On September 28th, 2017, LEGO House opened its doors to the public for the very first time. 2023 saw its sixth birthday and Jedi News were invited along to join in the celebrations.
Attending alongside other Recognised LEGO Fan Media (RLFM) the day started in the Mini Chef restaurant with breakfast and catching up with our friends in the community. All attendees were given an exclusive birthday cake badge made of LEGO that can be worn.
After breakfast was over, we were whisked away to collect our wristbands and through the gates and up the staircase to the Masterpiece Gallery at the top of LEGO House. This year’s winners are now on display, and we were given time to photograph all the amazing MOC creations (My Own Creation) from fans around the world.
Thomas from LEGO House then split the group into 3 teams, I was in Team 2 which included Graham Hancock of Blocks Magazine, Chris Wharfe and Matthew Loffhagen of Brickfanatics. We were then taken swiftly on to the blue activity area. Each team was to big given 3 minutes to develop a car to race on the track over 3 heats. Between each heat, development work could be made on your teams’ car. Then there was to be knockout, where each attendee was to build their own car and race off to find the fastest car of all.
Needless to say, it got competitive and some of the designs were quite bizarre. After being humiliated in the first heat, with Team 1 running out clear winners, Team 3 second and Team 2 last. So, Team 2 decided to go all out on design for the next heat. We added a front extension to the car that gave it a 20cm overhang at the front. Appeals of cheating were rebuffed by Thomas and the race was on. Team 2 won that heat! In the third and final heat we reined in our design a bit and paid the price. The front overhang now being employed by all teams meant that the final heat saw some of the most bizarre cars I’ve ever seen. Team 1 romped to victory once more, Team 3 second and Team 1 last once more.
I was out in the first round of the individual race off. The overall winner being Thiago from Team 1, his car was very impressive and was hands down beating anyone up against him. Thankfully no points were awarded for this side challenge.
A little downhearted, we moved onto the next challenge.
Leader board after 1st challenge
Team 1 – 5 Points
Team 3 – 3 Points
Team 2 – 1 Points
Last on the leader board, Team 2 was determined to make a difference. In the green zone, the next challenge awaited. Hidden amongst the 3 mini land cityscapes were 8 letters, spelling a word associated with LEGO House. Each team split into 3 groups and started searching for the elusive letters. This was harder than it sounds, but slowly a steady stream of letters was being assembled. First, I, then U, D and N; first thoughts were BILLUND, but then the curve ball, the letter R was found. Team 1 got their answer to Thomas first and got the word, so 5 points went to them. Team 2 was desperate to at least grab second place, then the letter S sealed our guess. I ran (yes, I did actually run!) to Thomas and declared DINOSAUR being the answer and BOOM! 3 points! That made a big change to the leader board, Team 2 were back in the game and it was all to play for now.
Leader board after 2nd challenge
Team 1 – 10 Points
Team 2 & Team 3 – 4 Points
It looked like Team 1 had already won it, but then Thomas announced that the points would double for the final challenge. The challenge; to build the tallest tower possible using any LEGO brick except for the 2×4 brick. The rules made it even harder. Each team member could only retrieve 5 bricks at a time, and they must be the ones to add them to the construction. Whoever built the tallest, wins… but “it may get windy” was added by Thomas. 30 AFOL’s were running round for the next 10 minutes diving into the vast containers of LEGO to find their bricks. Time was up and the building had been frenetic. Team 1 seemed to have the edge, with Team 3 close behind and Team 2 last, but as Thomas had said it got windy.
Thomas waved his clipboard in front of Team 1’s tower and it did not flinch. Team 2’s came under the same test and although it suffered a partial collapse, sufficient stood still to be judged. Then it was the turn of Team 3’s construction to be tested, which it crumbled and fell to ground, meaning Team 2 has managed to secure second spot in the challenge and overall!
Leader board after 3rd challenge
Team 1 – 20 Points
Team 2 – 10 Points
Team 3 – 6 Points
Team 1 had romped to a well-deserved victory, but all in all, everyone involved had a real good and fun time.
A special thank you to everyone at the LEGO Group who setup the event and an even bigger thank you for our invite. We hope that Jedi News will be able to help LEGO House celebrate another birthday soon.
