Take a tour of BrickNerd studios in Lompoc California! I had the honor of presenting the keynote at Brickslopes 2016 last night and this was part of it. My talk was about being a nerd, about listening to that inner voice and being creative, about being fearless with your passion. But I also tried to have some fun with it and stuck this stupid thing in the middle. I really can't help myself sometimes you know?
BrickSlopes is only three weeks away, I hope you have your travel plans all buttoned up. There's going to be amazing MOCs on display, games to play and friends to make. All that and for some reason they want me to make the keynote (I really should finish that). I haven't been to Utah in almost 20 years so I'm looking forward to being back and I hope I'll see you there!
Love LEGO? Active in the AFOL scene? Ever been stuffed in a locker? Capable of composing sentences with words and stuff? Congrats, you have at least three of the qualifications of a BrickNerd blogger. If you think you've got what it takes send me an email and let's chat.
Contact tommy@bricknerd.com to get started!
This just in...Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame may have just exited his "dark ages". He was so taken by JK Brickworks' Sisyphus kinetic sculpture that he contacted Jason to get his own. He and Norm then built it on the online series Adam Savage's One Day Builds (an awesome series for you makers and tinkerers out there). Although I sort of understand their knolling organization, it's a bit too OCD even for me and it's a little amusing to watch it bite them in the butt during the build. The best part of this is watching Adam's genuine giddiness as it slowly takes shape.
I understand this is completely off topic for this blog, but I have some things on my mind and this is my broadest reach, so I’m posting this here. If you consider this an abuse of my position I do apologize, but please bear with me. During the ramp up to Star Wars The Force Awakens and since it’s phenomenal opening weekend there has been a lot of “Lucas bashing” going on. Please understand I don’t consider George infallible, far from it. But for some reason people have felt it necessary to get very personal about it. It’s gotten really nasty at times, and it breaks my heart. I thought I’d take some time to share some positive thoughts. People take George’s contributions for granted now, but I’d like to remind the world that without his imagination and vision, there would be no force, no x-wings, no astromechs, no jedi, and on and on. But it goes beyond that, way beyond. It was George that spurred a revolution in visual effects, pushed the boundaries of computer graphics, changed editing with non-linear methodology, opened our ears to proper sound with THX and changed the landscape of the motion picture industry forever. If you enjoy watching or working on movies, you have experienced his influence, even if you’ve overlooked it. I haven’t. I thought I’d write him a letter, just share a few thoughts as I look at my Christmas tree adorned with Star Wars ornaments wearing my Star Wars cozy pants and hoping that somewhere under that tree is a Star Wars present waiting for me. Do I expect him to read it? Not really, my little website is barely a blip on the world’s radar. I don’t expect he’ll ever see this. But I’ll know I’ve shared my thoughts, and I hope you’ll excuse my indulgence.
Dear George,
You made me who I am. I realize this sounds like nonsense, but I feel it’s true. I was nine years old when Star Wars came out, the perfect age to be warped for life. Not to sound like a gushing fanboy, but I was utterly rocked to my core by it. Beyond just great characters in a fantastic world having a splendid adventure, it was transformative filmmaking. You changed the way movies were made, and you inspired and motivated me. I was the creative type before Star Wars came out of course, I feel that artists are born with the need to create. But you ignited a creative flame in me that has never ceased to burn. You inspired me to learn to make models, to build worlds, to overcome technical challenges and to tell stories. I got my first movie camera when I was twelve and I’ve been trying to cobble together compelling moving images ever since. I broke into the motion picture industry when I was nineteen, and I’ve had the privilege of working in makeup and visual effects on some great (and of course not-so-great) movies ever since. These days I’m semi retired from VFX, having endured the decimation of the industry at the hands of studio greed and foreign incentives. But I haven’t let that dampen my creativity, in fact I’m telling my own little stories now, and it’s been very fulfilling. I still work on one or two movies a year to help make ends meet, I’ve never worked so hard for so little in my life since starting my own company, but it’s also so very rewarding. After over a quarter century in the industry, I should probably be jaded, but I still get that deep thrill in my gut when I step on set or pass through the gates of a studio, like my heart jumping for joy. I still adore the industry that I fell in love with, I just can’t sacrifice my lifestyle and family to work on movies anymore. That love was sparked by you, when I sat in a darkened theater as a child and watched the adventures of Luke Skywalker unfold before me. Every once in awhile I stand in my humble little studio, surrounded by c-stands, lights, cameras and the tools of the trade, gazing at some ridiculous LEGO setup in front of a green screen and I get just a hint of that thrill in my gut. As I make a cup of tea or have a story meeting in what we call the “nerd lounge” in my studio, I do so under a poster of Star Wars, for I will never forget where this all started for me. I know this is all a bit melodramatic, but it is impossible to overstate the influence you’ve had on my life. In fact, when it came time to name my second son, my wife and I had long conversations about the influential people in our lives, the people that helped make us who we are. I thought about it a lot, and it wasn’t my parents, it wasn’t a favorite aunt or uncle, it wasn’t grandparents, it was you. No other single individual on this planet has had more of an influence in my life. We named him Connor Lucas.
Thank you George, for everything you’ve done, for sharing your imagination and stories with us, for shaping the industry that I love and for awakening the creative force within me. Merry Christmas.
-Tommy
The fine folks at House of Fraser put together a pretty nifty infographic of Toys Through Time, they were also kind enough to make us a special version featuring just LEGO facts. There's a bunch of info here presented in a fun retro way, enjoy!
Well folks it's almost over. But the good news is if you still want to build, you still have three days. So what are you waiting for?
I'd like to give a big shout to one last sponsor, BRICKSTUDS and my buddy Brandon Griffith. STUDS is a series of collector cards featuring AFOLs from around the world. I have the distinct honor of having a card of my own in series 1 and I'm very happy that there will be some packs in the prize packages this year.
The clock is ticking, it's a four day weekend (at least here in the US) and you're out of excuses. Break out the bricks and get building!
I love my collection of geek culture shirts, it's my way of saying "I am nerd, hear me roar" (or at least mumble semi-enthusiasticlly). By far the one I get the most comments on and questions about is this one. It's an awesome mashup of Calvin and Hobbes and Star Wars. Today it's back on Tee Fury, so now's your chance to nab one for yourself.
It's the end of the second week of NERDvember and the MOCs continue to blow me away. So much incredible talent!
I check the group multiple times a day, and it seems like once a day I squee like a little girl. I do not envy the judges for this, it's going to be supremely difficult. I'd like to send a shoutout to a few more sponsors. First, there's BRICKSTUDS, who will be providing some packs of the coolest collector cards on the planet, STUDS collector cards!
Next up is the definitive magazine for AFOLs and fans of the brick, BrickJournal Magazine. Twomorrows Publishing will be providing a one year subscription to BrickJournal.
And finally those illuminating geniuses at Brickstuff will be providing a Pico Light Board starter kit, so you can get started in the wonderful world of MOC lighting.
A huge thanks to these and all the sponsors of NERDvember, you all rock!. Stay tuned for more updates and if you haven't already started building, you better get on it!
NERDvember is well on it's way, and the competition is heating up. The group is almost 50 members strong and there's been some brilliant submissions so far.
I thought I'd take some time to highlight some of the sponsors and tell you about some of the amazing prizes that are being offered this year. First off is The LEGO Group, who generously donated a First Order Snowspeeder, Rey's Speeder and Darth Vader! In addition to those FBTB is donating some polybags as well, so there's going to be plenty of LEGO in the prize packages.
No Starch Press is donating three books to lucky winners, one for each prize pack. They are Beautiful LEGO Wild, LEGO Scale Modeling and Medieval LEGO.
This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, stay tuned as we reveal more prizes in the coming days, and if you haven't already started building, you better break out the bricks!
When I watched the video promoting the Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest, this commercial immediately popped into my mind. After reading the rules, it was clearly breaking many of them (wait a minute, they showed Batman in the brief, but I can't have Batman in my video?). But I made it anyway, because that's how I roll. So when I submitted last night I wasn't at all confident, and of course it was immediately rejected. But I'm still proud of it and want to share.
Big thanks to EclipseGFX for the custom printed Doritos tile, and a huge shout out to everyone that helped make it happen, full credits in the YouTube description.
You may know him as Ochre Jelly, possibly as "stud muffin" but do you really know Iain Heath? We've collected information from home and abroad, interviewed numerous "sources" and drank a full six pack and got real psychic and have gathered all of those resources here. Finally, the little known origin story of this not-so-super hero can be told. So put on the kettle, warm up a crumpet and settle in for all the lurid details of the enigmatic and controversial artist, Iain Heath.
Read More
I think it was around 2006-2007 when I discovered the larger AFOL community. One of the first sites that became a daily visit was The Brothers Brick. In 2009 started posting my first MOCs to Flickr, and when my Colbert Report was blogged by TBB I was honored and humbled. Shortly after that I attended my first BrickCon, where I met Andrew and Josh. They warmly welcomed me to the community and we were instant friends. Just over two years ago when I was tossing around the idea of starting my own blog Andrew was one of the biggest proponents and his wisdom helped shape BrickNerd in the early days. I still visit TBB every day, and I'm grateful to call all those guys (and girl) friends. Congratulations on a decade of LEGO nerdiness, love you guys!
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.
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!
The appropriately named King of Random has an awesome new video with instructions on making these yummy LEGO gummy candies. And it's not just a standard "mix these together and pour in mold" kinda video, there's tons of cool info on taking these to the next level...in fact, you can build with them!
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!
The clock is running out and Nathan Sawaya is super close to making the 10k mark. For those that don't know Nathan is one of the premiere brick artists in the world, and his traveling exhibit The Art Of The Brick is in five countries right now. He has created a scaled down version of one of his more iconic pieces, Yellow, and it's on LEGO Ideas. Click through and show him some love!
Oooh howdy-do my normally paced friends!
It's been far too long that we haven't had a small woodland creature answering questions here on BrickNerd so we're announcing a new feature, Ask a Sloth! Just write in, stop us on the street or carve your question into a plank of wood and ship it to us and we'll get it answered lickity split. First a little about me...
I'm a sloth.
Enough about me let's answer those burning questions out there!!!
I like Megabloks, how come you never cover Megabloks?
Really? You have to ask that question? Back to the back of the line...next!
Is it true you guys and the Brothers Bricks guys once got in a street fight?
Pursuant to the terms of the settlement I cannot comment on that, but I do have a really cool scar (chicks dig scars right?)
Are you really a sloth? I thought sloths were slow moving, dim witted animals with...oh yeah, I see it now.
That's not a question.
Can I have a badge brick?
Sure, come to BrickMagic next month, we'll have a bunch.
Is it true Tommy works on movies?
Yes, why is that so hard to believe? Perhaps if you knew he worked on The Barney Movie and The Boneyard it's a little easier? Did you know he played the clouds in Cabin Boy? (true story)
This is stupid
That's not a question either, what's with you people?
I heard Nerdly was once an FBI field agent, is that true?
Nerdly likes to exaggerate, he was once a paper weight in an office that had an FBI visitor once...once.
It's been three months since the last episode on YouTube, what gives? And where's the sequel to Batman vs Superman?
Tommy spent January and February down in Los Angeles working on Fast & Furious 7, and has spent the last month moving to a new studio and building a new set. A new episode is in the works very soon. Principal photography has started on the sequel to BvS, we're working as fast as we can, really!
Can I have a cookie?
No.
I can hardly contain my excitement for this. My little brick film Batman vs Superman is the cover story of issue #34 of BrickJournal! And as if that wasn't exciting enough my Star Wars #1 cover is featured in the article about Brandon Griffith's Comic Bricks. I'm a happy nerd.
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