How I Got an Orange Classic Space Minifigure

I attended BrickCon 2020 virtually back in early October 2020 and finally got to building the convention model (I was building something else). You can see my other posts here and here. If you look at the post about SWAG you can see all of the stuff I got (for a fee). The set came in this small box with a printed sticker on it. The sticker has the Convention logo and some views of the set.

One of the big highlights is the minifigure in the set. It’s an orange classic space minifigure. If you’re reading this after 2020, this was the year the orange spaceman joined the crew which could be found in the LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History. Instead of buying the book to get the minifigure, I got this set. The difference is the minifigure cranium. The one from the book is the classic yellow with two dots for eyes and the single line smile. The one in the BrickCon set is a female with some eyebrows and lipstick. Anyways, this adds to the other recent additions to include the ones found in #70841-1: Benny’s Space Squad (2019) and then the LEGO Ideas #21109-1: Exo Suit from 2014.

Since it’s not an official set, it comes with some instructions and a standard plastic bag filled to the brim with parts. No piece separator here and the instructions don’t have anything about the designer. By the way, the designer was Chris Malloy. He’s the managing editor of The Brother’s Brick and designed a great set. His page is here.

Here’s the completed set. There are four 8x8 stud plates. Each one is connected to the others with Technic pins. It is designed so that you can add additional plates to the set as well. From left to right, you start with the the ladder from the space ship that the spacewoman climbed down. Then the next one is part of a castle wall with a deceased guard next to his spear and flag. There are a few pumpkin like plants with some leaves growing out of them. The final plate has part of a façade that has fallen over. There are some plants growing on them and the paint is wearing off (from white to gray).

Unlike official LEGO sets, there are some connections that wouldn’t fly. They are a bit flimsy and you have to be pretty delicate when assembling everything.

Also, the parts selection is pretty impressive. Besides the orange spacewoman, there are some less common parts. The pumpkins, the plants, the yellow and black branches, a silver curved tile, and a few others. Even if you don’t like the model, there are plenty of parts for other sets.

Did you attend Virtual BrickCon 2020 and did you get the set? Did you like it?

Happy building!

BrickCon 2020 - Intro and SWAG

I attended BrickWorld Virtual in May of 2020 and when I saw that BrickCon was also virtual this year (2-4 October), I had to sign up. If you’ve never head of it, BrickCon is normally a Seattle based convention. Based on a search online, it has been going on since around 2002 and is usually the first weekend of October. Hopefully someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

The convention was in the Pacific Coast of the US time zone so being 9 hours different didn’t help much as I would miss a bunch of the late night/early morning happenings. I did however sign up to be a “trusted virtual guide.” I don’t know how trusted I can be with leading people around virtual conventions, but it gave me a chance to help out and meet some new people. I’ll go into the convention in a separate post. For now I want to talk about the swag.

To attend as an AFOL you had to pay a bit more than the $5 the public paid, but they had various levels ranging from $25 to $90. I went for the biggest package being that it was my first BrickCon and I wanted to see what it was all about. So here’s what I got…

Tee-Shirts!

The first one is the Convention shirt and was designed by Kevin Hinkle. I definitely had my phone and computer on so that accurately reflects me(no tablet though). The next one is my TVG shirt to designate that I was one while on screen. I didn’t have the background set up for Zoom and you really couldn’t see the shirt, but that’s okay.

Also included were a few printed bricks. You had the option to get some custom ones so I got one that had my blog name. It also came with the yellow BrickCon 2020 brick. Finally, it had the white one which on the back says it is a recognized AFOL Networking Event. I stacked that on top of my BrickWorld brick so I can say I have attended two.

Still more swag… Next up was a baby minifig with the BrickCon logo on its shirt. Super awesome! Also, there was a 2x4 tan tile with the logo for this convention to include the date. Note the blue plate behind them is just from my collection to take the picture. It didn’t come with the swag pack.

Additionally, there was this fun pin with the logo. I’m not sure of the reason for the split up. Is it supposed to be like the shape of the LEGO House®?

I have not been to a physical convention yet, but apparently BrickCon hands out bags of parts for you to trade with other attendees. They did the same this year and you could then set up trade with people who live near you or I guess mail them to each other. I got six different parts and thankfully they are not standard bricks or plates. There’s a printed window panel, a tile with studs on the bottom, a larger window frame, a round 2x2 with an odd bottom (not sure what to call the light greenish one), a gold colored slope, and then a light gray 1x1 roof type slope. I’ll have to figure out how to build with these, but since I had never seen most of them, I’m pleased with what I was sent.

Lastly is the Con model. This one was designed by Chris Molloy. He’s the managing editor for the Brother’s Brick and a LEGO Ambassador. I have not built the set yet, but will and will post a review. The model is in a post disaster type world with a space minifigure exploring the ruins. The space minifigure comes in a rare orange color in the classic space theme. There are a few other cool pieces included. I look forward to digging into it.

Okay, that’s the cool swag. Are you drooling yet? I was super excited to get the container in the mail.

I’ll post later on some of the events I attended.

Happy building!