I LUG NY @ BrickFair Northern Virginia, August 1 – 6, 2023
ILUGNY was present in force at BrickFair Northern Virginia (BF/NoVA) in Chantilly, Virginia at the beginning of August, 2023. The show theme this year was “Water.” Twelve ILUGNY members participated in a variety of roles, including displaying MOCs at our own table and throughout the convention center, along with serving as support staff for the show itself. This ranged from taking tickets and directing people to where they needed to go to running several games and presenting seminars.
From left to right, back row: Keith S., Jason K., Brian G., Jason P., Kodi S., Damian M.; middle row: Mike B.; front row: Rick T., Blake F., Jon L., Elisa T., John K.
MOCs: ILUGNY as a group as well as individual members had a sizable presence in the vast MOC display areas. To give a sense of the scale of the MOC display area, there were over 1200 MOCs at BF/NoVA. ILUGNY occupied an 8-table setup.
At the ILUGNY table, John K displayed his Modular City:
Mike B. brought several MOCs, including swans and a “micro manager”.
Mike and his MOCs
One of Mike’s MOCs was nominated and won the Brickee Award for Coolest Landscape (pun intended, I’m sure):
Public-facing side
Reverse side
Brickee nomination
Also at the ILUGNY table, there were variations on the theme of Moonbase modules by several members:
Above: Jason P.’s beached space-pig-whale being harvested for barbeque, though hopefully not being served in his Pizzatron next door
On the same table as Mike B.’s micro manager, there were small builds from various members and a macro-sized 3D printed minifig.
On another table, there was a set of vehicles:
Keith S. brought a Bat Cave:
Elisa T brought 2 mosaics:
While seated between her two mosaics, Elisa gave a continuous demonstration of mosaic-building techniques which allowed her to answer questions and teach the public and other exhibitors about mosaic content, building materials and techniques.
ILUGNY MOCs in other areas of the convention: Several members had their MOCs stationed at category-specific tables. Jason K. brought a 3-loop Great Ball Contraption to the GBC table, which was nominated for the Brickee Award for Coolest Kinetic,
while he also helped with others’ GBC modules:
Jason K hard at work
Jon L. also contributed a GBC module:
In addition, Jon L. brought 2 mosaics to the show’s Mosaic area. Jason P. and Blake F. had spaceships at BF/NoVA’s Space Table:
Blake’s cybertrain was also at the Space Table, and it too garnered a Brickee Award, this one for Best Medium Space Craft.
Blake F. continued his on-going contributions to a very large collaborative build, which was originally built to celebrate the 10th anniversary of BroLUG’s New Hashima City. On this occasion, the build rose to a 14-foot height:
And so did Blake:
Not surprisingly, the build won the Brickee Award for Biggest Bestest build.
Several members (Damian M., Mike B., Brian G., Rick T., and Jason K.) participated in building the show’s Coral Collaborative (with and without light):
Show Support Staff: In addition to the MOC-specific presence, many members of ILUGNY – Damian M., Brian G., Kodiak S., Mike B., Jason P., Keith S., John K. and Jon L. – were actively involved in helping to run the show. Jon L. hosted the game, “Dirty Dirty Buildster,” and was a theme leader. John K. hosted the “Combo-Build” and “Dirty Buildster” games in addition to greeting the public on Saturday morning. Damian M. ran two drafts while Jason P. ran one draft. Jon L. and Mike B. ran 2 seminars during the show about After School Programs and PyBricks.
But not everything at BF/NoVA involved work. There were also fun and (playing) games:
Game Winners: John K. came in 3rd place in the Poker Tournament for the second year in a row. Jon L. won cash in the 50:50 raffle. Damian M. won the Impaired Build game and Dirty Dirty Buildster.
Eating: there were several trips made to Milwaukee Frozen Custard, along with group lunch and dinner trips to Anita’s, Willard’s, and two different Thai restaurants.
Altogether, it was a very full show. ILUGNY looks forward to going again next year!
