May 11th is also a very special day for railfans here in the Twin Cities, the world-famous 261 Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 steam train is making its first excursion run since its rebuild.  She is scheduled to leave Minneapolis Junction around 9am, and heading towards Duluth on the tracks just a few blocks west of Brickmania.  So bright and early some of us will be out by the tracks, with our cameras ready to catch a glimpse of history rolling through Nordeast Minneapolis.  Just for fun, here’s a shot I got at lunch when she was just pulling out of the engine shed:

A reminder to our guests this weekend, there are several major road closings around Minneapolis.  The 94 / 35W ‘commons’ will be closed, so you might need to discover a different route to Brickmania.  But we’re pretty sure you’ll be able to find us!

As always, bring your Lego trains to run them on our layout!

Next weekend is Art-A-Whirl, and World War Brick is happening in June.  The next several weeks are going to be great fun at Brickmania!

“First Thursday” Open House from 5pm to 9pm on May 2nd.

Our normal second Saturday Open House from 10am – 4pm on May 11th.

And, “Art-A-Whirl” May 17th through 19th.  We’ll have several guest artist vendors, Pizza Lucé will be selling slices, it’s a fun weekend and a good time.

As always, bring your Lego train to one of our Open House events and we’ll let you run it on the GMLTC train layout.

Don’t forget, World War Brick is coming up in June!

And next Saturday (April 13th) is our usual Second Saturday of the Month, we’ll be open 10am to 4pm.  As always, bring your Lego train (on Thursday or Saturday!) and we’ll let you run it on our layout.

Quick note, Jeannine and Crazy for Hue will not be there this weekend, but she’s planning on being back in May.

Don’t forget Art-A-Whirl in May, and World War Brick in June!

Most of the Brickmania crew will be in Indianapolis for Brickworld Indy, but the store will be open, the trains will be running, Crazy for Hue will be there, and yes, there will be Girl Scout Cookies for sale again this month.

10am – 4pm, as always bring your trains and we’ll let you run them on our layout.

For our fans who might be going to the train show in La Crosse, the GMLTC will not be there this year.  Their show this year was moved up a week from its usual weekend, so it conflicts with our Open House schedule.  We’re going to try to make it back to La Crosse next year, since it’s a great show with great people and definitely one of our favorite weekends of the year.  But if you do go, say “Hi” to Judy & Bill (and their grandkids!); and Dave & Stacy!

And some early ‘heads up’ for some upcoming events at Brickmania:

• Art-A-Whirl May 17th through 19th.  We’ll be there, with several guest craftspeople and Pizza Luce by the slice.  It’s a fun weekend with lots of interesting guests.
• “World War Brick” June 28th through 30th.  Last year this event was held in Chicago, but this year it’s going to be at Brickmania.  Even more military themed creations, from builders around the world. 

Stay tuned for more information on upcoming events!

With all the folks who are discovering us after seeing the nice article in the Pioneer Press, and the people we met at the Boat Show, we’re expecting a big turnout, so it should be a pretty exciting day.  If you’re concerned about the potential crowd, the mornings are usually busier than the afternoons, so you might want to visit a little later in the day.

The Brickmania store is stocked, Jeannine will be there with her Crazy for Hue creations, and troop 13761 will be there selling Girl Scout cookies!  (And seriously, who can resist the goodness of Girl Scout cookies?)

We’re just off of 18th & Central Aves, enter through our door on 18th as the building’s “front” door is often locked on the weekends.

And as always, if you bring your LEGO train, we’ll pull ours off the tracks and let you run yours.

See you Saturday!

Greetings to those who are discovering us after seeing this article in today’s Pioneer Press!

Maja visited us for an Open House a few months ago, and spent almost two hours asking questions and taking pages of notes.  I remember being impressed at how quickly she was writing stuff down!

Our next Open House is February 9th, 10am – 4pm, at Brickmania Toyworks in Nordeast Minneapolis.  We’re located just west of 18th and Central Ave, if you use your favorite GPS or mapping tool use the address 909 18th Ave NE, and that should put you right outside our door.  Please note, the Brickmania mailing address is 1620 Central Ave, but that door is often locked on the weekends so come in off of 18th Ave.

As always, you bring your LEGO train to one of our events, we’ll pull ours off the track and let you run yours!

And one other thing, Brickmania will be at The Progressive Boat Show, with a building space, some displays, and many custom kits for sale, including a brand new Wakeboard Boat kit in some locally inspired colors:We’re sure these will be very popular, and there is a very limited supply so don’t delay!

We survived our busy December, and are now back into the ‘second Saturday of the month’ Open House schedule.  That means this Saturday, January 12th!

Our regular hours, 10am – 4pm.  We’ve got some new projects working, the Brickmania store is pretty well stocked (and even has some new releases this week), and we’re looking forward to seeing you.

And as always, bring your LEGO train and we’ll pull ours off the tracks to run yours.

Tomorrow, December 15th, and next Saturday, December 22nd.  10am – 4pm both days, in the Brickmania space just off of 18th and Central Ave.

Crazy for Hue will be there with hand made American Girl Doll clothes.  Barb and the kids will be there with home made gifts, cards, and chocolates.  And we’ll have gift wrapping supplies (and assistance if you’re all thumbs like me!) for all your Brickmania purchases.

There has been some new construction on the GMLTC layout, some new winter displays from Brickmania, and we’re looking forward to seeing you!

Come into Brickmania off of 18th Ave, our door is about 100 yards West of Central Ave.  If you use ‘google maps’ we’re at 909 18th Ave NE Minneapolis – that should put you right at our door.

“Black” Friday, November 23rd:  10am – 4pm (all ages), and again 6pm – 9pm (ages 21+).  The evening event is for all the folks who want to purchase stuff for their kids, but can’t do that with kids in tow.  We’ll have the music playing, there may be ‘adult’ refreshments, and we’re even planning on having present wrapping supplies and possibly some experienced gift wrappers if you’re all thumbs like I am!

Saturday, November 24th:  10am – 4pm.

The first four Saturdays in December:  1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd:  10am – 4pm each day.

(Then, I think we’re going to take a well deserved break until our first 2013 Open House on January 12th.)

Hope to see you at Brickmania soon!  And as always, if you bring your LEGO train we’ll pull ours off the tracks and let you run yours.

Click here for directions, or if you have a GPS unit use this address, it should put you right outside our door on 18th Avenue:  909 18th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN

We might still be taking down some Halloween decorations, we have some zombies we need to turn back into regular Lego minfigs, and we might start putting out the Winter stuff – but we’re as comfortable with people seeing the process as seeing the results.  Besides, we like to build stuff!

Come into the space off of 18th Ave, our door is about 100 yards West of Central Ave.  If you use ‘google maps’ we’re at 909 18th Ave NE Minneapolis – that should put you right at our door.

We’re still trying to finalize plans for a couple extra Open Houses between now and January, so stay tuned!