Gondolin’s tourism board has a tricky assignment: promote the hidden city without giving away the address. John Tooker, better known as jtooker2, tackles that particular Tolkien problem with Greetings from Gondolin, a LEGO postcard from somewhere decidedly off the tour-bus route.
The build was made for LOLUG’s monthly contest, which challenged builders to design a postcard to a place you can’t visit. A secret Elven city with a rather unfortunate future? Yep, that qualifies. Five stars for atmosphere; serious concerns about the cancellation policy.
I love this brief because the postcard format asks builders to think like editors: what makes a place recognizable, and what can you leave out? That’s a delicious challenge when your source material is Tolkien, whose worldbuilding isn’t exactly carry-on sized. For a castle-loving AFOL like John, Gondolin is an especially fitting destination. Just send your greetings before the Balrogs arrive. They’re notoriously hard on the local architecture.
Build by jtooker2 on Flickr.
