月刊
NanoBlock

The first kit that I bought was the Polar Bear (NBC-012) from the Nanoblock mini collection series. I came across it by chance in a little gadget shop called Hawkins Bazaar in York, England when I was camping. I loved the Animals of the Ice from the David Attenborough documentaries, and combining a small puzzle activity with one of my favourite documentary subjects was fantastic.

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I saw a few Nanoblock kits in a local bookshop, Waterstones, in the travel section if I could remember. It was the Sites-to-See series and I loved them instantly. I had seen the Architecture range in LEGO and I thought I could give that a try but my thoughts kept returning to the Nanoblock kits. I preferred the Nanoblock aesthetics of the finished design, and thus, I saved up and began my building journey.

I looked online to see if I could find more products in the Sites-to-See range and I realized a lot of the online links kept bringing up one name – Christopher Tan. What did “Brick Artist” mean? I had never heard of this term before and I got interested. I searched on YouTube website and then found his Nanoblock Exhibition in Hong Kong. A miniature replica of Rio looked amazing and I couldn’t really accept or understand the scale of the finished product.

The prospect of LEGO was now the farthest thing from my mind as I wanted to build with Nanoblocks. So my journey really started to pick up a pace; I searched all of my local shops for kits and found nothing. I tried asking in several of the shops if they had any Nanoblock kits, but they had not even heard of the Nanoblock brand before. So I went back to the internet again and tried searching for places to buy the kits at a reasonable price.

My Facebook had been dormant for about 4 years before I used it to join the Nanobuilders Facebook group through Chris’s Blog. It was the best decision I have made since I started building. I have been able to make friends from all around the world in other Facebook groups like Nanoblock Fan Page and Nano-Sized Blocks. These groups have motivated me to be confident in making some custom builds like Leeds Castle, Whitby Abbey and the head of the doll from the Saw movie series as well as a few unsuccessful block shaped messes.

I have come across many other people that have inspired, encouraged and advised me on various Nanoblock stuff. The information put together by StealthEagle about different block types, colours and other brands competing with Nanoblock has been really helpful as I have learnt that there are many different types and brands of micro-sized building blocks. I am finding the information useful to keep up-to-date with the ever growing world of the copycat brands, which I do not support. I know that it takes me a while to form a custom build idea and watch it come to life, and I think it is a shame when other people do not respect that.

I have learnt so much over the past month or so, not just about Nanoblocks but about how to operate a computer and work my way around websites. I would say to anyone considering getting Nanoblock kits as a bit of fun, or using the blocks as an art medium, that you would not regret it. I feel as if I have really found a place to belong and doing something I love.

To read the full version of the article, go to this link:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/samantha-hodson/my-nanoblock-experience-by-samantha-hodson-england/434027360079732