sign of things to come?
The final challenge is… just build whatever you want. A completely free build. It’s both a blessing and a curse.
The judging will be done with help from 250 people. The golden brick is also back – this time it gives Ryan 100 votes. That should be enough to ensure that whoever Ryan picks will win it.
The teams have 28 hours.
Planning is going to be important for this one and Jackson & Alex go straight for the iPad. We get a nice montage of these two just having a blast in past builds. They really seem to have enjoyed their time on the show. They decide to go with a Gothic aesthetic. I hear steampunk frankenfig. I am on board.
Trent and Josh decide pretty quickly to go with pirates. Everybody loves pirates so this feels like a good choice, particularly with their strong character work. They are doing a LEGO Pirates inspired large scale ship. The nostalgia angle is good. They are not doing a full ship but just a section but it’s still going to be massive.
Damian and Andrew have had a great run to the finale, with an advantage they never had to play. Their build is going to be a mech battle in a giant Colosseum. This could be an impressive build.
Hamish reminds the teams that every part of the next 26 hours is critical.
Brickman is concerned about how many minifigures Damian and Andrew are going to need. He is also concerned about Jackson and Alex spending too long on landscaping. His concerns with Trent and Josh centre on the ship itself.
The curved structure of Damian and Andrew is going to present some building challenges. Brickman points out that they are going to need 4500 minifigures to fill their build. Perhaps they’ve gone a bit too big. It may be time for a rethink.
Trent and Josh are creating 6 characters for their pirate build. It’s going to be a homage to classic pirates and I am loving it.
Damian and Andrew’s arena is just nuts in terms of scale.
Jackson and Alex have got some amazing buildings happening but not a lot of their frankenfig.
Alex somehow manages to find a cricket in his brick tray. He also seems to have a really good mechanism for their figure. It’s a nice frame to build off. Jackson has come down with a case of the fumbles.
Damian and Andrew have moved on to the mechs for their build. They are doing a knight vs a samurai.
You can tell the finale is intense because Alex has put his hair up. Never fear Hamish is here with a drinks trolley. All of the teams are refreshed with 14 hours left to go (yes I know it’s not done in one go).
Ryan is concerned that Trent and Josh might be going too big on their pirate ship. I personally think they’ll be fine.
Jackson and Alex’s village looks really good and I like the idea of the mansion, particularly using the purple. That should stand out really nicely.
Damian and Andrew seem to be building some nice detailing and articulation on their mechs. They are struggling to get the pose exactly how they want. Their knight mech falls over and it actually looks the way they want. A happy accident.
Trent and Josh’s ship is looking incredible so far. They are ready for a ladder, or perhaps a dangling cable if they need it. They’ve got a really cute monkey build. Monkeys are very important part of classic pirates.
We get some nice slow-mo fan action for Jackson and Alex, for some reason.
Damian and Andrew raid the minifure wall. They literally just grab everything. They cleverly integrate some additional features like a corporate box to fill up some of the seats.
Trent and Josh get their sails up. Unfortunately it’s on backwards. They debate fixing it but it’s really the only option.
There’s one hour to go and the teams are feeling stressed.
Damian and Andrew’s arena is still feeling very empty.
Trent and Josh have got their sail turned around. The scale of this thing is going to win it for them I think. I really like their characters. Unfortunately the monkey gets dropped and falls apart. Poor monkey. They find the parts then drop it AGAIN.
Alex is packing their build with interesting vignettes. Meanwhile Jackson finishes Frankenfig – it’s alive!
With seconds left Trent and Josh realise their monkey lost it’s keys. They risk a last minute fix. It’s fine thankfully.
Time is up and all three builds look incredible.
In comes the public and the other teams. Everybody is blown away.
The pirate ship characters are getting a lot of attention and votes straight off the bat. The scale is impressing.
The Colosseum is also getting plenty of votes.
Kids seem really impressed with Jackson and Alex’s build. Holding people’s attention with lots of details. They are also the only team with moving parts.
It’s time for Ryan’s judging.
Trent & Josh – There is a lot to love about this one. Both scale and character work are great. My only issue is that there is not a lot beyond the first impression. Yes the characters are cool but then what? It doesn’t hold your attention. Ryan agrees that there isn’t enough details.
Damian & Andrew – This is a really epic build that looks cool in detail. The mechs are really well built. I think this one will capture and hold people’s attention, which could lead to votes. Ryan is impressed with the shape and size of the build. He’s also impressed with the story that allows for minifigures and large scale building. Brickman doesn’t love the pose. It’s a minor issue.
Jackson & Alex – The only build with moving parts. I really like the story here. There are lots of great details like the beautiful stained glass windows. There’s lots of vignettes, which you’d expect from these two. I didn’t even see the cogs in the lab. Frankenfig is also really good, not just the movement but also the actual styling. Ryan seems really impressed. I am really impressed too.
I honestly have no idea at this point who is going to win it.
Brickman is getting emotional. He’s got a lot of praise for all of the teams.
In third place – Trent and Josh. I think this is fair. It was big but lacked details.
And the winner is… Jackson & Alex. Which means Damian and Andrew get second place. I am really happy with that result. Jackson and Alex had fun every time they built and that is what is LEGO is all about.
So that’s it for LEGO Masters season 2. What an incredible 11 episodes of LEGO building. I can’t wait to see what season 3 will have in store.
Another great series of this fantastic show, with a well deserved winning build.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to watch any of the other countries’ shows in Australia, short of using a VPN?
I was personally in shock at the result. Jackson and Alex was my obvious third place, with Damian & Andrew and Trent & Josh the interchangeable winners. I was personally more into the pirate ship and would have loved if Trent & Josh won, they are absolutely fantastic builders and their ship was extremely ambitious and more than successful.
There seems to be an overwhelming love for Jackson and Alex both on social media, and from Brickman, which I don’t understand. All their builds have been pretty much the same, with an industrial flavour and always featuring buildings. Their final build was definitely not worthy of winning and I never even considered it had a chance.
Shoutout to Damian & Andrew. From the very first episodes they stood out to me as possibly the most talented and inspired builders, and was convinced that they would end up winning the entire show. They had a few I didn’t like (their under-the-table beach build and the drab Mayan temple) but were extremely consistent and impressive with the rest.
Very, very disappointed by this last episode which has sort of ruined the entire season for me.
For me the issue with Trent & Josh’s build is that there wasn’t a lot to it beyond that initial “wow that’s big”. There was not a lot of story happening and not a lot of detail. The other two builds were minifigure scale and able to integrate a lot of story. Little things that you can stand around for ages and discover. Whenever I’ve been at a LEGO event the builds that have blown me away are the ones packed with little details.
I agree with Michael. The Pirate Ship reminded me of what Kale kept trying with oversize builds last year. The problem is they had to put so much time into the size that the actual ship build was quite plain (apart form their awesome character work). Trent and Josh I think would have won if they had they found a way to show off their character work that didn’t require putting so many hours into what was basically just a pretty bare “set” for those characters.
I think the Frankenfig build was great and the best of the final three builds – but I do think it probably was a lot better in person. Those detail-focussed builds usually are.
I think all three final teams were very close in terms of ability, unlike last year where I thought the best and second best each had a gap between them and the next level (with a lot roughly the same below them). Jackson and Alex were better at conventional mining builds; Trent and Josh were amazing at characters. Over the whole competition I could have tossed a coin between those two teams, it really depended which of those skillsets you prioritised. Damian and Andrew were a shade below the other two, but only barely (and I say this after their very first build, which was so good I thought at the time that they’d win the whole comp).
Completely Agree Nava. Was an over rated and poor build. I thought they were joking when they announced third, and about to say with Brickman’s votes you won. Clear winner in my mind.
For me, Frankenfig was the only one that screamed “buy me”. Take my money 🙂
PS I think Brickman may have been less awed by the Colosseum than expected as he’s previously built an MCG on a similar scale p(that used to be in Myer Melbourne’s toy hall, not sure if it’s still there). That uses 5,000 Minifigures and there are story vignettes and Easter eggs all through it. Our favourite is the Collingwood fans being led out to the police wagon ;). Brickman is obviously a Doggies fan…
Trent & Josh were one trick ponies who never seemed to evolve beyond big characters. The scale on the ship was way off with the tiny sails and anchor.
Would have been happy with either of the other two teams winning but I think Frankenfig was the standout with the motion, detailing and stuff like the stained glass windows and elevator inside the mountain etc
I was hoping for the Colosseum but that was just a smidgen of Qld bias. All three were amazing builds and worthy of winning. Refreshing to have a show for the whole family where there’s no backbiting, one-upmanship, win at all costs. The contestants seemed to genuinely enjoy one another’s builds. Great group of roll models.
Role models, that is????
Given the interest this will have generated across the country for everyone to dust off their bricks and/or buy new ones, ’tis a shame the local warehouse (and most local stores) seem to be bereft of stock. A real opportunity missed there for Lego I feel, although obviously not of their own doing. Does anyone know when we might see some normality return to inventory levels?
A well-deserved win!!! Jackson and Alex were exemplary team mates. They demonstrated originality, ingenuity, solid technical abilities, and injected just the right amount of quirky humour to elevate their concepts into fun and intriguing creations (rather than just building static lego models). Well done guys!!!
What were the voting results?
Unless they are revealed, there is no point to them.
And yes, i do realise that whoever Brickman awards the golden brick to, will win.