A Retrospect in Micro.

With the conclusion of the Mini Castle Contest V, with prizes soon to be on their way, and threads soon to pulled down, I though it might be interesting to go back and look at the last five years of micro building.

In 2005 I started a thread for a small little contest (yes, pun very much intended) and was pleasantly surprised by the six-page affair it turned into. Granted, the first page or two was just people trying to get their heads around just what micro was exactly. I’d like to think that after five annual contests, castle micro is a bit more understandable, and with any luck, has helped people uncover a new area of creativity. The five contests have been relatively close in amount of entries, but I think I can say the average level of skill rose with each year.

The entries for each year are as follows:


MCC - 2005: 19 entries.

MCC II - 2006: 14 entries.

MCC III - 2007: 23 entries.

MCC IV - 2008: 23 entries.

MCC V - 2009: 23 entries.

Getting a little scary isn't it?

The winners of each year were as follows:

MCC - Sir Nelson



MCC II - engineerio



MCC III - jedimasterwagner



MCC IV - wobnam



MCC V - Weasel47



So in total, there has been 102 MOCs built for this contest, plus a special category the last two years. And with winners from all corners of the globe (I know cause my wallet screamed every time I had to go and mail out the prize).

So that’s a brief synopsis of the past contests. I am curious though where people would you like to see the MCC go from here. Is there anything they feel needs to be changed; a particular rule they think doesn't apply anymore? Do they think the judging is fair? That the time slot is the best? That the length of the contest is adequate?

Some specific questions that have come to mind over the last little while, which some feedback on would great.

Do you think the different special category is a good idea?

Would you rather see several specific categories every year, or none at all?

Do you feel having the contest right before the CCC affects it at all?

The contest has gone on for five years, and with luck, it'll go on for at least that many more, but I'd like to make sure the contest is something you people enjoy.

Thank you all, especially the people who donated the prizes, and the management of Classic-Castle, it's been a great five years!

In the next few days I will be highlighting some of the entries for this year's contest, both the winners and those not yet shown here.

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