KA-9

A wise man once said: “There's a reason you separate the military and the police. One fights the enemy of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.” But I say: “Sometimes people act like idiots!” That’s why we need police support units like this bad-boy, the KA-8 by Red Spacecat. Throwing rocks, burning tires; it’s simply ridiculous for our officers in blue to have to deal with things like that. It’s not their fault someone forgot the honey barbecue sauce with the McNuggets.

Clear Bay 327, We Are Opening The Magnetic Field

I am absolutely adoring this series by did b, with the Millennium Falcon in all of it’s different environments, and I think this one is my favorite yet. Such an iconic image from the greatest movie of all time, instantly recognizable and gives me a full body squee. My one question is “you came in that thing?" You’re braver than I thought.

Why So Serious?

Seeing this excellent set of Batman busts by Build Better Bricks reminds me that it’s been far too long since I’ve seen The Dark Knight. It’s been argued that Heath Ledger portrayed the best Joker ever to explode on the big screen, and not just because he blew everything up. And while Christian Bale makes me giggle every time he does his scary Batman voice, he did a pretty good job with the role. I think it’s time to break out the blu-ray.

Jedi Starfighter

There’s a few prerequisites for what has become UCS (Ultimate Collector Series): It has to be big, it has to be detailed, and it has to be beautiful. This Jedi Starfighter from builder thire5 ticks all the boxes. I mean, just look at that cockpit interior, this thing is awesome. While I’m not a fan of the prequels I do like some of the ship designs, and this is one of them. You can see visual ties to what became later ship designs, like Darth Vader’s TIE, it’s actually pretty brilliant. Although, I do wonder what the heck happens to the bottom of the astromech.

Mount Rushmore

I don’t know if it’s un-American to have never visited Mount Rushmore, but I’ve never been. I wholeheartedly think it’s an achievement of artistry and engineering though, and would one day maybe like to see it in person. This version by builder Rocco Buttliere is a pretty stunning achievement as well, and features not only the iconic presidential sculpture, but also the surrounding terrain and visitor center. And as huge as this creation is, it’s technically micro scale, that’s how grand a project this was, both in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and in bricks.

HAVOC-DISSECT IV

I don’t know who this lovely young lass from Eero Okkonen is, I know I could learn more on his website but time is short this morning. I can assure you this, she would mop the floor with me, I mean absolutely and totally demolish me. While I was going “oh” and “ah” at her nifty axe she would simply dispatch me and move on, you have to respect that.

The Lost Subway Commercial

This is a weird one. Apparently back in the 90’s a small central Pennsylvania Subway franchise ran some ads of questionable religious overtones and quality. They only ran locally, and seem to have been lost to time. Builder Julius von Brunk is on a quest to hunt them down, and has created this equally odd MOC to perhaps jar some memories. How about it, do you remember this commercial? Leave a comment below.

Bad Robot!

“How many times have I told you not to scuff up these floors with your traction plates! We just had them installed!” Although I’m a big fan of edited photos, where a mech such as this might be tromping through some inhospitable alien environment, I decided to go with this shot, with a grown woman for scale. Yeah, that’s right, it probably weighs more than she does. Iomedes!… has really outdone himself with his Zorin class heavy bot “Butch Bunny” inspired by Walking War Robots video game. Check out the other high-res pics in his photostream to see the phenomenal details. There’s one with minfigs for scale, too, but I prefer this one.

Welcome To Portland

In the ramp up to Bricks Cascade builder dviddy decided a little mashup was in order. And what do you get when you combine something uniquely Portland and Star Wars? Well you get dark lord of the Sith Darth Vader wearing a kilt and playing a flaming bagpipe while riding a unicycle of course. What else?

A Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

I’m really digging this series of Millennium Falcon MOCs by builder DID&THEBRICKS, all micro, all from my favorite movies, all perfect. This one is from Mos Eisley Spaceport, that despite being a wretched hive of scum and villainy is one of my favorite environments in the Star Wars universe (well, not the special edition version). This is where we meet Han, Chewie and the faster hunk of junk in the galaxy.

Gunsect

They call him the Gunsect. He’s the baddest bug in the west, and he’s here to bring law and order to the lands beyond the hive. This gun slinging, crumb eating critter by Paddy Bricksplitter is here to shoot first and ask questions latter. After a hard days work, maybe a few poker games, you can be sure to see him ride off into the sunset. Or is that a giant bug zapper? Nobody knows.

Happy FebRovery!

We are nearly three quarters of the way through the fine LEGO month of FebRovery. For those unaware the month of FebRovery was added to the LEGO calendar in 2012, and is a month long celebration of the humble space rover. Real life rovers helped us explore the Moon and Mars, I miss the long lived Opportunity Mars rover already. LEGO rovers have helped us explore the wide realms of imagination since the early days of Classic Space. Rovers built for the FebRovery event, fall roughly into three categories, homages to classic LEGO sets, hard sci-fi delights, and my favorite the wonderfully weird, wacky, and whimsical. Instead of a single focus like most BrickNerd post I’m going to share several of these unique build.

First up is Tim Henderson’s 0031TY.  This one is a bit of a tongue in cheek alt build from a rather famous light freighter. The tallness of the model makes me smile, likely because it reminds me of something that would be on the cover of a 50’s or 60’s era sci-fi short story collection

Next is David Roberts’ rather interesting take on a 4 wheeled vehicle. A unicycle with a revolving three wheeled stabilizing set up. Check out his flickr feed he’s taken FebRovery as a daily challenge. 

Space Sharks need a way to get around too. The Fishtron ATR the Watertower is a swank tripod style rover, that would definitely five some Wells’ style Martians a run for their money.  Built by Frost’s who is also attempting a daily rover build approach.

The final rover is massive, Benny's Monorail Manufacturing Modular Mobile Moonbase or Benny’s Mmmmm .  While not posted to the FebRovery group this build by Blair Archer definitely shares the weird and wacky rover feel I like.  It’s tall and gangly, with a great crane arm and bins for monorail parts.

So often we take our subjects too seriously and forget that sometimes a little whimsy can go a long way. Whimsy plus a well-executed build can bring a lot of joy to this world and one of the reasons I love our hobby.

We're Going to Need a Bigger Flu Shot

There are those who believe that Life Here Began Out There. Recent scientific studies have shown that our atmosphere is full of viruses all the way to the edge of space, and perhaps beyond... You may recall the Invader T3 Phage a while back. Now check out the second phase of Dwalin Forkbeard’s Galactic Virus series, the Heavy Transport M11 Phage. This rig has some serious cargo capacity, and clearly means business. And if you’ve ever had a sinus infection, you can relate to one of these suckers landing right on top of your head.

Wingman - Apex Legends

LEGO weapon builder extraordinaire Nick Brick is back with another jaw-dropping pistol from Titanfall. As usual it’s absolutely stunning, and as usual I have no frame of reference for it (I really should play more games). Nick as also put together a great video describing all it’s features, so check it out!

Cozy

This cozy little cottage by builder Peeters Kevin looks like it was lifted right out of a fairytale book. I like to imagine myself coming into a clearing from the woods after a long walk to pick up some bread and cheese and seeing this welcome site. Smoke wafting up from the chimney, the smell of grass, flowers and maybe a delicious stew cooking. It’s just so inviting you want to go inside huh?

RexZilla

I can totally relate to RexZilla by Si-MOCs here. There are days you really wish you could just stomp through a few buildings right? Well, I’d make sure they were abandoned first, I don’t want anyone hurt. And of course you need to make sure the owner would be cool with it, like they have good insurance or it was planned for demolition anyway. And of course you need to make sure there’s no noise or other prohibitive ordinances, just to be on the up and up. Actually, maybe I’m not cut out to be a large mechanical monster…

Approximately 3720 to 1

The moment I saw this picture by builder did b I was instantly transported to a galaxy far, far away. This is one of those scenes in Empire Strikes Back that I have to watch every time. You know what I mean, you may seen a movies hundreds of times, but there’s those few scenes that you just have to watch no matter what you’re doing. Like the Ferrari out the window in Ferris Bueller (spoilers) or the kitchen scene in Gremlins, it’s just what you do. And now, I think it’s time to watch Empire on this rainy Sunday morning.

Gargoyles!

I have many a fond memories of Gargoyles both in its original run in the mid-nineties and then catching reruns on the Disney Channel in college. The characters were fun, the voice acting was enjoyable and includes many Star Trek actors (TNG and Voyager), and had a great urban fantasy / Sci-Fi combo going. The third season did lose its way a bit, (that is covered in-depth elsewhere), but overall a very fun show. Daniel Jackson re-watched the series a few years back and built Goliath as he awakes in 2017 and is just now sharing it with us.  He’s captured the charter well, Goliath is instantly recognizable, and the 1x1 stone flecks are a nice touch. He also built Goliath’s once love interest and often foil Demona. The choice of skyscraper backdrop for these pictures really sells the picture. They are just cartoony enough and match the series aesthetic nicely.

Micro Modern

While the modern aesthetic doesn’t do much for me in real life, I find this adorable micro build from betweenbrickwalls completely irresistible. The clean lines, sweeping curves and perfect use of windows makes it appealing and eye-catching. I especially like the use of the ladder plates to give thin vertical details, inspired part use.

RC McLaren Senna

I remember having an RC car back in the day. An awesome cherry red Ferrari Enzo with silver rims and even headlights that you could turn on. This bad boy would zoom around the house at ungodly speeds, until it would eventually crash into a wall every time. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure my 8 year old self would not mind having this McLaren Senna by morimorilego instead. A new ride built out of my favorite toy! But I can’t imagine the damage of crashing this RC car into a wall. Absolutely brutal.