Featured – Mostly Bricks

Brick Fiesta 2011 – Part 2

August 15, 2011August 15, 2011 by Chad

IF you want to see the first part, here is Part 1 of my Brick Fiesta pics if you want to see the other photos published so far. This is the full set at flickr.

As I said in part 1, the lighting was not optimal for photography without a nice flash, but I tried. The quality does get better.

If you click on the photo below, it will take you to a larger version of the photo.

Brick Fiesta LEGO Convention - Austin, Texas (July 2011)

While I can’t read all of the cards, and apologize for missing many, on the right is the “Chesapeak & Ohio Engine #1602 from a 2009 MOC by Anthony Sava, which is a 2-6-6-5 class steam engine.”

Second from the right is the “Texas State Railroad Engine #400 (2011) also by Anthony, it’s a Mikado-class Steam engine with Vanderbilt Tender. Above is older creation from Anthony, the Tequilla Sunrise.

This was by far one of my favorite MOCs that I saw, and one of the largest, if not the largest. It is a 2011 MOC called Mirage, by Nannan Zhang and Tyler Clites. “High above, the guardians of the seven virtues protect the worlds below from sin and corruption.”

Brick Fiesta 2011 – Part 1

August 15, 2011August 4, 2011 by Chad

Update: Here is Part 2 of my Brick Fiesta 2011 Pics

A month ago, Brick Fiesta, Texas’ first major LEGO convention was held in Austin, Texas, and I’m just now getting around to posting photos!

Keep in mind the early photos I took were off in the color – the lighting was pretty bad, but the quality picks up in the next few batches after this.

As always, clicking on the photos below will take you to a larger version of the photo. This is the full set and will eventually have 100+ photos.

The mascots of Brick Fiesta:

The main area – looks are very deceiving here as it was much larger than it looks:

Whole Foods Headquarters and Grocery Store in downtown Austin:

The Neverwas Haul (2010)
By Kurt Bay (RTN LNA)
“Modeled on the real life Neverwas Haul, a self-propelled 3-story Victorian House, piloted by a Pith helmeted crew, is a “steam punk” fantasy come to life.

Ship on the left:
Republic of Texas Navy Steamship-of-War Zavala
First Steamship-of-War in the Texas Navy and was built in 1836, commissioned in 1839, and decomissioned in 1842. She was based out of Galveston, Texas, and had a crew of 24 officers and 123 sailors and Marines, with 5 cannon. Wikipedia article.

Ship in the middle is fictional and named the “RTS Legomalee” and the ship on the right is a fictional Texas version of the ironclads from the Civil War.

Brick Fiesta – Austin, Photos From Others

July 25, 2011July 5, 2011 by Chad

It’s taking me longer than I thought to sort through the nearly 200 photos I took, but in the meantime, these are but a few of the many photos others took over the weekend at the Brick Fiesta in Austin, Texas. For the full listing of photos, see this flickr … Read more

Brick Fiesta – June 30th – July 3, LEGO in Austin, Texas!

January 6, 2011 by Chad

Jason and I had talked about visiting one of the major LEGO events, possibly the one in Seattle, but it’s very expensive being that we are in Texas. To say that this news is a pleasant surprise is an understatement – Texas is getting its own major LEGO event, and … Read more

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Version 1.1 for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

November 20, 2017December 13, 2010 by Chad

I went into the App Store on my iPhone, and under updates, it looks like LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 has received a large update from Warner Brothers to version 1.1, with quite a few new features and updates. It’s a portable (but very full-featured) version of the game and … Read more

LEGO at Barnes and Noble

December 8, 2010December 7, 2010 by Chad

I’m always interested in how LEGO is portrayed and sold in other stores outside of the official LEGO retail stores. I’m lucky enough to have had a LEGO retail store open up in my area in the past year, which means no more sporadic trips to the LEGO stores in Houston or Dallas when I’m visiting family and friends there.

Now of course, I’ve got plenty of Targets, Wal-Marts, even Sears, in my area, with plenty of LEGO sets to choose from. I can’t forget Toys R Us as well – have a couple of those.

There is one place that has quite a few LEGO sets available, as well as some nice displays, that often gets overlooked, and they happen to carry LEGO-related items that the other non-LEGO retail stores don’t necessarily carry.

I’m of course referring to Barnes and Noble. I visit the one in south Austin occasionally, and this time around I decided to take some photos of their LEGO sets and displays, because I don’t think most people realize what all they have – they aren’t just selling books, magazines, food and movies/music. They’ve been adding a toy and hobby section, and the one I visit has quite a bit of LEGO-related items. The store I’m referring to, they obviously have put some effort into the LEGO displays – I’m not familiar with other stores, but I am impressed with this one.

Some notes/observations:
* The main LEGO display was fairly prominent – it had it’s own little dedicated section in the middle of the toys and hobby section.
* The LEGO alarm clock/flashlights were in another part of the toys & hobby section.
* The LEGO games and the LEGO Architecture displays were next to one another, however they were off in the game section of Barnes & Noble and weren’t near the main LEGO display. They were still easy to find.
* I did a really poor job of taking photos of the LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Star Wars stuff!

LEGO items and lines I saw:
* LEGO Architecture – Empire State Building, Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, Fallingwater, Guggenheim Museum, White House
* LEGO Games – Pirate Code, Robo Champ, Magikus, Minotaurs, Ramses Pyramid, Creationary, Race 300, Dragon, Harry Potter/Hogwarts
* LEGO Accessories – flashlights, nightlights, alarm clocks, pens, keychains
* LEGO Books – Minifig stickers, Star Wars Visual Dictionary
* LEGO Atlantis (a nice mix!)
* LEGO City
* LEGO Creator
* LEGO Kingdoms
* LEGO Star Wars (both original and Clone Wars)
* LEGO Technic
* LEGO Toy Story
* The beginner LEGO tubs
* Duplo

Anyways, here are some photos of the various LEGO displays in our favorite B&N. I apologize for the poor picture quality – I’m not using a flash in a store, and I’m not the steadiest of hands when it comes to photo taking. You can click on any of them to take you to a larger version at flickr.