Brickslopes: LEGO Fan Event
Friday, May 15 3:00 – 8:00 PM (last entry tickets sold 7:00 PM)
Saturday, May 16 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (last entry tickets sold 7:00 PM)
Adult (ages 8 and up) $7.00
Child (ages 3 – 7) $1.00
2 and under free
South Towne Expo Center
9575 South State Street
Sandy, UT 84070
Tickets available online: www.brickslopes.com
This weekend is the second year for Utah’s own LEGO convention, Brickslopes. The “LEGO Fan Event” is one that I’ve been a part of both years as an exhibitor, and while last year I was a little nervous, a little skeptical, this year I’m all in. I hadn’t ever been to a LEGO “con” in other states, so going to Utah’s first one was an experiment. I’ve exhibited with the Utah LEGO Users Group for a few years now, at local train shows, at movie openings and smaller events, but also at Salt Lake Comic Con, Fan-X, and Salt Lake’s New Year’s Eve celebration. I had seen what the combined efforts of a group of nerds could do…but how would Brickslopes be different?
There are three big draws for adults or families to attend Brickslopes. For me (and for most, probably) the most impressive part is the LEGO builds on display. Not just assembled kits, but creative, often massive builds that are labors of love (and obsession) for the people who build them. You’ve seen The LEGO Movie? Will Ferrell’s basement? You’ve got a lot of guys like that who are bringing their best work. So last year there were things like a seven foot tall Orthanc Tower from “Lord of the Rings,” and an enormous SHIELD Helicarrier from “The Avengers.” There are also smaller, but beautifully detailed projects. There are sculptures and mosaics and jewelry and custom-made minifigures and castles and real-world architecture and spaceship and…well, pretty much everything you can imagine. I’ve been to LEGOLAND (twice), and this has a lot of that vibe going on.
Last year’s group project was an attempt to bring every Star Wars LEGO set ever created to one place. I think they got everything but about five sets. It was incredible. This year there are two community builds that I know of — one a “moonbase” that has dozens of people each bringing several modules that then connect to form an enormous continuous space station; the other is a “Micropolis,” with builders bringing modules on a smaller-than-minifigure scale to create a sprawling (but tiny) city. It’s pretty frigging cute. I mean, awesome. The modules each have certain standard ports and streets, so they can be interconnected in any configuration, so you end up with different builders and styles spread out across the entire project…it’s something I’ve seen, but this is the first year I’ve participated in it.
Aside from the LEGO projects on display, which will be impressive enough, there’s also a large play yard (bigger than last year) filled with hundreds of thousands of LEGO bricks and plates and wings and wheels and pieces, so that kids (and adults)(but don’t steal pieces from kids)(unless it’s that piece you really really need)(yeah, I’ve done it) can build whatever they want, as big as they want. Parents might want to pull up a chair, because your kid will want to stay in there for hours.
The other fun thing is the vendors that are there. Last year I wasn’t adequately prepared for all of the things I wanted to buy. Purveyors of custom minifigure pieces, including military and historic pieces, custom designed decals, weapons, military vehicles, new and retired LEGO kits, t-shirts…it’s a whole lot of LEGO, and it looks like they’ve got twice the number of vendors this year. I’m going to be broke. Broke-er. If you, or your kid, is a LEGO fan, you’ll want to bring some extra money for the vendors. You really will. And I’m sorry.
Aside from all of the public events, there are also events for AFOLs — “Adult Fans Of LEGO.” People like me. The people with the LEGO basements and garages and secret Batcaves behind a hidden passage bookshelf and oh my gosh I don’t have that but that would be sweet. Uh, AFOLs who pay to register their models and modules and their stuff get to participate in special games and contests, there are speakers and a keynote address and a dinner and–it’s an actual convention. For AFOLs. It’s kinda late to register at this point, but it was a lot of fun last year. And this year will be even bigger.
Overall, Brickslopes 2015 looks like it will be bigger, and better, and more fun, than last year’s event. Which was a bigger success than the show organizers expected. Utah’s got a lot of geeks, a lot of LEGO fans, and a lot of kids, and those things are combining to create a great fan experience. Come on down and see what fans of the brick have done.