The last day of BrickCon!
First, I tuned into a Q&A session with Steven Walker about BrickCon and future events. Next year, the physical convention is moving to Bellevue, WA for the first time in 21+ years so there were a lot of questions about that. On the virtual side, they said they will keep it going as long as they can get at least 50 people to attend and they’d like to virtual side to go on 24 hours a day if possible during the convention as they know there are folks in different time zones. Maybe someday, I’ll make it to BrickCon in person.
Next up I attended the BrickCon Commerative Model Q&A with Chris Malloy. Chris has been designing the BrickCon models since 2017-ish. He lost count on the number he’s done in total. Chris went through the design process, challenges with parts, creating the box, designing the instructions, and getting the parts.
Here’s his slide where he introduced himself.
Here’s the final model design. Chris said designing the model was pretty easy. The challenges came in the rest of the process.
Chris mentioned challenges he had with new pieces not being in Stud.io, trying to make sure all the parts could be sourced using the LUGBulk program, and then some issues with printed pieces as seen in some of the examples below.
Here’s the copy of the box. Chris showed how he did a pencil sketch, colored it in, and then it became the box.
The custom tile is original to this set only. The left side shows some of the draft versions before the center one became the final version.
Chris mentioned that he had to add a lot of pieces during each step in the instructions to keep the instructions to a specific page count. This kept the price lower. They considered digital instructions, but decided the better option was to go with printed ones so people could build them at the convention and they wouldn’t have to worry about keeping the instructions active online for years to come.
Great presentation and great model Chris! Thanks to you and the BrickCon team for putting this together. I can’t wait for my set to arrive.
Next up was Stuart Harris from the LEGO® House again. He talked about how they go about developing the exclusive models sold at the brand store in the LEGO® House. Here are the last 3 sets.
Here are some concept models of #40501-1: Wooden Duck. Stuart built the concept models and then turned them over to another designer for the final production model. He also showed how they advertised the set within the LEGO® House.
One interesting note, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is the one who approves the sets and Stuart said that while he’s honored that Kjeld is the one to approve, it is pretty nerve wracking to bring a set to his office.
Here is #40502-1: The Brick Moulding Machine. It started off as an idea to make the moulds, but then turned into the machine that you can see in the LEGO® House today.
Next, Stuart talked about #40503-1: Dagny Holm - Master Builder. He talked about Dagny, getting the set built, and choosing what they would go with in a final set.
Stuart talked about the models they design for the LEGO Insider Tour as well, but the more popular discussion was this 3D printed duck below. Here’s an article from Bricket.com on the duck. This was recently released at the AFOL Fan Media Day as well as at Skærbæk Fan Weekend (I think). There were a lot of questions on this duck and a ton of interest. Stuart had one on hand to show off. He mentioned that it may return in a wider offering sometime in the future so we’ll see what happens.
The last presentation I participated in was by Becky Gorlin. She is a middle school level educator and LEGO Robotics Instructor at Granite Falls School District in Washington (about a 50 minute drive from Seattle and the convention area). I sadly didn’t catch the whole thing, but it sounded very interesting and it was cool to see how she uses LEGO in all aspects of education. I’m hoping they post this one online later.
Lastly, the closing ceremony. There were words of thanks, some admin notes, info on future conventions, lots of prizes, and then awards. I didn’t capture all of the awards, but here are the honorable mentions and winner of the Best in Show awards.
First, the 2 honorable mentions. These winners got a copy of #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer. Not sure how the group is going to share the set, but great build!
And the winner got a copy of #10305-1: Lion Knights Castle.
Nice work MOC builders!
It was a great convention, even if I did attend virtually. Thanks to those who worked hard to put it on and safe travels to everyone on their way home.
I will post more once my swag and the convention model arrive.
In the meantime, happy building!