What do you say when you haven’t been doing anything to talk about? I haven’t built any new LEGO models in a while … somehow over the course of the pandemic my work area where I built stuff has become a collection pile for junk! But I’m really excited about the new season of LEGO Masters coming up next month, and hoping to watch the Australian show which just started this month as well.
Bill Ward
BrickCon 2021
I just finished attending the first ever hybrid (both in-person and online) LEGO convention, BrickCon 2021.
BrickCon Presentation Video
My presentation from last October’s BrickCon event is now available for viewing online. They’ve posted this as well as plenty of other great talks from that event for public viewing. Check them all out! Hopefully this year BrickCon can be held in person… in the meantime stay safe and stay healthy!
Birds on a Clock
LEGO set 21301 “Birds” from 2015 is a great model, and I found a new place to display it.
Advent 2020
2020 was the year I chose to only do the City Advent Calendar – no Friends, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. I wrote about that decision in a separate post. As usual, each post was originally a separate blog entry, starting with Day 1, and continuing with a daily post about that day’s advent models. However, to clean up the site, I’ve condensed all those daily posts to a single post per year. Here’s the 2020 edition.
Why I’m only doing the City Advent Calendar this year
Over the past few years I have followed a tradition of blogging each of the LEGO Advent calendars every day from December 1st through 24th. I’d buy the 2, 3, or 4 calendars produced by LEGO that year, and each day during the lead-up to Christmas, I’d open that day’s models, and build, photograph, and blog about them. But this year I’ve decided to only do the City Advent Calendar 60268. (CW: Harry Potter)
New LEGO Conventions page
I’ve added a new page about LEGO Conventions to this site, with links to the conventions’ websites, and for the events I attended, all the trip reports / travelogues / photos I’ve posted on this site about them over the years.
Micropolis Octan Gas Station
In this model Octan provides fuel for Micropolis vehicles, and a taco truck provides sustenance for their drivers.
Micropolis Hospital
This hospital building is inspired by some old San Francisco General Hospital buildings from 1915. I built it a few years ago but like many of my models I haven’t gotten around to posting about it on my blog until much later. This was part of my Micropolis display featured in the Bricks by the Bay 2020 Virtual convention.
Micropolis Elevated Train Station
Inspired by my local BART station, this model provides for the public transit needs of the Micropolis population. It’s been the centerpiece of any of my Micropolis displays for a few years, and I’m finally getting around to posting here.
Micropolis Border
I built these border segments to provide a clean edge to my Micropolis display for the Bricks by the Bay 2020 virtual convention. Here you can see them on my home layout as I had it during the virtual convention.
Rainbow Apartments (Micropolis)
My latest model is a Micropolis apartment building in all the colors of the rainbow.
Bricks by the Bay 2020 Virtual
Yesterday, July 11, was the first-ever online edition of the Bricks by the Bay LEGO convention. I set up a MOC (“My Own Creation”) exhibit in my dining room, since we couldn’t meet up in person this year.
Play 101 Bricks with me at Bricks by the Bay Virtual
I’ll be hosting a game of 101 Bricks at the upcoming virtual Bricks by the Bay event. Sadly the pandemic rules out any in-person activities this year, but they’re having a Zoom-based online convention instead, next Saturday July 11th. It’s not too late to register, and it’s only $5 per household to attend!
House Concert
This musical family is performing a social-distance concert for their neighbors from their front porch and balcony in the time of COVID-19. Stay safe and stay home!
Black Lives Still Matter in 2020.
Reposted this model from 2016 on my Lego Instagram @billwardsbrickpile in honor of George Floyd. blacklivesmatter lego
Black Lives Still Matter
In the summer of 2016, to show support for the Black Lives Matter demonstrations happening all over the country, I created this LEGO “Black Lives Matter” sign. After the pointless death of George Floyd in Minnesota a few days ago, protests and demonstrations have been going on all over once again, and I feel it’s time for me to repeat this message.
Bricks Cascade 2020: 99 Bricks Contest
A month ago I was attending the Bricks Cascade LEGO convention in Portland. A highlight of that event for me was on Friday when I participated in the “99 Bricks” challenge, in which you have to build a bunch of different models out of the same 99 elements, each one to a different theme or subject matter, and you only have 3 minutes to do it in! I think my favorite was the first one I made, a robot:
LEGO Masters at Bricks Cascade 2020
At the recent Bricks Cascade LEGO convention (Feb 29th / March 1st) in Portland, Oregon, about half of the cast of contestants from the LEGO Masters TV show (Wednesday nights at 9pm on FOX in the USA) were there.
Bricks Cascade 2020 MOCs
It feels like a million years ago, but it has only been 4 weeks since my first (and I fear it may be only) LEGO convention of 2020, Bricks Cascade, in Portland Oregon. Despite early worries about coronavirus, I had a pretty great time, and don’t seem to have caught anything. Since then, of course, I’ve returned home and have been sheltering in place and watching with horror at the way the virus has spread across the world. It feels almost impossible that an event such as this could ever happen, much less just a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how quickly we adapt to changing realities. Everyone, please stay home and help flatten the curve.
Anyway, let’s try to forget about COVID-19 for a minute, and talk about the MOCs (My Own Creations) at the event. As usual at LEGO conventions, I tried to take photos of photos of all the MOCs displayed by the builders there, and think I probably didn’t miss much if any. Here’s an image of my MOCs that were on display in the Art area:
Flat Owl
Inspired by the “platecraft” technique used in Christmas decorations by Chris McVeigh, and my own Flat Santa and Flat Rudolph holiday decorations, I wanted to try the technique on a larger scale and without tying it to the holidays, and this was the result:
Advent 2019
I can’t believe it’s already December! As I do every year, I’ve purchased all of the available LEGO Advent Calendar sets and for each day I will be posting photos of that day’s models and discussing them. This year we have four Advent calendars: City, Friends, Harry Potter (new calendar theme), and Star Wars. I was a day late getting started – out of town for the weekend. As usual, each post was originally a separate blog entry, starting with Day 1, and continuing with a daily post about that day’s advent models. However, to clean up the site, I’ve condensed all those daily posts to a single post per year. Here’s the 2019 edition.