Blogs

The 2011 mosaic is done.

We've just created a Flickr group for people to share their pics & thoughts about this years GWLS.

You can find the group here -

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1752617@N24/

I've uploaded a load of photos to it already; have a browse or sign up & share your own photos :-)

Saturday was a great day ... exhausting, but rewarding. After a quick refuel & recharge over night, we're back in the hall for Sunday :-)

There were already queues outside the museum when we arrived, but they were moving quickly once the doors opened (they seem to be moving quicker than previous years). It's a beautiful day out there, but that doesn't seem to be damping the interest of the public!

The hall has filled up quickly, but the staff have done a few things to stop it getting quite as hot as yesterday, so hopefully things will be a little more comfortable.

Hope to see you all later!

There's a great surprise for visitors to GWLS in the form of not one but two unreleased official sets - on display are the 'Mini Modulars' set announced at the fan event in Denmark last weekend, and the newly announced 'Kingdoms Joust' set. Both are LEGO exclusives & will be available to buy in January 2011.

You can read more about the two sets here -

Mini Modulars - http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=1487

Kingdoms Joust - http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=1502

It's afternoon on the first day; the number of public visitors has been similar to previous years - we feared that with the unseasonal good weather the numbers might have be down, but that doesn't seem to be the case!

The mosaic is slowly taking shape, there's lots to see & do, and everyone I've spoken to has said they are having a good time.

If you're planning to visit us later today or tomorrow, be warned that it's very warm in the museum, so dress appropriately!

You can now book tickets for the show today!  Advanced tickets ensure you do not have to queue to purchase tickets on the day. Your fast-track ticket confirmation barcode will be scanned on arrival and this will also enter you into an exclusive draw for advance ticket holders to win cool LEGO prizes.

Please be aware that our ticketing partner, Swindon Tickets charge a booking fee of £1 per individual ticket or 10% for family tickets. You will need to print your ticket confirmation at home and bring it to the show.

To purchase advanced tickets online, choose the ticket type you require below:

• adults - £11.00
• children 3-16 and concessions - £9.50
• family tickets (2 adults, 2 children) - £38.50
• family tickets (2 adults, 3 children) - £44.00

We regret advanced tickets are not available directly from STEAM.

The show planning is now taking shape with some great builders and models signed up to display.  The local radio advertising is in the bag and the show leaflets will be in circulation over the summer holidays.  We'll post them here for you to see as well.

News will be breaking soon of some guests we have coming over from the LEGO Group in Billund, Denmark.  We're really excited about a couple of LEGO designers who will be at the show for the entire weekend to talk about their models that we see in the shops today.  More details on this to follow!

For those people who come from further afield, we're working on a deal with a local hotel to get you tickets and accomodation in one package.  Again, watch out for more info here soon.

Well, it's May and that means there are just five months to go before we open the doors to the 9th Great Western LEGO Show.  Wait a moment...the ninth show?  It seems like only yesterday that a handful of us built a small LEGO train layout to display in Swindon one Saturday and we were impressed when a couple of hundred people came to see us.  Last year, around 80 exhibitors had the STEAM museum bulging at the seams when over 7,500 people crowded the event over the weekend!  Maybe we should remind the local traffic authorities that we're coming to town again, and this year will be better than ever!

Plans are now coming together for the show.  We've got some cool new ideas and I'm pleased to say that there's already some great support by both LEGO fans, vendors and LEGO themselves for this year's show.  We'll be blogging here more and more frequently now, so be sure to check back often.  We're also committed to pushing our more newsletters this year, so make sure you sign up if you haven't already done so.  It's fair to say we didn't reach out to you as often as we could have last year, so that's something we plan to improve on as well.

So, sit back, relax and make sure the date for the show is in your diary.  We'll do all the hard work so you can come along for a fabulous day out to immerse yourselves in all things LEGO.

The Drag Racing competition was successful, we had lots of participants.

First and third prices were won by members of the public. The picture on the right shows the third place. As for the slowest racer it was a very tight race between a boat and a truck powered by a micro motor.

Unfortunately we also had some racers who didn't make it to the finish line, but their builders will try to improve the steering for the 2011 Great Western LEGO show.

More pictures will follow here and on Flickr.

This years mosaic is finally done!

It is a large LEGO Harry Potter picture built out of 98,688 LEGO bricks.