SDCC Recap

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I don't have a ton of time to write a whole breakdown of SDCC (I snuck away from the campsite to a nearby town to post at a Starbucks, the lengths to which I go to keep content coming on this blog, sheesh) but overall it was an excellent con for me. It all started Thursday, where I spent a full day wandering the floor with my wife and seeing all the cool nerdy stuff (and scoring exactly zero LEGO exclusives) In the evening I had the privilege of sitting on a panel with Nathan Sawaya, Brandon Griffith and Jim Lee (yeah, THAT Jim Lee!) We unveiled just a few details of the amazing project we're all working on, Art of the Brick: DC Comics. A big thanks to all those who showed up for the panel and especially those who took time to say hi after we finished (Hi Ian!)

On Friday we spent more time terrorizing our poor feet on the exhibition floor for a few hours. Nerdly got his picture taken with several cosplayers (he can't help himself). We saw some familiar faces, made some new friends and just basked in all the geeky goodness. I also scored exactly zero LEGO givaways and exclusives

In the late afternoon we went to the taping of the Conan O'brien Show. It was an amazing experience, we got to see the cast of Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. And if all the laughs weren't enough, we scored an exclusive Conan Zombie Pop!

On Saturday we continued the relentless punishment of our feet with yet more walking the floor. Once we had our fill of that (seemed to not take very long, the crowds were intense) and scoring the customary amount of LEGO exclusives we headed to the Hardrock Hotel where LEGO was showing off Dimensions, an amazing new game and building experience. I'll be doing a full review of that soon so I won't go into much detail on that. In the evening I sat on the second of my two panels with Joe Meno, Paul Lee, Brandon Griffith and Nathan Sawaya. We all talked about how we've taken LEGO and turned it into something beyond just building. I showed my animated short Batman vs Superman and talked about stop motion for a bit. After a Q&A session with the audience I surprised them with the world premiere of the sequel to Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Just Desserts. They seemed to enjoy it. Don't worry, it'll be online soon after I make some last minute tweaks and I've had my fill of s'mores and sunburns.

Overall it was a great time, but I'll continue to sum up SDCC as I always do, "four days of sweaty disappointment" Now to recover and start making plans to go back next year (why do we do it to ourselves?) Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head back to the campsite and grill some burgers.

Tonight At SDCC!

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I'm super excited for tonight. I'm on the second of my two panels at this year's San Diego Comic Con, Making The LEGO Fan Scene. Join me, Nathan Sawaya, Brandon Griffith, Joe Meno and Paul Lee as we talk about different aspects of the LEGO fan community and LEGO art.

I'm finally going to get to show my animated short Batman vs Superman to it's core audience!

Join us from 6-7 in room 23ABC, see you there!

Tonight At SDCC!

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You remember those little bits on Sesame Street where they sang "one of these things is not like the other", tonight at SDCC is sort of like that. I'm going to be on a panel with world renown brick artist Nathan Sawaya, DC comic legend Jim Lee and the great Brandon Griffith. And while I'm certainly the odd man out in this grouping, I can guarantee I'm going to be the only one with loads of BrickNerd nerd glasses and buttons in his bag.

The panel is DC Comics Meets LEGO Art, it's tonight from 6-7pm in room 25ABC. I'll see you there!

Coming to SDCC?

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Hey fellow nerds and nerdettes, are you coming to San Diego Comic Con? Me too! In fact I'll be speaking on two different panels this year.

The first one is DC Comics Meets LEGO Art with world renown LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya, builder extraordinaire Brandon Griffith and comic legend Jim Lee. That will be on Thursday from 6-7 in room 25ABC

The second one is Making The LEGO Fan Scene with BrickJournal editor Joe Meno, premiere LEGO comic artist Paul Lee and Nathan and Brandon again. That will be on Saturday from 6-7 in room 23ABC

I'm super excited for both of these panels, and of course for SDCC. I've got a limited amount of swag I'll be toting around so if you spot me say hi and then mug me. See you later this week!

Art Of The Brick: DC Comics

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If you've been wondering why there's been very little content on the YouTube channel and I always have circles under my eyes, I can finally reveal why. World renown brick artist Nathan Sawaya has a new exhibit in the works, and I'm one of the team members on it. I can't say too much yet, but if you join me, Nathan, Brandon Griffith and DC comic legend Jim Lee at our San Diego Comic-Con panel on Thursday, August 9th at 6pm you'll get all the juicy details. Jim Lee will also be live drawing a new Batmobile that's going to be brick-built and part of the exhibit and you might just score some awesome freebies. Hope to see you then!

Chicago Brickworld 2015 Part 1

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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:

Brickworld 2015 Exclusive Interview!

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It's that time of year again, boys and girls--Brickworld 2015 is this weekend! I had the chance to sit down with Executive Director and Cofounder Bryan Bonahoom. Actually, we just spoke on the phone. He was driving his fully loaded rig to Chicago, obeying all local traffic laws, and using his hands free mobile device, of course.

 

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But before I got into all the 'what's new' questions about Brickworld this year, I had a few other pressing issues to go over first. "So, Bryan, why no pics of any of the VLUG collaborations on the BW homepage? I mean, all the work we put into those displays, and not even a..." He knew where I was going with this question, seemingly prepared for it, in fact. "We've actually been using pics of the Odyssey for our promotional materials this year, not only for the Chicago event, but for our other venues as well." Nice.

I had another one for him. "I was reading through your list of the Brickworld Team, and noticed that Simon Liu is your SciFi Coordinator. Did you know he's a Canadian citizen? Is that even legal?" Turns out he did know. "Actually, the staff are all volunteers. They get free registration, special goodies, and a private forum where they can communicate ideas about BW. They also keep me in line." I always thought that was his wife Kathie's job...

brickworld_2014_180

 

Okay, so let's get to the nitty gritty. "What can we expect new and exciting at Brickworld Chicago 2015?" "Now, I got special permission from Kyle Peterson at BrickForge to tell you this. I can't say exactly what it is, but it's a new custom minifig that ties into this year's theme of Brick to the Future." Okay, folks, that's a Bricknerd exclusive!

"We've also got a screening of a soon-to-be-released Brickumentary.  The film was commissioned two years ago, narrated by Jason Bateman. It follows several AFOLs at various fan events, from start to finish, what they go through to create and display their work. I haven't even seen it myself, so, should be great. It's a big score to have this at BW." Awesome!

That just about covers it, gang, other than what you'll discover in the massive 66,000 square foot convention center, filled with mind blowing creations, large and small, from LEGO fans around the world.

Diggin' Dinos

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I'm pretty excited about this. Early in the year I was asked by Brick Loot to design a model of the month. I had a couple themes to choose from and settled on the dinosaur theme in June. I won't tell you what I designed, that's a secret, but I will say it was fun to build and looks great on my shelf here in the studio. You have about three weeks left to score the June box so head over to www.brickloot.com and place your order.

We Have Our Winners!

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I'm very pleased to announce the winners of the Next Level Nerdly contest. I'd like to extend thanks to all that entered, you're all fantastic builders. But in the end there can be only three so without further ado, here's our winners...

First Place: Nerdlyus Prime by Erik Hagsved

Transformers roll out! This is an amazing build that the pictures don't really do justice for. Don't believe me? watch the video!

Nerdlyus Prime

Second Place: Nerdlys of Oz by Adam Dodge

We're off to see the wizard! This is a pretty brilliant reimagining of The Wizard of Oz that I have no doubt would be more entertaining than the original (which I still have never been able to watch in a single sitting)

Nerdly's of Oz!

Third Place: Nerdy Inside by Dicky Laban

This builder dared to explore the dark inner workings of Nerdly. Who knew his eyes lit up?

Nerdy Inside

One Week Left To Take Nerdly To The Next Level!

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Hey builders, you're running out of time to enter the Next Level Nerdly contest. You have about one week left to get crazy with the bricks and you just might score a really cool prize package loaded with LEGO and BrickNerd swag. Including an exclusive plush Nerdly! Over to the official Flickr group for the rules and get building!

Nerdy Inside 😃