Tag Archives: BrickCon

BrickCon happens the first weekend in October every year in Seattle. BrickCon is the longest continuously running LEGO fan convention in the world, and it’s also our favorite LEGO con! Learn more (and consider attending yourself) at BrickCon.org.

Win tickets to the BrickCon 2017 Public Exhibition in Seattle [Giveaway]

BrickCon 2017 in Seattle is about a week away, and we are giving away tickets to the public exhibition! Come see the amazing creations that builders from all around the world have brought to BrickCon. (You may even see some of your favorite writers from The Brothers Brick roaming around in our bright green shirts!)

The BrickCon 2017 Public Exhibition is open Saturday Oct, 7 from 10am to 4pm and Sunday, Oct. 8 from 10am to 3pm, located at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

You can get your tickets online now, but if they sell out you can try to win some from The Brothers Brick! We are giving away three family packs of four tickets each, good for entry on either Saturday or Sunday at any time.

The contest runs from today until 11:59 on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Leave a comment below about what you are most excited about seeing at BrickCon 2017. We’ll randomly select three entries Thursday morning and then notify the winners. Winners will be able to pick up their tickets at the will call window at the BrickCon Exhibition Hall beginning Saturday morning.

(For builders attending the convention, check out these last minute reminders to register your creations and sign up for games before the deadline at the end of the week.)

BrickCon 2017 is three weeks away [News]

BrickCon 2017 in Seattle is only three weeks away! The largest fan-organized convention for builders begins Thursday, Oct. 5 (for a full day!) and runs until Sunday, Oct. 8. The public is invited to come see everything on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 10am to 4pm and Sunday, Oct. 8 from 10am to 3pm, at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

Read all the reminders and logistics about BrickCon 2017

Mechs, big ships and community: a chat with long-time LEGO fan and Mecha Builder, Mark Neumann [Interview]

Today we are fortunate enough to get the chance to explore the mind of Master Mech builder, Mark Neumann! Mark lives with his family in western Washington State and has been a prominent member of the Adult LEGO Fan community for many years. While being know primarily for his awesome Mechs, Mark has also planned and organized many collaborative builds as well as the first BrickCon. In addition to his other efforts, He also recently finished a massive Classic Space SHIP known by her call sign “LL-2016”. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Mark Neumann, Spacemaster General

TBB: Hi Mark, glad to talk to you today! To kick things off, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Mark: Well, ok. Hiya. I have been an adult fan of LEGO since around the year 1999. That would have been when I was walking through a Fred Meyer with my (at the time) girlfriend and spotted something cool in the toy section. Star Wars LEGO. I could get a X-Wing, with Luke Skywalker! Yeah, I racked up some debt on the credit card that day.

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BrickCon 2016 is this weekend [News]

BrickCon 2016 in Seattle 3 days away! The convention begins Thursday, Sept 30 and runs until Sunday, Oct 2. The public is invited to come see everything on Saturday from 10am – 4pm and Sunday from 9am – 3pm.

BrickCon 2016: MADNESS

Thinking about visiting during Public Hours, but haven’t gotten tickets yet? You’re in luck! The Brothers Brick is giving away a family pack of four tickets, good for entry on either Saturday or Sunday, at any time!

The contest runs today, 9/27, and ends at 11:59pm on Thursday, 9/29. We’ll do the drawing Friday morning and notify the winners. Winners will be able to pick up their tickets at the Exhibition Center beginning Saturday Morning!

To enter the contest, click here!

Click for more reminders and information

BrickCon 2016 is less than two weeks away [News]

BrickCon 2016 in Seattle is less than two weeks away! The convention begins Thursday, Sept 29 and runs until Sunday, Oct 2. The public is invited to come see everything on Saturday from 9am – 3pm and Sunday from 10am – 4pm.

BrickCon 2016: MADNESS

Click for more reminders and information

Alt-WW2 mech waddles into battle

Marco Marozzi has built an Alt-WW2 tripod mech which manages to look both menacing and cute at the same time. The arms and fists on this thing are wonderfully beefy, and the use of Power Miner wheels for the torso adds nice depth of texture.

WunderWaffe Spinne Pz.Kpfw I

If you like this sort of dieselpunk alternate-history building, be sure to check out the Brothers Brick collaborative build for BrickCon 2016 — WW2 1949. There’s some great models starting to show up in the group photo pool for the event — get building and get yours in there too.

BrickCon 2016 registration now open [News]

Registration is now open for BrickCon 2016: MADNESS. BrickCon takes place in Seattle, Washington, running from Thursday, September 29 through Sunday, October 2, 2016.

This year’s theme is MADNESS!

BrickCon 2016: MADNESS

Registration
Early Bird registration runs until August 1, and is $65 per attendee. If you register after August 1, registration is:

  • Regular Registration (August 2 – September 18): $75
  • Late Registration (September 19 – September 25): $100
  • At-The-Door Registration (September 30): $120

A couple reminders for those wishing to go:

  • Attendees who are 14-17 years old must be accompanied by and supervised by a registered adult
  • You must be registered to display

Hotel
The main hotel is The Maxwell Hotel, located one block across from the Exhibition Center. Please continue to check the BrickCon website for updates on when booking is available, in addition to other area hotels.

The Brothers Brick Display
We’ll reveal this year’s theme as we get closer to BrickCon. In the mean time, you have 179 days to build, so get busy!

A thousand minifigs in Blue & Gray assemble for the Battle of Bricksburg [News]

History is rarely accurate when written at the time. The first comprehensive History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire wasn’t published until 1776, and William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich wasn’t published until 15 years after the end of World War II. And so it goes with the great Battle of Bricksburg, which took place October 1-4 at BrickCon in Seattle this year. Now, nearly three months later, thanks to the intrepid battlefield photography of Sean Edmison, we have an unprecedented view of this historic engagement between the Union and the Confederacy.

Battle of Bricksburg: Overview

The idea for the Battle of Bricksburg was conceived during BrickCon 2014. We envisioned a realistic, historical contrast to our many years of sci-fi displays such as the original Zombie Apocafest 2008 and Numereji 2421.

In the end, about a dozen TBB readers and staff members participated in building a cohesive display that ​was assembled from individual segments as well as loose brick​ in the two days before the public exhibition hours on Saturday and Sunday. The display featured about a thousand troops, including cavalry, sharpshooters, supply trains, medical corps, and even a pair of ironclads on the nearby river.

1800's farmhouse

Union troops charge forward in front of an 1800’s farmhouse built by Caylin. Another group of Union soldiers has captured some Rebels.

Our friends over at Beyond the Brick produced a video overview of the display, in which I describe some of the display’s highlights and show off details like the BrickArms stackable cannon balls that are hard to see in photos.

Particular thanks go to Will Chapman of BrickArms, who supplied huge quantities of stackable cannonballs, cannon muzzles, caplock muskets (by the thousand, in gallon bags), bayonets, cavalry sabers, and pistols. We would not have been able to achieve the level of historical realism in the display without these accessories, many of which Will custom-designed and injection molded in small batches by hand just for this display. Similarly, we relied on historical flags and unit banners printed and donated by Dave Ingraham of Cape Madness.

Click through to see more photos and details!

A. Lemur does BrickCon

Hey Folks!

It’s the Lemur here. Just got back to the compound after a great weekend in Seattle, at BrickCon. There were lots of tasty creations there and I was able to get my paws on all kinds of cool swag.

Caylin let me check out everything on the condition that I not break anything and that nothing got eaten. I took a few little nibbles here and there but was able to stay out of trouble, for the most part. I did accidentally clear the building during public hours, but that really wasn’t my fault. Who knew the shiny red “fire alarm” panels weren’t for public consumption? Anyway, the Fire Department responded quickly, nobody got hurt and I got to sit in a fire truck.

Paul Hetherington won “Best in Show” with his motorized Steampunk robot called “Unchain My Heart”. It kind of creeped me out but it was very well built. I even sat on its head and no breakage occurred.

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Reminder: “Battle of Bricksburg” American Civil War display at BrickCon 2015

Each year except 2013 (we needed a break!), The Brothers Brick organizes a collaborative display at BrickCon in Seattle, the first weekend in October. We’ve mentioned this a few times and set up the official group on Flickr a while back, but with just under two months left until BrickCon, it’s time to share more details!

Battle of Gettysburg: Pickett's Charge

“Picket’s Charge” by Sean Edmison

Review: BrickArms Cavalry Sword Prototype (Part 4)After zombie outbreaks, space colonization, and time-traveling dinosaurs, “The Battle of Bricksburg” will be TBB’s first historically themed collaborative display. All TBB readers who attend BrickCon are welcome to participate. (Please note that we cannot accept drop-offs during the public hours on Saturday and Sunday.)

Following the custom sonic screwdrivers he made for ChronoCon last year, we’re incredibly grateful to Will Chapman from BrickArms for collaborating with us on a number of specially designed custom accessories for our display. Planned accessories (pending finalization) include:

  • Stackable cannonballs
  • Caplock musket
  • Cavalry saber

Cannonball!

To start getting your minifigs properly equipped, you can pick up the BrickArms Caplock Musket from Brickmania (where you can also buy a really excellent M1857 cannon used by both sides during the war). Both US and Confederate flags are available from our friend Dave Ingraham over at Cape Madness (along with other cloth accessories, like great coats).

Even though we’re targeting a certain level of historical accuracy, the display isn’t trying to reproduce a specific battle or a specific location. To help make this a success for everyone, we’ve designed the layout so that it can be as large or as small as it needs to be, and can accommodate nearly whatever you build. Whether you bring just a few infantry, a squadron of cavalry, big hulking ironclads, houses for the town, or a full section of landscaping, we’ll do our best to incorporate your hard work.

Nevertheless, BrickCon organizers need to have a sense of how much space the display will need, so please register your MOC(s) — after you register yourself, of course! — and please also let us know in the Flickr group and/or here in the comments on this post.

BrickCon 2015 Registration and Hotel Info [News]

Registration is open for BrickCon 2015, and the countdown helpfully reminds me I have 85 days to build something. BrickCon is taking place Oct. 1 – Oct. 4, 2015, in Seattle, Washington.

As a reminder, there’s a tiered approach to registering: the earlier the better. If you are participating in any games, you will need to sign up either at the time of registration (recommended) or prior to 9:00 am Friday morning.

1. Early Bird Registration is $60, and is available until Aug. 1.
2. Regular Registration is $75, available Aug. 1 – Sep. 18.
3. Late Registration is $100, after Sept. 18.
4. Door Registration is $120, during the event.

Hotel Info is now up on BrickCon‘s website. All prices below do not include additional charges such as occupancy taxes and parking. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Maxwell Hotel – $149
Quality Inn & Suites – $119
Hampton Inn & Suites – $159

Other hotels, as well as booking instructions for those above, can be found here.

Registration now open for BrickCon 2015 [News]

It’s time! Registration is now open for BrickCon 2015. The convention is set for Oct. 1 – Oct. 4, 2015, in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. This year’s theme is MOCking History.

Cost to register depends on how early you do it:

1. Early Bird Registration is $60, and is available until Aug. 1.
2. Regular Registration is $75, available Aug. 1 – Sep. 18.
3. Late Registration is $100, after Sept. 18.
4. Door Registration is $120, during the event.

For those of you who wish to sign up for Games, you can now do so during the registration process.

137 days in counting!