BrickFair 2010 Debrief

BrickFair 2010 took place last weekend, and I’ve now finally had a little bit of time to recover. Like any LEGO convention, it was a blast! There were a lot of fun times to be had hanging out with other LEGO builders. There were also some great sessions, including a presentation by LEGO designer Jamie Berard (which culminated with the unveiling of the Tower Bridge set).

People have also had some time to put their photos online. This works out well, as my wife had both of our cameras in the Galapagos, while I was at BrickFair. You’ll all have to wait for more photos of the latest award-winning display from my compatriot Nick and I of 3LUG. In the meantime, I’d like to highlight some of my favorites from the con.

Jordon's Gladiatorial Diorama

The above is part of a diorama depicting the battle of Fort McHenry, the inspiration for the Star Spangled Banner. This diorama incorporated some great detail techniques, including smoke from the cannons, and wall-shrapnel. The builder chose to depict the ship in cross-section, which was a fascinating bit of extra detail. The most amazing thing about this creation, though, was that, according to the MOC card, it was built by a thirteen year old!

IMG_0296

I also quite enjoyed the display above, by Jordan Schwartz. There’s some lovely detail work in the railing, and the columns are nice as well.

12 comments on “BrickFair 2010 Debrief

  1. Daedalus

    This was my first Lego con and I had a total blast. Some amazing MOCs, and some very gifted young builders. I was blown away by some of the things made by 8 and 9 year old kids.

    I also want to say that Total Eclipse of the Xenogenetic Heart was one of my fav’s. I especially loved the saucer’s crash effect. Nice work Dan and Nick!

  2. Blego7

    14 year old. Thanks for the blog op! I’ll be uploading pics onto MOCpages and brickshelf. I’ll keep you guys posted.
    ~Blake

  3. Sarah

    I was really sorry I missed this years but I’m grateful you all blogged about the Tower Bridge set and everyone who uploaded pictures.

    I liked “Morituri Te Salutant” that Jordan did too. Funny enough, I saw it on flickr via one of my contacts and went, hey I really like that, who did it? Of course, it was done by one of my favorite builders!

  4. Blego7

    Actually Dan I do have one. I just got one recently but I haven’t really posted anything on it. Still working out the kinks so to speak. I mainly use it for comments though. To be sure I will try to get these up post haste.

  5. joelkun

    I flicked throught the flickr and stopped on this one… I reckon it deserves a blog post of its own. It’s an excellent example of the multitude of colors that bricks are available in, and it also shows how you can alter the colors by placing transparent variations over other colored peices. Awesome!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/arpy/4880108733/in/pool-brickfair/

    Only question… are those gingerbread men customs?

  6. Dan Post author

    The effect on the roof of that house was very cool, it gave a great candy impression. The gingerbread men are customs, though.

  7. Brickadier General

    @joelkun
    The gingerbread house was made by PennLUG member, Evie Macleod, and it is really nice. I believe it’s her first MOC, too. The gingerbread men are custom, as are some of the lollipops and the round “peppermints” around the base-plate. They’re all decals that she designed herself.

    All in all BrickFair was nice. Ft. McHenry was one of my favorite models there, and it’s great to see it again here.

  8. joelkun

    Thanks Brickadier.

    I’m personally not a fan of clones, but don’t mind custom stickers and detailing in moderation. However, even if some of the pieces on the roof of that house were custom colors, this MOC is still a marvelous study in the effect of transparent tiles.

    Real “eye candy!”

    BTW, you’re all very lucky to be able to attend these kinds of events. The only “Lego displays” I get to see in my part of the world are at the TRU store. [Call me non-believer if you like, but I would probably choose to join my wife in the Galapagos over attending a Lego event, anyway!]

  9. notenoughbricks

    Great post Dan.

    As for the PENNLug layout that the gingerbread house was from, I have to give those guys/gals a round of applause. Their layout was amazing and I wish I spent more time photographing and looking at it. They were organized to the point of having each little detail plotted out on a laptop so they could easily set up their display. They made their own tables as well. WAMALTC did the same but PENNLug took it up a notch if you ask me.

  10. peterlmorris

    Dan I can’t believe you left out the fact that some malicious purveyor of clone bricks viciously vandalized one of your near-future fascist MOCs.

    I know I was scarred. Probably for life.

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