Eli Carter (retracile) from TexLUG launched a business to make custom Lego nameplates. Simply enter the text and select a color scheme and you’re on your way to getting a kit that includes instructions and all the bricks to make the nameplate. The nameplate below with 10 characters will run $120, but keep in mind that a lot of time goes into assembling each order and the bricks themselves aren’t cheap. Check out BrickBuiltNamePlates.com to see what your name looks like in Lego.
Wow, that’s not a good deal at all. I’m sorry but $120 some bricks and plates… it’s a rip off. “but keep in mind that a lot of time goes into assembling each order” I’m glad Bricklink shops don’t run their business’s like this. By the way “JOHN ADAMS” is only 9 characters.
Curtis, I’m sorry you feel that way.
Please consider that this isn’t for just “some bricks and plates”–this is for the parts and the step-by-step instructions for whatever you want in your own custom nameplate. It supports 50 different SNOT-built characters.
I wrote the software that takes text as input and creates the model and instructions from that, and the web interface for it as well. To make that worthwhile, I need to earn a profit on that (very significant) effort. (See https://retracile.net/wiki/2011/08/20/15.00 for a bit of the behind-the-scenes.)
You may be in a position to build a nameplate for yourself out of your own collection and comfortable with bricklink, but most people aren’t. brickbuiltnameplates.com opens up the possibility of giving a custom LEGO nameplate as a gift or reward. I expect that those who know an AFOL are more likely to be a customer than AFOLs themselves.
(Oh, and the term “characters” includes the space between “JOHN” and “ADAMS”, which is why it isn’t “per letter”.)
@Curtis: Gotta agree with Eli on this. While I’m certainly not the best builder out there, my involvement here on TBB makes me a pretty common target for custom LEGO model requests. More out of curiosity than anything else, I’ve done quite a bit of research to see what pricing a custom model of any sort from scratch might run the buyer (all-new parts, sourced from Bricklink), and it’s pretty surprising. $120 for a custom-built nameplate isn’t bad at all.
I like the idea, but the font is all over the place. Is this is particular stylistic choice?
Of course, fans can just ise the preview function on the site to get a plan of how to build it. It’s a clever piece of programming, certainly, but I’m disappointed by how some of the letters look. X and Z, particularly (though neither is in my name).