Easy Eight

As Fury opens today this MOC seems very well timed. This is the M4A3E8(76)W "Easy Eight" Sherman tank by Daniel Siskind. The real tank featured a welded steel hull, V8 engine and 76mm gun. This MOC features a super detailed suspension, awesome proportions and excellent photography.

Miqo'te

SWF seeks SWM. Must enjoy sleeping most of the day, catnip, suddenly running into adjacent rooms, needlessly howling in the middle of the night, barfing on bedsheets, destroying sofas, vehemently cleaning oneself, laying on keyboards, accidentally calling 911 and of course, pooping in a box of sand.

Hexvale Cottage

Builder Derfel Cadarn is back (already?) with another amazing MOC. I suppose someday I will give this build style a try, but until then it will continue to baffle and delight me. How these wonderfully curvy and caddywhompus structures are built is still a mystery to me, and I kind of like it that way. I love the details of this diorama too, and it's packed with them. This looks like an illustration from a fairytale, and it's marvelous.

Black Seas Barracuda

The original LEGO Pirates line holds a special place in my heart. It came out as I was starting life as an independent adult and I bought the whole line. It was the restarting of my collection, being nearly brickless because of a thief. And the Black Seas Barracuda was the flagship. This miniature version by Bangooh does it justice. I wouldn't mind having this little ship on my mantle once more.

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.

Save The Pygmy Whale!

For too long this practice has gone unchecked. For too long the pygmy whales have suffered. For too long we have turned a blind eye. I'm Gordon Openweeps for SWAP, the Save Whales And Pygmys foundation. For just $1.00 a day you can help save the pygmys, and put an end to the scourge of vessels like the one shown here. Won't you help?

Climb Aboard The Omnibus

Everyone knows what a huge Disney geek I am, so just about any MOC from the parks makes me swoon. But this Omnibus by Sir Nadroj is particularly spectacular. I know what a Disney fan Jordan is and it shows with the attention to detail and proportions on this vehicle. The use of the curved stairs at the back is particularly inspired, and I'm guessing a major catalyst of this build.

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.

"I See You've Constructed A New Lightsaber..."

I really love a minimalist build. When you can take a very small handful of parts and make something that's not only recognizable, but totally squeeable, you've got my attention. Builder Obedient Machine thrilled us last year with his 15 piece Han Solo blaster, now he's back with this little bundle of awesome, Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. This is just 14 carefully selected pieces, but they are way more than the sum of their parts. 

Batcave

Scale lighting is a crucial component for a properly displayed and lit large model. Especially an interior and even more so when it's cinematically inspired. This Batcave by Brent Waller is a fantastic example of scale lighting, with super dramatic results. Notice how a sense of depth and scale is accomplished by using numerous small sources of light and how there's a good balance of darkness in the image ( Batman would approve). Sometime what you don't light is just as important as what you do.

Big Daddy

Some builders just excel in a particular genre, and some own it. When it comes to large robotic figures, m_o_n_k_e_y is one of my favorite builders. His latest creation, Big Daddy, is typical of his unique style. I love the color scheme, the simulated mechanics, the clean construction and the pose-ability of this one. And those feet are particularly stompy.

Caer Caradoc

This one might ruffle a few feathers of the purists out there. No, there's no Kreo or Mega infiltrating this amazing MOC by Derfel Cadarn, but there is a little non-LEGO present. Some of the vines and creepers you see are actually fishing tackle. But it's used to such great effect and only as a subtle decoration, I'll implore the more emphatic out there to grant him a pass, this thing is gorgeous.

Mystical Shaman

At it's core this is a pretty simple Bionicle frame, but you would never guess it from the final results. This MOC by Brickthing oozes character, from it's feet to it's mask. It's loaded with detail but not overdone, making it an amazing blend of simple and complex. And just about everywhere you look is some excellent part usage.

Gold Dust

Is there anything that gets the blood pumping quite like a sweet hot rod? OK, maybe Zach Galifiikis in a g-string is your thing, or perhaps Flo from the Progressive commercials? Whatever, I like a cool hot rod, and this MOC from Biczzz is a cool hotrod. I love the broken line to hike the back end up and make the stance more aggressive, and that engine is awesome. And all of it is beautifully photographed, this is the total package.

"Tree? I Am No Tree"

When I first looked at the parts selection for LEGO Star Wars 10236 Ewok Village I thought "you could build a pretty big tree with this". But when builder JK Brickworks saw the selection he thought he could build a pretty big Ent with it, and did just that. This is an alternate model for the set, and it's pretty impressive. The face is a little goofy for my taste, but overall it's pretty awesome. There's also a video, LDD model and instructions on his website, check it out!

Apple Tree

I always enjoy seeing what a really good builder can accomplish with standard parts and strait forward connections. This apple tree by retinence is build entirely studs up and with nothing more complicated than plate, bricks and slopes. It's likely a bit fragile, but you can say that about most brick-built trees. 

Detective D. Spy

Surveillance is everywhere these days (which makes shoplifting even more baffling to me) and has apparently made it's way to the insect world. Yes, you mischievous little woodland creatures and swamp dwellers, you are being watched because this camera-toting dragonfly by Brickthing is on the job. I really love all the detail on this fragile MOC, especially the hands for spines and Mandalorian helmets for eyes.

Elysium

For Rent:

Lovely levitation property in the blue sky district. Live in the lap of luxury in the clouds in this exclusive, fully equipped for an active lifestyle. In addition to the full-featured two story home the property can also lift it's own stores and materials with a permanently mounted crane and maintain global positioning through a twin thruster system. Keep the sky pirates at bay with the automated defense system.

Available in mid December. For more details contact clmntin.E

Mouse Guard

Attendees of BrickCon 2014, including myself, got to see this amazing and beautiful MOC from four-time best in show winner Paul Hetherington. While it's not on the scale of some of his previous winners (he really referred to it as a "small" MOC) it is still pretty grand. But scale means nothing to me generally, what this MOC has is charm and personality. It's perfectly proportioned with excellent color and top notch technique. A well deserved win Paul.

In Space No One Can Hear You Stick

The space madness that is SHIPtember may be over, but beautiful craft continue to be revealed. This epic cruiser by builder VolumeX not only spans 137 by 62 studs, but boasts a truly staggering number of stickers: 438. It would be incredibly easy, especially when dealing with those kind of numbers, to overdo it on so many levels. But that's not the case here, this vessel is stunning front to back and top to bottom.