I'd heard good things about BrickCan, Vancouver, B.C.'s annual LEGO convention, from my fellow AFOLS, so this year I decided to check it out for myself!
Thursday, April 19th: After getting off work, I headed for the airport.
After landing in Vancouver and going through customs (which was oddly quick -- first time I've not been asked questions!) I headed to the airport SkyTrain station. From there, it's only a few stops to the River Rock Casino/Hotel, where the convention was taking place.
After arriving at the hotel, I messaged my pal Krys, who had arrived earlier in the day. (The hotel has free Wifi throughout! So nice.) Krys showed me to our shared hotel room and then led the way to the BrickCan Meet & Greet room. There was some food laid out and drinks available to buy. We hung out for a little while, mingled with other AFOLs, and then headed up to the room again.
The next morning, after figuring out the in-room coffee maker, I made my way down to the exhibition hall (located within the resort's theater) and got checked in. I got my name tag and event kit...
And a swag bag full of goodies...
Every attendee received a bag of new & unusual parts in their swag bag. Everyone's bag's contents were slightly different, so a lot of part trading went on during the weekend.
A few of the interesting parts that were in my bag...
Seriously, I was like, "Are these real?"
One of the first MOCs to catch my eye in the exhibit hall/theater was this one...
Followed by this beauty...
At some point, I checked the game lists to see which games I'd gotten into. It was supposed to be random (based one which games you wanted to be in, as indicated on the website the week prior) but I don't know how well it worked. One of my friends only got into one game (though she got to be a standby on a second one.) I made it into three games: Mitten Build, Team Speed Build (Random Teams), and Master Build.
The Mitten Build was first. We were each given a pair of woolen Canadian mittens, and a set to build...
What could possibly go wrong? ;)
The 4 most challenging things about building a LEGO set with mittens on are as follows:
1. Opening the box.
2. Turning the pages in the instruction booklet.
3. Putting together 1x1 studs.
4. Taking apart mis-placed pieces. (Just forget about it. You're doomed.)
I was halfway through the instruction booklet when someone called "done." After a few more pages, I took my mittens off to finish the build.
Next up was the Team Speed Build (Random Teams Edition.) We were given this set:
Apparently this is a really hard-to-find set, at least in the U.S., and I'd never seen it IRL.
Our team seemed to work well together, but we didn't win. But that's okay! You still get to divide & keep the pieces!
Look at those bitty little astronauts!
Then it was time for Opening Ceremonies. Everyone sat in the balcony of the theater, and the people running the show stood in the balcony also. Down below we could see many of the MOCs that had already been set up.
A computer/random generator picked people's names to win door prizes.
At some point, I set up my MOCs...
From left to right: Cascadia By Train (2017), Brown Bear Goes For A Stroll (2014), and Doll House (2018). (The fireworks one is not mine.)
Also Scrooge McDuck...
I also took lots of photos of the cool MOCs that had already been set up...
One thing they encouraged us to do this weekend was to bring our sig fig (signature/self-minifig) to the con, put this BrickCan shirt on it (the shirt came with our swag bag), and pose our fig in creative ways in different spots. I forgot my bespectacled sig fig at home, but I managed to put one together on the spot...
Here she is visiting Ben's Funland...
And trying to peek into the People's Choice ballot box...
Late that afternoon, I joined Krys and her friend Jessyca on a trip to the nearby Costco...
Canadian Costcos have fries, you guys. FRIES. And they tasted so fresh, like actual potatoes! Love.
That Friday was a rainy day in Vancouver. But I did appreciate the view from the sky bridge that connected our part of the hotel to the main part.
Back in the exhibit hall, I saw this MOC all lit up. SO COOL.
More greatness....
Friday evening, we gathered in one of the upstairs rooms to watch the Elite Speed Build...
That game was followed by Dirty Brickster...
There were so many people participating, we had to break into three groups. In our circle, one person brought a package covered in tape, another brought a package shaped like a pig, and another wrapped her gift in a ton of cellophane. So it took a long time to open our gifts and get around that circle....
At first, no one did much stealing, but about halfway through, things really got going. The gift I originally unwrapped, a Chima set, was then snatched away. So I stole the items that had been in the cellophane ball, but that got stolen from me, too. Then I went after the gifts I'd originally brought, which some people may say is ridiculous, and maybe so, but they were awesome and I was happy to have them. No one stole them from me. Now they are mine forever. Yes.
The next morning, as I walked across the sky bridge, I could see a line of folks waiting to get into the first session of the public convention.
Krys, Jessyca and I met for breakfast at the hotel's buffet. Each con attendee had received a $10 food voucher, and we spent ours here...
There was a very nice spread, including an omelet station and a salad bar.
This was our view from the restaurant...
Early that afternoon, Krys and I took off to explore Vancouver a bit. First we took the sky train to the Olympic Village station, then walked to Charleson Park. I'd seen online that there were jellybean sculptures there, but it turns out they were not there any longer.
Oooh, pretty!
After walking around the park, we took the sky train back to the Oakridge Center, where we got some treats at Tim Horton's...
and then met Jessyca at the LEGO store.
Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, we bought nothing there.
I did buy a Mediterranean crepe from one of the mall's food places, though...
I did buy a Mediterranean crepe from one of the mall's food places, though...
Mmm, crepes...
Then we headed back to the hotel.
Late in the afternoon, I went down to the hotel pool. The pool area was mostly inhabited by kids (there were roughly half a dozen eight-year-olds in the hot tub), but I did ride the water slide a couple of times and got some exercise in.
That evening, BrickCan held its second whole-group gathering, which also happened to be the Awards Ceremony. They handed out trophies for stellar MOCs.
Also, more door prizes were given out... and I won 2 bags of pieces!
Several people I knew took home trophies for their builds, including PortLUG's own Kristina R., for her Portland Building...
...and my Bricks Cascade/BrickCon buddy Jean T. earned an honorable mention for her Clearly A Castle....
The late night main event that night was called Anything CAN Happen, and it consisted of several team challenges.
I'd already felt like I'd had a long day, so I chose to just watch for a while, then go up to bed. Krys joined up with Jessyca and Jean, and from what I hear, it sounds like it was a good time.
The next morning, Sunday, was the second public day. I braved the theater/exhibit hall a few times to get more pictures and spend more time looking at the MOCs, even with the crowds swarming around.
That afternoon there were scheduled activities happening, which is unusual for LEGO cons I've been to -- usually Sundays are the day everyone sleeps in or goes to explore the town. I was happily surprised to see activities on the schedule.
First up: the 101 Bricks Build Challenge, in which anyone could participate. (Ages ago, I played this at BrickCon. Once I even won!)
So basically you select 101 bricks to use in a series of timed building challenges. For each challenge, you're given a theme. Then the judge or judges come around and see how well you built to that theme, using only your 101 bricks. At least the times I've played the game, what has mattered just as much as the build is your story behind it when the judges come by. So even if you think your build sucks... try to sell it.
This was one of my builds. The theme for this build was "Upside-Down."
This was my build for the theme... uh... I want to say "Fashion?" (It was only a week ago and I'm already forgetting things.)
R.I.P. Joan Rivers....
Several of my builds got points from the judges, and I came in 2nd place overall. And they gave me... 2 more bags of bricks!
The next game was the Master Build. This one had a limited number of participants, but I was lucky enough to get my name on the list.
These were the sets they gave us...
The guys running it, who had had a running gag throughout the con that involved the love of bacon, announced that the theme of the Master Build was going to be: "Strip."
We had one hour to build.
As you can imagine, many of the builds came out in the PG-13, R, and NC-17 range. A few people, though, chose to do a more PG interpretation of the word "Strip." There was a strip mall, an airplane landing strip, the Las Vegas strip, and a strip mining operation.
I went for strips of paper...
Although I was satisfied with my finished product, I was worried that the "strip" part of the build wouldn't be obvious or clear. But... the judges totally got it, and I got...
!!
So because of that, I got this brick and another bag of bricks. 6 bags of bricks in all! Except that meant I totally needed to check one of my bags on the flight home.
But that's okay. Really!
Not long afterward, the public hours came to a close, and the builders began to pack up their MOCs.
Then they had closing ceremonies. The Beauty & The Beast Library won both Best In Show AND People's Choice! It was one of my top 2 MOCs of the whole con, so I was happy to see it win those honors.
As soon as the ceremony was over, Krys and I finished packing up our MOCs. Coincidentally, we were both on the same flight back to Portland, so we rode the SkyTrain to the airport together.
From checking our bags to getting through security and customs (you do customs on the Canadian side going back, which is... interesting?), it took about an hour. Exhausting.
Happily, there was a Tim Horton's right near our gate....
French fries, a baguette, and wild mushroom soup!? I love you, Canada.
Around 7:40, we boarded our plane...
... and we landed in Portland about an hour later. (If only ALL flights could be that short!)
Just before we left PDX we stumbled upon Multnomah Falls...
This sculpture, made out of LEGO, came to Bricks Cascade in 2016 and was built by Erik Mattson. We knew it had been placed somewhere in PDX but we weren't exactly sure where. Suddenly, we walked right past it! PHOTO OP!
I felt that was an appropriate conclusion to an unforgettable weekend.
And who knows...? Maybe I'll go again next year!
