Review: Brickman Awesome Exhibition Melbourne

April 3, 2018 | 5

Two weeks ago, I was invited to a special preview of the Melbourne leg of Ryan McNaught’s new Brickman Awesome show. If you’re unfamiliar with Ryan McNaught, he’s probably the most well known Australian LEGO public figure, mostly due to his job as a LEGO Certified Professional.

I’ve been to a few of his previous shows which have always been enjoyable affairs, but I can quite confidently say that this is his best one yet.

Here’s a quick review to walk you through what you can expect.

Me and my family were extended an invite to Brickman Awesome as guests of Toyota Australia.

What: Brickman Awesome Melbourne LEGO Exhibition
Where: Melbourne Museum, Carlton [Google Maps location]
When: Until Sunday, 29 April 2018
Cost: Afternoon Specials – $25 Monday-Wednesday 3-4pm only
Adult – $35
Concession – $30
Junior (4-16) – $25
Under 4s – FREE
Family (2 x adults and 2 x children) – $95
Family (1 x adult and 2 x children) – $65
Buy Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=AWESOME17 

Ryan has arguably one of the coolest jobs in the world – designing and building all sorts of LEGO models that continually push the envelope of what can be achieved by snapping a few (or several thousand) LEGO bricks together.

His shows are essentially massive showcases of LEGO models, both big and awesome of varying complexity. The title of the show quite accurately describes the models curated – they’re pretty jaw-dropping and describing them as awesome would be a pretty accurate assessment.

This is mostly the same exhibition as the one in Sydney, with a few new additions such as the life-sized Toyota Camry.

Ryan’s signature building style is large minifig-scale models with plenty of fun Easter eggs and scenes littering them, but in Brickman Awesome, he tackles more large-scale sculptures which lack most of his trademark playfulness, but are awesome to behold in person.

I really enjoyed the supersized Australian animals such as the Koala, Platypus and this massive saltwater crocodile that menacingly stares down visitors. When you walk in, you’re also greeted by a massive Orca statue that’s mid-breach.

One of the main attractions that’s new to the Melbourne show is the life-sized Toyota Camry. Not the most… exhilarating vehicle for automotive fans, but if you’re into practical family sedans, you’ll probably get a kick out of the Camry.

The model is actually really impressive in person – it’s built out of over half a thousand  million bricks and took a ridiculous number of man-hours to assemble. I was speaking to Ryan, and he concedes that it would be much, much cheaper to buy a real Toyota Camry than to build one out of LEGO.

Another highlight was a LEGO Harley Davidson which is apparently the only life-sized Harley motorcycle ever made.

One of the most jaw-dropping models there was the towering NASA Space Launch System rocket which towers over spectators, measuring 7.5m tall.

For fans of earthmoving vehicles, the show is also host to the largest LEGO Caterpillar 797 dump truck.

Doctor Who fans will be delighted to get up close and personal with a LEGO Tardis.

Fans of smaller minifig-scale builds aren’t left out, as there are some cool displays such as this Eiffel Tower.

This Godzilla build was also pretty neat.

That said, the most impressive build and my personal favourite model in the show is undoubtedly the Back to the Future Delorean which rests upon a rotating pedestal. The model which is made out of 65,143 bricks is absolutely breathtaking and the photos don’t really do it justice.

Check out this video which shows the Delorean in full so you can marvel at the vehicle from all angles.

The exhibition for the most part is pretty passive, as you’re mostly going to be spending time looking at the models on display, however for those with younger kids there are several build stations such as the one you see above where kids can play with bricks and build their very own Emperor Penguins.

I would recommend going to Brickman Awesome whether you’re an adult LEGO fan, or if you’re a parent with LEGO-crazed kids that needs something to do over the school holidays.

The only drawback I can think of is the entry price for the tickets, which aren’t cheap at all. For a family of 4, it’ll cost you $95 and adult tickets cost $35 which is pretty costly for about an hour of entertainment.

I do wish the cost was slightly more accessible, especially for families that can’t just drop a hundred bucks on a whim.

That said, exhibitions like these and the opportunity to see amazing LEGO creations like these are hard to come by, so if you’re a huge LEGO fan, I think you’ll get your money’s worth.

Like I said earlier, it’s definitely Ryan’s best show yet, and I really like the focus on larger models compared to smaller builds, which you can always check out at your local LEGO convention.

Brickman Awesome will run till 29 April at the Melbourne Museum. You can buy tickets in person, or book them online to secure your desired time slots.

Have you been to the Brickman Awesome exhibition? I’d love to know what you thought of it in the comments section!

Thanks again to Toyota Australia for the invite!