(Written by Christopher Butler – Bug)
One of the best ways to get inspired in the LEGO hobby is to attend a LEGO event where you can see awesome LEGO creations personally, talk with the builders, make friends and get lots of ideas for your own LEGO projects. There are many LEGO events throughout the year, and they are usually organized by LEGO User Groups (a.k.a. LUGs). On April 27 some friends and I went to the OKILUG (Ohio Kentucky Indiana LEGO Users Group) Brick Expo at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The LEGO creations displayed were really cool! Unfortunately I didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted to, but I will share with you what I did get. Hopefully this will give you an idea what to expect at a LEGO event.
First there is this very detailed LEGO cathedral I wanted to show you. With everything from statues, stained-glass windows, crosses, and even an altar inside. This is clearly the best LEGO cathedral that I have seen (which I haven’t seen many). I really like the design of the stained-glass windows, and how they used minifigures as statues. 🙂
The next photo is of Studsville, and it definitely has a lot of studs! In this picture you can see the carousel, part of the Ferris-wheel, a rocket (which is part of a parade), several restaurants, the Daily Planet, and a stage. The carousel actually turns, and so does the Ferris-wheel. There is a festival going on in the front of the picture, and the stage to the right of the carousel actually lights up! This was probably the best LEGO creation at the event because of all the hidden details and moving parts. A unique use for LEGO pieces that you can see is on the Daily Planet (the large building in the back left of the picture). It has the death star from the LEGO Star Wars Planets series in it. The Death Star is attached to a motor which makes it spin!
And below is a farm in Studsville. The LEGO brick-built corn stalks are a very nice addition to this LEGO display. The combine is also nice, even though it is too big to fit in the barn. The little hill behind the combine’s blade covers a motor which turns the blade. There is also a ball-field that you can see a little bit of on the left.
Below is a better picture of the LEGO Ferris-wheel. If you zoom in close enough on the bucket at the bottom of the picture you should be able to see the pop bottles better. They are customized and are about the size of a 1×1 round brick. They are labeled Bepsi and other creative names.
And here is the Battle of Helm’s Deep in LEGO form. It includes over 150,000 elements, 1,300 Uruk-hai, 200 elves from the LEGO Collectible Minifigures series, and over 100 Rohan soldiers! The builder of this huge LEGO diorama said it took about a year of planning and collecting pieces, and six months of building. He said that he spent about $20,000 on it! That is dedication!
The last LEGO diorama I have pictures of is taken from the sixth episode of Star Wars. It is of Endor and has several scenes in it. In the trees you can see the Ewok houses. Right below them, there is a Rebel patrol. To the right, is the landing-pad, and you can see Luke talking to Darth Vader. Behind the AT-AT you can barely make out the Death Star’s shield-generator surrounded by Stormtroopers.
I hope these pictures give you an idea of the awesomeness of this LEGO event. You can see more pictures at the following link, but please note the images are big, so make sure you have a good Internet connection: OKILUG Brick Expo Photo Album. If you ever have the chance to attend a LEGO fest hosted by OKILUG or any other LUG near you, I would recommend going. They are really fun and inspirational! 😉
I hope you enjoyed the article. I am a TFOL (Teen-Fan-of-LEGO) and this is my first article for theBrickBlogger. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome. Thanks for reading! And you might also like check out the following related posts:
I know Nace would freak out when he sees The Battle of Helms Deep. The creations are pretty cool,wait scratch that,awesome,wait scratch that,EPIC!!!!!!!!!
First comment!
Legoman640, you were right!
Nice post Bug! I really want to go to brick magic the closest lego convintion to me. To bad I don’t live in Lexington, Kentucky anymore.
Thanks
WOW. That Helms Deep is HUGE! And all those minifigs… I wish I had that! It’s so cool!!!
Yeah I really like the Helms Deep as well. It is really amazing.
I’m a member of a LUG, and it is truly inspiring. We have some incredible builders.
What Lug is it?
Btw does anyone know of any Lugs in Boone County Ky that teenagers can join? I tried searching it but I couldn’t find any. 🙁
That’s actually a really good question, and I know it is something that has been an issue with many locations where these is a LUG; kids and teens are not so welcome – which is fine, as long as the kids also have somewhere to hang out. But there may be some logistical issues which doesn’t allow to have an adult LUG and a teens LUG at the same time. However you can always start one. 😉
I figured that most of them were for adults because all the ones I looked at all the members were adults. I think the main reason for it is adults can set up/work at conventions a lot more easily than kids. Also they have more $$.
Yeah, and they want to be free of kids once in a while. 😉
Those creations are INSPIRING! Now how many of you can guess what my favorite Lego creation up there was?
Helms Deep 🙂
Right!
Lego conventions are great! Free bricks, games, showing of your MOCs. I’ve been lucky enough to go to BrickCon in Seattle, BrickMagic in Raleigh, and BrickFair in Birmingham. Anyone know of any others in 2013-14? I’m compiling a list for my website and future vacations! 😉
Andy, there is also BrickWorld, a huge event. Brickworld consists of four shows: Chicago Area (IL) – June 15 & 16, 2013, Fort Wayne, IN – September 28 & 29, 2013, Lafayette, IN – November 2 & 3, 2013, Indianapolis, IN – 2014 Dates – TBD
Also, BrickFiesta in Texas – BrickFiesta is held in a different Texan city every year over the Independence Day weekend in July. And Bricks Cascade in Portland, OR – Bricks Cascade is held every year in Portland. They began in June 2012, and switched to March in 2013 when Bricks by the Bay moved to August.
ok, I have to admit I’m a star wars nerd. i really liked that star wars one. it looked like the one in the movie! except LEGO, of course. and the LOTR was AWESOME! 😀
Hey sis, I’m going to start posting on here as well! Anyway my favorite out of all of these has to be the LOTR battle scene! I wish I had a lot of bricks so I could do something like this.
ha-ha… what are you doing here? can you change your name, maybe, please! um, yeah… please, your name kind of sounds like mine so please change it.
awesome lov the battle of helms deep!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but the Cathedral is sooo amazing!!!!!!
I’m wondering how that combine harvester would fit into the barn?
Yeah really! hehehe!
I want to go to a Lego event like that one day….
Yeah I wondered the same thing. It is a little big.
It’s too big to fit in the barn. I know, cause it says so in the text. 😉
Who has enough money to spend $20,000 on Lego!?
The guy who built helms deep. 🙂
I know but how did he get that much!?
Btw, the Daily Planet is the newspaper found in the Superman comics.
Good post Bug. Bug the Blogger 🙂 Or, Bug the Big Brick Blogger 😀 I loved those pictures, ecspecially the cathedral. Also, I just placed an order for Colby City and The Stagecoach Escape. I qualify for free shipping and Iron Man and the Drone thing 🙂
guys, tomorrow is the last day to vote for my “Choose my next post” Competition at the comments of my contributor’s page! I recommend that those who haven’t vote should vote!
Awsome! The City is really cool!
I had already seen the Helm’s Deep creation on mocpages.com. Mocpages has some awesome LOTR creations. I especially like this certain Osgiliath recreation mixing many different scenes into a smallish diorama. Also there are some amazing Dead Marshes MOCs.
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