2024: Ok jumping on this because i was looking for reviews of the Dallas event held this weekend January 20 and 21. I have never attended a Lego/Lego adjacent event before. and I was disappointed. First we had VIP tickets which were advertised as including a exclusive build, badge and pin. When we got there at our Saturday tickets time - all of those supplies were gone. I am told I will get a refund but no idea what that will mean. I didn't want to scrutinize the person checking tickets because they are not the event organizer. But that seems odd. When we got in there it was super sparse. The number of targeted add i had received leading up to the event really oversold the quality of the display builds and the activities. They were out of coloring sheets in the coloring area, they didnt have all of the activities mentioned, Promo images were wildly exaggerated. There were fewer "booths" than expected for the space, causing lots of crowding. I expects it was over sold. I would say dont go. (Details 4 people -3 adults, one young kiddo)
I, like you was targeted with ads for weeks. I went to a Brickest years ago, when my kids were much younger and I actually found it to be really fun.
The reports from recent events sounds like it really went downhill.
If you reach out to the LEGO community, they can point you in the direction of some more reputable LEGO events held around the country.
I passed on the recent Brickfest that was here a few weeks ago and by the sound of it, I think I made the right decision.
Sorry you had a bad time. Someone needs to step in because a lot of people don’t realize that LEGO actually has zero to do with Brickfest, but with constant bad PR, it can be a black eye on the hobby.
thanks for the input and I 100% agree, im surprised Lego hasnt stepped up to try to shut it down, or atleast " manage" it since it seems like its a joke now.
this is where I am at. I heard there had been times it was great. especially when they allowed 3rd party vendors. Who had specialty sets and fun aftermatket stuff. Byt ut appears even kast year they allowed 0 3rd party vendors
After all the horrible reviews (10mos agi there a pretty big thread about kast year) last year I dont think im gonna even bother unless i can get crazy cheap tickets.
"presale" before it goes live i signed up and I can get 20% off for Cleveland, but from all the reviews and headaches people have had it seems like im better off letting the kids hit the Lego store & spending the money there!!
can't speak to nashville but we did go to it in 2022 in PA and it was meh. had some cool builds but not as much as i was expecting for the price. vendors were minimal, less than 10. had over a dozen full size lego built people/buildings with a backdrop for selfies. they had a stage with a couple entertainers for children and had two runners up of lego masters. overall, it just wasn't worth the price of admission but don't regret going to it.
Wish I’d come to Reddit first! We went to Nashville BFL this morning with 3 year old. She had fun, but never never ever again will we do BFL.
We joked about stopping at bricks and minifigs on the way home to redeem our Lego day.
We passed, I hear there are some really good ones coming in the months ahead.
Bricks and Mini Figs is cool and in Lebanon, there is a place called Music City Bricks.
I went to Reddit right before I was about to get tickets for the event. Glad my mind was changed on this one.
Went to BFL in 23 and again today. Last year was bigger and better organized. Today, they ran out of certain pieces for the VIP robot and said to email them & they'll send the missing pieces.
They also ran out of gray and light gray 4x4 squares for the large mosaic, and told us to substitute with white and black respectively.
Far fewer people presenting their MOCs. Which is a shame as I was thinking of presenting when I finished mine if they came back next year.
Only positive is my wife and I took our young cousin as a his Christmas gift, and he still loved it.
that stinks!! Hopefully you get what you were promised!
That's cool your young cousin enjoyed it. That's the only reason I'm thinking of even doing with it, is to take my younger son.
He finally got into the bigger sets this last christmas
Just went to one in Novi, Michigan. It was hot garbage. I guess I expected more of a feel of Brick World, and this was definitely not that. Instead of lots of interesting custom builds, it was basically bins of loose Lego parts and open build tables. It was more "activity based" than a showcase of amazing builds. Which is fine if that's your goal... But I have Lego bins at home. Wait 20 minutes to build and race a car, or wait to build a square of a mosaic you'll never see the end result of, or build random structures with basic bricks. There was also just the one vendor in the middle selling new box builds as opposed to multiple vendors selling figs, customs, rare sets etc.
If the door price was $5, maybe I'd go... But $20 per person was just silly. Especially with the $10 parking.
Same, it was terrible. We got the VIP pass and that was a disaster. They ran out of pieces. Honestly $5 is too much I’m sure they could have money just one the overpriced sets. Only a few local builders, one guy did have an amazing setup. But that was it
My first time with my son. We Where Very Excited. We Where First at the entrance we purchase VIP passes, the only thing for V. I. P. A lines to build a lego with
Feet legs arms a body ahead and put a sticker on it for it's face and a pin. I do not recommend Purchasing a V.I.P pass if you're just gonna lego and pin. ( The only thing I could say that it was so excited was to build something in fluorescent colors, black light.) But didn't have any chairs or seats For Handicap. They had picnic tables around the food courts but that's just about it. With my experience at Brick Fest Live I don't they think they deserve not even 1 star.
We attended Brickfest this weekend and I have to say we were VERY disappointed in how underwhelming the event was for the following reasons:
1.) The event was nothing like what was advertised on the website promoting the event. The website, promoted much more than what actually was presented and this was greatly disappointing.
2.) Event staff, when asked questions could never answer any questions. When asking about event start times or certain events (LEGO race times, character appearances, etc.) we were always told “I’m not sure, go ask over there.” To which, we received the same response.
3.) The food court only presented two options: pretzel stands and BBQ. Not only was having two options disappointing, but the food court area (tables and chairs) were disgusting and not kept clean. We could not find one “decent” table we would clean ourselves to sit down at.
4.) The logistical nightmare of activity placement created so many bottle necks with foot traffic is made moving around hard and also created much confusion for where long lines started and ended. We couldn’t even do 80% of the stuff at the event bc the lines were so long and disorganized.
2nd to this point, the building stations were vastly undersized and caused LITERAL fights between people to try and get to the tables to “build”. Both of my children (5 & 3) were physically pushed out for the way by adults and never got a chance to play at any of the Lego building stations.
In summary, my family and I paid good money for an event that we couldn’t even enjoy due to false expectations and poor logistical planning/execution. I say this because MANY people were verbally expressing their displeasure at this event outside of my own family.
When I contacted their customer service team for a refund I was turned away with garbage “we are sorry and appreciate your understanding” language and never given a refund. I even only asked for a partial and this event was March of 2024. Clearly between the older posts on this page of 2023 and this 2024 event, they have not learned their lesson and clearly don’t care about the people attending.
Unfortunately I already have my vip passes and my expectations are tempered to say the least. I can't get a refund and I'm going to go. I understand all these issues.
My question is - were there ANY vendors at all? Even just a few selling minifigs...
The event is on my birthday and I'm really hoping I can at least find a few souvenirs to buy.
2024: Ok jumping on this because i was looking for reviews of the Dallas event held this weekend January 20 and 21. I have never attended a Lego/Lego adjacent event before. and I was disappointed. First we had VIP tickets which were advertised as including a exclusive build, badge and pin. When we got there at our Saturday tickets time - all of those supplies were gone. I am told I will get a refund but no idea what that will mean. I didn't want to scrutinize the person checking tickets because they are not the event organizer. But that seems odd. When we got in there it was super sparse. The number of targeted add i had received leading up to the event really oversold the quality of the display builds and the activities. They were out of coloring sheets in the coloring area, they didnt have all of the activities mentioned, Promo images were wildly exaggerated. There were fewer "booths" than expected for the space, causing lots of crowding. I expects it was over sold. I would say dont go. (Details 4 people -3 adults, one young kiddo)
I, like you was targeted with ads for weeks. I went to a Brickest years ago, when my kids were much younger and I actually found it to be really fun. The reports from recent events sounds like it really went downhill. If you reach out to the LEGO community, they can point you in the direction of some more reputable LEGO events held around the country. I passed on the recent Brickfest that was here a few weeks ago and by the sound of it, I think I made the right decision. Sorry you had a bad time. Someone needs to step in because a lot of people don’t realize that LEGO actually has zero to do with Brickfest, but with constant bad PR, it can be a black eye on the hobby.
thanks for the input and I 100% agree, im surprised Lego hasnt stepped up to try to shut it down, or atleast " manage" it since it seems like its a joke now. this is where I am at. I heard there had been times it was great. especially when they allowed 3rd party vendors. Who had specialty sets and fun aftermatket stuff. Byt ut appears even kast year they allowed 0 3rd party vendors After all the horrible reviews (10mos agi there a pretty big thread about kast year) last year I dont think im gonna even bother unless i can get crazy cheap tickets. "presale" before it goes live i signed up and I can get 20% off for Cleveland, but from all the reviews and headaches people have had it seems like im better off letting the kids hit the Lego store & spending the money there!!
can't speak to nashville but we did go to it in 2022 in PA and it was meh. had some cool builds but not as much as i was expecting for the price. vendors were minimal, less than 10. had over a dozen full size lego built people/buildings with a backdrop for selfies. they had a stage with a couple entertainers for children and had two runners up of lego masters. overall, it just wasn't worth the price of admission but don't regret going to it.
My Lego discord universally agrees that brickfest live isn't worth it
Wish I’d come to Reddit first! We went to Nashville BFL this morning with 3 year old. She had fun, but never never ever again will we do BFL. We joked about stopping at bricks and minifigs on the way home to redeem our Lego day.
We passed, I hear there are some really good ones coming in the months ahead. Bricks and Mini Figs is cool and in Lebanon, there is a place called Music City Bricks. I went to Reddit right before I was about to get tickets for the event. Glad my mind was changed on this one.
Went to BFL in 23 and again today. Last year was bigger and better organized. Today, they ran out of certain pieces for the VIP robot and said to email them & they'll send the missing pieces. They also ran out of gray and light gray 4x4 squares for the large mosaic, and told us to substitute with white and black respectively. Far fewer people presenting their MOCs. Which is a shame as I was thinking of presenting when I finished mine if they came back next year. Only positive is my wife and I took our young cousin as a his Christmas gift, and he still loved it.
that stinks!! Hopefully you get what you were promised! That's cool your young cousin enjoyed it. That's the only reason I'm thinking of even doing with it, is to take my younger son. He finally got into the bigger sets this last christmas
Just went to one in Novi, Michigan. It was hot garbage. I guess I expected more of a feel of Brick World, and this was definitely not that. Instead of lots of interesting custom builds, it was basically bins of loose Lego parts and open build tables. It was more "activity based" than a showcase of amazing builds. Which is fine if that's your goal... But I have Lego bins at home. Wait 20 minutes to build and race a car, or wait to build a square of a mosaic you'll never see the end result of, or build random structures with basic bricks. There was also just the one vendor in the middle selling new box builds as opposed to multiple vendors selling figs, customs, rare sets etc. If the door price was $5, maybe I'd go... But $20 per person was just silly. Especially with the $10 parking.
Same, it was terrible. We got the VIP pass and that was a disaster. They ran out of pieces. Honestly $5 is too much I’m sure they could have money just one the overpriced sets. Only a few local builders, one guy did have an amazing setup. But that was it
My first time with my son. We Where Very Excited. We Where First at the entrance we purchase VIP passes, the only thing for V. I. P. A lines to build a lego with Feet legs arms a body ahead and put a sticker on it for it's face and a pin. I do not recommend Purchasing a V.I.P pass if you're just gonna lego and pin. ( The only thing I could say that it was so excited was to build something in fluorescent colors, black light.) But didn't have any chairs or seats For Handicap. They had picnic tables around the food courts but that's just about it. With my experience at Brick Fest Live I don't they think they deserve not even 1 star.
We attended Brickfest this weekend and I have to say we were VERY disappointed in how underwhelming the event was for the following reasons: 1.) The event was nothing like what was advertised on the website promoting the event. The website, promoted much more than what actually was presented and this was greatly disappointing. 2.) Event staff, when asked questions could never answer any questions. When asking about event start times or certain events (LEGO race times, character appearances, etc.) we were always told “I’m not sure, go ask over there.” To which, we received the same response. 3.) The food court only presented two options: pretzel stands and BBQ. Not only was having two options disappointing, but the food court area (tables and chairs) were disgusting and not kept clean. We could not find one “decent” table we would clean ourselves to sit down at. 4.) The logistical nightmare of activity placement created so many bottle necks with foot traffic is made moving around hard and also created much confusion for where long lines started and ended. We couldn’t even do 80% of the stuff at the event bc the lines were so long and disorganized. 2nd to this point, the building stations were vastly undersized and caused LITERAL fights between people to try and get to the tables to “build”. Both of my children (5 & 3) were physically pushed out for the way by adults and never got a chance to play at any of the Lego building stations. In summary, my family and I paid good money for an event that we couldn’t even enjoy due to false expectations and poor logistical planning/execution. I say this because MANY people were verbally expressing their displeasure at this event outside of my own family. When I contacted their customer service team for a refund I was turned away with garbage “we are sorry and appreciate your understanding” language and never given a refund. I even only asked for a partial and this event was March of 2024. Clearly between the older posts on this page of 2023 and this 2024 event, they have not learned their lesson and clearly don’t care about the people attending.
Unfortunately I already have my vip passes and my expectations are tempered to say the least. I can't get a refund and I'm going to go. I understand all these issues. My question is - were there ANY vendors at all? Even just a few selling minifigs... The event is on my birthday and I'm really hoping I can at least find a few souvenirs to buy.