Fastest Hunk Of Junk In The Galaxy

The Falcon is my favorite ship in the Star Wars universe, and seeing it again in The Force Awakens just about made me cry. There have been countless brick versions of this venerable craft, and I have a new favorite to add to my very short list. This version by marshal banana has the right look, the right proportions and is fully lit, it's epic.

Millennium Falcon (Starwars VII)
Millennium Falcon (Starwars VII)
Millennium Falcon (Starwars VII)

You're A Mean One...

I bet you thought Christmas was over huh? Well it is, but this brilliant Grinch by Legohaulic was posted yesterday while I was opening presents and overdosing on eggnog and gummy colas. Somehow I didn't see How The Grinch Stole Christmas this year, in fact I don't remember the last time I watched it, but it was always a childhood favorite.

You're a mean one Mr. Grinch

Merry Christmas From BrickNerd!

The stockings are stuffed, the tree is lit, me and Mrs BrickNerd are having our tea and coffee waiting for the boys to wake up. It's a wonderful Christmas so far and it's barely getting started. This spectacular MOC by Jared Chan is the perfect way to decorate the blog today. Wishing you all the warmest of season's greetings for a merry Christmas and a happy new year! 

Season's Greetings from Nutcracker :-)

It's The Thought That Counts

The Emperor is clearly not amused.  My guess he thinks Vader just gave him an Ewok for Christmas.  And after that whole Endor fiasco...  

Je hyung Lee has created this high quality SSD Bridge, complete with the perfect lighting and background star-scape.  I'm sure the crew down in the pit is braced for a few jolts of Force Lightening!

Merry Christmas, and May the Force Be With You!

An Open Letter To George Lucas

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

Nutcrackers

I don't know about you, but at my house growing up there was always a bowl of nuts in the living room, especially around the holidays. I can tell you from experience that most of the nutcrackers out there are simply not up to the task of a brazil nut, and I doubt these wonderful nutcrackers from Julius von Brunk would do any better, but they would certainly make any room more cheerful.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Fun fact: I sometimes mark holidays or occasions on my calendar here at BrickNerd Studios with little drawings. This month the Star Wars logo is on the 17th and on the 25th is this childhood favorite, Charlie Brown's sad but endearing Christmas tree. This MOC by cmaddison brought a smile to my face and a little holiday joy to my heart this morning.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Christmas Bookends

Deborah Higdon has built a pair of large scale bookends that when rearranged create a festive Christmas scene.  As you scroll through the album, you'll see that the gifts are from the 12 Days of Christmas.  All very clever and well built, with some humor thrown in for good measure.  Let's just say some items were damaged during shipping.  If you haven't heard the song a thousand times by now, you might want to check this version out. 

IMGP7362f

Ewok Village

I have to be honest, I'm not a big Ewok fan.  Even as a kid watching the movie, I wondered when Kermit and Miss Piggy were going to show up.  But this Ewok Village by KW Vauban almost changes my mind.  The scale and detail are most impressive!  He's got the party up above, the funeral pyre down below, and the Ewok Battle Wagon double parked at the base, anticipating an emergency beer run, I suppose. 

The whole display sits on four 48X48 baseplates, and stands 97cm tall.  That's like three feet-Dude!  Scroll through the post on MocPages to see all the action. 

Wanna Race?

I'm sure there's some psudospecs somewhere about the top speed of both of these vehicles, but I'm not going to bother researching it. I know both the landspeeder and speeder bike are fast, but we've never seen them on screen together, so I like to imagine a small wager being placed here, perhaps for a couple droids. Nice build Mad physicist.

Star Wars vehicles and figures

Disney Princess Ornaments

I absolutely love these, and I know Mrs. BrickNerd will too. Builder 'rolli is getting ready for Christmas with these adorable Disney princess ornaments. There's Leia (yeah, she's technically a Disney princess now), Ariel, Snow White, Tiana and of course Elsa and Anna. I just might have to recreate these for our house, they're awesome.

Disney Princess Christmas Ornaments

Builder Showcase - Fedde "Karf Oohlu" Barendrecht

Builder Showcase - Fedde "Karf Oohlu" Barendrecht

I've come to expect several things in my daily browsing of Flickr: To be amazed that Yahoo has changed yet something else, someone will have a picture of a LEGO Stormtrooper doing something, and a new MOC from Karf. I can think of no more prolific builder than this unassuming man from down under, and he continuities to amaze and delight me with daily offerings of whimsy and humor. 

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Counting Down

Now that we're past my first countdown of December, we can start counting down to Christmas. This lovely interior by sanellukovic sets the mood perfectly. You can practically hear the clock ticking, Sleighride playing softly in the background, the fire crackling and sound of wrapping paper giving way to excited children's hands.  I hope there's some LEGO under that tree.

Merry Christmas to every one!