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I came, I saw, I built!
Here are my pictures and comments from BrickFest 2003!
•General Pics and folders to the rest (after moderation):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=53337
One of my favorites:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hendo/BrickFest-2003/brickfest09.jpg
The story behind this is that they had a bubblegum machine that you could put
four quarters into and out would come a BrickFest minifig (the design you see on
the left is actually the back. But they were all Town-folk, with brown or black
male-hair and sitting on a green 4x4 plate. After my purchase of two, I quickly
made my way to the Space Room where I had two white Futuron figs in my display.
I then swapped the BrickFest torsos in, and viola! we now have more useful Space
BrickFest Figs! ....Space!
As everything I brought was Space themed, I spent a lot of time and images in
that room. Here's another fun one from that sub-folder:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hendo/BrickFest-2003/Space-Room/spaceroom16.jpg
But as a cross-themer, I was more than pleased to stare at some of the Castle
displays for hours. Talking with Anthony Sava about how he builds his beasts
was one of my highlights, as he had been an inspiration to some of my own work.
The big castle MOC was intense and consumed a lot of my time, although I did not
have my camera with me the day I really looked at it. Elsewhere in the room,
this big fella stopped by the house for dinner:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hendo/BrickFest-2003/Castle-Room/castleroom08.jpg
As always, the details that go into a Train/Town layout impress me, and it was
good to see some of my Bostonian neighbors make an appearance with the quarry.
Elsewhere in my folder for this display, I really enjoyed looking at the minifig
activity of the Homer J. Simpson International Airport:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hendo/BrickFest-2003/Train-Town-Room/traintown06.jpg
Another favorite pic I took:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hendo/BrickFest-2003/Sculpture-Room/sculptures01.jpg
No real comments; I think the image says it all.
Also look for my sub-folders for Mecha, Fabuland, and FreeStyle, which had some
great displays. I failed to get any good images of Pirates, Gaming, or
Mindstorms activities (sorry).
•Some other comments: This was my first Fest of this kind, and only my second
time ever meeting any AFOLs in person. I pretty much spent the entire weekend
in a daze because I was overwhelmed in meeting so many new faces that supposedly
matched with names I had been writing to for five or eight years online. This
feeling of being in a dream is why I may have seemed so removed. But I was
having a good time, overall. I really enjoyed all the in-jokes within Space and
the good-natured competition between the different themes. And being able to
meet some of you was the best part. I can't even begin to list all your names,
but Christina, Felix, Tim, Teddy, Lenny, Travis, just to name a few. Oh and
that bathroom sign is the best!
There was a lot of discussion, both in and out of the presentations, about the
nature and future of the AFOL community and how Lego Direct is encouraging its
growth. Hoping not to sound too negative, I must admit that my reaction to this
is a bit torn. Everyone at BrickFest was very gung-ho to have more Fests and
more Events and attract more AFOLs into the hobby. But, prior to this
experience, my take on the hobby is that it can be a very personal and private
thing. I never had a Dark Age, so I have spent nearly twenty five years
building, and most of it was on my own. As much as I loved this event, and love
that LD wants to help, a part of me wants to cling to the fact that building
Lego® has always been something I do on my own. Free brick is nice and all, but
there's some gun-jumping going on if people are assuming that all AFOLs are in
this hobby looking for the same thing.
But once I get past the issue of assumptions, I do feel encouraged to try to be
more involved. How involved I will be is undecided at the moment, however.
There was talk about doing more with a Space or Fantasy club (something I have
suggested before here on Lugnet actually). And there was talk about doing more
with Gaming. And there was also the time I was pulled into the top secret
meeting to discuss that thing about the thing. With all of these ideas, yes I
*want* to be involved. But I cannot promise any helpful commitment all at once.
The real obstacle I have is time. I don't have that much time off from work,
and if it requires that I travel, odds are I can't be there. So the question
becomes: How can an AFOL who cannot afford to make it to many events be involved
in the community at large?
If anyone has any thoughts or answers, my negativity should abate. :)
Oh, and to sound less whiney, I will add that I am already planning to develop
more activities in my local area. More on that some other time... ;> It is
just the big national clubs/events that I feel are out of reach. Any
encouragement is welcome.
•Whoa, did I stray off-topic or what?! Anyway, I guess I was just spilling my
thoughts, good and bad, from last weekend. Again, I don't mean to bring anyone
down. I am just trying to figure out where I fit in. I thought this experience
would answer that question, but instead it has created more questions. Outside
of that issue though, BrickFest was an amazing event, that included more
goings-on then I could witness.
The root folder listed above might not be moderated yet, as I just posted a new
picture there. The other folders (hit the UP link from the pictures I
mentioned) should be fine. Elsewise, wait a bit and look again.
I am setting the FUT for .events.brickfest, but if you reply on a specific
subject, feel free to change that as appropriate.
That's my two bricks,
-Galactic Mediator Hendo
Oh, and uh...
.space!
:)
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: veni, vidi, vivus!
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| Thanks for posting pics. (and that goes to everyone that has done so as well) I think this one: (URL) the best 'everything at once' pic I have seen. May I wish I had been able to see that in person. Next year by golly, next year. -Mike Petrucelli (21 years ago, 14-Aug-03, to lugnet.events.brickfest)
| | | Re: veni, vidi, vivus!
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| (...) The feeling was mutual! (...) I don't think you're being pessimistic on this topic, Hendo. You're very right. We all get into this hobby for our own reasons. But going out and getting in the public isn't just about getting free stuff. I know (...) (21 years ago, 14-Aug-03, to lugnet.events.brickfest)
| | | Re: veni, vidi, vivus!
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| (...) Just a question regarding this: (URL) someone were to attend from, say, Australia, where would they put their 1x1 plate???? ;) And thanks for your thoughts regarding the event - it's interesting to hear other opinions. There have been (...) (21 years ago, 15-Aug-03, to lugnet.events.brickfest)
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