1,000 Miles to Madness: A North Dakotan’s First BrickCon

Today’s BrickNerd article comes from guest contributor Becky Needham, an AFOL from Dickinson, North Dakota. Her favorite themes are Star Wars, SPACE!!, Batman, City... actually, she just loves all of them!

From North Dakota to Washington

The LEGO convention season is an exciting time, with the anticipation of getting to see old LEGO friends again and making new connections. As I think about possible convention plans for this summer, I find myself reflecting back on my first LEGO convention: BrickCon 2016 in Seattle. The theme for BrickCon that year was “Madness,” which feels like a fitting description for someone starting out on their very first AFOL community LEGO adventure!

This is especially true for someone who lives in North Dakota (USA), which isn’t exactly known for having any connections to LEGO or LEGO conventions. Dickinson, ND, where my friend Renee and I both live, is in the rural southwest corner of the state, and it feels like living in a LEGO desert. The closest LEGO store to us is 533 miles to the east in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Mall of America. As a result, we have to buy most of our LEGO sets either online or try our luck at a “big box” store. As far as LUGs are concerned, I think there might be one in Grand Forks, ND (GFKLUG), but that is still 350 miles away, and that distance doesn’t make it conducive or practical for being a member.

So then what would make two people from North Dakota decide to go more than 1,000 miles away to Seattle, WA for BrickCon 2016? (And what keeps us going back since?) To be honest, I can’t remember for certain. I remember Renee mentioning BrickCon, and she may have sent me a link to the convention’s website. As soon as I got to the webpage, excitement gripped me and I immediately said to Renee, “Yes! Let’s go!” I had never been to Seattle, and I was up for anything concerning LEGO bricks.

I remember having some basic LEGO bricks as a little girl and keeping them in my small red LEGO travel case. Once my younger brother was older, I remember we would build sets like the Coastal Rescue Base (6387) or our various Space Exploriens sets. We would build cars and test their structural integrity and our engineering skills via the “stair test.” If our builds could survive a trip down the stairs in one piece, we knew we had built something good! So, it was with the reckless abandon of the “stair test” that Renee and I took the leap and registered for BrickCon.

Taking the “stair test” meant that, rather than just attending as a public attendee, we were committed to going all-in and registering for the full convention experience. As our first LEGO convention, we had no idea what we were signing ourselves up for, but we were excited to find out! The first step was registering for the convention online… which then led to signing up to participate in games… and then deciding what we wanted printed on our custom brick badges… and then making our hotel reservations at the Maxwell—just a block away from the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall where BrickCon was held… and then a maddening amount of other things for us to do… like booking our flights.

First Impressions

Before we knew it, it was Thursday, September 29th, and there we were in Seattle for our very first LEGO convention. As Renee and I walked from the hotel to the Exhibition Hall, we could see people unloading totes filled with LEGO from their cars, while others carried boxes into the giant room. Once we got inside, we saw rows of tables and attendees beginning to set up their MOCs in their designated theme area. Being new to the whole convention scene, we didn’t bring any MOCs ourselves for three reasons: 1) we didn’t have anything built to bring with us, 2) we were flying and we didn’t know how to transport anything even if we did, and 3) we didn’t know how to register a MOC.

The next thing we noticed was that a good number of attendees were wearing LEGO-themed t-shirts, and I remember feeling giddy with excitement. It was such a fun feeling being in the presence of other people who shared the same pure joy and excitement for LEGO as we did—and they didn’t call them “LEGOS!” There was a little presentation for us newbies, titled “BrickCon 101.” I honestly can’t remember much from the session except that it reinforced the fact that the people we were surrounded by were “our people” and this was going to be a great experience.

After the presentation, Renee and I found where to check in. We received our official convention badges, customized engraved 1x8 bricks, and swag bags. At check-in, we also purchased LEGO-themed t-shirts of our own and the exclusive custom LEGO convention set. We took our time to look through our swag bags and couldn’t believe all of the stuff we got. I’m pretty sure I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

Grinning ear-to-Ear

Games and Give-Aways

The next day, Friday, Renee and I went back to the Exhibition Hall and were met with lots of positive, friendly energy in the air. We saw BrickCon volunteers running around attending to last minute details, attendees setting up their MOCs, friends reuniting with one another and some people were even commiserating about how little sleep they got because of the Meet and Greet event the night before (to which, as Renee and I had felt a bit shy, we had decided not to go).

Walking through the Exhibition Hall, it was clear there was no shortage of people’s creativity when it came to LEGO bricks. Some builds appeared less stressful than others. The microscale builds seemed that they would be easier to travel with and set up as compared to the 14-foot-tall model of the Space Needle or the Wall from Game of Thrones. No matter the MOC size or theme, the builders were trying to get everything in order before 10 am Saturday when the stanchions would be in place and the exhibition would be open to the public.

When we had registered, Renee and I had signed up to play some games. Neither one of us really knew what to expect beyond the basic description of the games. The first one we played was the bag build. The bag build game is exactly what it sounds like. You can use instructions to build the LEGO set, however, you must empty all of the pieces from the set into a single Ziploc bag, seal it, and assemble it without opening the bag. Everyone playing the game was given the same LEGO set and we all started at the same time.

Even though people had different skill levels and speeds, building in the bag really did add a handicap. Neither Renee nor I finished first, but we did our best and had a lot of fun. After the game ended, we were also excited to learn that all participants got to keep the LEGO set, no matter how fast or slow you built it. Woo-hoo!

The next game we competed in was the Box Build. With this game, everyone was handed a new LEGO set and told NOT to use the instructions. All we had was the picture on the box to figure out how the model went together. This was a fun challenge, but again, neither Renee nor I won, and we got to keep the set just like with the Bag Build.

Some of the other games we didn’t get to play were Speed Build, Blind Build, and the Master Build. Even if you weren’t playing the games yourself, however, you could still have fun observing others as they played them.

If games aren’t your thing though, there were also presentations you could attend with topics including things like building mosaics into your MOCs, digital building with BrickLink, storage and sorting, and more. There was also time to freely wander among the display tables as attendees set up their MOCs.

We then headed to the Opening Ceremony in a great big theater. The evening event served as a welcome to BrickCon and an opportunity to announce any last-minute updates or schedule changes. Everyone filed into the Cornish Theater and had their badges swiped before entering the auditorium. In the end, it seemed like the real reason for the Opening Ceremony was to give away PRIZES!

I was in awe as it seemed as if one of the directors would make a statement, and then it was time for prizes. The projector screen would show, “Draw five,” and then five names would appear. Each person on the list was awarded one LEGO set from the stockpile of sets up on the stage. Next would be a “Draw one,” and one lucky attendee got a larger LEGO set. Between the drawing of the prizes and the directors talking, the volunteers would throw t-shirts from past BrickCons into the audience. The energy in the Cornish Theater was amped up as everyone hoped to see their name on the big screen as a prize winner.

Friday night was the Keynote Ceremony, and Ryan Wood was the speaker that year. He is essential to the Master Model Builders at LEGOLAND Parks. He spoke about this experience and journey with LEGO throughout his life. He was fun to listen to, and after, even more prizes and shirts were handed out during the ceremony. Renee was lucky enough to get a LEGO set, and I was able to snag a t-shirt that had the previous year’s theme on it, “MOCking History.”

After the Keynote Ceremony, most everyone went back to the Exhibition Hall for Friends and Family night, where people close to the many builders could see all the LEGO MOCs before the swarms of public came the next day. Some attendees participated in the last few games of the day, like the Dirty Brickster white elephant gift exchange, while others made last-minute touch-ups to their builds.

Public Days for Non-Displayers

Saturday was the first day the public was allowed into the Exhibition Hall from 10am-4pm. Attendees could stay with their builds or attend one of the many presentations taking place throughout the day. Renee and I didn’t feel like fighting the crowds, so we did some exploring of Seattle and made sure we were back in time for the Awards Ceremony. We might not have known what the Awards Ceremony was going to entail, but by this point, we knew there would at least be prizes and t-shirts handed out!

As Renee and I sat in the auditorium waiting for the ceremony to start, we discovered that by pure chance we were sitting by the only other attendee from North Dakota! None of us could believe it. Out of nearly 450 attendees, the only three from our state ended up sitting next to each other. Throughout the presentation, it was fun to see the attendees receive credit or recognition in the form of custom brick-built trophies for their MOCs. Awards were given for builds in each theme and the winners of all the games.

The final day of BrickCon was Sunday, and Renee and I got to the Exhibit Hall early before it opened to the public again at 10 am. We spent most of our time walking around the Brick Bazaar vendor area. It was a lot of fun to see all sorts of vendors—some had custom bricks, some had LEGO jewelry, there were LEGO books, magazines, and artwork. There were also vendors who were selling minifigs and/or retired LEGO sets. If your bank account allowed it, you could almost buy all the sets you never had as a child but always wanted (or the sets you somehow lost along the way). Renee and I probably went overboard buying LEGO books and were more conservative when it came to buying sets.

The final event of BrickCon 2016 that Renee and I attended was the Closing Ceremony. It was a recap of how the convention went, the announcing of People’s Choice and Best in Show awards, what was ahead for other upcoming LEGO fan conventions, and the next year’s theme. There were a few more prizes to hand out and the very last “Draw One” was my name! I got the big Ferris Wheel (10247) and Renee got a t-shirt. What an end to our incredible first LEGO convention!

Souvenirs

Renee and I still had one more day we planned to spend in Seattle after the convention. We did some adventuring throughout the day, and to commemorate our first BrickCon experience, we decided to both get tattoos of the BrickCon logo!

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By the end of the day as we were back in our hotel room, we surveyed ALL of the LEGO sets and books and shirts, etc. that we had acquired over the past few days. How in the world were we going to get it all back to North Dakota!? I ended up doing some creative packing and ultimately had to sacrifice the Ferris Wheel box and only pack the bags and instructions.

Our carry-on bags were jam-packed with books and anything else that wouldn’t fit in our suitcases. I had the larger of our two suitcases, and in the end, it weighed a ton. I knew without a doubt I would be paying for the overage in weight once we checked our bags. In the end, we made it back to North Dakota with everything and a lot of fantastic memories. Renee and I knew that there were certainly going to be more BrickCons in our future.

Having a Home Con 1,000 Miles Away

Since that first convention in 2016, Renee and I have continued to attend BrickCon every other year. We even attended the first virtual BrickCon in 2020 due to COVID which was so well done it felt like we were there in person. (That was so successful they have continued the virtual convention every year since, so you can attend BrickCon from anywhere in the world!). So what have we learned throughout the years from travelling so far to get to BrickCon?

We now plan ahead and anticipate that we will have to ship things home via UPS or FedEx with tracking and insurance, so we budget accordingly for it. I will say, it is fun opening up the box once it arrives! It almost feels like Christmas. Depending on the set, if you don’t want to keep the box, you may save space by only packing the bags and instructions versus the entire box, as I had to do with the Ferris Wheel set.

Also last year when we were in Bellevue for BrickCon, we purchased the draft sets at the LEGO store instead of bringing them with us. (Although if we had brought them with us, we would have gained the space created by the box once we took them out.)

But even though we love getting bricks and swag, we keep coming back to BrickCon for the people. Renee and I like and enjoy the LEGO community, the passion builders share, and the openness to ideas. We LOVE seeing people’s creativity and what the imagination can do with LEGO bricks. We enjoy sharing the excitement of discovering a new and clever way to use LEGO.

We both have had positive experiences at BrickCon and need to try a little harder to engage more with other builders to help them have as great an experience as we have had. To this end, we have discussed attending other LEGO conventions, perhaps Brickworld Chicago or Bricks Cascade in Portland is in our future... Or maybe we will go somewhere else we haven’t considered yet. Who knows? Until then, we will continue to build our sets and remind ourselves it’s okay to play LEGO with friends, even if you have to travel 1,000 miles to get there.

BrickCon 2025

BrickCon 2025 will take place from September 4 to 7 in Bellevue, Washington. Tickets for both the in-person convention ($85) and virtual convention ($25) are available at afol.brickcon.org.

How far away is your “home con” away from home? Let us know in the comments below!

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