Brickvention 2011 - Reminder

 

  • Brickvention 2011 - Reminder

    Posted by jpmanalo, 12 Jan 2011 09:14. Filed under Events (Australia).

    Brickvention 2011 is on this weekend! For registered attendees, events kick off at 8:30am on Saturday 15 January. Event organisers have emailed all attendees with a final list of reminders (see comments for full details of reminders)

    The public expo is on Sunday 16 January from 10am till 5pm, and as implied, this day is for open to all to attend. Details are as follows:

    • Where? Melbourne Town Hall (Corner Swanston Street and Collins Street, Melbourne)
    • Cost? Adults - $6, Children - $3, Family - $15 (2 adults and 2 children). Tickets available at the door.
    • Full details on the Brickvention website

     I'll be in attendance at Brickvention this year, so be sure to say "G'day!" if you happen to bump into me.


    8 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by jpmanalo in Australia, 12 Jan 2011 09:25

Some last minute reminder stuff from the Brickvention organisers for registered attendees:

1) if you registered early enough, you will get a name badge and a brickvention badge. It you attended previous years, you should still have your badge. People often decorate their badge so you might like to bring along some elements (figs etc) to decorate yours. The badges are 1x8 bricks.

2) Don't forget to bring stuff along for Dirty Brickster. This should be a wrapped (in paper not a gift bag) and valued around $15 -$20

3) If your MOC has been on display for a while, you might want to bring a clean paint brush to dust it.

4) Don't forget your place cards. We will have facilities onsite to print any additional cards but the fewer we have to print the better.

Posted by flyguy in Australia, 13 Jan 2011 09:05

Really looking forward to this! My first Lego con, hope to see you there!

Posted by AitchJay in Australia, 13 Jan 2011 09:11

I'd love to be able to make it there, the only Lego convention in Australia that I know of.

Posted by KLF in Slovakia, 15 Jan 2011 05:31

I hope we will see a new Modular house (as mentioned) in Melbourne.

Posted by trentmelb in Australia, 16 Jan 2011 00:03

Well we attempted to go but the queue to get in started at the front door and went around the ENTIRE city block... I think they need to change venues next year to allow for the demand. Very disappointing after looking forward to it for months.

Posted by duilim in Australia, 16 Jan 2011 02:12

@trentmelb - yeah I know how you feel. I actually queued up at 12:30 and didn't get in until 2:30. Have to say that though some of the models were impressive, on the whole, you didn't miss all that much. It was very noisy and crowded in there, and the sets for sale were either marked up to ridiculous prices (such as the Millennium Falcon from 2000 - $550?? get real, don't they know that a new one is being released this year??) or weren't really that much cheaper than normal retail price. Also, because it was so crowded, it was difficult to get a clear view of some of the models.

I think because today was open to the public, there were a lot of kids around and not ideal for AFOLs.

Posted by threestraws in Australia, 16 Jan 2011 23:18

Do you have any idea how to explain to a 5 and 7 year old boy that they can't go to see the Lego? Well I still can't. We arranged this month around attending yesterday's exhibit, for the first time I should add, it turned out to be a nightmare for us and I'm sure for lots of other Lego fans that were in the queue for the hour and a half. We arrived at the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets at 11.15-11.30, the queue went around the block and then around the next corner! It wasn't just one or two people standing side by side, they're were entire families, so it was a very thick line. In looking for a car park we drove around and around with the queue at a stand still. After fighting with kids explaining it would take up to 2 hours to get in, we drove away. We came back for another chance it was around 4.20pm. The queue was the same length but this time with different annoyed patrons. Please explain....please explain how you organize an event which has a lot of interest and put visitors into what probably seemed like a small room to see Lego? Are you trying to make an oversized profit? Why not have it at a bigger location? I don't think it fair how the day turned out, not only for us but I'm sure for a lot of others, especially those with infants. Lego is such a major deal in little kids lives and it was seriously spoilt yesterday.

Posted by jpmanalo in Australia, 18 Jan 2011 00:07

@threestraws and @Trentmelb - Please understand that Brickvention is organised by the volunteer fans who are *not* out to make a profit, they organise and run the show purely for the benefit of LEGO fans of all ages. Believe it, or not, the venue selected for Brickvention 2011 is the largest venue *ever* arranged for a Brickvention. The Brickvention organising committee arranged for the Melbourne Town Hall, after it was found that there was severe overcrowding Brickvention 2010 (which was held at Victoria University on Flinders Street). The organising committee had been anticipating large numbers of people wanting to attend, but had not expected the massive, massive amounts of people who attended (I believe the number exceeeds 10000 people on the Public Day). I have heard from the organisers that they are hoping to secure a much larger location for Brickvention 2012. I assure you that everyone involved knows how hard it is to explain to young children that they could not attend the exhibition - many of the organisers, volunteers and attendees have young families of their own too.

@dulim - I highly recommend any AFOLs in Australia wishing to attend Brickvention to register as a Registered Attendee. I know that the registration price is much higher than the entry price for Public Day, but attending as a Registered Attendee allows you to not only participate in events (such as "Build-In-The-Bag" and "Spped Build"), but to also have more time to view the MOCs and other displays. It also allows you to have more opportunity to talk with fellow AFOLs in a quieter environment. I assure you, it is an experience and opporunity well worth the registration fee.

I will have a full event report for Brickvention 2011 up soon - I am currently in the process of collating the locations of the various photos and videos taken during the event so that I can present them here for those interested.

All the best,
J.P. Manalo

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