Interview with Little Monk: A hidden Rookie
By Carson Zhang
At this year’s China AFOL Festival, a young builder garnered significant attention. While his creations may be small in scale, his ingenious use of parts and meticulous control of craftsmanship make his creatures and animals incredibly lifelike. This person is Little Monk (XiaoSeng), a young and promising builder from China.
Little Monk is a new face to most veteran builders, but I first met him in a TFOL Community a few years ago. Previously, due to academic commitments, Little Monk didn’t have much time for LEGO builds. But after he completed the university entrance exam this year, he’s been devoting more energy to LEGO creations. Thank him very much for accepting my interview. Now let’s start.
🎤Personal LEGO Journey
Q: What’s your very first memory of playing or building with LEGO? Do you remember the first set you ever built?
A: Before I went on a trip to Hainan during elementary school, I bought my first Lego set- 70224 Tiger’s Mobile Command. I finished it and put it in front of the TV to admire. When I woke up the next day and saw it there, I was so happy. Until now, I still have its remnants for memory.
Q: What made you fall in love with LEGO and stick with it as a hobby?
A: The good playing experience and the ability to build some cool things with my own hands, which are things I’ve never felt with other toys before.
Q: Has LEGO changed the way you see creativity in everyday life?
A: Definitely yes. When I walk on the street, I always wonder what things would look like if built with Lego bricks.
🧱 Building Style & Inspiration
Q: When you start building a model, do you build it digitally or directly physically? Why?
A: Physically, to be honest, I don’t know how to operate digital brick building software, such as Studio. At the same time, touching the Lego bricks realistically can inspire me more inspiration.
Q: I notice that many of your MOCs are alternative build MOCs. What are the advantages and limitations for you?
A: Since I don’t have access to a parts library at school, building with a set is often more convenient. I also think using only fixed parts can actually spark much more imagination. At the same time, it drives me to explore more ways to use parts. However, the limitations are also obvious: many small sets have too few parts, making the design quite challenging.
Q: When you sit down to build, do you usually follow instructions, or do you dive into making your own creations?
A: I think I have both, half and half.
Q: Where do you find inspiration for your MOCs — movies, real life, other builders?
A: Everything, everything visual.
Q: Do you have a favorite part that that you use regularly?
A: No, I don’t particularly like to use a certain part. If I had to choose one, it would be the small ball joint.
Q: What’s the build you’re most proud of so far, and what makes it special?
A: I made a build for a competition themed Journey to the West. But this is just a draft. I will update it in the future and complete it.
Q: Do you ever sketch or plan first, or do you just start stacking bricks and see where it goes?
A: To be honest, my energy is not very focused. I will try to start a project, work on it for two days, put it aside, and then start the next project. Maybe years later I will come back to the unfinished project. So I don’t have a draft, I usually just build bricks and see how it goes.
🚀 Community & Connections
Q: What’s the best part about being involved in the LEGO community for you?
A: I always hope there will be a space for excellent builders to communicate and keep in touch in daily life. After being introduced and invited by a friend, I found that blacklug was a perfect match for my idea. For more than ten years before, I played alone. And now, I am really looking forward to meeting more like-minded builders through Blacklug in the future.
Q: How does sharing your builds online (or in person) shape your creativity?
A: I just started sharing my work on social media this year. This is my Instagram account: little_monk_moc, which is the literal meaning of my Chinese name.
Q: What’s the best reaction you’ve ever seen when someone looked at one of your creations?
A: It is difficult to find a kindred spirit. Most people just point at your work and say: cool! It is difficult for someone to understand the true essence of design. I hope to meet more kindred spirits to discuss creation together.
🎯 Fun Quickfire Round
Q: Favorite LEGO theme?
A: Chima!
Q: Dream set you’d love LEGO to make?
A: There are many, I just listed some keywords: religion, temple, guardian, plague, god… In short, any fantasy thing I like.
Q: If you could only build in one color forever, what would it be?
A: Gray, like the last dwarf statue in the West Kingdom shining in the afterglow of the sunset (the background of the story is just made up by me randomly lol).
At the end of the day, Little Monk is really an outstanding builder. The subject matter of his works is very wide. And he can always capture the unique characteristics of everything he built with suitable parts. He is also very productive, sincerely recommend you all to follow him on Instagram to see more epic builds he made:
https://www.instagram.com/little_monk_moc
Thanks again to Little Monk for accepting our interview. I wish him to keep creating more excellent builds while completing his studies.
