by Lukas Mack
Welcome back to the Build Night Break Down. Here you’ll find a recap of PerthLUG’s most recent Buildapalooza event, as well as all of the news and events to keep you up to date with everything LEGO in your favourite city.
Firstly, for those new here: what is this Buildapalooza build night thing? Buildapalooza is PerthLUG’s regular social event, where on the second Monday of every month, we bring along a LEGO set and just build and socialise. We’re a friendly bunch from all walks of life. It’s just $5 for non-members to help keep the lights on. The details of where & when can be found at the bottom of this page.
Since we’re squarely in the silly season now, let’s start with the prizes and goodies. Christmas Build-A-Minifigures, the retro Game Boy nostalgia, an exclusive Gift-With-Purchase and a glorious Creator 3-in-1: the members sure were spoiled this month. And where were all our winners on Monday?! Though we didn’t spot them on the night, thanks to their member benefits, all our winners will still receive their prizes. This perk pays off nearly every month. It’s probably a good time to remind everyone that memberships are open again for 2026. Seems like a solid investment at this point!
Members’ Draw: December
Game Boy™ 72046: Em Z
Beautiful Horse 31166: Jodi S
Mini Knight’s Castle GWP 40775: Liam T
Christmas Build-A-Minifigure: Stephen K
Every Buildapalooza, we have an extra special bonus raffle. Since it’s the festive season and all, this month we gave away allll the Christmassy sets! John took home the grand prize of a Holiday Express Train (10361) AND Hot Chocolate Stand GWP (40776) while Nikki snagged our second prize of another Express Train sans GWP. Snatching third place, the newly elected President Spud won the exquisite Christmas Table Decoration (40743). Look at those happy faces! Congrats to all our lucky winners for Monday and for all of 2025.
Another tradition here at our build night is our Parts Draft. This month’s sacrificial set was Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine (10363). What a fascinating pick! It can sometimes be a little sad to see beautiful sets like this being parted out, but these parts will contribute to wonderful MOCs in the future. If you’d like to join in with the Parts Draft, just follow us on our PerthLUG Facebook page to get the heads-up on which set to bring along next month.
Now for the build review. I keep saying this, but truly, this is my favourite part of the evening. I have the privilege of roaming about the room, interrupting conversations, and ‘inspecting’ all the LEGO sets I cannot currently fit in my home. From Narelle’s delightfully spooky Wednesday Dark Dahlia set to Karen’s cute retro telephone to Tyron’s nostalgic Majisto’s Magical Workshop, we sure have a lot of variety to start us off. Mike’s Santa Sleigh continues to be a favourite and what a perfect set to get you into the Christmas mood.
Next up, we have Luke’s Trevi Fountain set. Since architecture sets are not typically on my radar, I’m so glad Luke brought this one in for us. The subtle colours and surprising level of depth across the facade have been exquisitely reproduced in plastic brick form. With some lighting to highlight all these details, this one is going to look absolutely divine on display.
Now, how’s this for a story? Kim & Doug had their eyes on the new WALL-E and EVE set, but thought they’d have a go at building it from the parts they already have. Halfway through the struggle of diving through their parts bins, lo and behold, they won the Members Prize last month and now own the new set for themselves! Clearly, the universe wanted them to win it. I hope you don’t mind me sharing friends. This was just too perfect not to share.
And last up on today’s build review, let’s take a look at Jude’s latest crazy GBC module. Now I say “crazy” only because I still can’t understand it. Having investigated the contraption up close and even inspected the CAD drawing, I have concluded that it must be magic. I don’t know how you all do this, but please continue. The GBC display is a perennial hit at Bricktober for a good reason.
Jumping into a bit of the local Lego news now. Our Minifigapalooza Buy & Sell day on Sunday was a big hit. Thank you to all who came along. We all probably left with lighter wallets, but what a great opportunity this event is. I saw some wonderfully rare items and a lot of bargains. I even traded a few CMFs at the trade table.
The Minifigapalooza was not only a great opportunity for deals but also a great chance for the generous members of our fine group to donate small sets to our Brickmas appeal supporting CanTeen WA. Richie has been all over town collecting these and making bulk purchases on behalf of those who made financial donations. The generosity and kindness on show from our community is truly amazing. You ought to be proud, PerthLUG. Awesome stuff.
Before we conclude this issue of the Break Down, mark this one down in your calendars. ArtyBricks is back in January 2026! This unique exhibition brings the creative work of talented PerthLUG members to the white walls of the art gallery. The artists were tasked with creating work that fused natural materials with LEGO bricks. From what I’ve seen in glimpses behind the scenes, this is going to be quite the show! Please join us at the free opening event on Friday, 16th Jan, 5.30-7.30pm to enjoy nibbles and drinks and show your support.
2025 has been another wonderful year for our lovely LEGO community. Although we continue to grow as an organisation and the calendar fills with events, PerthLUG remains a group full of the most amazing people who come together around their shared appreciation for the best plastic building blocks around. On behalf of the committee, let me take this opportunity to thank each and every one for your engagement on the Facebook group, attendance at our social events, and participation in our exhibitions and charity drives. You make this community great.
We’ll be back for another Buildapalooza in January. We clearly don’t take breaks about these parts. If you like what you see here, why not join us next time on January 12th, 2026, at our usual spot — John McGrath Pavilion, off Hensman Street, South Perth.
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