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The Magazine for LEGO® Enthusiasts! Issue 4, Volume 2 • Winter 2008

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Events: BrickFair Olympic Village Interviews: Arthur Gugick Matt Armstrong Reviews Instructions AND MORE!

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Issue 4, Volume 2 • Winter 2008

Contents

From the Editor..................................................................................2

News and Events How I Became an AFOL at 33 .................................................3 Mito Walk and Family Fun Day at LEGO Enfield.......5 Scraping the Sky with LEGO Architecture.....................7 Showing the Art of Architecture .............................................8

People

A Talk with Matt“Monsterbrick”Armstrong ..............9 Arthur Gugick: LEGO Landmark Builder......................11 Adult Female Fans of LEGO (AFFOLS) Amy Wright...................................................................................16 Daniela Drost ...............................................................................18 12 Questions with Niels Milan Pedersen, LEGO Designer ..........................................................................20

Building

LEGO Decor Goes to the Fore!.............................................23 The Last Exo-Force Set ..............................................................25 From a Church to a Cathedral..............................................28 Building Olympic City............................................................32 Building Residential Buildings.........................................35 The Making of the Water Cube.......................................38 Making Olympic Village.......................................................40 The Making of Equestrian Stadium.............................43 The Making of Bird’s Nest....................................................45 You Can Build It MINI Magna Guard Starfighter.......................................48 Christmas Morning Vignette............................................50 Minifigure Customization 101: Creating Silicon Rubber Molds.......................................54 Miniland Figure Building.........................................................58 Review: Technic Off Roader 8297 .....................................60 Technic for Thought....................................................................64 Review: Castle Medieval Town 10193...........................66

Community

Touring the LEGO Idea House.............................................68 Comunidade’s 0937 Group Meeting.............................72 BrickFair 2008...................................................................................74 Not Quite LEGO: Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica Minimates.............77 Last Word ............................................................................................79 AFOLs.....................................................................................................80 Right: Arthur Gugick’s Tower of Pisa. Photo by Jerry Mann.

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From the Editor: It’s amazing what can happen here. Every issue’s articles usually come in the space of two weeks, and for me it’s always like Christmas at my e-mail box!

Winter 2008 Volume 2, Issue 4

Editor in Chief Joe Meno Photography Editor Geoff Gray Business Manager and Proofreader Carin Proctor Copy Editor Allan Bedford Proofreader Eric Nolen-Weathington European Bureau Editor Melody Caddick West Coast Editors Todd Kubo Ashley Glennon Layout Artists Didier Enjary

Contributors:

Brian Longtin, Mike Ripley, Bill Bourn, Brittny Dziadula , Joe Evangelista, Matt Armstrong, Jerry Mann, Amy Wright, Daniela Drost, Megan Rothrock, Niels Milan Pedersen, Gary McIntire, Mark Staford, Romão Santos, Luís Baixinho, Hot, Andybear, Vincent Cheung, Chiukeung, Hudson, Ming, Christopher Deck, Mariann Asanuma, Jared Burks, Amber Burks, Didier Enjary, Geoff Gray, Jette Orduna, and Greg Hyland. Many thanks to the websites who have served as mirrors for BrickJournal: www.lugnet.com www.Brickshelf.com www.peeron.com www.brickmodder.net www.rustyclank.com

About the Cover: One of Arthur Gugick’s models. Photo by Jerry Mann.

including before the brick!

It’s really surprising, though, when I start getting articles from the LEGO Group! Beginning this issue, there will be an article from the director of LEGO’s Idea House about the long and rich history of the LEGO Group,

There’s also an entire series of articles from Hong Kong - the largest single section devoted to any event printed in BrickJournal. I was expecting one story about the LEGO display that was shown to celebrate the Olympics, but got five! Each story talks about how a part of the layout was done, with some great photos! We got a few other events, and a spotlight on Arthur Gugick this time. There’s also the instructions and how-tos, so jump in an look around! Joe Meno Editor, BrickJournal P.S. Have ideas or comments? Drop me a line at admin@brickjournal.com. Or go to www.lugnet.com and leave a comment on their forums! I’m open to suggestions and comments and will do my best to reply. P.P.S.. Yes, BrickJournal has a website — www.brickjournal.com! You can check out the news there or look at the event calendar and see what is happening near you!

GLOSSARY

AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) NLSO (Non-LEGO Significant Other) MOC (My Own Creation) TLG (The LEGO Group) BURP (Big Ugly Rock Pieces) LURP (Little Ugly Rock Pieces) POOP (Pieces—that can or should be made—Of Other Pieces) SNOT (Studs Not On Top) LUG (LEGO User Group) LTC (LEGO Train Club)

LEGO®, TECHNIC, MINDSTORMS, Belville, Scala, BIONICLE, Exo-Force, Mars Mission, World City, and other LEGO theme lines are trademarks of the LEGO Group of companies. All articles, photos, and art are copyright BrickJournal Media, LLC 2008, TwoMorrows Publishing and the respective writers, photographers, and artists. All rights reserved. All trademarked items are the property of their respective owners and licensees. Subscriptions are $38USD Media Mail, $55 Canada, $78 International Surface, $85 International Airmail and can be purchased at www.twomorrows.com or payment sent to: TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 USA. The editorial/advertising office address for BrickJournal is: BrickJournal Editor, 5600 Oak Meadow Lane #1108, Raleigh, NC 27612 USA or admin@brickjournal.com. First Printing. Printed in USA. ISSN 1941-2347. BrickJournal and its staff would like to thank the LDraw community for the software it makes available to the community, which we use for making all of the instructions and renderings in this magazine. We would especially like to thank Kevin Clague for his continued upgrades of the LPub tool that is a part of the LDraw suite. For more information, please visit http://www.ldraw.org.

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I remember as a kid going to the mall and seeing the traveling LEGO displays of government buildings. I was one of many who encircled each display of the Capitol Building, White House, and many others, amazed at the size and detail. The only problem was, as a child I had no way of obtaining enough LEGO to ever dream of making something that size, let alone anywhere I could keep such a large project... but then..... A few months ago, my mother, a schoolteacher, had cleaned out her class and brought home a box with all my old LEGO in it. “Do you still want these?” were the five words that I credit for bringing me out of my “dark age” - a term I would I would only later learn was used to describe the years of our lives NOT spent playing with LEGO. I took the box, and naturally, began to look online to find inspiration for something to build. About 3 minutes later I realized I had nowhere near enough bricks. The good part though, was I now had money to get some! I looked online at the new sets, and also brought up several pictures on Flickr, a website where many LEGO fans post their creations, or MOC’s (My Own Creation). Suddenly excited as I used to be on Christmas morning, I jumped into my car and drove to the closest TRU (Toys R Us) and found the LEGO aisle. I devised a story in case someone asked me what I was looking for. “I need a gift for my nephew, he loves LEGO” was what I decided on. I decided on a LEGO creator set because I was interested in building realistic models of actual buildings. I later learned this made me a Townie, rather than a Pirate, Space, or Train fan. Apparently LEGO fans are somewhat divided by building preference too. Soon, my main goal in life became obtaining more LEGO bricks. After a few more days spent online, learning just how vast and varied the LEGO community was, I discovered Bricklink and Pick A Brick. This made me realize that now the next thing to do was simply decide on a project and order the bricks I needed. Searching the internet, I discovered there are actually podcasts about building with LEGO too! And blogs... lots of blogs... with all sorts of creations... heck, these people even have conventions! Conventions for LEGO? This was quickly becoming a serious hobby! The next big convention was only a month away, and close by! I immediately registered for BrickFair in Washington D.C. But wait, apparently there was also a local LUG (LEGO Users Group). The next meeting was a week away. Funny thing is, I was extremely hesitant, almost turning back while crossing the parking lot, because I had NO idea what I would find. On one hand thinking to myself, “What kind of adult plays with toys? Who will I see here?” and on the other hand saying “Hey, I AM one of those adults!” I wandered in and was greeted warmly by all the members. Most were sitting around a table busy building their latest MOC. Everyone was friendly, and guess what? Totally normal! My shyness quickly yielded to curiosity because some members brought in their latest MOCs to show the club. I began to circle the table checking out all the stuff they had! I was amazed! These guys are serious builders! They even had their own language. They were referring to various things like slopes, tiles, bricks, figs, MOCs, BURPs, LURPs, plates, and more. I kept quiet in hopes of picking up what I needed to learn without asking. One member asked if I would like to look through the latest BrickJournal. Imagine that, they even have their own magazine dedicated to LEGO. I think what makes LEGO such a great hobby is the unlimited possibilities. As a contractor, I also get some satisfaction from building something and completing

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“Do You Still Want These?”

or How I Became an AFOL at 33 Essay and Photo by Brian Longtin Illustration by Geoff Gray

11/21/08 3:40:36 PM

Showing the Art of Architecture

Following the big build event, the show traveled west to Rockford, Ill as Adam Reed Tucker debuted his first museum exhibit, The Art of Architecture at the Discovery Center Museum on October 11, a playful title drawn from his initials. Using just the LEGO Brick as a medium, the exhibit features Tucker’s scale models of celebrated architectural landmarks, each consisting of 15,000 to 50,000 LEGO bricks and measuring from 4 ft. to 11 ft. tall. His 17 ft. model of Burj Dubai was left behind due to the 12 ft. ceiling height. Pieces displayed in the exhibition include the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, Empire State Building, St. Louis Arch, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Marina City, Transamerica Pyramid, World Trade Center, 7 South Dearborn, Chicago Spire and the Jin Mao Tower. “With the Art of Architecture my goal is to honor the past, present, and future of architecture while combining the worlds of architecture, engineering, and construction using LEGO bricks,” said Tucker. This is evidenced by uniquely designing one side open for internal examination of the structural system hidden within. The opening day of the exhibit featured a “Loads of LEGO” event featuring a lecture from Tucker on the construction of the St. Louis Arch model and a smaller scale build event where families visiting the museum helped create a 10 ft. tall Sears Tower replica made from 2x4 bricks. The opening event drew over 650 visitors to the museum. Exhibit visitors are also encouraged to put their building skills to the test, helping to create the “City of Tomorrow,” a continually growing small scale cityscape. The city evolves as each visitor adds their own pieces and outlook on how the buildings and skylines of the future may look. “Its important for children to see how their imaginative contributions can help a creation such as a city build and see its evolution as others aside from themselves participate,” Tucker said. “It’s possible that exposure to exhibits and activities like this will help to inspire the actual architects of the cities, buildings and businesses of tomorrow.” The Art of Architecture exhibit will be on display at the Discovery Center Museum through December 31, 2008.

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11/21/08 3:41:09 PM

Profiling Monsterbrick: A Talk with Matt “Monsterbrick” Armstrong Article by Joe Evangelista Photography by Matt Armstrong

Some builders of the brick are hard to identify as they will mask their hobby quite well – “LEGO? No I’m much more interested in girls, cars, and did I mention girls?” Others however are much more apparent and excited – “Want to come over to my place and play with LEGO?!” But who would think to find one such builder in a vacation hotspot? San Diego happens to be just a stone’s throw from the LEGOLAND park in Carlsbad and where many AFOLs call home. With LEGO pulling talent from every direction these days, one would expect to find such talent making the rounds at a LEGOLAND park. Indeed, that’s where this spotlight builder can usually be found, but he doesn’t work for the LEGO Group – he’s just a fan. Matt “Monster” Armstrong is a unique builder, not so much for the fact that his building environment comes complete with a Tiki Bar but more so because of what he can do with a bin of seemingly random and useless parts. Take for instance a bin of Bionicle parts that one LEGO builder couldn’t try hard enough to get rid of. He finally found Matt who graciously accepted the free bin, and returned a couple weeks later to find Matt building a highly detailed arm, foot, and head of what will eventually become a 4-foot tall robot! One man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure; and in San Diego there’s a lot of generosity to go around! Matt is perhaps a perfect example of the “fly by the seat of your pants” builder that many have been over the years. While some step into the world of tools and pre-planning, Matt simply takes the initiative and starts putting the bricks together (usually rebuilding sections again and again) until he has what he wants. It may take a little longer this way, but the extra time allows him to actually play with the brick and see firsthand what works as his creativity runs wild. When talking with BrickJournal, Matt commented that just about anything (a song, even a LEGO brick) can inspire him. He even jokes that he “can pull inspiration out of thin air”!

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Above: Matt’s rendition of Superman. Left: A skull built from Bionicle parts.

11/21/08 3:41:11 PM

12 Questions

to Niels Milan Pedersen, LEGO Designer Interview and Photography by Megan Rothrock

Galidor concepts and packaging.

1. How long have you worked for The LEGO Group as a LEGO Designer? I have been a LEGO Designer for twenty-eight years. 2. Why did you want to be a LEGO Designer? Actually, I didn’t. I wanted to be an archeologist or a sailor of some sort, but a mere coincidence and some homemade lead toy-soldiers led me to Billund. I had in fact almost never played with LEGO as a child because my older brother didn’t want me to make the few bricks we had dirty, which I actually might have done! 3. What do you enjoy most about working as a LEGO Designer? That’s difficult to say, but the ‘brainstorming’ before and after the development of new elements are quite fun. Building new models, well, yes that’s fun too! And of course there are so many lovely and funny people involved that it is a sheer joy to go to work. Nowadays it is quite fun and a little odd to be told by new colleagues that their favorite toy as a child was in fact made by me! It makes me think a little!! 4. What themes (that you can tell us about) that you worked on are you most happy with? The old Castle and Pirate-ships from the eighties and nineties, but that might rather be for sentimental reasons and a developing lack of memory because there have been a lot of fun themes! 5. Are there any themes that you think could have been presented better? Indeed! Galidor (sigh!) I (and a few others) think this quite special theme was utterly lost because of a totally wrong sales strategy! The first Dino-theme also had a lot more potential then actually exploited!

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6. Could you please describe to our readers, the steps that you take to design a LEGO model as a product? Think, imagine, feel, and get into the right mood. When you can imagine what a child would want to play with, you can do the sketching, and sometimes a lot of sketching. Then follows the development of new elements and all the possibilities and restrictions this involves. The final building and decoration of the models themselves are a result of this and quite a lot of restrictions such as price and packaging. 7. How different is this to when you first began your career with The LEGO Group? Oh yes; back in the eighties we would be working on a new launch for two or three years. As there were only three or four people developing Space, Castle, Pirates and whatever including all new decoration and elements, we were quite busy and had much more to say about how things were to be! None of us back then had any educational background regarding ‘design’ at all! But it was and still is fun!

Above: A sketch model of the Royal Knight’s Castle (set 6090), released in 1995. Below: Some of the animals designed by Niels.

8. Do you have any hobbies outside of work? I build flying models of old airplanes (cant’ fly them though, too slow reactions!) I collect old radios and old Jazz music among a lot of other old stuff. Then there is also breeding of turtles, Archeology and such. 9. I hear that you are responsible for the LEGO horse and the mini-figure skeleton, any interesting history to them? The first time I made and put a LEGO-figure skeleton in a LEGO Castle dungeon was in 1981. Godtfred (owner of the LEGO Group at that time) himself was very displeased! I got a regular dressing-down (scolding) because he certainly did not want the kids to see a dead LEGO-figure!! We waited almost ten years before we dared show one again!!

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11/21/08 3:42:30 PM

From a Church to a Cathedral Article by Romão Santos Photography by Romão Santos and Luís Baixinho

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This model began with a project to build a LEGO replica of Mêlée Town, a wonderfully atmospheric location from the classic video game, The Secret of Monkey Island, of which I’m a big fan. This was my very first LEGO project. The final showdown in the game took place in Mêlée’s small church, making it one of its most iconic landmarks in the game and a building I absolutely had to get right! However, when the time came to actually start building it, I realized how plain and boxy the church really was and that a small “upgrade” wouldn’t really hurt the overall look of the project. Thus was born the first version of the church, considerably larger than what was presented in the game, with a twin tower façade crowned by those Sand Green Harry Potter steep roof pieces. The church itself never got a roof and the nave only got half of its projected overall length. Looking back at it now, it didn’t really look good and there never was a clear aesthetic order. Then, my decades-old fascination with Gothic architecture took over and I decided to set my ambitions higher and upgrade the church even further,

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fulfilling a lifelong dream of building a Gothic cathedral of my own design. At that time, rebuilding the façade (which I never really was satisfied with) seemed like an overwhelming prospect, so I decided instead to rebuild the existing nave (main hall/central approach to the high altar) in a style more coherent with my uniformed impressions of what Gothic architecture should be. Thus, the nave windows were enlarged, filled with stained glass (well, obviously not glass) and flying buttresses were added all around the body of the nave (at first, with a series of a single row of flying buttresses for each pillar, which were doubled later on in order to achieve aesthetic balance with the growing height of the nave and to give it a feeling of “sturdy weightiness”). Soon enough, the project grew in such a way that it became irreconcilable with the conclusion of the rest of Mêlée Town, a project which ultimately had to be abandoned.

Building beyond the game: What became the cathedral was originally inspired by The Secret of Monkey Island (below) but expanded (right) and then completely redone (bottom)!

The nave was finally enclosed on the apse (the rounded chamber opposite the main steeples) by a series of seven radiating chapels, which proved to be quite a challenge in order to achieve the desired shape (since its ground plan consisted of two half-decagons parallel to one another, being that one of them has twice the perimeter of the other, with rows of flying buttresses joining the corresponding vertices). A lot a prototyping and horribly bent hinges later, a satisfactory result was achieved. At that point, I could not tolerate any longer the clashing styles of the nave and the untouched façade, so I reluctantly decided to bring it down completely and rebuilt it as a traditional three portal Gothic front. The towers were widened and the portals became much more dominant. It’s curious to see how in many ways the cathedral grew in a similar fashion to several notable cathedrals throughout Europe. An older, simpler and smaller building (frequently, a Romanic church damaged by fire, lightning or earthquakes) gave way to a much more ambitious undertaking, which nevertheless had to somehow accommodate the foundations of its predecessor. In fact, exactly twelve pieces of the original façade can still be seen in

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the completed building. Its original width greatly restricted the length of the rebuilt façade, which had to fit in a 48x48 baseplate in order to maintain the desired proportions and vertical thrust of the façade, without reaching an unpractical height. I became progressively more and more interested in Gothic Architecture and consulted tens of books on the subject, trying as hard as I could to understand the reasoning behind its aesthetics. More than the finished model itself, the whole process was worth it for the all encompassing plunge in the subject it caused, which was endlessly rewarding.

The construction stalled when the towers reached approximately one third of their projected height, as I moved into the UK for eight months to work for the LEGO Company Customer Service and was logistically unable to take the cathedral with me. Even then, the parallels with the construction of real cathedrals were very curious. Once I got back to my country, the nave was finally covered with a vaulted ceiling, using a considerable amount of inverted slopes. The exterior roof was entirely covered with thousands of sand green tiles, a perfect chromatic

11/21/08 3:43:35 PM

Building Olympic City with LEGO Bricks Article by Hot

LEGO, Beijing & The Olympic Games In order to celebrate the Chinese hosts of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Hong Kong LEGO Users Group (HKLUG) built a big LEGO town, “Big Fans of Mini Sports City”. This event was sponsored by Sun Hung Kei Property Limited (SHKP) and staged at Grand Century Place in Hong Kong from July 14 to August 31, 2008. The showcase sized 12 x 32 base plates with 32 x 32 studs each. That corresponded to 1024 x 384 studs or 3 x 8 meters. The city was made up of 300,000 pieces of LEGO bricks and 4500 mini-figures. All the LEGO modules were created by 7 designers and 20 builders. The Challenge Since January of 2007, HKLUG members discussed what components were needed for a Sports City. It should boast a Beijing National Aquatics Center (Water Cube), Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest), Olympic Village, Equestrianism, Ancient Greek, and many sport games. 7 HKLUG designers volunteered to handle each project. Research was the first challenge to the designers because of limited information available. Few conceptual drawings were found by HKLUG members, so designers had to design the LEGO modules layout with their own experience and creativity. As LEGO bricks and showcases were sponsored by SHKP, HKLUG members were required to finalize inventory orders. Designers reviewed parts of their models to examine alternative designs by structure and appearance. After they had decided the building technique, types and total number of bricks required for their modules were estimated. The sizes of their modules were also defined so the layout of the Sports City could be planned. The inventory orders were then passed to SHKP to order materials from LEGO Company Limited. A nearby workshop was prepared by SHKP. The room allowed the designers to work together for 2 months, where they discussed building techniques and ideas. They suggested solutions when problems cropped up and shared the fun of creating LEGO modules. For sure, the friendship between the members had improved. Also, a major advantage of the workshop was to minimize the damage during transportation.

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Mini Sports City was made up of 300,000 pieces of LEGO bricks and 4500 mini-figures, and was created by 7 designers and 20 builders!

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Top: An overhead view of the Village complex, with courtyard. Left: Another view of the complex showing more of the courtyard. Above: Roof detail showing the different directions of stud building used.

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About Myself My LEGO life starts from Fabuland when I was a child. It brought me lots of happiness in childhood. When I was ten, I was impressed by a gift sent by my father, which was a small set of City series. Since then, I collected different types of series such as Classic Space, City, and Train in ‘80s. My hobby developed into collecting some sets of Star Wars, Batman. By 2005, I was building my own models looking for a breakthrough in creation. Recently, I have focused on creating modular houses and mosaics. Introduction Talking about MOCs, this was my second time I have displayed my MOC creation to the public. Being inspired by the horse visit last summer, I decided to make my creation based on equestrianism. To trace back, I went to a carnival held in Sha Tin Racecourse last summer. What impressed me most during the visit was the spectacular stable and different training equipment for the 2008 Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong. Yet the Grandstand was in construction at that moment. However, the visit seriously influenced my MOC creation in equestrianism.

The Making of Equestrian Stadium Article by Hudson

Terminology The Olympic equestrian events are made up of three totally separate disciplines Dressage, Jumping and Eventing. Having a belief that LEGO can show its vividness, I mainly focused on Jumping in my creation. In case I was asked to make a creation on eventing, I suppose a bigger showcase would have been needed to show its attractiveness for visitors. Since the horse and rider are required to jump a course of movable fences without knocking any rails in jumping, I especially designed different styles of fences which

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11/21/08 3:45:28 PM

Event Report: BrickFair 2008

Beginning a New Tradition Article by Joe Evangelista Photography by Joe Meno

BrickJournal Article – BrickFair Recap 2008 Written by Joseph Evangelista

Article and Photography by Joe Meno

What do you get when you cross large amounts of LEGO, twisting lines more than 500 people long, large budgets, and a small stampede? No, it’s not the newest daycare center; it’s BrickFair, a new LEGO convention that made its debut this past August. East Coast LEGO fans rejoiced and basked in the comfort of the Tysons Corner Sheraton Hotel from August 28th – 31st. The event was the brainchild of a newcomer to the adult LEGO fan scene, Todd Webb, who saw a need for an event on the East Coast of the United States. After attending another convention and becoming active in WAMALUG (a LEGO Users Group based out of the Washington, D.C. area) he gathered a group of people together who shared his vision. BrickJournal has covered many conventions, and after doing so many, it’s understandable if parts of the events ((LEGO, fans, roundtable discussions, lots of building, good times with friends, etc.) start blurring together. That being said, I would like to present a list of things that stood out on about BrickFair. • Hanging around the convention late Sunday night having a drink with 40 of your closest friends. While it sounds silly, there’s definitely an advantage to having an event at a hotel. Yes, you guessed it; drinks are on the house… or, in the house as the case may be. While most people might be thinking of leaving town, as the room started to empty of LEGO a small crowd started to build in the far corner – fans determined to live every minute of the convention to its fullest. Jokes, laughter, card tricks (we had a magician on hand!), and good friends (some new, some old). This is one of those rare moments that you can’t plan, can’t anticipate, and can’t do anything but hold on and enjoy the ride when it comes along. • I24, B8… BINGO! If someone ever tells you that Bingo is a dead game, being mainly kept alive by churchgoers and folks who lived through the ‘40s and ‘50s, then they obviously haven’t been to BrickFair. When the clock rang 4pm the majority of the attendees could be seen rushing

(LEGO Bingo boards in hand) into the main ballroom – tackling chairs and overwhelming those running the event – in an attempt to win free prizes. It’s amazing what some people will do for free LEGO. • 4 hours of BrickFilms each day in the theater downstairs, showing to standing room only crowds. Sometimes nothing is better than sitting around and being able to relax at a convention. BrickFair certainly delivered by providing a theater in the basement of the hotel with LEGO stop-motion animation films being

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played throughout the public hours. This was perhaps the most fun for me since I was running the films and talking with numerous public visitors who had taken quite an interest. So much so in fact that there were kids and adults sitting in the aisle, sitting in front of the screen (just like kids up close in front of the television set at home), and standing along any small piece of wall they could find! While some of the films featured a more mature nature than most were anticipating, the showing of Star Wars: The Great Disturbance gave everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. BrickFair is already promising more films next year with an expanded schedule, with an exclusive viewing for convention attendees. • 600 people standing in line outside the hotel waiting to see LEGO displays. This stands out simply because of the incredible underestimation by everyone as to how popular the event would be. While the last LEGO event run at the same location was two years ago, it was hard to gauge how well a similar event would do after such a long absence. Apparently, though, that didn’t seem to matter, as both days were full of people so hungry for LEGO you’d think there was free LEGO being given away! Actually, the “Free Build” for the kids had many parents confused, as did the directions for how to navigate and walk through the event. A number of adult fans attending the event volunteered to steer pedestrian traffic in a preset direction, but there’s only so much that one can do against a stampede. By the end of the event, though many were a little tired, everyone was still fine and the public had a great

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BrickJournal #4