Stop Bugging Me

Just kidding.  You're not bugging me at all!  

From what I can tell from being an English teacher for nine years, Japanese boys and girls have a unique fascination with insects and even have a knack for collecting them.  They're not all just creepy crawly critters!  This makes me wonder if Takamichi Irie collected insects as a child.  He recently spent a year studying abroad and time to time expressed his feelings of being homesick, which might explain where his LEGO insect series came from.  It's amazing what you can do with just a few tiny parts (and especially with those that seem to have only a single use).  NPU, dude!  You can see the rest of the his "Small Animals" series on his Flickr.

Snail Black Widow Spider Stag Beetle

The Journey Itself Is My Home

Newcomer to the Flickr community Aido K is already building some impressive stuff. I stumbled upon this little build and once I looked closely at the NPU of the LEGO Elves mini-doll legs I literally yelled out “IT'S LEGS, IT'S LEGS” - to which my coworkers questioned confusingly. The forced perspective is super fun (is that an Alligator body in the background?) and this all around bright creation makes me want to know more about this little creature! Who are you? Where are you going, friend? 

Follow Aido K on flickr, I have a good feeling about this one.  

Warthog

There's a whole lotta NPU going on in this new little gem from Karf Oohlu. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the use of the saddle as a cockpit, that's some inspired thinking. Then I started looking all over the vehicle, the wheel configuration, the use of the handcuffs, the color scheme. It's a unique and compelling vehicle, in a surprisingly small package.

Beastly

It takes some out-of-the-box creative thinking to look at a dinghy and think "I'm gonna make that a alien dinosaur head", and thanks to builder Onosendai2600 we now know what that looks like. Combine that with a whole lot of olive green and some mad building chops and you've got this beast. Wouldn't want to run into this on expedition.

Micro Nerdly Walker

I love this. With seven parts builder monsterbrick has managed to combine two of my favorite things, namely Nerdly and Star Wars, into one adorable package. I like to imagine this baby trudging through the snow of Hoth, bright red and an easy target in the sea of white, bring it on you rebel scum!

Imperial Dam

I think when someone says "NPU" it goes beyond just the literal translation of  "nice part use". It's a way of acknowledging another builders ability to see a use or situation for a part that simply had not occurred to you, or most others. Take a look at the waterfall in this brilliant micro castle by Dubbadgrim, that's the ghostly lower half of the ghost figure of series 13 (yes, the back is clear). That's thinking out of the box, and that's NPU.

Tiny Hot Rod

This is pretty clever. I almost just scrolled right past this MOC, I suspect you almost did the same, but take a closer look. The roof and back of the cab is a book, and the windows are pail handles. The bottom of the cab is actually inverted, somehow the gap between the cab and the trunk is perfectly filled by the book half and I have no idea how this whole thing is held together. There's actually a lot of really slick building in this tiny hot rod by grantmasters.

Vimes

I still know nearly nothing about Discworld, but as more and more of these fantastic MOCs from Pate-Keetongu get posted, I get more and more curious. There's lots of cool techniques and details on this guy, but that chainmail on the shoulders is the defining feature of this excellent figure.

Scourge Of The Gray Dragon

Normally if you heard the phrase "it's a dragon attacking a village, setting it on fire" you would imagine a MOC with 5-10 thousand pieces, but not if you're Grantmasters. There's what, 32 pieces here? But it tells the story so well with clever part use and construction in a tiny and effective micro MOC. That dragon is awesome, and as for the villagers...well, I suppose that's what you get for building your village out of flammable materials. 

Bonsai

Can a MOC bring tranquility? It can if it's one as brilliant as this bonsai by Grantmasters. The term NPU (nice part use) gets thrown around a lot, but I have to use it here. That trunk is gorgeous, and do you know what it is? Say hi to Groot.

Nightmare Designer

This is such a brilliant combination of parts I just had to share. Meet the Nightmare Designer, by vir-a-cocha. You wouldn't think so much character and style could be achieved with so few parts would you? This just goes to show you no matter how many times you look at the parts in front of you, there's something new to discover.

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.

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.

Workshop

Pete "Legoloverman" Reid is back with another awesome space interior. This one is a bit of an enigma, how can a room be so simple and crazy detailed at the same time? This is both at once, and effortless. It reminds me of a new film set, the morning the crew shows up for the first time, with the scene and drama on the verge of coming to life.

Galactic Nautilus

Builder Sheo brings us an elegant and stunning craft that looks like it came off the cover of Air & Space magazine. There's a lot to like about this ship but for me the stand out feature is the simple but super effective use of the triangular sign pieces. As you can see in the rear view they're just alternating back and forth and offset in rows, but the effect is excellent.

Sea Battle

For the uninitiated NPU stands for "nice part use", it's an abbreviation reserved for those MOCs with part use so clever it borders on mind-blowing. Those parts tend to be those ones that are languishing in a bin, ignored and unused because they're simply too special and one-use. This mini sea battle by builder the_jetboy is a perfect example of NPU. Those boat hulls are Chima Speedorz. That's not the only excellent feature of this MOC though, it's awesome everywhere you look, click through for more pics.

Scorpion Samurai

I'm a bit confused by Builder Arkov's description of this fabulous MOC. He states "it was supposed to be a robot but now it isn't and we're all disappointed somehow". Well, it's only me and my Corgis here, but we totally dig it, so clearly not "all" are disappointed. Best use of the hockey player head I've ever seen as well.

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. 

White Tiger

I've seen white tigers in person, they are majestic big cats with an almost regal air to them. You feel like you should bowing and swearing allegiance in their presence. Builder dennis qiu has crafted a ferocious yet stunningly beautiful and surprisingly pose-able MOC worthy of this fantastic creature. Click through for more pics.

Thanks for the head's up jaderosenblitt!

Stardust

I so love it when I'm scrolling though my Flickr feed and with no conscience decision find myself going "oooooooooh". When this happens you can bet it's a unique or particularly stunning MOC, and this craft by The /\rchitect is both of those, and more. It's simultaneously gorgeous and baffling, as your eyes and brain try to make sense of it. It's like the illegitimate love-child of the Slave One and H.G. Wells, and it's spectacular.