zaLUG display event at Clearwater Mall 2023

Always a highlight on our annual calendar, zaLUG was delighted to once again be exhibiting at Clearwater Mall over the weekend of 26 and 27 August 2023. Fifty-nine members participated (with five new members displaying for their very first time) and managed to fill an impressive 70 tables with a wide variety of sets and MOCs (my own creations).

With membership at an all-time high, there was strong representation from various special interest groups (SIGs) within the LUG, as well as a record attempt by the Technic SIG.

 

Trains

With 12 train SIG members contributing trains, carriages and tracks, this was their longest track yet and proved to be a real crowd pleaser. The track covered 28 tables using over 400 track segments which worked out to over 50 metres. It also crossed three bridges which were purpose built by our Technic gurus. Some of the trains that did duty around the looped track included two different City trains, the Horizon Express, a steam train and a chain of four Crocodile Express locomotives.

“Die Groot Trek”

Early on Sunday morning, the Technic SIG succeeded in using LEGO-motorised vehicles to pull a trailer train of 78 metres in length which comprised an astounding 2 114 LEGO rubber wheels. The “snake” achieved an estimated stately pace of 0.125 kilometres per hour.

Micropolis

Returning after its outing in Sandton in April, the micro-cityscape made another appearance with an additional ten city blocks including a theme park, rugby stadium, and impressive extensions to both the airport and beachfront. It’s always amazing to see the level of detail that builders can achieve on such a small scale, and our eleven micropolis SIG members did not disappoint.

Sci-fi

Two large displays of Classic Space transported many adult visitors straight back to their childhoods, while Star Wars was out in full “Force” (see what we did there?)! This SIG also collaborated on a five-table Tatooine landscape incorporating many humorous Easter eggs for the fanatics to spot and quietly – or not so quietly – judge in terms of how appropriate they were to the storyline. And, not something you’d expect to see on Tatooine in the movies, the collaboration included train tracks as part of their MILS (modular integrated landscaping standard) which really turned out to be a SIG match made in heaven – or the desert, as the case may be.

If you are a LEGO fanatic, you’ll see us next at Comic Con in September.

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