Alright, BrickNerd fans! We’re almost halfway through Nerdvember, our month-long contest extravaganza dedicated to all things nerdy—this year specifically survival themed! We have some amazing LEGO to give away and all you have to do is build a Nerdly.

Survivor Nerdly? (Is that like Bear Grylls walking barefoot on LEGO?)

Glad you asked! Luckily it has nothing to do with eating bugs or treading water in shark-infested seas. Although it could, if that’s what you want your Nerdly to do. Survival is the key because Nerdly IS a survivor! Send Nerdly into space to reenact Gravity. Give ‘em a rubber band and MacGyver out of a sticky situation.

Put Nerdly on a boat with a tiger… or make Nerdly the Eye of the Tiger(we’ll get back to that)! Did Nerdly survive Fall Guys? Are they in a burning room thinking everything is fine? Or maybe Nerdly is high atop an island with a conch shell in hand proclaiming victory!

Because concept is key, here are a couple of freebie Nerdly examples to ponder:

Ripley Nerdly: An alien takes over Nedly’s mining ship, and it’s just you and the cat.
Dave Nerdly: (Different Dave.) On Nerdly’s historic mission to Jupiter, the AI running the ship eliminates the rest of the crew in spite of being very polite.
Doctor Nerdly: You just survived school or maybe a doctor saved Nerdly’s world somehow!
Hatchet Nerdly: Drop Nerdly into the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet and a brick separator and see how they survive after a plane crash.
Horatio Nerdly: “To be nerdy, or not to be nerdy, that is the question.” Or something to that effect. Maybe you’re the only survivor of a Shakespearean play? (Didn’t see that one coming, did you?)

How Do I Build A Nerdly?

I know, right? The square part is pretty obvious, but the bit with the glasses is a little tricky. Here are the downloadable PDF instructions and included below. Remember, scale and color are at the builder’s discretion as long as Nerdly is recognizable to the esteemed judges.

This Sounds Fun! (I forget, what are you looking for again?)

We here at BrickNerd are looking for several key things in your survivor builds:

Concept: Is the idea clever, tell a story, and could be classified as survival in any way?
Quality & Presentation: Is the creation built well, feature any NPU, and composed/photographed in a way that enhances the overall creation?
Nerdiness: Does the creation have a balance of Nerdly features that clearly convey the BrickNerd mascot (color, shape, studs, glasses, etc.)?

You have until the end of November to build your survival Nerdly and post it on Flickr in our Nerdvember 2023 group or on Instagram using the hashtags #Nerdvember2023 #BrickNerd and #Nerdly. Make sure to show and tell us why your Nerdly is a survivor!

And now for a gratuitous Survivor-themed music video for inspiration.

Hey, Are There Any Prizes?

Of course there are prizes! The winners of Nerdvember 2023 can expect some pretty epic prizes—ones that are exclusively available from LEGO House in Billund, Denmark. (Or if you don’t want those, then a LEGO shopping spree!)

First Place: The choice between receiving LEGO House 40504 A Minifigure Tribute signed by designers Stuart Harris and Markus Rollbühler OR a $200 LEGO spending spree! Plus the super rare Golden Nerdly Trophy and a BrickNerd swag box!
Second Place: Choice between receiving LEGO House 40501 Wooden Duck OR a $150 LEGO spending spree.
Third Place: Choice between receiving Architecture 21037 LEGO House OR a $100 LEGO spending spree.

Oh Yeah, Are The Rules For This?

Well of course there are rules! And in addition to the ones listed below, and in light of a recent hot topic that was covered right here on BrickNerd, no Artificial Intelligence-generated creations. Humans only! And we can tell, too, so no shenanigans.

Nerdvember 2023: Survivor Edition Official Rules

Entries must be inspired by Nerdly and themed on survival, apocalypse or something related and witty.
The contest will be judged by BrickNerd contributors who will evaluate entries based on concept (is the idea clever and related to survival), quality (is the creation built well and feature any NPU), and presentation (is the scene composed and photographed in a way that enhances the creation). Make sure to show and tell us why your Nerdly is a survivor.
Entries can be posted either on Flickr or Instagram. A link to your entry should be posted in the Nerdvember 2023 Flickr group linking to the contest and using the hashtags #Nerdvember2023 #BrickNerd and #Nerdly. If you do not have a Flickr account, you can use the hashtags and tag us on Instagram.
The contest ends on Thursday, November 30th, 2023 at 11:59 pm PST (7:59 am GMT on Dec. 1st for the Europeans). Winners will be announced a few weeks later.
Please only add one photo/submission of each entry to the Flickr group (extras will be removed). If you upload an Instagram gallery, please make the first image the one you want to be judged. If you don’t have either Flicker or Instagram, please email your submission to dave@bricknerd.com.
You may enter as many times as you want with unique creations. A single builder can win multiple prizes.
All entries must be new creations. Entries may be updated as long as the contest is still open.
Digital renders are allowed, though the creation must be structurally sound and all the pieces must be available physically. Custom, modified and unavailable recolored bricks are not allowed this time around.
These rules and the prizes may be modified at any point, and prizes may be substituted for comparable items depending on the winner’s location.

You’ve Made It This Far?

Whew! I hope that answers all of your questions. Naturally, it would have been a lot easier just to repost the original announcement for the contest. But here at BrickNerd, we go that extra mile to keep our readers entertained. (And nobody told me I could do that until after I already wrote most of this.) Have fun, and good luck. We’re all counting on you!

Time Left in Nerdvember 2023

So what are you waiting for!? Time is ticking!

Have you started building? Or are you done and just waiting to post your build at the last minute? Leave your thoughts or confessions in the comments below.

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