Meetings

Frequency – The club officially meets once a month
Timing – Typically, club meetings are the second Sunday of the month at 4 PM. But, this can vary if the club is involved with a large show during the month. Here are some exceptions to the monthly meeting schedule: The March meeting is usually held on the Saturday after public hours at Brickworld Indy. The May meeting is usually moved since the second Sunday is Mothers’ Day.  Sometimes we do not have a meeting in June due to several members being at Brickworld Chicago.
Location – Typically, the meetings are held in Franklin, IN on odd months and Fishers, IN on even months.
Activities – At the monthly meeting we always have the “business” part of the meeting at 4:00. During that time we plan upcoming shows, vote on items in the meeting agenda, go over club expenses and discuss anything else as needed. There are other activities that happen before or after the meeting such as set drafts, gift exchanges (in December), speed build contests, buying selling & trading, how-to demonstrations or showing off what we’ve been building recently.

Forums

Indylug.org started out as a site that had its own forums. Unfortunately maintaining those forums on the WordPress software became troublesome, so we moved the forums to their own separate site starting in November 2022. Anyone who had a profile here on indylug.org prior to November 2022 will need to create a profile on the new site in order to use the new forums. When you create an account on the new forum site, make sure to choose a user name that is either your real name or a name that everyone will recognize as you. The online club forum is the main way we use to communicate with each other apart from in-person meetings. If you are new to IndyLUG, you may also join our new forum site after you have attended one meeting. After attending your first club meeting, we will send you an invitation through email with a link to join the new forums.

LUGBulk and Project Support

Definition – The club is allowed to make bulk element orders from The LEGO Group. The once a year order is called LUGBulk. Orders for special club projects are called Project Support.
Eligibility – Only active club members are allowed to participate.
Payment – Payment for anything your order (plus shipping costs) must be available (though not always required) when the order is placed. Payment is made in Euros and is subject to fluctuation based on the exchange rate at the time the bill is paid
Part Nomination – Members that participated in the prior year LUGBulk order can place an element on the list as a Prima nupta part. Meaning they have the right to keep that part on the list even if nobody else wants it. Any participating member can nominate parts to be on the order. We are limited on the number of unique elements and the list will be whittled down by various processes to meet this requirement
Non-payment – If you place an order and then fail to pay for it, you will be eliminated from eligibility for future LUGBulk and Project Support orders. Failure to pay is not an instantaneous thing. If you have financial issues and work out a plan and then follow through with it, then you do not fall into this category
Sorting – The sorting location, timing, and participation are determined by the current LEGO Ambassador since the shipment is delivered to the ambassador’s residence.
Missing Parts – We do our best in sorting to get all the right parts to all the right people. If you count your parts and are shorted, please inform the LEGO ambassador. But, if that amount is less than 5%, don’t be surprised if it is not addressed. Shortages can happen for various reasons. LEGO might have shorted the entire order. Parts may not have been properly counted during sorting and someone else got extra parts. Not everyone counts the parts they receive and that condition might not be detected. Just remember, we are getting these parts at a great discount. So, less than a 5% error is still an incredible deal.

Resale of Parts – Never ever!!!  These parts are for building.  LUGBulk is a privilege, not a right.  LEGO polices secondary markets to watch for resale.  So, if IndyLUG finds anyone reselling parts, we can remove your eligibility as it impacts the club eligibility and reputation.

Official Club Positions

IndyLUG has 5 club officer positions:

One term of office is 1 year.  IndyLUG elections are held in January, and the officers elected begin their terms in February.  The maximum number of consecutive terms that a person can have in any one office is 4.  Only active members are allowed to nominate officers, vote and hold office.  No one may hold more than one office at the same time.

The club also has a designated person to act as our ambassador to The LEGO Group. This person is nominated by the president and via club concurrence.

Set Draft Process

Set drafts are a good way to get multiples of the same part

  1. Choose the set that is being drafted
  2. Everyone who wants to participate brings one or more unopened copies of the set.
  3. Sort the parts
  4. Certain parts should be kept together. Examples of parts to keep together are: Window frames & glass, left & right wedges, wheels & tires, turntable tops & bases. Minifigs can be assembled or kept as pieces, depending on the minifig. For example, drafting a Lone Ranger set you would leave the minifig parts separate. However, other minifigs, such as a female fig who has a printed torso that goes with a printed 2X2X3 slope/dress piece, should probably stay together. The draft coordinator should decide and announce these things at the start of sorting. When sorting the parts, there may be certain pieces that are far more valuable than others. A lot like that can be split in half. However, keep this lot-splitting to a minimum, as it can quickly get out of hand.
  5. Do a draw-a-number-out-of-a-hat style thing to decide the order in which everyone will go.
  6. The participants each pick 1 lot of parts in the order of the number they picked until each person has chosen 1 lot. Then each person goes in the opposite order. This constitutes one “round,” and is known as the Up-Down method. For example, if there were 4 people doing the draft, the order would go 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 and repeat. The idea behind this method is that whoever drew the highest number out of the hat would sort of get a bum deal if they went last every round for the whole draft. This method evens the playing field a bit.
  7. Everyone keeps taking turns until all parts are gone… and then you’re done!
  8. It is highly probable that not everyone will get the same number of turns.

Dirty Santa Rules

1. Please bring a gift-wrapped present to exchange.
2. The gift should be either a Lego product or a Lego licensed item.
3. Please bring a gift that you would want to receive yourself; i.e. no gag gifts.
4. The gift’s value should be about $20.00.
5. All presents will be placed in a pile or upon a table before the gift exchange begins.
6. All participants will draw a number.
7. The exchange of gifts will start with the person who pulled number 1 from the “hat”.
8. The exchange of gifts will continue in order by drawn number from 1 to the last number needed, depending on how many participate.
9. The first person must select a wrapped gift and unwrap it.
10. Each unwrapped present must be displayed for all to see.
11. The next participant has the option to steal the unwrapped gift from the first, or to select a new gift to unwrap.
12. Each following participant has the opportunity to steal a previously opened gift or to open a wrapped gift from the pile until all gifts are opened.
13. You may not steal back a gift that was just stolen from you.
14. A gift may be stolen a maximum of three times. If a gift is stolen a third time, it becomes locked and cannot be stolen again.
15. Once all of the gifts are unwrapped, the first person has a last chance to steal.
16. The first person may steal any gift, even one that was locked earlier.
17. This concludes the gift exchange, but folks may chose to continue to trade gifts, if both parties agree.
18. Remember to have fun with the exchange and enjoy your new Lego set or other related Lego item!

AFOL Days

  1. AFOL days allow the club to get a discount at the LEGO store
  2. Currently 15% on eligible sets and PAB cups
  3. Dates set by LEGO in January
  4. Historically, there are 4 Saturdays per year (1 per quarter)
  5. Our store typically does something extra for us if they can before normal business hours