Michael Jasper (AKA Mijasper) is essentially known by his ability to surprise with the details of its creations. He creates unique effects using innovative techniques.

Bellow there's a short and nice interview were we can know a little more about this creator, the way he builds and the way he sees the LEGO hobby.

Q: Let's talk a bit about yourself first: who are you? What do you do, where do you come from?

My name is Michael Jasper. I’m sitting here in front of my desk in Dortmund, Germany, alone at last with just a few questions to answer - even such I never really reflected upon -, while my wife has left for work and my two daughters are at school ...

Besides this fulltime job as father, husband and homemaker every now and then I’m working part time at the local university bookstore.

Q: How did you first made contact with LEGO? Do you remember your first LEGO set?

From the time I was a kid in the 1960s I vaguely remember myself playing with LEGO. But my very first set (KT205) I purchased not until much later in 2003.

Q: What is your favorite LEGO theme and what do you enjoy building the most?

Initially when I started collecting sets in 2003 my favorite LEGO theme was Train, however today I have no fixation on a specific one - the last as yet train related MOC I built two years ago.

I love to create and design tiny things, especially accessories for minifigs, a passion that raised in early 2005 while building a minifig scaled toy train. (Btw.: The overwhelming feedback on its presentation really made me speechless at that time.)

Q: Did you go through a dark age? (and why?)

No, I didn’t.

Those LEGOless decades since my childhood - LEGO has been just a toy besides other toys, with no particular status - cannot be labeled as dark age.

But there probably have been a couple of dark weeks, even months since 2003.

Q: What attracts you most about LEGO so that you chose it as your hobby?

The unlimited variety of possibilities to be creative!

Q: How did you come across the Portuguse 0937 Community?

I think it was in 2006 when I took notice of the 0937 Community for the very first time.

The new LUGMap for LUGNET had just been announced, so I took my time to visit all LEGO users groups sites listed for Europe, including Comunidade 0937. And although my confusion about this numeric puzzle lasted for quite a while it could finally be solved yet again ...

Q: Where do you go for inspiration for your MOCs?

It’s the world we live in that inspires me ... as well as a single LEGO part.

Q: Could you tell us which is your favorite creation of all time? (self or not) Why?

If I would have to make my choice: Always the newest one by Johannes "Jojo" Köhler.

Why? – Because you have asked. :-)

(Jojo is one of a very few AFOLs whose ingenious creations never cease to amaze me, and every single one of these makes me wish I’d built it ... - but don’t spread the word!)

Q: Which is your favorite LEGO Brick?

The minifig!

But if you - with good reason - remain adamant that it consists of x elements, I go for the minifig hand, even though nowadays this one is less frequently used for my LEGO works; occasionally more satisfactory alternatives are to be found. But time was when I used those hands in almost all of my creations.

Q: Can you tell us something about your buildings. How do you plan a MOC? How do you choose the parts?

First of all: As already hinted above I favor building at minifig scale. Most of my works are based on real things, and according to this I’m always anxious to make them look as realistic as possible - unless I want to caricature.

Basically my MOCs originate in two different ways:

For one thing it starts with a specific idea of WHAT to create. This generally applied procedure is often very time-consuming even if I’m going to build something ever so tiny, because I’m never content with just first available solutions. Then in quite a few cases I even find several usable solutions for design or to constructional problems, and when I’m unable to decide on one I create variations on the same model or theme.

For another thing many MOCs simply develop due to an idea or imagination on HOW to utilize a specific Lego element (in an uncommon way), because it looks like this or could represent that. My recently published creation Alfred Nobel which you probably still remember ... may serve here as an example: The figure - and eventually the whole scene as well - is inspired by the two lettered bricks that make up the coat.

LEGO elements, in particular those small and special ones, can be used in many ways - you just have to look at them as what they could be.