Tag Archives: Events

LEGO fan events and conventions happen all over the world, from LEGO Fanwelt in Germany to BrickCon in Seattle. Follow along at home with our coverage of the people, news, and models from events everywhere.

Details of upcoming LEGO store openings in Dallas and Oklahoma City

The chain of LEGO store openings continues with two more stores to open in July in Dallas and Oklahoma City. Here are the details:

Oklahoma City, OK

Dates:
July 24 – 26, 2009
Times:
Friday, July 24: 11am
– 7pm
Saturday, July 25: 10am
– 6pm
Sunday, July 27: 12am
– 6pm
Location:
Penn Square Mall
1901 NW Expressway
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Exclusive: LEGO Cowboy

Dallas, TX

Dates:
July 17 – 19, 2009
Times:
Friday, July 17: 11am
– 7pm
Saturday, July 18: 11am
– 7pm
Sunday, July 19: 12am
– 6pm
Location:
NorthPark Center
8687 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas
75225
Exclusive: LEGO Texas Longhorn Skull

I will be attending the Grand Opening at the Dallas store, and I hope to see some of our readers there!

LEGO has this to say about the events taking place at each grand opening:

Help a real LEGO Master Builder construct an 8-foot tall LEGO R2-D2™ (Oklahoma City)/Yoda™ (Dallas) during our 3-day Grand Opening Celebration weekend!

You’ll get a free LEGO® Star Wars™ Certificate of Achievement for helping, while supplies last! Visit the LEGO Store during the event to enter for a chance to win a $50 LEGO Store Gift Card! No purchase necessary to enter.

Plus:
On Saturday, be one of the first 300 customers to spend $35 in the LEGO Store and you’ll receive an exclusive, limited-edition LEGO set!

On Sunday, the first 300 customers to spend $35 in the LEGO Store will receive an exclusive, limited-edition LEGO Minifigure T-Shirt! Shirts are available in child’s sizes only.

Visit stores.LEGO.com for more details.

In addition, here’s a full list of stores opening in 2009:

Stonebriar Centre, Frisco, TX
Crabtree Valley Mall, Raleigh, NC
Westfield Annapolis, Annapolis, MD
Kenwood Towne Center, Cincinnati, OH
NorthPark Center, Dallas, TX
Penn Square Mall, Oklahoma City, OK
Easton Town Center, Columbus, OH
Orland Square, Orland Park, IL
Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, HI
Concord Mills, Charlotte, NC
Arundel Mills, Baltimore, MD
Riverchase Galleria, Birmingham, AL
Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ

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LEGOLAND California to host Star Wars Days – June 13 and 14, 2009 [News]

This coming weekend, June 13 and 14, Legoland California is hosting Star Wars Days. The park, located in Carlsbad, CA just off the I-5 freeway, will be open from 10:00am to 6:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Single-day ticket prices start at $53 for children and $63 for adults, though membership, multi-day and “hopper” packages are also available.

Members of my local LEGO user group (SandLUG) and I will be manning a display table or two of our own creations. From Bricks to Bothans (FBTB), a LEGO Star Wars special interest group, will also be partcipating. We have many skilled builders (Right: John Cooper’s “Cantina Band”) in Southern California and this is a chance to see their creations, or more importantly meet the builders, in person. You are all welcome to drop by our display and say ‘hello.’

Though SandLUG has been around for a couple years and we have done displays in the past, this is our first effort at a cooperative display, so it may be interesting to see our starting point, so you can be stunned by our slickness in future years and say with authority: “I remember when Sandluggers couldn’t fit two base plates together.”

Here’s the full press release from LEGOLAND:

THE FORCE RETURNS TO LEGOLAND® CALIFORNIA FOR STAR WARS™ DAYS

Special two-day event features Xbox 360 gaming, Droid Hunt, daily costume contests and a special visit from Darth Vader himself

CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 20, 2009) – The Force returns to LEGOLAND® California on June 13 and 14 during LEGO® STAR WARS Days. Darth Vader and his 501st Legion of stormtroopers will invade the family theme park to interact with fans all weekend long, and LEGOLAND guests will also be able to take part in out-of-this-world activities like the Droid Hunt, video game battles, trivia competitions, building activities, scavenger hunts and daily costume contests.

For the first time ever during LEGO STAR WARS Days, fans of all ages can experience the new Xbox Family GameSpace, where they can play LEGO STAR WARS games all weekend long. The Xbox Family GameSpace features 13 game stations, providing an optimal gaming experience. Xbox Family GameSpace is a new permanent feature at LEGOLAND California where guests can experience LEGO STAR WARS and other family-friendly games year-round.

One of the most popular LEGO STAR WARS Days events is the Droid Hunt. Guests of all ages receive “droid badges” if they are among the first to stop by a specially marked table in The Beginning of the Park, where they will learn a special droid quote from within the STAR WARS Saga. When guests wearing droid badges are “caught” within the Park by members of the 501st Legion, they must recite the quote to receive a raffle ticket for the chance to win fantastic LEGO STAR WARS and LEGOLAND California merchandise.

Other features and attractions include the LEGO STAR WARS Fan Gallery, highlighting LEGO STAR WARS creations built by local fans and LEGO Club members; Jedi Trivia Contests, which allow guests to use their STAR WARS knowledge to compete for fabulous prizes; and a Miniland U.S.A. scavenger hunt to discover scrambled letters hidden by clone trooper mini-figures. Those who locate all the letters and unscramble the secret phrase will be entered into a contest to win a family four-pack of LEGOLAND California tickets and exclusive LEGO STAR WARS merchandise.

Also, guests are encouraged to dress as their favorite STAR WARS characters and participate in daily costume contests. Prizes will be awarded in two age categories: 8 and younger and 9 to 15. Each prize is valued at more than $500 and includes exclusive LEGO STAR WARS toys, collectible gear and tickets to LEGOLAND California.

When I revealed the following at my last SandLUG meeting, I was almost kicked out: I have lived in San Diego for 8 years and have never been to Legoland.

World Record attempt in Perth

We know that Perth is a little far away from just about all of us but for the few readers living in the great West we have a treat from the Perth Adult LEGO Society. Please head along if you’re in the region.

World Record Lego Bridge Attempt

The Perth Adult Lego Society (PALS) will have a Lego train display running at the 2009 Australian Model Railway Expo at the Claremont Showgrounds, Perth, Western Australia. The show runs from Saturday 30th May to Monday 1st June.

Part of the display will be a 14m long self-supporting Lego bridge. Come along and see if it will support itself and hopefully set a world record!

See a sneak preview of the bridge (and the layout) here: http://sites.google.com/site/perthlego/2009-layout/the-bridge

Email Chris on chris.kingslynne(AT)gmail.com for more info.

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/perthlego/

Announcing Zombie Apocafest 2009 – coming to BrickCon this October [News]

UPDATE: Planning is now underway for the next Zombie Apocafest. Read all about it in our Zombie Apocafest 2009 strategy, tactics, & logistics post.

——–

The LEGO convention season is upon us, and BrickCon 2009 is just over four months away — time to start planning your trip and what you’re going to build. Likewise, it’s time to start planning collaborative displays.

With a successful Zombie Apocafest 2008 under our belts, we at The Brothers Brick are pleased to announce Zombie Apocafest 2009.

To celebrate this announcement and as an example of one of our new prize categories, I’ve turned 7639 Camper into a mobile zombie defense platform.

This year, we’re splitting up the prizes into four categories:

Best Original Vehicle (last year’s winner: Andrew Lee’s Truck)
Best Apocafied LEGO Vehicle (new category; example above)
Best Original Building (last year’s winner: Paul Hetherington’s Casa Baron)
Best Apocafied LEGO Building (new category)

There are still many details to iron out, and we’re definitely open to suggestions. What kind of overall theme would you like to build toward? If you were there, what worked last year? What didn’t? Let us know in the comments.

BrickWorld registration reaching capacity, LEGO execs to attend

With only 4 days left to register for BrickWorld, a record setting number of more than 440 registrants is bringing registration to its capacity at 480. If you’re still sitting on the fence, what are you waiting for?

A comprehensive schedule of all four days’ events has just been posted, with LEGO’s CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp to speak at the opening ceremony with Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen in attendance as well. In addition, an unprecedented variety of exciting presentations has been arranged ranging from designing LEGO products to collecting rare elements to screenings of a LEGO documentary and much more.

One week left to register for BrickWorld!

BrickWorld, one of the largest fan-run LEGO conventions in the US taking place in Chicago from June 18-21, is approaching in less than a month. There are only 7 days left to register for the event to join thousands of LEGO fans of all ages and see more than 20,000 square feet of LEGO display in the luxurious Westin Hotel.

In addition to meeting LEGO fans and seeing their creations, there’ll be much more including contests, presentations, raffles, exclusive items for sale, large discounts on LEGO, sneak peeks at the upcoming LEGO sets and chances to meet with representatives and designers from LEGO! Most interesting of all, the premier World of Lights display promises a spectacle as LEGO creations are lit up with lights of all sorts on Saturday night.

Once again, I will bring you daily coverage of the convention from the creations to announcements from LEGO. Oh yea, and I won’t forget the people as well :)

For lots more pictures from the previous years of BrickWorld, visit BrickWorld on Flickr.

LEGO store grand opening in Frisco, Texas sets record in sales

This past weekend at the grand opening of LEGO’s newest store in Frisco, Texas, massive crowds of kids and adults visited the first ever LEGO store in North Texas. Sales from Friday until Sunday topped over $130,000, setting a new record for sales at the grand opening of a LEGO store and surpassing the previous record of $110,000 held by the LEGO store in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Greg Anway, the manager of the Frisco store, jokingly commented “from now on we’ll just refer to them as Prussia.”

Indeed, the grand opening of a LEGO store marks a spectacular event. In addition to an extensive seleciton of LEGO sets and Pick-a-Brick wall, the store also gives away a promotional set, t-shirt, and collectable Duplo brick to customers. Shoppers lined up for hours throughout the day just to get into the store (video)! Employees in turn were constantly restocking the shelves.

In addition, the grand opening features a building event where kids can help build an 8-ft. tall R2-D2 model with Master Model Builder Dan. Over the weekend, kids made thousands of giant bricks that were four times the dimensions of an ordinary LEGO brick. The bricks were then put together by Dan using a smaller version of R2 as reference.

More photos

For more upcoming LEGO store openings, click here.

Three new LEGO Stores opening soon in Texas, Maryland, North Carolina [News]

I’m super excited to announce the upcoming opening of three new LEGO retail stores in Frisco, TX, Annapolis, MD, and Raleigh, NC.

There are special events taking place at all three new stores during their “Grand Opening Weekend.”

Frisco, TX

Dates:
May 15 – 17, 2009
Times:
Friday, May 15: 11am – 7pm
Saturday, May 16: 10am – 6pm
Sunday, May 17: 11am – 6pm
Location:
Stonebriar Centre
2601 Preston Road
Frisco, TX 75034

Lower Level near Dillard’s
Exclusive: LEGO Bucking Bronco

For those in the Frisco, Texas area, I will be attending the grand opening in less than a week since it’s only five minutes from my house. I hope to see some of our readers there!

Annapolis, MD

Dates:
June 5 – 7, 2009
Times:
Friday, June 5: 11:00 a.m.
– 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 6: 10:00 a.m.
– 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 7: 11:00 a.m.
– 6:00 p.m.
Location:
Westfield Annapolis
Annapolis, MD

West Atrium near Stoney River
Steaks
Exclusive: LEGO Chessie Sea Monster

Raleigh, NC

Dates:
May 29 – 31, 2009
Times:
Friday, May 29: 11am
– 7pm
Saturday, May 30: 10am
– 6pm
Sunday, May 31: 11am
– 6pm
Location:
Crabtree Valley Mall
4325 Glenwood Ave
Raleigh, NC 27612

Promo Court
Exclusive: LEGO Lighthouse

LEGO has this to say about the events taking place at each grand opening:

Help a real LEGO Master Builder construct an 8-foot tall LEGO R2-D2™ during our 3-day Grand Opening Celebration weekend!

You’ll get a free LEGO® Star Wars™ Certificate of Achievement for helping, while supplies last! Visit the LEGO Store during the event to enter for a chance to win a $50 LEGO Store Gift Card! No purchase necessary to enter.

Plus:
On Saturday, be one of the first 300 customers to spend $35 in the LEGO Store and you’ll receive an exclusive, limited-edition LEGO set!

On Sunday, the first 300 customers to spend $35 in the LEGO Store will receive an exclusive, limited-edition LEGO Minifigure T-Shirt! Shirts are available in child’s sizes only.

Visit stores.LEGO.com for more details.

In addition, here’s a full list of upcoming stores:

Stonebriar Centre, Frisco, TX
Crabtree Valley Mall, Raleigh, NC
Westfield Annapolis, Annapolis, MD
Kenwood Towne Center, Cincinnati, OH
NorthPark Centre, Dallas, TX
Penn Square Mall, Oklahoma City, OK
Easton Town Center, Columbus, OH
MyZeil, Frankfurt, Germany

LEGO Castle Adventure exhibit headed to Arizona Science Center [News]

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum, working with Lego, has put together an incredible traveling exhibit, designed to educate children (and adults!) on the intricacies of Medieval Castle building and medieval life. Among the many activities are “jousting”, building castle walls, dressing up in medieval costumes, and firing a catapult.

It has already been booked for the next five years! The exhibit has left Indianapolis, but is on its way to the Arizona Science Center.

You can check out the schedule and see if its coming to a city near you!

Check out these pics by Blackbear88 in order to see the actual exhibit.

The Classic Castle Battles Contest has begun!

Every year, I host a Medieval Battles Contest at Classic Castle Forums and now is the time!

So get out there and build the biggest, baddest battle you can!

There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places….so you have a pretty good chance. Get cracking!

(The picture is of the winning battle scene from the first year of the contest…Jens was the builder)

Registration now open for BrickCon 2009: Imagination in Motion! [News]

Registration is now open for BrickCon 2009! BrickCon is a private convention and public exhibition for adult fans of LEGO, and will be held October 1-4, 2009 in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

BrickCon is the longest continuously running LEGO fan convention in the US. Last year’s convention drew more than 250 attendees from all over North America and Europe, with a significant contingent from Billund, Denmark.

As in years past, I’ll encourage those of you who haven’t been to a LEGO convention (or BrickCon specifically) to check out our past coverage of Brickcon here on The Brothers Brick and look through the photos in the BrickCon group pool on Flickr.

Highlights of last year’s BrickCon included the ChiefLUG BSG Viper Fly-In, the announcement of 10193 Medieval Market Village, and our very own Zombie Apocafest 2008.

For me, BrickCon is all about the people. Even though we’d been blogging together for nearly a year, I met Josh in person for the first time at BrickCon 2006. Similarly, Nannan and I met for the first time at BrickCon 2008.

LEGO conventions are also a good place to learn that LEGO fans don’t all look like their sig-figs in real life.

With an emphasis on a relaxed fan convention experience, BrickCon is a great way to sit back and get to know all those fellow LEGO fans you’ve only met online — an opportunity to talk about something other than LEGO, in some cases. That’s not to say that the public exhibition isn’t an awe-inspiring spectacle. BrickCon 2008 drew over 7,000 visitors in the 8 hours open to the public on Saturday and Sunday!

This year’s theme is “Imagination in Motion!” and looks to be even bigger and cooler. So, what’re you waiting for? Register today!

Hispabrick Magazine 004 now available in English [News]

The latest edition of Hispabrick Magazine is now available.

Hispabrick Magazine 004 includes:

Coverage of events like the Hispabrick expo and Japan Weekend in Barcelona.
How to build LEGO trees
Interview with Marta Tantos, Design Manager at LEGO’s Concept Lab
Interview with Steven Marshall
How minifigs shop for new clothes

Check out Hispabrick Magazine 004 on HispabrickMagazine.com today!