#brickshelf

[gdscript]

Hey, so I kinda want to talk about Brickshelf.

For context, Brickshelf is an old website, I'm talking 1998, that early fans of Lego (including Bionicle) used to host images, specifically for their creations. A ton of fanart is on this website, too.

In late June, it was reported by a journalist that the founder of this website, Kevin Loch, passed away last year (additional Facebook source). I am not clear who is running the website at this point.

According to LUGNET, Kevin's estate is currently paying to keep Brickshelf online. I don't know how much time we have, but my estimate is two months, because one of his websites (https://bsrender.io/) has a public notice that it will be disabled this March.

Brickshelf is host to 4,942,783 image files organized into 431,130 folders. That's a lot of early Internet history potentially being lost.

If you individually want to preserve your files, there is a python script for downloading a user's files here.

Is anyone here interested in helping archive this website? I'd like to make an archive, I just have no prior experience. Thank you.

Edit: The Bio-Media team sent me a reply that they're one of the groups who are willing to volunteer to help with archiving. More info in reblogs.

[bionicle-sprite-comics]

Hooray!

Brickshelf is back online! I'm so happy!

I'll happily find some time to queue up new posts, once search functionality returns.

[arzeron]

holy crap i found my old brickshelf and all my sprite comics

[bionicle-sprite-comics]

3/1/2025

By now, Brickshelf was either purchased or has gone down. I've queued as many good posts as I could find with Brickshelf's search feature.

There will be additional posts of fan comics queued throughout the remainder of 2025. Hopefully there is an archive being uploaded somewhere on the web that may allow me to continue posting, but I'm also satisfied with what I gathered.

I decided somewhere during this blog to start making my own sprite comics. I will be releasing the Bonkle Sprite Kit, which is an extension of the Rayg sprite kit made to feel like Razor's style. A nostalgia fusion style, if you will.

As for my comics, I'll continue to create them, which means the above sprite kit will expand, as well. There's no set schedule for the comics, as it's currently just a hobby. Thank you all for following and enjoying this blog and its celebration of fan art.

[bionicle-sprite-comics]

Brickshelf has been acquired by the Wall of History, a dedicated Bionicle fan community.

This blog will continue to post comics and such throughout the remainder of the year. Thank you all for enjoying these posts!

[ryansbedroom]

Keven M. Loch, the founder of free LEGO image & file hosting site Brickshelf passed away on June 19, 2024, aged 52.

And now the entire site will be shut down at the beginning of March unless a buyer can be found.

Besides; it's old, antiquated, dated and more importantly, poses a security risk, especially to minors.

This marks the end of an era when we had the freedom to host pictures & files without having to burn a single dollar bill or two.

Now our freedom has been taken away from us with Flickr, Imageshack and Photobucket now changing their policies and urging us to pay for membership or risk losing our photos forever.

All of those three mentioned sites are meant for Hosting, not Long-Term Storage.

There are so many alternative choices like ReBrickable, BrickSafe and even Facebook.

Brickshelf will hold a special place in internet history and a place in our hearts.😭

Thank you so much Keven Loch for making Brickshelf the most amazing part of our childhoods!

Please save your images & files now ASAP before it's too late!