It has taken me a bit longer to get onto this post, as I have been unwell since I got home from Adelaide last Monday, but here are my top five builds from the Brixpo 2024!

Imperial Deployment by Jason Farrelly

Jason Farrelly actually displayed half of this build at Brixpo last year, but it has been significantly expanded since then with the addition of a landscape with buildings and terrain, not to mention the two huge AT-ATs.

The main things I love about this build are the textures and the detail, the same things that appeal to me about pretty much all good LEGO builds.

Well done Jason!

Down by the River by Abby Field

I am not sure if I have ever seen Abby’s work before, but her Down by the River display from Brixpo 2024 is one of my favourites!

I particularly love the scale that Abby has worked at, how expressive her animal builds are and the awesome techniques used in the water and the bullrushes.

Oh yeah, and when I grow up I want to be an otter, so that helps.

Menagerie of Geek by Kathy & Matthew Fazakerly

Kathy and Matthew displayed this build at Brickvention 2024, so I got to take a good look at it in January this year.

I have admired Matthew’s builds for some time – some standout builds being his Dalek maquettes from Brixpo 2023 and his Dinotopia scenes from Brixpo 2021 – and this year we get to what happens when he combines forces with his better half, Kathy.

All the details are on point in these mega-habitats from Indiana Jones, Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Foundation and Avatar from the colour palettes employed to the complex build techniques and parts usage.

Fantastic work Faz Builds!

Duplo AT-AT by Drew, Reece & Kate Harrington

This build is truly inspiring, the idea of building a huge AT-AT and Hoth battle scene using Duplo bricks is very unique, and Drew, Reece and Kate Harrington have nailed it.

There is an incredible understanding of the medium of Duplo bricks, the available parts and the colour palette at work here. Two details I particular love are the spanner pieces used for the guns on the AT-AT and the flower parts used as flames from the damaged engine of the snowspeeder.

Brilliant work!

South Australian Railways by The Graetz Family

I have admired Damien Graetz‘s builds for a while, specifically his landscape building techniques, and so his family’s South Australian Railways build from Brixpo this year really caught my eye.

I love the textures used in the landscaping, the rockwork and of course the way that colours have been used and mixed in this build. Truly a masterlcass.

Well done Graetz Family!

So there you have it, my top five builds from Brixpo 2024. If you attended the event I would love to know which builds were your favourites too!

If you enjoy these builds please make sure you connect with the builders and show them your support.

In my previous post I mentioned that this year the Brixpo Committee had encouraged exhibitors to give small tokens to builds that they thought had merit and discussed the builds that I chose to give tokens to myself, but in this post I want to thank the exhibitors who gave my build a token.

Here is a photo of most of the tokens that my Ice Station Icarus build received at Brixpo 2023. One token is not pictured as it was stolen off my table, it is quite funny actually as the token that was stolen was a custom vinyl cut sticker made by my wife, Kara.

I was pretty impressed by the range of different styles of exhibitor tokens, and whilst my build mainly received brick built tokens, I also saw other sticker tokens as well as cards and even some awesome hand-drawn paper tokens. Such an amazing range of creativity! I hope that the trend of awarding exhibitor tokens continues at other Australian shows. I will definitely be doing my bit.

If you are one of the exhibitors that took the time to build and leave a token with my build I want to thank you, it means a lot to know that you appreciated my build. I just wish I knew who each token was from so I could thank you individually.

I was able to identify two of the tokens, one as being from Richard at The Rambling Brick and one from Linda & Stuart, so thank you to those people!

This year for Brixpo, Southern Bricks LEGO User Group‘s annual brick show in Adelaide, the organisers decided that they would reduce the number of awards and instead encourage exhibitors to give tokens to builds that they thought had merit.

I thought this was a great idea and decided that for my tokens I would present some stickers which I designed to my five favourite builds exhibited this year and that I would also post about them here in my blog, as well as on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

I am calling this the HarrisBricks High Five being that it is my top/highest rated five builds and I am essentially giving the builders a metaphorical high five for a job well done. I enjoyed the process so much that I plan to keep this going at future events.

As with every good LEGO show there was a wide variety of fan built LEGO builds to look at and it made my selection process quite difficult, but below you will find my five favourite builds from Brixpo 2023, they are not presented in any particular order as I have chosen each of them for quite different reasons.

Gollum by Dave McWilliams

This build is the handiwork of a fellow member of my local LUG, Bendigo LEGO User Group, Dave McWilliams. Dave has built this incredible life-sized statue of Gollum as seen in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. I first saw this build exhibited at Bendigo Bricks this year and it was easily one of my top two builds at that show.

The reason I chose this build in my high five for Brixpo 2023 has got to be the amazing lifelike quality that Dave has expertly captured in his Gollum build, some points of absolute perfection would have to be the eyes, the lips and teeth, the scant wisps of hair, the detailed feet and his poseable hands. I also absolutely love that Dave’s Gollum is holding an upscaled LEGO fish as well as his precious one ring. Fantastic work Dave, I can’t wait to see what you build next!

Adelaide Microscale by Connor Brennan

This 1:1000 scale model of Adelaide is an ongoing project built by talented Adelaide local Connor Brennan, known online as Connor’s Bricks

The reason I chose this build in my high five for Brixpo 2023 is mainly because I am fascinated by the way that Connor has used thousands and thousands of small pieces to create such a detailed, realistic, not to mention recognisable scale model of his home city. Microscale is not a scale that I generally choose to work in myself, but I certainly appreciate the level of skill that is required to do it this well. Well done Connor!

Knutsaak Castle by Harald Christ

I have actually admired this build since the first time I saw it, in 2021, the first time that I exhibited at Brixpo. At the time I was actually working on my Fortress of Falkenholt built and you might say that Harald‘s build was more than a little inspiring to me.

The reason I chose this build in my high five for Brixpo 2023 is mainly because of the impressive use of build techniques and texture that Harald has employed, he even pointed out a couple of techniques that I had missed just in passing over the weekend. This build really is a master class in build techniques. If you have a chance to check out Harald’s builds in person I advise you to do so.

Ideas Book 7777 Circus Scene by Michael Smith

Michael Smith builds almost always work like a time machine, transporting me back to my childhood, and this build is no different.

For Brixpo 2023 Michael has recreated the circus train scene from pages 66 and 67 of the LEGO Trains Ideas Book 7777 from 1981. I can remember poring over these pages as a child and studying every detail. I loved these books and the possibilities they presented to us. Michael is an expert at sourcing all the right parts, building and arranging the pieces in exactly the right place to recreate these iconic scenes to take us right back to childhood. He also photographs his builds beautifully, so hopefully he will forgive my bad iPhone photography.

I have included this build as one of my Brixpo 2023 High Five not just for pure nostalgia reasons but also because I wanted to draw focus to the skill and attention to detail that Michael Smith brings to each and every one of his builds. Thanks Michael!

Exhibition of the Daleks by Matthew Fazakerley

This build is comprised of four (I’m only showing three of them here though) immaculately detailed vignettes of different Daleks from throughout the Doctor Who universe/timeline. Vignette one features a Dalek from The Dead Planet (1963) framed by distinctive arch of doors from the Dalek City. Vignette two (not shown) features an Imperial Dalek as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) on board the Dalek mothership. Vignette three comprises of the Special Weapons Dalek (also from Remembrance of the Daleks) on a London Street. Vignette four features Dalek Sec from Army of Ghosts (2006) in the sphere room.

Matthew Fazakerley is another very talented builder from Adelaide, and I always look forward to seeing his builds when I get a chance.

The reason I chose this build in my high five for Brixpo 2023 is once again about attention to detail and the skilled use of build techniques with which Matthew recreates the iconic shapes and forms of the Daleks themselves but also the realistic materials and textures of the scenes surrounding them with LEGO elements. Fantastic work once more Matthew!

So there you have it, my top five builds from Brixpo 2023. Did you attend the event? I would love to know which builds were your favourites.

If you enjoy these builds please make sure you connect with the builders and show them your support.