Adeel Zubair

Tips for Displaying at LEGO Conventions?

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I plan to display some creations at Brick 2015 in the UK. This will probably be the first display at a LEGO convention as well as purchasing specific parts for MOC's. I normally build on LEGO Digital Designer and occasionally build with actual bricks, examples can be seen here:

Now for your help! I need to know what is the best way to purchase parts for LEGO MOC's, I plan to display some of my best creations that you guys have already seen as well as some new secret projects. What is the best option or cheapest way to build LEGO MOC's? Pick-A-Brick, buying multiple sets, Bricklink/Brickowl etc.

One big problem I've come across is budget. I have acsses to just over £1100 from now until October. Should I spend all of it on creating MOC's for Brick2015 or should I mix it up and buy a few sets? Is it worth taking apart sets for specific parts, I own many LEGO Super Heroes sets as well as LEGO Ideas and D2C sets?

I've been to Brick last year and saw many large layouts. What is the best size to build at? I would like to build some of my best MOC's I have already shown on Flickr. Any tips for smaller builds in similar sizes to official LEGO sets?

I'm currently thinking of doing a large layout as the center piece to attract attention and have smaller builds on the side. What do you think?

How do you guys plan in advance? Any other tips and ideas you guys have to help me with your past experiences of LEGO conventions and building MOC's? Any feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Adeel

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Presentation ! That is the keyword I learned a few years back.

For it doesn't matter if you present a stack of bricks or the most cunning MOC ever, presentation is everything !

Moving things ( and lights ) work attracting people , a nice piece of cloth underneath helps too ( and sometimes given to you by the organisation. )

grtz Saint

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I see something I like and then I play in MlCad to see if I could build it, and then I start buying LEGO from either BrickLink or from sets.

Fun stuff =)

15708799429_30bedd978b.jpgIMG_0570 by Eiker86, on Flickr

Edited by eiker86

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Don't display anything that you don't mind getting lost or disappearing unless you can constantly watch it.

You could do a total price comparison and analysis based on your personal situtation. Some things are cheaper to acquire through the Pick A Brick wall (if you live close to a LEGO store). BrickLink can be cheaper but some times PAB Online can be easier for large quantities. There isn't a one size fits all solution.

Design your display for easy transport, unpacking and set up. The faster you can setup, the more time you have to schmooze, drink, etc. :classic:

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Detailing and action/movement......that get the kids and grown-ups attention......that's what I do.

I have a train that runs around my town layout......so trains and Power Functions really draw the crowds in.

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Detailing and action/movement......that get the kids and grown-ups attention......that's what I do.

I have a train that runs around my town layout......so trains and Power Functions really draw the crowds in.

So do Great Ball Contraptions (GBCs). Have a couple of spare chairs for the moms to sit and chat with you while their kids watch the balls going around and around. :laugh:

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My son and I presented at brickfair alabama last month. He wanted to display his minecraft and castle MOC's, so I went with your theory, build something big to attract attention and then put the smaller things on the sides.

It worked perfectly, we built an 8ftx 3ft battle of hoth scene which was a crowd puller. People spend more time looking at big scenes and then notice the smaller ones. We are now scaling up Hoth for the next one, planning in 12ftx 5ft :)

Have fun, listen to the advice of making it 'modular' for easy transportation

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Is it true people steal displays?

I have displayed at 7 major conventions and dozens of local public displays. Only once has anything been stolen and that was at the end of a convention as the public hours ended and I was packing up. Could have been an attendee but there were still plenty of members of the public who were slow to leave. If I (and everyone else) had not been so distracted and I had not left a convenient baggie of newly acquired figs on the table, it probably would not have happened.

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^^So I have to make sure I keep an eye on my display and not leave it unattended while it's at the convention!

I plan to have a small display with LEGO Super Heroes minifigures.

Edited by Adeel Zubair

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^^So I have to make sure I keep an eye on my display and not leave it unattended while it's at the convention!

I plan to have a small display with LEGO Super Heroes minifigures.

I have lost balls and minifigures. People like minifigures. Sometimes small kids don't know any better and their parents don't watch them like a hawk. May help to keep the figs further back away from kid's reach. It won't stop sticky fingers adults though. I wouldn't display anything rare and hard or expensive to replace.

I had the pain of losing a Snow Trooper in display action. He served the Empire well and is missed. :sad:

13885300205_9380784eb7.jpgmissing trooper by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

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I plan to have the Hulk and Iron Man minifigure from the Hulkbuster Rescue Mission #76031 as well as my own definitive Hulkbuster design. I also plan to display my LEGO Store Modular Building with some store employee minifigures and the Green Classic Spaceman torso. What do you think?

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^^So I have to make sure I keep an eye on my display and not leave it unattended while it's at the convention!

Get to know your neighbours and share the "security" duty. NO display should ever be unattended but you should not have to be the one there at all times.

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I only started publicly exhibiting my stuff a few years ago, so I can still remember asking myself the very sorts of questions you're wrestling with.

I've been to Brick last year and saw many large layouts. What is the best size to build at?

I've seen very rich models on the scale of DTC modular buildings realized with just a few thousand parts, I've also seen huge builds with hundreds of thousands of parts that are, frankly, a bit tedious and repetitive. Size alone doesn't dictate an impressive display. Size is great for getting people's attention at a distance, but as you draw in your audience to take a closer look, you should reward them with details, visual jokes, and other reveals. It is possible to be both big and boring, so design in layers to keep things interesting from the long shot to the close inspection; give your centerpiece a general form that looks good from across the room such that people will say "hey, what's that?" and then, seed the work with points of interest that aren't even visible from across the room so that the audience keeps looking for the next reveal. Never let your audience feel that they've seen everything your piece has to offer before they're standing nose to nose with it (assuming it and they have noses…)

I would like to build some of my best MOC's I have already shown on Flickr. Any tips for smaller builds in similar sizes to official LEGO sets?

A good design can speak for itself in any scale, be it nano-, minifigure, technic, or any arbitrary ratio. I built a tiny model of Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings that fit inside a 25 cm cube. It was a big hit, won an award at the show, got lots of people asking for instructions to build their own, etc. The selling point for that guy was really the very fact that it was so small - huge subject matter, lots of details, crammed into a tiny package. Focus on making the scale match the level of detail you plan to offer and you should be fine.

If you're a fan of minifigures, use them to define the scale when appropriate and get the out of the way when not. When I built my Argonath sculpture, I included minifigures specifically because they were so tiny compared to the Pillars of the Kings and I wanted my audience to focus on the sense of grandeur even though the statues themselves still sat quite comfortably on a table top.

On the other hand if I were to add a figure or two to my Helm's Deep model, it would totally destroy the effect I was shooting for. The Uruk Kai wouldn't have to scale the walls, they could just step over them.

I'm currently thinking of doing a large layout as the center piece to attract attention and have smaller builds on the side. What do you think?

This approach works very well. I usually plan on having one "signature" piece that's hard to miss and then an array of smaller works for people to discover once I've gotten their attention. This is partly a function of good showmanship and partly a logistical matter. Big displays are hard to transport and more prone to breakage while in transit. Smaller things are (usually) easier to pack securely and can be crammed in as an after thought in the boot of your car once the big stuff is secured. This allows you to bring a broader variety of your work to the show while still having a high profile calling card.

How do you guys plan in advance?

In terms of what I show, I usually don't have too much of a "plan" its more of a loose "vision" and I try to stay as flexible as possible. I've got show coming up in about 10 weeks and I still haven't decided (or built) my signature piece yet, let along figured out what else I might toss into the car on packing day.

The one place where I DO plan these days is in actually designing my bigger pieces for travel. The Pillars of the Kings was a bear to transport and suffered a bit of damage both to and from the show. I learned my lesson. When I built my Barad Dur, I specifically architected the design so that it could come apart into manageable, secure sections.

Any other tips and ideas you guys have to help me with your past experiences of LEGO conventions and building MOC's? Any feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Realize that, as an exhibitor, you're going to have two different audiences, viewing your work under very different circumstances. The most obvious of these is the public viewing crowd: lots of people with kids, adults who haven't touched Lego in years (if at all); lots of noise and competition for people's attention. This is where having a "big" (by scale, lights, motion, whatever) signature piece can help draw in a crowd, but to really close the deal, be willing to engage with them - answer questions about your work, ask them about their own interests and hobbies. Your work should certainly speak for itself, but don't be afraid to be the guy making the introductions.

The other audience you'll find at a show are the other exhibitors. These guys can take their time and inspect every piece no matter how big or small, during non-public hours. I know people that make it a point to photograph each and every model the even before the show. This audience are other AFOLs and, unlike the look-but-don't-touch-crowd of public hours, your fellow exhibitors are going to be interested in _how_ you built things, they might ask to handle (ALWAYS AS PERMISSION) your work or discuss some clever building technique you've used. Use the the show as a chance to network, as well as to learn and to teach. I'm not a member of a LUG, so of the shows I've attended, I would return empty handed just for the chance to catch up with some of the regulars I've met over the years - having the opportunity to share my work is just a bonus.

On the matter of things going missing, I've never had a problem personally. I know people who've lost a minifigure here or there (always during public hours) so I'd advise you to a) don't put out any figures you'd have a hard time replacing if they "wandered off" and, b) don't leave figures unguarded during public hours. You, personally, don't need to be glued to your display for the entire day, but make it a point to have someone at your table playing watchdog (for both minifigure snatching and ill behaved children who want to "look" with their hands) at all times. Trade off shifts so no one person feels chained to the table.

Most of all, have fun - that's why you're going in the first place.

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Thank you @ShaydDeGrai, exactly the responceIwas looking for. I feel much more certain about small models. I plan to have the Hulk and Iron Man minifigure from the Hulkbuster Rescue Mission #76031 as well as my own definitive Hulkbuster design. I also plan to display my LEGO Store Modular Building with some store employee minifigures and the Green Classic Spaceman torso. What do you think?

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ShayDeGrai sums it up very well. I'd only add that if you build anything that moves / works, e.g. a Transformer, be prepared to do a lot of demonstrations... For PF Technic models, imagine the amount of batteries you'd need if you played with it all weekend, then double it! Have fun.

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... I plan to have the Hulk and Iron Man minifigure from the Hulkbuster Rescue Mission #76031 as well as my own definitive Hulkbuster design. I also plan to display my LEGO Store Modular Building with some store employee minifigures and the Green Classic Spaceman torso. What do you think?

Those of us that run events know how hard it is to get exhibitors. Nevertheless as you want to display at Brick 2015 be prepared to submit photos of your models to the organisers well in advance. At the larger more popular events there may be contributions made towards expenses and/or accommodation provided so the organisers will want 'bang for their buck'. They will also want to ensure that the models meet their quality requirements especially if the exhibitor is unknown to them. The guidance above is excellent in terms of what will entertain the public but remember this 'bang for buck' commercial point. A collection of smaller MOCs can make up a larger display and really its a matter for the organisers of each event to decide based on their budgets, the space they need to fill and the quantity and quality of the other entries.

Edited by Dfenz

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At the larger more popular events there may be contributions made towards expenses and/or accommodation provided so the organisers will want 'bang for their buck'.

Hi- Can you elaborate on this a little. I am curious by this, we have exhibited once this year and will be again laer this year and plan to do a few more in the next 12-18 months and are building and collecting accordingly. For my son and I it is a fun thing for us to do, I a a go big or go home kind of guy and our MOC at our first show got 2nd place public favourtie for a large MOC, which we are doubling in size for the next one and including many more little bits of fun detail. I retired a photography business last year, building legos help me channel my artistic side and I see a big MOC like a big painting or portrait.

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Stillnamerica. There are no hard and fast rules as each event is different. But here, for example, is the guidance given to potential LW Copenhagen exhibitors due to the limit on the amount of exhibitors that can exhibit.

"To have some sort of relationship between the expenses LEGO NB is paying for the exhibitors and what is exhibited you should be able to bring at least something like 6 modular houses (15.000 bricks), but this is not an exact limit. Individual layouts will also need to have similarly proportion to the amount of exhibitors to go with it."

I recollect a similar point being made by the Brick2014 team in its exhibitor guidance although not as specific

Both LW and Brick2014 provided accommodation (B&B and lunch), t-shirts, a goodie bag, a thank you set and depending on where you were comng from a contribution towards travel expenses.

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^^So I have to make sure I keep an eye on my display and not leave it unattended while it's at the convention!

I plan to have a small display with LEGO Super Heroes minifigures.

We launched at Brick 2014, it was a great show. We didn't have anything stollen from us, but there were a few reports of figures going missing from displays or stands. Typically kids will pull on things and then walk off to show their parents etc. We had a lot of parts from our display 'pulled' off, we ended up gluing them all on. It will always happen so don't let it get you down, just be prepared, pack spare figures etc.

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... we ended up gluing them all on.

:sick: Say it isn't so! Once you go to the dark side an use Kragle where will the madness end? :wink:

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I think that is what is a called a permanent display. :laugh:

Yeah, we had to though, we had our custom printed iPhone, iPad and xbox tiles and bricks on show and the number of kids that pulled them off, or tried to grab a handful from the display box was worrying, glue/kragle was the only alternative as watching it like a hawk was no fun. We want the kids to look and touch, but if they take it then the kids that come to see it after would have nothing to see. We also had kids that would just walk behind our counter, or try to squeeze passed barriers etc. if they see something they like or something that interests them, they tend to want to get close to it. More often than not its innocent and they are just interested or wanted to look closer, but you will get the odd little thief.

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I believe Oiley lost a few zulus at day one of Brick 2014 also - not helped by the barrier being right up against his table. For the remainder of the event they fought back.

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I believe Oiley lost a few zulus at day one of Brick 2014 also - not helped by the barrier being right up against his table. For the remainder of the event they fought back.

I remember that display! one of my favourite films!

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