Brickvention 2012, a highly dramatised convention report.

[Exile]

Last year I described my time at Australia's largest Lego Event.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50928&st=0&p=903202&hl=brickvention&fromsearch=1entry903202

Now I'm Back to do it again

Today is Friday, it’s morning, you have organised the day off work and believe you are ready for the coming three days. Your MOCs are already set up on tables around the hall depending on their type, you know most of today is fun and games.

YOU ARE WRONG.

You arrive two hours late. You trusted that damn iPod again, (note to self. Stop doing that) the Lord Mayor of Melbourne has made his speech and the first round of games has ended. You grab your badge and showbag. The only LEGO Certified Professional in the southern hemisphere is half way through his presentation. You sit down and take in the information while wondering what you have missed. Lunch time comes and more games, the competition you excel at is starting, Build in a bag. No problem 5 minutes later you have a completed model and are high in speed over all the rounds.

There are a lot of places to eat in the Melbourne, the city prides itself that you can find quality food on almost any street so you head to the QV center and hit one of the department stores first, you grab the first roll of left over Christmas paper you find, a tape dispenser and there you see them. Brand new on the Lego shelf in time for Dirty Brickster, the Death Star bauble with the pilot Minifig and Interceptor, you grab that and the equally new Genosian cannon you need the blue hood and the bug wings are sweet as well. Happy you go up to the good Japanese place and with food return to the convention all is well. HA HA, they send you out in the break between the official guy from Lego and the games. Your Japanese curry is persona non grata in the hall in spite of the fact you have been eating it all through the speech literally under their noses, you finish eating outside and the same guy that threw you out is sent to get you in again. You’re in second place and now it’s the final of Build in the Bag they can’t play without you, take that you beggars next time treat the curry with the respect it deserves.

Five minutes into Build in the Bag you go down in flames the bag has too much air and no holes except the one that just popped out the back and lost you a couple of 1x1 round plates. You don’t know this of course you’re heading for first no problem, except you can’t find those plates did they sabotage you? You start looking at the resealed bag and then notice the shine of a pair of neon orange 1x1s in the crease of your pants. Bluebottle comes to your brain “You rotten swine you.” Did Not Finish.

The auction doesn’t interest you; you bid half heartedly on a couple of sets that you know Lego won’t allow in Australia for another 5 months but know the others will get them. You wander off to the sellers, Ooo M-tron you will have that and a 918 in box, Santa Yoda I’ll have that and the 1970’s knight with complete visor and near perfect printing sure him too, you grab 6 series 6 minifigs to play which pack with and open one there and then “Score! Roman.” And the last thing you buy there is another classic space 6927 all terrain vehicle in box.

More games speed sort and speed build you collect your Bricklink orders and tidy up the look of your MOCs {ALERT} your 1 Orc short for Minifig Heroica you run around asking the sellers if they have any. NO, Bugger. You try the other exhibitors, YES he has one it’s at home but he will bring it in. You thought the Fantasy Castle sets were more popular than that, oh well.

The raffle is on you want that lightning dragon set. Return of Bluebottle “Waits for Applause, Not a Sausage.” (Note to self. Stop going to sleep listening to the Goons).

You don’t bother eating the curry was good and filling.

It’s time for Dirty Brickster you open a new police kit not bad, it’s gone. You steal a box of minifigs it has a Blacktron and a white Exploriens robot , oh look it’s gone too. I want that robot, open a box. Breathe deep, don’t panic it’s not fatal some bastard tainted the pool with Magicus, your slightly twisted mind starts thinking of ways to get someone to steal it.

Your train of thought is derailed however by an eleven year old wetting himself with joy he found out someone put a Death Star that’s not supposed to be out yet into the pool. He is sitting on his chair hunched over it like Gollum and the ring, you see something snap inside him when one of the Star Wars loonies steals it. You don’t know what happened, a mate of yours has fallen on his sword a taken Magicus just to see what your fevered mind would come up with it’s a simple choice the Death Star has been stolen again, this time by the certifiable Star Wars loony, you take it and see he is only just breathing and is twitching strangely it’s a joy to behold. You sacrificed your play in the game but the laughter from the others is worth it.

After the game you meet the guy with the robot and buy it from him, another pair come over, the Star Wars loony is still twitching you trade him the Death Star and swear he says something like now he has a tree topper. You go home you know tomorrow won’t be as interesting.

SATURDAY: You got the two hours sleep doctors recommend for con goers and even slept in for ten minutes, you scold yourself for weakness and pickup your bag and get going. Today you will be guarding your main MOC, it’s nine 48 x 48 plates of Heroica built in scale to play with minifigs, it looks beautiful and only took three months to build and design. You get a flashback to last year {Wibble Wobble} You’re soon standing inside a table ring surrounded by Space MOCs, you pick tiny hands off delicate robots and answer the same questions for 200 people.{Wibble Wobble} wow it’s like it’s happening this year as well. Oh, it is except now your wiping up drool as well. When the kids that see it recognise what it is you can see the “Why isn’t mine like that?” go on behind their little glazed over eyes, you explain the rules to the adults, the kids explain the rules to the adults you can see the words “Not a gamer, don’t care about Lego, why aren’t I at the Australian Open?” go through their hollow heads. Then its one thirty (three o’clock) you forgot to bring Steambot this year and have to rely on the iPod. You eat a chicken roll that was under a copy of brick journal in your bag you think it’s ok, well you’re not dead so there’s a good chance its ok. Back to work, it’s weird now the parents are looking at the MOCs too some even goggle, its almost enough to shake your faith in the average Australian being a sport obsessed drunken dip. Now it's closing time to the public the private function has begun to warm up it’s to help raise funds for asperger’s syndrome. You actually hear the first half of the LEGO Certified Professional’s talk this time you’re satisfied, then it happens. An opera singer singing Bette Middler he’s too loud, you’re already partially deaf from work you didn’t do any thing to deserve this you can hear ringing all night but you are now doing the job for the kids at the wrong end of the syndrome it's almost enough to make you forget that when the singer stopped some clot put "Welcome to the hoedown with Jesus" or some other dross on the public address system. It is now time to go and you will be happy when you take an unnecessarily long walk by the Yarra and make a sacrifice to good taste. As you see a small round shape vanish into the murky water you know the world is a better place.

SUNDAY: You are up you don’t even feel tired you must have been blessed. You catch the train go to the shop again and get a Lego set when you get to the con your only half an hour late. There are people viewing the MOCs, you take your place and start shooing little fingers and big ones too you’re feeling good, nothing brightens the spirits like the embarrassed look in a fathers face when he is reminded to move his fingers in front of his six year old.

Hours go past and you take an hour lunch and visit another mate that works in the city you can’t stay long but you have a chat then it’s back to work.

The kids are back and so are the parents and then come the Heroica obsessives they stick around for hours and take huge numbers of photos and ask for the lxf files, you tell them the truth, they can’t have them the files are on the laptop you left at home today you don’t tell them that like most complex MOCs the files only have a passing resemblance to the creation in front of them, they leave a bit disappointed and you think to yourself how did Heroica get obsessives it's only been out for a few months, oh well at least they're not playing sport and in a few years they will probably graduate to D&D.

At five thirty the visitors are repelled and the disassembly gets into full swing and then your on a train and home and now writing this and realising that the showbag you didn’t get time too look at has the equivalent of a $70 set in it as well as a limited edition exhibitor only kit and a special edition minifig. You made out like a bandit this year and it was enjoyable, what could better.

This has been a Very Dramatised account of my weekend at Brickvention 2012. Despite wishing it had been no CDs were harmed in the making of the days this describes.

Seriously I had a great time this year even though I was exhausted and sore from standing for 30 hours. The kids were great the parents were sometimes odd and often goggling more than their children I'm going to do this next year and possibly double the size of Heroica with the new 2012 sets.

Going to your local Lego cons and supporting the people who make them possible and any causes they are encouraging is worth it. Don’t let apathy stop you helping out.

[KnightSnap]

Great report on the highs and lows of displaying at a fan convention. I enjoyed reading your report as well as seeing you MOC on the Sunday. It was a cool idea to make Heroica into a Minifigure size game and using mummies as replacements for the golems in the Caverns of Nathuz.

[Raytracer]

<snip>

Nice write up :) I was just polishing mine off when I saw this, so now we get to have 2 Brickvention 2012 reports on page 1... my bad! I was the guy who subbed in so you could go for that lunch break on Sunday, so I hope it was a good one because my feet were killing me at that point!

Edited January 29, 2012 by Raytracer

[Duke of wellington]

I was there too was not as good as 2011 but I am happy because no one had my idea for Brickvention 2013,

I did like the minifig scale heroica one it was awesome I am hoping to do a star wars MOC