Day one of Bendigo Bricks 2024 saw hundreds of enthusiasts of all ages moving through dozens of exhibits - and over 150 builds - at the Bendigo Exhibition Centre, exploring the colour, creativity, cleverness and devotion on display.
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Among the many local exhibitors were Arye Miller and his dad, Andrew, whose Star Wars-themed creations included two Clone Wars Corellian freighters, a Night Buzzard and an Umbara landscape.
Another impressive Star Wars-themed work was by Ben Young, whose extraordinary 'Mosa Espa Podrace' - the stuff of strange dreams - was fully operational.
Castles were also popular.
Bendigo Lego User Group committee member Brent Tomo had built an impressive medieval village incorporating one.
Castles were an early Lego theme he was trying to catch up on, Tomo said after "coming back to Lego" when the Bendigo group started in 2014.
The local Lego community was another social outlet, he said.
"I've got young kids who are both into it and my wife, Katrina, builds too."
Fellow committee member Dale Harris had built another incredible castle.
While Harris and Tomo's were both MOC (my own creation) builds, Kay Dacey, who keeps a couple of castles at home in glass cabinets, builds hers from kits.
'I've always loved KFC'
Travis Kennedy, exhibiting for the fourth time, was showing a portrait of Colonel Sanders and a model of one of his fast food stores.
"I've always loved KFC," Kennedy said.
"I've got the colonel catching the chicken out the front and the chicken's escaped.
"Normally I do mosaics - I love the pictures - but I've also done cars and last year it was bonsai. The restaurant was a bit of an afterthought. It's probably my first building."
Historic Bendigo buildings were another popular theme, with Darren Hutchesson showing his recently completed old law courts structure with his older post office building model together for the first time.
Placed inside the buildings were a range of tiny pop culture figures, from Batman and Robin to Dr Who and Duffy Duck.
"I'm really into the architecture but like Brickman on Lego Masters says, you've got to tell a story as well," he said.
"When you see kids looking through windows imagining worlds, that's the real magic of it."
'For me it's an artform, it's self-expression'
Also magic, as far as he was concerned, was Michael and Gary Piggott's model of the military museum, which he described as "next level excellent".
Nicole Mooney, for whom Lego is a family affair, had built four of the city's major historic buildings, as well as Rosalind Park, to architect scale.
Her husband, Paul Brownlie had made a 'Bendigo' sign, while her daughters Abbyleena, Jayne and Sarah were all exhibiting their work as well.
"We enjoy it as a family," Ms Mooney said.
Former Lego Masters contestant Fleur Watkins was in Bendigo at the event with an old Singer sewing machine build inspired by her grandmother.
She had only got into Lego when she was 42, Watkins said, and she had turned 47 a few days ago.
Whereas she used to think of the blocks as toys, she now sees them as an art medium.
"When you come into a room like this we're all using the same medium but our interpretation is different. It' s like you're painting with a different brush," she said.
"You've got people who build their own and people who use sets and modify them, and everyone is welcome.
"I love how versatile it is. For me it's an artform, it's self-expression."
Bendigo Bricks 2024 runs on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6, 10am to 4pm at the Bendigo Exhibition Centre in the Prince of Wales Showgrounds.
