It is with a heavy heart that I announce that 'The Ugly Duckling' will effectively be closing its doors as of today. There have been some changes in my work and personal life that have left me with little to no free time to dedicate toward the site any longer. The site will continue to remain, unfortunately there won't be any new content added.
Over the past few weeks I've debated between closing down the site outright and dialing back on updates and coverage. In the end I thought it best to just make it a clean break. I apologize to everyone who feels this is a rather sudden decision. I assure you that it's the right thing for me to do at this time.
The current Minifig Design Battle contest 'Oh My Goddess...' will run as scheduled. I've contacted FireStar Toys and it looks like we will continue the contests into the future. Stay tuned to the Flickr group for more details.
I will also continue to post up new Series 4 locations on the Rollout Map if people send them to me.
I will also continue to post up new Series 4 locations on the Rollout Map if people send them to me.
I want to thank everyone who have helped make this past year very memorable. I can say that when I started the site back in February 2010 I had no idea where it might go. The journey has allowed me to get to know an amazing group of artists, entrepreneurs, and fans of the fig.
A big thank you to Leper who was able to step in and help me with the minifigure guides earlier this year. Without your help, I feel the end would have come sooner.
A big thank you to Leper who was able to step in and help me with the minifigure guides earlier this year. Without your help, I feel the end would have come sooner.
My thanks to BrickTW for being the first custom house to send me product for review. Your products and Tigerggyy's photos will always hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks to JasBrick, Morgan, Victor, Shobrick, Hazel, Geoshift, and Andrew for agreeing to talk shop and share their love of minifig customization with everyone.
Thanks to everyone who have sent me items over the months. I appreciated the work that went into each and every one. I especially have to thank Pedro who couldn't be a nicer guy and really helped me out time and time again.
I also want to thank all of the custom houses for what they do. Without them we'd all be victims to the whims of a certain company in Denmark.
I also want to thank all of the custom houses for what they do. Without them we'd all be victims to the whims of a certain company in Denmark.
Thanks to Huw from Brickset for being a mentor to me in the world of LEGO fan sites.
Thanks to FireStar Toys for having us as an affiliate and sponsoring the monthly contests on Flickr. Paul is a real professional and I wish him all the best.
Last, but certainly not least, I thank the readers. Without you, none of this would have been possible.
I can't say this will be the last you'll see of me in the online LEGO community, (in fact I'm hoping I'll actually have time to build and design and not just write about it). I've also talked with a fellow blogger who has been gracious enough to host the occasional article (Pedro - yours will likely be the first of these). Please keep an eye on the Ka-GO blog for further developments.
Until next time...
Cygnet (AKA Kyle Swan)
Minister of Information
Ugly Duck Command Center
Minifig Nation
