Believe me, you will be in good company at a convention. You're not likely to be judged for which themes you like/don't like, and you'll get to see all sorts of cool MOCs, attend seminars, and leave with all the merch you could dream of. Most people at cons are non-combative and you're more likely to find common ground with some of them than to have serious disagreements with anyone.

If you're really unsure about whether you'd have a good experience at a con, most Lego conventions have public days where you can get in to see everything at a reasonable price. You would miss most of the seminars that way, but you'd still get to mingle with the registered attendees and get a feel for what the general atmosphere is like. And while the biggest giveaways are limited to registered attendees, you could still walk away with great stuff (since there are usually plenty of resellers selling Bionicle parts at great prices).

If you go around touching / breaking other people's models, that would probably cause an uproar. Which is why generally younger children are discouraged from attending the full convention. But unless you were leaving some destructive tendencies out of your blog entry, I don't think that would apply to you.

But yeah, at all the conventions I've gone to, the attendees are usually pretty nice, and the convention leadership tends to go out of their way to make sure everybody has a good time. And if you do want to test the waters, then Lyichir's suggestion of attending a public day is a good one.

However, while the variety of products being sold by vendors is pretty high, so are the prices. Sometimes there are good deals to be found on Bionicle, but don't take that as a guarentee.

Hope you can make it to one convention. They can be a blast!

Believe me when I say fitting into some neat interest bubble is not at all necessary at LEGO conventions. Do you think most female AFOLs/TFOLs at LEGO conventions like LEGO Friends? You might be thinking a bit narrowly. While there are definitely far more male AFOLs/TFOLs than female ones (part of the overall gender imbalance in the LEGO fan community that LEGO Friends was created to help correct), female AFOLs and TFOLs are no less diverse in their interests than male ones.

And nobody's going to be staring at you or questioning whether you're a "real" LEGO fan, if that's your concern. Female LEGO fans are not so few at these events that they're considered an oddity or an anomaly. Check the attendee list for Brickfair and take note of how many female attendees are registered. It's true that many of these female attendees are a parent, sibling, or significant other of a male attendee, but most of them are also LEGO lovers themselves and a number even exhibit MOCs of their own.

I don't think a lot of female Ninjago fans like the theme because of the romantic angle. I think most of them are probably drawn to it because of the humor, characters, and mythology, and for whatever reason (childhood societal influence? teenage interest in the idea of romance?) they are just more likely to be interested in shipping than the young boys who make up the show's core audience.

Even as a guy, I will admit that when I was a teenager, I tended to be really into shipping myself. I loved seeing ship tease in the cartoons I watched or the video games I played, I shipped characters who I thought would be cute together, and I was not above creating original characters and shipping them with the main characters of franchises I liked. I never took shipping too seriously, but I still enjoy romantic subplots and ship tease in certain TV series. So it's not just a girl thing.

As a BIONICLE fan, you're not likely to be the most popular person at the convention, but you'll be among friends. There are lots of other BIONICLE fans, particularly BZPower members, at LEGO events in the United States. And AFOLs aren't as vocally disgusted with BIONICLE as they used to be. A number simply aren't interested in it, and they won't hold it against people who are.

In general, AFOLs and TFOLs in general are an eccentric bunch, and you don't sound any more eccentric than the rest of us. By all means, come to a LEGO event and give the experience a try.

Well I have only been to Kidsfest (twice), but the first time I went alone and it wasn't so bad. I am outside the target audience, but there was a lot of cool stuff to do and the store was nice. Tons of giant sculptures (even a Tahu mata) and the people there were pretty friendly.

The AFOL there seemed to be into moving parts and trains for the most part. Still, I didn't have much issue with attending.

At LEGO cons you're less likely to run into problems being a woman and having your own preferences. As for being ~ "not like other girls" ~, as in not being into Friends or interested in speculating about possible romantic connections between characters (aka "shipping"), every woman is different and that's okay! Some women like that stuff, and some don't. Some men like that stuff, some don't. That's pretty much respected and understood at LEGO cons, as it should be. I've known women at the cons who are into traditionally feminine stuff and those who aren't, and those who have had other varying interests. As long as you are respectful to those who may enjoy things like shipping and Friends, and don't make a point to tell them all about why you don't like those things (which can be interpreted as you shaming them), you'll be totally fine. Honestly, at LEGO cons I'm often one of a relatively small group that collects Friends sets. I've even bargained with men and guy friends over certain Friends sets and the pieces inside. Everyone is into different stuff, and even though there can be friendly teasing about it at the cons, there's not a harsh and judgmental environment regarding different interests.

The actual problem I've seen with being a woman at a LEGO con is not the above mentioned. Truthfully, sometimes there are adult male attendees who will say something casually sexist or act weird or inappropriate around an adult female attendee. But I've never experienced or witnessed aggressive behavior in that area, and it was never something I couldn't easily deal with. If someone is bothering you, a variation of "shut up and shove off" usually works, as does having a friend or two you can stick with. I'm sure other BZP members at the con would be glad to have you around.

As for being older, well, there are tons of adults of various ages at most cons. My friends and I are mid and upper twenties and it doesn't really make any sort of difference.

@Lynchir/xccj: One thing I neglected to mention, although it is relevant, is that attending a Lego convention, would, at the moment, involve a considerable trip. Traveling 200-300 miles or more just to attend the public day would strike me as bleh. While I would like to make such a thing part of a larger trip, it would still involve a considerable investment of time and money before I even got there. If I'm going to put in that much, I might as well stay for the whole thing, right?

Also, given that the seminars are one of my prime reasons for attending, why go if I can't get what I want out of it? Yeah? I would say that's about 50% of my motivation for going. 50% of the remaining half is the opportunity to meet you all. Maybe it's just my girliness talking, but I think that needs to be a little better than saying "Hi, I'm fishers. Nice MoCs." and leaving, you know? I would like the opportunity to actually talk to people a little. I don't mean being overwhelming and constantly being an attention hog, but there's got to be a balance between me being continually ubiquitous and me barely catching everybody's name. (Besides, I think between the seminars, competitions, and just looking around there will be plenty to keep me busy and out of everyone's hair.)

xccj, will keep the price thing in mind. I do try to keep track of this stuff, and know the real prices to avoid being ripped off.

Aanchir, thanks for the encouragement! I do remember Hahli Husky mentioning that "preparing responses to sexist comments before Lego cons is never a waste of time", so that's why I brought this up.

EDIT: HH, good to see you here! You ninja'd me lol. Thanks for clarifying.

Tekulo, thanks for sharing your experience.

If you go around touching / breaking other people's models, that would probably cause an uproar. Which is why generally younger children are discouraged from attending the full convention. But unless you were leaving some destructive tendencies out of your blog entry, I don't think that would apply to you.

SMASH EVERYTHING!

Okay, yeah. Maybe I do need to work on that. (Do not give me ideas! To my credit, I didn't even think of doing that before you posted it, but now I may have to put off my convention-going plans to remove the glorious image of an entire convention of exploding Lego models out of my head.)

I've been to fifteen fan conventions now (I had to go count my badge bricks and was really shocked at that number) and I can say without a doubt they're a highlight of my year.

Like with any group (BZPower, for instance) there's always going to be some bad apples or people you just don't get along with. But for each of those there's at least five other people who are kind and courteous and more than willing to talk about your creations, their creations, or just about anything. For example, at BrickFair Alabama a couple months ago, Watashi Wa and I were selling some of his stuff at the yard sale, and some guy came over to look and asked a couple things about Bionicle. Next thing we know we're talking about board games and sci fi stuff and having an interesting conversation with a more-or-less complete stranger.

What I'm trying to get at is that even if you go to a convention that doesn't have a big BZPower presence, there's still plenty of friendly people to talk to and have fun with. If you're lucky, you'll make some friends and never be bored.

Last comment I want to make is regarding seminars. I used to go to these a lot for the first few conventions, but maybe it's just me because I really lost interest after a bit. Don't get me wrong, there's some that are really great, but I feel like my time is better spent hanging out with people, or playing games where I'm actually doing and building stuff. To each their own though!

Anyway, I hope you decide to come out to a convention at some point - I think you'll enjoy it! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask; there's plenty of us here with tons of experiences to share.

You know, I'm glad you posted this entry, fishers. I've been pondering those concerns myself, with my plans to go to Brickfair VA this year. I haven't even figured out who I would room with, if anyone! But, its good to know how open the atmosphere is with the attendees. Thanks, everyone who has posted so far!, including you fishers.

B6, well I "nerd" out almost everything that I do lol. Still, I imagine that they might get repetitive, boring, etc, after awhile. But it's something I definitely want to try out before writing off.

Looking over all of my Life Plans, I have no plans to attend that many Lego conventions! I have plans to travel in the future though, and I see a Lego convention as a realistic part of my travels. Why not?

You know, I'm glad you posted this entry, fishers. I've been pondering those concerns myself, with my plans to go to Brickfair VA this year. I haven't even figured out who I would room with, if anyone! But, its good to know how open the atmosphere is with the attendees. Thanks, everyone who has posted so far!, including you fishers.

Always glad to help out. And it's good to you around! Long time no see.

This (along with everything else I could possibly say) has probably already been said in the walls of text above, but I just wanted to say that the cons I've been to have had some of the friendliest people I've ever met. It's a really easygoing and relaxed atmosphere, even on the public days.