Building on the success of last year’s event Queensland's premier LEGO Fan Event is coming to Brisbane for another year of fan-built LEGO displays.
Last year saw over 11,000 south east Queensland fans and over 1 million bricks in amazing displays; but this year’s event is set to be even bigger. Displays will include: 'The Great Ball Contraption'; a tribute to pop culture and many movies ('Back To The Future', 'Indiana Jones', 'Star Wars'), and a Minecaft world (complete with Zombies, Creepers and the dreaded Endermen). This will also be the last opportunity to see the Old Parliament House before its decommission.
The BrisBricks Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) community in South East QLD has constructed hundreds of displays to be enjoyed by young and young-at-heart fans locally. There will be interactive displays, a large train layout, and displays from AFOLs located all over the country. This year, the expo is very lucky to have the replica (13:1 scale) functional model of the Joyglobal P&H 2300xpc, travelling all the way from Yungaburra in far north Queensland. This model alone has an estimated 30,000 LEGO elements, and took 14 months to build!Preparing for the event, BrisBricks provided a few facts about LEGO – that are totally awesome!
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How many LEGO Bricks?
If all the LEGO bricks ever produced were to be divided equally among a world population of 6 billion-ish, each person would have approximately 86 LEGO bricks. Annual production of LEGO bricks averages approximately 36 billion per year, or about 1,140 elements per second. So. Lots! Laid end to end, the number of LEGO bricks sold in 2012 would stretch around the world more than 18 times. And should you ever wish to reach the moon, you would need to build a column of around 40 billion LEGO bricks.
LEGO isn't racist, they don't have many non-yellow minifigs for a reason
When the minifigure was first introduced 30 years ago, it was given the iconic yellow skin tone to reflect the non-specific and transcendental quality of a child's imagination. In 2002, as more licensed properties were added to the range, the decision was made to introduce ethnic and skin tones – more in keeping with the actual characters and personalities who were being replicated. However, these ethnic minifigures are only used in licensed sets, all LEGO play themes continue to use the generic yellow face.
LEGO nearly went bankrupt in the 90s
But how?! EVERYONE loves LEGO! It was fans who got LEGO back on track. LEGO was trying to do too many things and deviated from what they do best: classic building. To regain their footing, they went back to basics; focusing on classic themes like CITY and CASTLE. They also licensed video game development and sold off the theme parks.
A lot of fans believe that the LEGO Mindstorms saved the company. This was developed initially by Adult Fans Of LEGO or AFOLs (like BrisBricks). LEGO then worked with the fans to determine what the set would include, with a particular focus on ensuring that the end result was as compelling for a child as it was for an adult user. Consequently the LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System set is the best-selling LEGO set ever. Over 1 million of these have been sold globally since their launch.
Tyres
The LEGO Group is one of the world’s largest tyre manufacturers. Yep, get your mags here!{youtube}-h2U1eZrfIA{/youtube}
Effective as a home invasion deterrent
LEGO is designed to be astonishingly hard, with sharp corners to boot. You could apply about 431kgs, or stack 375,000 LEGO bricks, before one would crack. This means as your foot stomps down on a block, the plastic doesn’t crack or crumble. Its tiny, evil ridges remaining intact as they dig into your foot. Ouch. So put those bricks on the floor before your turn out the lights!The Brisbane LEGO Fan Expo will be held at Sleeman's Complex, 3-5 October.
