Warthog

Chunky. Yes, Chunky is the best word to describe this spaceship by builder Rancorbait. Chunky has been a trend lately it seems in spaceship design within the FOL community. And who can blame them? These types of chunky creations offer up some very cool angles with NPU all over the place. Also, in a practical sense, the extra girth offers benefits to the ship in the dangers of space. Like keeping it protected when accidentally running into asteroids, abandoned satellites, other ships, meteor showers, etc. Holy cow is space is dangerous place or what?! Or at least that is what they teach us in the movies right? I looking at you, Gravity!

Robin Hood and Little John

One memory came rushing to the front of my mind when I first saw this build, so bear with me a second while I take a trip down memory lane. I can't help but envision the scene from Robin Hood: Men in Tights where Robin and Little John are fighting over the bridge. They keep breaking their staffs in half to the point where they are just tiny sticks which they then use to rap each other on the knuckles. Good times. Anyway, this vignette from Paul Vermeesch is a pretty sweet one right? The entire excellent "Brick Time Stories" collaboration series was featured at Brickworld this year and I will post them as I find them.

Chicago Brickworld 2015 Part 2

Another year of Brickworld is in the books and so goes with it one of the largest LEGO conventions in the United States (until next year of course). This year we saw some amazing creations from a wide spectrum of official themes and unique ideas never seen before. I am always impressed at how quickly the community embraces every new piece that LEGO releases to come up with more and more detailed builds each year. So if you attended Brickworld this year and submitted a build, please pat yourself on the back for your creativity.

One of the coolest things at Brickworld is the "World of Lights" event that takes place on Saturday night. Late at night, well after the public has gone home, the conference hall's overhead lights are turned off and the only source of light is the glow from the lit-up displays. It is an amazing sight to see for sure and one that must be witnessed in person to fully appreciate. I've included some "before and after" shots in some of the photos of the event below.

Part 3 of our Brickworld series will be posted soon and will include some of the small details that can easily be missed in the proverbial sea of LEGO bricks that is the Brickworld display floor.

Chicago Brickworld 2015 Part 1

Brickworld 2015 is now well underway in Chicago. The first two and half days are dedicated to the setup of displays, competitions, expert panels, and other various sessions. If you live in the mid-west (or anywhere in the world really!) you should at least make a point to attend once in your lifetime. Besides the all-access only days there are also two public days Saturday 10AM - 4PM and Sunday 10AM - 3PM. Also, if you can track me down during the public hours I will award you with a BrickNerd sticker or brick (hint, I am with WisLUG)

Here are just a few of the many many things that you will see at Brickworld:

M REF BARON

As I get older I find that it is the small things that kick off memories of my childhood and this gun-suit did just that. I can remember one specific summer in my youth watching back-to-back-to-back episodes of Gundam Wing with my cousin every morning for a week while on vacation. This suit may not be from Gundam Wing, but it sure would fit right in. One thing I really like about this build by Lu Sim is the "weight" of the various sections. In traditional anime style various parts are over-exaggerated in size and pointy at just the right.. erm... points... Also, +10 nerd points for being in BrickNerd colors!

Goliath Transport

Why is it that space transports are just so cool? Seriously, think of all the iconic spaceships from pop-culture over the years, the Millennium Falcon, Serenity USCSS Nostromo, Hunter-Gratzner, etc.. Heck, even NASA's Space Shuttle was basically a fancy space-faring U-Haul truck. This Space Police Goliath by Tim Goddard is also one real spiffy transport with its retro cool colors harkening back to the original Space Police series. Now all we need is an attacking Blacktron ship attempting to free the transport's criminal cargo and we would be all set.

Tintin Moon Tank

Although Tintin is typically known for his terrestrial adventures he has taken a trip to the moon from time to time. The most significant adventures appear in 1953 and 1954 when fascination in space was at an all time high throughout the world. And what is cooler than trolling around on the moon? Trolling around the moon in a tank of course! This reproduction of Tintin's famous tank from builder Tyler is very true to the original from the comics. Tyler uses many excellent building techniques and details in the reproduction including Titin's dog Snowy in one of the tanks front pods.

Ulandus Keep

Sometimes you have to stop and really look at someone's creation to fully appreciate the design. Upon initial inspection we find only the simple gatehouse to a yet-to-be-built castle, two basic towers and a gate. But if you look closer we find some really cool new building techniques that we may have missed during out initial inspection including the two-tone patched walls and a very excellent and possibly never before seen Merlon design.

Stonewald Docks

Let's be honest here for a second, only shady dealings ever go down at a castle's port. Need to fence some goods? Trade some poor soul into slavery for quick cash? Find a rogue to do your evil bidding? Look no further than this city's local docks.

Builder Becheman has been on a tear lately with his Lands of Roawia contributions. This specific build features a well-built cutter and a small section of the city docks. While I am not a huge fan on the bley colored water style, it has been growing on me lately, especially when the builder is trying to express a gloomy feel to the creation.

The Old Watermill

I am an avid fan of the Warcraft series of games. I can still remember the first time I sat down to play Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, clicking away for hours while I tried to destroy my opponent’s base before they got the best of me. These days people are all about World of Warcraft and this mill would fit right in to one of the many forests of Azeroth. Alas, this amazingly detailed structure is actually from another magical place - the nation of Avalonia from the Eurobrick's Guilds of Historica series. Make sure you spend time admiring all of the little rugged and earthy details that puts this mill into a class of its own.

Oh, and in case any Warcraft fans wondered, "For the Alliance!". Everyone else, just move along, no nerd to see here.

Dwarven Affairs

There's announcing a build challenge and then there's announcing a build challenge with style. Ecclesiastes has just released the latest in a series of challenges over at Eurobricks featuring the on-going saga Guilds of Historica and he has done so with a bang! I personally would feel extremely intimidated to submit anything to this contest as my MOC would only hide in the proverbial and literal shadows of this amazing castle. Seriously, it is OK to sit, stare, and marvel at the scale of this beast. I won't tell, just clean up the drool when you are done.

Dunholm Taverna

Ever see a picture or visit a place that brings you instantly back to a nostalgic memory from your youth? Well, for whatever reason, Dunholm Taverna took me right back to my days of playing Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale which I attribute to creating in me a love for all this medieval. The creator of this MOC, Wochenender, reminds us that not all castle creations need be castles, in fact some of the best entries into the genre are those that put us into the every day life of your average citizen.

LL-6913

Retro-New is the first thing that comes to mind when trying to describe builder billyburg's latest little space cruiser. Most of the building techniques and parts used are modern, but the color mix along with our brave pilot send me back to the classic LEGO 80's-something space program. However, unlike the mostly exploration based space series of the 80's, I can totally see a small fleet of these things spilling out of a large corsair ship, speeding off to engage some unknown alien threat.

Level Eleven

If this is what level 11 looks like, I am not sure I want to see levels 1 through 10 much less 12 and beyond. I mean seriously, what is going on with the pulsating lumps of techno-worms and why are those people in green ooze tanks, guarded by creepy looking alien-things? Perhaps it is best to ask creator Bart De Dobbelaer or read the comic this is based on, Nemesis - Level11.

Anaconda Falls

Wow, LEGO Adventurers - talk about a majorly underutilized theme in the LEGO universe! I have always been a fan of LEGO Adventurers and its hero Johnny Thunder and, as result, I am a fan on this MOC even if it is missing theme regulars Pippin Reed and Dr. Kilroy.  JBIronworks and his brother DBExplorer have done a wonderful job recreating what looks to be the beginnings of an excellent treasure-hunting adventure for our hero that even Indiana Jones would be proud of. The similarities between Johnny Thunder and Indiana Jones were always undeniable which is, perhaps, one of the reasons why the Adventures theme was canceled in 2003 to prepare for Indiana Jones Theme in 2008.

Brickworld Report, Part 4 - It's All in the Details

From easter eggs to beach chairs, church pews to clever lighting, colorful balloons to vertical mosaics, no detail is too small when it comes to your LEGO MOC. It is those little bits that add life, character, and interest to your piece. I enjoyed poring over the details at Brickworld and it seemed that each time I looked at a MOC, I would discover a new little nugget.

Brickworld Report, Part 3 - Individual Creations

Though collaborations make LEGO conventions unique by bringing multiple builders' collections and techniques together, it is the skill of the individual builder that we truly marvel at. Building alone can often be just as challenging and frustrating as writing creatively. But I think you will agree that the results can be stunning. Below are just a handful of the excellent individual creations on display at Brickworld 2014.

Stick around for our last and final report - It's All in the Details.

Brickworld Report, Part 2 - Collaborations

One of the great things about a LEGO convention like Brickworld are the Collaborative builds. Collaborative displays allow builders to pool their resources and skill sets together to create something much larger and more diverse than any one builder can do alone. This year's Brickworld features two new massive collaborative displays, The Odyssey from VirtuaLUG and Collector Minifigure Habitats from ToroLUG. The Odyssey collaboration features all of the major events of Odysseus and his crew as they sail about the sea on their 10 year journey. The Collector Minifigure Habitats and their completely different apartment-like styles vary greatly from a traditional display but is no less cool and progressive in its design.

Next up in part three of our Brickworld coverage we will cover the individual builds in all of their glory.

Brickworld Report, Part One - The Setup

The first few days of Brickworld Chicago are reserved for workshops, presentations, and the all imporant display setup in preperation for the public viewing days on Saturday and Sunday. If you ever have the chance to attend Brickworld during these "private" days I would recommend doing so. The access you receive grants you a behind-the-scenes view into the creations and the creators of Brickworld. LEGO fans are a very friendly bunch and always very passionate about their favorite brick building hobby. With so many diverse building styles and themes you are bound to pick up a new technique or two that you can apply to your future builds, all while having a ton of fun and meeting cool new people.

Stay tuned for part two, where we will cover one of my favorite parts of Brickworld, collorbative builds.

Brickworld or bust!

Like a scene out of The LEGO Movie Knights, Princesses, Cops, Robbers, Pirates, Superheroes, Friends, Ninjas, Jedi and more will converge upon one location to celebrate the one thing they all have in common - a love for LEGO. Hundreds of AFOLs and TFOLs have spent countless hours putting together their LEGO creations to share with the thousands of visitors who will marvel over their mastery. 

Next week Wednesday through Sunday is the BrickWorld: Chicago convention and BrickNerd will be there blogging live about the best MOCs. Come find me (Philip) at the Knight’s Forest Castle MOC display to pick up some BrickNerd swag while it lasts!

I hope to see you there!