Photos and Highlights from Brickvention 2024
January 24, 2024
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Over the weekend, I was fortunate to attend Brickvention 2024, Australia’s premiere LEGO fan convention and one of my favourite LEGO events in the calendar!
Held at the Royal Exhibition Building, in Melbourne, Australia, Brickvention kicks off the LEGO AFOL Networking Event (ANE) circuit for the year and features some of Australia and the region’s most talented builders showing off their LEGO creations.
As usual, there were some incredible builds on display, from huge dioramas to smaller models, so there was plenty to see!
A special highlight was getting to record a live Extra Pieces podcast episode on the main stage which was a really fun experience! Fun fact, Richard and I have never recorded together in the same room before this, and this is our first time recording when the sun is up! We usually record in the dead of night, once my kids are tucked in bed.
If you weren’t there, keep an eye out for the episode on Extra Pieces which will be uploaded soon!
Another highlight was getting to meet some of the team from Bricklink, who visited from the US! They were not only great to chat to, but also brought along the entire Bricklink Designer Program Series 1 models!
Australia and Brickvention 2024 attendees were some of the first in the world to see these in person, and wow, I was blown away by them and seeing them side by side, really gave me a sense of scale and size of some of them. Look out for more previews of the BDP Series 1 sets soon, ahead of pre-orders opening on 7 February 2024!
Special thanks to Marko J. for the photos of the entire setup!
Without further ado, here’s some of my personal highlights and favourites from Brickvention 2024!
I have also uploaded the full Brickvention 2024 album on Facebook with most of the builds and displays! I couldn’t fit everything into this post (which is already massive!), but these are the ones that stood out to me!
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, you may have seen some of these!
The undeniable highlight for me at Brickvention 2024 was the Golden Dragon built by Donny Chen to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. If the name rings a bell, it’s because he’s the fan designer of the LEGO Ideas Grand Piano!
This is one of the most jaw-dropping LEGO designs I’ve ever seen, with not a single stud in sight, featuring a Chinese dragon with the most intricate scalework across its twisted body.
It’s a serious work of art, and a tremendous achievement by Donny Chen.
It wouldn’t be a LEGO Convention with some astounding Castle builds, and this great build by Dale Harris stood out with the use of yellow and tan walls, as well as plenty of intricate and fun details on the inside.
If someone were to modernise 375 Castle, Gyldenspir Castle would be it. Check out more photos and details on Dale’s website.
Speaking of Yellow Castles, this supersized build titled Yellow Castle and Friends by Michael Balin definitely stood out thanks to the huge models and blend of LEGO elements and larger soft bricks that you find in Legoland.
it was also great to see Neuschwanstein Castle Bavaria by Simon Scholtens on display. This was made using instructions from Felix Mezei that you can purchase on Rebrickable!
Another standout was TheBrickShelf’s Bluey build, featuring Rusty from the Cricket episode! That episode is one of the most beloved Bluey episodes in Australia so it was great to see this massive model of Rusty greeting people as they walked into the Royal Exhibition Building! Check out a video of the build below!
It doesn’t take a huge MOC to make a big impact. I really liked Rokan Cheung’s impressive display of Pinocchio and Multiversal Friends. The Pinocchio was exceptional, and so expressive and I also really liked the Gundam and Asuka (from Neon Genesis Evangelion) busts!
Another creative and clever take on minifigure habitats were in the form of these builds incorporated into VHS tape cases! Really clever, and I loved the sheer variety of pop culture references, from Bionicle, to Godzilla, to Stand by Me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the name of the builder, so if you do know who it is, please mention them (or yourself in the comments!)
Going back to supersized builds, this massive life-sized Minecraft Steve build by Dave Holder was also very good. It’s made out of over 10,000 2×4 bricks, and stands over 154cm (5″) tall!
Of course, finally getting to see Built_Bricks’s Legolorian suit in the flesh was awesome. It’s been blowing up all over Instagram and it was cool to see it in person, and to also appreciate how sturdy and well-built it is!
There’s plenty of pop culture builds on show, and this collection of CareBears by AdoraBuild in front of a most excellent Dots-inspired mosaic definitely caught my eye with how fun and colourful it was!
As a fan of Adventure Time, I couldn’t help but feel excited to check out Finn and Jake’s Treehouse by Matthew Turchiarelli who was displaying at Brickvention for the very first time! What really impressed me was the size, but also ability for the treehouse’s panels to be removed to reveal detailed interiors on the inside!
Mathematical!
Speaking of epic pop culture-inspired builds, the Marvel Museum by TeflonTodd was packed with so many Marvel references and scenes! It was really fun to try and spot all the details and references in this one!
The legend Johnny Thunder features in this awesome Temple of Anubis MOC by Ben Cossy!
There were also plenty of great LEGO Star Wars MOCs, such as this excellent Battle of Geonosis by Lawrence Payne. Now that’s where all the Dark Orange in Australia went!
Kyber Crystal Heist by Gavin Dunk was also pretty great with a massive beach landing and plenty of cool action scenes!
Speaking of Star Wars, this huge Dragon Mech by Ishar.Bricks filled with Snowtroopers was really sick!
LEGO.Focus‘ Atlantis is much larger this year, featuring more coral and lights! The juxtaposition of the clean Atlantis throne vs the rough craggly and colourful terrain was really enhanced this year!
It’s a shame Brickvention doesn’t have an “evening lights off” session as this would look sick in the dark.
I also really liked this Alice in Wonderland MOC by Bill Bogan, complete with a massive Alice minifigure!
Back to more medieval fare – Lande Jack makes great use of the Series 24 Orc to fill out this Orc Village, complete with some delightfully gruesome details! That poor baby!
Here’s a look at the MUGs (Melbourne LEGO User Group) collaborative Museum Display, with each member contributing a small module!
And last but not least, ending with some Classic Space builds! This Classic Space Diner by Brent Toma was a lot of fun, and I particularly enjoyed the Octan Space Gas Station, and all the Aliens milling about the Diner!
And last but not least, Turophiles Supply Base by Emerson and Kirstyn Mee featuring a decent-sized monorail track, complete with a Blacktron 1 monorail! Plenty of Brickvention builds incorporated aftermarket lighting, but this one in particular stood out for the use of Classic Space lights, to keep it as purist as you can get!
Thanks so much to the organisers for another fantastic year and I look forward to Brickvention 2025!
Check out the complete Brickvention 2024 album on Facebook!
Did you attend Brickvention or display there? Let me know in the comments what were some of your top highlights!
To relive past Brickventions, check out my writeups and photo galleries from each year, going back to 2014!
- Brickvention 2014
- Brickvention 2015
- Brickvention 2016
- Brickvention 2017
- Brickvention 2018
- Brickvention 2019
- Brickvention 2020
- Brickvention 2023
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