Bricktastic LEGO Show Manchester 2016

Yesterday we had an awesome day out at the Bricktastic LEGO show at Manchester Central. 5 of us went - I took my partner and 3 of our boys aged 6, 7 and 18. I can honestly say we all had an excellent time, we spent over 4 hours in the show, and could easily have stayed longer.

I make no apologies, this post is photo heavy, you don't need me to say much, the pictures speak mainly for themselves. Click on any photo to enlarge. Sorry I didn't catch all of the builder's names at the time - and that I couldn't include the other 50 or so photo's that made it past the first cut!

We went straight on over to the back wall, where we were greeted by aliens, and the robot turtles of Peter Reid, and space...

 

The infinity drop (with Death Star and Dr Who references) was really well-thought out - it's hard to get across in a photo, but while the view through the window on the side was brilliant, looking in over the top really did give the illusion of an infinite fall.

Really impressive was the MAV Rover from The Martian.  I can't find the builder at present, but a lovely guy and his attention to detail inside and out was really careful.

 

Joe 90 - in LEGO. And he was animated and all he was missing was the theme tune. Named Big Rat by the builder Peter Salter.

One of a couple of LEGO Ideas candidates we spoke to - this is Dad And Lad with their really nice Landrover 4x4 model. Frankly it's a wonder LEGO didn't already build one. A sturdy vehicle that my 6 year old wouldn't demolish in an instant, with a removable roof and a pretty low brick-count. It's got to have a good chance.

Lucy Broughton (the builder of the GBBO LEGO 'bingate' model) really proved just how busy she must be, with several of her really intricate builds. I love her style, I don't like to see blank floorspace.

LEGO is for everyone, and I think that really is evident at Bricktastic, there were a huge variety of different builds from Transformers and Snooker to Castle Greyskull and a giant hot air balloon...

 

 

 

Some absolutely massive builds dominated different areas of the room. Manchester Brickadilly enchanted my 7 year old. I think it's the first time he's seen somewhere he truly recognises made from LEGO.

Brick To The Past really dominated the room with an immense build. Vikings, villagers and battles - it's a win. They weren't the only people modelling towns though...

Another mention here for one of the larger builds which was against the right hand wall. The utterly huge All The Fun Of The Fair LEGO Model by Skegga Thorn, Michelle and Andrew Walker. So much detail in one display. This is Theme Park on a whole new level. Unsurprisingly my boys liked watching this in motion...

There was of course chance to pick up that missing brick, and some good fair prices. Plenty of discontinued sets to drool over too...

And some amazing printed elements. These from Firestar. £1 each, but who could resist getting one?

There was a giant mosaic which is completed by the visitors tile by tile, and it was finished mid afternoon on Sunday, so well done to everyone who did a tile. Carrying on the giant theme, a few huge models, including the Dragon from Bright Bricks.

Special mention to the guys from the Red Dwarf LEGO Ideas entry. I think it's brilliant - playability and nostalgia in one, it's on a par with the Ecto-1 and such a small build it'll be around the £35-£45 mark. Could be a popular set, I wish the Bob's Vintage LEGO team well.

There was ample opportunity to play and get hands-on. Aside from the giant mosaic, there was a room full of LEGO Mindstorms and the opportunity to have a go at programming around a course. This also housed a great robot - taller than me!

Giant LEGO pits in red, white and blue, a huge table of various LEGO for building whatever you wanted, and a table full of green, for the Minecraft fans. This free-building was incredibly popular...it was lovely seeing children and adults standing just playing with LEGO...

This was at 10am, and as the table got emptier of loose LEGO, it got more full of the fabulous creations made by the visitors to the event...by 2pm it was looking amazing...

Despite having around 300 tons of LEGO at home, our 6 year old spent almost the entire visit sitting beside a LEGO pit building. LEGO events can be enjoyed in all kinds of ways, and Bricktastic have definitely catered for that...

If you go next year - do NOT miss the tombola. Not only is it in aid of Fairy Bricks (providing LEGO to children in hospital), but it is the best tombola ever. Everyone wins a prize and every child takes home at least 1 minifigure.

Children also all took home a polybag LEGO set thanks to a collaboration with Brickset. We got 2 of the LEGO city 30314 Go-Kart Racer - perfect fun for my 6 and 7 year olds. 

Bricktastic will be back at the same time next year - if you or your children like LEGO, you'd be daft to miss it...

For more details check out the Bricktastic Website.

We were given free entry to the show - so we spent plenty on the tombola!