BrickTrip to BrickBuilt and Beyond
There used to be a time when we would travel to Sydney at least once a year for a LEGO Fan Show. Attending an event in Sydney was a highlight of the LEGO fan calendar in Australia. For eight years we were able to attend the Sydney Brick Show, and marvel at the outstanding creations of the local and interstate LEGO Fan community. Then in 2020, the world was caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic. There were travel restrictions, density limits, and lockdowns, and the event had to be cancelled. In 2022, a new event emerged in Sydney called BrickBuilt. We were keen to see our Sydney AFOL friends, and to be part of a new LEGO fan event. But things don’t always work out how we want, and my partner tested positive for Covid on the very morning we were meant to travel to BrickBuilt 2022. As I also had minor symptoms, we opted to cancel the whole trip, and did not make it to Sydney for the first BrickBuilt. We were devastated, of course. Fast forward a year, and BrickBuilt was back for 2023 on the weekend of May 27th and 28th, so we decided to make the nine hour (one-way) BrickTrip to Sydney to be part of the fun.
On The Road Again
I’ll save you from the boring details of the long drive to Sydney. It’s possible to do the drive in one day, but the nine hours usually blows out to eleven or more if you stop for extended breaks in any of the small country towns along the way. There’s a good highway, and the drive is relatively straight forward. To break up our journey, we opted to stay overnight in Canberra which is around seven hours from our place in Melbourne.
Image from Kayak
Have Your Passports Available
The new LEGO passport
We arrived in Sydney mid-morning on the Friday. There is so much to see and do in Sydney at any point in time and, after not visiting since 2019, the possibilities were almost endless. But, as we wanted to make this a special BrickTrip, we chose to focus on LEGO related activities. As a starting point, we opted to visit all of the LEGO Certified Stores in Sydney so we could acquire stamps for our newly- introduced-to-Australia LEGO Passports.
Our first stop was the LEGO Certified Store at Westfield Miranda. A relatively recently opened store, everything was fresh and new. The staff were delighted that their store was our first Sydney stop, and were amazed that we already had three stamps in our passport from the Melbourne stores. Every LEGO Certified Store in Australia features a mosaic and a large minifig sculpture built by The Brickman team. These builds often reflect the store’s location or the area’s history in some way. At the Miranda store, the minifig is wearing a pink inflatable ring - perhaps reflecting the nearby waterfront and beaches - and the mosaic is of the Figure 8 Pools. The Pick-A-Brick wall is contained in the new clear “bricks”, and the Build-A-Minifig stand features an astronaut.
minifig and mosaic at the. miranda lego store
astronaut at the BUild-a-minifig station at the miranda lego store
Surf’s Up!
Next stop was the LEGO Certified Store in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi. This was the first LEGO Certified Store to open in Sydney, and the only store we had visited prior to this BrickTrip. The store is over two levels. It features a large mosaic of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and a couple of smaller ones of the nearby Bondi Beach. The large minifig is an interactive surfer, and there’s an extra surfboard for you to stand on for great photo opportunities.
Surfer minifig at the Bondi lego store
mosaic from the bondi lego store
The upstairs mosaic at the bondi lego store
Institution of Higher Learning
Third stop for the day was the LEGO Certified Store at the Broadway Sydney shopping centre. This was the second store to open in Sydney, and is surprisingly close to the Bondi store. Located near the University of Sydney, it is not surprising that the large minifig features a student in their graduation robes, and the mosaic is of a library.
minifig at the broadway lego store
library themed mosaic at the broadway lego store
Smarter people than us would have planned the day a little better. We sould have realised that, at this point, we were relatively close to the Australian Maritime Museum which is currently hosting the exhibition Brickwrecks featuring real objects from famous shipwrecks along with LEGO models built by The Brickman team. But we hadn’t planned our day at all. Instead, we ran out of time and had to head over to the Brickbuilt venue to be there for our allotted Bump-In time.
On To BrickBuilt
exhibitor swag bag for brickbuilt
BrickBuilt was held in the Howie Complex of the Sydney Showgrounds at Sydney Olympic Park. The venue is a large building with high ceilings and lots of natural light. There were plenty of trolleys (carts) available to transfer your builds from your vehicle. The volunteers from the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation were extremely helpful, and went beyond the expectations of regular event volunteers. We were able to set up relatively quick, and had time to chat with other AFOLs before some of them disappeared in the late afternoon to attend the AFOL preview opening of the nearby Parramatta LEGO Certified Store. We opted to head to our host accommodation for a lovely dinner, and to look through the generous event swag bag.
Grand Opening
official opening of the parramatta lego store
The event opened to the public on the Saturday morning, but we skipped the first part of the day, and took the opportunity to head over to the LEGO Certified Store in Parramatta for the official store opening. Through an annoying series of bad timings, we hadn’t ever attended a store opening, and given how close the store was to the BrickBuilt venue, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to attend one. We arrived around an hour before opening, and there was already a short queue of people waiting to get inside. Officials from LEGO Australia and the Alquemie Group (operators of most of the LEGO Certified Stores in Australia) arrived shortly after and, a little later, LEGO Batman made a special appearance. Before long, the tape was “cut”, and the store was open. The Parramatta store features a minifig sculpture of an astronomer and a mosaic of the Parramatta Park gates. Once inside, we buzzed around the store looking for newer sets to buy, and my friends headed over to the Pick-A-Brick wall to look for interesting parts. By this stage the store was really busy, and a queue had formed at the counter. Like a lot of store openings, there was a free LEGO Store set with purchases over a certain amount, and a goody bag for those attending the opening. We weren’t quick enough to grab a 31208 Hokusai Great Wave - there were only a few in store - but we did manage to grab a 43217 ‘Up’ House and a 21340 Tales of the Space Age which were both on our “to buy” list. We also spied LEGO Masters Australia contestant and Brick Banter representative, Andrew Morrey, filming videos for LEGO social media while we were in the store.
minifig at the parramatta lego store
mosaic at the parramatta lego store
Return To BrickBuilt
brickbuilt 2023 exhibitors standing behind the snowy mountain forest castle collab. photo by sam mollema
By the time we arrived back at BrickBuilt, the event was in full swing. The large venue and generous spacing between the exhibits meant it didn’t feel crowded, so it was easy to see each display and walk around the venue. Around 100 exhibitors with over 200 tables of displays contributed to the event. There were many outstanding solo builds, a few collaborative builds, and even a section of builds by past LEGO Masters Australia contestants - some of whom were on hand to meet and greet their fans. A new event for this year was a kids program for ages 9 - 16 years where they fostered the talents of the next generation of builders by hosting building technique workshops presented by LEGO Masters Australia contestants.
BrickBuilt Spotlight
Personal highlights of the builds for us included the Abstractify mosaics by Gen Santos, the Snowy Mountain Forest Castle collaborative build by SydLUG members, the upscaled VIDIYO BeatBit tiles by SydLUG members, the Wind in the Willows builds by Phil Miles, the Gundam RX 78 by Henry Pinto, and the outstanding Jurassic World diorama by thirteen year old Eric Wanigasekara. That’s just a sample our favourites, and a more comprehensive coverage of the builds can be found on Jay’s Brick Blog.
Abstractify by Gen santos. photo sourced from Jay’s Brick Blog
a small section of the snowy mountain forest castle collaboration by sydlug members
upscaled vidiyo beatbits by sydlug members
part of the wind in the willows build by philip miles
Gundam rx 78 by Henry Pinto
Jurassic world by Eric Wanigasekara
It’s Saturday Night!
The Saturday night of BrickBuilt was devoted to a VIP function for exhibitors. The bar was open, and the food was tasty and plentiful. Prizes were awarded for popular builds, and an enthusiastic game of Dirty Brickster was played. After a long day, we retired early and did not join those who partied on at a nearby bar.
a sample of some of the lego items for sale at the collector con in penrith
We were up early again the next morning so we could attend the Collector Con event in Penrith. This was our first time visiting the event, and it was an interesting mix of vendor tables, fan group tables, cosplay, wrestling, and gaming tournaments. Although we are regular vendors at events in Melbourne, it was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between events in different cities. Even though the vendor section of Collector Con is spread over three halls, it was jam-packed with people buying all variety of pop culture and related collectibles. LEGO appeared to be a popular item with many stalls featuring retired and hard-to-find sets. I did see someone clutching a copy of Life of George tightly to their chest as they walked around, and I realised, much later in the day when they arrived at BrickBuilt, that it was actually a friend I hadn’t seen since 2019!
Where’s the Fire?
As we were in Penrith, we thought it would be remiss of us to not visit the nearby LEGO Certified Store. This ended up being more of a challenge than we anticipated as someone had left a “suspicious package” outside the supermarket, and a large section of the shopping centre was closed to the public. There was a barricade blocking the walkway with many security guards, and police officers keeping people away from the affected area. Fortunately, the LEGO store is in a different section of the centre, and we were able to access it by taking the long walk around the building. The LEGO store staff had no idea what was happening, but had the store door half closed just in case there was an issue. The store mosaic features the Three Sisters rock formation as see in the nearby Blue Mountains and the large minifig is of a fire fighter - perhaps a tribute to the local Museum of Fire or the devastating fires that have gutted the region in the past. Store stamp achieved, we headed back to BrickBuilt.
firefighter minifig at the penrith lego store
mosaic at the penrith lego store
BrickBuilt WrapUp
Sunday afternoon was spent looking at the builds, chatting to friends and perusing the goods on the vendor tables. There was a good mix of old and new items, custom models, minifigs, parts, LEGO merchandise and LEGO themed jewellery. Though most of the vendors were local, a few had travelled from interstate for the event. In addition to the vendor tables, there was a raffle for LEGO sets, with funds going to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, a Fairy Bricks lucky dip, and an auction of special builds by LEGO Masters Australia contestants. There was also an opportunity to try out the new LEGO 2K Drive game, have photos taken with cosplay character, or build your own LEGO masterpiece in the build area.
As always happens, time goes too quickly when you are having fun and it wasn’t long before the event was over and it was time to pack up our MOCs. The public departed and, just as bump-out commenced, one of the light fittings caught fire. Even though our personal builds had been packed and were ready to go, we had to abandon them on the table as everyone had to evacuate the building. A first for us and most of the exhibitors, we had no option but to wait for the all clear from the firefighters and the BrickBuilt committee. Despite the delay, most people were in good spirits and saw some humour in the situation. Everyone was relieved that there were no injuries and no damage to property. As soon as we were allowed back in, we grabbed our builds, and those we were transporting back to Melbourne, and headed off to our accommodation for the night.
evacuated exhibitors waiting for the all clear
Sydney: Last Stop
Monday morning arrived, and it was time to finish off the Sydney part of our BrickTrip with a visit to the Castle Towers LEGO Certified Store. Opened in late 2021, the store features a mosaic of Fagan Park and a minifig of an animal keeper and two koalas - a nod to the local Koala Park Sanctuary. We rounded out our Sydney stay with a visit to a local Bricklink seller to pick up some items for an overseas friend. Afterwards, we drove on to Canberra to stay the night with friends.
minifig at the castle towers lego store
mosaic at the castle towers lego store
To The Capital!
The laval clock purchased at the Canberra Vintage and Collectibles Centre
First stop on the Tuesday morning was the Canberra Vintage and Collectibles Centre. The store is full to the brim with antiques, trading cards, collectibles, vintage toys, comics, records, and all manner of pop culture items spanning many decades. Just as with the Collector Con in Sydney, there were a number of retired LEGO sets for sale along with items of LEGO merchandise. We were very pleased to add a Laval (Chima) minifig clock to my collection. Definitely worth the occasional visit when in Canberra.
Before leaving the Australian Capital, we took the opportunity to visit the Canberra LEGO Certified Store to add the final stamp of our BrickTrip to our LEGO passports. The store mosaic features the iconic Telstra Tower which stands high on the hill above the city.
mosaic at the canberra lego store
Amusingly, the minifig sculpture is taking a selfie with a kangaroo - not something usually recommended unless you know the kangaroo is very tame.
Minifig and kangaroo at the canberra lego store (Do not attempt)
A curious feature of the store were the labels on the Build-A-Minifig station. We’d not previously seen these in stores in Sydney or Melbourne, but we believe they are generally not uncommon in other places.
MINIFIG PICK-A-BRICK LABEL: Heads
MINIFIG PICK-A-BRICK LABEL: Torsos
Journey Home
From there, we drove the seven hours back to our home in Melbourne full of wonderful memories and experiences. We had such a great time visiting all of the LEGO stores and taking part in BrickBuilt 2023 that we’re really looking forward to participating again in May 2024. Hope to see you all in Sydney some day!
That’s a lot of LEGO Stores for one weekend, right? How many LEGO Stores have you visited in a weekend? Let us know in the comments below.
Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, John A., Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, and Wayne Tyler to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.
