For the 750 (and counting) who are registered to attend Brickworld this summer, here are some announcements and reminders.
MOC registration ends today May 1st!
Apologies for not posting the reminder earlier, but in case you missed the deadline, you can direct any questions to the MOC card coordinator, Mark Larson.
Keynote speaker:
This year the keynote speaker will be Mr. Adrian Jones. Mr. Jones is the General Manager of the new LEGOLAND Park in Winter Haven, Florida and is also Vice President of Merlin Enterntainments Inc USA. The main topic of discussion will be the soon to open park.
Pre-order items:
You can now pre-order the event kit and other items. One important note is that you must purchase the engraved name badge if you want one (it is no longer included in your registration fees). You must pay for your pre-order items by June 1st.
LEGO store discount:
The LEGO stores will no longer offer 50% discounts on damaged-box items. Instead there will be tiered discounts of up to 30% on all available items. There are some restrictions including a limit on duplicates and no reselling. This seems like the best way to ensure people get what they want at a decent price.
Setup:
This will take place as early as 9 am on Thursday. So if you have to miss Wednesday (such as due to work or hotel room availability), the only scheduled event you’ll miss out on is the opening ceremony.
Charity auction:
I’m particularly excited that you can donate MOCs to the charity auction and have all the proceeds go to Creations for Charity! You just have to show up with the MOC and fill out a form. It’s really easy and in the past MOCs have been some of the best sellers.
Transportation:
The fastest and most popular method to get from the airport to the hotel is by taxi. In particular, American Taxi has the best rates (~$35 from O’Hare to the Westin). Their number is 847-255-9600, which you may want to store in your phone.
Hotel rooms:
As usual, Brickworld is held at the Westin Hotel & Convention Center. Don’t wait until the last minute to book your room because the standard two-bed rooms have already already sold out!
Light registration:
Even though full registration is closed, you can still sign up for the light registration until May 18. The main differences include the inability to display MOCs and limited access to the display halls. More details are on the home page of the website.
It doesn’t make me very happy that there is no damaged-set discount this year. Oh well.
I was initially disappointed too, but it makes sense with so many people, not everyone will get what they want if there’s a damaged set sale. Plus the line will take forever for the unlucky ones who get the bad draw. I will miss the adrenaline rush of finding out which part of the line I end up in.
Also, this may be a new trend for other cons in the future as more attendees saturate each event.
It was the same at Brickcon 2010.
^I’m pretty sure Brickcon had the 50% sales last year, although I forgot what I bought, I remember there being a disgusting amount of Shuttle Adventures for half off. They were still around by the time the line went around the 3rd time.
Yes, Brickcon 2010 had the 50% off scratch-n-dent sale, with a randomized selection process that (I was told) was new for that year. Everyone was sorted into order within a number of groups – you entered the scratch-n-dent area based on your position in line and could pick up one item. When the very last person went through, the order reversed – the last person in line would be the first to go again, and so on until the very first person went.
I do understand why they’re trying to change the system – the lines were long and definitely could be disappointed for people who didn’t get what they wanted. However, I liked the 50% deal. 30%, even though it might actually be better overall, doesn’t seem as nice.
Huh, I could’ve sworn they said something last year about not doing that anymore. Maybe that was going forward.
At any rate, I’m not too bent out of shape about this. In the end it’s still a great discount.