Celebrating its 10th edition next weekend, the event at ILT Southland Stadium will gather exhibitors from across the country to showcase their skills, creativity and inspiration.
Lego Users Group South (LUG) secretary and trustee Gavin Evans said he felt humbled to see how much the event had grown.
He said when the show started it had seven exhibitors and this year there would be 70 exhibiting groups.
"It’s surprising how we started out — we had to knock on doors and beg for an entry.
"Now people come to us because we’re part of the community and we feel like part of the community and it’s quite a privileged position to be in.
"I have to stop and pinch myself sometimes that we are in that position — we’re just a bunch of guys playing with Lego and trying to help out the community."
Mr Evans believed the popularity was due to childhood nostalgia and the camaraderie between the club members.
"It is not just something for the kids — the number of adults as well that are coming up to me and asking about the brick show is unbelievable.
"It’s friendship with like-minded people ... we can help each other with solutions, ideas, share bricks — and have a laugh with people that get what you’re about."
LUG member Cory Varcoe said he reconnected with his bricks passion about two years ago and felt he had found his tribe.
"I grew up with Lego as a kid, but when I was a teenager it came to the dark ages — how one of the other guys in the club refers to the period when you go away from Lego," he said with a laugh.
"But then I met my new partner and one of her kids was massively into Lego— and then it just kind of restarted my passion."
It was at one of the brick shows that he become aware of the group.
He confesses he initially felt "pretty intimidated".
"Which was weird because now that I’ve joined, there’s nothing to be intimidated about.
"It’s just a whole group of people, just super-friendly, super-supportive. I think that’s probably enabled my passion a lot more."
During this year’s event, 12 groups will build a project which will go through the whole event.
Evans was quite excited as the collaboration — a train running through different scenarios — was set to be more than 7m long and 5m wide.
"So the inspirations, each person’s different — there’s things as varied as rocket ships in outer space, scenery and farmland and train yards — it is going to be something that people have never seen before.
"As is our 10th event, I think it was the time to show the collaboration, show people working together because that’s what the event is about, right?"
• Southland Brick Show, October 19-20, 10am-4pm at ILT Stadium Southland. $2 per person. LUG South will give proceeds to Youthline, Ronald McDonald House and Life Education Trust.
