It's Only Forever, Not Long At All

I always believed that my hero David Bowie would live forever and ever. I was devastated when I heard the news in January that he'd passed away. Luckily, LEGO does last forever and thanks to Centuri he lives on in the form of Jareth the Goblin King. Labryinth is one of my all time favourite films and this build brings Jareth to life. I love the fact that if you look closely, you can see a minifig head used for the skull on Jareth's shoulder piece and chest lids for his boots. Now, what kind of magic spell to use....?

If You Can't Play Nice, Play Derby

Well this MOC by Julie vanderMeulen makes me wanna lace up my skates and get on the track! These 1:1 scale Riedell R3's use a combination of standard LEGO bricks and Bionicle pieces. Roller derby players agonise over sourcing the right components and settings for their skates, and Julie looks like she's done just the same for this pair, which are kitted out in her Hammer City Roller Girls colours. Unsurprisingly one of the most important elements of the skates are the wheels, and players use a combination of durometers to optimise performance - this can be seen with the use of different colour wheels on this build.

You can see me in action in my Riedell She Devils in the bottom pic. Keep calm and skate left!

Snow Place Like Home

No, I'm not apologizing. Puns are awesome. Anyway, I love me some good microscale, and this tiny winter village by Sad Brick is a fantastic example. Creative parts usage is a must for a good micro build, and this is no exception. From the minifigure chicken wings as clouds to the cheerleader pompoms as snow-covered trees, there's a lot of really clever and unorthodox pieces here. And I think that sun is the back of a Simpsons minifigure head. Nicely done, sir, nicely done.

OCP Headquarters (Pre Visual Effects)

Welcome to OCP Headquarters, or should I say Dallas City Hall? Yes, that towering symbol of corporate greed is actually a government building, and not even in Detroit. That's the magic of visual effects. And while I'm sure plenty of Dallasites went "heyyyy..." when they saw RoboCop, but the rest of us were just thinking "cool building". Just like you LEGO fans might be looking at this MOC by Grantmasters and thinking "where's the top of the building?"

The Tiny Village

This microscale village by -Balbo- shows off some lovely techniques. My favorite is the way he's built up the shoreline: the layering of angled plates makes for a very cool, non-blocky look. The water is really well done as well, since its dark coloring is much more realistic than the bright blue so often seen in landscape builds. Also, the technique of clear bricks laid sideways allows for a really cool reflection which adds a lot to the realism of this scene.

Steampunk Train

It's not hard to imagine this lovely deep green and black beauty by Moko chuffing down the tracks in the Victorian era. The design aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous, with just the right balance of classic lines and splendid steampunkery. I would love to climb aboard this steam powered wonder for a cross country tour.

Black Dragon

I don't know enough about tall ships to speak with any authority, but there's definitely an asian influence to this vessel by W. Navarre. Judging by the size and ornateness of the captain's cabin and the number of guns, I'm guessing this a fairly successful privateer.

I Have No Memory of this Place

Aside from the official Mines of Moria LEGO set, I don't think many people have built Balin's tomb chamber (or the Chamber of Mazarbul for all you book nerds out there). It's a really cool scene that hasn't seen much LEGO treatment. But this build by Dunedain98 remedies that. This is a spot-on recreation of the scene in the movie. Lots of attention to detail here, from the layout of the room to all the scattered books. And it's full minifig scale too, instead of that tiny version in the official set. Beautiful work all around: the texturing is fantastic.

My. . .Preciouses!

Here at BrickNerd we like to reminisce about the past. . .  This time in Middle-earth!

"Splashes and splashes, precious!  That's a meaty mouthful!"  Thanks to Iain Heath (Ochre Jelly on Flikr) we have one of the finest recreations of Bilbo Baggins and the infamous Gollum I have ever seen. Iain never ceases to amaze with his outstanding characters built out of LEGO elements, and these two are no exception.  The shaping of Gollum is well executed, and I especially like the loincloth and eyes.  Bilbo's clothing is also represented so very well with simple elements!  For lack of a better word, every creation Iain produces always has character.  The posing and emotion he is able to capture is truly inspiring.  I hope to see more builds like this in the future!  Iain's Gollum creation is also briefly featured in the LEGO Brickumentary. 

Sadako Vs. Kayako: Dawn of Civil War

For those who don't know, Sadako and Kayako come from Japan's two most famous horror movie series, Ringu and Ju-on respectively.  What's the significance you may ask?  Well, Japan has seen two "Versus" movies so far this year and there is yet one more to come.  In March there was Batman v. Superman, in April there was Civil War, and in mid-June there will be Sadako vs. Kayako.  At first I thought it was a joke when I saw the teaser poster at the conbini (convenience store) around the corner from my workplace as it was nearly identical to the BvS poster, but apparently this movie is really happening.  I'm not sure if I'll go see it but I can guarantee these two ghostly ladies won't be as cute as builder delayice makes them.

Nom Nom

Normally, I would rather stay away from anything from the Michael Bay Transformer movies. I haven't seen them and I don't want to. Also, I normally shy away from digitally built LEGO, and normally, I'm not a huge fan of Bionicle. But today I don't care about any of that, because this robot dinosaur by Nicola Stocchi is awesome. I think one of the coolest things is how it blends Bionicle and System pieces so cohesively. There are very few builds with Bionicle in them that look this convincing. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a really nicely photographed physical model, and was really surprised to read that it's digital. The render for this picture is very impressive, and makes the model even more menacing. Definitely wouldn't want to meet this thing on a dark night.

ThunderCats Good vs. Evil

Anyone who was a kid in the 80's instantly recognizes these guys, the characters and their symbols.  But builder Chris van Vliet qualifies the title by saying," NO NOT CHIMA!"  ThunderCats was part of that era of Japanese animation paired with American voice acting.  Although I was already in high school, I'll admit it, I watched the show while chomping on Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.  Chris has done a great job recreating the logos and the 3D profile busts of Lion-O and Mumm-Ra on four 32x32 baseplates.  I'd say they'd be perfect book ends for a ThunderCats VHS collectors box set- ThunderCats Ho!!! 

Nocturnian floating castle

This is a whole lot of spectacular in not a whole lot of space. With careful and inspired part selection and an attention to detail, builder marcu44 managed to cram oodles of character into this microscale floating castle. I invite you to click through and peruse the large image of this, you'll find yourself delightfully identifying tiny parts.

For Those About to Rock....

I salute you sebastian bachórzewski! This guy's heading off on a highway to hell with his sweet new gee-tar 'cos London's calling! I love the use of the neon LEGO pieces to create the lights in this scene - I can just imagine them illuminating the guitars underneath. The sugar skull details on the punk rocker's top and the flame tattoo on his arm are awesome additions. I can picture this Insomnia's Guitar Heaven being down a side-alley where only the toughest of minifgs would dare to venture. There's probably a tattoo studio next door and a 'biker's bar' opposite blasting music from the juke box....

Oblivion

The movie didn't do well at the box office, but Oblivion is worth a watch in my opinion. If for no other reason than some pretty spectacular visuals. Yeah, the plot's a bit thin and the pace is a bit plodding, but overall I enjoyed it. It would seem builder Grantmasters was OK with it too, so much so he recreated one of the posters from the film in excellent microscale.

And For Dessert...

Tonight we have a lovely Cranberry Black Forest Cake, baked just for you by chef Sad Brick.  Made from the finest organic and gluten-free ingredients imported directly from Billund, Denmark.  This cake was expertly crafted with great attention to detail, from the moist center, to the delicious garnish on top.  And no need to feel any guilt, it's completely calorie free! 

Into The Wild

This build by Simon Schweyer is inspired by Into the Wild, a film I have never seen and a book I have never read.  Maybe I don't need to have seen/read the source material to appreciate the craftsmanship in this diorama. The emotion translates very well in the lady's pose, her bare feet on soft grass, the apparent height of the cliff, and the coloring of the sky and water.  Coloring a sunset with LEGO bricks is tricky business, especially for someone as severely colorblind as I am, but not as tricky as pulling off such a moody scene and making it look so effortless.

Ultimate Tree Fort

I want one of these in my backyard. My 10-year-old self could have happily spent dozens of summer afternoons playing in this thing. Built by Sergeant Chipmunk, this awesome forest ranger watchtower reminds me quite a lot of Lothlorien. And that's definitely a good thing. The landscaping and rocks are extremely well done, and I like how the structure is built right over a stream. That's a cool detail which really adds a lot of visual interest to the scene.

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

Unboxing the Technic 911 GT3 RS

Every few years The LEGO Group produces a set that is universally applauded and I think this year we have a winner. Whether you're into Technic or cars or not, you have to appreciate the skill, care, engineering and love that went into this set. It's truly a work of art and a premium building experience. The attention to detail in every aspect, starting with the box it comes in, is superb. I can't wait to share the finished model with you, but for now, an unboxing will have to suffice.