Bendigo Bricks is an annual event held in the regional city of Bendigo, Australia. Bendigo is the third largest city in the state of Victoria. It has a thriving and active local LUG, Bendigo LEGO User Group, with around 45 people attending their monthly meetings. This year over 130 exhibitors displayed at the event with a number traveling from interstate to attend. I chatted to some of the interstate AFOL exhibitors about the reasons why they attend, and the logistics in travelling with a MOC.

For those readers not familiar with the geography of Australia, BrickNerd has added a nice colorful map of the various states and territories for you to follow along.

Amanda

Amanda and her husband, Grant, live just over the border of Victoria, in Thurgoona, New South Wales. Their three hour drive was one of the shortest journeys of any of the interstate visitors. Amanda’s colourful MOC featured Bikini Bottom from SpongeBob Squarepants. Both Amanda and Grant try to limit their MOCs to less than a table in size as they are also vendors at the show, and need space for their merchandise. They both travel to LEGO fan shows every month, and always find the people at Bendigo Bricks to be very welcoming.

Damien

Damien travelled for around eight hours from Adelaide in South Australia, but took a detour to Echuca to visit the National Holden Motor Museum before it closed. His exhibit was part of the VRLGM train display and, as a three table section, was probably one of the largest MOCs to travel from interstate. Damien carefully chose this display so it would fit in the back of his vehicle as he didn’t want to travel with a trailer like he would normally do for the larger VRLGM shows. As a regular interstate exhibitor, Damien considers Bendigo Bricks is a great show to attend and is looking forward to attending it again next year.

Donna and Emo

Donna and Emo traveled for over sixteen and a half hours to attend Bendigo Bricks. This included driving from their home in Hobart to Devonport, catching The Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Geelong, and then driving from Geelong to Bendigo. Together they exhibited as part of the Great Ball Contraption collaboration with their modules called Fabuland Zig n Zag and Chromy. Their GBC modules have special travel cases and, as they were able to bring their own car, their choice of build was not affected by the long distance they were travelling. Donna and Emo have been travelling to at least one interstate LEGO fan Exhibit per year since 2015 and have travelled to at least two a year for the last two years. Normally they can’t attend Bendigo Bricks as it often clashes with one of the local shows organized by their LUG, Tasmanian Brick Enthusiasts, but this year they were on different weekends so they were able to attend. If the dates don’t clash, and their budget permits, they are keen to attend future Bendigo Bricks.

Ellie

Ellie drove for around 8 hours from Adelaide in South Australia. When building her MOC, The Citadel, she specifically designed something that was easy to set up and transport regardless of whether she was driving or flying, and also required little supervision. She has only just started exhibiting and attending interstate events, but is keen to support the Bendigo AFOL community just as they support Brixpo in Adelaide.

Emma

Emma and her husband drove five and a half hours from Mount Gambier in South Australia to attend the event. Last year she exhibited a winter village layout that took a long time to set up, and then required close supervision throughout the weekend. This year she went for a mosaic of The Incredibles which was quicker to set up, and required no supervision allowing her to spend more time socializing with other AFOLs. Emma loves being part of the AFOL community, and is happy to support other events knowing that people support her own event, Brick Gambier, in regional South Australia.

Gayle and Mark

Gayle and Mark drove seven and half hours from Adelaide in South Australia to attend Bendigo Bricks. Gayle exhibited mosaics and floral MOCs, and Mark had a Heavy Recovery Technic truck display. They didn’t give much consideration as to the type of display they would be taking as all of their builds are easy to pack - they were more interested in just sharing all of the things they have been building. This was their first time attending Bendigo Bricks, and only the second time traveling to an interstate show. They were originally intending to exhibit at a show in South Australia, but it was cancelled, and many people at Brickvention had recommended they attend Bendigo Bricks instead. So they thought they would give it a go! At this stage, they aren’t sure if they can attend next year, but they are already working on new builds for future shows.

Michael

Michael drove for around nine hours from Adelaide in South Australia. His MOC celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Maxifig (also known as Homemaker figs) and was comprised of multiple small vignettes and some larger builds that were easy to break down for transport. There were some issues on the back roads causing a bit of damage to his MOCs, but there was nothing that couldn’t be easily repaired. This is only the second time Michael has exhibited at Bendigo Bricks, both being times when he has not been able to exhibit at Brickvention. Michael enjoys attending Bendigo Bricks, but is not a huge fan of driving long distances, and flying is not an option with his style of builds. Unless he can find someone to carpool or he is unable to attend Brickvention, it might, regretfully, be a while before he visits Bendigo Bricks again.

Narelle and Andrew

Narelle and Andrew drove three and a half hours from Albury in New South Wales. Their Dragon Boat Festival MOC consists of ten 32x32 baseplates and was designed to fit on a single table. For ease of transport and onsite construction, they created their MOC using ten MILS bases. This also made pack-up relatively easy. They love attending Bendigo Bricks, and always have a great time chatting with friends and exhibiting their creations.

Paul and David

Paul and David travelled by car from Canberra for seven and a half hours to attend Bendigo Bricks. It was their third time exhibiting at the show. Their MOC, Underwater Adventure, is like a large aquarium featuring ships and underwater sets to create a coral reef. They designed it to inspire others to do something unique with their own sets and other bits and pieces. As they have a series of specially developed boxes for transporting their MOC, they weren’t too concerned about it’s size when travelling. It’s not unusual for them to travel interstate for LEGO fan shows and they like attending Bendigo Bricks as they really like the people.

Robb and Leigh

Robb and Leigh drove ten hours to Bendigo Bricks from Sydney. This year they exhibited the Punjab Scala Station which was specially designed to fit in their “Bloxes” made of corflute (fluteboard). As they were also vendors at the show, the design and space considerations were important when building their MOC. Robb and Leigh often travel to interstate LEGO fan exhibits as they love catching up with friends from other parts of Australia. They have attended previous Bendigo Bricks, and look forward to attending more in the future.

Tamara and Matt

Tamara and Matt drove for around eight and a half hours from Canberra. Both of their MOCs were sculptural and small in size as they regularly drive or fly to shows, and always consider transport durability and ease of set up when designing their builds. Tamara’s MOC was Fantastical Footwear and Matt’s was Nice Day for a Ride which featured movement to give the illusion of the bikes moving to the right. This year was their second time exhibiting at Bendigo Bricks, and they were made to feel very welcome by the organizing committee and the general public attending the show. They find Bendigo Bricks to be a great way of catching up with other exhibitors, especially those who don’t attend other shows.

There and Back Again

Those with a keen eye will recognise some of the builds in the article as being the same as appeared at Brickvention 2024. This is reflection of how well these exhibits will travel around the country and how keen their creators are to travel to exhibit their MOCs. A lot of thought and planning goes into deciding what to build and how easily it can be packed, set up and taken down at the end of the show. When you meet AFOLs from different places, you become part of a wider community and the impetus is there to continue travelling with your MOCs, meeting new LEGO fans and renewing old AFOL friendships. Have you travelled outside of your own city, state, county or country to attend LEGO fan events? If you haven’t, now is the time to start!

What’s the farthest you’ve traveled with a MOC? Let us know in the comments below!

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Monica Innis, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.