With 10 years of experience under his belt, a seasoned organiser shares his dos and don’ts for building the perfect LEGO event.
The LEGO event calendar is a thing to behold in 2024. LEGO fans, collectors and builders will gather together to celebrate their shared love of plastic bricks throughout the year, and all over the world – including in Hampshire in the south of England, where Tyrone Love is entering his 10th year of hosting LEGO events.
The Hampshire Brick Event has moved around the areas of Portsmouth, Portchester and Locks Heath for the past decade, and this year returns to Portchester Community Centre on March 2. Spearheaded by Tyrone and his team, the show originally spun out of suggestions from Tyrone’s friends that he show off his growing LEGO collection.
“I decided to start looking into it,” he recalls. “At the time there wasn't really anything like it around, so I looked for the nicest place to hire and went for it. The event was for two days and the queue blew me away. People were queuing for 30 minutes to get into a tiny room. We didn't think we would need to hire the big hall as we thought not many would turn up – boy were we wrong!”
His earliest events ran twice a year – the first in early summer, the second in late autumn – and revolved mostly around displays, with only a single trader in tow. By 2019, the split between builds and sellers had shifted to a roughly even mix, relieving some of the pressure on Tyrone.
“I was the only one doing the builds at each event,” he says. “I made fresh displays for each event, then after the event I would go home, smash them up and build new and different displays all over again. For each event I normally started two months before due to space and made between 18 to 30 builds, ranging from three feet to 20 feet in size.”
Tyrone’s events also scaled back to once per year, in late autumn, as the increased number of sellers proved handy for parents looking to buy cheap LEGO for Christmas. But as the events have grown – Tyrone’s team has ballooned from two to seven people – he’s also clocked a shift in attendees.
“Over the years, more people were there to buy cheap LEGO than look at the displays, hence why I put more shops in,” he explains. “However, the past three years we have noticed a drop in kids and families turning up, so this year we are going back to the old days to try to bring the kids and families back.”
Keeping things fresh has been key to the longevity of Tyrone’s events. He changes them every year based on feedback from guests, ensuring that repeat visitors are never getting the same thing twice. But there’s more to building a successful LEGO event than just mixing things up – and Tyrone has learned a few essential dos and don’ts over the years.
“The main one is the visitors: keep them at the top of your mind when doing an event,” he says. “Don't do something at your event just because it’s cheap. Do it because you know or think people will love it. Don't do an event just to make money and charge high prices at the door or charge sellers top money, as you won’t get people coming back. And lastly, which might be controversial, don't do pre-booked tickets only.
“I know this helps for massive events, but for events with 2,500 or less capacity I would have door tickets only or at a push a mix of the two. Pre-paid tickets are great to have and will help the wallet so you are never out of pocket before the event opens, but in this world where people like to wake up and just do something and not always have money in their pockets to pay for something months ahead or even see that the event is on until late, I’ve found having a pay-at-the-door event is the best way.”
Tyrone also recommends picking your venue carefully – make sure there’s ample parking for visitors, good accessibility, and that they’re reliable. (He has plenty of horror stories of venues overpromising and underdelivering on resources, or booking the event for the wrong time or date.) And he has his own warning to share on the time, effort and costs involved in setting up a LEGO event.
“If you want a good event then you will have to sacrifice your time,” he says. “There will be days where you want to go out for the day and have fun, but the event will need your time – and more. It will always cost you more money than you think, so if you have a limited budget or don't like to spend money then don't put an event on. There will always be some extra cost you don't think of or that suddenly pops up. You are not always guaranteed to make money.”
Perhaps the main lesson Tyrone has learned from a decade of building LEGO events, though, is that you can’t make everyone happy.
“You can try, but you will fail,” he shares. “People will complain even if you give them something for free (I have given free LEGO out and was given it back!), so put on an event that you are proud of and that you are happy to have your name linked to. Don't do an event to make money like others do, you get more complaints and people not returning. Put on an event that you would be happy to attend yourself and feel you have had value for money.
“One of the biggest things I have learned is for me and my events it is all about the kids and families. Seeing kids go ‘wow!’ and get excited is the reason I started this.”
His first event for 2024 is a homecoming of sorts. Tyrone has returned to his very first venue – only this time in the big hall, keen not to make the same mistake twice – and, for the first time, has opened up his events to other builders. But it’s not just the same faces you’ll find elsewhere on the LEGO event circuit: he’s also inviting local parent-and-child teams to display their builds.
“I really want all types of builds at this event,” he says. “I love the thought of a parent sitting with their child making some strange and wonderful build at home and showing it off for all to see at my event.”
March will mark a major milestone for Tyrone, but he says putting on LEGO events isn’t a numbers game.
“Over 10 years I have enjoyed putting on the events and meeting loads of nice people,” he reflects. “I’ve made lots of people happy and given away so much LEGO that if I thought about it I’d cry! But if one child or person who came to my event walked away happy and inspired to build or play with LEGO, then it’s been worth it.
“I’ll always remember this: I put on an event around 2015/16. Some kids came to this event and the next day I received a video of the two boys playing on the floor with LEGO and they built my event. They put a few baseplates together, made little displays and had minifigures walk around looking at the mini displays at the mini LEGO event, just like the real thing.
“That is the reason I have been doing my events for 10 years.”
This year’s 10th-anniversary Hampshire Brick Event takes place at Portchester Community Centre on March 2, from 11am to 4pm, and costs just £3 on the door. Free parking is also available, and Tyrone is still accepting builders. Head over to the event website to get in touch if you’re interested in displaying.
Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links.
Comments
Be the first to comment!