Secret Santa MOCs: A Holiday Tradition
/Secret Santa gift-giving groups are a great way for a large number of people to participate in the holiday cheer without breaking the bank, since you’re only giving to one person. And it’s a surprise not only for the person receiving the gift but everybody else. Fun!
This was a tradition for me and my pals back in the old MocPages days. We would divvy up the names, build according to various parameters, and ship them out by a certain date. Once we received our gift and accompanying note from the builder, we would photograph the MOC, and post it from our own account in a Secret Santa group on the site. Anybody on MocPages could try to guess the builder based on the style and subject matter. On Christmas Day, or thereabouts, we would reveal all of the builders, who guessed correctly, and who was off by a mile. Virtual cookies and lumps of coal were distributed accordingly.
Let’s start with the MOCs I built. I’d been in various Secret Santa pools before, but never with LEGO, that’s for sure. A sweater? A scarf? Fine. Giving away LEGO? I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this concept. But I had been on MocPages for about a year, and made a fair number of friends on the site. It all seemed on the up-and-up, so I figured what the heck. Then the email came that I had to build for Mark Kelso. At the time, for those who may recall, Mark was an admin of MocPages. He had built all sorts of awesome things, including a bunch of Battlestar Galactica MOCs. He was the Pat Sajak to my Ed Grimley. The pressure! What was I going to do? Egad, I must say!
So after I finished breathing into a paper bag, I started to think. And came up with this. It’s a stocking on one side, a three level diorama on the back. It features Mark’s sig-fig (signature figure) on the first floor, enjoying a festive beverage by the fireplace and the tree. His MOCie award, like the Oscars, but LEGO, on the mantle. The second floor is occupied by a young Mark, eagerly anticipating Santa’s arrival, with medieval swords mounted on the wall as a reference to his weapon collection. Lastly is Santa Kelso on his way down the chimney.
Okay, so here are some more, and I did my best to build something personalized for each recipient. I came up with a Christmas at the Beach scene for my pal Chris Phipson, another MocPages admin at the time. The irony, of course, that he lives in Chicago and just had a lovely polar vortex come through dumping three feet of snow. I thought this little oasis was as close as he was going to get to warmth and sunshine for a while. He appreciated the humor, eventually.
What’s more Canadian than a beaver playing hockey? That’s what I figured when I built this buck-toothed skater for fellow VLUGger, Isaac Mazer, of Ottawa. I think that’s somewhere near the capital or something. Anyway, it included a little flipper in the back for beaver-skating action. I ended up making a second one for myself. Game on, eh!
Next up, a traditional Filipino Parol, Explorian style, for my buddy Master Shifu out in Arizona. I figured he didn’t have one of those already. Maybe for good reason. But it certainly was colorful! For more on LEGO Parols, check this out.
Now onto the gifts I received. Keeping in mind that I’m a dentist and a Battlestar Galactica fan, you may notice that those themes appear a couple of times.
The first Secret Santa gift I found in my mailbox was this: Indiana Jones and the Bicuspid of Doom. Dennis Price, crafty builder that he is, incorporated two other VLUGgers into this little diorama. Future Brickworld Master, Dr. Lee Jones (MD, not DDS), and Mr. Bones, a prolific character on MocPages, were featured in this scene. Drink in hand, Bones is getting a tooth hammered out by Indy, Lee’s sig fig. That’s gotta hurt!
All the way from Merry Old England comes Maverick the Tooth Fairy, by Stuart Delahay. You may recognize my sig fig from my old BSG comic on MocPages, but now with a magic wand and wings, naturally, and a Colonial Viper for air support.
This one got a lot of laughs. Before Block Heads, there were Cube Dudes. Here we’ve got Hermey the Elf by Hans Dendauw. Hermey didn’t want to make toys, as we all know from the show, and certainly not Colonial Vipers. He wanted to be a dentist.
Professor of Philosophy, author, and Brickworld Keynote Speaker, Roy T. Cook was thinking outside the box on this one. A Christmas tree made of four green Colonial Vipers. So Say We All!
So there you have it, a little recap of a few Secret Santa builds over the years. Although it’s probably too late for a Secret Santa Christmas, I didn’t think of writing this until last week. But any time of year is a great time to give MOCs to friends and family! Even if they’re not LEGO fans themselves, they’ll appreciate the thought and work that goes into them. Happy Holidays and play well!
And don’t crunch those peppermint candies, it’s a good way to break a tooth.
Have you ever participated in a Secret Santa LEGO gift exchange? Have you ever broken a tooth on a peppermint candy cane? Let us know your story in the comments!
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