Long weekends are far too rare of a treat, so when they come along you really have to make the most of them. That is something I certainly accomplished by heading to the 2013 BrisBricks Expo.
Ticketing
Tickets were sold online and at the door based on pre-determined session times. The online ticketing system was incredibly straight forward and I didn’t have any problems. I purchased my ticket for the Monday 10:30am session at 11:55pm the night before.
The staff at the event were more than happy to scan the barcode ticket on the screen of a mobile device, which is handy for those of us without easy access to a printer.
The Venue
What a difference a year makes! The venue for last year’s inaugural BrisBricks Expo was a little small, and a little hot. This year, the venue was incredibly spacious and not particularly hot, considering it was a sweltering Brisbane day outside.
It was nice to see a variety of food vendors at the venue, as well as plenty of seating. There were lots of families having a bite to eat after a busy day of LEGO.
For Sale
As is quite common at these events there were a number of LEGO retailers offering bricks to adults and kids who were inspired by the displays. It was nice to see a variety of products on sale; such as sets, customised items and even individual minifigures. I managed to get the Series 11 Female Scientist that had been eluding me so far.
The MOCs
It was great to see some new creations on display at the show. As this was the second BrisBricks event for the year I was concerned that there was going to be very little that I hadn’t seen before. There were certainly some things that I had seen previously but there were also some fantastic new creations.
Some stand outs:
- The interactive 4WD display. Giving fans a chance to drive RC cars over some tough terrain really showed how much fun Technic can be.
- Classic sets! As somebody far too young to have seen the original Town Plan set it was nice to be able to see that and other vintage sets on display.
- Royal Exhibition Building. Very impressive attention to detail and design.
- Movie Character City. This display very cleverly combined several famous characters into a single city street. Where else can you see the Ghost Busters and Marty McFly together?
Be sure to check out the gallery below.
Compared to last year’s event, the 2013 was clearly bigger and better. As a Brisbane LEGO fan I really hope the group continues the current trend of rapid growth in both popularity and quality of their displays. If there is one thing that I could change, it would be the introduction of an evening event for Brisbane AFOLs who love LEGO, but aren’t in a position to join the group. I have had the pleasure of attending an evening event at other LEGO shows, and it makes for a great night out.
To the author
I dont know you but i believe i saw you walking around the hall on the Monday (cannon 50D). Thankyou for the great review however the last little comment stuck with me and i just wanted to say that Anyone can apply to be a social member of the BrisBricks club, You don’t have to have lots of LEGO, nor be able to build mad MOC’s,(1 little old lady of 76 owns most of the StarWars and hasn’t built a MOC in her life) you just have to love LEGO. The club always holds a social night at these events which we hold on the Saturday night where anyone who is a member whether they be displaying or not can come along. As to an AFOL night viewing other then on the social night i can say that im am well and truly ****** after the long days we put in for the relatively small amount of volunteers we have to run this event and am truly grateful to put my feet up after the day is done. Sorry if this sounds like a rant, Its not meant to be, I just want to make clear that we do have an evening at the event and you are more then welcome to be there. Once again thankyou for the review.
Peter Curby
Thanks for taking the time to reply Peter, and I hope that no offence was caused by my comments as that was not my intent. I just know that the evening events organised at other shows are always a big hit and lots of fun.
It’s great to hear that BrisBricks is so welcoming to social members and that certainly provides a different perspective to my comments.
I think one of the biggest reasons that AFOLs choose not to join a LUG is because of concerns that they might not have the bricks or the skills to fit in. The skills of some of the Brisbane builders are not only impressive they can also be intimidating. The other issue for some people is one of commitment. Becoming a ‘member’ can carry implications of a level of involvement that some people might feel bad about not being able to meet. I know that I would feel bad about joining a club and not having the time to help out.
I plan on getting some more information on Australian Lego User Groups so that people (like myself) who do have reservations about joining can get more information. If you are directly involved in the operational side of the BrisBricks Club I would love to hear from you so I can get some more information. The contact form on the website comes directly to me.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
No offence taken as no offence was meant. 🙂 I can see your points and i used to say similar stuff when the club was known as Brisbane LEGO Train Goup , a name like that gives people the idea its all about the trains and therefore would put them off joining as they were into space or castle and not trains. Of course we expect people to be there all day every day for weeks before and after a show its a club 🙂 No seriously our members are all different and have different amounts of free time. levels of skill and amounts of the brick so give what they can, how they can and when they can. Some members were able to help for only half a day, some displays had to leave early due to work commitments and other members stayed there every day. We all help in our way.
I am not a big wheel in the club just a small trouble shooter for the expo but can give you some contact details.
Peter
Michael I understand your concerns in joining the club, I myself had the same concerns, worried about commitment, lack of bricks, etc. But last year as a new member I went from having 1 building and a couple of vehicles integrated into someone elses display in the 2012 show to having the full movies display you mentioned above this year. That was something I chose to do and was under no pressure from the club or anyone to commit to anything more than I was comfortable in doing. Even if you don’t want to or can’t display you can always join as a social member. We hold regular social nights where you can come along and meet fellow LEGO nuts and pick their brains about building techniques, ideas or just gush over recently released LEGO sets.
Hello Michael,
first of all thank you for your top review and i am glad that you enjoyed your time at our show. I have now been involved with the group for about 8 years including time with the group BLTG and now Brisbricks, we always look forward to meeting people with the same passion for this great hobby, and many great friendships have been fostered,
Personally i have seen the group evolve and from a small band of people meeting to become a vibrant organisation that not only promotes itself but is very conscious of the needs of others with a strong community focus
There is never any pressure for anyone to do anything that they dont want to in anyway and i personally like to see people do what they are comfortable with.
When i came out o my dark ages a few years ago i thought that going down to the store, buying then building a set was the bees knees and ten years later i have devolped to build my own mocs like the lighthouse, my point is i have spent 10 years getting to where i am now and all through that time i only ever received encouragement from this great group.
New Members are always welcome and i look forward to seeing you and anyone else at any meeting you can attend
Thank you once again
Colin Proudley