After 10 epic episodes, LEGO Masters has crowned another winner. Siblings Ian and Sage proved that they could work through the ups and downs and take on all of the challenges.
There were some intriguing builds and some fun moments, but there were also challenging elements to their journey to be crowned winners. In the end, they not only get to take home the LEGO Masters trophy, but their final build will be on display in New York.
Their build, which they called “Our Story,” received praise from the Brickmasters, who noted their niche focus, structure, and story behind it all. Yes, the siblings even managed to incorporate their tricky situation with a hinge into the story of the build, which was magically done.
Ian and Sage talk about their dream experience on LEGO Masters
GeekSided: Congratulations on that win! How are you feeling?
Ian Summers: Words can’t describe it. It is such a surreal moment to see that on TV and relive the amazing memories.
Sage Summers: Yeah, when we watched it, tears were flowing. My heart was racing, like we didn’t know what was gonna happen.
GS: I know some family saw it, but was there anyone you were watching it with that you had to keep the win a secret from?
Ian: Yeah, so our family was actually on set, and they got to see it in person. But everyone else, we were lips sealed.
Sage: When it was announced, you could hear the volume of screaming behind us. It was so surreal. We had all our friends and because we pet sit, we had all of our pet-sitting clients cheering us on. It was awesome!
Ian: It was so amazing!
GS: And you didn’t drop the trophy! I know you were worried about that.
Ian: Yeah, Will was saying all these amazing things to me, and I’m shaking! I felt I was gonna drop it. I didn’t drop it like he dropped our piano.
GS: That final build gave you a bit of trouble with the hinge. What was going through your mind as you tried to make it work?
Sage: Anytime the arm would fall off, it would break everything around it, so we would have to rebuild everything around it with the arm. It was super stressful because we thought we maybe had a shot. Maybe we could win this. We had to get the arm on. It was a very intense moment.
Ian: We were losing our heads when that arm was falling off. Every time we would attach it, it would just fall right back off. I would look at the clock and was like ‘okay, 15 more minutes, 10 more minutes.’ That’s when we came up with the idea of resting it on the candle and incorporating it into our story of him writing a nightmare, so it helped in the end. The Brickmasters said they liked that part.
GS: How did you start coming up with the idea considering all the pressure?
Ian: It’s funny. The arm kept falling and hitting the candle specifically, and Sage built the candle, so she’d have to constantly rebuild it, so we’re like, ‘Why does it keep hitting the candle?’ Sage came up with resting it on the candle.
I was like, ‘Why would he have his arm against the candle?’ So, we embraced it. Let’s have his cloak catching on fire. He’s a wizard, but he’s busy writing everybody’s dreams. He’s a little chaotic.
Sage: And in terms of the wizard, we really wanted to incorporate our story and how it was the dream of ours to be on LEGO Masters and in the finale, but we wanted to make it for more of a broad audience. By doing the wizard, we thought kids could come up and see it as their dream. Like, ‘you’re writing my dreams.’ It could be a fun story for kids.
GS: There was a lot of focus on the arm in the show. Were there any other tricky bits that had to be cut for time’s sake?
Ian: I’d say probably the bookshelves in the back. They were kind of delicate.
Sage: And very last minute. We had to throw these together to have something in the back for the composition of it.
Also, a very important thing is the face of the wizard, and Ian did an awesome job with the sculpting and everything, because that’s very crucial.
Ian: There was a point where we knew that it was all going to come down to the face, so that was very intensive. Like ‘it all comes down to this.’ It was our money shot.
GS: That quickly became a running joke this season. What was your favorite challenge throughout?
Sage: My favorite was definitely the masquerade challenge. I thought it was really cool how we were able to do a wearable and walk the runway together. I was happy I could not see Ian next to me, because I would have laughed and the mask would have broken. It was really cool, because I love incorporating fashion and LEGO together.
Ian: The most fun I had was definitely for the Batman challenge, just because we got LEGO Batman as the host, so to build a Batmobile for him, it felt like we were doing a love letter.
GS: What was your least favorite that you never want to build again?
Sage & Ian: GBC [Great Ball Contraptions].
Sage: It is not our forte.
Ian: To have that challenge in the semifinals to get to punch your ticket to the finale could not have been the most stressful challenge and timing of the challenge.
Sage: But it made making it to the finale even sweeter.
GS: That’s the thing; you got through the worst challenge at the most crucial point.
Ian: And it gave us the confidence in the finale. We knew from previous seasons that we could build whatever we wanted, so if we could survive that, then we could survive the next challenge.
GS: By knowing going in what the final challenge would be, you could plan ahead. Was there any other ideas going in? What made you decide the wizard specifically?
Ian: We knew that being here was such a dream, and we wanted to incorporate something like that. As Sage said, something that would be universal to children everywhere. A wizard is a favorite piece of magic, so what better point of a character? He would write the dreams of people around the world, and we felt like a lot of people could relate to that and see themselves in the build.
Sage: We’re really proud of how it turned out to be.
GS: What did you learn about yourselves both working as a team but also individually?
Ian: How cool and calm Sage is under pressure! There were times when there were 10 minutes left and I had to look away and I’d be panicking. She was calm as a cucumber, just putting the finishing touches on it. I was really impressed by her building skill, especially near the end of each challenge.
Sage: Building with my best friend was amazing. It’s an experience I will never forget. Going into it, Ian built very detailed stuff, so I was wondering how he would do the wizard’s face, for instance. That’s such a big character that he was able to accomplish. I am blown away by anything he builds, so being on the show made me realize he can build big stuff that’s polished. I was super impressed.
Ian: And how we got along was cool to see. We can build how we do in real life, even in really stressful situations, and still be best friends and go through it together. It showed that our experience outside the show really paid off on the show.
GS: Is there anything you would like to go back and change?
Ian: As a perfectionist, there’s always little bits and details that at home you would change. But for the time and the stress of everything, I’m pretty proud of how everything turned out.
Sage: I wouldn’t change anything.
GS: It’s definitely a different experience being on LEGO Masters compared to life. What can you take from the show to use in your life going forward?
Ian: Just staying cool under pressure, not letting anything get ahead of you and just finish the task.
Sage: Yeah, one step at a time. You don’t have to rush things and don’t think too much ahead. I feel like, you can have anxiety about what the future holds, so take just one day at a time.
GS: Now your final build is heading to New York. How does that feel?
Sage: I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun.
Ian: To know that people are going to walk by and see our build and hopefully be inspired by it just means everything to us.
GS: What’s next for you both?
Ian: So, we are going to BrickFair, Virginia this weekend, so we can’t wait to see all the kids and hopefully inspire the next generation of Builders. We want to pass on the baton.
My LEGO builds will be displayed at the Masterpiece Gallery in Denmark, and this will be my first time in Denmark, so it’ll be there for a year. I’m really looking forward to that.
Sage: I’m hoping to go into the fashion world and anything artistic. I’m really into photography. I love taking pictures of Ian’s LEGO builds.
LEGO Masters is available to stream on Hulu.
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