BrickCan 2021 was this past weekend, and the three-day event conveniently took place in your very own LEGO room! Last year, as you may remember, BrickCan had to cancel its in-person convention on very short notice when the pandemic hit, leaving little time to plan an online event. Organizer John Langrish spoke to us about how BrickCan and BrickCan Online have been going:

“While we certainly had hoped to be inviting everyone back to Vancouver this year, that just wasn't in the cards. In 2020 we had minimal time to switch to an online event, but this year we had time to plan! There was also the benefit of gaining a lot of insight into online conventions both from the 2020 BrickCan event as well as other virtual events all year long. It felt great to see everyone's faces and catch up with friends who we may not have seen since 2019!”

Presentations

BrickCan started on Friday with the traditional Opening Ceremonies, followed by a MILS (Modular Integrated Landscaping System) road-plate build-along led by Neil Snowball. The bulk of the convention was Saturday and Sunday, ranging from a wide variety of talks to Zoom social hangouts and games. Key speakers at this year’s event were very interesting and varied:

LEGO employees Matthew Ashton & Tara Wike discussed topics relating to the always-popular LEGO minifig. This included Matthew’s fight to bring the minifig front and center of the LEGO world along with how they both helped design the hundreds of collectible minifigures (CMFs) we all know and love. A fun tidbit about some of the minifigs they have designed: all the Cheerleaders’ letters on their outfits spell out Matthew’s initials, and Tara has included six minifigs that represent real people including her son, husband, and herself.

Fairy Bricks, who do charity LEGO drives for children in hospitals, spoke about their endeavors. They described the organization’s expansion into North America and how local LUGs can get involved. They are now delivering LEGO to over 200 hospitals in the UK and 26 other countries each year. Local LUGs in Canada are already involved working with them and plan their first delivery at the end of the month.

Michael Butcher, VP of LEGO Canada, discussed how the company is involved with Canadian businesses as well as helping set environmental target goals. He went on to highlight charities like Replay which repurposes unwanted LEGO bricks and helps find them a good home with eager underprivileged children.

LEGO House designer Stuart Harris shared his work with the LEGO House and the LEGO House exclusive sets! We were taken through a history of the LEGO House, then got a glimpse at the newest exhibit in the ROBOLAB. It’s based on biodiversity, and how bees can make lots of honey with your help.

Robin Thompson, a Vancouver-based artist who is well-known in the BrickCan community for his LEGO-inspired artwork. You may recognize his work if you have ever seen the BrickCan T-shirts. He created most of them!

Diana Kan shared her shadow boxes that show off her vast minifigure collection. She went through tips and tricks to help you make your own shadow boxes at home.

Canadian AFOL and set designer Chris McVeigh joined in from Billund to talk about his latest set: Bird of Paradise. He mentioned how weight and balance were crucial to the design of the set, and that there are a few shiny secrets hidden inside the base. He also talked about transitioning from an AFOL to a set designer and the challenges and benefits that entails.

Activities

The Friday Evening Social was hosted by FabuLUG, which included a new game created by Larry Loomis. It involved building LEGO chopsticks and trying to move a variety of small to large bricks, plates, tiles, and minifigs from one bowl to another. I have a feeling once we are all back in person, this game will become a staple at conventions and a fun game for AFOLs and friends at home. It’s a hoot!

Saturday night was the traditional Anything CAN Happen Social, hosted by the AFOB Bros MIFFY (Miles) and YOYO (Stephan). They are the cultural lifeblood of BrickCan every year making sure everyone feels included, welcome and having a good time. Not sure what an AFOB is? I suggest checking out their website. We will do a deeper dive into these two characters in an upcoming article.

A funny side note about them: every year they pick something that starts with the letter B that becomes a running theme through each convention. This year it was bees, based on the latest Beekeeper CMF. It was also a neat coincidence that the LEGO House had just started their Bee Venture, shared with us by Stuart Harris.

It was great getting to hang out with AFOLs from all over the world in the socials. Many people stayed up late into the night chatting, not wanting the fun to end. Like all cons, sadly, it has to end. When any LEGO convention draws to a close, there’s the inevitable dread of having to pack up the MOCs that we spent hours building and setting up for display... With a virtual con, though, we didn't have to do that- YAY! But we still had to say goodbye to friends new and old. This never seems to get any easier for me, in fact it probably gets harder every year.

MOCs

BrickCan wrapped up with a showcase of different MOCs that were part of the building challenges all weekend. Ranging from a Sigfig and CMF habitat theme to several Seed Part challenges that were sent out as part of the swag bag. I personally liked this idea of a seed part challenge for virtual cons. It gets everyone building in their own LEGO rooms and gives attendees something to do while listening to the talks all weekend.

Seed part Build Challenge by Will Hafner

BrickCan also hosted an online MOC gallery that is still available if you want to go see the amazing LEGO creations submitted by builders from all around the world.

Peoples Choice went to Eric Law for his Harry Potter Ninjago City.

Best in Show (as voted on by fellow LEGO builders) went to a collaborative Bedrock build by Lorelie Deroose, Melissa Meyer, and Jason Meyer from SLUG.

Interview

We caught up with John Langrish after the event for some more insight on BrickCan’s past, present, and future.

Keith: With BrickCan being the West Coast Canadian Con, what do you think your impact has been on the community, not only in the virtual world this year, but overall in the last five years?

John: BrickCan has definitely had a big impact on the community! At our very first event, BrickCan 2016, we had an entirely new LUG form: MILUG! It has been amazing to watch them grow from their initial connection into a vibrant and active community. Other local LUGs have also reported gaining members who have first attended BrickCan and it has built great connections and friendships across provinces. That’s not even to mention connections to AFOLs from south of the border and beyond! We are also really excited to have included Fairy Bricks in BrickCan 2021 Online and look forward to their involvement in the local community.

Keith: At closing ceremonies, BrickCan mentioned that they have not set any tentative dates for 2022. If things don't straighten out in another year or don't allow for full attendance like in the past, how is BrickCan planning to host its future events? Will, there be another virtual con, or will BrickCan adapt to a hybrid con?

John: The past year has proven that efforts to predict the future are futile! While we are hopeful to return to a regular, in-person convention in 2022, it’s too early for us to predict how BrickCan will be impacted. In fact, our venue at the River Rock Resort is currently a vaccination site! While we’re as eager as you are to return to an in-person convention, our top priority is on the health and safety of both our AFOL attendees and public guests.

Keith: From many of the virtual cons I've attended over the past year, I know there is a growing call for cons to having a permanent virtual aspect to the events. Is this something BrickCan is looking into doing?

John: Virtual interaction has certainly become a way of life for most of us. We can’t make any promises about the future at this point, but virtual convention components are something that is definitely being explored. It’s fantastic to be able to include AFOLs who may not have been otherwise able to attend. It’s also been fun to adapt activities to people being at home. For example, we have been able to visit each other’s LEGO rooms, share our own LEGO treasures that might otherwise remain unknown, and build throughout the weekend using our own collections!

While a virtual con certainly isn’t my preferred method of nerding out on bricks or hanging out with friends, the BrickCan crew really brought their A-game! They provided some fantastic workshops, build-alongs, interviews, and socializing events that could be had at a virtual con. It was a blast!

Did you attend this year’s BrickCan? Have you been to BrickCan in the past? Let us know your experiences and favorite parts in the comments below.

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