Survival Starts In The Core

Anyone who follows E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) might recognize this little guy from a beautiful game introduced to us in 2015. ReCore is a secret to most of us gamers, all we really know about it is the mysterious girl with a grappling hook and her robot side-kicks. This doesn't stop builders like LEGOJunkie from already creating some of the lovable creatures we are all eager to get to know!

RECORE Puppy Doge.
RECORE Puppy Doge.

ReCore doesn't launch until September but as long as cute creations like Puppy Mack keep coming out, I'm good to wait :) 

BattleSHIP! Brickworld 2016

BattleSHIP!  Brickworld 2016

You may have already seen pictures of the ships.  You may have actually been witness to the destruction.  But this will be the full story on the glorious and gut-wrenching concept that was BattleSHIP at Brickworld Chicago.  Simon Liu, the evil genius behind the idea, started a group just after SHIPtember, 2015.  "Hey, you guys interested in playing? Ask your buddies to see if they're crazy, I mean, interested, too. "  And so it began. 

Read More

Neo Classic Speeders

Mankind has been destined for space-travel ever since we first gazed up into the stars and wondered what was out there. The problem is that not everyone likes the exploring and science side of space, some of us just want to race on other planets. That is where builder Sad Brick (aww, cheer up buddy!) has stepped in and imaged what it would be like to race on another planet with one of our best space-buddies.
As a side note, this build is proof that you don't need a lot of LEGO bricks to come up with something cool and interesting.

Neo Classic Speeder

BrickTV Cribs: BrickNerd Studios

Take a tour of BrickNerd studios in Lompoc California! I had the honor of presenting the keynote at Brickslopes 2016 last night and this was part of it. My talk was about being a nerd, about listening to that inner voice and being creative, about being fearless with your passion. But I also tried to have some fun with it and stuck this stupid thing in the middle. I really can't help myself sometimes you know?

Simple Drawing Machine

When I was a kid I had a Spirograph, and I was endlessly fascinated with it. The patterns generated by intersecting arcs of motion were as interesting as the mechanical process that created them. Now builder and mechanical mastermind JK Brickworks bring this process to LEGO with a simple but elegant machine. And he published the instructions on his website so you can build your own.

Simple Drawing Machine

Ares 7

The Martian was an incredible movie. From the premise and the drama, to the humor and the production design, it's top notch filmmaking. And this Martian inspired MOC by Bricking It is top notch building. This is also top notch presentation. At first glance this looks like a still from the movie, with the martian terrain in the background and the careful lighting of the rover. Superb work!

The Incredible Hulk

Hulk, have you been juicing?  Hitting the bricks lately?  Don't get me wrong, you look good.  In fact, I prefer a brick-built look to the standard bigfig.  He's mean, he's green, he's got motion, he's got personality, and wow is he big!  And just look at those pecs and abs.  LEGO bricks seems to be the way to go for that summer body.

If you think this Hulk is incredible, then you definitely have to check out Flickr user Nicolas PICOT's other brick-built figures.

The incredible HULK 02

The Burrow

It's the Weasley family homestead!  From the Harry Potter series, if you're not already familiar.  Marcel V. presents his largest moc to date, and what a build it is.  Ingenious techniques abound in this display, and Marcel gives credit where credit is due.  If you happen to be at the Comic Con in Germany, you can see it in person.  And yes, Harry, it is brilliant!

The Burrow

Wrath Of Vaal

One of the real crowd pleasers at BrickWorld Chicago was VirtuaLUG's Miniland Putt Putt collaboration, and one of the contributors was BrickNerd's own El Barto. This is his Star Trek inspired segment of the course, inspired by the episode The Apple. I haven't played miniature golf in ages, but if the courses where more like this, I think I'd be more inclined to go...because Vaal calls to me. Let us go to him. He hungers...for balls.

Wrath of Vaal !
Wrath of Vaal !

A Story of War

Often, a good LEGO build hints at a backstory, but a great one tells a story of its own. This fairly simple build by legophthalmos showing a samurai warrior departing for battle is an excellent example of how to effectively tell a complex story with a visual medium like LEGO. The thought-provoking narrative shown here, combined with some very slick building, makes for an impressive overall effect.

departure of the Samurai

Borderlands 2 Collaborative

Collaborative builds, especially on this scale, are hard to cover and do justice to the MOCs. After months of work, the builder group GamerLUG (Nick Brick, Lego Junkie, Si-MOCsDR.ChurchMasked BuilderAlec_DEdgelessAbyss) combined forces to present a show stopping and trophy winning Borderlands 2 display. As much as I'd like to feature every individual MOC, there's just not enough time, so I'll invite you to visit all these builders' individual Flickr streams and check out the video.

Psycho, Mechromancer class Gaige & Deathtrap, Mr. Torgue, and Angel - Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2: Return to Pandora, hero shot.
Borderlands2: Return to Pandora

The Shipyard

I always love a good collaborative build, and this one by Si-mocs and Zachmoe is no exception. Zach built the spaceship and Simon built the shipyard around it. Both parts are equally fantastic: the ship has wonderful color blocking and gorgeous shaping, and the shipyard is packed with lots of clever micro-scale details. I especially love the little trucks made from roller skates and the genius two-piece tanks.

Dystopia Planitia Shipyards

Two-Face

Visitors of Brickworld Chicago got to see this (as well as many more) in person, and I'll admit to a slight tinge of jealously. Tim Lydy's Batman collection was one of the highlights of the show, and looking at Two-Face here I can see why. The sculpture work is amazing, but it's also oozing with character. I can't wait to see the rest of these.

Vaygr Carrier

If you think this ship by Tim Schwalfenberg is cool, just imagine a whole fleet!  You may recall his Corvette, Missile Frigate, and of course, the Vaygr Battlecruiser.  And if that isn't enough for you, imagine playing a game of Battleship with giant LEGO ships.  That's exactly what happened at this year's Brickworld!  But I'll get to all that in a future post.  So for now, admire the style and detail Tim put into this sci-fi creation.  That takes serious skill.  But tossing it up in the air to watch it smash into a million pieces?  That takes guts!

Vaygr Carrier