Bricks & Brews

A community event that brings LEGO enthusiasts together at Cafe Rider. 

It was a simple enough idea, at least in theory. 

That said, we had no idea how to move forward. As individuals, we love LEGO but don't have the collections required to host a proper event. A chance meeting with a collector led to a proper introduction to the team at Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL) Middle East. The planning began in earnest and the date was set for mid-October. 

The morning of the event, a number of AFOL members showed up to display their collections. As the minutes passed, we went from being mildly curious to  pleasantly surprised. There was a LEGO of every shape and color, depicting some form of transport or the other! 

Full blown tipper trucks and bulldozers that moved under their own steam shared table space with Bugattis, Lamborghinis, and Porsches in a variety of different scales. If you're a Ferrari fan, a separate section was dedicated to the prancing horse, with Formula One and road cars spread out, along with the enclosed transporter that the racing team used to use. There was even a small section with Ferrari models that you could only get when you filled up at Shell petrol stations in Oman many years ago! 

Construction equipment was placed on one side, and showed that it was truly up to the task of moving items (within its own scale of course). Another section was populated by only movie cars. We counted three Deloreans (one of them was the BTTF time machine), two Batmobiles and two Ghostbusting Ectomobiles! 

The collections and the displays were noteworthy, but what really impressed us was the enthusiasm shared by all. Whether it was members of the AFOL or our regular customers who had wandered up to the mezzanine floor to have a look, everyone had a story to share about a LEGO set that they had built. It reminded us that while we do a lot with the motorcycle and car communities, there are a number of other enthusiasts out there who are equally, if not more passionate about the particular subject that brings them together. This is why we will continue to highlight these communities because that's what the Cafe is - a space where all enthusiasts are welcome. 

Be Original. Be Free. 

A massive thank you to the AFOL for partnering with us on this event. We're really pleased with how things went and we wouldn't have been able to pull it off without you. Special thanks to Manohar Raju, whose advice was instrumental throughout.