Brick Fiesta 2011

Sold Out
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

Brick Fiesta has come and gone. It was a fantastic event. We weren't able to participate in all of it because we had some other plans as well. There was a lot going on so I'll just try to recap the high points for us.

The convention received a boost from local TV and newspaper coverage. The first day sold some 700-800 passes and the next day that was at least doubled. The line at one point was an hour and a half and the available tickets sold out about 1:30. Toward the end people were let in free only because there wasn't a lot of time to see everything. It may have upset some parents with expectant kids wanting or thinking they'd just pop in and look, but over all I think it was successful.

Our UT Tower did pretty well considering the competition. At one point we were third over all in the architecture category and someone mentioned we were 6th in the public voting. We were nominated for the final voting round and we're very happy with that.

We participated in a parts draft with about 10 people and got some great parts. It was a lot of fun.

There was an amazing group of MOCs of all types. The photos, as usual, don't do it justice. The level of detail made me want to just spend dozens of minutes with each model. The usual big names in Lego were there but it was great to see young builders doing exceptionally well. One young man took home four awards for his Batman statue and winning a speed building contest.

We didn't see but one speaker or participate in the games or other competitions but we heard it was quite entertaining.

At one point while volunteering at the registration table, I sold a ticket to Bob Schneider and his son. I was struck not so much by the fact that it was him as much as he wanted to come see all the Lego. Yay nerds!

TL and I already have plans for what to build next year, but for now we're going to do some much needed sorting and I have a lot of drawing and studying to do. So in a way I'm glad it's all over.

Click the embedded picture to see more shots from the event. There may be more in the Brick Fiesta group later.

Here are some news clips.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/at-lego-convention-a-life-size-batman-a-1577956.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage

http://www.kens5.com/news/124912634.html

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/Lego-convention-comes-to-Austin

http://www.kvue.com/news/Austin-LEGO-convention-draws-crowd-during-holiday-weekend-124910694.html