1st Hobart Lego ExpoAuthor: jawapro
Date: Mon 12/09/2011 10:41 PM
Welcome to the 1st Hobart Brick Expo!
It was organized by a few of the other Tasmanian Lego fans (mainly Brent) and was just a weekend to display part of our collections to the public.
I loaded up my Viking and Dino Attack sets (I own both complete themes) and a few other odds and ends.
You know - after I loaded the car it occurred to me, it’s possible the lego inside the car was worth more than the vehicle itself! Probably not - but it’d be fairly close.
Aaron brought his legendary Spirit again.
The captain is still being chased by a sharkman! You’d think he’d have gotten away by now.
Don’t try this...
Aaron’s other displays were candles and candelabras! That blue bird is both a candelabra and a castle! It’s modelled on the Black Falcon’s logo (the Black Falcons are a faction of Lego’s classic Castle range).
The Forestmen and evil candelabras
And the classic castle version.
And this one which is a cross between the original Lego Yellow Castle and a spaceship.
I still think this bird/castle/candle idea was awesome.
Francis and Martin bought some of their Technic range. These things are awesome and some are worth $1000 on their own. They also had photos from a quarry where the quarry owner had positioned the actual vehicles for comparison shots. Awesome stuff...
Francis bought a small train layout which included a church based on one in Sorell (where she lives).
This ancient train was a drawcard for the crowds. It has a microphone and will start and stop when you whistle or clap loudly. It’s from the 60s and still runs perfectly - Francis’s ebay score of the decade!
Brent bought some Star Wars lego and a collection of vintage sets from the 80s. Behind them you can see the modular buildings which Brent and Francis bought. I spend most of the two days demonstrating how the floors come apart and the detail inside.
My complete collection of all 5 series of Minifigs was highly admired.
Batman made an appearance on the second day. This one has been modified to be remote controlled.
This was only 5 or 6 people displaying Lego in a small venue - so we weren’t sure how it'd go. Some people were expecting 50 visitors a day etc. Well - the crowd proved that Lego displays have a place in Tassie after all.
The first day had an estimated 500 people through the door. There wasn’t really a lull all day.
Personally I hoped the Sunday would be quiet so I could talk them into making it a Saturday only show next year (I’d rather not do things on Sunday) but there’s no chance of that. We had about 1000 people through the door on Sunday.
While nothing like the queues in Melbourne - there was still a decent line of people waiting to get in. Yep - that’s how small the venue was this year. It’s going to be bigger next year - we know the idea is certainly not a flop! The nay-sayers have been put well and truely in their place.
It may have been very small and low-key compared to the Melbourne events, but for a first attempt it went off brilliantly.
Next time I’m taking another day off though - the trip back up on Sunday night after packing up was rather tiring.
And to wrap it off - everyone always asks how the Spirit is held together - well here’s a shot as Aaron was taking it apart.
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