Set Review - BrickCon 2023 - Convention Model

I’m a little late on this one as BrickCon 2023 was earlier last month (September 2023). The convention model for this set was of the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington. This is the location where the convention moved in 2023 after being elsewhere for a long time. The set contains 492 pieces and was exclusive to the convention so unless you find someone selling it on the secondary market somewhere, you won’t be able to pick it up anytime soon. You could source the majority of the pieces with the exception of the custom printed BrickCon tile.

The top of the box has a picture of the set and the set name. The bottom of the box has the BrickCon logo. I included a picture of the side of the box as I received set number 82 of only 250 produced. How about that for rare?

The set contains a Ziploc bag of parts. BrickCon sources it’s parts through the LUG Bulk program via LEGO and then volunteers sort through it all. So while it’s not the professional looking sealed bag, it works for this set. Of note, the volunteers missed putting in two of the 2x2 blue plates needed for the set. Thankfully, I had some on hand so I was able to complete the build as described in the instructions.

Here’s the final build. It looks to be a similar scale to the Architecture theme. Maybe? The front captures some of the key building details quite well. They also got the sidewalks and roads pretty accurate. The printed tile is a nice addition to replicate the electronic billboard out front. Why the odd seams you ask? Let’s move on…

If you didn’t notice from the last picture, there are some red plates and tiles sticking out the back of the building. These parts can be pushed in through a slot in the back of the building. This then pushes out a small 3D representation of the BrickCon logo via some Technic pieces. This also pushes open the front of the building which is connected with hinge pieces so it opens up. This is a pretty clever design and something that was not mentioned when the set was released so a fun surprise after building it.

It was actually a challenging build. The instructions are designed to save space and so there are a lot of steps crammed onto each page. I missed a few parts early on and have to tear it apart to get it just right so the mechanism would work.

Great job BrickCon team! I look forward to attending next year and building another convention model.

Happy building!

A Place Where Minifigures Can Go to Drink Adult Beverages

Or maybe this post title should have been: Set Review - BrickCon 2022 - Convention Model - The Wooden Duck

If you scroll back in the blog a bit, you can see my posts about attending BrickCon 2022 virtually. As a virtual attendee, I was able to order SWAG and a convention model just like they physical attendees. My order arrived quickly after the event was over. You can see more on the SWAG here.

I ordered the convention model from 2020 as well and you can see that review here.

“The Wooden Duck” was the name of this model and it contains 346 pieces. You can see my write up about a talk Chris Malloy did at BrickCon 2022 here. I tried to summarize the process he went through without typing it out word for word. I don’t remember how much I paid for the model. Maybe $30? I thought the cost was reasonable and BrickCon mentioned that they don’t make a profit on the model. It’s assembled by volunteers and they just pass along the cost to us.

The box has a distinct look to it with a design also made by Chris of the model. The front also has the BrickCon logo and the number of pieces. The back has the BrickCon logo and the year. My box got crushed during shipping and the seal came undone. Not a big deal for me as I intended to build it and not keep it sealed or sell it.

One side of the box has Chris’s name on it. Another had a hand written number stating that I purchased #184 of 250 total models. I’m not sure I've ever owned such a rare product.

The contents were a plastic bag with parts in it and then the instruction booklet. BrickCon used the LUGBulk program to source the parts and then the volunteers went through and helped to put the parts in each bag. The instructions are printed which is nice, but there are a lot of steps crammed into each section. BrickCon assumes the buyers of these models are AFOLs who build regularly so this won’t be a big deal. It probably wouldn’t be great for kids or newer builders.

The set comes with one minifigure who is a bartender. He has a glass and what has been used as a cast, but is being used as a cloth. His face has two prints. The side I took the picture of and then a laughing face. I like the torso with the suspenders and tie.

The set comes with 3 printed tiles. One is an art piece from #10297-1: Boutique Hotel. One is a mirror from… um… I’m not sure. Then the last one is a custom tile, unique to this set. It has the infamous wooden duck, a reference to the 90th anniversary of LEGO and its start in 1932, and finally the number 21 in reference to the 21st BrickCon.

Onto the final build… this design is jam packed with a ton of details considering the size and piece count. Plus, it was designed knowing a lot of great pieces would be used for AFOLs who want to take it apart for MOCs. The brick red color along with the sand green pieces are two colors that aren’t super popular and they’re great to see. The various items used as bottles are very creative and it really looks like how you’d picture a bar. The balls used as lights hanging on the top are all glow in the dark pieces which is cool and one of the bottles glows in the dark too.

Chris threw in a squirrel. I’m guessing it was so you had another opportunity to get a squirrel. I’m not sure why there would be one at the bar. Maybe it’s eating the pretzel?

Overall, it’s a great build. I like the piece usage and the cost was very reasonable considering what you get. There is some play functionality in that you can add more minifigures or add the bar to another scene. If I attend BrickCon again, I hope to have the ability to get the convention model. Nice job Chris!