Reflections on my part in Brickworld Indy

Last weekend I had the opportunity to have a table at Brickworld Indy. Brickworld is a series of Lego Conventions throughout the midwest and having a table basically means I had a display. I did the same thing last year sharing the space with a friend. This year I figured I’d build bigger and better and need the entire table… I was wrong.

To start off let me explain how Brickworld works- Think of it as a juried art exhibition.  Displayers are asked to contribute their work for the public to see,  vendors pay for booth space, and activities are put together for the attendees.  Activities include large piles of “playbrick” to build with, cooperative mosaic builds, stuff like that.  Some displayers may have remote control cars for kids to operate, or robots, mostly this show is about seeing the potential in a little plastic brick.  Displayers do not pay for their space (as far as I’m aware), they instead get a small percentage of the profits from the show after plugging things into a long complex formula dealing with how engaging their display is.

One of the great things is that most displays are team efforts.  So IndyLUG or MichLUG get together and build a massive layout.  The night before Brickworld opens they gather and put it all together.  Yes, it’s mostly built, but there will always be some last minute tweaking.  IndyLUG for example has a massive M-Tron layout (M-tron is a Space set from the 1990s- basically lots of red & black) along with other cooperative builds (Castle, the Lego Movie, the Great Ball Contraption, etc.).

Cecil poses next to "Just like Beggar's Canyon" on the first day of Brickworld Indy.
Cecil poses next to “Just like Beggar’s Canyon” on the first day of Brickworld Indy.

I started with the idea of the improving the Death Star trench display I had last year having it go the length of a 96″ table. For about a week, I worked out how it would look and started with a great idea of incorporating the “Palace Cinema” into the design. Then I was asked if the Cinema could be part of “The Lego Movie” display. So it was time to redesign. Which really wasn’t that bad, I didn’t like how it was turning out.

As Friday rolls around, I’m bouncing between schools and decide on a new idea on how I want it to look. So when I get home I start tearing apart what I had, and rebuilding. Remember the show is Saturday. I bring what I have done to the Fairgrounds that evening and lay it out. Then I start to add detail- towers, guns, and ships. After a while I head home leaving things to sort out in the morning.

Saturday morning as the local news crew is going around I’m back building more and getting ready. The biggest problem- the trench. You see, it’s going the wrong way. Last year I had it cut the width of the table so everyone could see the details in the trench. By making it longer- kids were unable to see it. since it was only viewable on two sides it basically looked like a bunch of grey base plates on a table.  At the last minute I took all the Minifigs I had from school put them on two base plates so the space was filled and walked away figuring I would tweak it throughout both days.

Over 19,000 people came to Brickworld Indy this year (thank you Lego Movie), and I watched as kids ran over to see what I had built… and then stare at the MiniFigs. “Look! There’s Emmet! and Lord Business!” Some people were impressed by the actual build, some AFOL (Adult Fans Of Lego) liked it but but commented on the lack of greebling (that’s the term for using small pieces to add random and excessive detail to spaceships). Star Wars fans commented on the fact the trench was too narrow.

So what did I learn from this? If I do it again I’ll work smaller, and add more detail. I have an idea on improving the build. I really do like the way the Lego Movie has a design element to it that makes thing fanciful and yet detailed.  I joke that I need more bricks, but even with the tubs I currently have, I used the grey 2×4 bricks I had purchased for school to complete my build.  Then again, if I just buy about a thousand more MiniFigs I could just cover a table and be done with it.

If you’d like to see some of the photos check out my Flickr photostream.