I would certainly hope so, store its like down the freakin street. :P

You should probably shoot Todd Webb an email asking.

-Omi

Due to some personal issues, I won't be able to attend the 'Fair next weekend.

Hope you all enjoy yourselves!!

BTW - If anyone can or is willing to stop by Westtown, NY (Orange County, NY, near the PA/NJ/ NY border) on their way I'd love to still enter my Medieval Meat Processing Plant in the MOCs. Please PM me if you can help.

Edited August 12, 200915 yr by Dadster

Due to some personal issues, I won't be able to attend the 'Fair next weekend.

Hope you all enjoy yourselves!!

BTW - If anyone can or is willing to stop by Westtown, NY (Orange County, NY, near the PA/NJ/ NY border) on their way I'd love to still enter my Medieval Meat Processing Plant in the MOCs. Please PM me if you can help.

Shame. :(

I wouldn't mind picking up your moc, but I'd be driving at midnight, and by the time I pass through NY, would be around 4 am, plus you're far from 95. :P

-Omi

BTW - If anyone can or is willing to stop by Westtown, NY (Orange County, NY, near the PA/NJ/ NY border) on their way I'd love to still enter my Medieval Meat Processing Plant in the MOCs. Please PM me if you can help.

Aww, thats a shame! I was looking forward to seeing some of your mocs! I really liked your midieval meat processing plant! It made me laugh

There was a new update on the Brickfair site today. It says that the Potomac Mills store will have discounts for registrants, but that seems to be a fair distance away and I'm not really familiar with that location. Does anyone know if the Tysons Corner store will have the same discounts?

Last year both stores honored the percentage discount (I believe it was a flat 20% off), but only the Potomac Mills store was the site of the "Running of the Bulls" event. This event, regardless of whether it changes in structure from last year, is worth going to. Typically, it is deep discount scratch-and-dent scattered around the store, with AFOLs swarming (hence why the Tysons store won't work: too small). I don't know what's planned this year, but if I were you I'd plan on attending. There will be plenty of folks driving down, so if Beltway traffic isn't your cupof tea just ask another AFOL for a ride. Potomac Mills is easy to get to by car regardless, and anyone from WAMALUG at the 'fair can give you simple directions.

-John

Thanks for clearing that up. The main issue for me is getting back, as I'm staying in Rockville (in the opposite direction) and I would prefer not to return that late for various reasons. It would have been better if it was earlier in the day, although the traffic should be reasonable at that time. I'll think about it.

Thanks for clearing that up. The main issue for me is getting back, as I'm staying in Rockville (in the opposite direction) and I would prefer not to return that late for various reasons. It would have been better if it was earlier in the day, although the traffic should be reasonable at that time. I'll think about it.

The chief reason that it's at night is that, with no one in the mall, the crowd outside the store waiting to get in will be more manageable. ~300-400 AFOLs clogging the mall is a logistical nightmare (an enjoyable one, but still). I can't imagine throwing shoppers into the mix. With the mall closed, we have the run of the store with no interruptions.

I can understand the Rockville quandary (I used to live in Cabin John, where 270 meets the beltway), but I'd still encourage you to swing it if possible and if you're in the market for some scratch and dent. To give you a flavour of the deals, my girlfriend got ahold of a 10181 Eiffel Tower for 50% off. There are some great buys to be had.

-John

brickfair is this saturday! im so excited me and some of my friends trade legos so im gonna pick up some stuff to trade with them. i was taking orders a while ago one of my friends really wants harley quinn M.F. from batman so hes going to trade alot for it! this morning i found 10 bucks on the beach... i wonder were thats going?

Haven't chimed in yet here, but I'm hoping on my flight in a few hours to hit DC! I'm spending all day tomorrow playing tour guide (spent a few years living in the District few years back and always love showing folks around), but after that, it's all LEGO all the time! This is my first time at Brickfair, and after Brickworld and BrickCon, it'll be neat to experience another convention. Each con always has its unique charms, and I've heard great things about Brickfair.

I also have some neat news for folks into custom accessories who are attending Brickfair. See here

The chief reason that it's at night is that, with no one in the mall, the crowd outside the store waiting to get in will be more manageable. ~300-400 AFOLs clogging the mall is a logistical nightmare (an enjoyable one, but still). I can't imagine throwing shoppers into the mix. With the mall closed, we have the run of the store with no interruptions.

I can understand the Rockville quandary (I used to live in Cabin John, where 270 meets the beltway), but I'd still encourage you to swing it if possible and if you're in the market for some scratch and dent. To give you a flavour of the deals, my girlfriend got ahold of a 10181 Eiffel Tower for 50% off. There are some great buys to be had.

-John

That does sound attractive. I want to buy around $350 worth of sets anyway, which would easily make it worthwhile, although I'm looking for some specific sets so it really depends on what they will have available. I'm guessing it is hard to predict which sets will have beat up boxes.

If anyone is interested in meeting up at some point, PM me if you want to exchange phone numbers. I will probably be there at 10 tomorrow, although it will take me a little while to set up my stuff. I may come for a hour this evening just to do the setup, although I'm still undecided on that.

just got back from the bank, and im all packed up. got my list of figures,list of sets, and list of stuff friends want, camera, nintendo DS(with lego indy ), and my math homework

i didnt know anything about this supposed amazingly awesome sale at the store until i got home just a minute ago! next year ill try and save up.... maybe 30$? i guess thats a decent amount for MY end of the bargain(as a child), compared to my Dad paying 70.... unfortunetly for this year my lowsy 50bucks for christmas and 53 bucks from me saving all summer(yeah, i know), will be spent on old figures... im asuming that 50 christmas $ will NOT buy me a caribean clipper sized ship. i guess my parents didnt know i wanted to spend christmas money there..."what? when have we ever bought you used toys for christmas??"

yeah, my parents argued all night about how we'd plan the day(again, I KNOW ), and so aparently my dad is taking me to brickfair, then taking my sis to a soccer game in DC(to see beckam i think ). my mom however gets the crap end of the deal. she spends 11:00am to 9:30 pm at that mall.

im looking forward to my first brickfair and i hope its as fun as i think it will be!

Okay - 2 days in now... Anyone got any stories or pics?

brickfair was awesome!!! found some cool stuff there! i think i found omicron and CP5670. saw your mocs they were freaking huge unfortunetly most of my list of minifigs werent available :O

joker was 65$ from bricks w/o mortar.... i did a lot of shopping from them though! got the good wizard, some pirates accesories...

did anyone else faint when they saw that guy set up next to the brick engraver?!?! his collection was insane, he was very nice though. he gave me two-face's head for free and a 2x1 brick with the classic space emblem on it!! i got 5 black bandanas, 5 red bandanas, 5 blue bandanas all for 7$! 5 black bandanas were probably worth 7$ by themself, anyone agree? he had amazing(yellow skined) super heroes like green lantern,fantastic 4, Dr. Doom, and some starwars guys like darth maul with no shirt on(weird..... ) he also had some nice pirate sails(2 for 10bucks) and hulls(35$ for a red one, not so great price,didnt buy it)

in the other room there was brickarms(with very nice cashier lady. TIP: pay in coins, your garanteed to keep those coins and your purchase ) also in there was bionicles everywhere(not something i liked), some stupid guy was trying to sell the knights kingdom 1 faction of knights. he had like 40 stuffed into a bag. he told me id have to buy the whole bag or no deal(MORON!!), who has 80$+ to spend on all those figs? there was a dude selling some amazing classic sets, like a space station(40$ ), a fright knight carriage thing(30$? i dont remeber), and my purchase...... ......the renegade runner 50$ complete with no instructions, box, or original string, but still awesome!! i also got a black and green boat hull for 15$, a bit expensive but still good!

well thats all i have to say about the brickfair vendors

the mocs were awesome, nice soldiers forts, castles(OH MY GOD THEY WERE HUGE!), and a big scary clown. CP55670's blacktron starship was bigger than i imagined! that steampunk thing that was like bigger than me.... that was the biggest creation i'd probably ever seen outside of castle and starwars!

brickfair is awesome, so anyone in dc area or somewhere near it... GO! RUN! RUN TO DE BRICKFAIR!!

Okay - 2 days in now... Anyone got any stories or pics?

Other than the fact that it was extremely badass, not really. :P

-Omi

I definitely had a great time. This was my first Brickfair, and it was an interesting blend of the large convention nature of Brickworld and the more intimate AFOL-centered BrickCon. I certainly enjoyed it, although I think the plan of moving to a larger venue that's more geared towards larger public events is definitely a good one considering how crowded things got in the hallways and smaller rooms of the Sheraton.

in the other room there was brickarms(with very nice cashier lady. TIP: pay in coins, your garanteed to keep those coins and your purchase )

That would be Will's wife! The entire Chapman clan was in DC for Brickfair with using using the con as a great way to also take the family on a nice DC vacation. The thing with the coins was probably just her way of being nice to you and to keep from having to deal with coinage behind the booth. That stuff is just a pain to work with when you're trying to count up orders and get folks change as fast as possible! Still, when dealing with ANY vendor at a LEGO con, paper money is preferable to trying to pay for something you'd like with a handful of loose change you've liberated from the fountain in the lobby . . . not that were any quarters left in there after I made my rounds to get Metro fare

I definitely had a great time. This was my first Brickfair, and it was an interesting blend of the large convention nature of Brickworld and the more intimate AFOL-centered BrickCon.

I am always happy to hear that first timers had a great time. :)

-Omi

I got back home earlier today. It was a fantastic event, and we got a lot more registrants and MOCs than last year. I got the Technic award for this (Alvin Brant's cranes were seemingly not eligible, maybe because he got it last year) and a 7738 helicopter in a random drawing related to the votes. I think SirNadroj also won in some other category and got a set.

I settled for the 20% discount at the nearby Tysons Corner store. Some of the employees there had seen my models and recognized my name, which was pretty cool. From what others said, it seems that I didn't miss a lot with the damaged box event, as apparently a lot of things ran out quickly and not all the "tickets" had access to good items. The on-site vendor prices were quite high as I had expected, with the exception of custom parts and event exclusives. I picked up a few of the Brick Engraver printed pieces, which are excellent quality.

I'll put up my pictures on Brickshelf in a few days. I took a couple hundred of them, so it will take me a while to go through them and remove the redundant ones.

i think i found omicron and CP5670. saw your mocs they were freaking huge unfortunetly most of my list of minifigs werent available :O

You might have seen me. I was intermittently standing around that model and showing off the pneumatics whenever a crowd gathered around it.

i think i found omicron

I was normally around the Steampunk table, since I was the theme leader of it. So if you saw me, woohoo.

Though I didn't see any of you guys! :P

-Omi

One thing I forgot to say: the store event Friday night was run absolutely beautifully. Two years ago at Brickworld, the store event was something similar to a riot. The system used at Brickfair this year (random ticket # and color, random drawings for order of entry, limited number of damaged sets per person) was fair, kept the store from getting too packed, and ensured there was at least some good stuff to go around. The fact the store employees brought out more damaged sets throughout the night was also deeply appreciated as it ensured fans who weren't in the first few groups still got to pick from a few nice things.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I hope this kind of system is what we see at future conventions.

And that's from the guy who was the last number of the last color

You might have seen me. I was intermittently standing around that model and showing off the pneumatics whenever a crowd gathered around it.

were u the am who showed me(yeah, i know you dont know what i look like, but maybe u did) the long space transporter with MAERSK written on it? there were a couple people centered around your little area, and it was rather hard to get to.

I was normally around the Steampunk table, since I was the theme leader of it. So if you saw me, woohoo.

Though I didn't see any of you guys! :P

-Omi

I saw you but didn't recognize you. You're in one of my pictures and I see the nametag now.

I met puddleglum at one point, and a few people from other forums.

were u the am who showed me(yeah, i know you dont know what i look like, but maybe u did) the long space transporter with MAERSK written on it? there were a couple people centered around your little area, and it was rather hard to get to.

That was Bret (Starbeanie). I think he was there all the time during the public hours.

You're in one of my pictures and I see the nametag now.

Woot. :D

And that's from the guy who was the last number of the last color

I didn't get a color. I was an X. :(

-Omi

I got my pictures up:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=398636

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing the pics and it sounds as if the store sale event ran much more smoothly than last year.

I'm hoping for a return to it next year...

They have the full tour page for the event up now, if anyone who wasn't there wants to see what it was like:

http://www.brickfair.com/tour/

I notice that they have put up a picture I took.

Edited September 3, 200915 yr by CP5670