BrickCon 2026 - Level 25 Unlocked - Virtual Attendee Review

Brickcon returned for its 25th convention this year back on September 10-13. If you’ve followed this blog at all, you’ll know that starting in 2020, Brickcon added a virtual component and I have participate for all but one of those years. While the main convention takes place in Bellevue, WA at the Meydenbauer Center, a bunch of us still meet virtually as we did starting in 2020. We get to attend the main sessions, we have access to the presentations, we get a virtual tour of the main floor, and we have our own games and chances to interact with other virtual attendees. If you’re thinking about attending a LEGO Convention in person, but you’re not sure if you’ll like it or you don’t have one nearby or you just don’t want to spend a lot of money, check out Brickcon. You can attend virtually for $35 and experience a convention from the comfort of your home to see if you really like it.

This year was another great experience. The keynote speaker was Jamie Berard from the LEGO Group (maybe you’ve heard of him?). We had some amazing presentations and we had fun playing some build games as a group.

Another benefit is the opportunity to pick up swag. I purchased a swag bag and a Con Model (I’ll review the Con Model separately). For this year, my swag bag included a program and a small bag to carry everything around in.

It also came with a mug that apparently changes color when you put a warm beverage in it. I haven’t tried it yet, but the mug is cool regardless of the neat trick.

This year as something new, they offered a challenge coin. As a former military member, I’m very familiar with challenge coins or RMOs (round metal objects). If you’re not familiar, do a search to learn how they work.

As always, you get LEGO too. This year, I purchased the black and white 1x8 bricks that said “I <3 BrickCon” on them for an extra fee. My swag bag came with the option to add text to two bricks (the blue and red ones) and then two BrickCon 2026 bricks (yellow and white). It also came with a chromed minifigure and a printed brick with the Con Logo.

Like past years, there was a small build included. This year is a frame to hold your convention badge and a small retro arcade machine where you use the printed brick and can place the chrome minifigure.

Something new for this year was a few sheets of stickers that you can place on bricks/MOCs. Many of them are oriented to Washington State, but a bunch are just related to LEGO and the building hobby. To help you out, they included a few bricks that you can place the stickers on.

Similar to previous years, the swag included parts that you could trade with other convention attendees. As a virtual attendee, I don’t have anyone to trade with, but it’s cool to get a bunch of neat parts. It also came with some stickers from a few vendors, Brick Nerd, and a BrickCon sticker.

Last up is the convention model which had the option to purchase a lighting kit separately. I ended up getting the lighting kit and will build and display this for a future post.

Happy building!

BrickCon 2025 - The Only AFOL Convention With A Virtual Side

BrickCon 2025 is in the books. In case you missed it, it was held in person in Bellevue, WA from 4 to 7 September 2025 for AFOLs. However, you could attend from anywhere virtually online. I have been on the staff for a few years now and I help run the virtual sessions. I realize that makes me a bit biased when I write this, but I still think it’s a great deal. Here’s how it works. You pay $25, you get access to the same swag (I’ll show that shortly), attendance at the main sessions and presentations, you get the chance to win door prizes, you get to play virtual games with your fellow AFOLs, and you can attend whatever you’d like without having to travel to Bellevue, WA, get a hotel, pay for airfare, or whatever the case may be. This year we had around 55 virtual attendees which isn’t the most ever, but it’s not the least either. So pencil in to attend in early September 2026!

Onto the swag. Attendees have access to get some cool stuff. Here’s what I picked up.

Gotta get the shirt! This year’s theme was “Full STEAM Ahead” with a tie into Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math as it relates to BrickCon’s Foundation efforts to support STEAM initiatives. I love the parts usage to make a SPACE logo.

Next up is the swag bag itself. Bricklink was a sponsor this year (shameless plug to visit the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store) and so it has the Bricklink 25th anniversary logo. There were a few ads to include a sticker for Brick Architect (Tom Alphin was there and gave a presentation), a BrickCon sticker, a few BrickCon cards, and a BrickCon themed minifigure cape.

Brother’s Brick sponsored a lanyard for the in person folks to show their ID. Virtual folks get one too and you can use it as desired. I got a copy of Brick Journal as well although it is a year old.

This year included a brick built BrickCon logo (which I have received in the past). It also included a custom minifigure costume of a bottle with a BrickCon logo.

Like past years, you can request some custom engraved bricks. I got a few along with the 2025 BrickCon brick for my collection.

New this year was a building mat and ruler to help you with plate and brick heights and angles. The ruler was 3D printed. Both are awesome additions to the swag bag this year!

BrickCon gets bricks that you can buy and then trade with fellow attendees. As a virtual attendee, you have no one to trade with so you have to hope they give you some cool pieces. I got some parts I found useful this year so no complaints. 2x2 sand green tiles, 2x3 dark blue bricks, some trans-black curved windows, 1x4 brown tiles, 1x8 light gray plates with rails, and then some clear beverage containers with coffee/hot chocolate inside. I did good!

The swag this year included a little mini model with two minifigures, a custom printed tile, and a goat. You also get another BrickCon 2025 brick.

Last up, the convention model… I will give this one a separate review soon, but here is a picture of the box. I always grab these as they are a cool opportunity to get something unique from the convention.

Hope to see you all virtually next year. In the meantime, happy building!

BrickCon 2024... Another Year of Awesomeness!

This is not my first post about BrickCon and it won’t be my last. If you’re not familiar with BrickCon, it’s the longest running LEGO® Fan Exhibition in the World. It took place this year in Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle) at the Meydenbauer Center for the second year in a row. This year continued the hybrid version of the convention with virtual activities, virtual tours of the in person MOCs, virtual games, and access to the presentations. I had a great time as a a virtual attendee and virtual staff member I realize the virtual experience is not the same as in person, but $25 for all of that access is a great deal! If you didn’t attend in person or virtually this year, I highly recommend you check it out next year.

Random note, you can do a self guided tour of the convention here.

Besides some great presentations, hanging out with fellow fans of the brick, playing fun games, and having time to build, I also enjoy some of the great merchandise that is available for purchase. Here’s a quick rundown of what I grabbed this year.

First up, I grabbed a few shirts. The convention tee shirt was ~$20. The theme this year was Foundations which represented going back to the foundation of the hobby and where many adult fans started, but also highlighted how BrickCon is now a foundation. I also grabbed a polo shirt. It was a bit pricy, at ~$50, but it it seems to be a good quality shirt.

I also grabbed a swag bag which came in this bag with the BrickCon and Sasquatch Bricks logo. It also included this cool water bottle with the BrickCon logo.

The bag came with a few advertisements which would have been great if I was in person, but I’ll take anyways. It also had a few stickers, a lanyard, a copy of the program, and some minifigure capes from Cape Madness.

It also came with a Warrior Pack from Brick Warriors. My pack came with a few weapons and some armor for some knights.

BrickCon has the opportunity to trade parts with fellow attendees. As a virtual attendee, I didn’t get that chance, but I did get some great parts. Here are the ones I received. The full bag of the forest green, brick textured 1x2 bricks are awesome!. I also was super excited to see a 32x32 dark blue base plate. No complaints about the other pieces either. Definitely a great haul!

There was also a bag of printed bricks, a minifigure, and some animals. I like the seals and am not going to complain to have more butterflies. It’s a fun minifigure too! The printed white 1x8 brick states that it’s a recognized AFOL Networking Event 2024 on that side and then says BrickCon 2024 on the other side.

As an attendee, you get some printed bricks that you can customize. The blue 1x8 was standard, but I requested the yellow and red ones. I got one for the update to my business and the other one to highlight how I end my blog posts.

Last up was the convention model. I forget the price… sorry. This one was designed by Bre Burns. Bre is a member of the BrickCon staff and also did a stint writing for the Brother’s Brick web site. As you can see, I haven’t built it and will do a set review once I get to that point, but from the introduction of the set at the convention, it looks awesome. I can’t wait.

Speaking of which, why are you waiting? Mark your calendar for July 2025 to go in and sign up for BrickCon 2025 in September (9-12 I believe). If you can’t attend in person, attend virtually.

Happy building!

Get Your Tickets for Brickcon 2024!

I’m a bit late, but tickets are available for Brickcon 2024 now! The event is being held on 7 and 8 September 2024 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. You can learn more about attending with the public here. You can attend the AFOL convention and learn about that here.

This will be the 23rd Brickcon and like the past few years, the show will be hybrid. If you can’t make it to Washington state, you can tune in virtually for the convention. This gives you access to the presentations, allows you to buy merch, let’s you participate in the virtual only events, and opens you up for winning door prizes. Full disclosure, I’m on the virtual event team so I’m biased and want you to participate. It’s definitely worth it.

Rumor has it that this year a member of the LEGO Design team will be participating in person so that should be cool. If I get any more fun details, I’ll be sure to pass them along

Happy building!

Brickcon 2022 - Registration Open

Brickcon 2022 is happening again this year in Seattle, WA on 1-2 October 2022. If you are an AFOL, you can register to attend the AFOL Fan Convention which starts on 29 September. They have limited in-person attendance for 500 people so sign up sooner rather than later if you plan to be in person. Registration is online here. For those of you who can’t make it to Seattle, you can still participate virtually. For a $25 registration fee, you can access presentation live streams, online games, tours, the private BrickCon Discord server, online social meet-ups, virtual door prizes, as well as a virtual exhibition with awards. A limited amount of swag bags, merchandise and commemorative models will be made available for purchase at a later date which is awesome. It’s not the full experience, but the hybrid option isn’t bad if you don’t live in the area or can’t fly to Seattle for that weekend.

I attended Brickcon 2020 or should I say virtually attended Brickcon 2020. It was fully virtual that year due to COVID so this will by my first hybrid experience. You can learn about my experience here: My experience. You can also read a quick intro here Intro and Swag and see a review of the convention set here: Convention Set Review.

I have not been able to attend a convention in person, but would like to some day. In the meantime, this is a great alternative option. I enjoyed the last time and I’m looking forward to this year. I’m hoping to be able to volunteer again like I did last time and with any luck, I’ll be able to purchase some swag as it included some cool stuff during my last venture to Brickcon. If you’re like me and can’t make it in person, but have the time to attend virtually, go for it!

The keynote speaker for this year is Angus MacLane who was the Director for Pixar movies like “Finding Dory” and “Lightyear.” The Brothers Brick site has a good write up about it here.

Hope to “see” you there!