Surfer Babe

In high school I was a surfer. Well, I had a surfboard and a wetsuit, and we went to the beach a lot. Mostly I would paddle out, wait for the perfect moment to get smashed by a wave, drink a bunch of salt water and get my face dragged on the ocean floor for a bit, you know… surfing! I’m pretty sure if this baby surfer by ted @ndes had been there they would have surfed circles around me.

Saria

The moment I saw this lovely sculpture by builder Julius von Brunk I immediately heard Saria’s Theme in my head (and had an overwhelming desire to play an ocarina, weird huh?). Yes, it’s Saria, from one of the greatest games of all time The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. Julius also created this great video breaking down her somewhat unusual construction.

The One Wheel

There is something about mono-wheels that I find irresistible. This is despite two engineering degrees and years of professional experience that screams, “Not Practical!”, “It would have a giant turning radius!”, “There are reasons why unicycles are only seen at circuses!”, among other things.  I think my appreciation is because the mono-wheel is the distillation of a vehicle down to the fewest components: a wheel, a seat, and an engine. Daniel Church has provided an excellent mono-wheel.  The wheel is constructed from the new roller-coaster track and detailed with light grey and black Nexo shield tiles. The boiler behind the driver is well constructed as is the piston assembly.  The best part by far is that Daniel motorized the whole thing, the mono-wheel in motion with the chain drive running and the piston pumping really sells the steampunk design.

Barn Find

This is every vintage car fanatics dream, the barn find. You’re passing through a rural area, decide to stop for lunch at a little greasy spoon. As you dig into your chicken fried steak an old timer at the counter spots your hat, a distinctive but maybe obscure car logo (mine would be an old VW Wolfsburg crest) and walks over. As he drops in the seat across from you he points at your hat “you like old cars huh?” As you nod yes with a mouth full of food he tells you about the old car he has in his barn. He bought it 40 years ago and was going to fix it up, but it’s just been sitting there covered with a tarp ever since. You agree that this needs to be seen, and the rest is a hell of a story for the people in your car club. Builder Norton74 shows us what this might look like with a classic Ford Mustang, and it’s a dream come true.

IKEA

You need only walk through the door of BrickNerd Studios to see we’re fans of IKEA. Just about 100% of the furnishings here are IKEA, from the tables we build on, the desk I blog from (and write, edit, composite, illustrate, design….) to the “stages” we shoot animation on (ok, they’re tables, but they’re IKEA tables) it’s all IKEA. Initially when the studio was set up it was going to be temporary to shoot the animation for The LEGO Brickumentary, but I loved having a studio so much I decided to keep it. So it is with great fondness I present this tiny tribute to the giant store by builder cubo31, it’s ÄDÖRBS.

Jörmungandr

Sea World came under attack a few years ago after the documentary Blackfish came out. The treatment of the sea life there while possibly well intended has never been great, and the pool size for the whales there is just appalling. But look at the tiny size of the the pool for this sea serpent! It is absolutely criminal, and builder adde51 may have to answer to the authorities if this goes viral (please go viral, I could use the traffic).

The Four Devine Beasts

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is one of my all time favorite games. It’s been over two years since it came out and I’m still playing it on occasion and I still have things to do. While it was a pretty drastic departure from other Zelda games, the spirit was the same, and I really can’t get enough of it. One of the biggest differences is the lack of dungeons and introduction of the Devine Beasts (which, let’s face it, were pretty much dungeons). Each one was unique and they’re represented here in fine form by builder speedyhead. This makes me want to break out the controller right now!

Impossibly Large Creation

We talk about scale a lot here at BrickNerd, it’s one of the hallmarks of LEGO creations. Occasionally something comes along that gives me pause in my scrolling through Flickr. It’s usually something that makes you go “wait, that’s LEGO?”. Well that’s precisely my reaction to this creation by builder Uomosenzanome, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I’ve stared and stared at the screen, but I can’t see a single visual clue as to the scale of this, no comparable reference, no cracks, not tell-tale part use, no clever SNOT construction, nothing.

lego-spare-parts-brick-2x4-red.jpg

The Most Important Meal Of The Day

You shouldn’t skip breakfast. Your body needs fuel to run, and if you’re going to be productive at work or school, you need energy. It’s also delicious, or at least is when it’s not brick-built like this stunning stack of yummy blueberry pancakes by builder LittleJohn. While they may not hold any nutritional value, they’re a feast for the eyes.

Drillbilly

Digging holes sucks, just ask anyone who digs holes. And wherever there’s a job that sucks there’s a need for a robot to do that job for us. Luckily there’s DB-Y3, or “Drillbilly” by builder roΙΙi. Drillbilly can not only take care of those needed holes in the ground, he can do so with a wide range of emotions, and anyone who has dug holes will confirm, there’s a spectrum. It goes from quiet resignation to bitter regret and questioning of life choices.

VAB

Have very few regrets in life, but one of them is not getting to see a shuttle launch with my dad. Not that it was an easy thing to do, I live about as far away from Cape Kennedy as you can in the continental US, and my dad lived in Kansas. Any given mission could be scrubbed at the last minute, that’s a long way to travel on a bet. I did eventually get to stand in the shadow of this building, and it’s every bit as impressive as you’d expect. It’s on a scale that’s hard to imagine until you’re actually there. This version by Rphilo004, is a little less intimidating, but still very impressive at micro scale. As we approach the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, I’m sure we’ll see more builds like this, and I’m personally really looking forward to it.

Super Shiny Batpod

I have to admit once I got over the temporary paralysis upon first seeing this beauty by ianying616 I thought to myself “Batman would never ride a chrome Batpod”, but upon further thought I’m not so sure. The thing about chrome (and what makes it hard to illustrate, and render for that matter) is it’s not really its own color, but characterized by its environment. It reflects what’s around it, and in Batman’s case, wouldn’t that be the darkened streets of Gotham? Might not be so bad after all.

It's A Good Bet The Empire Knows We're Here

So there you are, on a barren, frozen world, having spend months carving out ice caves and trying to survive. You finally get everything just about how you need it and one of these things (brilliantly recreated by Lino M) shows up and blows everything. Probe droids, this is why we can’t have nice things (or secret bases).

Overflowing With Art

Art is what you make it, so it’s different for every person. I like this piece by builder jarekwally because of it’s dynamic nature, capturing motion beautifully and it’s simple coloration, stark and contrasty. But I also like that it doesn't come with a lot of explanation, no message of symbolism or pompous backstory, just some beautiful sculpting and nice imagery.

Bricks Of Character Available Now

Long about 10 years ago I attended by first LEGO convention, BrickCon. It was there I made my first AFOL friend, Iain Heath, and we’ve been buddies ever since. During that con we decided our MOCs didn’t really belong anywhere, so we commandeered a section of unused tables in the back and set up our character based pieces. It was a hit with the public and we decided it should be a thing every year, and a new category was born, Bricks of Character. We’ve both been evangelists of pop culture and character builds ever since ( you may have noticed just a few on this very website)

Well fast forward 10 years and Iain is taking his builds to the next level, and sharing the character building and pop culture experience with everyone with the release of a select few of his brilliant creations marketed under the Bricks of Character brand. Who does’t want a porg on their desk? Or a poop emoji? Well you can have the first three (and more to come!) from Amazon, get yours today!

Bricks of Character Kiss Emoji
Bricks of Character
Bricks of Character PORG
Bricks of Character
Bricks of Character Poop Emoji
Bricks of Character

Silver Soul

Builder ianying616 is back with a whole lot of shininess. Just yesterday I was listening to a My Brother My Brother and Me podcast and they were talking about trikes. I don’t care who you are, if you show up on this lovely beast you’re going to some raised eyebrows and dropped jaws. If for no other reason than the guts to ride with your butt so close to open wheels like that.