Block by block; Teagan’s town set to expand

ByMatthew Crane Reading Time: 5 minutes
Teagan at work on the city. Photo provided by Kyle Kendall.

Kyle Kendall has some time to plan on the expansion coming to his 11-year-old daughter’s Lego city.

It already takes up an entire room in the basement of his Ireland home. He doesn’t have much choice though, the 55 or so sets that now spread across three large Tablex tables — that’s where Kyle works as a graphic designer — will grow by more than half when the 33 new Heartlake City sets being released this year arrive on his doorstep in June.

Right now he’s thinking of running some shelving along a wall but with that many new features being added, he may have to knock a wall out.

You see, his daughter Teagan was just announced as a finalist in an international contest sponsored by the Denmark-based source of the colorful bricks that fuel millions of children’s imaginations – not to mention at least twice as many sore feet.

Teagan’s model of the theatre, which she ended up naming after the local historic treasure, beat out more than 27,800 entries from all over the world to end up on the top ten list of the Heartlake City contest. She submitted four models in all; the theatre, a doctor’s office, an intricate carousel and a theme park log ride.

Great movies abound at the Astra in Teagan’s town. The Heartlake Lego sets didn’t have a theatre so for the contest she included one in the four submissions she sent in. Although Kyle couldn’t help design or build any of submissions, he did help by ordering the Lego inspired movie posters from a specialty shop and printed out the Astra decal and billboard movie titles.

All four models have a place in Teagan’s Heartlake City in the basement. The expansive plastic municipality is a mixture of models built to Lego’s specifications and some of her own creations. Each one handbuilt by Teagan, dad was only allowed to sort bricks and apply some decals. It all began with a simple car Kyle gave her on Valentine’s Day of 2012. That car is still put together driving around the now expansive town that grew in the basement over the past five years.

The theatre she finally entered in the contest is the second rendition she built. Designing as she went, she added detailed elements like multicolored bricks for popcorn, a soda fountain, film projector and a ticket booth. It is a top class model for a town that doesn’t have a theatre set available from Lego yet.

It fits in the Jasper Middle Schooler’s city just fine but it will remain a one of a kind. The winning entry was set to become a production model this year and unfortunately, Teagan learned today her’s wasn’t chosen. The winner will be announced tomorrow by Lego. It will join the Astra and many others in Teagan’s city when it arrives with the 33 others this summer.

Good luck on the expansion.

Check out the contest here.

A resident of Teagan Kendall’s Heartlake City rows along the felt river. She is one of hundreds of residents of the Lego village spread across three Tablex tables in the basement of her parents home.
A hot air balloon gives one resident of Teagan’s town a birdseye view of the expanding city. Meanwhile, Teagan’s dad, Kyle Kendall is wondering how he’s going to allow for the 33 new sets arriving on the family’s doorstep in June.
A couple familiar residents are preparing for dinner in Teagan’s town. The father is up top grilling while the mother is greeting the pizza delivery boy at the gate. According to Kyle, this is a common scenario that plays out in the Ireland family’s home due to his love of grilling and his wife Renae’s love of pizza.
Jetliners and prop-planes fly over the expansive city that features a winding road repurposed from Kyle’s brother’s old Stomper trucks and two more eBay purchases. A lake and river provide some great aesthetics for the town and its them park.
The log ride is one of the four submissions Teagan created for the contest. As you can see, there is plenty of stuff to do in her town.
Teagan’s Astra took over 500 bricks to build. She used parts from several other sets and found some pieces she needed through online sales and specialty stores.
The interior of the theatre features a pretty accurate concession stand with fountain drinks and popcorn in the popper. (Photo from the contest)
Teagan’s Astra was one of the ten finalists in the Lego Heartlake Contest. She competed against nearly 28,000 models sent in from all over the world.
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2 Comments

  2. Always use your imagination! It will take you places. Congrats! I hope I get to,purchase one of your Astra sets. Your dad should get you a Yellow Submarine for your town.

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