Friday, July 31, 2015

Purchased My Set!

I woke up on Monday exhausted.  I had spent the last week preparing for and executing Brick Fiesta.  I had talked non-stop to hundreds of wonderful and amazing people for hours on end and built long into the night when I was not making sure everyone was having a great time.  The night before I stayed up late for one last hurrah with the hard-core LEGO fans attending the Brick Fiesta "after party" and Monday morning I started the long process of moving everything (builds, equipment, random LEGO,etc...) from the DoubleTree Hotel back to my house.

I took a long nap and when I woke up, I realized that LEGO Big Bang Theory was AT my Local LEGO Store that very moment.

Yes, the soft release date for the set was the DAY AFTER the convention I ran.

Well, I had to see it for myself so I got in the car and drove up to the Austin LEGO Store.  The Austin LUG is very active so the staff recognizes us but I managed to slip in without being spotted.  There the set was right in the "Ideas" section.

It was so awesome to see this set that Ellen and I had helped to create on the store shelf!  I had of course built the set already.  LEGO sent me an early model and I had showcased it all weekend.  But to see it on this shelf and know that people were going to be getting their own copies of it was just so epic.

Seconds later the staff greeted me with much fanfare.  They were nice enough to take this photo of me.

Some of the staff are big fans of the show and thanked me personally.  I had experienced this a few times during Brick Fiesta but it is still a little shocking.  I feel in so many ways it is I who should be thanking them.  I posted the project but the public cast the votes that made it possible. The public showcased the interest in a BBT LEGO set that got it produced.  It is a deep honor to be thanked for my small role in this endeavor but it is a greater honor for me to see how happy and excited BBT fans are to get this set and be able to thank them in kind.

Now, I already built the set so I had to get some other sets to celebrate.  I went with the70738 Final Flight of the Destiny's Bounty which had this nice thematic ring to it because building a large sci-fi/fantasy airship was what got me out of my Dark Ages as well as a Mystery Machine.

Ellen would certainly be picking up a set herself but she is current DOING SCIENCE!  

EDIT:  I have gotten a few questions about the shirt I am wearing.  That is a new shirt that premiered at Brick Fiesta: Black on Very Dark Grey.  I really like it because it hits on a lot of fun things: Austin (we have a massive bat colony here), LEGO, and Batman.


Monday, July 20, 2015

Brick Fiesta Swag: LEGO-ized Movie Posters!

Hey everybody!

It has been a while! Well Brick Fiesta is this week!!!

Brick Fiesta has really taken up a lot of my attention.  It has been difficult at times but it has also been incredibly rewarding!  

I think in the long run you will see that it has a very beneficial impact on this site....

Today I want to share one of my proudest achievements as one of Brick Fiesta's Co-Chairs LEGO-ized Movie Posters!!!!




I have been sitting on this for a long time, and man it has been so difficult to keep the lid on it.

This year we have really reached out to the very generous LEGO Fan community and you will certainly see it in the variety of content in this year's raffle and a few select items that every convention goer will get.

I contacted LEGO Graphic Artist Paul Lee with a pretty crazy idea.  Would he be willing to LEGO-ize a classic movie poster for Brick Fiesta?  One that we could print to the same dimensions as the movie posters on the Palace Cinema.

He agreed....He agreed to do SIX!

And then when LEGO Brickumentary become one of our sponsors we started talking about movie swag.  I said to them, you know what LEGO fans would really like for Brickumentary Swag...Another LEGO sized Movie Poster!

Some highs and lows later and now we come to today....and the stickers are here...and they are beautiful.



Seven vinyl stickers.
  • Back to the Future
  • Ghostbusters
  • Jaws
  • Amelie
  • Jurassic World
  • Blade Runner
  • Brickumentary
Look for them in your Brick Fiesta convention bag.

I will note that some of these movies have very mature themes, some of those themes even depicted on the sticker itself (these are VERY accurate).  If you don't care for one of the movies, please cut that "poster" out and bring it to the Swap Meet, I am sure you will find someone willing to trade you something for it.