Our "Bricks by the Bay" LEGO Convention Review

Earlier today, my son and I attended the "Bricks by the Bay" LEGO convention in Fremont, California. It was amazing, despite the extremely long line and rainy weather.

Apparently everyone else had come to this convention, too, because the line to get in snaked through the hotel and up into the parking garage. It was cold and we were hungry, but we waited for almost two hours with lots of other families with young kids. (The Marriott hotel employees, by the way, were very nice and helpful while we waited.)

Crazy long line into the garage!


When we finally got in around noon, it was totally worth the wait. There were so many LEGO creations to look at! We spent over an hour just walking around, taking photos and asking a few questions from the friendly builders.

LEGO exhibits:


We headed to the vendors area to shop. It was packed, too, and had lots of cool stuff. It was almost as entertaining as the main exhibit itself. I didn't realize that I needed cash to pay for everything, but we were able to buy t-shirts and a few small LEGO toys to bring home.

Shopping for cool stuff in the vendors area:


My son wasn't ready to go home at 2 PM, so we headed back into the display area for another look. We noticed more details the second time around. We voted for our favorite creation, the Valley. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long enough to hear who the winner was.

LEGO Valley (our favorite exhibit):


Voting for his favorite exhibit (click to see a larger image):


By the way, if you know who won the Public Choice Award contest, please let us know!

We headed home just after 3 PM, exhausted and happy, with our arms full of cool LEGO stuff. It was pouring rain outside, and we didn't have raincoats, but we didn't mind getting wet. And even though the drive home on the highway was nasty in the pouring rain, my son and I were in high spirits all the way home. We had a blast together!

I highly recommend the "Bricks by the Bay" convention. It was well-run and highly entertaining. Good job to everyone involved!

Now for my son's review of the show:

"So, for my "Bricks by the Bay" LEGO convention review, the line was just plain boring. When I got in, my mouth was hanging open because there were thousands of creations there on display, plus many more in the vendor's area. It was pretty crowded around the LEGO viewing areas and the vendor's area.

The LEGO display I liked the best was the Valley, because it had actual moving trains and had waterfalls and lots of green LEGO bricks. It looked realistic and it looked like a forest or jungle, too. I also liked how the builder put train tracks right though the tunnels in the hills.

I also liked the fleet of ships near the Valley, because it had a lot of pieces and the pieces were built on great angles.

Battleship Yamato exhibit:


I give this convention 4 out of 5 stars, because it was kind of sweaty in there from a thousand people, and I didn't have a chance to see all the LEGO creations even though I stayed there for almost 3 hours."

LOTS MORE PHOTOS
Click the link below to view lots more photos!

A Review of Prince of Persia: The Ostrich Race

My son's review:

I got this set while I was at the LEGO store for the monthly mini build project. All of the Prince of Persia sets were on display at the store. I could tell they weren't glued on because I saw two minifigs in one model were knocked down.

It includes two ostriches, a snake, an exclusive scorpion, Sheik Amar, Dastan, an Ostrich Rider, two plants, a winner's stand, an opening cage, and an arsenal.

Pros: The gates open, the ostrich's heads can move, it has lots of exclusive pieces, and lots of minifig characters.

Cons: The gates fall apart when you open them, and they don't open all the way. Dastan's swords keep falling off his sword-holder, but I fixed the problem by putting the handles at the top.

Cost: 5 out of 5 stars (because for 169 pieces, $19.99 is a low price)

Building experience: 4 out of 5 stars (because I had to rebuild the gates)

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars (overall when I raced the ostriches with my sister, it was really fun!)

A Review of LEGO Minotaurus

My son's review:

I got Minotaurus for our LEGO Club Spring Party. I liked it when my mom got it for me. I'm glad I got it, because now it's my favorite LEGO Games game.

It includes a LEGO dice, a Minotaurus minifig, 12 microfigures (3 for each player), and an awesome maze that I built with the instructions.

Pros: It's cool that you can send a player back home with the Minotaurus. You can block other players, and the temple in the middle of the board looks nicely assembled.

Cons: Even though you can move the Minotaurus forward 8 spaces, the next player can move the Minotaurus back 8 spaces if he rolls a black. If your microfigure is blocked all around by another player and you don't roll a gray, you can't move him at all.

Cost: 5 out of 5 stars (my mom gave it to me for free!)

Building experience: 4 out of 5 stars (I got a little mixed up and had to re-start building some of it)

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars (it's really hard to win this game)

LEGO Club and LEGO Pirate Code Review

LEGO Club
In LEGO Club yesterday, we made up our own LEGO games. Here are the games we created and played:

Get the Gold


Kill or be Killed


Lost Treasure


Race to the Treasure


Around the Track


LEGO Pirate Code Review
At LEGO Club, we also played the new game, LEGO Pirate Code. Here is my son's review of this game:

"I rate it 4 out of 5 stars, because the pieces around the edge kept falling off.

Unfortunately, the other kids didn't understand how to play at first, and when they finally figured it out, it was time to go home!"

Buzz's Star Command Spaceship Review

A review from my son:

"This was a present from me to my sister for her birthday and she liked it. The back of it opens up and then you let down a platform and a moon buggy comes out. You can also open up the window and take Buzz Lightyear out on the moon buggy to fight Zurg."

Link to this toy from LEGO.com

My Millennium Falcon Review

My son's post (I'm typing it in for him:)

"This was my Christmas present and surprisingly, I didn't think my parents would buy it because it was so big. It includes a walkway, Han Solo and the rest of the crew, a cockpit, 7 legs, cool laser guns and a plaque.

I liked it. It took me about 5 weeks to build it all by myself (with a small bit of help from my dad.)

Pros: the laser guns spin 360 degrees around, the walkway actually moves, and the cockpit is removable (so the people can come out.)

Cons: it fell apart many times because it wasn't held together very well. Some pieces were only held on by 2 studs. It was too heavy to play with and the walkway to the cockpit kept falling off.

Cost: 3 out of 5 stars (I'd prefer $300 instead of $500)

Building experience: 4 out of 5 stars (it fell apart a few times)

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars (it took a bit long to build, but in the end it turned out GREAT!!!)"