@willmcdine
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I went through and put in some staffing. I was originally supposed to be away December 14th-23rd but that doesnt look like its happening. If I have more free time pop up in that week I will sign up to staff.
In regard to leaving it up, I am in favor of it. Would they let us leave it up until its time for the train display at the science center? Seems to be a situation similar to TUBS.
Todd provided an update on the state of Chantilly for 2026. The update is that he is essentially in a holding pattern. He confirmed that the Convention Center is not going to be an option for 2026. Apparently he has been in contact with one of the other displaced tenants who is in contact with a local mall with a rather large vacant department store. Said displaced tenant is looking to enter the convention center game instead of just moving their convention so time will tell. Todd Hinted back to Brickfair Exton (if ya know, ya know) saying he would be willing to go back to an old Sears if that’s what it took for the show to go on.
He was also very adamant that he did not want to skip a year if he didn’t have to, but he would be willing to skip a year if it meant he could keep the usual Weekend in August.
So I think it is one of those things that only time will tell. He said the best thing to do is keep up to date with the Brickfair Site and he will post updates when and where he can.
Okay, Now that I am home, Mostly unpacked, and somewhat better rested I can provide an official review of this event.
I can honestly say it was small, but it was an absolute blast! I thoroughly enjoyed this event and I look forward to going back. Todd Expressed that he does want to make Brickfair Oaks a regular event, He has not talked to the venue to confirm anything yet simply because it was too soon, but he said he does want to keep it going, and make it bigger!
The Public crowd was a bit different. Sunday was for sure the busier day which was weird. The rumors going around were that 1. People didn’t want to come the first day until they heard if it was different than Brickfest Live. and 2. People thought Brickfair was simply a rebranded Brickfest Live. Overall I think the show was well received by the public as well. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and there was plenty of fun to be had with a jam packed schedule of both public and private events.
While I don’t want to speak for Donna and Chuck, I think they would also agree the event was worth going to.
A news article was posted in the unofficial Brick Fair Discord that confirmed the worst. The Dulles Expo Center is officially closing after its last booking in December of this year. After that Both the North and South halls will close to begin the Ikea transformation. It appears that we have attended the last Brick Fair Virginia/Chantilly, at least in its most recent/fan favorite form.
Like I said earlier I will report back with anything that is brought up at Brick Fair Oaks. But my guess is it is likely still too soon to tell what will happen
Subbed. I have a ginger bread AT-AT on back order. If it comes in time It can be used for the display. I don’t have much Christmas I can contribute otherwise, but I am sure I can come up with something.
Offical Update from the Brickfair Site:
Oct 27th 2025
Jam Packed Show
Exhibitors, we’re now declining nearly all newly registered MOCs. We are packed with MOCs. There may be a wee bit of space open in TOWN & TRAIN. Both exhibitor registrations and public ticket sales are higher than expected. I look forward to BF/Oaks growing into a larger space at GPEC in 2026. See you there next week
Looking at the Brickfair Forum there is a total of 293 AFOL/TFOL/KFOL Registrations and 727 MOCs! This is all fitting in only HALF of the GPEC. I think it is safe to day that Brickfair Oaks is making an impact and has potential to become the next big show
Chuck, I will take these off your hands if no one else has. Feel free to bring them to TUBS or Brickfair.
I had seen this event a while ago and thought about buying tickets for Alexis and I. Unfortunately we have some other scheduling conflicts and cant attend. Never even thought about the possibility of it being a LUG display.
>> We are offically on the map! Sharing a small island with our Northern Neighbors Buffa-LUG
Have you still been talking to Todd? Are you aware that Steel City LUG is still on the map twice? Is he aware? I know it’s not the final version of the map yet, and I figured he’d fix it eventually, but he recently posted on brickfair-dot-com: “Every table is accounted for. Any new MOCs should squeeze into existing table spaces.” And so my concern is that he’s accidentally overlooking an entire island of tables that could be used.
Funny you mention that, I was just about to make him aware of that. I hadnt signed into the brickfair forum for a few days and didnt notice that before the curation portion had been posted.
I am going to bring 3 of her Mosaics under my name. We’ll decide as we closer when/if she is coming out. I’ll need ~6ft for the Mosaics if that is OK.
Chuck
Perfectly fine! I will tell brickfair staff our table needs right now
The question for you is: do we need to fill out some space? Logistically, just me bringing both my MOCs and hers will be a bit cumbersome, but I can do it if we need more displays on the LUG tables.
That is completely your call. I am fine with however large or small of a LUG presence we have. If Donna wants to register you can check her in Thursday when you get there, this way she has a brick badge for all of the festivities on Saturday night and what not but if you don’t want to go through that headache of setting up her stuff too I get it completely. I am perfectly fine to email Todd and say that we need 2 eight foot tables and 1 6 foot table. Let me know what you two decide soon, preferably by weeks end so I can email Todd and update our table layout
Putting them in now. Bringing Life Truce, the 3 Wookie’s and R2 the Grouch requires ~72″ of space.
Wonderful, I will but you down for a 6 foot table. How much space will Donna need? I dont see her registered, is she coming?
@5stargn @cw142d Todd posted a few days ago urging people to get their MOCs registered for Brickfair Oaks. Just a heads up for you two as I don’t see any of your MOCs yet and it is not reflecting on the LUG table counter. Make sure when you register your MOCs that you are selecting Steel City LUG under the Collab section. If you dont wanna sit by me thats fine too.
Let this also serve as a heads up for those still on the fence about going, things are moving fast and we are in the home stretch. Deadline for early registration is October 23rd. this saves you $30 and ensures you get a brick badge and larger goodie bag. This day is also the last day to sign up for games and parts drafts.
One thing I did find weird was when I logged out of Bricklink I went to Shop.Lego.com and I was still logged in.
This seems to still be the case. I urge everyone to get into the habit of checking both platforms whenever you use one or the other. This also counts if you log into Stud.Io. I logged into the Stud.Io platform and found I was logged into both ShopLego and Bricklink.
I too am hoping the Ikea gets blocked and the show stays where it is. I have gone around telling everyone that Brickfair Chantilly is the one show each year that I will attend each year and I genuinely mean that. I hope he is able to keep it where it is or at least make something similar to it. I gotta admit though if he is looking for a rebrand or a new location, Oaks convention center might just be the place. Its larger, has ample parking, decent area with a ton of hotels. We shall see though. I will report back if anything about this saga is officially mentioned in Oaks.
but I see that Steel City LUG has its own 8-table island
I just had to go back and double check, I am curious about this as well. I am the only one who has registered MOCs so far for Steel City. I don’t see any for Donna or Chuck anywhere in the listing. I will have to follow up with them and possibly report back to Todd for some corrections.
I noticed tonight that three weeks ago Todd started posting map files for this event:
I noticed it, But didnt have time to look too hard at it. Thanks for posting!
I Know Donna and Chuck are going with me. I dont think anyone else has registered though.
Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC
Someone brought this up I believe at the LAN ambassador meeting, It was specified that not only is this pricy, but at this specific convention center EVERYTHING is to be loaded into and out of the convention hall via the Halls Union staff, this is specified in said staffs union contract. Meaning All of the MOCs….. I highly doubt this would be popular among some people.
I had not noticed that this could be an issue. I need the answer to that also, because I want my VIP points. I last sold on BL in 2008, and after my inventory got deleted out, I made an attempt to relist it all in 2012 (I spent hours and hours on it but only did a fraction of what I have) and never re-opened. Right now it’s now it’s of the lowest priority and isn’t happening anytime soon.
I did some research and based on everything I found it looks like you only loose your VIP points (or the accrual of them) if you are registered as a business seller and not as a private seller. So we should be good
I just went and did mine, I had zero issues. One thing I did find weird was when I logged out of Bricklink I went to Shop.Lego.com and I was still logged in. So be careful of that.
One other thing I am curious on is I am listed as a seller on Bricklink (I made a store years ago but never listed an inventory and Never even opened the store). Do we think I will still earn VIP Points when I make purchases at the LEGO stores? I have heard mixed things on this and I don’t know how to change my status from seller on Bricklink
I will unfortunately have to work, But I think this is something we should make every effort possible to doing. Great exposure for us and the payment helps sweeten the pot for the LUG
I am finishing packing the car now. Should be on the road no later than 1 which should put me at the convention center around 3:30ish.
Ben, thanks for taking a look at this and doing the lay out! I was going to ask for a corner spot so the city Nicholas and I are doing has good viewing from pretty much all around. Also, I only need 3 tables in theory. 2 for the city and one for my stand alone MOCs. I brought this up to skip and he said it would be easier on him to just count it as 4 tables. The one I don’t need we can move into the middle if we want or we can keep it there and I can put my taller stuff in the back. Regardless I don’t mind either way.
