6 years of Bricks McGee – LEGO models and workshops

I happened to check an invoice for domain names the other week, and was very surprised to notice it has been 6 years since I registered bricksmcgee.com.

The beginnings of Bricks McGee

This website started as a very simple LEGO blog (which still exists!), and a few articles around LEGO fandom, which are now lost to time.

Around a year after I launched that website, I received my first LEGO model commission, which has continued ever since! I’ve worked on many excellent LEGO models (including some huge LEGO train models with the very talented Steve), and a few of my favourite models were built for the Little Landmarks LEGO exhibition at South Shields Museum last year, including this LEGO model of South Shields’ Customs House (now a theatre). I loved the facade so much, I’ve built a museum for my LEGO city, Amchester, to the same design:

Events & the AFOL community

The website evolved greatly as I became more involved in the AFOL community, attending LEGO shows such as Bricktastic back in 2015, and being active on LEGO fan forums such as Eurobricks.com. I’ve also:

• become involved in the formation of a local LEGO User Group (see a list of UK LUGs and what they are/do here) of which I am current chair. Brick Alley LEGO User Group has since grown to over 40 members, and hosts exhibitions attended by thousands of people over a weekend: something we never thought we’d achieve!
• founded LNUR (LEGO Northern UK Railway), a cooperative of Adult Fans of LEGO who work together to design, build and display LEGO railway models.
• started Bricks + Beers events here in Newcastle upon Tyne. The idea was to create informal social events around LEGO bricks for adults. I’m looking forward to seeing how those develop in other locations in 2019.

So, how to celebrate 6 years of LEGO blogging, models and events?

In celebration of 6 years of Bricks McGee, I’ll be posting my own AFOL interview in the next few weeks, carefully curated by one of my favourite UK AFOLs – Caz!