Brickvention Australia 2019 LEGO Exhibition

Video Link: Brickvention Australia 2019 - LEGO Exhibition Tour

Brickvention is Australia’s biggest and, in my opinion at least, best LEGO convention. This year I recorded a heap of footage and pics to share with everyone who couldn’t make it. But nothing beats seeing these builds in real life, so if you live here I HIGHLY recommend going for yourself. The video linked above has over 20 minutes of footage containing some absolutely awesome builds by people of all ages.

My favorite piece from the entire day.
If this was for sale, I would be broke...

And I thought lining up a dozen 1x1s in the Architecture sets was a pain!

An example of a train looking like it is moving even when it's not.

One of the selling points this year was the world's biggest Minifigure swap, A wall with THOUSANDS of various Minifgures attached. The idea is you bring in your own Minifig that you no longer want and swap it for one on the wall to take home. Towards the end of the day the wall was made up of mostly Green Ninja Lloyd's!

The Great Wall of Minifigures!

The kids I went with swapped in a Batman and Emmett, much to my surprise, the attendant told us no one had brought either of them yet so they probably got swapped back out pretty quick!

There was a channel 9 news reporter there who I overheard saying to the camera "you may even find one that looks like you". Funnily enough I had brought my own Benny SigFig to add to the wall so that was very true. I ended up walking away with a generic Grey Ninja.

Brickvention 2019 was my favorite exhibition,
more than any other pop culture convention.

I am already super excited for next years Brickvention and I have plans to exhibit some of my own builds, probably something train related.

Custom LEGO Motorized Hogwarts Express Train 75955

Video Link: Custom LEGO Motorized Hogwarts Express Train

Based on the 2018 re-re-re released Harry Potter set 75955 Hogwarts Express. It's a pretty nice looking set to begin with, that most people will be very happy to own as is, other than it does not come ready to be motorized right out of the box. For mine I used the new Powered Up (Power Functions 2.0) and put all the electronics in the slightly bigger tender instead of messing around with the locomotive too much.

I wanted to bring the locomotive's details closer in line with that of the Emerald Night. Other than a few minor part and color changes, I would say the main thing that I'm happy with is in the design of the side coupling and piston rods. I took a different approach than most that I haven't seen before. It's simple but I think they turned out pretty good, especially when the train is moving.

Check out the video for my thoughts and some clips of the Hogwarts Express running around my City Layout.

Benny's LEGO City Update #4 - Beach & Bay Walls

Video Link: Benny's LEGO City Update #4 - Beach & Bay Walls

Hi all, this time around for my City Update video I'm trying out a bit of a VLOG style as suggested by some subscribers.

I've completed the largest stretch of bay wall, and probably the most interesting, if you could call it that at all for a bunch of grey bricks...

Some of the less boring sections are the water and sewer maintenance access area and the larger cylindrical sewer pipes. I based them off a similar build technique using arches and rounded bricks that I saw demonstrated somewhere sometime but had nothing to do with sewers or pipes. It works well for this purpose.

My next few updates will show some of my custom buildings on the suburban side of town.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Melbourne - January 2019 Visit

Video Link: LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Melbourne - Jan 2019 Visit

While I have visited the LEGO Store out the front many many times, unfortunately in order to enter the attractions all adults must be accompanied by a child under 17. So with my teenage cousin on board I finally got my chance to glance inside the actual LEGOLAND Discovery Center. The main attraction for me is the Miniland which is a LEGO City modeled on Melbourne and surrounding landmarks and locations. Check out the video for a tour.

I definitely loved checking out Miniland but the rest of the attractions just weren't for me, and in fairness they are aimed more at kids. Miniland alone was probbaly worth the price of admission, at least once, but I don't feel I have a major reason to go back inside the Discovery Centre.

The LEGO Store out the front on the other hand is amazing. Just about every current set is available at RRP unless you are an annual member of the store. The Pick A Brick wall is my favorite and I rarely leave with less than 4 large cups overflowing.

Would I recommend it? As an AFOL, maybe just once to see Miniland. But if you are a parent of children who will ride an play with every attraction on offer I'd say it's a definite and your children will love it.

Checkout their website for more information: melbourne.legolanddiscoverycentre.com.au