Once again, Houston Brick Club partnered with Fairy Bricks to provide donated LEGO® sets to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Fairy Bricks provided 6 large boxes of new LEGO® sets, and the Club delivered them to the hospital.
Houston Brick Club wants to thank both Fairy Bricks and Texas Children’s Hospital for all the great things they do. Hopefully we can start doing displays and other activities at the hospital again soon!
Author: houstonbrickclub
Spring Meetings
Houston Brick Club has returned to in-person meetings this year. On March 19, 26 members met at the LEGO® Brand Retail Store in Willowbrook Mall to shop, discuss upcoming activities, and generally socialize. Thanks to the store for opening early and allowing us to use their space!
On April 30, 14 members met at Space Cadets Collection in The Woodlands. The store provide bulk used LEGO® parts for Club members to look through and buy. The final unfinished sections of our Micro Houston build were shown, and we talked about Brick Rodeo and other upcoming activities. Thanks to Space Cadets for letting us meet there!
April – May events
Houston Brick Club had two events at area schools recently. On April 9, seven members took part in Bookapalooza at Dulles High School in Sugar Land. This event was created by the school as “a place where students can have fun and connect with each other to share their love of comics, books, manga, anime, and writing.” Club members presented displays of MOCs, included a number of motorized and hands-on Technic builds. Approximately 900 public attendees were present.
On May 13 and 14, 2022, Club members attended Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dances at West U. Elementary School. The Club was invited by a mother and son who had attended last year’s Brick Rodeo and wanted a LEGO® theme for this event. Five Club members diplayed MOCs such as large mosaics, a castle, and various Technic builds that the kids were able to play with. The event had about 200 attendees each night.
Children’s Museum display
On Feb. 26 several members of Houston Brick Club displayed built models at the Children’s Museum of Houston. This is an annual event as part of the museum’s Engineering Week. Models included trains, buildings, space, pop culture characters, mosaics, and more.
2021 Holiday Party
Houston Brick Club celebrated the 2021 holiday season with an in-person party at a member’s home on December 4. Thirty-two Club members attended. We held a draft and exchanged brick-built ornaments. We had a very lively gift exchange with many “steals.” We talked about next year’s activities and generally socialized.
Most importantly, we collected new LEGO(R) sets for charity. About (60) sets and another (20) or so polybags were donated by Club members. These were later given to Texas Children’s Hospital . Houston Brick Club has had been activities at TCH over the years. Those activities have been paused due to the ongoing coronavirus issues, and we hope that we can resume them soon.
LSSE Event
Houston Brick Club was contacted by Lone Star Sports and Entertainment to provide a brick-built backdrop for use at LSSE’s charity event. About 10-12 Club members worked together to create a mosaic showing the state of Texas, the logos of two high school football teams, plus the LSSE and Houston Brick Club logos.
Two Club members took this backdrop to LSSE’s event at a local high school football game in October, 2021. LSSE was collecting LEGO(R) sets to be donated to disadvantaged youth at holiday time.
Houston Brick Club is proud of our charity activities. Please Contact Us if you are interested in displays or builds for your charity event.
Brick Rodeo 2021 highlights
Brick Rodeo LEGO(R) Fan Convention and Exhibition was held July 22-25, 2021, at the Houston Marriott Sugar Land. By all accounts, it was a great success!
Approximately 300 All-Access Members signed up for the full Convention. These Members arrived Thursday and Friday, set up MOCs for display, played games, attended presentations, caught up with old friends and met new ones. On Saturday and Sunday, the event was open to the public to show off all the custom creations made from LEGO(R) bricks.
Highlights from Brick Rodeo included:
– Keynote speech from Daniel Konstanski of Blocks Magazine, talking about “Key Moments in the Brick’s History.”
– 7 contestants from LEGO(R) Masters Season 2 were in attendance and brought MOCs to display
– a “MOCs at Night” session to showcase lighted models
– largest train/town layout Texas Brick Railroad has done to date
– charity auction to benefit a local children’s hospital
– large mosaic and fundraising game provided by Fairy Bricks
For information about next year’s Brick Rodeo, sign up for the email newsletter at BrickRodeo.com or follow #BrickRodeo on Facebook and Instagram.
Photos and other information can be found at the following links:
Danielle Bell’s photos
Alicia Costello’s photos
Tony Sava’s photos
Tony Sava’s photos (TBRR)
Comicpalooza 2021
About 15 Houston Brick Club members participated in a display event at Comicpalooza, July 17-18, 2021, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. This was our first public event since early 2020.
The highlight of the display was the Club’s model of downtown Houston, composed of over 30,000 LEGO(R) bricks. Public visitors looked for their favorite buildings, arenas, and parks. A “You Are Here” sticker was placed on the model of the Convention Center to orient everyone.
Club members brought a variety of MOCs to display, including mosaics and sculptures of pop culture characters, flying airplanes, a Hogwarts Express train, and scenes from movies.
In addition to displaying models, Club members promoted next week’s Brick Rodeo, and ran a fundraising game to benefit Fairy Bricks.
Brick Rodeo
“Saddle Up” for the
10th Anniversary LEGOⓇ fan convention in Texas!
Houston Marriott Sugar Land
July 22-25, 2021
After many years of fun and games at our favorite Texas LEGOⓇ fan convention, we pulled out the “branding” iron and went to work. The result? Brick Rodeo!
Despite the new name, this really isn’t our first rodeo! With the theme of “A 10th Brick Odyssey,” Brick Rodeo will celebrate a decade of AFOL gatherings in Texas while looking forward to many more years of brick-built entertainment.
Brick Rodeo will include the same four days of family-friendly LEGOⓇ activities you’re used to: private convention, public exhibition, games, presentations, giveaways; and maybe a few new things!
We are very excited that Brick Rodeo will now offer an enhanced website experience that is easy to navigate and will be consistent from year to year. “Steer” your way over to www.BrickRodeo.com and see what’s there!
Brick Rodeo is currently being planned as a normal in-person event in July 2021. We understand this may be a concern to some, and that no one knows what the pandemic conditions will be at that time. The situation is being monitored diligently and appropriate governmental and public health guidelines will be followed. Any changes to the event or procedures will be communicated on the website and social media outlets as needed.
Round up your friends and family, save the date, and plan to join the fun as our Texas LEGOⓇ fan convention enters its second decade!
We reckon this will be the best LEGOⓇ fan event in Texas so far – no “bull”! To keep up to date with all the Brick Rodeo happenings, please follow Brick Rodeo on your favorite social media platform, look at our website, and watch for email from Brick Rodeo. Please share with your friends, family, and ranch hands!
Brick Fiesta 2020 wrap-up
The first “virtual” version of Brick Fiesta was held on July 25-26, 2020. The original in-person convention has been postponed until 2021 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This event included about 20 sessions total over two days covering building techniques, large MOCs and displays, build activities, social time, and much more. Brick Fiesta was honored to have four different members of The LEGO Group participate: Stuart Harris (LEGO® House), Sara Skahill (AFOL Engagement), Oliver Gregory (Set Design), and Helene Teichert (LEGO® Certified Professionals Program). Thank you very much for your time and energy!
Other special guests included Flynn De Marco and Richard Board teaching lighting; Daniel Konstanski of Blocks Magazine with a history of the LEGO® Club; and Alice Finch and Megan Lum of The Women’s Brick Initiative.
In addition to all that, several AFOLs from Houston and elsewhere in Texas ran sessions about Downtown Houston in LEGO®; a large model of the Alamo; Star Wars® MOCs; building a Zoom background; military and historical MOCs; custom large-scale cars; and more!
Each day concluded with an online social time in the evening, where 30-50 AFOLs gathered to build and talk.
Brick Fiesta had over 150 registered attendees, and most sessions had 50-70 viewers. Attendees represented at least 25 states, 20 countries, and 17 LEGO® User Groups. While this show was a great success, we are all looking forward to meeting in person next year. Keep checking this website for more information!
Brick Fiesta would like to thank The LEGO Group; all the various presenters, volunteers, and other helpers; and the sponsors (seen at the bottom of brickfiesta2020.com ). Without all of you, this event would not have happened!
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