LEGO MASTERS Post-Mortem: The Winners on The Secret Bonus Grand Prize, Their Favorite Builds, and More

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, December 14 season finale of LEGO MASTERS.]

LEGO MASTERS concluded with a ginormous finale, surprising the three remaining duos with two surprises: One, their loved ones were there to watch the final bit of the competition and they could help. And, two, the winning set would be made into a buildable LEGO set and the original build would be on display in the flagship store in New York.

Friends Christopher and Robert entered the finale riding high after winning the last three challenges. And for the finale, they opted to take on a plane—the largest build done.

Their ambition paid off, and they were crowned LEGO Masters (in addition to winning a $100,000 cash prize and a LEGO trophy).

Here, Christopher and Robert spoke with Give Me My Remote about winning it all, being a part of the LEGO legacy, the way they were portrayed on the show, and more.

What was going through your mind when you found out the winning build would be made into a LEGO set?
Christopher: Oh my goodness. Well, I think, for me, it was something that I never would have imagined [would] be an actual prize for LEGO MASTERS. I mean, typically, the TV division and the LEGO division are kind of their own independent entities. But to see them collaborate on something like this, in the moment when it was announced, I could barely believe it. I remember the exact feeling when we walked in and we saw a ton of LEGO sets in front of us. And I turned to Robert, “I wonder why they have so many random LEGO sets there? What’s the deal with that?” And they made the announcement and it was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I don’t know. Robert, how did you feel?
Robert: You know, the fact that we even made it so far to the finale was was shocking to both of us. We both love LEGO. Chris is an enormous LEGO collector, but we are on set with 11 other highly talented teams, and just making it to the finale was amazing, in and of itself. And when [host] Will Arnett was like, “Oh, your set’s gonna be turned into like a LEGO set,” that blew our minds. It’s something that you would never, ever expect. It’s never been done before. Even logistically, we’re thinking how would that even be possible [with] such a big set? So just a wild experience all around.

It feels like you were dominating the competition, especially by the end. Were you shocked even at that point that you made it to the finale? Or did you reach a point where you were like, “Okay, we’re good, we’ve got this?”  
Robert: [We were nervous] every episode.
Christopher: We went into the show, and we thought—or at least I thought—we would be out by the second episode, maybe even the first one. And I remember our goal was like, can we just survive past the first episode? Because neither of us really do custom LEGO builds. I build a ton of sets; I’m trying to get the world record for the most LEGO sets built. But not really any custom creations. And Robert, you’re fairly new to it, as well. So we went in, we’re like, “Okay, let’s try this out. Let’s just survive past episode 1 and see what happens.” And we kind of took it week by week.
Robert: I think week by week is definitely the mantra. Because I feel like on the show, no matter how good of a builder you are, it just takes one miscalculation, like, oh crap, we didn’t have enough time to finish or, oh, this thing just didn’t work out the way the judges wanted, and you’re gone. So even when we were on that winning streak near the end, I remember every single episode, it was a pretty harrowing experience. Especially the roller coaster episode. That was just—we were down to the wire and like we didn’t know if anything was going to come together until pretty much the very end. So we were just happy to be there.

Knowing the winning build was going to be made into a set, how did that change your perspective? And were there ideas you liked, but just not enough to have immortalized in this way? 
Christopher: I remember the first thing I said when I heard that I turned to Robert and I was like, “Rob, we actually have to win now.” And he’s like, “What do you mean now?” [Laughs.] Going into it, we weren’t planning on trying to win—I think the stakes are higher than ever. And for me as someone who’s been collecting LEGO pretty much my whole life and trying to eventually open up a museum with a copy of almost every LEGO set in existence, this is the dream. I mean, this is really something that I never, ever would have imagined that I would have the skills to be able to help design a LEGO set; it’s still so surreal to me. 
Robert: I mean, to be honest, I don’t remember us thinking about having the finale build be a LEGO set. I don’t think that was the biggest consideration at the back of our heads. I think for us, we just wanted things to be big, and ideally the biggest the show has ever seen—and see what happens from there. Let LEGO figure out how to turn this into a set. But our job here is to make something really, really big and interesting.
Christopher: We were in survival mode for pretty much all 24 hours. It was not a lot of thinking, “Oh, how could they turn it into a set?” It was a lot more of, “How on Earth are we going to finish this on time?”

Given how big it was, what kind of changes did you have to make along the way to actually get it done in that timeframe?
Robert: I think we had a pretty nice system, where at the start of every episode, we try to first plan out our high-level vision. And then we have an hour-by-hour, sometimes 30-minute-by-30-minutes, schedule of what each and every one of us should be doing in that time period. So we’d write down, “In the first hour, you would build this, I would build this.” And we tried to prioritize based on what’s the most important thing to build? It always happens that we overscope; we try to cram in too many features every single episode. But I think we were able to prioritize things in a way so that we build the most important things first, so that even if we run out of time, we can just toss things out as we go and just adjust.

So I think for the finale episode, it was definitely that, but harder, because I think the build was just very, very large. And once we stuck to a scale, we had to commit to it from the very start. But I still think there were a couple of things like the engines or like some lettering and some polishing details that we put towards the end and what we tried to prioritize was, “Let’s get this thing first looking like a plane.” At the end of the day, I think the build turned out to be not as polished and clean as we wanted it to be—I think our bag was really polished. But ultimately we finished the broad strokes of it, which I think was a task, to be sure.
Christopher: And there are a million things if I had an extra hour, extra 30 minutes, extra five minutes, I can immediately tell you right now like this is what we would be working on. We had such ambitious ideas. We had a very, very cool technique in mind for how to really smooth out the edges of the wings and to make it feel like they’re curving downwards. And at the end of the day, I mean the wings just kind of are these block shapes, if you really look closely because there was no chance we could finish that.

But I think what we were really trying to prioritize is, okay, can we get the shape of what we want to get done; from a distance does it look like a plane? That’s really what we need to do. Engines? You know what, it flies on imaginations and dreams; we don’t need engines, it’s a glider. And stuff like, oh, well we can have a world map display on the wings like a mosaic. It’s [gets changed to] we’ll have like the outline of a map on one of the wings now. And it was stuff like that that kept on getting descoped and descoped. But, overall, I am pretty happy with what we were able to finish. I’m honestly kind of surprised that we were able to finish the shape of a plane, overall, because I remember, down to the last second, we were still finishing up some of the curves on the underside, like the back curve, the front curve underneath the cockpit—if we had like 10 minutes less, the plane would not have been complete. So I think we pushed it to the absolute breaking point. And that was it. That was it for that amount of time.



One of the cool perks of winning is that your build is going to be in the flagship store in New York. First of all, what plans do you guys have to see it? And are you able to put those finishing touches on the plane, or was it hands-off as soon as you submitted it for judging? 
Robert: I think we’re just as much in the dark as you on how they’re going to fit that in the flagship store. I live in New York, so I live like a 20-minute walking distance from Fifth Avenue.
Christopher: No idea where it’s gonna go.
Robert: The store’s big, but it’s not that big. We have no idea. After the show, the producers, the LEGO team, they’re hard at work, I’m sure, maybe making it look better and polishing off details. We personally haven’t seen it since the show, though.
Christopher: Yeah, I mean, it’s funny because we were just in New York this past weekend, and we made a trip down to the LEGO store just to kind of discreetly look around the store and be like, “Okay, where could they put it?” I don’t know where they would fit it. I mean, they’d have to chop off the wings or maybe cut it in half. Which they may do! We have no idea. So we’re quite curious. And we’re very, very excited. Of course, whenever it gets unveiled, we will be obviously making a pilgrimage out; that’s going to be a really special moment for us to see something we made actually displayed inside the LEGO store. It’s just going to be awesome. So we’re very excited and we wish LEGO the best of luck because I have no idea how they’re gonna make that work. [Laughs.]

You were also surprised by having your loved ones there. What did that mean to you?
Robert: Yeah, I mean, I was shocked. Like, my mom didn’t tell me at all. We were texting all the way up until the last minute. I was like, “Oh, how are things going?” “Things are going good.” And she pops up on set. [Laughs.] I really couldn’t believe my eyes for the first like five, 10 seconds. Like, wait a minute, how did this happen? But just having my mom on set was just an amazing experience. We built LEGO together when I was smaller, it was a thing that we always did. She got me into [LEGO] MINDSTORMS, as well, and that got me into coding and where I am today. So having her be on set on the show, building our finale build, and helping in that effort was just awesome. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Christopher: For me, I’ve been building LEGO with my parents—and especially my dad—since I was really young. And when I was first auditioning for the show, I even considered doing it with my dad before I decided to do it with Robert. So it was really quite surreal to actually have both my parents just materialize randomly on set. I know that in some past seasons they did it. Some past seasons they didn’t do it. So we honestly had no idea what to expect. And it was just so, so surreal and special to actually not only have them there, but for the first time, I believe, in history actually have them help out with the build. 

And I think I can confidently say without that 30 minutes to an hour of help that they provided, we wouldn’t have finished because that was pretty crucial structural stuff that we basically [had them do]. It was a pretty mad dash. I mean, as soon as they turned the clock on and they could help, we put them to work, for sure. [Laughs.]

Once the adrenaline rush of finishing went away and you were standing there, waiting to hear the results, what was going through your mind when you made the top 2?
Christopher: I mean, you could probably see it all on our faces in the episode…Honestly, at least for me, I was just really grateful to have had the chance to be up there with so many talented builders. I remember when we first met this incredible family of builders and I was just blown away by what other people were building on the show. And I remember in that moment, all I could think of was, “Wow, I’m so happy to be here and so honored to be here and up here with these incredibly talented building teams.” And I think at that point, I was proud of what we had made and I kind of made peace with it. And I was like okay, you know what, no matter what happens, we made it to the finale. We made it this far. And it’s out of our hands at this point. And I think we did the best we could. We showed up with a plan. We executed the plan, plan went off the rails a little bit, but that’s what improvisation is for. And we were happy with the completed product. So I think it was just up to fate at that point.
Robert: It really was a toss-up, I think. Sam and Neena, Paul and Nealita, they both pulled off equally insane builds. I have to say for season 4, I think our builds were the biggest in aggregate, compared to any other thing ever; I’m a competitive person, I like to win, whether it is our season winning or it is us winning. So just being on stage with all these amazing builders, as Chris said, was just an enormous privilege. 

And I think at the end of the day, it really was a toss-up how the judges kind of weighed different factors in their heads: certain things had more polish, certain things had more theming, certain things had more technique…And as Chris said, just super happy just to be up there on stage. But when we heard we won it, for me, [and]  I’m sure for Chris, it was like a cathartic moment. There was just so much stress and anxiety building up as we waited for that decision to come out and when it was released, whether win or lose, but especially when win, I think it was just like it was just like a whoosh of emotion.

And you guys literally dropped to the floor! Which, naturally, is fair. What are your hopes for how your set might inspire the next generation of LEGO builders?
Christopher: We went into the build with really the main goal of it being to inspire travel and use the idea of travel to inspire people to learn more about other cultures and to make memories with their friends, with their family, on their own. And really, I feel that LEGO as an icon, as not just a toy, but as an artistic medium, is something that can be enjoyed by people all around the world, of all ages, of all genders. No matter where you live, no matter how old you are, you can find joy in building Lego. And that’s really what we are hoping can be conveyed in whatever LEGO set eventually comes of our build. It is really to convey that passion for travel and that passion for seeking out new cultures and just having people come together to build. And have this be like a social and collaborative and creative experience. And that’s really what I’m hoping will be conveyed through our build. We are super excited, as well. And I think all we can say is it’s coming soon. We can’t wait to see it on shelves.
Robert: We can’t wait to see.

Looking back at the season outside of the finale build, what are the builds that you were most proud of?
Robert: We did a ranking video on this. I feel like what I say now may differ from what I [said] because there are so many good builds
Christopher: I edited it last night, so I’m gonna see if you’re consistent with what you said like three months ago.
Robert: Oh, man. Honestly, I feel like for me, my proudest build was the finale build. I don’t know.
Christopher: That’s what you said!
Robert: Okay, good. And I think that comes down to, one, I think lots of techniques, lots of ambition, but I also think both of us are product managers and our day-to-day job consists of prioritizing features and figuring out how to fit things into a release. And so I think just the time management portion of it for that finale build, I think we managed really, really well. It was like a Herculean effort of just getting this thing finished. And I think the fact that we got it past the finish line is an immensely proud moment.
Christopher: For me, I think that I had a lot of favorite builds, but I’m definitely biased on this one. But I really, really love our build that we did for episode 3, which is probably no surprise to Robert; he knows I love this one so much. Part of the reason why I’m into LEGO today is because I fell in love with LEGO’s original story themes, like NINJAGO, NEXO KNIGHTS, and BIONICLE. And our build for episode 3, we got a chance to kind of draw inspiration from LEGO original storytelling, but of course make it our own original idea, put our own twist on it. 

I just remember when that episode came out, I got so much love and so many comments from the BIONICLE community online and they’re like, “Oh my goodness, he actually built something that was an homage to this very iconic LEGO theme that was around for 10 years starting from 2001 to 2010.” And that really shaped a lot of people’s childhoods, including mine. I feel like the reason why I’m into LEGO today is definitely a big part because of the storytelling they were doing in that theme. So having the perfect opportunity—a volcanic tropical island was basically the perfect possible prompt for something like that. And being able to put our own spin on it and come up with something new and fresh, I just loved putting that together. It is a build that I am trying to work on building my own version of it actually at home right now. So it’s definitely something that I feel will stick with me for quite a while. But that one and the bag. I think the bag…we were both really proud of that bag because it was probably our most polished build. So those two I think are my favorites.

You also had your car build put into a digital game. What does it mean to you to have your imprint in both the physical and digital LEGO world? 
Christopher: Yeah, I mean that, at least to me, before we knew the grand prize was becoming a set I was like, “Oh, this is even cooler than that. Who cares about a certain amount of money—this is getting immortalized in LEGO history.” So that was really cool. What’s really special is that the 2K team actually gave Robert and I the opportunity to build it ourselves. So over the summer, Robert actually came over to Seattle, and we were playing the game together. And it just kind of worked out that, over email, they were like, “Yeah, we were gonna build it, but do you guys want to build it instead?” And we’re like, “Oh, heck yeah we want to build it.” So we sat down for like three, four hours and we built it digitally in-game, sent the game file over to them, and then it was available on the day the episode came out. And that was very surreal seeing it in my game inventory; I now have two identical copies of it because I have one from the downloadable store and the one that we built, like, months ago. So it’s very, very funny. [Laughs.] But that was so cool. I mean, Robert, what did you think of that?
Robert: Yeah, I think building it together with you was such an amazing experience. We got to drive it around, to, the lasers and the flashing lights.
Christopher: I demolished you in that race. [Laughs.]
Robert: Our shark is a big boy. [Laughs.] But, yeah, having our build immortalized in a game like 2K Drive is just so, so cool. I mean, Chris explained it really, really well. It’s hard to beat.
Christopher: And then one thing to add is the story behind that is actually quite funny…during filming, I actually was asked to go to a 2K Drive event, but obviously I couldn’t go because I was filming the show. So I actually sent one of my friends. And apparently they told them that there was going to be a 2K Drive challenge at that event, but he didn’t tell me. 

So when we had the 2K Drive challenge, I called him, I was like, “Oh my God, you won’t believe this. Guess what?” And he was like, “Oh, let me guess the 2K Drive challenge?” I was like, “What do you mean it’s the 2K Drive challenge?!” It was very, very funny…I was doing 2K Drive-related LEGO stuff before and after the show. Like, they had us go out to New York for a launch event for the game. So it was difficult keeping the secret the entire time during that event—I was literally with the developers there, with the project manager of the game, and we were getting to play test it early. And I was like, “I can’t say anything, it’s not even out”…So it was very, very cool to eventually see it all come to fruition just a few months ago.

In any kind of reality show, the contestants are at the mercy of production and editing. For your team, you were painted at times as chaos agents. Was that a role you felt you actually played in the show? I’ve heard lovely things about you guys from your fellow contestants…
Christopher: [Joking.] We actually blackmailed them into saying nice things about us because of course we had to threaten them behind the scenes. So anything good you hear, that was all because of us. 

But, no, I mean, I think behind the scenes, I feel like I’ve made a family. I mean, we’ve been to conventions together since then. I’ve had Sam over at my house to see my LEGO collection, which is super fun. I feel like we were able to really make a family. On set, I think it was just a pretty fun time. The way that Robert and I kind of approached it was, okay, well, we could just be serious and work on the builds the whole time, or we could try to have at least a little bit of fun while filming as well. And I think that we’re very happy with the way it was edited. I think it’s very entertaining for both of us watching it back, seeing them really play it up because that was exactly what we were going for with the whole villain act. So we’re quite happy with it. And I think it was a lot of fun for both of us to play that part.
Robert: It’s always fun to be a little bit spicy.
Christopher: Yes! [Laughs.]

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