Fallout Shelter Contest

Hey! A game tie-in I'm familiar with! I don't play of course, but my son does, and I recognized this immediately. The fine folks at eclipseGRAFX, Brickarms and Brickstuff are all sponsoring a pretty cool collaborative build for Brickfair VA. They're inviting you to build a module for what should be a pretty epic Fallout shelter when it's assembled. The contest ends 12:00 am EST on August 1st, so you have about a month. Check out the rules and standards here and get building!

Dragon Attack!

Just look at that Dragon. Its AWESOME! The parts use here is superb, a million illegal connections, excellent. The castle isn't to shabby either. This Micro scale MOC by Guy Smiley would make a superb set, if it wasn't for all those not so legit connections! Gonna go and see if I can make my own little (big) Dragon!

Pull To Inflate

When we were seeing the first photos of the cast of characters for The Force Awakens, I remember that there were some articles online about Poe Dameron and what the Aurebesh text on his flight vest said.  It translated to "PULL TO INFLATE".  Oh man was I excited.  Don't get me wrong and I'm not being sarcastic.  It's the little details like this that make the movies immersive to me.

Takamichi Irie has made one of his coolest models yet.  This 1:1 scale Resistance pilot's helmet and life support unit belong to Poe Dameron, but the 1:1 scale LEGO Poe is nowhere to be found!  The details on the helmet are spectacular.  The Rebel logo is integrated into the spherical brickwork at an angle, the visor curves all the way around and looks like it actually protects the eyes, and the simple box shaped life support unit is just so smooth.  I'm a sucker for smooth things made out of LEGO.

The Riddler

The latest figure in Tim Lydy's Forms of Gotham collection is The Riddler, Batman's quizzically narcissistic adversary. As with all of the characters from this series, he stands on a base that reflects his place in the Gotham lore, in this case his signature question mark. He's also adorned with question marks skillfully modified from official LEGO stickers.

Firemoth

I was just thinking yesterday that it's been a while since I've seen a good old neo classic space ship. Thankfully builder ZCerberus came along to slake my nerdy lust with this lovely craft. It has an unusual shape, far more round and snub-nosed compared to most ships, and that's what I find most appealing. With the impression of large turbines in the wings it almost looks like a VTOL, making for some cool takeoffs in my imagination. This thing looks ready to protect the galaxy.

Abernathy Farm

The Fallout series and world has always intrigued me. I've often wondered what a world after a large extinction level event would look like and the Fallout series of games offers just such a window into that world. WookieeWarrior (how does he build with such large furry hands?!) has created a very authentic vignette of the Abernathy farm for us to stare at and attempt to find all the little details that go along with a ruined world.

Breaking Bad

I'm probably going to get grief for this, but I've never watched Breaking Bad. I mean I've seen some of it, when I was in the room with others watching, but I've never been a viewer. That doesn't mean I don't know what it's about and can't appreciate this brilliant MOC by Disco86. This thing is at once super clean and ridiculously detailed. I don't know the particulars of this machinery, but I believe it works.

Just Troopin' Along

I'm not often a huge fan of Bionicle/Hero Factory style MOCs, but Djordje's builds always impress me. This futuristic trooper is no exception. It amazes me how the builder can get such unusual and disparate pieces to mesh smoothly. For example, the bottom of the soldier's head is the cowling from a Chima Speedor. Such a weird piece, and it works perfectly. I also really like how realistically posed this guy is, from the way he's holding the gun to his "come at me, bro" stance.

Hermey And The Abominable Snowman

This wonderful custom set of figures won Best Custom at Brickslopes last weekend, an event I was fortunate enough to attend. I know we don't cover much custom figures here on BrickNerd (I don't know why, should we?) but this pair is from something so dear to me, the animated classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. We watched this every year as kids, it was a hallmark of the season. These figures are so clean and well done they look practically factory made, nice work Done Rite.

Teedo's Luggabeast

The Force Awakens was rife with new and wonderful alien lifeforms (but, sorta strangely devoid of all our favorites, hmmm). This one captured everyone's imagination, not only for it's size and the fact that it was a beast of burden, but the fact that's a fusion of animal and machine. This version by robert.lundmark has a fantastic level of detail.

Strongarm

Two popular types of mechs are ones that look very realistic and utilitarian, and the ones that have a lot of character. This mech by Aaron Williams is both. It's just bursting with character, what with the almost cartoony proportions and the organic pose, but it also looks like it would be useful in the real world. There are lots of awesome little details, such as the hydraulics in the shoulders and the white dot on the left knee. Very cool.

Insect Warrior

Moko is back with another stunning and seamless mix of Bionicle, Technic and Sytem, the Insect Warrior.  This thing looks as menacing as it is gorgeous, from top to bottom. The posing, lighting and photography show it off in first class style. Absolutely wonderful in all aspects.

Cailín

While the description of this whimsical and strange robot from builder Gamabomb describes it as  a friendly ai bot, I do find it's appearance slightly unsettling. It's wonderful but odd proportions and featureless face make it a little creepy and benevolent at the same time. But the overall effect is very compelling. If you're having trouble placing that face part, it's the top of a First Order Stormtrooper helmet, brilliant.

Penguin

Gotham's notorious crime lord Oswald Cobblepot, AKA Penguin, has been plaguing Batman's efforts to rid the city of crime since his first appearance in 1941. This version by Tim Lydy looks the business, and captures his slimy, infamous persona perfectly. Another in his series of brilliant Forms of Gotham collection.

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

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.

Mountain vs. Red Viper

Game of Thrones is one of my favorite shows. It has great characters, interesting mythology, and ridiculously violent scenes. Paul Trach recreated one of these scenes in bricks, the fight between the Mountain and Red Viper, but thankfully he opted not to recreate the ending of this scene (GoT fans know what I'm talkin' bout). Love that brick-built Mountain!

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.