Brick by colourful brick, the Canberra Lego User Group (CLUG) has been building a community of creative enthusiasts. The Group hosts its first Canberra Brick Show at Thoroughbred Park later this month, 19-20 November.

The show brings together more than 120 exhibitors from across the country to showcase their builds; some are extravagant sets while many are creations from the builder’s imagination. There will be opportunities to get hands-on and make your own designs, purchase from speciality vendors selling Lego themed goods, and buy sustenance from some of the capital’s favourite food trucks.

“One we’re expecting to come along is actually a Brickman build. It’s a massive mosaic of The Lego Movie, so Emmet Wyldstyle Batman, it’s about eight metres long and three metres tall,” says CLUG president Jake Radloff.

Discovering his love for Lego at a young age, throughout his childhood Jake could always be found putting pieces together. He says back in the 1980s, Lego looked a bit different, there weren’t as many options, lines, or colours, and the elements were more basic – but they were just as loved. He has kept his first set over the years, the 7740, an electric yellow train that still runs today.

“Every school holidays, I used to get the track out; the set-up was quite a bit more intricate at that time. It has little rails on the inside to try and get electrification,” Jake says.

After a break from the hobby and when Jake was established and financially secure, he started to dabble again. Buying a Millenium Falcon set in 2010, at first he stuck to certain Star Wars or train sets, but soon the bug was back and he ventured into new lines.

The collection has continued to grow and now Jake estimates he owns a good thousand sets. There are many that have yet to be built with some that may never make it out of the box. Jake says he isn’t sure what to do with certain ones, others he knows he can’t part with, and some he is holding for when his children grow.

“As the kids get a bit older, I’m enjoying sometimes bringing one out to build with them, especially as their skills develop,” he smiles.

Around three years ago, Jake became involved in CLUG, a Lego appreciation group for people of all ages. Forming in 2010, the group has slowly been growing, now sitting at around 180 members, and they connect on the first Sunday of the month.  

“We usually have a theme, so it could be a certain colour or a certain vehicle or a certain build technique,” he says.

Throughout the meetings, people are encouraged to stand up and talk about what they have been creating and the inspiration behind the build. Members who were LEGO Masters contestants share their insights, people who specialise in crafting their own big builds share their methods, and the youngest members also command the crowd. 

“One of the little boys, it was the first time he spoke, I think he was four, and he has six or eight bricks that he put together and explained this whole story about this little thing,” Jake recalls.

The group believes in giving back to those around them, and plans to use a portion of the money raised from the show to buy sets to be donated to local charities, with the intention they will be passed on to families with children with special needs or who may struggle to buy Christmas presents. They also hold a yearly event at Woden School to help raise money for equipment at the disability support school that government funding doesn’t cover.

Along with being the group’s volunteer president, Jake also works for the local government in an IT position and is a father to two children, aged four and seven. For him, Lego is something relaxing to help him unwind after a stressful day, and he enjoys the symmetry of the build. 

Both children have inherited Jake’s love for Lego; his son is all about superheroes while his daughter loves princess castles and has a budding interest in vehicles. She had been longing for a pink tram when her loving dad decided to reskin one of the sets from the city line with magenta bricks. He had to be resourceful when all the replacement pieces weren’t available as Lego doesn’t create every piece in all colour options.

“A little triangle tile piece that just doesn’t come in magenta at all. I had to come up with a solution by reusing some other one by one dots and little slopes,“

Around half the group’s members stick to building from boxes, others are collectors who don’t open their boxes, and the rest are into modifications, such as upgrading a vehicle with a motor or creating landscapes from multiple sets.

“The classic one is Hoth from out of Star Wars with the big AT-AT Walker, we might get one of those and a whole bunch of other white stuff around it, create a whole Hoth scene, “

While many members created their own scenes without an instruction manual or pop culture reference. They still mix sets using items like figurines or vehicles and then create their own story, Jake says it took him a few years for him to feel confident enough to give it a go.

“I’m not an overly creative person, very methodical but it allows you to express it in that sort of way, which is quite good.

His current large-scale project, a train scene that travels through the four seasons was given the tick of approval by the Brickman himself at a Melbourne Show. Builders often collaborate at shows bringing different landscapes together to form a huge showstopping scene. Others might to stick to working with people they know, you often see friends, life partners and family units come together on a build. Jake’s children are quite involved in show set up, his wife the only one not to have caught the Lego bug is supportive of the hobby and will often help add those finishing details.

Jake says a few years ago the club was idling around 100 or so members for quite some time, then they saw a bit of a drop throughout the pandemic, with face to face interaction restricted. The popularity of the Lego Masters Tv show saw their numbers start to rise, while the opening of Canberra’s Lego store really helped boost the numbers. Jake says some of their members would be their best customers as they are always needing more pieces.

“I think you’ll never have enough even if you order 1,000 pieces of a particular type and you’ll go to build something, you’re always short about ten,”

Like the idea of building but don’t know where to start? Jake says the best way is to experiment with the kind of lines you like, to start small and then build your way up.

“It doesn’t matter what age you are, what background, what you’re interested in there’s a colour for you, you can build whatever is in your mind.”

See the creations or try making your own at Canberra Brick Show at Thoroughbred Park, 19-20 November; canberra.brickshow.au

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