Grief And Joy

This is a powerful MOC by Sheo. Depression and grief affects so many people, including friends and family of mine. I consider myself lucky that I spend the vast majority of time on the far right of this image, but like everyone else I can sometimes find myself somewhere in the middle. Luckily I can maneuver back to the right with little effort, and I like to bring those on the left with me.

Sunset

I can't tell from the picture what geographical region is depicted in this lovely MOC by KOS brick, but I like to imagine I'm seeing this view between my feet as I relax on a deck chair sipping some exotic drink with some fruit stuck on the rim, brought to me by a bronze goddess speaking with captivating accent...maybe I need a vacation?

We're Looking For A Few Good Nerds

Do you like LEGO? Do you spend way too much time browsing Flickr and MOCpages? Do your friends consider you the funny type? Ever been shoved in a locker or blow the grading curve? Would you rather attend SDCC than baseball camp? Know who played Wedge Antilles? Congratulations, you're our kind of nerd!

BrickNerd is looking for contributors. If you think you've got the right stuff gather some writing samples and send an email to tommy@bricknerd.com

Rod Dog

Hot dogs are yummy, hotrods are cool, LEGO is awesome. So this MOC by street.pop.barbecue is naturally excellent, it can't not be. It claims to be the fastest food truck, and it certainly seems speedy, but how are you going to serve and eat delicious dogs while screaming down a race track? Quick, someone build the worlds fastest picnic table!

The Lovell House

My favorite architectural style is arts & crafts, but I do appreciate a cool modernist house. These scatter the hills of the more trendy parts of the greater Los Angeles area, a reminder of a burst of growth and the golden age of Hollywood of the 20's through the 40's (and a resurgence in the 60's and 70's). This one is the Lovell “Health” House by architect Richard Neutra, wonderfully recreated by builder Mattias Søndergaard. You may recognize from the movie LA Confidential.

Pif Paf City

Howdy stranger, you new around these parts? Well, welcome to Pif Paf, I'm the local blacksmith Clement Sturkle. Homesteader huh? Well you're going to like it here. Old Jeb serves up a great skillet up at the bar, and of course there's plenty to drink. And the train comes through here Tuesdays and Fridays, so there's always plenty of goods for trade. Oh and a friendly tip, stay upwind of the cattle, whew! Can I interest you in new shoes for that pinto?

Philae Lander

Humans are a pretty ingenious and ambitious lot (when they're not bombing each other or posting pictures of their dinner). Take for instance the Philae Lander here, expertly recreated by builder creative bricks. This craft LANDED ON A COMET! Think about that, designed and launched by humans, a 10 year journey through the harshness of deep space, and stuck the landing on a friggin' comet! And you posted pictures of your pasta last night.

The Thing

So what's the deal? Why am I showing the poster to John Carpenter's The Thing? Look again, it's BRICK! This seriously phenomenal build is for the MOCathalon over at MOCpages by builder matt rowntRee. This is one of my all-time favorite thrillers, and to see it like this gives me a happy. Click through to see how this amazing and pretty huge MOC was done.

Big thanks to elbarto for the head's up

Cacodemon

Very few would argue what a paradigm shift Doom was. While Wolfenstein blazed the trail, Doom was there to pave a 6 lane highway to Gamerville. It was dark, dirty and lets face it, pretty damn scary for the time. Especially these guys, the Cacodemons, expertly rendered in brick here by builder Jarec. As if you weren't amped up enough, when these guys showed up you were better off wearing a diaper.

The Eagle

Ahh, Space 1999, another series trying to capitalize on the success of Star Wars right? *Loud Buzzer* Wrong! The series actually premiered two years before Star Wars came out, we just never saw it here in the states much until after Star Wars came out and the whole world went Sci-fi bananas. Here's another fun fact, the series is from Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds fame. Yes, the show with the marionettes. While the show was always a bit sleepy for my taste I always like the Eagle, it had a real NASA aesthetic and believability. This version by Bricks For Brains is the perfect size for swooshing, gimme!

House Held Aloft

By far one of the most imaginative genres of builders out there are castle fans. I don't just mean this from the building standpoint, but the overall presentation of their work. A great many don't stop at the posting of images, but continue to weave fantastical tales and narratives of the drama and circumstances surrounding that build. This whimsical MOC by Milan Sekiz is a perfect example. Click through to learn how this house came to be perched atop a giant stone hand.

Space Is Awesome, And So Is This Shirt

Once again dear reader I will invite you to peer down at your sad, unawesome shirt and compare it to this clearly superior one from Tee Fury. And then encourage you to click this link (today only!) and not only wrap your torso in awesome, but also support BrickNerd in a very minor but helpful way. Oh, and science!

Da Bears

While I'm not a huge sports fan, I am a big fan of bricks, and that's what makes up this excellent football stadium by Dave Kaleta. But what I like even more is the story behind this. It's actually the result of a collaboration between Dave and a very young apprentice, like 6 years young. It all started innocently enough, with just an idea for the field, but it grew into something fantastic.

Terraformar

It's long been said that the cockroach will outlast us all, but how will it evolve? Well, here's one possible scenario, Terraformar. Yes, super evolved anthropomorphized cockroaches living on mars with incredible strength and an instinctual hatred for humans. But really who can blame them. Do you suppose they've ever invent the "Human Hotel"? (wait a minute, that's already been invented...hmmm.....)

Sega Classics

Generally speaking I don't blog LEGO Ideas stuff, but I do make a rare exception. I'm going to do it this time in memory of the thousands of quarters I dropped into classic arcade machines (hey, I was a kid of the 80's) These Sega classic arcade machines by mista_carrot are so clever and fun I just had to share. You know what would make them even cooler? A sound brick (hint hint LEGO)

Surfer's T-Bucket

Growing up in California, hotrods and surfer cars were a fairly common sight. But for builder Norton74 from Italy, this was a complete unknown. Happily he has discovered hotrods, and this is the first of what should be many radical customs. This thing would look totally at home cruising PCH in Malibu.

The Grand Duke

As cool as the Birds set from LEGO Ideas was, I think this owl from 6kyubi6 is way better (especially compared to that dreadful hummingbird). And the coolness doesn't stop there, the leaves on the branch are actually almost cooler than the owl, almost. Combine those with some excellent photography and you've got a winning MOC. 

Zack Is Awesome!

So you think you're awesome? Well, you'll never be as awesome as Zach here. Zach had been saving his own money for LEGO Minecraft 21118 The Mine, I say had because yesterday without his parents even knowing he donated that money, a whopping $120, to Pennies for Patients to help kids with cancer (I'll pause while you pick up your jaw).

Well, when we heard about that we were so impressed we had to do something. We're going to hook him up The Mine so he can do a special guest review here on BrickNerd. Look for it in the coming weeks.

In the mean time, you can attempt to be as awesome as Zach and make your own donation to a very worthy cause.

Thanks to Paul Lee for bringing this awesome kid to our attention.

Star Wars "Midifigs"

This is a project I've been watching for a while, Miro78's "Midifigs". It's a cool new scale for upsizing your favorite minifigs. I really like the scale of these, they're big enough to get some fun detail in, but small enough to not take up too much space. Just about perfect for displaying on a bookshelf or desktop. I'm sure it's a challenge to get the forms and details needed, but that's also part of the fun. 

When Animal Mimicry Breaks Down

I've always been a huge Far Side fan. And when you combine LEGO and Gary Larson, you cannot help but WIN. This MOC by vitreolum perfectly illustrates this fact, combining mad skills, comic humor clever part use to not only make another entry for Iron Builder, but also for MOCathalon. That's a whole lot of WIN.