På Kloss Hold 2018

Last month we sent Dan Harris on our first ever foray outside of the British Isles. Luckily for Dan, we sent him to  På Kloss Hold in Norway’s beautiful city of Trondheim. The show gathered 87 exhibitors from across the world, including builders from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, USA and the UK (...and of course Norway!). There were many, many highlights, but perhaps what wowed the 4,700 visitors most was the World’s largest LEGO Ferris wheel by Tomáš Kašpařík; it's absolutely amazing!

Trondheim. Who would not want to be sent here?

Due to the restrictive nature of our baggage allowance, we were there with a slightly more modest collection of models than usual, which were chosen to give a taste of Scotland's rich history. On our table were LEGO Corgarff Castle, the Caithness Micro-broch and, linking Norse and Gaelic cultures, our intricately built Ard Ri set. Lessons were learnt in packing  when we discovered that LEGO Corgarff had taken a bit of a knock during our flight and had arrived in a somewhat less than complete state. However, four hours of slightly panicky repair work saw it back in action and the model was able to take its place as the centrepiece of our collection. You'll be pleased to know that LEGO Corgarff has made in back to Scotland in more or less one piece and is ready for its next outing; stay tuned for an announcement!

#Nightmare

The show is on!

The show offered a wealth of superb models. One of our favourites, partly because it is unlike anything we do, was the international collaboration that gave us Norway's largest ever Great Ball Contraption, usually just referred to as a GBC. You can see it in action in our slightly shaky, totally unedited video below. Other favourites more in our area of building was the superb recreation of  Dresden Frauenkirche by Holger Matthes, the mad historical and landscaping skills displayed on norlego and northern_lego's Bree and Buckleberry Ferry collaboration and Rocco Buttliere's world famous micro-builds. We would love to call out-everyone but the quality on offer makes it impossible.

We were blown away by the hospitality of our Norwegian hosts, the enthusiasm of the crowds and the general laidback atmosphere of the show and hope to return next year with a different collection of models. A huge thanks to the event organisers Are and Harald and the folks at  Brikkelauget for all their hard work!

The Great Ball Contraption

You can see more photos from the event on our Instagram feed.

Also, if you have not done so already, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all our latest LEGO models and news.