Set Review - BrickCon 2024 - CON MODEL

I’m a little late in building this one, but I’m glad I finally put it together. Each year, BrickCon has a Con Model and each year it’s been an awesome build. This one contains 451 pieces and was designed by one of the BrickCon Foundation team members named Bre Burns. The box is very bright and colorful with the front showing a girl and her dog while the back explains the idea behind the set. The side of the box shows that the set is #83 of 250 total sets assembled.

The set contains a plastic bag of parts, a 16x16 plate, a custom tile, and an instruction booklet.

The instruction booklet shows the assembled set on the front. In order to keep costs down, the instructions are a little more complicated then what you’d receive from LEGO. There are a lot of parts in each step as it is assumed that the builders of these sets are experienced builders and they can handle the challenging steps.

The set has plates for a base, some internal Technic workings, plates on the top, and then the top has a number of small builds. There is a girl figure, a dog, and then various smaller builds to represent the some of the different themes from LEGO past and present. In the back left there’s a flower to represent the Botanicals theme. The girl is holding a land speeder from Star Wars. Below the land speeder is a pirate ship and then a mini-Technic construction vehicle. In the center are two vehicles which could be CITY or Speed Champions. Also there’s a miniature Galaxy Explorer zooming up. In-between the girl and the dog is a box of bricks. This includes a few bricks assembled to look like the BrickCon logo. The right side of the build has a microfigure to represent the Ninjago line. In front are a small castle and then a train.

Here’s the view from the front. On the front is the printed tile and a pattern of 1x1 plates.

From the side, you can see the crank which you can turn to get the movement. The parts that move include the dog’s tail, the center track with the two cars and the Galaxy Explorer, and then the girl’s right hand moves up and down to fly the Land Speeder. You can also switch out the Land Speeder for the Galaxy Explorer.

It was a great build and I’m glad I was able to get it at BrickCon this year.

Happy building!

BrickCon 2024... Another Year of Awesomeness!

This is not my first post about BrickCon and it won’t be my last. If you’re not familiar with BrickCon, it’s the longest running LEGO® Fan Exhibition in the World. It took place this year in Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle) at the Meydenbauer Center for the second year in a row. This year continued the hybrid version of the convention with virtual activities, virtual tours of the in person MOCs, virtual games, and access to the presentations. I had a great time as a a virtual attendee and virtual staff member I realize the virtual experience is not the same as in person, but $25 for all of that access is a great deal! If you didn’t attend in person or virtually this year, I highly recommend you check it out next year.

Random note, you can do a self guided tour of the convention here.

Besides some great presentations, hanging out with fellow fans of the brick, playing fun games, and having time to build, I also enjoy some of the great merchandise that is available for purchase. Here’s a quick rundown of what I grabbed this year.

First up, I grabbed a few shirts. The convention tee shirt was ~$20. The theme this year was Foundations which represented going back to the foundation of the hobby and where many adult fans started, but also highlighted how BrickCon is now a foundation. I also grabbed a polo shirt. It was a bit pricy, at ~$50, but it it seems to be a good quality shirt.

I also grabbed a swag bag which came in this bag with the BrickCon and Sasquatch Bricks logo. It also included this cool water bottle with the BrickCon logo.

The bag came with a few advertisements which would have been great if I was in person, but I’ll take anyways. It also had a few stickers, a lanyard, a copy of the program, and some minifigure capes from Cape Madness.

It also came with a Warrior Pack from Brick Warriors. My pack came with a few weapons and some armor for some knights.

BrickCon has the opportunity to trade parts with fellow attendees. As a virtual attendee, I didn’t get that chance, but I did get some great parts. Here are the ones I received. The full bag of the forest green, brick textured 1x2 bricks are awesome!. I also was super excited to see a 32x32 dark blue base plate. No complaints about the other pieces either. Definitely a great haul!

There was also a bag of printed bricks, a minifigure, and some animals. I like the seals and am not going to complain to have more butterflies. It’s a fun minifigure too! The printed white 1x8 brick states that it’s a recognized AFOL Networking Event 2024 on that side and then says BrickCon 2024 on the other side.

As an attendee, you get some printed bricks that you can customize. The blue 1x8 was standard, but I requested the yellow and red ones. I got one for the update to my business and the other one to highlight how I end my blog posts.

Last up was the convention model. I forget the price… sorry. This one was designed by Bre Burns. Bre is a member of the BrickCon staff and also did a stint writing for the Brother’s Brick web site. As you can see, I haven’t built it and will do a set review once I get to that point, but from the introduction of the set at the convention, it looks awesome. I can’t wait.

Speaking of which, why are you waiting? Mark your calendar for July 2025 to go in and sign up for BrickCon 2025 in September (9-12 I believe). If you can’t attend in person, attend virtually.

Happy building!

Get Your Tickets for Brickcon 2024!

I’m a bit late, but tickets are available for Brickcon 2024 now! The event is being held on 7 and 8 September 2024 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. You can learn more about attending with the public here. You can attend the AFOL convention and learn about that here.

This will be the 23rd Brickcon and like the past few years, the show will be hybrid. If you can’t make it to Washington state, you can tune in virtually for the convention. This gives you access to the presentations, allows you to buy merch, let’s you participate in the virtual only events, and opens you up for winning door prizes. Full disclosure, I’m on the virtual event team so I’m biased and want you to participate. It’s definitely worth it.

Rumor has it that this year a member of the LEGO Design team will be participating in person so that should be cool. If I get any more fun details, I’ll be sure to pass them along

Happy building!