Gargamel

I know nearly nothing about the Smurfs. I was too old to care about them when they burst onto the American saturday morning cartoon scene in 1981. Interestingly enough, builder Deathly Halliwell also doesn't know much about them either according to his description of this stunning MOC of the main bad guy Gargamel. Lucky for us you don't have to be a Smurf fan to enjoy this marvelous sculpture.

Nadja The Lamia

Part woman, part sea creature, check. Charming features, check. Red hair, check. Likes to collect artifacts of the human world and sing...not so much. Nope, this isn't the Little Mermaid, and she doesn't want to be part of your world (she wouldn't mind eating your children though).This is Nadja the lamia by lingonkart and she's terrifyingly beautiful.

FERX 4.3

Meet "The Mad Deity", at least that's what builder Chokolat Shadow calls this rather intimidating mech with a slew of functionality. You'll have to click through for the full story, but there's some clues in the bottom image of how well this beast is thought out. There's also an intriguing back story involving a dog and a rabbit, just sayin'.

Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need...Roads

This is stunning, at first glance you don't realize it's LEGO. At second glance you see that that's not photoshop, it's fully lit with LEDs and EL wire. At third glance you see it's minfig scale, and that you might just be drooling on your save the clock tower t-shirt. And this isn't just a modified official kit (but some tiles were borrowed) it's a ground up MOC built with some serious skill by builder BMW_Indy. I just want to mount it to a motion control rig and start shooting!

Feast Of Fools

It's a Disney type day here at BrickNerd. While The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not one of my favorites (in fact, it's well at the bottom of the list, along with Hercules, ew) but I do love a cool micro build, and I'm a fan of NPU (nice part use) and this MOC by iridescent nohow is both.

Lumière

I'm a big Disney nerd, so when you combine the bricks with the magic, you've got my attention. I'm also a fan of secondary characters in Disney animated features. I always think they have the best lines and get up to the most mischief. Sure Simba is the star, but Timon and Pumba are way more interesting. And Belle and Beast had a nice story to tell, but my favorite characters are Lumière and Cogsworth. Speaking of Lumière, check out this amazing MOC by Koen, perfect!

DBG Gunship

This thing looks like something out of a James Cameron movie. This is the DBG Gunship from builder Horcik Designs, and it's a beast. It's a little oddly scaled for figures though, according to the builder a minifig is too small, Technic fig is too big and Jack Stone is too ugly (on this point I have to agree).

Hotten Imperator Mark II

With the sheer number of LEGO Mechs being made, it's hard to stand out. This one by Benjamin Cheh caught my eye with the effective color use, detail and especially the photography. It's got great proportions as well, it works both as a silhouette and in light, with a balanced weight of broad strokes and details.

Basement Workshop

If you think about the vast number of basements in the world dedicated to letting people use their creative energy, it's really quite awe inspiring. Think about it, hundreds of thousands of little subterranean spaces where people make stuff, it's an awesome thought. I don't know if this excellent MOC by Miro78 was built in a basement, but it certainly has the spirit of creativity that prevails in those wonderful rooms.

It's Nerf Or Nothing

Fans of bricks and foam projectiles rejoice! Builder Proudlove has recreated my favorite all-time Nerf gun with my favorite bricks. It's so well done I almost passed it over thinking it was real. No creative cubicle environment is complete without proper dart warfare, and this pistol was always my weapon of choice, simple, effective, reliable and stylish.

Tree Hut

While I have to wonder about how you might get your groceries or (gasp!) LEGO up there, I think it would be fun to live in a tree house, at least for a while. Especially if it was designed by Legonardo Davidy, like this charming wizard cap roof hut. And while the roof is certainly a standout feature of this MOC, I really like the door and the hand rails at the top of the ladder, those are rancor fingers.

Mermaids!

Before anyone asks, yes, I worked on Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides and no, I didn't have anything to do with this scene. Well, we *might* have done a peg lag replacement or two, I don't recall, but the mermaid sequence was done at another visual effects facility. Now that that's out of the way, check out this awesome MOC by TheBrickAvenger from one of the best (if rather unorthodox) sequences of the movie, that lighthouse is perfect! Some dioramas make you want to stand back and admire from a distance, others make you want to jump in and PLAY. This one is in the later category.

Scallywag

This looks like the cover of a classic science fiction book or magazine. This is how to shoot a ship! Note the fairly harsh side lighting, implying a single source of light, like a nearby star. This of course usually leads to much of the ship in total darkness, which leaves you the problem of being able to see it's silhouette. Here the problem is solved with a beautiful flare and planetary background. Nice ship, nice shot, nice editing, well done Tim C76

Technic Quadcopter

This is impressive. I've been wondering if something like this is possible, now I wonder no more. Builder 4estFeller has created a fully functioning quadcopter from technic. Obviously the electronics and props are not LEGO, but the frame is, and it's perfect. Check out the video to see it in action. 

Nomad

OK, I still haven't seen Mad Max, but I'm going to, I swear! After all the hype, the recommendations from friends and especially after the growing collection of Mad Max inspired vehicles on Flickr. This latest from builder _Tiler is beyond awesome. The use of the bridle parts as frame rails is inspired and gives it a unique look.

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Dáin II Ironfoot

Pate Keetongu is back with another dwarf to add to his ever expanding collection from middle earth. This time it's Dáin II Ironfoot and his pig mount. It's been a joy to watch all these characters take shape, each one better than the last, and now this one has this magnificent armored pig, fantastic.

Vitruvian Minifig

This MOC is a testament to the building tenacity of Legonardo Davidy. It was originally started back in 2013 and has been slowly taking shape since then. It's also a study in unconventional building techniques, with everything from standard connections to SNOT, capture and inversion.

Houston, We Have A Problem...

I really dig this simple little vignette by paddybricksplitter. it's clean, funny and well photographed. It also tells a story, which I think is the real secret formula of small scale dioramas. It's not about how much detail you can pack in, it's how you can evoke emotion or suggest a narrative.

Yub Nub

Love em or hate em, you have to admit, ewoks are quintessential Star Wars. And since they are original trilogy, I'm ok with them. Of course Wicket is the only real memorable ewok, having some time on screen to actually develop a personality. Speaking of personality, this Wicket MOC by Bruce Lowell is oozing with it (or is that ewok musk?)