Is it possible to attend two LEGO conventions on different sides of the world only a few days apart? Aiden Rexroad describes his journey around the world from Japan Brickfest to Brickworld Chicago and beyond.
Japan Brickfest - The Beginning of the Journey
My journey began at 3:00 AM in Orlando, Florida, as I got ready to head to the airport for my first of many flights. I didn’t sleep at all because of work the night before, so I was already off to a great start. But I knew I’d have plenty of time to sleep on my flight to Japan. With my three MOCs packed, I began my adventure to Brickworld Chicago with a long stopover at Japan Brickfest (JBF).
After uneventful flights and getting some much-needed rest, I arrived in Japan a few days before Japan Brickfest to explore Tokyo. (You can’t do this show without at least some time to see Japan—it’s just not possible!) I spent four days in the city exploring the area, eating great food, and doing some shopping. On Friday, I met up with my AFOL friends and headed to the show.
LEGO BOYZ (yes with a Z) is the very official and professional group name for those of us displaying together. The group consists of Will Galbraith, Thomas Jenkins, Christopher Hoffman, Takamichii, Oh Jee, and myself. It is a wonderful group of guys with great MOCs. We all stayed with Will at his apartment in Osaka and made the trek back and forth to Kobe where JBF is held every day of the event. Being able to all stay together at Will’s place made for some great memories: cooking, watching movies that other friends performed in, playing the LEGO Dungeons & Dragons campaign that came with the official set, and just enjoying each other’s company.
Kobe is quite far from Osaka. I would not really recommend staying in Osaka if you are just attending the show. It was very worth it for us, but I relied on the others to direct us on what trains to take because I probably would have missed a train at least once if I had traveled alone.
Saturday morning, we all made the journey to Japan Brickfest, knowing we had to set up our models before the show opened. Each of us decided to bring three MOCs to conserve packing space and allow for quick set-up and tear-down. Each of us selected a colored 1x1 brick and put it next to each of our builds. We also had a corresponding upscaled brick next to our name cards. This way, people could identify who made which MOCs.
While looking around at all the wonderful MOCs, I also got to talk a lot with some awesome people. Richard Jones of The Rambling Brick and Ralph Savelsberg are both amazing and I really enjoyed getting to meet them. I got to meet many Asian builders, some of them with only a greeting and compliment of their builds because of the language barrier, but some I was able to have longer conversations with. Luckily, all my friends speak Japanese, so they helped translate for me when needed.
One of the issues with being on an island for Japan Brickfest is the lack of city infrastructure, specifically food options. Some food trucks were parked in front of the venue, but our group wasn’t in the mood for what was offered. Chris, Tom, and I walked to the convenience store and took two wrong turns trying to get there (both inside a driving school). I’m convinced everyone at the school thought we were crazy, watching us walk in a big circle to find our way back out of the driving course we were walking on.
Sadly, Japan Brickfest is only a three-day show, so all our fun had come to an end as I said goodbye to all my friends Sunday night after some amazing pizza. My journey to Brickworld Chicago was about to begin. Fittingly, though, my next stop was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Malaysia - Intermission
I wasn’t quite ready to return to the United States, so I made a pit stop to visit another LEGO friend in Malaysia. We had a few very enjoyable days hanging out as he took me around to local spots. If any of you reading this decide to try this same trip— JBF to Brickworld—I would highly recommend not going to a third country in between. I had a blast, but if I did not have a friend to visit, such a stop would not have been worth it. With only a short time in Malaysia, it was once again time to say goodbye and make my way back to the States.
On our way to London we raced another plane, We won of course
Warning: Do not, and I repeat, do not take a flight from East Asia to Chicago connecting through London. It was literally the longest Thursday of my life, lasting 30-something hours.
With the headache that was the connection flight out of the way, I finally made it to Chicago after a journey that took me all the way around the world.
Brickworld Chicago - Returning to the States
This was my first year at Brickworld Chicago, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.
You would think with all that sitting on a plane I would be well rested and ready to go. No. I was quite tired but made it through the first day, making sure to only sleep when there definitely wasn’t something I should be paying attention to going on. (The Opening Ceremony turned into nap time by accident.) But hey, I woke up for the raffle to see my friend win a cool set.
Brickworld was very well organized and had plenty of amazing MOCs and even more amazing people who all share a similar passion for LEGO. There were so many fun activities that I didn’t get a chance to experience. I did, however, get to play the legendary BrickNerd/Dave/Simon/Markus games which was a chaotic and fun two-hour scavenger hunt and build competition that lived up to their reputation. I also got to watch the boat races, which proved quite entertaining and something I can’t say I’ve done at another LEGO show.
I also want to shout out Brickworld’s award system. I don’t really care about awards at events, but Brickworld has voting figured out better than any other show, in my opinion. I hope others take note of their system because I know many people care about awards, and the Brickworld team put a lot of time and effort into creating a very fair and honest system. It is based on a judged primary nomination round followed by a public vote, all possible through a simple app.
I am so happy Simon and Nathan (Woomy World) convinced me to attend Brickworld Chicago. Despite all my adventures beforehand, I still had energy left in me and had a great time. Of course, all the fun does have to come to an end eventually. After some lengthy flight delays and talking with fellow LEGO fans during that time, I made it back home to Orlando.
This shows just half of the Brickworld Chicago COnvention Hall during Public hours
Home Again
Conventions like Japan Brickfest and Brickworld Chicago are so much more than just the LEGO and the MOCs on display. Of course, it is amazing to see the creativity of everyone who displays, but for me, it has always been more about the friends I would never have met if little three-year-old me hadn’t started playing with LEGO.
I was very blessed to be able to take a trip like this and meet up with so many friends around the world. It’s never about the distance traveled or the size of the show. You will meet wonderful people at any LEGO event, and I think that’s something really special about this worldwide community. So the next time you take a world tour, be thankful for your LEGO friends along the way… and maybe don’t fly 30 hours straight from one side of the world to the other on the same day.
What is the furthest you have ever traveled for a LEGO event? Let us know in the comments below.
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