Fire Engine

Back in the 60's and 70's there was a thing called "show rods". I'm sure they still exist today, but back then they were new, they were radical and they dropped jaws. They drew crowds, they inspired model kits and they made people happy wherever they went. I remember building the model Chuck Miller's Fire Truck, here seen brilliantly recreated by Norton74, when I was a kid. I also remember musing about those short little ladders on the side, they wouldn't reach a first floor window. I was a weird kid.

Terror From The Deep

Nothing like being attacked by a kraken to ruin an otherwise peaceful day at sea huh? This latest Iron Builder entry from Legopard uses loads of the seed part, a silver technic connector. But they're so well integrated you barely notice. That's not to say they're hidden, that's not the point, just click through and check out the high res picture, you'll see what I mean. And that water work, stunning! It captures the motion and intensity of the scene perfectly.

A Barrel Of Laughs

"Dave, Dave, Dave. Check the barrel Dave!" I can almost here them shouting from the walls. This fantastic little vignette from brickbink really oozes that Persian vibe. Loads of details and a sense of both fun and possible impending doom!. It also is timeless, replace the lovely little cart with a LandRover and give the guards machine guns and you have 2000 years of history right there. Go check out some of the other great MOC's on his Flickr page.

Workspace

It's funny to me that I associate a classic workstation like this MOC by One More Brick to be part of another world I've managed to avoid all my adult life, corporate America. Overdressed professionals chained to desks entering data, chasing leads, trading stocks or any other of a million "business" type things.  You know, that stuff us creative types scoff at. When in reality I spend most of my days sitting at a table not very different from this using my Mac. Yeah, totally different.

Classic Greek Polis

This beautiful MOC by Simon S makes me want to go on a time machine european holiday. Soak in the sun in a lovely Greek shoreline village, eat copious amounts of hummus, gaze at the tranquil settings and maybe, just maybe, go to a toga party (they had those right? I saw Animal House)

Homeless

I try to keep things light here at BrickNerd (it's supposed to be a short escape from your daily grind) but this MOC by LEGOMINDED is as much social commentary as it is beautifully built. It should serve as a reminder that mental health is at a near crisis level here in the US. I'm not saying every homeless person is suffering mental problems, but it's sad there are so many people on the streets that are in need of help, and society turns a blind eye.

New Horizon (Kolibri 2.0)

Thomas W. has reimagined one of his first mocs into this wicked Space VTOL.  It's got all the required features: beefy, rotatable engines, missile launchers, two kinds of blasters, even a nifty awacs dish on top.  Thomas calls it a scout ship, but it looks like it won't be needing any reinforcements.  Awesome!

Cyberpunk Tripartite

I learned a new term today, "tripartite". It's an architectural term relating to the use of rougher and inferior building materials on lower floors (where the peasants can touch them, ew!) and becoming more refined as you build up. Combine this fascinating concept with steampunk and you've got this awesome MOC by Groovybones.

Discworld

I vividly remember the first time Discworld was described to me. "There's this world, more like a couple continents and a small ocean, and it's flat. And that's being held up by four ginormous elephants, seriously huge. And that in turn sits on the back of a even more ginormouser sea turtle...in space." I can't say I can really wrap my head around it, but this MOC by Fa Brique helps.

The Merc With A Mouth

Deadpool continues to smash box-office records (I saw it, it's awesome!) and of course he's always been a popular subject with builders and cosplayers so he's been in my flickr feed in numerous forms the last few weeks. But very few of those MOCs have caught my attention as much as this figure from nobu_tary. The pose, posture, styling and detail on this figure is top-notch. And the use of the axe blades for the eyes is sheer brilliance.

Foraois

Builder Pate-keetongu finishes up his "four seasons" project with this stunning beauty, Foraois (Forest in Irish). She represents summer, not tanning butter and convertibles summer, but nature. Her color scheme is directly inspired by the birch tree, with the white dress being the bark and her black arms being the branches. The cascade of greenery is my favorite part of this piece, and adds life and motion to it.

Typewriter

Yeah kids, there's no screen on this old time laptop. Way back when this is how we put letters on paper, mechanically. This 1:1 replica of a classic Underwood by Legopard is absolutely gorgeous. I can't say it makes me nostalgic though, this baby outdates even my crusty old bones. Besides, I don't miss typewriters at all, not even the least. But I do appreciate a good LEGO prop replica, and this is top-notch.

You Are Under A Rest!

This one slipped under my radar last month, and almost slipped under it today too. The bars and notes here are so well crafted I had no idea they were bricks, even after looking at the full size image. The only giveaway was the stair stepping on those last two notes. Besides that it makes excellent use of that most underrated form of humor, the pun. Well played, Vakkron, well played (get it? Well "played"... get it? nyuck nyuck, I'll show myself out.)

Punch It!

Sometimes you just need to put some holes in stuff. Deadpool uses pistols, Dr Who uses a TARDIS (in time and space, get it?), Venkman uses a proton pack, and from time to time I use one of these. It's a classic three hole punch, expertly recreated in bricks by One More Brick.

Kongou

Builder Mike Dung is back with another Fleet Girl MOC from the Kantai Collection web game. This time it's Kongou, who possesses a battleship apparently. I'd like to say I understand any of it, but I don't. But I do know she's beautiful, expertly crafted and is packing some serious firepower.

The Key To Good Building

Sometimes the key to good building (ok, sorry for the pun) is to mess with people's minds, or at least scale. At first it's impossible to tell how big this MOC by Legopard is, or that it's even a MOC really. But it is indeed brick-built and perfectly crafted. And once you study the picture for a bit, you realize just how big this thing is. I'd hate to see the door it opens.

Ski Chalet

I'm not a skier, I haven't been skiing in 30 years, and I wasn't good back then, in fact I was terrible. But one of the things I did enjoy about the experience was sipping hot chocolate in the warm and cozy lodge after the day freezing and face-planting on the slopes (I won't go into details about the rescue sled incident, but it wasn't pretty). I doubt I'll ever strap on skis again, but seeing this wonderful chalet by builder SEBASTIAN-Z sure makes me crave hot chocolate and a warm fire while the snow falls outside. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the 81º weather here in California.

Plumbers On A Mission

I've played Mario and his brother in many of their adventures. The stand outs are Super Mario 64 and Luigi's Mansion of course, but there's been a lot of mischief these plumbers have gotten into. Interestingly enough, Mario actually started as a carpenter, and he only had a mustache because the limited pixel graphics of the age made it difficult to make faces. But even with the limited ABS voxels of today, builder 2 Much Caffeine managed to perfectly capture these two intrepid turtle stompers.

Unplanned Maintenance

I really like this shot!  It's one of those scenes where it seems like just another day at work, but you know that something horrible is about to happen.  It reminds me of the beginning of an old X-Files episode, for those familiar with Fluke Boy.  Conspiracy theories aside,  Justin M Winn has been experimenting with a Brickstuff lighting kit, and I'd say it's been a success.  Can't wait to see what happens next!

Deadpool Loves You

Builder Powerpig is back with just the thing for those lonely hearts out there, some sarcasm and a chimichanga. It's Deadpool, and he's awfully fond of you. That is if you're not a bad guy, in that case he's gonna open a XL can of whoop ass on you, with love of course.