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For my son, trains are like kiddie crack, so yesterday we took him to this model train expo convention.
But first I had to get the Prestin menfolk (Tom, Erik and my emo dog Ajax) off off the damn couch before we could go.
To be honest, at first the expo was kinda boring for me. I admit that model trains aren't really my thing but Erik was having a good time looking at all the trains when he wasn't whining for us to buy him something.
There was this weird mix of people. Half of the crowd was full of hard core train nerds, who tended to be older gentlemen and seemed to take their models as serious business. The other half of the crowd were people like me and my husband - parents who were desperate to find some inexpensive indoor entertainment for their cooped up kids (gah... I am so ready for winter to be over). The train nerds who ran the booths seemed to be trying to take advantage of desperate parents by putting things like super breakable model train engines right at the front of their table with a price tag of $300 bucks and a sign that informed us if our kid breaks it, we have to pay for the freaking thing. While I have to admire their evil genius, we managed to navigate that minefield and found something much more kid friendly.
Race cars. Which for Erik actually trumps trains for sheer awesome.
Since we're suckers, we forked over the $3 bucks so Erik could drive one with help from tom.
Me, I was just glad to have a chair to sit down on. In case you're wondering, the super round pregnant lady in desperate need of a haircut is me.
So that was cool. We walked around the expo some more, looking at some of the actual models that were set up to run on tracks but then, we found something truly kickass.
We stumbled on entire city and train scape made from Legos.
Sadly, this picture doesn't do justice to the scale and scope of this huge thing. It had to be around 20 feet by 30 feet. The train track ran around the outside of the cityscape. Fivelego nerds members of this local Lego club was responsible for building this whole thing.
Some close up shots of some of the cool stuff.
This little woodland valley area with campers was one of my favorite parts. It was just so cute looking. Also, even though you can't see it in this shot, there are little lego Wookies that are living on the hill in those trees.
My favorite thing about the lighthouse area was the way they used different Lego parts to make it look like people were swimming in the water.
Apparently the skyscrapers were built by one particular super nerd. One of the nerd's wives informed us that he was single which was how he could afford to build these huge ass buildings. Both of these buildings are in downtown Detroit. The brown one is the David Stott Building and the white one is the Penobscot Building.
The Detroit Public Library,
and guarding it on top is... Lego Batman.
This Lego city was some kind of fascist state apparently because there were armed guards with machine guns, cops and military dudes spread out all over the place.
This picture shows how deep the city goes. There was a lot of really neat stuff on the inside that we really couldn't get that good of a look at.
And last, but not least, a Lego Guns-n-Roses concert.
Someone asked if they glued the Legos to keep them all together while transporting them to the show. I wish I'd had quicker reflexes because the sheer shock and horror amongst the Lego nerd's faces was absolutely priceless. Apparently gluing Legos together is considered blasphemous.
I wish I was a better photographer, because these pictures really didn't do it justice and there was a ton of stuff that I missed or couldn't get a good shot of. Anyway, that was something pretty kickass to stumble on, and since these nerds are local, I'm hoping to see more of their stuff around.
But first I had to get the Prestin menfolk (Tom, Erik and my emo dog Ajax) off off the damn couch before we could go.
To be honest, at first the expo was kinda boring for me. I admit that model trains aren't really my thing but Erik was having a good time looking at all the trains when he wasn't whining for us to buy him something.
There was this weird mix of people. Half of the crowd was full of hard core train nerds, who tended to be older gentlemen and seemed to take their models as serious business. The other half of the crowd were people like me and my husband - parents who were desperate to find some inexpensive indoor entertainment for their cooped up kids (gah... I am so ready for winter to be over). The train nerds who ran the booths seemed to be trying to take advantage of desperate parents by putting things like super breakable model train engines right at the front of their table with a price tag of $300 bucks and a sign that informed us if our kid breaks it, we have to pay for the freaking thing. While I have to admire their evil genius, we managed to navigate that minefield and found something much more kid friendly.
Race cars. Which for Erik actually trumps trains for sheer awesome.
Since we're suckers, we forked over the $3 bucks so Erik could drive one with help from tom.
Me, I was just glad to have a chair to sit down on. In case you're wondering, the super round pregnant lady in desperate need of a haircut is me.
So that was cool. We walked around the expo some more, looking at some of the actual models that were set up to run on tracks but then, we found something truly kickass.
We stumbled on entire city and train scape made from Legos.
Sadly, this picture doesn't do justice to the scale and scope of this huge thing. It had to be around 20 feet by 30 feet. The train track ran around the outside of the cityscape. Five
Some close up shots of some of the cool stuff.
This little woodland valley area with campers was one of my favorite parts. It was just so cute looking. Also, even though you can't see it in this shot, there are little lego Wookies that are living on the hill in those trees.
My favorite thing about the lighthouse area was the way they used different Lego parts to make it look like people were swimming in the water.
Apparently the skyscrapers were built by one particular super nerd. One of the nerd's wives informed us that he was single which was how he could afford to build these huge ass buildings. Both of these buildings are in downtown Detroit. The brown one is the David Stott Building and the white one is the Penobscot Building.
The Detroit Public Library,
and guarding it on top is... Lego Batman.
This Lego city was some kind of fascist state apparently because there were armed guards with machine guns, cops and military dudes spread out all over the place.
This picture shows how deep the city goes. There was a lot of really neat stuff on the inside that we really couldn't get that good of a look at.
And last, but not least, a Lego Guns-n-Roses concert.
Someone asked if they glued the Legos to keep them all together while transporting them to the show. I wish I'd had quicker reflexes because the sheer shock and horror amongst the Lego nerd's faces was absolutely priceless. Apparently gluing Legos together is considered blasphemous.
I wish I was a better photographer, because these pictures really didn't do it justice and there was a ton of stuff that I missed or couldn't get a good shot of. Anyway, that was something pretty kickass to stumble on, and since these nerds are local, I'm hoping to see more of their stuff around.
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