Welcome To Nordheim

I hope you brought your jacket (and maybe some armor, just in case). This is the chilly realm of Nordheim, a collaborative build by jsnyder002 and soccersnyderi. This premiered at BrickFair VA last week, and I'm certain it must have been quite the sight in person. It's 130×98 studs and weighs a whopping 87 pounds, that's a serious diorama. I highly recommend clicking through and checking out both of their photo streams for more pics, this thing is packed with detail and fun surprises.

Watchtower Of Orodruin

Everywhere you look at this scrappy watchtower by Tim Schwalfenberg you'll see two things: A very interesting technique, and something unconventional. From the craggy brickwork at the base of the tower, to the cobbled railing at the top, and from the uneven stairs on the left to the boulder rock work on the right, it's amazing. I have to admit I think this would probably give me fits though, it looks so fragile I wouldn't want to stand anywhere near it while simultaneously needing to get a good close look at it.

Having Lots of Faun

As awesome as this build is, I've goat to ask ewe to not faun over it too much so Toltomeja doesn't get sheepish. And I just horned in fur puns. Six now. But anyway, this idyllic scene from a faun-filled valley is very cool. The vegetation is extremely convincing, especially the grapevines and that beautiful tree. I also really like the almost ramshackle roof, which makes great use of minifig flippers.

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!

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.

Sir Wizard Mecha-Nic Stronghold

This ramshackle castle punk fortress by builder hrtx is as confusing to the eye as it is appealing. So many angles, so much detail, so much storytelling, it's lovely. I don't know what they get up to in this complex structure, but one look and you ache with curiosity. I guess that's why it's a stronghold, to keep you from finding out.

Frozen Shack

First off, everyone look at the front door of this shack and acknowledge the NPU. I mean, seriously, a boat for a front door it doesn't get much better than that folks! I'm also loving all the angles, so many unnaturally delicious ways jaapxaap has put this house together yet made it look congruent. I am, however, a little disappointed in the lack of murder(?) in this scene, though I am hoping we will see that in part 2 of this build.

Medieval Smithy

Life in medieval times must have been a strange combination of difficult yet simple. Not that the art of smithing is easy in any way, it's hard work all the way back to the quarry, but you knew if you took this rock, smashed it up, built a really hot fire and threw it in, you'd end up with some metal that you could then shape (yes, I super simplified the art of smelting). And you could sell or trade that metal stuff for goods or food you didn't make or grow yourself, like the smith depicted in this beautiful MOC by Julandrius, seems pretty blissful. Sure the average life expectancy was 31 years and every other small country around you wanted you dead, but at least when you sat down at a meal everyone didn't pull out their damn iPhone.

Coat Of Arms

All self respecting families have a coat of arms. In this case it's the heraldry of Uridius Dratiphe by builder Robert4168/Garmadon. The gauntlet represents strength, the scales represent justice, the anvil (which is really hard to see) represents honor, the arrows represent readiness for war and the build represents mad skills with the bricks.

Ernagh's Exotic Edible Economic Experiment

Castle builders never cease to amaze me. Not only is the bar being continually raised for build quality and techniques, but the stories get more and more elaborate and deep. This diorama by builder aardwolf_83 is a real treat for the eyes. A highlight of course is that net-based contoured roof and striking silhouette of the house, but take a look at those trees, they're a wonder. Click through for more pics, and a quirky and fun story.

A Barrel Of Laughs

"Dave, Dave, Dave. Check the barrel Dave!" I can almost here them shouting from the walls. This fantastic little vignette from brickbink really oozes that Persian vibe. Loads of details and a sense of both fun and possible impending doom!. It also is timeless, replace the lovely little cart with a LandRover and give the guards machine guns and you have 2000 years of history right there. Go check out some of the other great MOC's on his Flickr page.

Classic Greek Polis

This beautiful MOC by Simon S makes me want to go on a time machine european holiday. Soak in the sun in a lovely Greek shoreline village, eat copious amounts of hummus, gaze at the tranquil settings and maybe, just maybe, go to a toga party (they had those right? I saw Animal House)

Sunset Slumber

Builder Brother Steven brings us this breathtakingly beautiful shot of a whimsical and serene setting. This is some top notch building, lighting, composition and editing. It sets a mood and draws you in, like a tranquil scene in a movie.

Bridge Of Lost Souls

Built for Brickvention in Australia last year, Nick Runia is offering up the final photos of his Bridge of Lost Souls creation.  So, he's got the Light on the left side, Dark on the right, and of course the bridge with Death in the middle.  Peruse his photostream to appreciate the architectural intricacy and organic flow of the rock work and landscaping.  Nicely done, Nick!

Whole Lotta Pizza

This is all kinds of clever. When builder koffiemoc accepts a challenge, he goes all out. These were all build for a revamp contest on lowlug.nl. He decided to build interpretations of LEGO 6350 Pizza To Go, and did so in the styles of City, Friends, Pirates, Wild West, Roman, Castle and my personal favorite, Star Wars. Yes, that sign is in Aurebesh.

Gray Cliff Fortress

This eye-catching MOC by builder W. Navarre looks right out of an 80's fantasy movie, and I love that. It also seems to tipping it's hat to Pirates of the Caribbean, which is also pretty awesome. I think with some tweaking and more play features (and of course, good guys and bad guys) something like this would be a cool official set.

Micro Mill

I'm thoroughly smitten with this marvelous micro mill MOC by Halhi141. From the graceful arc of the waterfall, to the perfect tudor touches to the gentle taper of the windmill, I can't decide what I love best.

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.

Orc Fort

Orcs are a very misunderstood creature, often thought of in lore as evil, dirty, and generally not all that nice! But just because they prefer the freeness of loin cloth over a nice pair of pants doesn't make them evil. Sure they pillage the villages of the various, hapless, fantasy realms from time to time and maybe they enjoy "man-flesh" a little bit too much. And who knows what do-gooder they captured this fort, created by builder Christophe, from? In the end maybe these "evil" deeds are just a cry for help. So, the next time you run across a pillaging orc in your village, go ahead and give him a nice big hug, just watch out for the spiky armor.