Great Western LEGO Show!

[Scorpiox]

Today, I visited Swindon's STEAM museum to view the Great Western LEGO Show that is running this weekend. Were any other members there? Did any of you have displays?

[r74]

I went wasnt that impressed, didnt seem as many exhibits as 2 years ago where there were a lot more Star Wars themed Builds. Only 2 things that impressed me was the massive castle build and the 3 star wars at-at's

[Rumble Strike]

A nice day for me as I live in Swindon. Thought the displays weren't as good this year, I have to admit, although the huge medieval town was fantastic. There were just too many people though, difficult to move through the areas. Maybe give it a miss next year.

[Scorpiox]

Yeah, I also found the abundance of people made it difficult to properly appreciate the displays.

The shops, as usual, were nice. It took a while to move my way through, but I was able to get my hands on my first-ever BrickArms weapons.

[paul_delahaye]

I went today and I too felt there were about 5 good sized displays less than last year which is a real shame, and parking was a lot easier this year! The public numbers were apparently down this year, they had a record attendance in 2012 with over 10'000 people. Saturday's numbers were circa 4'000 this year and one of the traders I spoke with said it was quieter today than yesterday, although in reality, I bet the numbers were still around 3'000 today. As normal though, too many kids pushing in to be able to fully appreciate the models, they should maybe have 2 hours extra on the Saturday evening where it's adults only so they can talk with the exhibitors and be able to view the models in all their glory.

As r74 mentions, the castle build was very impressive, I can't believe it was built by a single person, I'm only guessing it was a single builder based on the description card by the display, I did not confirm this with anyone. The Trent Rolls-Royce engine was also impressive. Here are a couple of my favourite pictures from the day.

More pictures in my brickshelf gallery when moderated. http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=534888

Edited October 6, 2013 by paul_delahaye

[Rumble Strike]

I believe the medieval town was the work of around 8 different builders. Still very impressive!

I too would like to see a 'no kids' section of the day, maybe later on in the evening as mentioned, although I think the issue with that is the STEAM closing time.

[Dazmundo]

We went today, first time at a Lego event and we were very impressed. Had 3 small children with us so didn't get to spend the amount of time id have liked looking at each display but didn't really have much difficulty getting into a position where i could see what i wanted to. The medieval display was our favourite bit too, was 8 different people who built it, each section had its own info.

Not sure if Brickish members get more access? Without kids\crowds

D

[Ralph_S]

This was my 7th time displaying at STEAM. The guys who normally build the central train display took a break this year and there was a bit more space in the main hall because of that, but I don't think there were significantly fewer models on show than last year. These are mine:

Steam 2013 by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Steam 2013 by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Check out Drew Maugan's photoset for pictures of the other models and tell me they're not impressive. Steam has some of the best builders in the UK and, dare I say it, in the world. In my view, shared by many Brickish members I spoke at the event, the show keeps getting better and better.

There is no special treatment for Brickish members. Those of us who display obviously can get in earlier to finish setting up and we may have a little time left, if our own set-up is complete, to have a look at some of the other displays, but we cannot go much beyond the museum opening hours. There is no official word yet on the visitor numbers, although the organiser (Martin Long) told us on Saturday that the visitor numbers for that day were about the same as for the Saturday last year. I personally had the impression that Sunday was busier, but it is hard to judge. I know I certainly was very busy.

On both days it got quieter later in the afternoon, so I'd recommend being able then to get a good look at the displays without a lot of children running around them.

Ralph

[kermit]

That military plane looks soo awesome.

[Rumble Strike]

Oh, please do not misunderstand me, the models I saw were incredible and it is an absolute privilege to see them. So many talented builders, including your models, I spoke to you a couple of years ago when you had your other planes displayed. It just felt like there was slightly less to see and even more people around. I do go in the morning rather than the afternoon though.

[Scorpiox]

-snip-

That B-52 was yours? How queer, I spent most of the day crowding around that, pointing out details to disinterested family members.

[rocketandroll]

It was an awesome show, I was there exhibiting the Mechabrick demo game-board both days... and this was my first STEAM event (despite being in Brickish for six or seven years, which is a bit slack!)

The attendance last year was just under 9000 people, this year it was just over 8000 people (official numbers from the venue) so a few hundred less this year than last... it still seemed manic to me though, I could barely breathe on Saturday, kinda glad it was a little quieter on Sunday!

Ben

[Ralph_S]

That B-52 was yours? How queer, I spent most of the day crowding around that, pointing out details to disinterested family members.

Did we actually talk? I was near my table pretty much all the time during both days, albeit looking after the cars more than after the B-52.

It was an awesome show, I was there exhibiting the Mechabrick demo game-board both days... and this was my first STEAM event (despite being in Brickish for six or seven years, which is a bit slack!)

The attendance last year was just under 9000 people, this year it was just over 8000 people (official numbers from the venue) so a few hundred less this year than last... it still seemed manic to me though, I could barely breathe on Saturday, kinda glad it was a little quieter on Sunday!

Ben

It's funny how on the one hand some people thing there was considerably less stuff on show this year than last and simultaneously people complain about it being busy. Imagine what it would have felt like if we would have had more stuff on display!

Cheers,

Ralph

[L@go]

I managed to squeeze in three events in the space of four weeks in September/October, including STEAM - which I most certainly will be going back to later.

In case anybody's interested, I've just posted a few pictures from the event on Flickr :)

[RaincloudDustbin]

I went on the Saturday last year and again this year, mainly for the marketplace as usual. I had planned to stay all day but the number of people (kids who had no regard for people who were 'actually' interested in the models) was just too much around three so I ended up leaving. Still a great day though and I managed to get a lot of stuff I've been looking for for a while. If anyone is interested, I do have a picture of my loot on my Flickr. (I like looking at others haul pics :p)