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.

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.

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 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)

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.

“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!

www.BrickRodeo.com

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!

On March 7, twelve members of Houston Brick Club contributed to a display of MOCs at iSpark Fest at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds, Rosenberg, Texas.  Models included a town with working water fountain, a samurai scene, a variety of trains, and some artistic models.

Our ongoing build of downtown Houston was also present – for the first time, the entire scope of the project was laid out in public.  We also met with various other Makers and talked to the public about Brick Fiesta.

iSpark Fest is organized by Innovation Spark as an event to replace the previous Maker Faire events.  This particular event was held in conjunction with the Greater Houston Hamfest, a gathering of local ham radio operators.  Houston Brick Club would like to thank both Innovation Spark and Houston Hamfest for letting us join them.

Models and photos shown below are by members of Houston Brick Club.

Continuing our busy February .. Houston Brick Club members participated in BrazCon (Brazoria County Teen Comic Convention) on Feb. 15, 2020.  About five Club members provided MOCs for display and brick for attendees to build and play with.  This event attracted about 3,200 public attendees.

The next weekend, Houston Brick Club went to the Children’s Museum of Houston to help celebrate National Engineering Day.  Eight members provided MOCs for display.  The highlight was the first public appearance of Dino Falls – a working amusement park using water!  Other displays include a town with monorail, Rainbow Castle, trains, and a large classic space layout.  In addition, the in-progress model of downtown Houston was on display.  The Museum’s attendance for the two days was approximately 5,700 people.

At both events, Club members met with the public, talked about MOCs and building, and promoted Brick Fiesta.  Come see our huge exhibition in Sugar Land this July!

Models and photos below are by members of Houston Brick Club.  More photos and videos can be seen on the Club Facebook page.